Bernard Durkan
Question:1. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Taoiseach the extent of any recent discussions with the various political parties in Northern Ireland in the context of the shared island initiative. [9878/23]
Ceisteanna - Questions
Northern Ireland
Mary Lou McDonald
Question:2. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the shared island dialogue all-island women's forum civic initiative. [10770/23]
Brendan Smith
Question:3. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Taoiseach if he will provide a report on any recent discussions with political parties in Northern Ireland in regard to the shared island initiative. [11296/23]
Gary Gannon
Question:4. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Taoiseach the extent of any recent discussions with the various political parties in Northern Ireland in the context of the shared island initiative. [10956/23]
Ivana Bacik
Question:5. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the shared island initiative. [11010/23]
Mick Barry
Question:6. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the shared island initiative. [11397/23]
Cathal Crowe
Question:7. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Taoiseach if he will provide a report on any recent discussions with political parties in Northern Ireland in regard to the shared island initiative. [11611/23]
Tógfaidh mé Ceisteanna Uimh. 1 go 7, go huile, le chéile.
As provided for in the programme for Government, we are taking forward our shared island investment objectives and working with all communities and traditions to build consensus around a shared future, underpinned by the Good Friday Agreement.
In my discussions to date with political party leaders in Northern Ireland, I have set out the Government's continued implementation of our shared island initiative. I have also made clear that the Government is ready to undertake significantly more all-island investment co-operation with a new executive, should it be established, and with the British Government, as co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement.
So far this year, Ministers have commenced new shared island programmes for civil society, electric vehicle charging and community climate action on an all-island basis. We want to do more this year, including on education, higher education, healthcare, enterprise and innovation, and climate action.
All Departments continue to develop potential shared island projects for consideration by Government, in consultation with counterparts in Northern Ireland, a wide range of stakeholders on the island and the British Government, as appropriate.
Inclusive dialogue with all communities on common concerns for the future is also continuing. The first event in a refreshed shared island dialogue programme will be held next month, looking at how media represents the whole island and different communities and perspectives, both North and South.
On Monday, 6 March, the latest report under the shared island research programme was published by the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, on migrant integration in Ireland and Northern Ireland, at an event attended by over 150 people. It showed differences as to how migrants are accepted in Northern Ireland versus here in the Republic.
The all-island women's forum is a very welcome contribution to the shared island initiative, convened by the national women’s council and in receipt of funding via the Reconciliation Fund of the Department of Foreign Affairs. The forum provides an important space for civic dialogue led by women, contributing to wider public debate and helping to shape the all-island agenda.
Finally, it is critical that we get the Northern Ireland Executive and North-South institutions in place again as soon as possible. The Government is working intensively to do exactly that.
I thank the Taoiseach for his comprehensive reply. In pursuit of the objectives of the shared island initiative, I would ask that the situation might be utilised to promote the benefits to the people in Northern Ireland and all sectors there and to promote the benefits of the shared island initiative to the people in the South because there is a great possibility of a gain for everybody, both North and South, for all the interests in Northern Ireland, and for the interests of the joint approach in trade, inter-trade, and trade in the European Union and in the wider Continent of Europe.
On what is International Women's Day, I will take the opportunity to acknowledge the important work of the all-island women's forum and the women from across Ireland's diverse communities who have participated so generously in that work. We support the forum's ambition to be a catalyst for change in seeking substantial reform that will enable women to take our rightful place as leaders in our society. As legislators and leaders in our communities, we have the responsibility not only to work with the forum and other organisations committed to gender equality and inclusion, but to deliver on the reforms already committed to and, by so doing, create pathways for all women to be their own agents of change.
There is much left to be delivered on within the forum's family-friendly and inclusive Parliament report. I commend the Ceann Comhairle on his work in pushing out the report's recommendations. Full delivery will make a powerful difference to all women working in this institution and to those outside who are considering a future role in the public service.
I wish to raise the delay in publishing legislation to provide maternity leave for Members of the Oireachtas. This provision was to be in included in the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill, but the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, has instead decided to introduce stand-alone legislation. Will the Taoiseach confirm when that legislation's draft heads will be introduced?
I welcome the Government's decision to hold a referendum this year on gender equality. The invaluable contribution of the citizens' assembly and our colleagues on the Joint Committee on Gender Equality to this outcome must be fully acknowledged. Guím Lá Idirnáisiúnta na mBan faoi mhaise daoibh go léir.
I thank the Taoiseach for his detailed and positive response to my question. As he is well aware, substantial public funding has been committed to an all-island investment from 2021 to 2030 through the shared island initiative, PEACE PLUS and Project Ireland 2040. I know from engagement at the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly and the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement that there is a warm welcome from both political traditions on this island for the shared island initiative and the other funding streams. That welcome is shared by members of the British Parliament, given the benefits it will bring on an all-Ireland basis.
Recently, the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement received a presentation from the All-Island Cancer Research Institute, AICRI. It was heartening to listen to its representatives outlining how important shared island funding had been for them. Universities and hospitals on this island, North and South, are working together and with counterparts in Britain and America. Fabulous work and research is being done to try to cope with the terrible disease of cancer and the frightening prospect of how much more it will impact on the population.
The Taoiseach mentioned how education, including higher education, would be a beneficiary of the shared island initiative. I would like emphasis to be placed on further education. There is scope to have our colleges of further education, North and South, working together, identifying courses that can be delivered in Enniskillen for students from the South and in Cavan and Monaghan for our neighbours in Northern Ireland. There could be a much greater sharing of resources in further and higher education. Recently, I had the opportunity to meet the provost and her senior personnel at the University of Ulster. They were excited about the possibilities of more co-operation with their counterparts in this State through shared island funding.
I wish to ask about the Taoiseach's engagements with the shared island initiative and the discussions he has had with political parties in the North and Westminster regarding the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill. It has been described, and condemned, by Amnesty International as protecting perpetrators from prosecution and denying victims justice. It redefines torture and allows sexual assault to go unprosecuted.
Hundreds of Northern Ireland Housing Executive workers have been out on a pay strike for more than seven months. These are essential workers who continued to serve the public during Covid. Workers have joined with tenants to share their concerns about the shocking intransigence and inaction by the Housing Executive and the Northern Ireland Department for Communities. Workers and tenants have been incredulous about how it seems that no one is in charge and no one is answerable to housing workers or tenants. All the while, the job list keeps growing – broken windows, mould and damp, disability adaptations and getting empty houses ready for families who badly need them. In the absence of decision makers in the Housing Executive or the Department, the workers have written to the Northern Ireland Secretary of State and plan to travel to his constituency, if necessary, to ensure that he gets the message that he must intervene.
Despite the duration of the strike, the workers are buoyed up by public support, and especially by the rejection by their sister union, the Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance, NIPSA, of the same disrespectful pay offer. NIPSA is also balloting its members for action. Will the Taoiseach raise with the Secretary of State how, in the interests of justice, this dispute needs to be resolved to the satisfaction of the workforce?
Among other matters, the shared island initiative looks at the all-Ireland energy market. North and South, people have been hammered by rising energy costs. It may be of interest to the Taoiseach to note that one of the two major gas suppliers in the North, Firmus Energy, has just reduced its prices for gas by between 18% and, in some cases, 22% because of the reduction in wholesale gas prices. Interestingly, SSE Airtricity, which operates North and South, is not doing so.
We have a fall in wholesale energy prices and one company can reduce prices dramatically – it will amount to a reduction of €300 to €400 per year – but other companies, presumably because of their profit imperatives, are deciding not to. Does this not show how the supposedly competitive market does not deliver for consumers and where what is needed, North and South, is intervention to control the prices that are being charged to customers and prevent the profiteering that is going on by energy companies on the island? The Firmus Energy example shows it is not necessary to have price gouging of customers, who are being crucified by the energy bills they are receiving.
My office has asked me to make a correction regarding an answer I gave earlier on. I think I said that, north of the Border, about 2,000 social homes had been built. That was incorrect – I was overgenerous. In 2021, it was 763. In 2022, it was 1,356 against 8,000 here. I remember Deputy McDonald was asked in an interview – I think it was on "The Late Late Show" – what her solution to the housing crisis would be, and she answered, or rather quipped, that the Irish were good at building houses. It is pretty clear that Sinn Féin in government is not. It has been a very poor performance by Sinn Féin, which had the finance minister and the housing minister during that period. There are people who believe the housing crisis could not get worse. It could. Sinn Féin cannot build houses, would tax landlords and would take away the help to buy scheme from first-time buyers.
Is this the Taoiseach's social media clip for the day?
Regarding the all-island women's forum report, the forum has received funding for a second year of work through the reconciliation fund of the Department of Foreign Affairs, which is welcome. The Government looks forward to continuing to interact with the forum as the latter continues its deliberations. Government Departments are considering the recommendations made by the forum in its first report, including on all-island approaches to gender-based violence, deepening of North-South education links and amplifying women's voices in the media, North and South. The shared island unit also met the National Women's Council in October to discuss the second year of work of the forum.
I want to be associated with Deputies' remarks on the family-friendly and inclusive Parliament proposals for here.
I met the Ceann Comhairle about it. I want to put on record my support for the idea of a second working Chamber and that I am absolutely willing to attend and participate in that as Taoiseach and as a Deputy.
On the issue of all-island cancer research and the AICRI, I agree with the remarks of Deputy Brendan Smith and others that health has been one of the areas in which we have seen considerable progress. It has been done in a low-key, effective way whether it is cardiac services in Altnagelvin, cancer, paediatric services, or cardiothoracic surgery in Crumlin hospital. It is a really good example of co-operation. We are a very small island and we can treat conditions as an island of 7 million people in a way we could not as jurisdictions of 5 million and 2 million people. I would love to see more co-operation in that regard. I agree with Deputy Brendan Smith's comments on higher education, particularly with regard to co-operation in the north west.
I will not comment on strikes in Northern Ireland. They are industrial disputes. It is not my role to comment on them but I hope they can be resolved. They could be better resolved if the Executive was up and running. I hope that will become possible in the next few weeks or months.
I will follow up on the issue of retail gas prices raised by Deputy Boyd-Barrett. If the company has cut its retail prices in the North, it should cut them here too. Perhaps it is not as straightforward as that but I am aware of the reduction the company has announced and I hope it presages a positive announcement here.
On the UK legacy Bill, the Government continues to express its deep concerns on what is being proposed, as well as on the unilateral approach of the UK Government. I raised this directly with Prime Minister Sunak during our call in January and at my meetings with party leaders in Belfast. The Tánaiste also raised it at the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference. The UK Government has now published amendments to the Bill. However, we do not believe these alter the substance of the proposed approach and they fail to meet our concerns around immunity, compliance with human rights obligations and victims' participation. We have been consistent in our opposition to the Bill across the board and remain engaged with the UK Government on it, strongly urging it to pause its current legislative route and to return to a partnership approach that is victim-centred. I concur with Deputy Gannon's comments. We often talk about the legacy Bill in respect of murders and assaults in a conflict context. If it would give people immunity around sexual assaults as well, that would be really appalling. We know the stories of IRA people and maybe others who were involved in sexual assaults and the idea that they would somehow get immunity would be hard to stomach, if that is part of the proposal.
Economic Policy
Mary Lou McDonald
Question:8. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the Government's response to Ireland's Competitiveness Challenge 2022. [9602/23]
Bernard Durkan
Question:9. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Taoiseach the progress to date in addressing and-or implementing actions proposed by the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council, in the context of Ireland’s Competitiveness Challenge 2022. [10233/23]
Ivana Bacik
Question:10. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the Government’s response to Ireland’s Competitiveness Challenge 2022. [11007/23]
Ruairí Ó Murchú
Question:11. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the Government's response to Ireland's Competitiveness Challenge 2022. [11252/23]
Cian O'Callaghan
Question:12. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the Government's response to Ireland's Competitiveness Challenge 2022. [11541/23]
Cathal Crowe
Question:13. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Taoiseach if he will provide an update on the Government's response to Ireland's Competitiveness Challenge 2022. [11546/23]
The next grouping is Questions Nos. 8-13. If we work together we can get through all the Taoiseach's Questions. I ask Members to be brief and keep to the questions.
Presumably that includes the Taoiseach.
I am happy to comply. I will stop when the clock stops.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 8 to 13, inclusive, together.
The National Competitiveness and Productivity Council published its annual competitiveness challenge report in September 2022. The report makes recommendations to the Government across a range of policy areas. On 29 November 2022, the Government published a formal response to the council's recommendations. This is the third year in which a formal response was issued by the Government to the challenge report. The response was co-ordinated by my Department which drew together material from other relevant Departments. The council outlined a set of 20 priority actions or recommendations across a broad set of areas for Government consideration. These include boosting productivity, enhancing the labour market, supporting infrastructure investment and managing business costs. The Government welcomed the focus of the council on the priority areas outlined and agreed on their relevance to Ireland's continued competitiveness.
One of the challenges identified by the report Ireland's Competitiveness Challenge 2022 is the need to enhance labour market performance for the purpose of increased productivity and competitiveness. The report finds that increased performance can be achieved by increasing participation and fostering skills and calls for these productivity gains to be shared with workers which is an important emphasis that should be noted by the Government and by employers. Digital literacy and skills are identified as core competencies to be embedded throughout the workforce. It is timely as the global theme of this year's International Women's Day is the unprecedented potential that now exists to eliminate disparity and inequality in the lives of women through technology, in particular women and girls from disadvantaged communities. There remain significant access gaps which require better digital infrastructure, coupled with provisions around affordability, accessibility, online privacy and safety to ensure meaningfully that more women are connected. More generally, we know that computer use is split according to socioeconomic status, with half of those in lower socioeconomic groups - that means poorer people - using computers daily compared to those on higher incomes. The report notes that without quality education, upskilling and reskilling opportunities throughout the life cycle, the economy is at risk of being constrained. The Government's ongoing refusal to regularise the contracts of education and training board, ETB, adult tutors is even harder to comprehend when set against this advice from the council. When will the Taoiseach recommit his Government to addressing the economic and gender blockages to digital access?
I thank the Taoiseach for his comprehensive reply. To what extent has the Government put the various issues raised by the council on a priority list with a view to a response within a specified time and to what extent will benefits accrue to the economy as a result of the implementation of each of the points?
One of the issues identified as a barrier to our competitiveness is the lack of housing people can afford. With regard to the Government's decision to lift the ban on evictions, is the Taoiseach aware that in most European countries tenants who pay their rent cannot be evicted? Ireland is now in the unique position of having some of the highest rents in Europe and some of the lowest security for renters. Is the Taoiseach aware that after 13 years of Fine Gael in office, homelessness is at record levels? It has never been so high. Is he aware that the decision made by the Government yesterday will make homelessness numbers higher? It will directly lead to more people sleeping in tents, cars and on our streets. Is he aware of the devastating impact homelessness has, especially on children? Is he aware that growing up in a confined hotel room affects a toddler's ability to learn how to crawl? Will he reverse the cruel and heartless decision to lift the ban on evictions?
On the topic of Ireland's Competitiveness Challenge 2022, how does the Government propose to deal with the lack of housing, especially where workers are concerned? Foreign direct investment is flooding into Ireland. Companies are advertising jobs but are unable to recruit people because of a lack of housing in certain areas. Shannon town in County Clare is one. It is a constraint we never had heretofore, but suddenly the barrier to taking on employees is the lack of housing in the locality. Would the Taoiseach perhaps consider the practice of many years ago whereby larger companies, such as Guinness, Beamish and Crawford and Shannon Development in County Clare, were incentivised by the Government to build housing schemes for their employees? Would he consider that as another way of building housing stock and allowing these companies to come to Ireland and to have their employees living close to the factory or production line facility?
Normally when we discuss competitive challenges we see them as issues that affect the bottom line in business, such as energy costs, wage costs etc. However, even now employer organisations are saying that housing is dominating their competitive challenge with workers' inability to find homes. That applies to both the public and private sectors. Schools, hospitals, mental health facilities, public transport etc, as well as the private sector, all report that they simply cannot get people to take up and keep jobs because of the failure of workers to find a place to live. For all the eulogising of Ireland's leprachauns' economy, of the foreign direct investment, the amazing exports, the cuckoo funds that are here etc, the basic fundamentals of providing homes for workers remains beyond our capability. The decision to lift the eviction ban makes absolute sense if the Government's concern is to attract and keep vulture and cuckoo funds and cosy up to corporate landlords. If it sees economic competitiveness as a goal in itself in macroeconomic terms, it is ignoring the human impact on families, workers and individuals, especially children, such as those we saw on "Prime Time", traipsing around to find homeless accommodation.
For once will the Taoiseach be what he always claims to be, which is non-ideological, do the decent thing and tell families facing this terror that he will reverse the decision? We do not mind if he justifies it by saying it is in the interests of the competitiveness of the country. That is fine. It would be in the interests of the competitiveness of the country. We will be standing in solidarity with any of those families who decide to overstay.
I will speak on the same theme. Even business interests are now saying the housing and homelessness crisis is a major barrier to economic development or competitiveness if we want to put it in those terms. The Taoiseach justified what I believe to be the cruel and shameful decision to allow more families, individuals and children to be evicted into homelessness in the coming months on the basis he would do other things, namely, ramp up the purchase of homes where people are threatened with eviction.
Yesterday I received an interesting email from a landlord who has to sell his property for financial reasons but does not want to evict his tenants. This is in my area and it will interest the Cathaoirleach. The landlord approached Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council to say he does not want to evict the tenant and to ask the local authority if it would buy the property. The local authority asked whether he had issued the tenant with a notice to quit. He said he does not want to evict the tenant and that he wants the local authority to buy the property. He was told that if he was not threatening to evict the tenant, the local authority would not buy the house. This is typical of what is going on at present. It is "computer says nah" with Government schemes. It is similar to the issue I raised yesterday with the Taoiseach of the family who were over the income threshold and therefore were not eligible for the tenant in situ scheme. The Taoiseach mentioned particular circumstances. There are particular circumstances but let me make it clear: this family will be homeless.
The Taoiseach should maintain the eviction ban, but if he will not do so, will he please tell local authorities to have a human, flexible, explore-all-options approach to preventing people being made homeless and not tell people they do not tick the box of a particular inadequate Government scheme and therefore they cannot do anything for them? This has to change urgently. This example demonstrates the point.
In response to the Chair's call earlier and Deputy McDonald's comment, I will finish on time. I thank Deputies for their questions on Ireland's Competitiveness Challenge 2022 report, which is the matter for discussion. As Deputies know, I meet all the time people who are investors, business people or employers. Of course housing and infrastructure are issues they raise. They also say these are the same problems they often experience where they are headquartered, whether it is in London, San Francisco, New York, Lisbon or other parts of the world that are also experiencing a housing shortage.
Housing can be a constraint on economic growth. Certainly the housing situation is making it harder to recruit and retain staff. We should put this into a factual context. There are now 2.57 million people at work in Ireland, more than ever before. Unemployment is approximately 4%. It is close to an all-time low. Youth unemployment is at an all-time low. Last year was a record year for investment and foreign direct investment job announcements in Ireland. Every year tens of thousands of people come to Ireland to take up employment, which is many more than leave. Certainly from an employment and economic growth point of view, we are doing pretty well, notwithstanding the housing crisis, which is perhaps holding us back from doing even better.
In response to Deputy Crowe's question, I know some employers provide accommodation for their staff. This is not something new. It has been very common in the hospitality sector and the agrifood sector for a long time. I do not think it is the solution to the housing crisis, but if they are willing to do so, it is certainly not unwelcome.
I was asked about the recommendations of the report and how we will implement them. The report identifies a range of recommendations that focus on immediate competitiveness issues and more medium-term challenges, aimed at enhancing our competitiveness and productivity. There are 20 tangible actionable policy recommendations under five main headings. One of these headings covers immediate issues facing the Irish economy, with the focus on our response to inflation and ensuring we do not exacerbate or embed inflationary pressures. It also deals with the importance of targeting assistance and productive spending. Another heading covers the need to boost broad-based productivity growth, with a focus on ensuring the approach is as broad as possible. Productivity is the engine of economic growth in the longer term and, as such, it is crucial to improvements in living standards associated with growing and sustainable wage levels, good public services and improved well-being.
It was interesting to see the report from the Central Bank the other day that suggested we will see income grow by approximately 6% or more this year. It is not quite the rate of inflation. In fact, it will probably be higher than the rate of inflation for the year. It has not happened yet but the Central Bank is certainly predicting that we will see a return to what we saw for a long time, last year being an exception, which is incomes growing faster than inflation. It will not be true for all people but it will be true for most people. It will be good if it happens but it has not happened yet.
Another heading in the competitiveness challenge report covers enhancing labour market performance. This is achieved by fostering skills and participation while ensuring the gains from productivity growth are broadly shared with workers and that non-wage labour costs are kept down. It also covers assisting infrastructure investment for a better future, including housing and managing the costs of doing business. As I said earlier, the Department co-ordinates the response. In the vast majority of cases, substantive actions are under way to deal with the points raised by the council. Work is being undertaken by individual Departments as part of their ongoing work.
Deputy Durkan asked specifically about how we are boosting productivity in line with the recommendations. The council made several recommendations on how the Government could boost productivity, including the full implementation of the Harnessing Digital strategy and the implementation of Impact 2030, as well as focusing on the importance of ensuring the twin transitions of digital and green are adequately and appropriately reinforced.
The Harnessing Digital strategy was launched in February 2022 and sets out a pathway to drive and enable the digital transition across the economy and society. There are annual reports on progress published by the Department. Impact 2030, which is our research and innovation strategy, was launched in May. The Impact 2030 steering group and implementation forum, both chaired by the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, are in place and will oversee the strategy. The implementation forum will report annually. The first such progress report for 2022 will be produced in this quarter. The Government agrees with the council on the importance of the digital and green transitions. These are being assisted through the green transition fund, the Harnessing Digital strategy and the digital transition fund.
An Garda Síochána
Mary Lou McDonald
Question:14. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach if he will provide an update on the work of the policing reform implementation programme office in his Department. [9604/23]
Ivana Bacik
Question:15. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Taoiseach if he will provide an update on the work of the policing reform implementation programme office in his Department. [11008/23]
Jim O'Callaghan
Question:16. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Taoiseach if he will provide an update on the work of the policing reform implementation programme office in his Department. [11556/23]
Tógfaidh mé ceisteanna Uimh. 14 go 16, le chéile.
A Policing Service for our Future is the Government’s plan to implement the Report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland.
Implementation of the Plan is being overseen by a dedicated programme office in the Department of the Taoiseach and has now entered the final consolidation phase with many substantive reforms already attained. This phase is expected to conclude in the fourth quarter of this year after which the enhanced governance and accountability framework will be introduced following enactment of the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill, in 2024.
Major reforms to date include: progressing the operating model for An Garda Síochána, designed to streamline Garda administration and to provide a more visible, responsive and localised policing service to communities nationwide; pilots of local community safety partnerships in three locations across the country in Dublin’s north inner city, Waterford city and county and Longford county; the recruitment of nearly 1,800 extra Garda staff which has allowed us to reassign many gardaí to frontline duties; the distribution of nearly 11,000 digital communication devices enabling front-line gardai to perform their duties without having to return to stations; implementing the equality, diversity and inclusion, EDI, strategy statement; and introducing additional health and well-being assistance for the workforce as part of a three-year Garda health and well-being strategy.
There has also been progress on legislative reform. Government has approved the drafting of the landmark Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill which provides for the most wide-ranging and coherent reform of policing in a generation.
It has also approved the Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill, which concerns the use of recording devices, including body-worn cameras, and the Garda Síochána (Powers) Bill, which combines and modernises police powers of search, arrest and detention. In addition, the Garda Síochána (Functions and Operational Areas) Act came into law in 2021 to underpin the new Garda operating model.
These achievements represent only some of the wide-ranging actions completed or being progressed, and the plan is continually assessed to ensure a smooth transition to these new governance and oversight arrangements.
I hope we would all accept that the critical building block for a policing service for our future is actually the people working within the service, in other words, the gardaí themselves. The Taoiseach's response did not reflect the fact gardaí are resigning in increasing numbers, with nearly three times the number resigning from the force last year when compared with 2017. Indeed, the Garda Representative Association and the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors have raised the difficulty of retaining gardaí within the service and in encouraging new recruits. I am not talking about what they call natural wastage or people retiring. I am talking about relatively young officers walking away from the job.
We know that just a fraction of the new recruits target was met last year and that Garda numbers have not returned to their pre-Fine Gael-led Government levels. In my constituency, the number of community gardaí attached to Cabra, the Bridewell and Mountjoy Garda stations has fallen from 78 to 35 over the past decade. The number of gardaí assigned to the six public order units operating full-time across the Dublin Garda divisions has also fallen by 30% over the past three years. Recent crime statistics have shown a rise in almost all categories.
Recruitment and retention needs to be gripped. Low morale comes from far too few gardaí and shortfalls in resources, including infrastructure and IT resources, equipment and technologies. When this is coupled with the increases in resignations and falling recruitment, gardaí do not have adequate support and resources, and it is communities like the ones I represent that are, quite frankly, left to pick up the pieces.
Does the Taoiseach recognise the scale of the challenge for An Garda Síochána? Will he reassure those working within that service that the Government is committed to addressing that?
I thank the Taoiseach for his detailed and comprehensive response to this question. I welcome the fact that, after the publication of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland report, a decision was made that we would establish an implementation office within the Department of An Taoiseach. That showed the seriousness with which the Government was taking the implementation of this programme. Those of us who debate the justice legislation that comes before the House will be aware that a very significant amount of legislation has come here seeking to implement recommendations contained within that report.
One thing which has changed since the publication of the report is that we now recognise we have a recruitment crisis within An Garda Síochána. In fairness, that is not something that can be laid solely at the door of the Government. The Government has provided sufficient funding to provide for 1,000 extra gardaí last year and this year. Unfortunately, we are not getting the recruits in, and those who are expressing interest in joining An Garda Síochána are not getting over the obstacles that permit them to gain entry.
I ask that the implementation office within the Department would take into account that we have this recruitment crisis. We need to look at some options which we were aware of in the past but which we have not considered implementing, such as extending the retirement age. There are very many fine members of An Garda Síochána who would like to stay on but are forced to retire at 60 years of age. This is something we need to look at to ensure we can retain numbers within the force. Second, there are very many people in this country who find themselves doing boring desk jobs. After 35 years of age, they may want to look for a more exciting job but we do not permit them to join An Garda Síochána after the age of 35, which is something the implementation office needs to take into account.
The reason for this is that we have a problem with crime in the inner city and in Dublin, and I am sure we have it in other urban areas as well. It is a multifactorial solution that is required. One of the absolute solutions is to have more gardaí on the street because, without that, we will not be able to challenge this scourge of crime in our communities.
I call Deputy Bríd Smith, followed by Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett.
You let me in before Deputy Boyd Barrett simply because it is International Women's Day.
Absolutely. I would like to think I do it all the time. Is that a complaint?
No, I like the positive discrimination. I would love to see it happen all of the time, not just on 8 March.
I was wondering about the discussions on the report on the policing service for our future and how that relates to evictions, seeing that evictions are going to be a big part of our future. Was there any discussion or training of gardaí in how to deal with these issues? I had experience in the past, particularly as a councillor but also as a Deputy, of being called to the scene of evictions. When I called gardaí, despite my rank as a local representative, they would tell me it is a civil matter and nothing to do with them, despite the evictions being illegal in many cases. We compare that with what we saw in Frederick Street at one of the most famous evictions that has happened in recent years, where gardaí were called in military-style to back up the bailiffs. With the eviction ban lifted, will any aspect of the future of policing in the State seek to ensure gardaí are not used like hired helps, as companies like Debenhams have used them in the past, or as in the scenes during the Famine in places like Skibbereen, where bailiffs were backed up by the local RIC? We do not want to return to that. I am genuinely asking the Taoiseach what training, advice and so on, is being given to gardaí who will increasingly face eviction scenes in their community.
The Taoiseach will be familiar with the phrase “One law for the rich and one law for the rest of us”. There is a perception that policing and enforcement is dealt with differently depending on whether you are dealing with workers and working people or dealing with the rich and the powerful. I urge the Taoiseach in this regard to watch “406 Days”, a film that has just been made, has won a number of awards, and that premiered at the Dublin Film Festival. It is about the Debenhams dispute and the 406 days where workers who had done nothing wrong had to strike and occupy to fight for the redundancy they were promised and denied by Debenhams, when the asset strippers who took over that company walked away with £315 million sterling. At the end of that dispute, which the film highlights in the most shocking way, there was an enormous simultaneous Garda mobilisation to break the occupations and strikes in Henry Street, Cork, Limerick, Tralee, Waterford and so on. It was a massive Garda mobilisation to assist the company and the liquidators to take out the goods and drag people away from the picket lines.
I went with the Debenhams workers a few weeks ago to the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement to give it information gathered by the makers of that film about the treatment, the tactical nature of the liquidation, and possible sharp practice by the company. In fact, it was definitely sharp practice, but possibly it was illegal practice. Interestingly, the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement thanked us for the information but said it would not be coming back to us on its investigation into that. Will the Taoiseach and the Government follow up on the matters we brought to the attention of the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement on the shameful, possibly illegal, behaviour of the Debenhams group in the treatment of the Debenhams workers?
In regard to Garda numbers, we want to build safer and stronger communities, and that means supporting gardaí and ensuring they are supported, feel supported, and that it is a good career choice. The budget provides for 1,000 additional Garda recruits this year and we believe that will be adequate to cover retirements and resignations.
The resignation rate from An Garda Síochána is just over 1%. That may well be higher than previous years, and it is, but it is low in comparison with most organisations across the public and private sectors. Even extremely well-paying companies would see resignation rates of 4%, 5% or 6%, and that would be commonly seen across the public sector.
That is more a reflection of the fact we have full employment, that there are so many different job opportunities for everyone and that the job for life, which was the norm for people in the past, is not the case anymore and many people want to change careers during the course of their lives.
I was interested in some of the suggestions Deputy Jim O'Callaghan made. I assure him I appreciate there is a real challenge with Garda recruitment. We are going to have a big job to secure the 1,000 recruits we voted for this year as Government parties. I have taken an interest in this and met the Garda Commissioner and the Minister for Justice about it. Among the suggestions made was increasing the retirement age from 60 years to 62, and that is under consideration. It is a good idea. If somebody is fit, healthy and able to do the job, why should there be a particular age at which they are told they must retire? Some safeguards around competence and fitness might be needed, but once that is done, I do not see why that age limit could not be increased. The Ministers, Deputies Donohoe and Harris, are working on that. A similar issue arises in the Defence Forces around people being required to retire at 50 years of age. I understand there has been a recent Workplace Relations Commission ruling on the matter of people not being able to join after the age of 35 years, so we may well see a change coming on that too.
On evictions, we in Ireland often mistakenly use the term "eviction" interchangeably with notices to quit, but they are not the same thing. It is my understanding evictions can only happen here under a court order, and therefore are actually very rare. I am sure gardaí are adequately trained to deal with that matter.
As we are talking about the Garda and respect for it, it would be remiss of me not to bring the attention of the House to a document produced recently by People Before Profit entitled The Case For A Left Government: Getting Rid of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. It can be purchased for €3 online, and you even get a nice picture of me and An Tánaiste on the front cover of it. In this document we are told the rich, using their control over the media, will try to turn the population against a left Government led by Deputy McDonald. It says they will deploy the police and the army to move against the elected left-wing Government. It will not just be the Garda involved in this conspiracy, but the Irish Independent, The Irish Times and RTÉ. Even primary teachers, the GAA and taxi drivers are all part of this conspiracy to overthrow the elected left-wing Government led by Deputy McDonald-----
A slightly mischievous interpretation.
-----and assisted by People Before Profit.
It is very mischievous, but thanks for the publicity. It will sell loads of pamphlets.
It is very interesting debating-----
I am sure the party has sold loads, Taoiseach, but let us-----
-----members of People Before Profit in the Chamber. You are interesting people, you are passionate and I enjoy listening to your questions and you often raise pertinent issues I sometimes have not considered, but are you sure you are not a bit bonkers? Do you really think there is going to be a conspiracy-----
Explain the Debenhams stuff then.
-----involving all those people to overthrow a left-wing Government?
I would rather be bonkers than a Tory like you.
That concludes Taoiseach's Questions.
Is féidir teacht ar Cheisteanna Scríofa ar
www.oireachtas.ie
.
Written Answers are published on the Oireachtas website.
Cuireadh an Dáil ar fionraí ar 2.03 p.m. agus cuireadh tús leis arís ar 3.03 p.m.
Sitting suspended at 2.03 p.m. and resumed at 3.03 p.m.