Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 24 May 2018

Vol. 969 No. 6

Topical Issue Debate

Diplomatic Representation

Deputy Mick Wallace

I have had a number of engagements in the House with the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Coveney, in recent times. He has argued very strongly that communication makes sense. He made that argument when it was put to him, for example, that Ireland should be questioning its relationship with Saudi Arabia in light of the total destruction that state is causing in Yemen. He argues that it is better to keep dialogue open in order to communicate. The position was similar regarding the Israeli ambassador after the slaughter in Palestine recently when unarmed innocent protestors were shot dead. It was horrific. However, the Minister stresses the need for communication.

It beggars belief that we do not have an embassy in Tehran. Deputy Clare Daly and I visited Iran last year. We were asked to speak at a Palestinian conference there. I was hugely impressed by the country and the people. They are amazing, beautiful people. They want to do business with Ireland. In the 12 months prior to 1 May, we sold €140 million worth of exports to Iran. That makes sense, but we could be doing so much more. Iran has a population of 80 million. They want to do more business with us. For example, we do not buy any beef from Iran. That is madness. Iranians want to buy our beef. Not only do they want beef for themselves but they do an awful lot of business with countries in the region. If they were to establish strong links with Ireland in the beef trade, they could sell Irish beef to the countries around them, quite apart from what they would consume themselves with a growing and developing population of 80 million. Iran is going to become one of the fastest-developing countries in Asia. It has the second largest economy in the Middle East.

One of the main reasons we are not doing more business with Iran is that we are scared the Americans will not want us to do so. There is a very good reason the Americans do not want us to do business with it. They have a problem with the fact they do not control business interests in Iran. America would do all kinds of things to make sure it can open avenues for its business interests. The nullifying of the nuclear agreement recently by Trump is linked to this and it is not something that European countries were in favour of. All the European countries criticised Trump for breaking the nuclear deal with Iran because there was no evidence whatsoever that Iran had broken the agreement. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, would agree with me and he was not in favour of what Trump did. Is there a prospect in the near future that we will come to our senses and reopen our embassy in Tehran in the interests of both sides, Ireland and Iran?

Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Deputy Helen McEntee)

I thank Deputy Wallace for raising this issue, which I am taking on behalf of the Tánaiste, who sends his apologies. Ireland's diplomatic and consular network is at the forefront of efforts to promote our political and economic interests and values and provides important services to the Irish people and business community. At present, there are 80 embassies, consulates, and representative offices in our global diplomatic network.

Ireland is one of six EU member states that does not currently have resident missions in Iran. At the moment, the embassy of Ireland in Ankara is accredited on a non-residential basis to Iran. The ambassador of Ireland in Ankara travels regularly to Iran in support of our broad policy objectives, including the development of political relations, trade relations and supporting the needs of Irish businesses operating or hoping to operate there. Ireland is also represented in Iran by an honorary consul. Honorary consuls are an important element of the State’s global engagement and provide consular services and assistance, as well as a range of other supports to citizens and to the embassy in Ankara. Honorary consular representation is, of course, of a fundamentally different nature to diplomatic representation and I do not consider it to be a substitute for a resident diplomatic presence.

A range of factors are taken into account, as the Deputy knows, in considering our diplomatic representation overseas, including our national political, economic and trade priorities, as well as the availability of resources. The Government is, of course, conscious of the political, economic and trade factors that might warrant the opening of a resident diplomatic mission in Iran, as in a number of other countries. As the Deputy has pointed out, Iran is an important local and regional power as well as a large potential market. However, resource constraints do not allow us to have resident representation in all the locations that might objectively justify it having regard to all of those factors.

More broadly, the configuration and scale of Ireland's diplomatic network is kept under constant review. Last year, the Taoiseach announced the Government’s Global Footprint initiative to double our global impact and secure our international influence. On foot of this, work has already begun on the initial phase of the expansion of Ireland’s diplomatic network, which includes the Government decision to open new embassies in Santiago in Chile, Bogotá in Colombia, Amman in Jordan and Wellington in New Zealand, and new consulates general in Vancouver in Canada and Mumbai in India. These new offices will open later this year and in 2019.

It is important to stress, and the Deputy raised this, that the closure of the embassy in Tehran was not related to the then nuclear dispute. The Government was greatly disappointed by the US announcement that it is withdrawing from the nuclear arrangement with Iran. Ireland and our EU partners, and a very broad spectrum of international opinion, have made clear that we believe the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA, was a significant diplomatic achievement and that all parties to it should continue to implement it in full. We share many of the concerns which the US has expressed about other aspects of Iranian policy but, as the Deputy rightly pointed out, the way to address these is not to move away from one area where significant positive progress has been made, and that remains very much our view.

The EU signatories to the agreement and other parties have already held initial meetings with Iran to discuss the possibility of continuing to implement the agreement, and Ireland will fully support that objective, although the difficulties should not be underestimated.

As mentioned, the question of reopening the embassy will be kept under consideration by the Government and I can confirm that the question of the reopening of the embassy will form part of considerations in the Global Footprint 2025 initiative and will be taken fully into account in ongoing work to the 2025 deadline.

Deputy Mick Wallace

I thank the Minister of State. We opened an embassy in Tehran in 1976 and we had one there until November or December 2011 when Eamon Gilmore was the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. We also closed the embassy to the Holy See and one other embassy at the time. In total, three embassies were closed. We argued that we closed them for money-saving reasons. It was not a great argument, but it was some argument given that so many less well-off people in Ireland were being put through austerity and there was some case to be made. The Government now boasts that we have one of the fastest growing economies in Europe so that argument is gone. The truth is that exports to Iran have doubled in the past 12 months to €140 million from €70 million and the Iranians have worked really hard to increase trade.

It is a no-brainer. The Government is in favour of communication but the Iranians would argue there is not enough communication or dialogue, and there is huge potential for it. As far as I am concerned, the Americans have lost the plot in the entire region for a long period of time. They have destabilised the region in a dramatic way. Iran and Syria are two of the few countries they do not actually control. American pressure should not be an influencing factor for us.

I was in Malawi recently. I went out to a refugee camp and some prisons out there. I met Gerry Cunningham, the Irish ambassador. I did not go there to see what the Irish were doing, but it was very interesting and the work they are doing is very impressive. It was very commendable. It makes so much sense for Ireland to be involved in such places. Malawi is one of the poorest nations on the planet. I agree 100% with us working with them, but likewise it is a no-brainer that we should be working with Iran.

Deputy Helen McEntee

I see that the factors raised by the Deputy possibly warrant a reopening of the resident embassy in Tehran. Iran is a very important regional actor. We want to understand their policies and influence them, but there are also a number of strongly negative aspects to Iranian's actions. These include regional conflicts, missile development and human rights issues. Iran's role in Syria and its support for the Assad regime has prolonged the conflict there. While these aspects do not preclude us from looking at reopening the embassy, they have to be recognised. I agree that on the economic front Iran is very clearly an expanding and growing economy, and the Government recognises there is potential there not just for engagement, but also export and import potential for Irish business, but it cannot be understated that Iran remains complex and difficult, and the market there remains complex and difficult to operate in.

Deputy Mick Wallace

What about Saudi Arabia and Israel?

Deputy Helen McEntee

A lot of work is being done in terms of developing our diplomatic network, and the question of reopening a residency in Iran is not completely out of the question. It will be considered in the overall Global Footprint 2025 expansion.

Animal Welfare

An Ceann Comhairle

Is the Minister of State dealing with this Topical Issue in the name of Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan?

Deputy Helen McEntee

Yes.

An Ceann Comhairle

This issue is with regard to bovine viral diarrhoea, BVD, and the Animal Health Ireland programme. There are lots of farmers in the Deputy's constituency.

Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan

The Ceann Comhairle would be surprised. It is an animal welfare issue, but I was not aware that nobody from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine would be here to answer this. Was the onus on me to find that out? I thought we would know automatically if the Minister was not available.

An Ceann Comhairle

The protocol is the Department responsible should communicate with the Deputy and advise if it was not supplying somebody. The Deputy should be in a position to agree or disagree.

Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan

I was not aware, and no disrespect to the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee, who I know comes from a farming background. We will continue.

I am glad to have an opportunity to discuss this issue. It came out of parliamentary questions to the Minister, Deputy Creed.

The questions from me to the Minister, Deputy Creed, came from a number of small farmers who contacted me about this matter of animal welfare. They described this as a deplorable situation, which, if it is not resolved, could threaten the future of small farms in Ireland.

I have been told the national bovine viral diarrhoea, BVD, eradication programme is industry-led and delivered by Animal Health Ireland. It was introduced in 2012 and became compulsory in 2013 through legislation, requiring all animals born on or after 1 January 2013 to be tested for the presence of the BVD virus. If the animals are found to be persistently infected, PI, they can be disposed of. I have the figures for each year from 2014.

What are the problems causing all the concern, as initially it seemed to tick all the boxes? The first question is, in what sense is it industry-led? It would appear that industry in this case does not refer to farmers but rather companies that are getting funding and making money. That should be cleared up. Animal Health Ireland introduced the BVD programme in 2012 as a voluntary process and I understand 10% of Irish farmers participated initially. I might represent Dublin Central but I know the welfare of animals is the top priority of farmers; it is their livelihood. If this was to improve animal welfare, why was it not immediately taken up by many more farmers? It appears, because it was not taken up, that Animal Health Ireland enlisted the help of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, which introduced legislation very quickly to make it compulsory. There is again a question as to what engagement the Department had with farmers on this.

The Minister of State should also comment on what I am told is a naming and shaming system for farm families if a calf tests positive, as all the information is available. There are questions about Animal Health Ireland. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is well-staffed and it might have dealt with this. I believe €2 million was given to the organisation for this programme. It is also a lucrative business for the two pharmaceutical companies that manufacture and sell the BVD vaccination. In February 2018, the Veterinary Ireland Journal published an article where Animal Health Ireland and Veterinary Ireland announced a proposal submitted to a rural development programme and a grant of €6 million to keep the BVD and other programmes. It gives the impression that this is for the farmers in the form of an advisory service for vets.

Another reply I received indicated that the control of BVD is vital because the condition compromises the immune response capability of animals and control of BVD will bring overall health benefits to the national herd. Looking at the statistics, there is an impressive reduction in the number of PI animals from 2013. In 2017 the infection rate was 0.1% and to date in 2018, it is 0.04%, suggesting that the eradication programme has been successful in bringing about a major reduction in the number of PI animals being born. The anomaly appears to be with the other aspect of BVD control dealing with overall health benefits. The next statistic indicates there were over 247,000 animal deaths in 2013. This increased the following year, then there was a drop, an increase, a further increase and, in 2017, the number is still over 260,000. In 2011, before the BVD programme, the number was 215,000. Whereas BVD is being eliminated, the other health benefits supposed to come from it are not happening. The data does not capture the causes of animal deaths and in the reply I received, I was told the cost of finding those would be prohibitive. The Department is funding a programme which it argues brings two benefits but only one benefit can be seen. Surely there is a need for a cost-benefit analysis of the money to determine its best use.

Deputy Helen McEntee

I apologise for the Deputy not being informed about who would respond to this matter. If the response does not answer some of the questions asked, I will certainly bring this back to the Minister and relay the concerns to him.

The bovine viral diarrhoea, BVD, eradication programme undertaken by Animal Health Ireland was developed following an extensive consultation exercise. Animal Health Ireland was assisted in the work by the BVD implementation group comprising its own personnel, Veterinary Ireland nominees, farmer representatives and representatives of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The implementation group was guided by a technical working group of academics and scientists in deciding programme measures. There has been strong input from industry stakeholders, including farmers, since the programme's inception, with 91 meetings of the BVD implementation group having taken place.

A voluntary programme was introduced in 2012 and this became compulsory on 1 January 2013. The national compulsory BVD eradication programme came in on 1 January 2013 and from that date it has been a statutory requirement to test all calves and there has been a ban on the sale of calves without a negative result. The Department offers strong support to the BVD eradication programme and provides four Department staff who have manned the BVD helpline since the inception of the compulsory eradication programme in 2013. In addition, Department local offices operate the herd restriction system.

Progress to date under the BVD eradication programme has been excellent, as the Deputy points out, and a very high percentage of herds comply with the requirement to test their calves. The incidence of persistently infected, PI, animals has fallen each year from 0.66 % in 2013, when 13,877 animals tested positive for BVD, to 0.1% in 2017, where 2,390 tested positive. It is a significant drop. The incidence in 2018 has fallen further to 0.05%, where only 901 have tested positive to date. Relative to the position before the programme commenced, it is estimated the reduction in prevalence has generated a net benefit to industry in 2017 alone of €75 million.

One matter that hampered progress in the early years of the eradication programme related to the retention of PI calves. At the request of the BVD implementation group, herds retaining PI animals were restricted and the notification of neighbouring herds in a small number of cases became necessary in order to bring about early disposal of PI animals. Financial supports towards the early removal of persistently infected animals have played an important role in bringing about reduced incidence of the disease. It should be noted that improvements have been made in the BVD financial supports available for animals born in 2017 and 2018, with a significantly higher amount available for early disposal. Financial supports were made available for dairy herds for the first time, including payment in respect of dairy crosses and dairy bulls.

The supports available in 2017 are as follows. For beef herds, a payment of €185 will be available if the animal is removed within 21 days of the first positive or inconclusive test and a payment of €60 is available if the calf is removed between day 22 and 35 of the initial positive or inconclusive test. For dairy herds, a payment of €150 is available if the female dairy and dairy cross calves are removed within 21 days of the first positive or inconclusive test and a payment of €35 is available if the female dairy and dairy cross calves are removed between day 22 and day 25 of the first positive or inconclusive test. A payment of €30 is available towards the cost of disposal of the dairy bull calves within 21 days of the first positive or inconclusive test. Payments in respect of animals born in 2017 are being processed at present, with the bulk of payments made this week.

I thank Animal Health Ireland, the BVD implementation group and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine for the excellent progress made in the eradication of BVD from the Irish herd.

Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan

The level of animal deaths, as recorded by the fallen animal agency, has increased by tens of thousands annually since the introduction of the BVD programme in 2012. If Animal Health Ireland is to have any credibility in continuing the programme as it is, the elimination of the virus from animals should see a corresponding reduction in farm deaths rather than the increases borne out in statistics.

We know the BVD virus compromises animal immune response and overall health, weakening the animal's ability to fight infection. Eliminating BVD should see major benefits overall so if these do not come about, one must ask questions about the credibility of Animal Health Ireland. Is it just an example of an unnecessary quango? That is not to mention the lucrative business for pharmaceutical companies providing the vaccine. Are these people getting funding for something that is not really working in the ways it should? It comes back to a cost-benefit analysis and getting factual information from all farmers.

The Minister of State mentioned extensive consultations and alarm bells always ring with me when I hear that phrase. I always wonder how extensive are those extensive consultations. I stress that small farmers were in touch with me about the animal welfare aspect of this matter, so what farmers were consulted? Perhaps there is a need to get some more real facts from those who are most affected.

Deputy Helen McEntee

I note the Deputy's point that the level of animal death has increased since the programme was introduced in 2012. I also note her point as to who was consulted in the extensive consultation process. I will discuss the matters with the Minister, Deputy Creed, and ask him to come back to the Deputy directly.

Local Authority Funding

Deputy Thomas Byrne

I am grateful for the opportunity to raise this important matter. It is one on which the Minister of State, Deputy English, has been pressed locally and voiced his support. I thank my colleague, Deputy Shane Cassells, who has raised the matter regularly at the Committee of Public Accounts. The fact that Deputy Cassells has raised the matter at the PAC has put the whole subject into the minds of the people of County Meath. Certainly, many constituents have contacted me about it.

Many people have moved into County Meath. We still call people who moved there 20 years ago "new people". One of the first things they ask me having moved to places like Stamullin or Ashbourne is why the county has no parks department. They notice that there is a lower level of services in Meath than in Dublin. I suspect the Ceann Comhairle hears similar complaints from people in Kildare who have also made the move from Dublin.

An Ceann Comhairle

We have a parks department.

Deputy Thomas Byrne

The Ceann Comhairle is making my point for me from the position of independent Chair. I note to the Minister of State that there is a parks department in Kildare. It makes my point even stronger. Meath is bottom of the table when it comes to Government funding. The average per capita amount is €522 and that has been the case for years. It is not just a recent phenomenon and things are getting worse. I compare the €522 we get per head to the €1,388 Dublin city gets. Leitrim enjoys a spend of €1,115. In the counties surrounding Meath, the figures are as follows. The amount in Louth is €517 per person with a much smaller road network and the population is concentrated to a great extent in two urban areas. Westmeath has a population which is similarly concentrated in two large urban areas and the funding there is €750 per person. It is a bit less in Kildare, albeit still higher than Meath, at €639. The commuter belt is getting less money from the Department. That needs to change.

The population in these areas continues to expand and the problem is going to get worse. The Minister of State can see the building all around our county and the way in which the council struggles to provide the services the public expects from a local authority. The county council is struggling to provide a park in Ashbourne due to lack of resources. In Stamullin, the county council is struggling to provide a playground and it has taken a long time to provide a link road from Bettystown to Laytown. The facilities provided and the level of maintenance which takes place are not the same as one sees in other counties. Winter gritting is another classic example. For many years, someone travelling from Louth through Meath to Cavan would find the Meath stretch had not been gritted. All of the main roads in rural north Dublin near Ashbourne and Garristown are gritted, but the continued stretches of those roads into Meath are not because the council simply cannot afford it.

There must be a shift in mindset. The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport has changed the way it allocates sports grants to counties which means those with larger populations get more money. I welcome that. It is essential that we get facilities. That practice will have to be matched by the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government. Luckily, the Minister of State, Deputy English, is at the coalface in the Department. I welcome that. He is working hard. However, this is something that must be addressed.

Meath County Council has long had the additional challenge of not having a massive rates base. I must acknowledge that there has been a complete shift in that local authority as to where its priorities should lie. While it performs the traditional functions of a local authority, it also focuses heavily on attracting industry to the area. I was in Dunboyne today where it was wonderful to see construction well under way at Shire and the Facebook data centre. Indeed, the Avoca restaurant construction is also under way. That is the type of industry Meath County Council is trying to attract to provide jobs and crucial rates income. However, that activity must be matched by the Government if our citizens in Meath, who pay very high property taxes, are to get the services they deserve.

Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (Deputy Damien English)

I thank Deputy Byrne for raising this issue, which is close to my heart also. This situation has obtained for a long number of years and I am glad to have the chance to discuss solutions in the House. The Deputy is absolutely right about the base level of funding per head of population and that Meath is not getting its fair share. As I said when I was in opposition over many years, this is an issue which must be resolved. In my time as a Minister of State in my current Department and in the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and the Department of Education and Skills my focus has been on trying to close this funding gap. The Deputy is right that we have to do it because we need a greater share of money in the county to provide parks and other services. Thankfully, a review is on the way which will give us the opportunity to do that.

When one analyses the population data, the difficulty one sees is the massive population increase in Meath between 1996 to 2006. In Meath's own submission to our Department, this was flagged. On my first day in the Department, I told officials that the funding Meath County Council was getting was not enough and had to be changed. Everyone in the Department agrees that is a fair assessment on the basis of the population. The huge increase in the population took place between 1996 and 2006. During that period, Meath's population grew by 30% above the national average. I remember trying to convince Governments at the time that Meath was not getting its fair share. Those Governments were not led by my party. When I took office, the budgets were not there due to massive funding decreases and the money was not there to correct that situation. In the last couple of years, however, we have been changing that. With increasing resources, we are in a position to allocate funds to local authorities which experienced cuts.

Counties like Meath, which deserve more, are beginning to get more. Deputy Byrne said himself that he has seen it in the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. We have changed that to ensure Meath is in the top couple of counties per year in terms of funding for sports. That is rightly so per head of population. In the Department of Education and Skills, we have changed the methodology to ensure decisions reflect population trends. We are doing well in that Department. In the Department of Health and in relation to local authority funding, it is still a question of catching up with the population. Deputy Byrne and Deputy Cassells are right about that. I have said it for years myself and I am determined as a Minister of State to ensure my Department closes that gap.

I thank the Deputy for giving me the chance to outline today the importance the Government attaches to funding for local authorities, such as Meath County Council, and our desire to ensure such funding keeps up with population trends. The funding system applying to local authorities is complex as authorities derive their incomes from a variety of sources including commercial rates, charges for goods and services and funding from central government. Central government funding for local authorities is for a variety of purposes and involves current and capital transfers from a wide range of Departments and offices. It does not come solely from my Department. Most of the funding sourced from central government and provided to local authorities must be used for specified services. These can be grouped into a number of broad programme categories. The main such categories are housing, transport, environmental and recreational services.

In 2016, total transfers of funding from central government sources totalled €2.2 billion while my own Department provided a total of €1.26 billion to local authorities across a range of schemes. The sum provided by my Department in 2017 was €1.8 billion. Funding from my Department to Meath County Council has increased significantly over the last three or four years and is up from €29 million in 2015 to €45.5 million in 2017. This is rightly so as the funding must be reflective of the services needed in Meath County Council's functional area. I am glad that I have been able to work with the Department during my tenure to ensure that we increase the money. A recent example was that when we announced over €66 million in adaptation grants, Meath County Council got a greater share than other local authorities based on its population. We can close this funding gap over a couple of years. I have made it very clear to Deputy Byrne that we must close this gap given the population in counties like Meath. However, it can only be done over a period of a few years and as money comes back into the system which was not there before. Thankfully, we are in a position to do that.

As the Deputy knows, housing issues are a key priority of Government and significant additional funding is being provided to address them. This year, €1.9 billion is being provided for housing across the board. Meath County Council has been set an ambitious target to deliver almost 1,200 additional homes over the next couple of years through build, acquisition and leasing. I have started to meet with officials of Meath County Council and with officials from my Department and made it very clear that this is a minimum target. They have been told to go out and do what they can to build or otherwise acquire more houses and supply housing. They are not being told there is a limit on the funding. Housing was an area which did not get the proper resources in the past but that has changed. We are making the right progress to close the gap, but it is a fair assessment to say we need to close it further. That is something I am determined to do in my time in the Department.

Deputy Thomas Byrne

I appreciate the answer of the Minister of State that this is being looked at. It needs to be addressed urgently. Hopefully, the review on baseline funding will report by August. I hope this contribution takes into account and represents my constituency which is at a greater disadvantage even than that of Deputy Cassells. Obviously, our concern is for the entire county. In my part of the county, there are a lot of towns which are growing faster now than ever before. Ashbourne is one and services are struggling to catch up. Meath pays out a lot more than it gets back. This is a state and there will, of course, be an element of balancing funding across the country. I am not going to complain about that.

For every €100 of income tax that a Meath resident pays, Meath County Council estimates that only 5% is returned to Meath in local government funding. That must increase.

There is solidarity on all sides of this country and I accept that Meath will never be a net recipient of funding but it does need to increase. We need to have the types of services that I see in rural towns in the west of Ireland that we do not see in places such as Ashbourne, Ratoath or Dunshaughlin. In the case of Kells, where unfortunately the town council was abolished, the services provided in that town have reduced dramatically because there is no council. That needs to change.

I look forward to the report being issued. I appreciate and accept that the Minister is working on it and we look forward to change. The residents deserve this. They are working hard, in most cases outside the county, and it would be nice for them to come home to parks and the facilities to be able to relax when they are not working and to ensure that they have the same standards of public services as everyone else in the country, to which they are entitled.

Deputy Damien English

As Deputy Thomas Byrne said, the solution is the review that is under way. It is holding its first meeting today, and I will return to that in a moment.

We are all concerned with the whole of County Meath. Deputy Byrne has mentioned some towns and I will go through the rest - places like Navan, Trim, Enfield, Oldcastle or Athboy - and match them all up so that they all get the proper resources they need to provide the services for the people there. My job is to ensure we do that and I believe we are on the right track to do so again.

The problem was that our baseline figures were completely out of order because they were not sufficiently focused on population. In 1996, the funding as a national percentage that we used to get was 79%. Over the next ten or 15 years, that fell to 61% by 2005 or 2006. That is also the current position as it has not got any worse over the past seven or eight years, and in the past two or three years, we have begun to increase it. The funding has been wrong for many years. It is historical but it relates to the population increase, which could not be reflected in the funding because of the recession. The review of the baseline now under way will catch those population trends and the massive population increase in County Meath and put us in the position to close that gap over a period and get the funding to which we are entitled, in order to provide all the services that our county needs.

The setting up of the group to review the local government funding baselines is an acknowledgment of the challenges facing local authorities in funding, particularly in the context of the general economic circumstances facing the country over the past decade with reductions in central funding and constraints on income raising capacity. Thankfully this trend has now reversed with overall funding to local authorities starting to increase again. The most recent census in 2016 showed that Meath and several other counties have experienced a notable population increase in recent years. Meath's population grew by 6% in recent years alone but by 78% since 1996. Though a welcome development, I know at first hand, as does Deputy Thomas Byrne, that such changes can place additional demands on local authorities for services. Notwithstanding this, population is only one factor to be considered in local government funding but it is central to the review group.

The review group met today, with the first item on its agenda being the population and how that factors into funding. Under the current funding system for local government, each local authority has a minimum level of funding available known as the baseline. Given the separate review of local property tax currently being undertaken by the Minister for Finance, it is timely to conduct the parallel review of the local government funding methodology for such general purposes that I have referred to. That review of both the baseline and of the local property tax will give us a solution to provide the funding our county needs.

Anti-Social Behaviour

Deputy Róisín Shortall

I thank the Minister for coming into the House to respond to this issue, which I, together with other Members, have raised in recent years without a satisfactory response or indeed much response at all. The use of scramblers, quad bikes and motorbikes by young people has become the most common issue being raised in my constituency at community meetings. In safety forums in the Finglas and Ballymun areas, it is consistently the single biggest issue being raised by residents, the local authority and members of the Garda. People are losing patience with the Government's delay in responding to the matter by way of legislation and other measures.

There is now widespread use of quad bikes and scramblers by young people in my constituency and in many others, particularly in urban areas. It involves teenagers, in the main, driving these vehicles without tax, insurance or licence. It is not just a case of those over 16 years, who are obliged to abide by road traffic legislation, but we increasingly see younger children. In parts of the Dublin area at least, and probably in other urban areas, it is not unusual to see children as young as seven or eight years, and sometimes there are two or three of them on a single vehicle, racing around housing estates and on public open space, including parks, posing a huge danger to themselves, pedestrians and other road users. It is very closely associated with a high level of anti-social activity.

This has been brought to the attention of the current Minister, Deputy Flanagan, and his predecessors on several occasions. The problem is multifaceted. It started some years ago with the use of these vehicles in parks and the fact that road traffic legislation did not apply. We called for amendments there but nothing has happened.

Around Christmas 2016, I called for the Road Safety Authority and the Garda to announce an initiative to discourage parents from buying these vehicles for their children because it has become commonplace. They are not being stolen, they are bought by parents for children to race around the local community. It is a common practice that children as young as seven or eight years look for, and get, these vehicles as presents at Christmas or for confirmation or even first communion. That is because the situation has been allowed to get completely out of control. It was not stemmed originally when it was a minor problem only starting to emerge. Because of a lack of response then, the problem has now exploded and has reached a point where it is extremely widespread.

As an example, the local Garda sergeant in the Finglas area recently informed residents that he had successfully persuaded Tesco, which runs the local petrol station, to stop supplying petrol to these youngsters. Tesco deserves praise for agreeing to do so but this must be replicated by other outlets. That is the level of activity in which the Garda and the local council are involved in an effort to tackle this problem in the absence of an adequate response from the Government. Will the Minister please tell us that he will take this issue seriously. Can we expect to see some action?

Minister for Justice and Equality (Deputy Charles Flanagan)

I thank Deputy Shortall for raising this important public safety issue. The Deputy will recall that I responded to her parliamentary question on the same issue on 1 May 2018. I share the Deputy’s concern in respect of the misuse of scramblers and quad bikes. The repercussions of anti-social behaviour arising from the use of these vehicles can be very serious. Scrambler and quad bike users can become injured, sometimes critically, people in close proximity to these vehicles may also be injured, at times, acutely and there is the ever-present risk of fatality. In short, the misuse of scramblers and quad bikes can have a devastating effect on the users of these vehicles and the wider community.

The Deputy will appreciate I have no direct role in the prevention of anti-social behaviour or the enforcement of road traffic legislation, which are operational matters for the Garda Commissioner. However, the impact of anti-social behaviour associated with the use of scramblers and quad bikes is clearly unacceptable in terms of public safety, which is why I am focusing on this issue.

In order to tackle a public safety issue of this nature effectively, a multi-agency response is required. The Deputy is aware that my Department convened a cross-agency meeting on 25 April 2018. The purpose of the cross-sectoral meeting was to ascertain whether there are additional legislative or other solutions that can assist in dealing with the misuse of scramblers and quad bikes more comprehensively, with a view to determining responsibility and timeframes for implementation of solutions identified. The meeting was attended by officials from the Departments of Justice and Equality, Transport, Tourism and Sport, Housing, Planning and the Environment, and Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, as well as from An Garda Síochána, the Road Safety Authority and the Revenue Commissioners. My Department also met separately with representatives from Dublin City Council on 23 April.

The meeting took account of a range of perspectives on the misuse of scramblers and quad bikes and considered the various experiences currently being encountered in tackling this matter.

An Garda Síochána continues to work with local authorities and other public bodies with regard to implementing non-legislative enforcement solutions to deal with the misuse of scramblers and quad bikes. It is vital that this engagement not only continues but accelerates. The meeting concluded with an agreed set of key next steps in the context of driving tangible progress on this public safety matter. My Department’s officials are engaging with the Office of the Attorney General to obtain legal advice on the interpretation of a number of relevant pieces of legislation identified at the meeting to determine whether any legislative amendments are necessary to assist in curbing anti-social activity insofar as scramblers and quad bikes are concerned.

My officials also intend to consult further with local authorities in the context of the positive engagement fostered by local authorities with local communities, examples of which include community and youth-centred projects such as the various horse projects. The experiences of local authorities involved in these and other projects will be very informative to my Department in this matter. As the Deputy will also be aware, an important element of this issue is the Road Safety Authority. The authority intends to run a safety campaign with the aim of discouraging those who may consider purchasing scramblers or quad bikes as presents for minors for Christmas, birthdays or special occasions. I stress that the supply of mechanically propelled vehicles to persons under 16 or 17, depending on the vehicle, constitutes an offence under section 30 of the Road Traffic Act 2004. I assure Deputy Shortall that I am committed to supporting actively any positive actions that can be pursued in response to the serious public safety issues arising from the ongoing misuse of scramblers and quad bikes. I am happy to hear from the Deputy and to listen to her views from an on-the-ground perspective. I welcome her comments and her contribution.

Deputy Róisín Shortall

I thank the Minister for his reply. I very much welcome the establishment of the multi-agency group to look at this issue but progress is painfully slow. To a large extent the genie is now out of the bottle. It has become standard practice in some communities for youngsters to have these vehicles. Obviously the law has to be enforced in respect of those over 16 years of age. There has to be insistence on tax, insurance and a licence, but how is the Minister going to deal with the now very widespread problem of people under 16 years of age owning and using these vehicles? We need an urgent response to this and we are not getting it. There have been many serious accidents and it is inevitable that there will be further serious accidents and death caused by this activity. We are now in a period of fine weather and facing into the prospect of bright evenings and, it is hoped, long warm days. That brings its own problems in terms of this kind of activity in communities, which really poses a huge threat to other people who are trying to live in peace and quiet. It poses a threat to other children who are trying to use public open spaces and to people who are trying to engage in sport and so on. Pitches and parks are being churned up by the use of these vehicles.

There is no more time to lose in respect of this issue. We need an urgent response. It is fine for the interagency body made up of the four Departments and the Government agencies to be looking at this but we need action. There is a need for a change in the law in respect of the seizure and confiscation of these vehicles where they are being used by children. It is the parents who need to be pursued in terms of fines. The legislation needs to be changed and there needs to be a much stronger focus on this issue. There needs to be a sense of urgency from that interagency group because, as I have said, it is inevitable that there will be further serious injuries as a result of inaction in this area.

Deputy Charles Flanagan

I do not take issue with any of the points raised by Deputy Shortall. I acknowledge her interest in this matter. My Department will take ownership of this issue by convening the local agencies and stakeholders concerned. The problem has been that this issue has been passed around the various agencies and authorities. My Department has taken responsibility and leadership by convening a multi-agency group. We will continue to do that until this issue is resolved.

Deputy Shortall will also be aware that An Garda Síochána signalled its commitment to increasing the overall strength of the roads policing unit with the assignment of 150 additional gardaí to roads policing this year. It is proposed to continue to increase the overall strength of the roads policing unit until the full operational strength is restored. Road safety is the shared responsibility of all road users, not just An Garda Síochána, the Road Safety Authority and other State bodies. I urge anyone affected by or with information about these types of anti-social behaviour to contact their local Garda station. The phone number for the Garda confidential line is 1800 666 111. It is a monitored freefone line which allows members of the public to contact An Garda Síochána with information of a confidential nature. Crimestoppers, which operates in the Deputy's constituency, can be contacted on 1800 250 025. I acknowledge the commitment of all of the agencies involved in the genuine collaborative engagement being nurtured with local communities in seeking viable long-lasting solutions.

While the Deputy complains, I would be happy to hear her proposals for solutions along with mine because I firmly believe that this is the key to resolving the public safety concerns associated with the misuse of scramblers and quad bikes. It is easy to complain from the Opposition benches. In fact the Deputy has made a career of that.

Deputy Róisín Shortall

I have suggested what the Minister should be doing.

Deputy Charles Flanagan

I would welcome her proposals. I ask her to share in the resolution of this issue. I guarantee the Deputy and the House that I will continue to monitor closely the cross-agency engagement put in place by my Department. I acknowledge the experience of the Deputy in this regard.