In light of the leaks from the UK in recent weeks on the sectoral plans for Brexit, is there any sign of our sectoral plans given that the Government gave commitments, as did the former Taoiseach, Deputy Enda Kenny, about preparing sectoral plans? Is there a date for their publication? Farmers, fishermen and small business people want to see these plans for phase 2 of the Brexit negotiations. I ask the Tánaiste to give some insight on the status of that.
Questions on Promised Legislation
Farmers, fishermen, business people and so on want to see us negotiating solutions to the concerns they may have on Brexit. We have actually published a series of reports on Brexit. Some of them are linked to specific areas and others are more general. More reports will be published. I think one will come out towards the end of next month. It will be an independent report.
The level of consultation on Brexit we have with stakeholders who are interested in this area and representative bodies is very extensive. I chair a stakeholders' group that meets regularly and all the key sectors the Deputy mentioned are represented there. This is an ongoing conversation. It is not a case of us publishing a paper and that is it for that sector. It is an ongoing consultation that adapts and changes as these negotiations develop. That is how we should continue.
The programme for Government on page 38 makes a commitment to bring next generation broadband to every house and business in the country by 2020. With yesterday's news that Eir has withdrawn from the tendering process leaving only one bidder, what is the future of the whole tender? Ireland could have been a world leader in telecommunications, but we have had a chain of disasters starting with the privatisation of Telecom Éireann under Fianna Fáil with Deputy Micheál Martin at the Cabinet table, repeatedly selling off State assets to private interests and asset stripping, resulting in Ireland ranking behind Azerbaijan in broadband speed.
On the programme for Government-----
Now that the State has lost control with the Minister admitting that the price is not set-----
Go raibh maith agat.
-----what will happen to more than 500,000 people under the broadband plan without effective connection?
The Deputy's question is about the programme for Government.
What price control is in place now?
The question is about the programme for Government.
The Government remains very committed to delivering on the commitment and promise of rolling out high-speed broadband to every business and home in the country. We will put significant public resources into ensuring that happens.
The programme for Government makes a commitment to improve cancer prevention and treatment. The Tánaiste will know this is European cervical cancer prevention week, which is a critical issue. The Irish Family Planning Association and CervicalCheck are running their annual Pearl of Wisdom campaign. Each year 260 women in Ireland are diagnosed with cervical cancer and up to 70 lives are lost. Public awareness on screening is essential and women aged between 25 and 60 can avail of regular free checks.
However, we all remember the recent controversy over the HPV vaccine. It is essential that we continue to communicate the effectiveness of vaccination. I ask the Tánaiste to provide clarity as to whether the Government has decided to extend this vital life-saving vaccine to boys as well as to girls?
I do not have the answer to that question, but I can get it for the Deputy. I absolutely support what he said on the need to raise awareness and the need to debunk myths on the use of vaccines. We need to remind parents and young women that vaccination offers real protection and it is something that everybody should think about. The Minister, Deputy Harris, has been very vocal on the issue and will continue to be. I can get an answer to the specific question about boys for the Deputy.
Just before Christmas, the Minister, Deputy Regina Doherty, promised legislation to deal with zero-hour contracts and other problems. As we know, workers in their tens of thousands are on if-and-when contracts or in precarious employment, and sectoral agreements are not being adhered to. Yesterday I met workers working on the historic Boland's Mills site which is being run by a contractor that also has the contract for the national children's hospital. Those workers informed me that they do not get payslips. They do not know what deductions are being made. They say Romanian workers are being paid less than the sectoral employment agreement rates. This stuff is rampant. Agencies are being set up that are not registered, paying people less.
I call the Tánaiste.
When will that legislation come in to secure the rights of workers so that they are not being exploited and abused?
I call the Tánaiste on promised legislation.
The legislation the Deputy is referring to is the Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill and it is due to be taken in the House in the week after next.
I ask a follow-up question to the Minister for Justice and Equality on his area of responsibility. Following the ferocious criminal events that occurred on the northside of Dublin, and I have been in touch with the Minister about issues in my constituency, will he be actively engaged in attempting to encourage An Garda Síochána and the Department of Justice and Equality to ensure that alleged serious criminals living abroad are returned to this jurisdiction to face any possible charges against them? Has the Government taken any initiative in this regard?
The answer to that question is yes. It does not involve the introduction of any further or updated legislation. The Garda at national level in the area to which the Deputy refers and at international level through Interpol is actively engaged with other international police forces. Should there be an appropriate level of evidence to be levelled against any suspect, we will operate under the time-honoured system of the European arrest warrant in the expectation that anybody who is not residing in the jurisdiction and who faces charges in this State can be properly returned under these conditions.
I call a Member of the Rural Independent Group to address promised legislation.
The programme for Government presents supports for agriculture. Will the Tánaiste and Taoiseach stand with the Minister, Deputy Creed, and Commissioner Phil Hogan and stand up to Commissioner Cecilia Malmström against her sell-out on beef from Brazil in the ongoing Mercosur negotiations. The Irish Farmers' Association, IFA, and other organisations are very worried. This week, the Commissioner already allowed 70,000 tonnes of extra beef to come in from outside the EU. There are now fears that there will be further slippage. It is time for Ireland-----
The Deputy should address the programme for Government.
It is in the programme for Government, under the commitment to agriculture. We have no broadband, so surely we will let the farmers carry on-----
The Deputy prefaced his remarks by referring to the programme for Government.
I did. I said the programme for Government contains a commitment to agriculture. This is devastating for the beef industry. All farming organisations and farmers are very concerned. It is crunch-time and we need action.
The Deputy is leaving his colleagues without time. I ask the Tánaiste to respond.
I think there might be other Deputies with the same issue.
Does Deputy McConalogue have a card?
One question, one card.
Do not give a red card out.
(Interruptions).
I wish to raise the same issue. As Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Tánaiste will have an important role to play in this. There is tremendous concern at the prospect of the offering from the EU to the Mercosur countries supposedly increasing from 70,000 tonnes to 99,000 tonnes in the negotiations last week. For any final deal, will it be a situation where all countries have to agree, in that we would have a veto or will it be by qualified majority voting? Does the Tánaiste know that at this stage? If we are so against it and the Taoiseach and Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine have taken such a hard line, as they tell us, why is the European Commission proceeding with increasing the beef offering? Will the Tánaiste give us information on that? As negotiations continue over the next week, will the Tánaiste get the ear of relevant Commissioners and ensure that beef is not sold out at the expense of doing a trade deal?
The Taoiseach, the Minister, Deputy Creed, and I have all been very vocal on this issue, as has the Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Phil Hogan.
It is deadly serious.
Ireland has specific concerns relating to beef. We are the largest beef exporter in the northern hemisphere. The EU's market for beef is crucial for us in the future. Any trade deal negotiated and finalised by the EU is one we are watching closely. No final deal has been agreed to my understanding. Ireland and other countries, particularly France, have raised concerns about the sensitive issue of beef. The way in which the EU handles trade is that the Commission has the mandate to negotiate, but that negotiating mandate is determined by member states. Ireland and France have continuously raised concerns that, if a deal is to be done, beef access needs to be part of that.
Will it be qualified majority or-----
I call whoever has card No. 1.
Yes, Leas-Cheann Comhairle-----
Do you have a card?
The Deputy is a card carrying Member.
It is in hiding.
Red card.
I am cutting this off in four minutes.
Under the Education (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, as the Tánaiste is aware, Carillion plc and Carillion Constructed Limited, CCL, in the UK were put into liquidation as a result of their massive financial collapse. The company was engaged in various school-building projects in Ireland as part of a public private partnership in conjunction with the Dutch Infrastructure Fund, DIF. Loreto College in Wexford was planned to open this week. However, this will not happen due to the collapse of Carillion. The principal subcontractor to CCL in Ireland is Sammon Contracting Ireland Ltd, to which G Morgan & Sons Ltd, Ballymakenny Road, Drogheda, County Louth, had been subcontracted to supply school furniture including desks, chairs, technology workbenches, presses, etc. Despite that Loreto College is 100% complete, the subcontractor has not yet been paid for the supply of goods and services to the school. This company has been dealing with primary schools, secondary schools and third level schools for the last 50 years.
We will have to move on.
Over 196-----
Deputy, please. It is not a Second Stage speech.
I ask the Tánaiste not to give me the same answer the Minister for Education and Skills gave me last week. We have to intervene and help this company.
It is not a Second Stage speech. We all have colleagues. All are anxious. I will be very strict on time.
Schools that have been affected by the liquidation of this company, which is involved in a number of public private partnerships, need to get certainty as soon as possible. The public private contracts include detailed provisions that apply in the event of the liquidation of a consortium member to ensure the completion of the projects. We are waiting for a plan to see that through to provide certainty for those schools. The Department of Education and Skills is watching this closely.
The programme for Government refers to procurement and smaller enterprises. As part of that commitment, it refers to the possible establishment of a procurement ombudsman and that a decision on the merits of establishing a procurement ombudsman would be made. Has a decision been made on that? Our small and medium enterprises, SMEs, are struggling. They are coming under great pressure with regard to procurement, heightening commercial rates and competition from online shopping. Has anything happened with that?
The issues with competition from online shopping and commercial rates are separate to procurement.
They are under pressure.
Our job as a Government is to try to provide as business-friendly an environment for SMEs to grow and expand as possible. By and large, that is working well. SMEs are growing, expanding and employing many more people now than they were last year, the year before or the year before that. Things are moving in the right direction. On the specific question on a procurement ombudsman, I will ask the Minister to come back to the Deputy directly.
I will address the previously mentioned issue regarding terrorist offences in the form of ongoing killings between criminal gangs. The criminal justice (terrorist offences) Bill is promised legislation. Would there be consideration to making membership of a criminal gang a criminal offence?
The general scheme of the criminal justice (money laundering and terrorist offences) Bill has been approved by Government. I look forward to the Bill being submitted to Government, which I understand will take place shortly. In direct response to the Deputy's question, criminal justice legislation is constantly under review but there is currently a robust scheme of legislation which will cover the specific issue raised by the Deputy as far as criminal gang membership is concerned.
What are the Tánaiste's plans to reform the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, ODCE? In the legislative programme for this session, the Government proposes to make certain reforms with the companies enforcement Bill. However, outstanding issues remain. For example, to date, the report into the mishandling of the Fitzpatrick trial remains unpublished, stuck in a drawer somewhere. Reform of the ODCE is required. Shockingly, the ODCE has had no prosecutions or convictions in the last two years.
The Deputy should address the companies enforcement Bill.
The message is clear that white collar crime pays. I know pensioners who have been threatened with legal action because of non-payment of a television licence. They were vigorously pursued about this minor debt.
As the Deputy might know, the Government launched a white collar crime package which involves a number of Bills. Some will come before this House so there will be an opportunity to expand on the concerns the Deputy has outlined.
I ask Deputy Kenny to be very brief.
There is a commitment to afforestation in the programme for Government and the Government has supported afforestation. There is currently a critical situation where there are 700 farmers around the country who have contracts or partnerships with Coillte and are being treated abysmally by a semi-State company. They are not being paid. There is no communication. It is a scandalous situation. We need the Government to intervene. I know it is a semi-State company and that it is at arm's length, but the way it is treating citizens is shameful.
This issue was raised in the media this morning. Coillte has accepted that it has issues to address. The vast majority of forestry and farm partnerships that involve Coillte appear to be working well but some farmers have questions that require answers from Coillte. As I understand it, there was an acceptance from Coillte this morning that it needs to address those issues quickly and I expect that it will.
It was announced this week by the Government that it is to finally ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, UNCRPD. I welcome this development. Can the Tánaiste indicate a date for when the ratification resolution will be brought before the Dáil? A raft of legislation is still required, including new legislation and amendments to existing legislation. What is the timetable for the enactment of the Disability (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2016 and what is the status of the measures in the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 not yet in place, specifically, the decision support service? When will that service be established and up and running?
On the formal ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, for which Deputy Ó Caoláin and many others in this House have been asking for quite some time, it will be ratified in the next few weeks and there will be an opportunity at that point to make contributions. The Government is conscious that there is an obligation to follow through on some of the legislation that is still outstanding to ensure consistency with the convention. On the Disability (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2016, which deals with the deprivation of liberty issues, the Government hopes to bring it forward, if not this term then very shortly after that, but I suspect it may well be dealt with this side of the summer.
What of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 measures that are not yet in place?
Work on them is progressing.
The Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2015 includes an enabling provision for the establishment of a deposit protection scheme, to protect tenants' deposits being retained. I understand from a response to a parliamentary question that that provision is to be reviewed even though it has not yet been implemented. Will the Government establish a much-needed deposit protection scheme for tenants?
I answered this question last week for the Deputy's colleague, Deputy Howlin. We are working on the establishment of the scheme in conjunction with the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, as part of the new change management programme. The legislation in place may not be sufficient to do what we want to do with the RTB. We may need to bring in new legislation to supplement the primary legislation. We are moving to do what the Deputy suggests but doing so is not as simple as we thought it would be in terms of the existing legislation.
There is a specific reference in the programme for Government to evaluating Ireland's diplomatic network to ensure that its breadth and depth is consistent with Ireland's strategic priorities. It also references the potential expansion of this mission in line with proposed strategies for Asia-Pacific and the Americas.
I thank Deputy McLoughlin for his question which is related to my own policy brief area. We have a very ambitious plan to expand Ireland's diplomatic network globally. In the last budget, we announced the opening of a number of embassies and consulates and new staff postings in some of our existing and strategically important embassies, particularly in the European Union. There will be a lot happening in this space over the coming months.
The programme for Government references a commitment to a rapid response to unprecedented weather activities and flooding. The Tánaiste will be aware of the serious storm and flood damage that occurred last November. Kerry County Council has requested €660,000 to help repair roads damaged by the flooding, about which I have also written to the Minister. The response received by the council, and by me, is that the cost of the work concerned is a matter for Kerry County Council. Does the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Ross, understand the role of a Minister and what he is supposed to do as a Minister?
The answer to the Deputy's question is, "Yes".
Is the Tánaiste sure about that?
Yes.