Last month, hospital waiting lists stood at 887,000 people. Emergency department waits were on average 12 hours and the trolley crisis is worse than ever. Today, we learned that the HSE has instructed senior managers to draw up a cost containment plan as it expects to run over budget by €1.6 billion this year. The cost containment measures are to be rolled out across the National Ambulance Service. It is difficult to see how this could happen except through the mismanagement of our health service with the Government and the Minister for Health ultimately responsible. Patients deserve a guarantee that core services will not be cut because of the Government's failure to plan for our health service so can the Minister for Health outline what cost containment will be put in place and can he guarantee that any failure to manage the health budget will not lead to a cut in planned service provision this year?
Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation
As the Deputy is aware, the HSE is in the middle of the largest expansion in many years and part of the reason for the additional funds being drawn down by the HSE this year is that it is substantially ahead of its targets for treating patients. As we are all aware, there are some parts of this the HSE can control. One of the areas we are working very closely with it is on hospital operations. Funds were made available to hospitals for Covid measures, some of which have yet to be reversed out of the hospitals. We all have to appreciate that to a large extent, healthcare is a demand-led service. More people are arriving at emergency departments than ever before. It is ahead of projection here and around Europe, the North and Great Britain and, obviously, we do not turn people away from the emergency departments. The Government and I have been working very closely with the HSE to have the waiting lists fall. The waiting lists are falling but it does mean that the HSE is treating more people and is ahead of its targets in terms of the number of people to treat. We are working with the HSE across a number of measures, one of which is reversing out the Covid funding from the hospitals.
I previously raised with the Taoiseach the issue of vacant and derelict homes. According to the CSO, about 8% of dwellings in Ireland are vacant. We observe vacancy and dereliction across our communities in our towns and cities yet the last time I looked at the derelict homes register in my area, it only had ten derelict properties in Dublin Bay South. In any constituency, that would represent a drop in the ocean in terms of the number of properties that are vacant or derelict. What measures are proposed by the Government to ensure we will have an effective derelict homes register in operation across the country? Will the Government ensure there are sufficient numbers of vacant homes officers across the country in councils to investigate vacancy and dereliction properly and ensure that there are consequences for allowing properties to fall into dereliction and ensure we can have some trust in the levels of vacancy and dereliction that are reported? Clearly, there is a huge issue about just knowing which properties are vacant and derelict currently.
We are instructing all the local authorities to carry out vacancy surveys. We have put dedicated teams into each local authority around vacancy. Those teams are conducting surveys street by street of all vacancies in core areas so we will come up with a detailed register for each local authority to complement the work of the CSO in that area. This body of work is under way. We hope to have real details on that later in the year. It is very important to us.
I return to the €120,000 in secret payments made by RTÉ to Ryan Tubridy between 2017 and 2019. It is not acceptable that we are being told it could be another month before we have any clarity about how those payments were made.
It is impossible to understand how RTÉ thought that would fly. For a start, if RTÉ identified that €120,000 over and above his published salary was paid to Mr. Tubridy, how can it then claim ignorance as to how those payments were made? How did RTÉ even identify the amount of €120,000 in the first place if it does not know where it came from? Are we to assume that the difficulty in tracking this payment is because it was part of another commercial relationship, with the invoice being anonymised and routed through a third-party company in another jurisdiction? Two Oireachtas committees are supposed to meet over the next two days to try to get to the bottom of this financial quagmire, but we all know that they will not be able to without all of the relevant information. The Taoiseach said earlier that he has not received any explanation from RTÉ as to why it will take four weeks to publish the report on the payment relating to the 2017-19 period. What is the Taoiseach going to do about this? Will he request that whatever information is available about that payment is put into the public domain today?
As the Deputy knows, both today and tomorrow, RTÉ executives and board members will be before committees. I see no reason why they should not put any information in respect of that payment in the public domain as soon as possible. I do not understand why it should take four weeks for the Grant Thornton report to be completed. However, there may be good reasons that I just do not know about. It is important that the question be put to RTÉ's representatives at the committee meetings today and tomorrow.
The Taoiseach recently received a detailed report from Unite the Union on the case of four of its members working for Murphy International Limited at the Rusal Aughinish Alumina plant in Limerick in an action the union described as tantamount to union busting. The plant is owned by UC RUSAL, whose majority shareholder is the billionaire Russian oligarch and Putin supporter Oleg Deripaska. While the Irish Government has been very vocal when Deripaska faced sanctions due to Putin’s war on Ukraine, its silence on workers’ rights in this case is deafening. The Government simply replied to the union to tell it that it can take unfair dismissals case. We all know that that process will be long, uncertain and unlikely to mean reinstatement. I am asking the Taoiseach to commit to bringing in legislation that will protect union activists from dismissal where they organise in circumstances where their employers should be bound to recognise them. Will he commit to writing to this Russian oligarch to tell him that he can expect no State contracts paid by the taxpayer as long as he treats workers in this manner?
I thank the Deputy very much for her question. We already have legislation protecting workers from victimisation in the context of trade union activity. We are developing new legislation to put into our Irish law the EU directive on collective bargaining and national minimum wages.
I will not be writing to any Russian oligarchs, quite frankly,. I certainly will not be writing to one who is not the majority owner of that particular company.
Under the programme for Government, the target for decarbonising the transport sector is encouraging a modal shift away from travel by private car towards less carbon-intensive and more sustainable alternatives. The Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, has stated that micro-mobility options like e-scooters have an important role to play in this transition to a cleaner and greener society and economy. I am seeking clarity on when the legislation for the regulation of e-scooters will come into force. Not only are these scooters life-threatening to users, which is commonly more than one person, they are also a danger to pedestrians as a result of misuse, speeding and no regulations. There were 746 traffic incidents involving e-scooters in the country last year, including 554 collisions. Another issue is that when e-scooters are parked in a haphazard fashion on footpaths, they present an obstacle. This is a real issue for people with disabilities and visual impairments. Two years on, however, there is still no legislation. Considering that a woman in her eighties died after being in collision with someone on an e-scooter in Dublin at the weekend, I ask the Taoiseach for an update on the said promised legislation and the estimated timeframe for its implementation.
My apologies, but I do not have a response to that question. I will come back to the Deputy by way of correspondence.
The people in Tipperary and the medical fraternity are very concerned about a reconfiguration that is proposed. It is proposed that South Tipperary General Hospital will be removed from the South/South West Hospital Group, which has been a very successful partnership, and be aligned with a much larger hospital such as St. Vincent's University Hospital, Dublin, the National Maternity Hospital, University Hospital Waterford and all the others. People are very worried that we will be the poor relation in respect of this matter. We have had a very successful alignment with Cork University Hospital and with University Hospital Kerry. The numbers do not stack up because some regions are very much smaller. We are being aligned with the St. Vincent’s University Hospital. I have been in there recently on a number of occasions. It is an excellent hospital. I want to compliment everybody there and thank them for looking after everybody. Geographically, the hospital is too far from Tipperary. All of the resources, funding and so on will be sucked into St. Vincent's and South Tipperary University Hospital will be left as the poor relation. There is great angst amongst consultants, management, staff and those who use the hospital in Clonmel, which is giving valuable and dedicated service to patients, not those only from south Tipperary but also from north Tipperary and west Waterford.
We still have not finalised the regional health areas. It is intended that they will be established next year. There will always be different opinions as to where the boundaries are drawn. We had that with the hospital groups, and we will certainly have it with the regional health areas. The intention is never to suck resources into the biggest hospital in the area; it is to make sure that it happens the other way and that we build functioning networks.
I welcome recent moves by the Government to begin discussions around pharmacy services and fees. The fact remains that core dispensing fees have been frozen for the past 15 years and that average dispensing fees across all State schemes have increased by a significant amount in real terms. This is coupled with a large increase in the amount of dispensing happening in pharmacies across the State. In County Donegal, we have 62 pharmacies. They are part of the fabric of our rural communities. They provide far more than just our dispensing function. For many people, they have also have an important social function. Will the Taoiseach give a commitment that the discussions on this matter will be fast-tracked to a conclusion in order that measures to address the Irish Pharmacy Union’s valid concerns can be included in the forthcoming budget?
I thank the Deputy. The Minister for Health is keen to engage with community pharmacists about fees and about what additional services they might be willing to provide in return for improved fees. That is a conversation they are up for. They did a very good job on the vaccine programme and have risen to many challenges that we have asked them to rise to. I cannot give the Deputy a commitment on the timeline because it takes two sides to negotiate. A great deal will depend on how willing both sides, including the pharmacy side, are to make concessions and move ground.
The Irish Coast Guard unit in Killaloe, County Clare, is located on the shores of Lough Derg. All 22 volunteers there are out nearly every day of the week, not just because of the proximity of the unit's base to the lake but also because it is close to the motorway. There is also the question of the station's accessibility to other rescue missions around the country. The 22 volunteers are based out of a steel shipping container that has a single toilet. They are looking for a proper base. The Irish Coast Guard has had some discussions about the possibility of Killaloe becoming a national training hub. I would love to see that possibility explored further. I invite the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, to come to visit the unit some day. More importantly, however, the Government needs to have oversight of this matter. It needs to look at investment and at the health and safety aspect and the major role the volunteers play in this regard. There are perfect sites on the shores of Lough Derg that could be readily pursued in the context of a new base.
I thank the Deputy. This matter falls under the responsibility of the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan. I will ask him to prepare a detailed reply for Deputy Crowe.
Yesterday, I was with the Iceland workers in Talbot Street. They turned up for work on Monday morning only to be told that they had been sacked and that the shop is closing. They are owed wages and holiday pay and have no idea when they are going to get either. The examinership process is under way, but it is not acceptable that they have been left in limbo while workers in other stores do not know if they will have a job this time next week. Some of the shops have closed and some are still operating. In some cases, workers have been left with only partial wages. These are low-paid workers. We have listened to much chat about high earners getting top-ups on their extremely high wages. These are workers on very modest wages, and they cannot even get those paid.
The Minister met with the management of Iceland. I ask that another meeting be convened or that some form of contact be made with the management in order that the workers can get some sort of clarity as to when they are going to get their wages. These are people who live very much from hand to mouth. They do not have savings to dip into and they certainly do not have anyone coming over the hill with a big top-up for them.
I thank the Deputy. The Iceland workers should get the money they are owed. We both agree on that. There are mechanisms to make sure that this happens. Sometimes, these are very slow. I appreciate that if someone is on a low income and does not have savings to dip into, that can be very difficult. I have not had an update from the Minister on how the meeting went, but I will seek one today and ask if there is more we can do.
A number of years ago, a commitment was given to the people of Mullingar that if they fundraised to buy an MRI scanner, the HSE would provide a building to house the scanner and staff to run it. The building has been completed and the scanner has been purchased and delivered.
We now have a scanner in a building with no staff approved to carry out the necessary works. I ask the Taoiseach and the Minister for Health to intervene with the HSE in order to ensure that the request for additional staff is approved without any further delay. It is quite bizarre that a critical piece of infrastructure is in place but that there are no staff to operate it.
I will certainly make inquiries with the HSE about the matter. We have approved a budget for the HSE to recruit an additional 6,000 staff this year. That is on top of the 20,000 additional staff who had been hired since the Government came into office. I do not know exactly why the radiology department in Mullingar has not been allocated staff from 6,000. I will make inquiries and come back to the Deputy.
As a former GP, the Taoiseach will be aware of endometriosis. The latter is a disease in which tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows outside the womb. It is a chronic, painful and debilitating disease which means that women have to put their lives on hold. It is very difficult for them to have a normal life when they are suffering with the disease. As endometriosis impacts one in ten women, the overall number affected by it is not insignificant. It can take years for women to be diagnosed. Many women are told that it is in their head and that they need to see counsellors. The Government has made some moves recently regarding the treatment of this disease. Just this week in my constituency of Wicklow, however, one woman had to crowdfund in order to have her surgery. She did not know until the day before her surgery was to happen whether she had enough money to have it. I have also been contacted by another constituent, a young woman who is suffering from this disease. The long time between appointments and the dearth of information on her condition are really impacting on her life. What can I tell these constituents who are suffering from this disease when the come to me?
I thank the Deputy for raising the issue of endometriosis, which has received much more public attention in recent years. That is a very good thing because it is a disease that is often unrecognised and under-diagnosed for many different reasons. We are making significant efforts to improve gynaecological services in general. I might prepare a note for the Deputy on that. I do not want to comment on any individual case, but perhaps I could provide information more generally.
Academic research has shown a significant lack of access to secondary schools in Dublin 8. The Department of Education's figures show significant under-provision in the area. To date, the Department has not been willing to address this matter despite my raising it with it on numerous occasions. What will the Government do to ensure adequate provision of secondary schools in the Dublin 8 area, which is crying out for them?
I thank the Deputy for his question. There are approximately 214 school planning areas in the country. The Department uses a geographical information system in order to determine capacity and where schools are required. It also monitors the increasing demographics in certain areas. We are acutely aware of the challenges relating to Dublin 8, including an increasing demographic. I will bring the matter to the attention of the Minister, Deputy Foley, and the Department. It can be taken further from there.
Under the social pillar of the Limerick regeneration framework implementation plan, we have what is called the economic and social intervention fund. While the Limerick regeneration plan has been a disappointment in many aspects since its launch in 2009, the social intervention fund has had a highly positive impact on many families, people, communities and projects across the city. It has changed and saved lives; that is how important it is. A total of 180 projects receive financial support from this fund and support social economic and community development projects, especially in the poor areas of Moyross, St. Mary's Park, South Hill and Ballinacurra Weston. These include the Bedford Row Family Project, Limerick Youth Service and Limerick Island Community Partners serving the King's Island area. It supports the Our Lady of Lourdes Community Centre, and Moyross groups like Extern and the area's community enterprise centre. It also benefits St. Munchin's Community Enterprise Centre.
The fund is due to end at the end of 2023. Failure to retain the fund will have catastrophic impacts and undo the years of good work in many of our communities and many people are extremely concerned. Can the Taoiseach confirm Government support to ensure the fund is extended into 2024 and beyond?
Which fund is it?
It is the economic and social intervention fund that is part of the regeneration programme for 2023. The fund is due to end at the end of this year. We do not know what is going to happen next year with the 180 projects to which funding is provided.
We will make inquiries in that regard and revert to the Deputy.
The Kerry senior football team is to play Tyrone at 3.30 p.m. on Saturday in the quarter final of the football championship. However, thousands of supporters in Kerry who have paid their licence fee will not be able to watch this match on RTÉ. They will have to pay for GAAGO, if they can master the technology, and watch it on that. It has been pointed out to me that Dee Forbes, the former director general of RTÉ, was also a director of GAAGO. They are asking if there was a conflict of interests in this regard. If there are to be new appointments, I am asking that other people be appointed. I say to the Taoiseach that people who pay their television licence fee should be able to watch these matches on RTÉ.
It is unfortunate that the Kerry-Tyrone match will not be televised either on RTÉ or on TG4 this weekend. I appreciate that not all matches can be televised but I would have anticipated that the biggest matches and those that command the most interest should be. I understand that Ms Forbes has resigned as a director of GAAGO, but I do not know if there was any conflict of interest.
The Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, Deputy Donohoe, published the review into senior public service recruitment and pay processes. As part of that, he agreed to the re-establishment of a senior public pay remuneration committee. I read the report and much of it makes sense, including reducing the potential term of Secretaries General from a possible ten years to seven and allowing them to continue in the Civil Service after they have completed their terms. However, a driving factor for this committee and something that is now in the hands of the Government is the wish for those who are already on very high pay, including Secretaries General and CEOs of semi-State companies, to have pay increases. These people are on €150,000, €200,000 or €300,000 and are looking for substantial pay increases. Will the Government concede to those pay increases at a time of cost-of-living crisis or will it maintain the pay ceiling, for example, for semi-State organisations?
The Government has not made any decision on pay increases for senior civil servants or the CEOs of State companies. That is not to say that requests are not made. People at all levels will look for pay increases, particularly when general pay is rising across the economy and the cost of living is also rising. Any decision we make will be subject to recommendations from an independent review. That review has not yet taken place. We need to be cognisant that, as is the case across the economy, there is a significant demand in the context of recruitment and retention. We are increasing pay at all levels, including a more than 7% increase in the national minimum wage this year. There will also be a pay increase for public servants. It will be in that context that any cap might be increased.
Earlier, Dr. Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin presented the report of the Citizens' Assembly on Biodiversity Loss. It is vital that we avoid the sort of divisive debate that we are seeing in Europe on this issue, especially as it is both urgent and vital. Given that a committee is to be established within the Oireachtas - it is the climate committee - it is important that it will have the support of resources of Government in order that in the short timeframe available we can turn the assembly's recommendations into workable proposals that can lead to us confronting this issue. I ask the Taoiseach for support for such an approach.
I absolutely support that. I had a chance to meet Dr. Ní Shúilleabháin a few weeks ago when she presented the report to me in my office.
I would be very keen that the Oireachtas committee would take a look at the report and do as other Oireachtas committees did, that is, break it down into recommendations that we can act on, and then the Government will respond in kind.
Since April, any enduring power of attorney must be registered with the Decision Support Service. While people need an email, Government ID, a PPS number and statements from the donor, the doctor, the solicitor, the barrister and the attorney, and rightly so because safeguards have to be in place, some problems have begun to arise. Under section 60, the attorney, the two witnesses and the donor must all be in the presence of each other at the same time. Will this be amended because it is becoming very cumbersome in practice? Under section 61, whereas previously notice had to be given to two people, notice must now be given to any children who are over 18 and, as we know, where families are estranged, this could cause difficulty. In addition, are there plans to allow representatives or solicitors to have an online account, as is the case with the injuries board, because many people need assistance in completing the forms?
If it is okay, I will come back to the Deputy with a further reply. I am not exactly sure where that legislation is and whether there is still time to consider amendments or not.
It has gone through.
I will come back to the Deputy with a further reply, if that is okay.
I want to ask about the DEIS scheme, which is a very important scheme that has huge benefits for many disadvantaged communities. Because of the budget surplus, we have an opportunity to increase the level of support available to communities that missed out on DEIS in the last round, particularly in areas that have taken on a huge number of Ukrainian refugees, like Youghal in east Cork, predominantly due to the Quality Hotel emergency accommodation centre, which has almost 1,000 Ukrainian people in it. These towns need additional support and resources for local schools. I think it would be prudent use of Government resources to help in areas that are most in need.
DEIS schools are extremely important. One in four schools in this country are DEIS at this point and we have a number of different initiatives to support them. For example, we have the hot school meals programme and, as the Deputy knows, there is the free books scheme. If this refers to a particular school in the Deputy’s constituency or county, he can bring that to my attention and I can see if there is a process that we can bring forward for that particular school to apply for DEIS.
I know the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage has been working very hard on the whole issue of delays in An Bord Pleanála, including providing extra funding and approval for more staff. The problem is that, despite all of this, appeals are still taking up to two years. The Minister is preparing a major piece of legislation but that will take time to go through the House. Will consideration be given by the Government to introducing a short piece of legislation to put statutory timelines on what is happening? Some of the appeals are taking over two years, which is ridiculous. Will consideration be given to putting some type of timeline in place so appeals are heard in the meantime in an expeditious manner?
Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta as an cheist thábhachtach seo. The Deputy is correct. I met with the interim chairperson of the board, Oonagh Buckley, on a number of occasions. The board now has 15 board members whereas it was as low as five last year and we had to stabilise it as it was in a difficult position. We brought forward the large-scale residential developments Act and there is now no backlog in that space and there are statutory timeframes. I have asked the board to work through the backlog. There are parallel board meetings happening and four board meetings a day are taking place to make decisions on cases. This remains a big issue for many people. The Deputy is correct that we will bring the consolidated planning and development Bill to the House and that will have those statutory timeframes. I intend to get that into the House and our intention, as a Government, is to have that legislation passed this year.
In the meantime, I can assure the Deputy that, through my officials, we are actively engaged with the board to work through the backlog. Furthermore, we are using the expertise of retired planners to look at the smaller cases, such as individual house extensions and those types of things, in order to clear those through. That is working quite well but I will keep the Deputy informed of progress.
I want to raise the utmost importance of the deployment of anti-drone technology at Dublin Airport. It has been brought to my attention that despite months having passed since the disruptive incidents caused by unauthorised drones, the necessary measures are still not in place. While the required technology was procured weeks ago and the Dublin Airport Authority, DAA, boss stated it would be deployed within weeks, the final regulatory approval necessary for its deployment is still pending. The delays are preventing the airport from effectively countering or neutralising drone threats posed by individuals breaking the law in the vicinity of the airport. We must provide reassurance to airlines and passengers that Dublin Airport will possess the capability to address promptly any further incidents of illegal drone activity. I would appreciate clarification on the level of concern regarding the potential chaos this would inflict on the airport once again. The timely deployment of anti-drone technology is crucial to safeguarding the operation of the airport.
I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I know it would be a matter of concern to people as they head off for their summer holidays, or are travelling for business or family reasons, that we could have activity at our airports disrupted by drone activity. I understand that, as the Deputy said, the equipment has been procured by the DAA. There is a regulatory issue still to be resolved but I know work is advanced on resolving that.