Mary Lou McDonald
Question:1. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the non-statutory public service modernisation, development and reform functions for which his Department is responsible. [29334/23]
Ceisteanna - Questions
Departmental Functions
Cian O'Callaghan
Question:2. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the non-statutory public service modernisation, development and reform functions for which his Department is responsible. [30944/23]
Richard Boyd Barrett
Question:3. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the non-statutory public service modernisation, development and reform functions for which his Department is responsible. [30974/23]
Paul Murphy
Question:4. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the non-statutory public service modernisation, development and reform functions for which his Department is responsible. [30977/23]
Gino Kenny
Question:5. Deputy Gino Kenny asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the non-statutory public service modernisation, development and reform functions for which his Department is responsible. [30980/23]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 5, inclusive, together.
The overall responsibility for the public service modernisation, development and reform functions is vested in the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform. This has been the case since the transforming public services programme office was moved to that Department from the Department of the Taoiseach back in 2011.
Better Public Services, a new strategy for public service transformation to 2030, was launched by the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform in May 2023. The strategy provides a direction of reform for the public service, setting out the vision of: "Inclusive, high quality and integrated Public Service provision that meets the needs and improves the lives of the people of Ireland."
The Department of the Taoiseach is now involved in several important public service reforms. It provides the secretariat to the Civil Service management board, which provides collective leadership to the Civil Service renewal programme. The board is chaired by the Secretary General to the Government and its membership consists of all five Secretaries General of Departments and heads of major offices.
The Department of the Taoiseach is also centrally involved in implementation of the report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland, which is the most substantive work of reform ever undertaken with respect to An Garda Síochána. The work is 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.
The Department of the Taoiseach also has a role in respect of the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces. The Secretary General to the Government chairs the high-level steering board, the membership of which consists of the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces as well as Secretaries General of relevant Departments. These activities reflect the importance the Government places on excellent public services and also the emphasis on ensuring they continue to reform and improve.
One of the most obvious areas in need of public service modernisation and reform is the addiction sector. We have seen significant recent shifts in addiction treatment presentations and in deaths. Alongside this, we have seen staff in section 29 services fighting for fair pay and conditions. The reality is that many of these staff raised concerns about the changing drug trends two years ago but, rather than being taken on board, their concerns were mostly ignored.
Without modernisation and reform, the addiction sector will remain on the back foot, with some of the highest level of staff burnout of any health or social care professionals. We have the expertise. We have an extremely competent workforce but we need to pay the workers and we need to treat them fairly. Sinn Féin members believe that alongside engagement with the section 39 workers, we need to look at professional supervision to try to ease the staff burnout. We need to ensure that staff members feel valued and that their expertise is recognised. I am sure the Taoiseach, like myself, has visited addiction services. He has seen the phenomenal work that is done by the staff day in, day out. With empathy and compassion, they help to reduce the harm and to bring people on recovery journeys. Without proper reform, we are leaving the staff, those people who do the work on the ground with individuals, families, and communities, without the support they need. While we have a citizens' assembly, and it does great work on policy matters, there is a role for the Taoiseach's Department to explore how we listen to and bring forward recommendations from the citizens' assembly. I hope the Taoiseach takes this on board.
The scandal of the secret payments to Ryan Tubridy in RTÉ has highlighted very serious questions about governance and oversight in public bodies in receipt of large amounts of public funding. Of course, it is gut wrenching for the ordinary workers in RTÉ, the ordinary journalists who do not benefit from these staggering salaries that a small few at the top got, or the additional secret payments, to see this scandal unfold when those workers were victims of pay freezes, pay cuts, zero-hour contracts, instances of bogus self-employment and abuse of fixed-term contracts. All of these things now need to be looked at. Something I have been raising for quite a while about what is going on in the film industry echoes this. This is an area where large amounts of public money go in and it has been suggested to me that many of the actors and performers working for RTÉ Drama are also being asked to sign buy-out contracts on their intellectual property and the right to royalties. Therefore, at the top, people are getting secret payments and staggering salaries while actors, performers and workers are getting short-changed. Something that requires further investigation and is something I have been talking about, is the money going into the film industry, because the same stuff is going on there. Huge amounts of money and no proper oversight. If properly investigated, there will be a similar picture: a small group at the top doing very well out of large amounts of public money, but the actors, performers, the film crew, the people who actually make films happen, are often being treated in the most shoddy fashion.
The general public and workers at RTÉ are utterly appalled at the revelations of secret payments to Ryan Tubridy. They raise a number of questions about the public service role of RTÉ. One aspect is the function of effectively secret agreements with companies. In this case, what we are led to believe is that in 2020, RTÉ made an arrangement with the car company, Renault, whereby in order to avoid it appearing on RTÉ's balance sheet, Renault would make a payment of €75,000 to Ryan Tubridy, in return for which Renault got a credit note for advertising worth €75,000 and a number of visits - three I think - by Ryan Tubridy. In other words, it cost Renault nothing and the company got a benefit from it.
This raises a number of questions. First, a freedom of information, FOI, request from RTÉ Climate Watch to which an answer was received on 15 February 2022, asked about all communications and documents regarding any payments or payments in kind from the motoring, aviation, or travel industries to any RTÉ staff member. The answer came back to say that there was nothing which seems to suggest that this FOI is incorrect. Second, it raises a broader question about the role of fossil fuel advertising at RTÉ and whether it is having an influence on what is produced editorially. An interesting fact is that the "Late Late Show" has referenced climate change twice in its entire history. Both times were when it had climate change deniers on. It did not deal with this, the biggest issue facing all of humanity, at any stage. It is time to have a conversation about getting rid of the influence of these fossil fuel companies as we have got rid of the role of tobacco advertising, for example.
Ireland's health budget runs to €20 billion per year. Ireland spends roughly the same on healthcare per capita as Denmark and Austria but yet while Austria and Denmark are third and fourth on the CEOWORLD magazine's healthcare ranking index, Ireland is 80th. The difference between Austria and Denmark and Ireland in relation to healthcare spending is quite extraordinary. They rank countries in terms of infrastructure, costs, health outcomes and medicine availability. Something is obviously wrong. Once one gets into it, the Irish health system is as good as anywhere in the world. The staff are as motivated and trained as the best in the world. There is obviously a huge issue around retention and around health and safety but the elephant in the room is privatisation in our health system. A huge amount of the money from that €20 billion pool goes towards private healthcare. There has to be something wrong if Ireland is 80th in this league of healthcare providers in the world.
I thank the Deputies. On the addiction sector and services raised by Deputy Gould, I am very familiar with these as well. I have often visited the Coolmine Therapeutic Community which is based in Blanchardstown but now has facilities in other parts of the country as well. I am very aware of the work it does. It is work that can really turn people's lives around. I have had an interest in the area for a long time, going back to my time as a practising doctor. Responsibility for it does not fall under my remit; nor does the citizens' assembly. I might ask the Minister of State at the Department for Health, Deputy Naughton, to write to the Deputy to get some more information on what is being done in terms of increasing funding and capacity within the sector.
Deputy Boyd Barrett raised the issue of concealed or secret payments in RTÉ. It is important once again to put on record that as far as we know so far anyway, this only applies to one person. There is not yet any evidence of any other secret payments to any other contractor of RTÉ. It is important we say that so that people do not all get tarred with the one brush. It is also important to say that it was picked up by an external audit. RTÉ’s own auditors, Grant Thornton, picked it up, which shows why it is important we have internal and external audit functions.
The film industry receives its support in different ways, including through the tax system by tax incentives and also through Screen Ireland when it comes to grants and other aid. I do not know exactly what the conditionality is around that but I expect that where a tax incentive is being applied for or a grant is being sought from a body such as Screen Ireland, that the minimum statutory standards would be upheld when it comes to health and safety, employment rights etc.
It is not.
Certainly, that should be the case.
Deputy Murphy raised the issue of RTÉ and climate. RTÉ covers climate a lot. Maybe it does not cover it on “The Late Late Show” but it does so often on the website and on the news and in many programmes dealing with the issue. Coverage is generally by George Lee who covers it very well and passionately.
The issue of Ireland’s spend on healthcare was raised. It is the case that spending is now much higher than it used to be. When I was Minister for Health, which is not all that long ago, we spent approximately €14 billion or €15 billion on health. The figure is now €24 billion. A huge amount of money is now being spent on health. As the Deputy pointed out, broadly speaking on a per capita basis – there are always different ways of measuring these things – our health spending is now one of the highest in the developed world. There are different reasons for that. We have very high pay levels. If we compare pay in the health service in Ireland with Northern Ireland, the UK or almost anywhere, other than the Middle East or Australia, it is clear we pay very well.
We have a high number of nurses, for example. We have more nurses per head and per bed than almost any other healthcare system in the world. We pay a lot for medicines as well, which is an issue. The fact we have quite old buildings and old structures adds to the cost. There are different healthcare rankings. It is not the only one and we are not 80th in all of them. We do very well on life expectancy and ours is one of the highest in the EU. We have much better cancer, stroke and heart attack survival rates than the NHS, which some people believe, for some reason, should be an example we follow. Our patient outcomes are generally much better than in that system. I do not know how much of the €24 billion goes to private contractors, be it for agency staff or the National Treatment Purchase Fund. I suspect it is less than 10%, so it is very high levels of public funding into our public health service.
Programme for Government
Mary Lou McDonald
Question:6. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach his intention to establish additional units-divisions in his Department to those outlined in the programme for Government. [29336/23]
Neasa Hourigan
Question:7. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Taoiseach if he is considering new divisions in his Department. [30914/23]
Cian O'Callaghan
Question:8. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Taoiseach his intention to establish additional units or divisions in his Department to those outlined in the programme for Government. [30945/23]
Ruairí Ó Murchú
Question:9. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Taoiseach his intention to establish additional units or divisions in his Department to those outlined in the programme for Government. [30973/23]
Richard Boyd Barrett
Question:10. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach his intention to establish additional units-divisions in his Department to those outlined in the programme for Government. [30975/23]
Paul Murphy
Question:11. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Taoiseach his intention to establish additional units or divisions in his Department to those outlined in the programme for Government. [30978/23]
Mick Barry
Question:12. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Taoiseach his intention to establish additional units or divisions in his Department to those outlined in the programme for Government. [31141/23]
I propose to take question Nos. 6 to 12, inclusive, together.
The Department of the Taoiseach is continuing to help advance the programme for Government commitments. The priorities set out in the Department's Strategy Statement 2021-2023 reflect the role of the Department to assist me as Taoiseach and the Government to ensure a sustainable economy and a successful society, pursue Ireland's interests abroad, implement the Government’s programme and build a better future for Ireland and all its citizens. Both the shared island unit and social dialogue unit were established in the Department of the Taoiseach as provided for in the programme for Government.
The shared island unit has been engaging with all communities through a comprehensive dialogue series. It has also been commissioning research to deepen understanding of the whole island, in economic, social, cultural and political terms. Over the last two years, Government has allocated just under €250 million from the shared island fund. This has been for projects and investments that respond to common interests and concerns for people North and South, including climate action and biodiversity conservation, regional development, innovation and deepening our societal connections.
The social dialogue unit co-ordinates and assists the Government’s overall approach to social dialogue through a variety of mechanisms. These include regular engagement through the Labour Employer Economic Forum, LEEF, the national economic dialogue, the National Economic and Social Council and the work of the various citizens’ assemblies.
More recently, the new child poverty and well-being unit has been established in the Department. It will enhance co-ordination across Government, provide strategic leadership and bring enhanced accountability to the child poverty agenda.
The programme for Government also sets out a strong framework for climate action and places it at the heart of the work of all Departments. Through the work of the climate action unit the Department of the Taoiseach exercises a leadership role to ensure climate action is prioritised in all Government Departments. The Department of the Taoiseach will shortly publish its new strategy statement for the three-year period from 2023 to 2025.
Women's Aid released devastating figures last week showing nearly 32,000 contacts to its regional or national services last year. Behind each contact is a woman, who often has children, living in unimaginable conditions. State investment in new safe accommodation and refuges is too low, as is the funding of services. Implementation of the third national strategy is also too low and too slow. A whole-of-government approach is needed and that should be led by the Taoiseach.
Services in my constituency are at breaking point. We saw a 9% increase in domestic violence calls to the Garda in Cork last year. Even more women should be able to escape these situations, but cannot because the services they need are not there. Groups like Cuanlee Refuge and Mná Feasa in Cork do Trojan work. I recently had to direct a lady to them for support. The support they gave her was huge. This was a very vulnerable lady. They have accompanied her to court and have given her support and a safety net. However, these services are operating on budgets that are far too low. Last year I met with Cuanlee along with Deputies Martin Kenny and Ó Laoghaire. We heard stories of women and families being forced to go to other shelters because it was full. There is no place for larger families to go to. There is often no place for women fleeing domestic violence to go to. The crisis in domestic violence is compounded by the crisis in homelessness and housing. The best thing we can do is for the Government to lend the groups the support they need.
Every single household and family, especially families with children, who end up homeless and are evicted into homelessness through no fault of their own are being let down by the State. They are being very badly let down. They are being traumatised. I have heard the Taoiseach say most people get out of homelessness within a relatively short time, but that is not the experience I am seeing. I am seeing families and kids in homeless situations for years on end. They are often not even in their own locality. This means families having to travel from very poor-quality accommodation in the city centre to bring their kids to school in Dún Laoghaire in really impossible circumstances.
People are left in that accommodation for long periods of time. Others are traumatised by the possibility of eviction. That brings up the issue, which I would like to hear the Government give a commitment on, of our getting a report before the summer recess on what is happening with all the tenant in situ applications. I am hearing there are great delays, problems and excuses being made about why purchases to prevent homelessness are not happening. I would also like to get a detailed report from the Minister before that. I ask the Taoiseach to pay particular attention to families and children who are in long-term homelessness in emergency accommodation and who are not even in their own locality near their schools and family supports.
I asked the Taoiseach about the Iceland workers earlier and he agreed with me the workers should be paid what they were owed and should go to the WRC to achieve that. The problem, as the Taoiseach knows, is that is not a simple or quick process. The State treats wage theft differently than it does other forms of theft. If I go into an Iceland store tomorrow and walk out with a frozen pizza I have not paid for, the store can call the Garda and I can be arrested and prosecuted. That option is not open to the workers. They cannot call the Garda and say they have not got paid the money they are owed, which is tens of thousands of euro, and say they want the owner arrested. That is a fundamental problem. Instead, the workers are forced to go down the WRC route. The commission is underpowered and under-resourced. There are now only slightly more labour inspectors in the country than dog wardens. It is completely unacceptable.
I have two questions. Will the Taoiseach set up a special unit to pursue the wage-theft issue and ensure workers are not ripped off in this way? Does he agree wage theft should be criminalised in the same way other theft is?
Cork’s first-ever trans pride march will take place through the city this Saturday. The march will assemble at 2 p.m. at the Cork City Library. It is a defiant choice of venue, given it has been the scene of anti-LGBTQ+ protests, including the ripping-up of books by far-right activists this year. This march is a protest. It is first and foremost a protest against the increase in hate crime against our trans community. One of the organisers of Saturday’s protest, Saoirse Mackin, told me today she knows more people who have suffered violence over the last month than she knows who have suffered violence over the previous years.
It is also a protest against the inaction of the Taoiseach’s Government, which has allowed waiting lists for gender-affirming healthcare in this State to build up to six to ten years. Ireland is now ranked worst in Europe for provision of such healthcare. What steps does the Taoiseach intend to take to improve this situation?
Deputy Gould spoke first and raised the issue of domestic and gender-based violence. I once again put on the record of the House that this is a major priority for the Government, and especially for the Minister for Justice, Deputy Helen McEntee, who takes the lead on this and is very passionate about it. What we are doing is reflected in a range of policies and legislation, as well as unprecedented increases in budget allocations. Last year we published our five-year ambitious zero-tolerance strategy with funding of €363 million dedicated to it. One of the overarching goals is to ensure that everyone who needs a refuge space will get one. We are working closely with the sector and others to achieve this. We will double the number of refuge spaces over the lifetime of the strategy and we will meet our obligations under the Istanbul Convention on domestic violence.
The zero-tolerance strategy also sets a target to increase the number of safe homes. Last year an additional 12 safe homes were put in place and there will be a further increase from 32 to 50 by the end of this year. A new statutory agency under the aegis of the Department of Justice will be established to ensure a permanent dedicated focus on this important area of work. Under the strategy the Minister, Deputy McEntee, is progressing legislation to double the maximum sentence for assault causing harm, to update sexual offences legislation, including in relation to the law around consent, to continue reforms to put the victim at the centre of the criminal justice system, and also to improve the monitoring of sex offenders through the Sex Offenders (Amendment) Bill.
With regard to the Women's Aid impact report, there is no doubt that the figures are stark and shocking. There were more than 33,000 disclosures of domestic abuse against women and children last year, including 1,000 of sexual abuse. Four or five of those in contact were abused by a current or former male intimate partner. Contact with Women's Aid is up more than 16%. The report underlines the importance of implementing our strategy and the job now for the Government and society is for us as individuals to change things and to stop accepting the stark and disturbing figures, and to stop accepting domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, or the attitudes that underpin these crimes.
On the specific issue of refuge spaces - and I mentioned safe homes earlier - we have committed to doubling the number of refuge spaces. We are working to provide additional safe homes and step-down accommodation. The development of 24 units is currently under way at three locations in Wexford, Dundalk and Navan. We expect them to be completed by next year. A further 98 will be provided in priority locations by 2025, along with a further 19 additional upgraded units by the end of the strategy.
We have also published the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2022, which will double the maximum sentence for assault causing harm, making stalking and non-fatal strangulation stand-alone offences, and expanding the existing harassment offence.
Deputy Boyd Barrett referred to long-term family homelessness. I agree it is unacceptably high. Family homelessness will happen from time to time but when it happens it should be rare, be brief and should not be repeated. I must check the numbers but I understand that in most cases we are able to find proper accommodation for families within a year, and for about half of the cases it is within six to seven months. I acknowledge that this is a long time in the life of a child. It can be complex. At the moment some 40% of people in emergency accommodation are not Irish citizens and many of those are not entitled to social housing. We are drilling down into more detail on that, so we will have better figures in the months ahead. Even in my own experience in helping people in family homelessness - and I am helping a lot of people at the moment through my constituency service - I can think of one family that has been in emergency accommodation for four years. They have been four years homeless but what does this mean? It means they are being accommodated in a two-bedroom apartment provided by the council for the best part of those four years. They have turned down two offers of accommodation. They may have done so for good reasons given the space available and the size of the family, but it is not often as simple as people represent it. People in long-term homelessness may often be in an apartment or a house with their own door and their own key and they may have been offered accommodation, which they did not accept for reasons that may well be good reasons. It is often not the way people think it is.
On the tenant in situ scheme, I just received an update from the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, the other day. It looks like there are approximately 2,000 of these now in train, which is very encouraging. These are 2,000 families that might have faced eviction and having to find a new place to live are now being transitioned into social housing because we are buying those units from landlords who are selling up. It takes time to do that work. Anyone who has bought or sold a house knows how long it can take. It is looking like about 2,000 this year, which is not a bad number.
Will we get a report before the summer recess or as part of the summer statement?
Yes, I can certainly ask for that. We will be doing the end of second quarter report on Housing For All in about two weeks' time. Perhaps we can include it on that. In Fingal, my own county, it is about 200. There is a good chance we will exceed the target of 1,500 for this year. Whether all those purchases are signed and sealed by the end of the year is a different question. It may well be more than 2,000. I believe it has been a successful policy.
It is my understanding that wage theft is a criminal offence under non-payment of wages but I will have to check that again. It might be the case that we should strengthen the law. Not paying someone €200 to which he or she is entitled is the same as taking €200 from that person and the penalty should be similar.
On trans healthcare, I met with the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly, and the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, during Pride week last week as well as meeting with Transgender Equality Network Ireland, TENI, and most of the groups representing the LGBT community. We agreed there would be further engagement on trans healthcare, which is not up to scratch in Ireland and does not compare favourably with most of the other European countries. There have been real difficulties recruiting staff in those areas and a lot of the medicine in those areas is still being developed.
British-Irish Co-operation
Bernard Durkan
Question:13. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Taoiseach to report on any British-Irish conferences and meetings that he has attended recently. [29881/23]
Brendan Smith
Question:14. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Taoiseach for a report on his attendance at the British-Irish Council summit in Jersey. [30081/23]
Seán Haughey
Question:15. Deputy Seán Haughey asked the Taoiseach for a report on his attendance at the British-Irish Council summit in Jersey. [30083/23]
Mary Lou McDonald
Question:16. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach if he will report on any recent discussions he has had with the British Prime Minister. [30732/23]
Brendan Smith
Question:17. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Taoiseach to report on any recent discussions he has had with the British Prime Minister. [30942/23]
Ruairí Ó Murchú
Question:18. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Taoiseach to report on any recent discussions he has had with the British Prime Minister, directly or at European level. [30972/23]
Mick Barry
Question:19. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Taoiseach to report on any recent discussions he has had with the British Prime Minister. [31143/23]
I propose to take questions Nos. 13 to 19, inclusive, together.
I attended the 38th British-Irish Council summit, hosted by the Government of Jersey on 15 and 16 June. The theme of the summit was Building for the Future: Green and Affordable. I detailed the Government’s work to promote sustainable and affordable housing under Housing For All, including in relation to skills, affordability, and vacancy. More broadly, I updated the council on my recent EU and international engagements, including the European Political Community summit. We discussed developments in Northern Ireland, and in particular the events North and South to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. Along with others around the table I regretted the absence of representatives from the Northern Ireland Executive and hoped for an early restoration of the Executive and Assembly in Northern Ireland.
While in Jersey, I met with Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Michael Gove. We discussed a range of issues including housing and the cost of living, the situation in Northern Ireland, as well as the ongoing bilateral relationship. I also had the opportunity to have my first engagement with the new leader of the Scottish Government, First Minister, Humza Yousaf. We discussed the Ireland-Scotland Joint Bilateral Review 2021-2025, which provides an important framework for deepening links between our two countries, our ongoing engagement, our shared learning in a range of sectors, and our economic links.
I also met with the Welsh First Minister, the Right Honourable Mark Drakeford. We discussed our strong bilateral relationship and the positive progress made to date through the Shared Statement and Joint Action Plan 2021-2025, which sets out the ambition and plans for the Ireland-Wales relationship in years ahead. The Irish Government will host the next meeting of the British-Irish Council in Dublin in November.
I met with Prime Minister Sunak in Hillsborough Castle on 19 April where we discussed developments in Northern Ireland and the British-Irish relationship, as well as broader domestic and global challenges. We have spoken since in the margins of the Council of Europe summit in Reykjavik in May and at the European Political Community summit in Moldova on 31 May and 1 June. Our shared priority is the return of functioning institutions that provide services that the people of Northern Ireland need and deserve. In our engagements I have emphasised the value of the two Governments working together in the period ahead in support of the agreement and its institutions. We have also discussed the scope for further strengthening the bilateral British-Irish relationship.
As we know, the British-Irish Council has a brief for the totality of relationships on these islands and can be attended by representatives of the Irish Government, the British Government, the Northern Ireland Executive, and the Executives of Scotland, Wales, Guernsey, the Isle of Man and Jersey. The Good Friday Agreement also provides for a British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference.
This met last week. It was attended by the Tánaiste and the Minister for Justice. It is great that the Taoiseach could attend the British-Irish Council, which met this month also. However, regrettably, not all the institutions established under the Good Friday Agreement are functioning at this time, notably, the Stormont Northern Ireland Executive and Northern Ireland Assembly as well as the North-South Ministerial Council. No political representation from Northern Ireland could attend the British-Irish Council as the Taoiseach said. It is clear the British Government, under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, is committed to the institutions. Will the Taoiseach advise whether any progress has been made there regarding the re-establishment of the Executive and Assembly in Northern Ireland following these recent meetings? I understand that discussions are taking place between the DUP and the British Government on post-Brexit trade and sovereignty issues. I am sorry for asking again but will the Taoiseach update the House on this matter? Has there been any progress?
Separately, I noted that the House of Lords rejected the controversial element of the legacy Bill this week when the Lords voted in favour of an amendment which would remove the so-called amnesty. Are there grounds for hope following the deliberations of the House of Lords?
Meetings of this sort are a good occasion to float new ideas with particular reference to the degree to which we can assess its acceptability. In this regard, I ask the Taoiseach whether it was possible to do that and to expand on the issues referred to by my colleague a couple of minutes ago to find out whether there was an acceptability of the need to move on and to make progress on the outstanding issues in regard to Brexit, the Good Friday Agreement and the necessity to ensure the sentiments expressed in the agreement continue to the letter and in the spirit in a way that would be helpful to the situation that prevails.
Last week the Tánaiste issued a public statement calling on the British Government to pause the legacy Bill and instead commit itself to a victim-centred justice mechanism set out in the Stormont House Agreement. The next day a Cabinet Minister told the House of Commons categorically that the legacy Bill would become law by the end of July. Political parties throughout the island are united in their opposition to the Bill which if passed will shut down the fundamental rights of families to seek justice through the courts for their loved ones. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights as well as the Westminster Joint Committee on Human Rights and political partners in the US and Europe have all warned that this legislation is not compliant with international human rights. In a statement last week, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights warned that the Bill would violate British international obligations and put victims’ rights at risk.
Victims have welcomed the Taoiseach’s and his Government’s comments that they would consider taking an inter-state case to the European Court of Human Rights if this legislation is enacted. Can the Taoiseach confirm whether his Department is preparing to take the inter-state case? Will he consult with the Attorney General on it? At this time it is essential the Irish Government is unequivocal in its commitment to use every legal mechanism or avenue to uphold the rights for justice for all families.
In the 1980s, Margaret Thatcher banned teaching about gay relationships in schools. Thatcher's section 28 laws are infamous today, a symbol of darker times. However, is Rishi Sunak about to turn back the clock? According to The Observer, Sunak is now considering instructing teachers not to use a new name or pronoun at a pupil's request until parental consent has been obtained; instructing schools to inform parents if a young person seeks to change their name or starts wearing a different uniform; and instructing schools to inform parents if a student is questioning their gender. There is much more besides but I do not have time to go into it. As one campaigner put it, section 28 did not mandate that if a 17-year old told the teacher they had been thinking about their sexuality, that that teacher would be required by law to report that to their parents, even if they objected or begged the teacher not to. Will the Taoiseach convey opposition to these measures to the Prime Minister? Obviously, if this happens in the UK people will beat the drum for it to happen here. It is not in our interest for these laws to be implemented.
Earlier, the Taoiseach referred to what he described as “our allies” in NATO. He also mentioned Britain. Of course, we have close connections, huge numbers of English people are here, and they are our neighbours. However, I have to question this thinking because at the moment our so-called "ally", as the Taoiseach described it, has introduced a law that is going to make it illegal for democratic councils in Britain to support the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign against Israel over its ongoing systematic violation of Palestinian rights, the criminal siege of Gaza, apartheid policies, the illegal annexation of Palestinian territory, and administrative detention. I could go on through the list. It wants to criminalise people engaging in boycott, sanctions and divestment against Israel for those crimes. Should we not raise our voice against that? Should we not question the priorities and ethics of that foreign policy where they jump up and down about illegal occupations, violation and war crimes in Ukraine, but then support a state and try to criminalise people protesting against a state that is doing exactly the same thing to the Palestinians?
I saw that the British ambassador to Ireland has taken a break from Twitter after saying he had been subject to abuse on the basis of his nationality. Obviously, nobody should be subject to abuse on Twitter or elsewhere and people are free to join or leave social media platforms as they wish. However, it is worth noting what he was referring to. He tweeted saying, “Had it not been for NATO operations... many people in the former Yugoslavia and Afghanistan would not be alive today”. That was in response to the protests at the so-called consultative forum. He was met with much correct criticism on NATO, with people making the very obvious point that if it was not for those NATO interventions, many more people would still be alive today. I refer to the war crimes committed by NATO, including the bombing of the television station in Belgrade, described by Amnesty International as a war crime, and the thousands and thousands of civilian deaths in Yugoslavia and in Afghanistan, not to mention hundreds of thousands as a consequence in the Middle East. Is it not fair enough that if someone intervenes in our foreign policy debate that they are going to get a robust response and debate from people?
Deputy Haughey asked whether any progress has been made in recent weeks on the restoration of the institutions in Northern Ireland, the Assembly and the Executive. The truth is that nothing, or very little, progress has been made. Engagement continues between the DUP and the UK Government. The Tánaiste met with the party leaders. Sir Jeffrey Donaldson will be in Dublin shortly for engagements. We are all still talking but it is fair to say that very little progress has been made at this stage. The hope is that the autumn might bring restoration, which we would all like to see because what the vast majority of people in Northern Ireland want to see is the parties form an Executive, form an Assembly, and deal with the enormous problems that face people every day.
I had not heard about the House of Lords' vote. I will check up on that when I get back to the office. If it is the case that it has rejected an element of the legacy Bill, that is welcome. My understanding of the British system is that the House of Commons can then overturn that using the parliament Act. However, it raises the question as to whether experienced Members of the House of Lords are taking this view for a reason.
I reiterate the Government's opposition to the Bill, which is a position shared by the five main parties in Northern Ireland and, crucially, the victims' groups. Any legacy process has to be victim-centred and victim-led. It is important to say the proposed amnesty would not just apply to former British service personnel. It would also apply to crimes and war crimes committed by former members of the IRA and other paramilitary groups. Most of the killings and murders in Northern Ireland were carried out by former members of the IRA and other paramilitaries. We should not forget that, because legacy means holding them to account too and making sure they are brought to justice. The legislation is not yet passed, and as the Tánaiste said and I agree, we are not ruling out an interstate case. We are not at that point yet. This law is not yet on the Statute Book and does not have royal assent.
Deputy Durkan talked about the feeling of the need to move on post Brexit, and that feeling is very much there. When it comes to the Windsor Framework, it is not about renegotiating or tweaking it. It is all about implementation. It needs to be implemented in good faith, and it will be. There will be challenges around that, and we need to work with the UK Government to make sure that happens.
Deputy Barry spoke about some proposals on education in England or the UK. I am not actually aware of them. I will check it out, but I was not aware that those proposals were being made. I would be surprised if they were, quite frankly, but I am perhaps not up to date in my reading of the British newspapers.
I think the reference to "our gallant allies" is actually a reference to Germany, Austria and Hungary, who are indeed our allies, but that was a very different context. In my view, all EU countries are our allies, as are the US, Canada and the UK. We share a common travel area with the United Kingdom. People can live, work, study and access housing, healthcare and social welfare in each other's countries as though we were citizens of both. That is really important for Irish and British citizens alike. We have enormously close trading relationships. Most of us have families in Britain, I think, so we have huge connections to Britain. We help each other out on security, but we do not always agree. We have disputes and disagreements. We had them over Brexit, we have had them over legacy, and we will have them over other things. Being an ally does not mean that we just back each other up all the time. It means we tell each other the truth, often when the other person does not want to hear it. We have had to do that in our relationship with Britain on a number of occasions in recent years, and I know Deputy Boyd Barrett is a very strong ally of Palestine. I am sure in his engagement with Palestinian groups, whether it is the Palestine Liberation Organization, PLO, or Hamas, he would raise issues such as the suppression of LGBT rights in Gaza and the West Bank, the lack of democracy, the treatment of women, corruption and all of those things. That does not make him any less an ally.