Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 18 Apr 2023

Vol. 1036 No. 5

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business

Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach (Deputy Hildegarde Naughton)

I move:

Tuesday's business shall be:

- Motion re Report of the Committee on Standing Orders and Dáil Reform on Rota for Leaders' Questions (without debate)

- Statements post European Council Meeting of 23rd-24th of March, pursuant to Standing Order 124 (not exceeding 130 mins, including 20 mins Q&A)

- Financial Motion by the Minister for Finance (to be taken no earlier than 5.30 p.m., to be brought to a conclusion after 30 mins and any division claimed shall be taken immediately)

- Finance Bill 2023 (Report and Final Stages) (to conclude within 90 minutes)

Private members' business shall be the Motion re Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage Underspend and Reduced Delivery of Affordable Housing, selected by Sinn Féin.

Wednesday’s business shall be:

- Motion re Proposed approval by Dáil Éireann of the proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2011/36/EU on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims (to conclude within 55 minutes)

- Courts Bill 2023 (Second Stage)*

- Representative Actions for the Protection of the Collective Interests of Consumers Bill 2023 (Second Stage)*

Private members' business shall be the Motion re Vacant Homes Tax, selected by the Social Democrats.

*Please note: if not previously concluded, proceedings shall be interrupted on either of these two Bills at 6.30 p.m., or 3 hrs and 30 mins after the conclusion of the Motion re Proposed approval by Dáil Éireann of the proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2011/36/EU on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims, whichever is the later)

Thursday’s business shall be:

- Statements on Organised Crime (not to exceed 210 mins)

- Courts Bill 2023 (Second Stage, resumed)

- Representative Actions for the Protection of the Collective Interests of Consumers Bill 2023 (Second Stage)

Thursday evening business shall be Second Stage of the Safe Deposit Boxes and Related Deposits Bill 2022.

Announcement of proposed arrangements for this week's business:

In relation to Tuesday’s business, it is proposed that:

1. the ordinary routine of business as contained in Schedule 3 to Standing Orders shall be modified to the following extent:

(i) the Dáil shall sit later than 10.30 p.m.; and

(ii) the time for Government business shall be extended for the purpose of allowing Report and Final Stages of the Finance Bill 2023 to conclude, with consequential effect on the commencement time for private members' business, Parliamentary Questions to the Minister for Justice, and topical issues;

2. the Motion re Report of the Committee on Standing Orders and Dáil Reform on Rota for Leaders' Questions shall be taken without debate;

3. the following arrangements shall apply in relation to the Statements post European Council Meeting of 23rd-24th of March, pursuant to Standing Order 124:

(i) the statements shall consist of a single round, which shall not exceed 100 minutes, with arrangements in accordance with those agreed by Order of the Dáil of 30th July, 2020, for that time, and shall be immediately followed by questions and answers which shall not exceed 20 minutes;

(ii) following the questions and answers, a Minister or Minister of State shall be called upon to make a statement in reply which shall not exceed 10 minutes; and

(iii) members may share time;

4. the Financial Motion by the Minister for Finance shall be taken no earlier than 5.30 p.m. and shall be brought to a conclusion after 30 minutes, and any division claimed shall be taken immediately; and

5. the proceedings on Report and Final Stage of the Finance Bill 2023 shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion after 90 minutes by one question which shall be put from the Chair and which shall, in relation to amendments, include only those set down or accepted by the Minister for Finance.

In relation to Wednesday’s business, it is proposed that:

1. the ordinary routine of business as set out in Schedule 3 to Standing Orders shall be modified to the following extent:

(i) Parliamentary Questions to the Taoiseach pursuant to Standing Order 46(1) shall not be taken and the proceedings shall be suspended pursuant to Standing Order 25(1) at the time when Parliamentary Questions to the Taoiseach would normally be taken;

(ii) Government business shall, if not previously concluded, be interrupted and stand adjourned, and the Dáil shall adjourn, at either 6.30 p.m. or 3 hours and 30 minutes after the conclusion of the Motion re Proposed approval by Dáil Éireann of the proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2011/36/EU on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims, whichever is the later; and

(iii) no weekly division time pursuant to Standing Order 80(2) shall be taken; and

2. the proceedings on the Motion re Proposed approval by Dáil Éireann of the proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2011/36/EU on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion after 55 minutes, and the following arrangements shall apply:

(i) the order of speaking and allocation of time shall be as follows:

- opening speech by a Minister or Minister of State - 10 minutes;

- speech by representative of Sinn Féin - 10 minutes;

- speeches by representatives of the Labour Party, Social Democrats, People-Before-Profit-Solidarity, the Regional Group, the Rural Independent Group and the Independent Group - 5 minutes per party or group; and

- a speech in response by the Minister – 5 minutes; and

(ii) members may share time.

In relation to Thursday’s business, it is proposed that:

1. the ordinary routine of business as contained in Schedule 3 to Standing Orders shall be modified to the extent that, if not previously concluded, the proceedings on Government business shall be interrupted and stand adjourned and topical issues shall be taken at 7 p.m., with consequential effect on the commencement time for Second Stage of the Safe Deposit Boxes and Related Deposits Bill 2022 and on the time for the adjournment of the Dáil; Provided that in the event Government business concludes before 7 p.m., topical issues shall be taken on the conclusion of Government business; and

2. the Statements on Organised Crime shall not exceed 210 minutes, with arrangements in accordance with those agreed by Order of the Dáil of 30th July, 2020, for 200 minutes, following which a Minister or Minister of State shall be called upon to make a statement in reply which shall not exceed 10 minutes, and members may share time.

An Ceann Comhairle

Is the Order of Business agreed to?

Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin

It is not agreed. At the risk of being accused of point scoring, I raise the issue of facial recognition technology and the determination of the Minister for Justice to include this as an amendment to the bodycam Bill. We are not necessarily opposing facial recognition technology, but we are mindful that EU legislation is pending and that this recognition technology has been very problematic in places such as London and San Francisco. We require stand-alone legislation to deal with this comprehensively as well as pre-legislative scrutiny. We would like a debate on it this week. We do not feel the existing process the Minister is utilising for facial recognition technology will get the results we need.

Deputy Mattie McGrath

We also have concerns about the same issue. Yesterday, the Tánaiste said he supported it. This is a step too far. We are supporting bodycams for An Garda Síochána, but we have concerns and issues about facial recognition and it needs to be debated and not by way of sticking it in as an amendment at this stage in the legislation, so we are opposing it.

An Ceann Comhairle

I call the Taoiseach on the bodycams issue, I think.

Deputy Mattie McGrath

Not bodycams, facial recognition.

The Taoiseach

This is still a matter under discussion in government. I think there is a place for facial recognition technology. At the moment the Garda needs to use enormous amounts of manpower looking back over old CCTV footage to try to identify people, identify perpetrators and help victims of crime. Using that technology makes considerable sense but there must be adequate safeguards because it is a new technology and it can be abused. It is still a matter under discussion in government. Certainly, before we make any proposals, they need to come to the House for legislation and for debate.

An Ceann Comhairle

That debate does not necessarily have to take place this week. Are the proposed arrangements agreed to? Agreed.

I call Deputy McDonald on Questions on Policy or Legislation.

Deputy Mary Lou McDonald

I thank the Ceann Comhairle. As we speak, people protest at the gates calling on the Government to ratify and implement the optional protocol of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, UNCRPD. The Government signed the convention five years ago but despite commitments made, it has still not ratified the optional protocol. This protocol is crucial for people with disabilities to vindicate their rights as full and equal citizens and to hold the State to account when they are denied the services and supports they need and to seek redress when they are failed. Far too often, people with disabilities, their families and, indeed, their carers must fight the State for everything and it should not be that way. People should not have to stand with placards on Kildare Street. Can the Taoiseach tell our citizens with disabilities when his Government will at last honour its commitment and ratify the optional protocol?

Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (Deputy Roderic O'Gorman)

I thank Deputy McDonald. The Government agrees with the importance of ratifying the optional protocol and it is set out in the programme for Government. An important step towards achieving that was the passage earlier this year of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Act 2022. That Act will be enacted later this month and the various processes that flow from that enactment will then be put in place, particularly the full operation of the decision support service. The Office of the Attorney General is currently reviewing legislation to see if there are other areas where we need to get domestic legislation in compliance with the UNCRPD. Once that assessment has been undertaken, we will be in a better position to be able to advise the House as to when exactly we can get full ratification of the optional protocol.

Deputy Ivana Bacik

While households are struggling to buy basic goods, we are seeing companies reaping record profits. We know that food shopping costs are expected to increase by an additional €1,200 for people this year alone. While no one denies the inflationary effect of the pandemic and of the war in Ukraine, the reality is that we are seeing very serious profiteering from large corporations which is amplifying price inflation. This has been referred to as greed-flation and, indeed, a European Central Bank, ECB, paper in March highlighted that corporate profits account for two thirds of domestic price pressures. We know that large companies with market power can raise prices well above the official inflation rates and households are paying the price.

Will the Taoiseach face up to the profiteering and price-gouging which we are seeing, particularly in respect of food prices? Will he heed the calls made by my colleague, Deputy Nash, who has called on the Government to use the Consumer Protection Act 2007 to introduce price controls and to ensure we see food prices kept at affordable rates for households?

The Taoiseach

I thank the Deputy. The Consumer Protection Act is a matter for the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Coveney, but certainly when I was Minister, we examined and studied the history of price controls in Ireland and, indeed, those controls in other countries, and the difficulty which arises very often when one imposes price controls through consumer orders, where one can end up with a lack of supply and with shortages. That is a risk I believe everybody wants to avoid because while one can cap the retail price as to what somebody charges in the shops, one cannot cap the price at which the shops get it from the wholesaler and they may not get the product at all. One may then end up with shortages and rationing and all of the things we would have seen in eastern Europe and other parts of the world. That is not what we want here.

Deputy Holly Cairns

A projected budget surplus of up to €16 billion has been announced for next year, which is in addition to the €8 billion budget surplus for last year and the €10 billion for this year. The Government has all this money to solve the housing disaster but somehow its problem is spending it. We know the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage has failed to spend more than €1 billion of his budget. He tried to bury more bad news yesterday. The targets for social and affordable housing were missed yet again in the past year. The Government missed its affordable housing targets by nearly 60% with just 1,757 affordable homes delivered in 2022, which is out of a paltry target of 4,100 houses. To make matters even worse, that 1,757 figure has been massaged to include homes that are not affordable.

This is gross incompetence and epic failure by any standard. Under this Government people on average incomes have no hope of buying or even renting their own home.

When he became Taoiseach, the Taoiseach said he wanted to take ownership of housing. Has he already done that? If not, could he tell the House when he intends to do so?

The Taoiseach

I do not know where the Deputy gets her information from. There is not a week that passes that she does not try to put some words into my mouth. I have never said I would take ownership of housing. I have never made that statement. I am the Head of Government and the Taoiseach. I take leadership of the Government and work with Ministers on every matter. I am working closely with the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, on this. It is a priority for the Government. The suggestion that I was somehow going to take ownership of it or take it off the Minister is simply not the case. It is one of many examples - I do not know how many - where I have been misquoted or misrepresented by the Deputy. It is not honest politics to engage in that.

The housing budget this year is €4.5 billion, which is the highest ever. We spent more on housing last year than any year in history. The reason for the underspend is that we are struggling to spend the huge budgets we are allocating to housing. We are working on actions this year to reallocate money earlier within housing to make sure it gets spent.

Let there be no doubt that there is no lack of money, of political will or of care, concern and compassion when it comes to dealing with the housing crisis. The constraints are other ones and perhaps I can go into them another time.

Deputy Mick Barry

I understand the Minister for Transport raised the issue of congestion charges at Cabinet this morning. Congestion in our towns and cities needs to be tackled. We need more pedestrianised streets and car-free zones. We need free public transport, which the Government is opposing, but we do not need congestion charges, which are a bad idea on at least two fronts. First, they penalise ordinary people trying to get to work and people struggling with the burdens of a cost-of-living crisis. Second, they alienate the general public from the climate agenda that needs to be embraced if there is to be a future for the next generations. What is the Taoiseach’s position on congestion charges? Does he appreciate the scale of public opposition which will emerge should the Government decide to go down this road?

The Taoiseach

The Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, has been clear on this on a number of occasions and I will be very clear on it too. There is no proposal from this Government to introduce congestion charges. At some point down the line when the metro is picking up people at Dublin Airport, the DART to Dublin 15 and Kildare is up and running, Cork metropolitan transport is operating, all vehicles are electric-----

Deputy Danny Healy-Rae

No word about Kerry.

The Taoiseach

-----and there are no taxes coming in from petrol and diesel, perhaps there will be a case for congestion charges, but certainly not under this Government and not in the foreseeable future. I am happy to be clear on that and I say that as somebody who represents a commuter constituency.

The Minister has made clear that we are doing a public consultation on how to achieve what we want to achieve when it comes to emissions, which is to reduce the number of journeys by car by about 20% and reduce emissions by about 50% by the end of the decade. We have to consider all options in that context. The main ones will be road space reallocation and also making public transport cheaper and more affordable. We have done that and that is why more people are using it.

Deputy Peter Fitzpatrick

The Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, ensured there was funding within the budget for the employment of teachers and SNAs. Without a viable career structure, however, teaching careers will remain unattractive and the supply crisis will continue. The teacher recruitment crisis is a direct result of attempts to make the education system do more with less. A Teachers Union of Ireland survey highlighted that only 13% of teachers receive a permanent contract on initial appointment and only 31% of teachers recruited since 2011 got full hours in their first year of teaching. This means 87% have to make do with part-time work as a direct result of the lack of full-time contracts offered and have no creditworthiness to obtain a mortgage. Schools are being forced to use unqualified teachers, to divert resources away from students with special educational needs and to drop subjects from the curriculum.

At a time when we are crying out for teachers, the remedy is simple. I ask the Taoiseach to provide the relevant funding and put in place the relevant actions to ensure new teachers or those we want to bring home are offered full-time jobs with full-time salaries. Teachers are leaving the country and emigrating. They cannot get mortgages and they face issues relating to the lack of housing and the cost of living. Please give the teachers what they want.

The Taoiseach

It is important to say as a point of context that we have more teachers in Ireland and working in Ireland than ever before.

The pupil-teacher ratio is lower than it was in the past. We are having at least some success recruiting and retaining teachers but there is a real challenge as well. We are in a period of full employment and a period of very fierce international competition for talent. This is true in the public sector and the private sector. It is true for well-paid jobs and for poorly paid jobs. I do not know anyone who is not struggling at present to recruit and retain staff for this reason. It is not as simple as saying that putting up pay necessarily solves the problem because other people will then put up pay also and they are still competing for a scarce resource and scarce talent. We have a pay deal with teachers. They ratified that pay agreement. We are implementing it. It involves improvements to pay, conditions and allowances. I expect that during the summer, and certainly before October, we will begin the process of engagement with the public sector unions, including the teachers' unions, on the next deal.

Deputy Mattie McGrath

The N24 project for Tipperary town is vital. The link from Limerick Junction to Cahir is vital. It is at a fairly advanced stage of design by Arup consultants. Shockingly, Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, has only provided one third of the funding to Tipperary County Council this year to continue final and detailed design. The Tipperary task force and revitalisation plan and many groups such as Jobs4Tipp and March4Tipp are aghast at this. Tipperary town is smothered with traffic and people cannot live, breathe or work. Councillor Annemarie Ryan has been in touch with me and many others. They need the funding this year to continue the vital conclusive work to finish the final design and final route and move it onto the next stage. The road blockage at present by TII and the lack of funding is either the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, playing games because he does not want major projects or whatever it is. We need the €3 million funding and not €1 million as we have got. It will not complete the design at this stage and it is a very serious body blow to the project.

The Taoiseach

I thank Deputy McGrath. There is roughly €500 million a year in the national roads budget. About half goes to maintaining and strengthening existing roads and about half goes to new projects. It is never the case that we can fully fund every project that we want in any one year. There has been an allocation made to the N24. We have decided that if other road projects run behind schedule or behind budget during the course of the year, we might be able to reallocate money from those projects to other projects such as the N24 but it is too soon to make that call.

Deputy Catherine Connolly

Faraor géar, tá orm ceist an ionaid lae i gcroílár na Gaeltachta, in Áras Mhic Dara, a ardú arís. Tá sé ardaithe agam cheana leis an Taoiseach, leis an Tánaiste, leis an Aire agus le Feidhmeannacht na Seirbhíse Sláinte. Is é croílár na ceiste ná go bhfuil an t-ionad lae seo dúnta le breis agus trí bliana anois, ó aimsir Covid. Is seirbhís bhunúsach í i lár na Gaeltachta. Fuair mé gealltanas ón Taoiseach agus ón Tánaiste go dtiocfaidís ar ais chugam. Fuair mé gealltanas ó Fheidhmeannacht na Seirbhíse Sláinte go mbeadh sé oscailte ag tús na míosa seo. Faraor, tá sé fós dúnta.

The Taoiseach

I thank Deputy Connolly. I am familiar with the issues in respect of Áras Mhic Dara but I am not sure exactly what the underlying problem is. I will certainly ask the Minister to get in touch with the Deputy about it and try to provide her with a proper answer.

Deputy Robert Troy

The report into the secondment of the former Chief Medical Officer was published yesterday. The Government has had the benefit of this report for a number of months. Will the recommendations of the report be implemented to ensure appointments such as this in future will be done in a structured, open and transparent way? Will there be any consequences for the failure to implement established protocols?

The Taoiseach

I thank Deputy Troy. I welcome the report from the independent reviewer Ms Maura Quinn. It is important to say the report does not make findings against any individual and, in fact, points out that those involved acted in good faith. We should not forget that the secondment never happened. It did not happen in the end. Lessons have to be learned from this and a number of these have been identified in the report to ensure that any future proposed secondment will be handled properly. The recommendations in the report have been accepted by the Government and the Minister for Health has written to the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform to ensure that processes around secondments are clearly defined in future so we do not have a repeat of this.

Deputy Colm Burke

Since October, 219 cases of invasive group A streptococcus have been reported.

There was extensive coverage on RTÉ and in the Irish Examiner at the weekend of the sad death of Vivienne Murphy in 2019 and the lack of a proper paediatric unit in Cork University Hospital, CUH. There is a paediatric unit there and the staff are working extremely hard. There is planning permission for a new paediatric unit but a dedicated children's ICU is needed in CUH. What is the up-to-date position regarding this development? Planning permission has been granted. Will funding be provided? When will it be provided and when can the work start? Also, what is the position on putting in place a dedicated ICU? The tragic death of Vivienne Murphy has highlighted the need for a regional facility such as this.

The Taoiseach

I thank the Deputy for raising this very sad issue. I had an opportunity to read about the case and to hear Vivienne's mother speak on the radio at the weekend. It is a heartbreaking story. It is important that we raise awareness of strep A, especially among the medical profession, including nurses, and among parents. It is tragic to think that perhaps if treatment had been given sooner, if an antibiotic had been prescribed sooner, that young Vivienne would never have ended up in hospital at all, never mind having the experiences she endured.

Phase 1 of the paediatric department in Cork University Hospital has been built and commissioned providing dedicated cystic fibrosis outpatient accommodation in CUH. Phase 2 is currently being developed. I am told it is at detailed design stage. It involves high-dependency beds and specialist haematology-oncology beds to accommodate the needs of paediatric patients in Cork for the next ten to 20 years.

Carrying out major surgery and therefore providing an ICU in CUH is a different matter which will be down to medical advice. At the moment we have two national centres for major surgery and paediatric ICU, namely in the hospitals in Temple Street and Crumlin. The current advice from the experts is that they should be consolidated in one national centre, that is, the new national children's hospital which will open next year. Whether having regional centres would produce better outcomes in the round is a matter for experts but we must bear in mind that spreading expertise, skills and resources more thinly does not always mean better outcomes for everyone.

Deputy Réada Cronin

The Government's housing policy is wreaking havoc on renters in north Kildare. The dad of one family who now works in the private sector was a member of our Defence Forces. He tells me he feels totally undefended by this Government. Following a notice to quit, he feels that he is in no-man's land, abandoned by the State of the uniform he wore. His wife works in homeless services. After they both took on every scrap of overtime they could to make rent after an illegal 50% rent hike, their income is over the limit for the housing list. Their landlord is not selling. He says he intends to move into the house, which is one of several he owns, so they cannot avail of any of the Government's eleventh hour schemes. They are currently overholding as they have nowhere to go. I ask the Taoiseach to put himself in that man's position. Can he imagine the stress that family is living through? On all the evidence, the Government is failing. It is completely indifferent to the humanitarian disaster its housing policy has caused. Does he agree that the no-fault eviction ban must be reinstated or does he want trauma and hopelessness to be the legacy of his Government?

The Taoiseach

I think I have answered this question before. The temporary winter eviction ban was always a temporary winter eviction ban, giving people more time to find alternatives. We believe that Sinn Féin's policy of extending it for another few months will only mean that more and more notices of termination will mount up, that fewer properties will be available-----

Deputy Réada Cronin

It would give the Government time to create or build those houses.

The Taoiseach

-----and more people will be competing for even fewer houses. It would make the situation worse-----

Deputy Réada Cronin

It could not make it worse.

The Taoiseach

-----just at a later point.

I do not want to comment on individual cases because there is always more to them than can be put across in the space of a minute or two in the Dáil but I would certainly advise the Deputy's constituent to seek advice, perhaps from the council or from Threshold. The Deputy seems to contend that the landlord is not going to move back into the house-----

Deputy Réada Cronin

He has several houses.

The Taoiseach

-----because he has several already. If that is the case, it is not a valid notice of termination. However, this is an individual case. It is important that he gets good advice and if he is not getting it from the Deputy, perhaps he should seek it from a different body.

Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan

Parents of children at Carrigaline Community Special School have contacted me in relation to the patronage of their school being an inhibitor to their children with a mild to severe intellectual disability having access to local children's disability network team, CDNT, service providers. They are being told that they are ineligible for home support and respite, for example. As the Taoiseach will be aware, a new special school has also now been designated for Carrigtwohill in east Cork. This is obviously most welcome but will the children due to attend that school this September face the same discrimination?

Minister of State at the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (Deputy Anne Rabbitte)

I thank Deputy O'Sullivan for asking this question. This day last week I met with Mr. Bernard Gloster and asked him that exact question. He has since confirmed to me that as of 1 May, the therapist will return to the school in Carrigaline and that issues experienced in the past in all of our four new schools will not be experienced into the future.

Deputy David Stanton

Ten years ago in February 2013, Ireland, along with 24 other EU colleagues, signed the Unified Patent Court Agreement. This agreement is hugely beneficial for businesses, entrepreneurs and inventors. When will we see legislation to enable a referendum to take place? When will we see an information campaign on same, because it is complex and it is quite important that we pass this?

The Taoiseach

The Unified Patent Court is now up and running. We are very keen for Ireland to become a member of the court but that requires a referendum. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, is working on the legislation and on the information office at the moment. We have not set a date for a referendum yet. It will most likely be concurrent with the European and local elections next May or June but that has not been decided for definite yet.

Deputy Paul Kehoe

Those convicted by the Special Criminal Court in the past include John Gilligan, Patrick "Dutchy" Holland, Brian Meehan for the murder of Veronica Guerin, Pearse McAuley, Jeremiah Sheehy, Michael O'Neill, Kevin Walsh for the slaying of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe in 1996, Michael McKevitt for directing terrorism as leader of the Real IRA, brothers John and Wayne Dundon for murdering innocent men in Limerick and Thomas "Slab" Murphy, who was jailed for 18 months for tax fraud. Mr. Murphy was later described by Deputy Mary Lou McDonald as a "good Republican". In 2022 Deputy McDonald's good friend Jonathan Dowdall was jailed for facilitating the Regency gangland murder. That was the second time Dowdall was convicted. He was sentenced for waterboarding in 2015 while serving as a Sinn Féin councillor. He was convicted twice in the Special Criminal Court; not many criminals have achieved that feat.

An Ceann Comhairle

Is there a question Deputy?

Deputy Paul Kehoe

The Special Criminal Court has been doing a very good job of putting away serious criminals since it was established in 1972. Four men have now been found guilty in the Special Criminal Court of facilitating the 2016 Regency gangland murder. This would not have occurred if Sinn Féin was in power as it would not have supported the court.

An Ceann Comhairle

Your time is up, Deputy.

Deputy Paul Kehoe

Deputy McDonald's criminal councillor saw more of the Special Criminal Court than he did the Dublin City Council chamber.

An Ceann Comhairle

Deputy, you are over time now please.

Deputy Paul Kehoe

Does the Taoiseach agree that while a review is ongoing, the Special Criminal Court is essential if we are to have stronger and safer communities?

The Taoiseach

I do agree. The Regency murder trial is now over and we have two convictions of people who were involved in serious organised crime. I want to thank the gardaí, the Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP, and the courts for their work. We have had no murder related to a criminal gang feud in Ireland in five years now and please God, that will continue. I really want to thank the gardaí, the prosecutors and the courts. The fact that there was one acquittal, even though it was not the outcome the State desired, confirms that the Special Criminal Court is a place where people get a fair trial and where the beyond-reasonable-doubt principle applies.

The evidence shows a clear and ongoing link or overlap between Republican paramilitaries and organised criminal gangs. These are similar people who commit similar crimes and it was always thus. They are not worlds apart. In fact, they inhabit the same netherworld in my view. The most recent case shows that the Special Criminal Court works.

By the way, I do not think for a second that Sinn Féin is in any way responsible for Jonathan Dowdall's actions. I know it can be difficult to vet candidates and I do not believe in guilt by association.

However, I believe that we would not have had many of the convictions that Deputy Kehoe recounted were it not for the Special Criminal Court. I call on Sinn Féin, and on the leader of Sinn Féin in particular, to affirm that they will vote for the renewal of the Special Criminal Court in June - not an abstention, not not turning up, but that they will vote for the retention of the Special Criminal Court. I believe it is also important that the €1,000 donation should be returned, that information be disclosed on other donations made by Mr. Dowdall to Sinn Féin-----

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

I thank the Taoiseach; we are over time.

The Taoiseach

-----and that we get more detail on Sinn Féin's knowledge of his actions. It is clear from Deputy Ó Broin's interview this morning that there was more than an inkling and that there was knowledge.

Deputy Verona Murphy

The CDNT in my home town of New Ross, County Wexford, is like most other CDNTs in the country and is simply not fit for purpose. Currently, 258 children are assigned to the CDNT in New Ross, all of whom require some level of therapeutic input. Many of them are waiting for more than one intervention. The CDNT in New Ross has no senior social worker, no speech and language therapist, no dietician, no clinical nurse manager, no manager, and I could go on. This is now a repetitive plight that so many others in this House have brought to the floor day in and day out, following responses from and representations made to the HSE. However, the list continues to get longer. Children are gravely regressing and their families are simply lost and disillusioned by a health service that is causing grave harm instead of any healing. My simple question is: when is it going to change for the children and families of New Ross, Wexford, Enniscorthy, Gorey and every other part of this country?

Deputy Anne Rabbitte

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. As I said earlier, this day last week I met with Bernard Gloster. Myself and the Minister, Deputy O’Gorman, have to put together, along with the team within the HSE, a progressing disability services, PDS, roadmap, which will examine a suite of measures along with sponsorship and apprenticeship programmes, employment of graduates as therapy assistants as they await their CORU registration, and the expansion of the therapy assistant in the system with the HSE supporting individuals to return to education. Finally, Bernard Gloster gave a commitment that for any children awaiting intervention and assessment, we will use private capacity as well, ensuring that no child is left behind unduly.

Deputy Danny Healy-Rae

The Citizens' Assembly on Biodiversity Loss, which the Government unwisely set, up is aggravating and tormenting farmers with suggestions that exports should be taxed further and that farm payments, which are subsidies, should be brought to a halt. I have to remind these people that farm payments are compensation to farmers who are not properly paid for their produce and who, by giving cheaper food, are helping the consumers of Ireland and Europe. This is very unfair. These people were not elected by anybody. The farmers’ representatives and every other part of our community are represented by Deputies and Ministers in Dáil Éireann.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

We are over time.

Deputy Danny Healy-Rae

They are elected by the people and are responsible. I ask the Taoiseach to disband the citizens' assembly because it is aggravating and tormenting farmers with unfair proposals.

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

For the past hour, disability activists have been outside this building calling on the Government to ratify the optional protocol to the UNCRPD. I remind the Taoiseach that the UN convention was established in 2006. It took 12 years of campaigning by people with disabilities and disability activists finally to force the Government to ratify it. However, we are one of only three countries in Europe that has failed to ratify the optional protocol that actually gives teeth to the convention and provides a mechanism for people who feel their rights are not being vindicated under the convention to do something about it and force the Government to comply.

Will the Government ratify the optional protocol to the UNCRPD?

Deputy Maurice Quinlivan

The ending of the eviction ban is being felt by working families throughout the State and particularly in my home town of Limerick. I am dealing with one such family who are good and hardworking. They have an eight-year-old boy and six-year-old girl and they received their notice to quit on 6 April. The family had been happily renting this home for ten years and had a good relationship with their landlord, with whom they discussed purchasing the home through their own means. Unfortunately, circumstances changed and the marital relationship ended. The mother has applied to go on the social housing list in the hope Limerick City and County Council will purchase the home. She is overholding as she has nowhere to go. She sought to have the council speed up her housing application but it cannot because it is short-staffed. Despite being a working mother of two, she cannot afford to privately rent and faces eviction and the stress this brings. Her children ask her why she has become so sad. We know why, but her kids do not. She has been burdened with this pressure because the Government's decision to end the eviction ban means families face the imminent prospect of living in a hotel, or worse. What is the Taoiseach's plan for this woman and her children? Where is she supposed to go?

The Taoiseach

I thank the Deputy. As I think I explained in earlier answers, the temporary winter eviction ban was exactly that: a temporary winter eviction ban that ended on 31 March. That is the legislation we voted for in this House. We do not believe extending the ban is a solution. We believe the number of notices of termination would have mounted up and up, and that there would have been fewer places available to rent because people simply would not have come into the market. When the ban was ended, as in the Sinn Féin proposal to end it in a few months, the situation would have been much worse, with many more people and families chasing even fewer places to live. That is why we took the decision we did.

I ask the Minister of State, Deputy Heydon, and the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, to take the other questions.

Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Deputy Martin Heydon)

In response to Deputy Danny Healy-Rae's points and questions, I reassure the House that farmers are, with the help of the State, on a journey to improve our biodiversity and ensure the food we produce is produced more sustainably into the future while continuing to produce the top-quality, safe and nutritious food that is trusted across the world. It is intrinsic to our economic prosperity, with exports worth €16 billion. Food Vision 2030, our ten-year strategy, looks to grow that to €21 billion to ensure the rural towns and villages that depend on the economic trade of our farmers continue to be vibrant and alive into the future. The State works with farmers in that regard and our commitment has been proven by the oversubscription and ambition of farmers for schemes. Some 46,000 applied to join the agri-climate rural environment scheme, ACRES, which is beyond the 30,000 we had places for. We moved might and main to facilitate all the farmers who showed that level of ambition to get them all into the scheme. We will continue to work with them to improve those conditions into the future.

Deputy Danny Healy-Rae

Disband the Citizens' Assembly on Biodiversity Loss.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

I call on the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, to conclude.

Deputy Danny Healy-Rae

Disband the assembly because it is not being fair.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Deputy, please.

Deputy Danny Healy-Rae

The assembly is tormenting and aggravating farmers who are working hard.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Deputy, I ask for your co-operation. We are way over time.

Deputy Roderic O'Gorman

The programme for Government sets out an objective to ratify the optional protocol and it is something the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, and I are working to achieve. A key step towards that was achieved by the passing of the Assisted Decision-making (Capacity) (Amendment) Act 2022. All the various elements of that are going to be commenced next week, including the operationalisation of the decision support service. The Office of the Attorney General is currently undertaking a review of other legislation to see whether there are other areas where we need to amend legislation to be fully compliant so we can sign up to the optional protocol. Once that review is in place, myself and the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, will be better able to advise the House on when exactly we can achieve full ratification of the optional protocol.