Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 19 Jun 2018

Vol. 970 No. 4

Leaders' Questions

Deputy Micheál Martin

People will have been shocked and horrified by the revelations on last evening's "RTÉ Investigates" programme of appalling levels of environmental criminality, pitiful regulatory enforcement and a governance regime which allowed the wholesale and destructive pollution of lakes, rivers, sea, land and forests. It is without question that human health has been placed at risk as a result of the environmental damage being done by this criminality. The programme makers deserve great credit for their work. They revealed a darker and more dangerous aspect of the Wild Atlantic Way. A fragmented and ineffective national waste enforcement regime was laid bare, in particular in the west. We saw issues in Clifden, Tuam, Bray and Moville, County Donegal and much more. Appalling stories were told about the illegal dumping of commercial, construction and household waste, yet the total number of enforcement staff across all local authorities is only 150. What emerged from the programme was that enforcement had to be resourced far more effectively. Funding must also be allocated for a clean-up and waste recovery where illegal dumps are discovered, as illustrated, in particular, in the case of the Bray landfill site. The particular issue of the performance of Donegal County Council's in waste enforcement and management must be investigated. I do not say that lightly. The breach of licence conditions by the operation in Killarney was staggering, yet it appears there was passive tolerance of it early in the journey of the company involved. There was dumping in a special area of conservation near the River Barrow in an extraordinarily brazen way, threatening groundwater, the environmental purity of the area and human health through the leaking of leachate and the presence of asbestos. We saw waste being moved illegally from the South to the North.

Does the Taoiseach accept that the regulatory system governing waste collection and disposal is fragmented, ineffective and poorly resourced? We have had many inquiries but the "RTÉ Investigates" programme is the tip of the iceberg. Will the Taoiseach facilitate a form of fact-finding inquiry to get a truly national picture of the story around waste collection, disposal, enforcement and the application of the regulatory regime right now in the country so that we can find out what is going on in the sector to inform future policy? Will the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Denis Naughten, make himself available to the House this week specifically to answer questions on issues that arise from the "RTÉ Investigates" programme? The Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, might accompany him as well, if it involves areas of local authority enforcement that come under his remit.

The Taoiseach

I thank the Deputy for raising this question. I had the opportunity to watch the programme last night. It was an excellent programme. What we saw last night on "RTÉ Investigates" was a disturbing picture that tells us that we have a long way to go when it comes to waste enforcement in Ireland, and that what is happening in some - perhaps many - parts of the country is seriously harming our environment and certainly harmful to human health.

We have come a long way in Ireland when it comes to waste management and waste enforcement. Only 20 years ago, this was a matter that was solely controlled by local authorities and almost everything went to landfill. I remember those landfills, one such being Dunsink in my constituency where everything was just thrown into a landfill and there was almost no recycling or efforts to reuse or reduce at that time.

It is evident to me, however, and I imagine everyone in this House, that compliance and enforcement is not what it should be. There is significant variation in enforcement from local authority to local authority, as the Deputy Micheál Martin pointed out. He singled out Donegal County Council in particular where enforcement is low. We need to bear in mind that local authorities have a responsibility to decide how they allocate their own resources. Donegal allocates the least compared with other counties and Deputy Micheál Martin will be aware that the largest delegation on that local authority is Fianna Fáil. The second largest is Fine Gael. Of course there are councillors from my party too.

Deputy Thomas Byrne

It is an executive function.

The Taoiseach

I hope Deputy Micheál Martin-----

Deputy Michael Healy-Rae

That is a silly answer now.

An Ceann Comhairle

Order.

The Taoiseach

I hope Deputy Micheál Martin will be talking to his councillors about it. I certainly will be talking to mine about it.

Deputy Thomas Byrne

They have no role. It is the officials.

The Taoiseach

Elected members need to hold the executive to account. That is what elected members do.

Deputy Micheál Martin

Another regional waste plan.

The Taoiseach

Elected members in this Chamber hold me to account-----

A Deputy

Not for waste management.

The Taoiseach

-----and I would expect elected members on local authorities to hold their executive to account as well, not least in Donegal.

Deputy Thomas Byrne

It is a serious issue.

The Taoiseach

On compliance, while our compliance rate has improved beyond measure in recent years, our system is far from perfect and it would seem that a certain minority continues to feel that flouting the law is worth the risk. Enforcement is beginning to pay dividends and several important environmental and criminal outcomes in the past year represent a roadmap to put potential illegitimate waste operators permanently out of business. I am informed by the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment that several enforcement actions have been initiated and that all of the cases that were raised in "RTÉ Investigates" last night are either under investigation or constitute closed cases. As the programme highlighted, enforcement action against illegal waste operators, including unauthorised collection of waste and illegal dumping, is led by local authorities and the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, under section 63 of the Waste Management Act 1996, and the Minister is precluded from exercising any power or control in the performance of an agency or local authority in particular circumstances of a statutory function vested in it.

Deputy Micheál Martin

I am quite disappointed with the Taoiseach's response and the pettiness of it in terms of pointing out the make-up of a council. The Taoiseach will be aware that waste management is exclusively an executive function.

The Taoiseach implies a certain complacency, stating that we have come a long way. I do not believe we have. In some respects we might have but watching last night, the householder thinks he or she is recycling. The householder is doing his or her duty in terms of waste but many of these companies are not. What we thought was going into proper facilities is not going into them. Groundwater is being contaminated.

Land is being contaminated and human health is at risk. We cannot be complacent about this.

The Environmental Protection Agency is not governed by any councillors or group of councillors. It has issues in terms of transfer stations, the degree of enforcement, regular breaches of licences and the lack of any forceful impact from the regulatory regime. This cries out for a more urgent response than the Taoiseach demonstrated in his reply. I asked him if he would facilitate the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Naughten, and the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, coming to the House to take a longer series of questions some time this week because this is an important issue. I also asked if he would have a fact-finding inquiry to try to get a national picture of what was revealed yesterday in the "RTÉ Investigates" programme. We can say we have come a long way and we should move on but a tipping point has been reached, if the House will excuse the pun, and we need to deal with it legislatively. As an Oireachtas, we need to turn a corner and make sure the kind of stuff revealed last night never happens again.

The Taoiseach

Waste management is an executive function of local authorities but it is the role of elected members to hold the executive to account. Those of us in politics who have served as councillors or Deputies should be well aware that it is the role of elected members to hold the executive to account. It is also the role of elected members to set the budget for waste management and enforcement and that budget has to be voted through every year. I am disappointed that Deputy Micheál Martin would seek to absolve elected members of his own party-----

Deputy Mary Butler

Rubbish.

The Taoiseach

-----and indeed any party of any responsibility whatever for holding the executive to account or making decisions on budgetary allocations. We have local government in this country and it should not always pass the buck to others.

Deputy Micheál Martin

Does the Taoiseach have any responsibility?

The Taoiseach

On the issue of an inquiry, while I would give consideration to an inquiry, as the Deputy rightly pointed out, he calls for an inquiry every week in this House. We cannot always set up inquiries.

Deputy Thomas Byrne

This is the most inquired into of all Governments.

The Taoiseach

I will, however, give consideration to an inquiry in discussion with the Minister, Deputy Naughten. I am informed by the Department that all of the cases raised in the programme last night are either under investigation or have been closed already.

Deputy Timmy Dooley

Move along, there is nothing to see here.

The Taoiseach

With regard to facilitating the two Ministers to come before the House, the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, will take questions this week. It is a matter for the Business Committee to decide whether it can make time available for other Ministers.

Deputy Micheál Martin

I wanted the Taoiseach to answer a reasonable question, for God's sake.

Deputy Mary Lou McDonald

The Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, report on the operation of the Child and Family Agency, Tusla, which was brought by the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Zappone, to Cabinet has just been published. As we know, the report was initiated on foot of Tusla's catastrophic mishandling of allegations made against Garda whistleblower, Maurice McCabe. I understand the report is damning and outlines dysfunction and deficiencies within Tusla in the areas of staffing, systems, reporting and governance. I understand it highlights the alarming reality that Tusla has serious difficulties in recruiting and retaining specialist staff, in particular, social workers. The report also points to resourcing problems and the inability of Tusla to respond appropriately to cases of alleged or suspected child abuse. The unacceptable result of this catalogue of failure is that the Child and Family Agency is not adequately protecting children at ongoing risk. This means that children are knowingly being left in danger.

The Taoiseach may recall that when I raised the horrific Galway foster home rape case with him in April, I said the State's failure of children was a damning indictment on our political system. I also said it would not be long before we would be back here to discuss yet another failure, and here we are. There are children at increased risk today due to the culture of dysfunction in Tusla. This has been compounded by the Government's failure to act and properly resource a responsive and effective Child and Family Agency. It is clear that we need to see a radical step change when it comes to recruiting and retaining social workers. In January last, the Committee of Public Accounts highlighted the high staff turnover rates at Tusla. Despite hiring 250 new staff, the net gain was only 18 due to the high numbers of staff leaving the agency.

This is an issue we have raised time and again with the Minister. In May we learned that over 4,000 children referred to Tusla were waiting to be allocated a social worker. We need to see dramatic improvements, but we also need to see accountability for the litany of failures contained in today's report. In order to change the culture in Tusla there first has to be accountability. All of this is happening on the Taoiseach's watch. The diagnosis is clear: Tusla, as it stands, is not fit for purpose and what we now need are solutions to ensure the children at risk will be properly protected. What does the Taoiseach plan to do to address the chronic shortage of social workers in the system? The HIQA report published today was commissioned a year ago. The Government and all of us knew at that stage that there were very big problems. We also know that a year is a very long time in the life of a vulnerable child. What measures were taken in the interim to minimise the danger to children at ongoing risk?

The Taoiseach

The report does not deal with matters before the disclosures tribunal. It was, however, prompted by issues being dealt with by the tribunal. The Government accepts the report that was approved by the Cabinet today. Tusla accepts the report which will be implemented in full and its representatives will be before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Children and Youth Affairs this week to account for it. I commend the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Katharine Zappone, for commissioning the report in the first place and HIQA for carrying it out.

As a Government and a society, we have many obligations and responsibilities towards our youngest and most vulnerable citizens, paramount among which is ensuring they are not subject to abuse, whether sexual, physical, emotional or neglect. Therefore, having a properly functioning child protection system is a concern for us all, which is why the report was commissioned. I appreciate that it was published in the past hour or so and that Deputies have not yet a had a proper chance to read or study it, but in respect of recruitment and resources, it is important to quote from the report. It states there was abundant evidence of considerable financial investment that the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and Tusla's board and executive had made in staff recruitment and training and developing a more service demand model of staff allocation across its service. While it does raise issues surrounding the difficulty in recruiting and retaining social workers, the report acknowledges in black and white the fact that there is abundant evidence of considerable financial investment made by the Government and the agency in staff recruitment. Tusla's Exchequer funding for this year is €753 million, a €14 million increase on the figure for last year, a considerable increase by any measure.

The Deputy asked what specific actions were being taken or which had already been initiated or set in train. The Minister has directed Tusla to produce an action plan as recommended by HIQA setting out the steps required to implement the recommendations, together with clear timelines for doing exactly this. She is also going to appoint an independent expert quality assurance and oversight group to drive and monitor implementation in order that we will know what is happening. The group will publish regular updates on its work. The Minister has also advised that, in line with HIQA's report, she is prioritising several major initiatives to reform the way Tusla and An Garda Síochána deal with historical allegations of child sexual abuse and to support Tusla's workforce needs by creating formal career path mechanisms for students and graduates. She will meet the board of Tusla in the coming days. Many of the actions needed to implement the report's findings were already under way at the time the investigation was started and I might be able to go through them in my next time slot.

Deputy Mary Lou McDonald

The McCabe incident which, of course, we are not going to discuss here triggered the report and investigation, but the difficulties in Tusla were well known and had been well recorded in advance of them. What is of deep concern is what seems to be the scale of the systems failure within the agency on matters people would regard as the basics.

It is not that sophisticated systems seem to have failed here but that even the basics were not right in terms of reporting, recording and proper communications and standards.

I appreciate that an action plan will be published. I understand it will be made public and will be available on the Tusla website. I assume the Taoiseach and the Minister are giving an absolute commitment to ensure the action plan is actioned. However, a question remains on the issue of accountability and I ask the Taoiseach to address it. I will study the report carefully but I understand it catalogues massive failures at every level. I want to know who is to be held accountable for that.

The Taoiseach

The report catalogues failures and enormous shortcomings in Tusla and in child protection. The Deputy is right that these are often problems that we have known about for some time. It is a major job and effort to do the transformation that has occurred in recent years.

We cannot make these improvements soon enough, but I will give the Deputy an idea of where we have come from in only the past seven or eight years. We established a Department for Children and Youth Affairs and a dedicated agency, Tusla. When Tusla was set up it took on the full legacy left by the Health Service Executive and the health boards. We have put the rights of children in the Constitution. As I pointed out, we have increased resources for Tusla by €40 million in the past year. We successfully brought in mandatory reporting only at the end of last year.

The Deputy is right that the problems that exist around child protection are well known. However, they are being dealt with over time and we will continue to deal with them. I will give examples of some of the things done in recent months. In April a new chief social worker was appointed, so there is someone now very much in charge of social work. That person is key to ensuring that policy is being developed and implemented. In July a new information and communications technology recording system for child protection and welfare went operational on a nationwide basis for the first time. Joint work with the Garda is very important, especially when it comes to retrospective allegations, and improvements have been made in this area. The report finds that good governance arrangements are now in place at corporate and executive levels.

Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan

I will start with a statistic from the Road Safety Authority, namely, the number of road fatalities in 2017, which was 157. While this was regrettable, it showed a decrease on the figure from the previous year. We know the extent of the campaigns by the RSA. They are high-profile impactful television campaigns. The RSA maintains they make a difference and its surveys suggest adults are affected and influenced by them.

I want to compare and contrast the figure on road deaths with a different statistic, namely, the figure for drug-related deaths. It is not a direct year-to-year statistic because the statistics do not work that way. In the most recent recorded year, the figure for drug-related deaths was 695, which is 3.5 times higher than the figure for deaths on the roads. EUROSTAT published a statistic this morning indicating that the number of drug-related deaths in Ireland is three times higher than the European average. How seriously are we taking the drugs issue?

We know the facts. We know the increase in the rates of drug use in Ireland, especially among young people. We know about generational drug misuse and abuse. We know about the unhealthy relationships Irish people have with drugs and alcohol and the extraordinary damage done to families and communities. We know about the bills in health and crime and we know the links with sexually transmitted illnesses.

The Taoiseach launched the national drugs strategy in Dublin Castle last year. He said all the right things, recognising that the problem was a public health issue and the need to combat the underlying reasons for drug use and for effective intervention. He also recognised the importance of community participation in key decision-making structures. Two recent events highlighted the need for communities to be involved in the decision-making process. While both events took place in Dublin, the issues I am raising concerning drugs are national. On Friday last, the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Bruton, launched an initiative to get specific on prevention and education. A strong recommendation was made highlighting the need for a collaborative and agency approach involving community, youth projects and schools working together as well as listening to young people.

At a conference yesterday at Croke Park, hosted by the north inner city drugs and alcohol task force and the programme implementation board, on drug related intimidation we heard very frank accounts from those who were experiencing intimidation to pay money and attack homes and houses. There was one very frank account of intimidation to carry out a murder and all because of drug-related debt. Even though we see a strong commitment between the community and the Garda division, various surveys have found that such is the fear of reprisal, there are low numbers of people reporting. There is a strong recommendation that there be a multi-agency approach with statutory personnel who could make decisions with the community, linking the community involved in the decision-making process. This would recognise good practice in communities and the wealth of experience and knowledge in them. I ask that we commit to such a collaborative approach, with communities being part of the decision-making process.

The Taoiseach

I thank the Deputy for raising the two very grave matters of road safety and drug related deaths. We are aware that the number of deaths on the roads and related to illegal drug use runs into hundreds each year. One death is one too many, with people being struck down long before they should be, often in their 20s, 30s, 40s or 50s. The number of road deaths has fallen considerably in the past few decades. Previously, the number had been in the region of 600, but it is now around 150, which is still too many. There is evidence that the number may be rising again this year. I shall outline what is required in that regard. We must continue to support the Road Safety Authority and fund it well to continue its road safety advertisements and other information programmes. We must step up the level of Garda enforcement. There are 600 more gardaí than two years ago. We must ensure some of the extra gardaí are allocated to the traffic corps in order that we will have increased enforcement. We must also focus on legislation. The Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2017 is before the House and I encourage Deputies to support it.

I do not believe it is right to say road and drug related deaths are directly comparable. The phenomenology and reasons behind drug related and road deaths are very different, but the Deputy has made the point well that there are many more people in Ireland dying from drug related issues than on the roads. On what we can do about it, there is the new national drugs strategy which was published just a few months ago and is being implemented. There is also greater availability of naloxone, which is very important in helping to rescue people from an overdose. In time it will demonstrate and help to bring about a reduction in the number of deaths as a result of an overdose because the more available naloxone is to paramedics, key workers or even family and friends, the more people can be rescued from an overdose.

We are reviewing our overall approach. The Minister of State, Deputy Catherine Byrne, has appointed a commission to examine the issue of decriminalisation. It will look at whether we should move away from the current approach of criminal justice to decriminalising minor possession of what are illegal drugs in an effort to move away from a criminalising system to one that may be more health oriented. We also have approval for and are making good progress in putting in place Ireland's first injecting room in Dublin. This will allow people to inject safety and people will know the health benefits and the number of lives that may be saved as a result. I agree with the Deputy that communities must be involved in dealing with such issues and integrated into the decision-making and implementation processes. She is absolutely correct and the Minister of State will take up this issue and run with it.

Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan

The one point of comparison is that nobody wants deaths, but where there is a will, something can be done about it and road and drug related deaths can be prevented. I ask myself how much hope and confidence the people who are watching this debate, those who have heard the Taoiseach's reply, those who see what is happening, those with an addiction, their families and communities, those in recovery, community workers, youth workers, counsellors and teachers who are all at the forefront in dealing with these issues will get from what the Taoiseach has just said.

We are rightly horrified by child abuse, but there are young people who are the victims or perpetrators of drug dealing. That is also a child welfare issue.

We know the extent of the cuts - 30% to 37% - since 2008 to projects that are working directly at the forefront. They are now dealing with more complex, difficult and traumatic situations. Most of the task forces agree that they are seeing a doubling of the numbers. The slogan yesterday in Croke Park was "This is not a talking shop". It is time for the talking to stop and for the implementation of the new strategy.

The Taoiseach

I assure the Deputy that this is something that Government is very aware of and something that Government is very concerned about. The Deputy is right to say that the political will to bring about a reduction in road deaths made a big difference. Although the phenomenality around road traffic deaths and deaths related to drug use is very different, it required some similar things. It required education, political will, legislation and a change in approach and tolerance for certain behaviours like drink-driving, speeding and so on.

We have a national drugs strategy. That is being implemented. I mentioned how the greater availability of naloxone was saving lives and will save more lives into the future. I have mentioned how we are reviewing the approach to criminalisation and whether we should move away from a criminal justice-based approach to one that is about health. I look forward to the report of that body on that.

Regarding task forces, they have had their budgets cut over the years, although in recent years the budget has either been held steady or has been increased in some cases. Certainly, the budget for social inclusion within the HSE has been increased and was increased in the previous budget. We always need to bear in mind when it comes to any of these local implementation bodies, irrespective of whether it is a drug task force, that we need to compare one with the next and see if some are getting better results. We know from so many things in society that more resources do not necessarily mean better outcomes. We need to make sure that we put the resources behind policies and implementation bodies that produce results.

Deputy Eamon Ryan

We need to restore our climate reputation as a country, not just because we are facing €500 million in fines every year but because moving from worst in class to best in class, which is possible, would make this country better in many ways. The Dáil has a role to play. We should pass Deputy Pringle's divestment Bill, which will be up for discussion in two weeks. Similarly, we should pass the Green Party's Waste Reduction Bill 2017 which would help us to deliver a circular economy. We should pass Deputy Bríd Smith's climate crisis Bill, which would keep those fossil fuels in the ground. Goldman Sachs, Coca-Cola and ExxonMobil would not like that, but the Irish people are behind it and want to see it happen. We have the numbers in the Dáil. The only problem is Fine Gael. Fine Gael is the climate laggard, not the Irish people, and it needs to change.

The problem is that this change is greater than anything that the former Taoiseach, Mr. Seán Lemass, and Dr. T.K. Whitaker tried to do in the late 1950s and we have no one on Merrion Street willing to show such leadership now. That is what the Climate Action Network report and Citizens' Assembly said, and they were right. It is the Government that is in the dock.

To tackle this problem, we should think global and act local, which is an old green adage. The new economic model will be dependent on building healthy communities where quality housing is within walking or cycling distance of local services. To do that, we need strong local government, which means putting to the people next May the question of having directly elected mayors in every city. I have someone in mind, a modern Whitaker, who could lead Limerick into becoming a climate treaty city. I have someone in mind who would set Cork free from Dublin rule. I have someone in mind who could lead Galway in setting the west awake and someone who could make Waterford the true capital of the south east. In Dublin, we need a mayor to solve our terrible transport and housing crises. The Ministers for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, and for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Ross, are not solving them.

We need to say to the St. Michael's estate team that we will go the cost rental route. We need to stop Transport Infrastructure Ireland building ever larger motorways into Dublin and bringing more cars in, resulting in us having to dig up our front gardens when what we should be doing is using those engineers to build greenways everywhere and turn Dublin into what it should be, namely, a great garden city.

The same applies in rural Ireland. We need a national land use plan that treats the whole country as a national park rather than the illegal dumping ground we saw last night. That is necessary if we are to plant 20,000 ha of new forestry and create a national rainforest. To make all of this happen, the Oireachtas committee on climate change that we are about to establish needs to work. It must start in September, finish by the end of the year and have the seven Secretaries General attend on Wednesday afternoons in October and November.

It must build a new national energy and climate plan, which we have to do for Europe, because the Government's current plan does not work. I do not believe it. Internationally, no one believes it. It needs to change. Is the Taoiseach willing to change or is Fine Gael sticking with the status quo with fossil fuels and with turning Ireland's reputation brown rather than the green it should be? We need to be orange and green in reality, not just as marketing spin.

The Taoiseach

I look forward to seeing the outcome of the Oireachtas committee's work. I hope that will be done on an all-party basis and not on a partisan basis. We are much more likely to see it produce a valuable outcome if it adopts an all-party, consensual approach rather than an adversarial or prosecutorial one. I hope it will start in that vein.

Tomorrow, the Minister, Deputy Naughten and I, and others, will launch the climate action fund. It is a €500 million fund that we are setting aside, funded by the National Oil Reserves Agency, NORA, levy that we place on oil. That fund will be worth €500 million, to be drawn down over the next ten years. We will encourage businesses, ITs, universities, NGOs, the community sector and anyone who has good ideas as to how we can bring about step changes in how we treat our climate to bid for that money. I look forward to the launch of that tomorrow.

We will also outline in greater detail how Project Ireland 2040 will help us to meet our climate change obligations and to move from where we are now to a low-carbon economy and society. The kind of measure we will pursue is that, from next year, any new bus bought for Bus Éireann or Dublin Bus will have to be a low emission or zero emission vehicle. We have also confirmed that, by 2025, we will take coal off the grid entirely, becoming one of the first countries in the world, certainly in Europe, not to use coal, a very dirty fuel-----

Deputy Timmy Dooley

We are still missing all the targets.

The Taoiseach

-----to power our electricity system. The phasing out of peat subsidies is under way. Peat is a very dirty fuel and burning that contributes considerably to climate change. We are also going to see real, substantial investment in transport now that we can afford to do it, with things like the electrification of more of the commuter rail network around Dublin, Kildare, Meath, Wicklow and Louth in particular reducing emissions. People have seen the plans for ambitious projects such as MetroLink and BusConnects in Dublin, Cork and Galway, and the impact that will have on climate change by reducing bus times by half. Many more people will get out of their cars and use public transport. Those are the kinds of things the Government is doing.

We have fallen behind for a number of reasons. The economic crisis which was inflicted on this country meant that we did not have the money that we needed to invest in infrastructure. The fact that our economy has recovered so fast has led to a rise in emissions. Now that we have a plan and the resources to do it, we can make some meaningful progress in the period ahead and I intend to make sure that happens.

Deputy Eamon Ryan

That plan is not ambitious enough. It has to change. I hear what the Taoiseach said at the start. I would agree to work on a cross-party basis. Let us not make this a fight because we will be stronger when we work on it together. To do that, the Government needs to move too and recognise that some of the suggestions on this side of the House, the sorts of Bills that I mentioned, would restore our direction within months. There would not be huge costs and they could be done. They are not easy. It is complex and difficult, and we will make mistakes, but doing nothing is not an option and what the Taoiseach has on the table is not enough.

I am glad that the Taoiseach is doing that community event tomorrow but I have one question on where we should go. It is about strong local government, trusting communities and allowing them to make decisions for themselves. It should be for every city and town. Will the Taoiseach not trust his own instinct? I have heard him say many times, as did the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, that he believes in directly elected representation and mayors. He has said it clearly. We need to be radical, to think big, put aside some of the fears that the public servants have, be political about this and say that we trust our people in Dublin, Cork, Waterford and Limerick. Just like Clonakilty has been a huge success with its own mayor, why would we deprive every town of the same success?

Will the Taoiseach, in his community event tomorrow, say whether he will trust communities and allow them to get local leadership to make this transition? We will work with the Taoiseach on this new plan in the committee. We will not be easy to work with because we will demand real change. I hope the Taoiseach is open to that because we need to do that. The Taoiseach's plan is not enough. We will make this work. This Dáil has a job to do. Let us stick with it, not pull a quick election, and do the work we have to do. We are the ones to do it.

The Taoiseach

First, I hope the Deputy will examine the plan and the proposals that are being launched tomorrow, before concluding that they are not enough.

Deputy Eamon Ryan

I have not been invited.

The Taoiseach

Generally, that is the approach people take to these things. They examine the facts and look at the plans and then a decision is made as to whether they agree with them.

Deputy Eamon Ryan

Were you invited, Timmy?

Deputy Timmy Dooley

No.

The Taoiseach

In relation to some of the legislation that is currently before-----

Deputy Micheál Martin

There is no cross-party approach there.

An Ceann Comhairle

Could the Taoiseach be allowed to answer please?

The Taoiseach

Thank you, a Cheann Comhairle. In relation to some of the legislation that is currently before Oireachtas committees, I am told that the Oireachtas Committee on Communication, Climate Action and Environment will be discussing the energy security issue in light of the Solidarity-PBP Bill to ban offshore oil and gas exploration.

Deputy Timmy Dooley

The Taoiseach is going out of his way to prevent us doing that.

The Taoiseach

However, it is important to bear in mind that we will always need a certain amount of oil and gas. We need it for medical devices, some plastics which are necessary, and we need it for aviation fuel. It is important to bear in mind that we may always need, for the foreseeable future anyway, some amount of oil and gas, and it might make more sense if that is our own rather than being imported. Gas is recognised in the energy White Paper as a transition fuel and as we move away from very dirty fuels such as coal and peat, for example, we may need to use natural gas for a period.

I am in favour of directly elected mayors. I have said that before. I do trust people, and the way one trusts people is by putting it to a plebiscite. One does not impose it on people, one puts it to a plebiscite and that is what we intend to do. It is relatively straightforward for Cork, Limerick and Waterford but not so straightforward for Dublin where there are four local authorities. We will need to look at what model might work there, but it is the Government's policy to put plebiscites to the people. We intend to do that next May at the same time as the local and European elections, but one thing we need to work out before that is what it means to have a directly elected mayor. That is what the Minister of State, Deputy John Paul Phelan, is working on now and he will come to Cabinet with it before the recess. If directly elected mayors only have the powers of existing mayors and cathaoirligh, they will not be able to do any of the things Deputy Eamon Ryan mentioned, so what we will need to do at the very least is to transfer the executive power of county and city CEOs to those mayors because it is not the fact that it is an elected position or a five-year position that makes the difference-----

An Ceann Comhairle

We are way over time.

The Taoiseach

What makes the difference is the powers and the executive functions one vests in the mayor and that is what we need to resolve.

An Ceann Comhairle

That concludes Leaders’ Questions.