Vol. 548 No. 5
1 Mr. Quinn asked the Taoiseach the progress made to date regarding the implementation of those areas of An Action Programme for the Millennium and the review of An Action Programme for the Millennium for which his Department has responsibility; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1464/02]
2 Mr. Noonan asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the implementation of An Action Programme for the Millennium by his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3519/02]
3 Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Taoiseach if he will report on progress on the implementation of An Action Programme for the Millennium; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4480/02]
4 Mr. Higgins (Dublin West) asked the Taoiseach if he will make a report on the implementation by his Department of An Action Programme for the Millennium. [5728/02]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 4, inclusive, together.
The key areas for which my Department is responsible in terms of implementation of An Action Programme for the Millennium can be broadly summarised as follows: supporting the development and implementation of policy in a co-ordinated way across Departments, including servicing the activities of the Cabinet committees; working with the British Government and the pro-Agreement parties to achieve the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement in all its aspects; taking a lead role in respect of Civil Service modernisation, including regulatory reform; and supports for the social partnership process, including the NESC, NESF and the NCPP.
In addition, my Department takes a lead role in the development of the information society. This is focused on realising the potential of information and communication technologies – ICTs – across all areas of economic and social activity.
With regard to the area of law reform and the law offices, the All-Party Committee on the Constitution was re-established and has produced six progress reports to date. A review group reported in June 1999 on the reorganisation of the Office of the Chief State Solicitor. As a result, the formal transfer of responsibility for criminal prosecution work has transferred to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions with effect from 3 December 2001. The transfer of responsibility for the State solicitor service, which will require legislation, is currently under consideration.
Progress under these various headings is reported to the House by Ministers with direct functional responsibility for areas which are facilitated by the co-ordinating work of my Department. For example, in the context of public service modernisation, progress in this area has included: two iterations of strategy statements by Departments and offices; development and adoption of principles of quality customer service; publication of customer action plans by Departments and offices; publication of the OECD report on regulatory reform; introduction of a performance management and development system; and a new gender equality policy for the Civil Service.
A number of supplementary questions arise from the Taoiseach's reply. He said his Department has a co-ordinating role in bringing together the various strands that make up An Action Programme for the Millennium. Will he describe in detail the co-ordination that went into achieving the sixth objective of the action programme, as published on 11 October 2000, which was "to provide affordable housing for our population and to ease the transport and other infrastructural bottlenecks through a major public investment programme, including public private partnerships"? It is more than two years since that objective was outlined. Will the Taoiseach outline the type of co-ordination he has provided in this area?
I chair a cross-departmental committee on infrastructure and public private partnerships. It is serviced by officials from my Department who work with various other Departments in a co-ordinating role. At times, public agencies are also involved in this area.
As regards the objective of providing affordable accommodation, does the Taoiseach consider the failure of the Department of the Environment and Local Government to publish legislation on the private rented sector to be the result of poor co-ordination? What is his explanation for such a clear measure not being brought forward?
The figure for affordable social housing last year was 5,000 which was 1,000 more than the target set by the Department's guidelines. As its excellent report demonstrates, the Department of the Environment and Local Government has continued that work. A few weeks ago in a reply to Deputy Gilmore, I reported that the heads of the Bill have been produced and that legislation is being drafted to deal with the issue. That, however, is a matter for the Minister.
A young constituent of mine is in a coma in Cork University Hospital after being beaten unconscious on the streets of Cork. He is in the same hospital as a young Cork man who was beaten unconscious two weeks previously. Three nights ago, a young man was found unconscious in Eccles Street, Dublin, after being beaten unconscious. What co-ordination is the Taoiseach undertaking to ensure that the many commitments made on crime, encapsulated by the commitment that there would be zero tolerance of all crime, are fulfilled? What is the Taoiseach doing to keep the streets safe and to allay the fears of many parents who are afraid to let their teenage children go down town? What is he doing to allay the fears of the many young working people and students whose lives, particularly their social lives, are being destroyed every weekend by acts of random violence perpetrated by people who seem to be sure they will get away with it?
The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform deals with those issues every day. We do not have a separate committee dealing with them. Crimes will still be committed, even with a 27% decrease in the crime rate, 1,200 extra gardaí, an end to the revolving-door prison system and tougher legislation. Eccles Street is in my constituency and that was not the only such event to occur recently in the capital. I am glad to say that by and large the streets were far worse 15 years ago when drug use was rampant and before many of the drugs initiatives were in place. The Minister is bringing in a public order Bill to deal with what was referred to by Deputy Noonan, namely, that there still are people who at night randomly attack, assault, injure and maim young people. It is a feature of modern society towards which the legislation is directed and I think everyone in the House will support it.
Is the Taoiseach aware that the recent household surveys have shown that less than one crime in four is now reported? Is he aware that there is a particular problem among young men in reporting crimes where they have been assaulted, associated with feelings of self-worth and inadequacy? Is the Taoiseach further aware that there is an absolutely total mismatch between the incidents of street assault recorded at the main accident and emergency hospitals and those recorded in Garda stations? Will he treat this matter seriously in the dying days of the five- year Government? Will he take his Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform aside and tell him to stop the hypocrisy and make the streets safe once more, because they are not safe at the moment?
I do not think the picture painted by Deputy Noonan is a picture of the cities that I know, including his own city. Figures have fallen by an unprecedented 27%.
They are August statistics.
Are they accurate figures?
These figures are at a 20-year low. I do not think there is any change in the attitude to recorded crime. Of course crime exists and there are still attacks taking place, particularly at night at weekends. The situation in the city centre was probably worse in the mid-1980s when the drugs issue began. At that time there were no special units and no deputy commissioner with responsibility for the co-ordination of those special units as are in existence now. Many of the people involved in crime are being caught and it would be wrong to give the impression that the people involved in these random attacks are not caught; many of them are before the courts daily.
An Action Programme for the Millennium progress report for September 2001 boasts that the Government has what it describes as the most ambitious decentralisation programme in the history of the State. The reality is that in the regions, and certainly in the region I represent, we have no evidence of such a programme being implemented. County Monaghan in particular has not had a single section of a Department decentralised since the establishment of the State. I ask the Taoiseach to what programme is this report of September 2001 referring?
I suggest that Deputy Ó Caoláin puts down a question to the Minister for Finance who is the Minister responsible. This Government has been committed to continuing the programme of decentralisation. Long and arduous discussions with the trade unions and the staff associations have just been completed. We have spent a considerable amount of time trying to agree terms acceptable to the public service workers in order to gain their support for the decentralisation programmes. About 120 or 130 towns have made their case for inclusion in the programme and I am sure Monaghan has done so. The Minister has a committee working on the decentralisation proposal and he has made it clear that he is not going to make any announcements before a general election because it would bring the system into disrepute and would upset the progress made with the staff associations on this matter. Whoever is the Minister for Finance in the next Government will find the work has been done to enable the programme to be implemented very quickly with the agreement of the staff associations.
The Taoiseach suggests I submit a question to the Minister for Finance. I did so in October 2000 to which he replied that consultations were ongoing and decisions would be made by the end of that year. What decisions have been made? Is it not the case that the Government has lost a golden opportunity not only to address the needs of the regions but also to address the needs of this hard pressed and over-stretched city?
I agree that the city is over-stretched. There is a commitment and now an agreement with the staff side that, ultimately, a considerable number of thousands of public servants will be moved with their agreement. That process had to be negotiated. It is one thing to announce what will happen but more difficult to agree on a process by which it will be done.
Ten years ago I was involved in the largest decentralisation programme to date involving the movement of staff from the Inland Revenue, the Department of Social Welfare and elsewhere to towns and cities. There must be agreement with the staff side and I believe that is now in place. A committee has considered which areas will be transferred but no final decisions have been made because, as the Minister has made clear, announcements should not be made during a general election campaign.
(Dublin West): Does the Taoiseach agree that at the outset of the new millennium it is very sad that a coalition of groups representing people with disabilities are obliged to come together to demand the most basic rights for disabled people? Does he agree that any action programme for the millennium should have incorporated, as a fundamental right, physical access to education and other services rather than allowing the various institutions of State to make decisions on whether such rights should be granted? Will he indicate if the Government is committed to taking on board the points being made by those championing the rights of the disabled, including the withdrawal of the Disability Bill until it is suitably amended and to give a new impetus to projects that would make the country, in all its aspects and institutions, accessible to those who now suffer from various forms of disability?
The Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Mary Wallace, has on numerous occasions reported to the House on the progress she has made. I am sure the Deputy will agree that in view of the Equal Status Act, the Employment Equality Act and many other measures, she has probably done more in this area than any of her predecessors. In addition, significantly greater resources have been allocated to disability services.
The Minister of State is committed to working with disability groups and lobbies on the Disability Bill. Like other Ministers and members of the Opposition, I have listened to the concerns of many of these groups, especially regarding section 47 of the Bill, and their ideas on how the Bill should be amended. The Minister of State is in consultation with them in an effort to resolve these issues. She is anxious to ensure that this, the fifth or sixth Bill she has dealt with in this area, is satisfactory.
The Action Programme for the Millennium stated the Government's commitment to ensuring that disability is placed where it belongs, on the agenda of each Department and public body. When the programme was updated in 1999, the Government promised to develop a comprehensive disability strategy, yet, as Deputy Higgins pointed out, after five years, in the dying days of the Government, and for the first time ever the nine principal organisations which look after the interests of the disabled are meeting tonight in the Mansion House to protest against the Government's inactivity and demand the withdrawal of the derisory Disability Bill which does not meet their needs. How can the Taoiseach stand over this after five years? What type of situation has he allowed develop after all these commitments that the most vulnerable groups in society are left in the lurch by his Administration and he does have the time to mend his hand and put in place what they demand?
In regard to the list of projects proposed, the Taoiseach stated proper resources would be provided for people with a disability. The list was published in October 2000. How can the Taoiseach explain his failure to do this against the background of unprecedented wealth, on the one hand, and the manifest dissatisfaction, on the other, of the group of nine, to which Deputy Noonan referred and which are in conflict with the hapless Minister of State, Deputy Wallace, who has lost trust with the people for whom she has so-called responsibility?
I recall where the Minister of State, Deputy Wallace, and the Government picked it up, the Bills which were struck down and could not be operated after the then President had referred them to the courts. That was the mess we were in.
That was amended under the Constitution.
Thankfully, we now have the Equal Status Act, the Employment Equality Act and other Bills. As Deputy Noonan said, local authorities, health and other agencies are working in a co-ordinated way to improve the position. That has required resources, particularly for edu cation. We have moved from expenditure of €7 million to €70 million per annum in the area of education for those with a disability. In the residential area, for the first time in 30 years the waiting list has been reduced. Admittedly, this will have to continue for the next ten years. It built up leaving many elderly persons with people with medical, sensory and other forms of disability. Resources will continue to be required. We have allocated further resources to the services end. This year alone, for those with an intellectual disability and autism, an additional €50 million has been provided and for those with physical and sensory disabilities we have allocated further revenue and capital of almost €40 million.
In the case of legislation, I know the point the groups are making. They state section 47, as they see it, is an obstacle. Their views are being listened to by the Minister of State.
It makes the Bill a toothless tiger.
I have heard what they stated. They want to ensure compliance. They believe most of the measures brought forward in the legislation are excellent, but want to ensure they are put in place. To this end they are looking for a compliance regime. The Minister of State is prepared to work with them to try to achieve this. Needless to say, she does not want to bring forward legislation that will not be complied with.
They want their legal rights.
She is prepared to try to address this issue and work with the group. She has been extremely hard-working. It is unfair of any Member to say otherwise, but there is a difference on this issue which she is trying to resolve. I have never seen anybody so dedicated both in government and opposition in working with people with a disability. I am sure the groups concerned appreciate this. They differ on the legislation, which is the not the first Bill to which amendments have been made.
I remind the House that details of a Bill cannot be discussed in dealing with these questions.
Since the start of Question Time we have established that the able bodied are afraid to walk the streets and the disabled are left with no other course of action but to come together tonight to protest against the inactivity of the Government. After five years in office, this is deplorable. I turn to the commitments made in the Government's programme on housing. Assuming it was safe enough for a person to walk the streets, he or she would see large numbers of homeless people destitute in doorways around this city, yet the Government promised to increase the number of houses. Does the Taoiseach agree the number of houses being built declined by 6% last year and that the reason the clinics of every Member of the House and every councillor, regardless of political persuasion, are full of people looking for local authority houses is that their only chance of receiving a home is to be housed by the local authorities? What are the Taoiseach's plans, in the final few weeks of his dying administration, to ensure sufficient numbers of local authority houses are built to house the homeless people who have been crowding our advice clinics for the past 12 months?
In reply to a question by Deputy Quinn, the Taoiseach claimed that 5,000 new local authority dwellings were built last year, a figure he claimed was 1,000 ahead of the target set by the Department of the Environment and Local Government. Given that the target for last year provided for in the PPF was about 6,500 local authority houses, when did the Department set a target of 4,000 local authority dwellings? Were the Government and the Department operating to a different target from the one agreed among the social partners in the PPF?
In reply to Deputy Noonan, at least the disability groups have seen some action, which was not the case in previous years.
That is not what they are saying.
There has been an enormous amount of action in this area, both legislative and in terms of waiting lists and education.
This is simply not true.
When the Government took office, hardly an autistic child had a special teacher. There are now hundreds of special teachers for autistic children. While it is uncomfortable for the Deputy to hear this, it is, nevertheless, true. An enormous amount of resources has been put into this area.
We have taken radical steps on housing, including new legislation. When we took office, house prices were spiralling out of control and rising at an annual rate of 40%. There were no proposals to deal with this in the programme of the rainbow Government. Increases in house prices have eased dramatically from 40% in 1998 to under 6% now. Last year more than 51,000 new houses were built, the highest figure ever and the fifth consecutive year of record housing output under this Government. It is also 50% above the highest level of output achieved under the rainbow Government, which was 33,700 completions in 1996. Last year €1,707 million was spent on housing, three and a half times the €507 million spent in the year the rainbow Government left office. The increase in supply and easing of prices were brought about by well timed and successful initiatives taken by the Government, which I am sure the Deputies will welcome on behalf of their constituents.
That is no comfort to the 40,000 people on the housing waiting list.
The local authority housing programme is at its highest level for more than 15 years with in excess of 25,000 starts in the period from 2000 to 2003. Half of these starts, some 12,000, were achieved in the first two years. Last year there were 7,000 local authority house starts with some 5,000 completions, while this year completions are expected to rise to 6,000. Although there is and always will be a waiting list—
How many local authority starts were there last year?
As I have just said, there were 7,000 starts.
There were less than 4,000 completions.
The Deputy is incorrect, there were 5,000 completions.
There are nearly 4,000 people on the waiting list in my constituency.
There were 5,000 completions last year. The Deputy's figure is, therefore, 20% too low.
It is disastrous.
