Jennifer Murnane O'Connor
Question:1. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on children and education will meet next. [43822/23]
Ceisteanna - Questions
Cabinet Committees
Pádraig O'Sullivan
Question:2. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on children and education will meet next. [43823/23]
Cian O'Callaghan
Question:3. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on children and education will next meet. [43831/23]
Richard Boyd Barrett
Question:4. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on children and education will next meet. [43867/23]
Paul Murphy
Question:5. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on children and education will next meet. [43870/23]
Mick Barry
Question:6. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on children and education will next meet. [44962/23]
Ruairí Ó Murchú
Question:7. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on children and education will meet next. [46320/23]
Alan Dillon
Question:8. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on children and education will meet next. [46343/23]
Mick Barry
Question:9. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on children and education will next meet. [46493/23]
Cian O'Callaghan
Question:10. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on children and education will next meet. [46599/23]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 10, inclusive, together.
The Cabinet committee on children and education oversees the implementation of commitments in the programme for Government in the area of children and education, including further and higher education, with a specific focus on child poverty and well-being. The Cabinet committee on children and education met on Thursday, 13 July and Monday, 16 October. The next meeting of the Cabinet committee on children and education is due to take place before the end of the year.
I want to speak today about school builds. There are 27 projects ongoing under the large-scale and additional accommodation schemes in County Carlow.
Just nine modular accommodation projects are under way. To date in 2023, more than €425,000 has been paid in emergency works funding to Carlow schools. Yet I know of so many schools where children are being taught in prefabs and overcrowded and dated accommodation.
One school in Carlow has not progressed beyond stage 2A of the additional school accommodation scheme, even though the process began in 2019. The project information memorandum states that 18 months is the expected timeframe to reach stage 2A. It is now approaching three years since the fire officer was appointed in this case and I am at a loss to see what is happening. I have almost been knocking the Minister's door down and I am really trying to get this school over the line.
I was also in a school last week in Bagenalstown, which is in the same situation. It is in desperate need of better accommodation and a new school. In County Carlow, just three new special classes opened for 2023, one at primary level and two at post-primary level. This brings the total number of classes in County Carlow to 48.
I thank the Deputy.
While capacity has expanded, this is not enough. I wish to make the point to the Taoiseach that we have no special educational needs organiser, SENO, now and it is very hard for children to get places.
I raise an issue I came across in a small village called Watergrasshill, north of Cork city. It concerns the provision of a school-age childcare service. The long and the short of is that the provider of this service has English as her second language. She went in good faith to apply on the Pobal website for funding for the provision of her service. In error, she put in the tabulation that she had one child attending her service rather than 24. This was an error because she thought the question concerned how many services she was providing. This woman has no right to appeal and Pobal's response heretofore has been that she is now locked in for funding for the whole year. Whether the error was due to a language barrier issue or the wrong clicking of a mouse, this woman now has no right to appeal. She is providing a childcare service for 24 children but only being funded for one just because of what I think is an overly prescriptive interpretation of the guidelines. I ask the Taoiseach to write to Pobal or deal with the organisation in respect of having this woman's file reviewed or appealed in some way to give her the chance to get the appropriate funding.
Torren is 11, has autism spectrum disorder, ASD, is non-verbal, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, ADHD, and an intellectual disability. He has been homeschooled until now, but as he gets older his behaviour is deteriorating and his mother cannot cope. It has been recommended by the children's disability network team, CDNT, and the child and adolescent mental health service, CAMHS, that he get a school placement this year. Despite these recommendations and the support of the education and welfare officer and the SENO, no placement has been found. This is the second such case I have brought to the attention of the Dáil and still neither of these children have placements. Children have a right to an education, so I ask that something be done urgently about these cases.
Losing a child is the worst thing a parent can experience or even imagine. Aaron and Laura have, unfortunately, had to live this horrible reality. Their little girl, Ada, passed away suddenly on 26 October 2022. She was just two days short of being 20 months old. In Aaron's words, "she went to bed happy and healthy, such a great little kid. We have no concrete answers yet why she passed but we were told we will probably get none and it will be put down to SUDC. There are no supports in Ireland for this type of death at this age and no research at all". SUDC refers to a sudden unexplained death in childhood.
Aaron and Laura received only eight sessions of counselling, part-funded by a charity and part-funded by the State. It is completely inadequate. Will the Government commit to offering as many publicly funded counselling sessions as parents of children who die from sudden unexplained death in childhood need? Will the Government commit to put funding into this area to research it so parents can understand how and why this is happening? Will the Government also agree to run an awareness campaign so parents facing this grief will understand there are others who have suffered in the same way?
Ada's mam, Laura, and another parent who share this experience, have started a parents support group, You've Got a Friend in Us, but clearly these are things the State should be doing, as opposed to people having to do them voluntarily.
I wish to raise the case of St. Killian's Special School, a primary school in Mayfield in my constituency. This school has 93 students and is set to expand to 120, making it, potentially, the largest special school in all of Munster. The school has students with severe dyslexia, severe dyspraxia, severe speech and language difficulties and a big majority of the students have autism and complex needs.
To say this school is under-resourced would be quite the understatement. The school is currently short two psychologists, two occupational therapists, two speech and language therapists, two behavioural therapists and at least one social worker. The school was promised by the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, that the therapists would be back in place by 2022. When this failed to materialise, the school was promised by the Minister of State that the therapists would be back in place by May 2023. This has not happened. Will the Taoiseach take this case as an urgent one and will he tell the people who organise the school and the parents when this allocation is going to happen?
We have spoken before about autism and the lack of services we have concerning speech and language therapists, SLTs, occupational therapists, OTs, psychologists, physiotherapists and all that is required in this regard. Could I get an update concerning the school inclusion model pilot that was being operated? The idea of this is to put the service where the need is. Could we see about having a review and then an expansion beyond the pilot? Could we also look, from a parent's perspective, at the admissions process? Would it be possible to have an allowance for parents to be able to apply two years beforehand if they have disabled children from the point of view of ensuring the schools concerned would have their ducks in a row regarding all the resources required?
I also wish to raise the issue of The Changing Lives Initiative, which deals with strategies for parents of children who present with ADHD. It is being operated in counties Louth and Meath and slightly beyond. Additionally, an expansion beyond this pilot is being sought. Deputy Mark Ward is sponsoring a briefing in this regard in the audiovisual room tomorrow and my wife will be very glad I raised this issue because she may be attending.
I raise my deep concern around the alarming rise in vaping among schoolchildren, especially the widespread use of disposable vaping devices. In recent weeks, I have received numerous calls from concerned teachers and parents regarding the escalating prevalence of vaping among students in primary and secondary schools. The issue is not confined to school grounds but is also evident in public spaces where students congregate and engage in vaping activities. The case of a ten-year-old child caught vaping in a primary school is particularly disturbing. It highlights the severity of this issue and the potential detrimental health consequences of vaping, especially among young developing bodies.
While I commend the introduction of the Public Health (Tobacco and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill 2023, we need to take more comprehensive measures to address the issue. I propose a comprehensive ban on vaping on school premises. This would certainly create a healthy learning environment and discourage this harmful practice. We must also implement an educational programme that specifically addresses the dangers of vaping. This programme should dispel any misconceptions around vaping and deter students from engaging in this trend. Will the Government take immediate action to address the growing concerns in schools and act now to protect the health and well-being of our young people?
I thank the Deputies for their contributions. Deputy Murnane O'Connor raised the issue of the school building programme, with particular relevance to County Carlow. We have an extensive school building programme under way throughout the country.
More than €1 billion per year is spent on new schools, extensions and refurbishments. In my constituency last Friday I had the privilege to carry out the official opening of the new Pelletstown Educate Together National School. Anyone who has been in a newly built school or had the privilege to attend an official opening will know how high-quality new school buildings are. This gives us an insight into how much needs to be done to modernise, refurbish and replace some of the older buildings. It is never possible to do every project in any one year or as quickly as we would like, but there is a very extensive pipeline of projects that I know the Minister is working very hard to accelerate and to make sure they progress over the coming years.
Deputy O'Sullivan referred to an issue in relation to childcare in Watergrasshill. I do not know exactly how Pobal systems work. It seems a bit strange there is no right of appeal or right of correction. If somebody makes an honest mistake, they have made an honest mistake. We have all done it ourselves at some point in the past. I do not know all the facts but it sounds a bit harsh if it is that simple. If the Deputy wants to give me some details on that, we will follow it up with them and see what we can do.
Deputy Dillon raised the issue of vaping by children in schools. It is both a health issue and an environmental issue. It is a health issue because it is addictive, and an environmental issue because of the waste caused by the discarding of disposable vapes. Legislation is coming through that will ban the sale of vapes to minors and bring in a licensing system so that only recognised stores are able to sell vapes. We will take a look at a ban in schools. There is some merit in that idea. It might be the case that schools on their own can make it against the rules without the need for legislation. We will certainly look at that. The Deputy's suggestion of an education campaign targeted at young people to inform them of the risks is a very good suggestion too. I will speak to the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, about that.
Deputy Boyd Barrett raised two specific individual cases. I do not have the details of them. If he would like to pass them on, I will certainly raise them with the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan. We do our best to find school places for everyone. Where it is not always possible or where we cannot, home tuition is often used as the backup option.
Deputy Murphy also raised a specific individual case of baby Ada. It sounds like a very sad case. I want to express my condolences to the parents and to the family involved. I have encountered sudden infant death syndrome, SIDS - not in my personal life but in my medical practice - and I have at least some sense of the impact it has on families and on parents in particular. While I cannot make any commitments on the hoof in the House, I will certainly raise it with the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, to see if there is more we can do to help parents and help families who are affected by it, and also to carry out further research.
Deputy Barry raised the issue of St. Kilian's special school in Mayfield and the need to put therapists in place. I will certainly follow this up with the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, and see what the situation is.
Deputy Ó Murchú raised issue of autism and the school inclusion pilot model that was putting therapists into schools to see if that was more effective than through the HSE system. I believe the initial report on it was very favourable and it was then intended to extend it to other areas. I am not sure where it has gone from there so I will certainly make inquiries, out of my own interest, but I will also get back to the Deputy about it too.
Cabinet Committees
Richard Boyd Barrett
Question:11. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on EU and international affairs will next meet. [41216/23]
Bernard Durkan
Question:12. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on EU and international affairs will next meet. [45021/23]
Paul Murphy
Question:13. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on EU and international affairs will next meet. [43878/23]
Mick Barry
Question:14. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on EU and international affairs will next meet. [45264/23]
Ruairí Ó Murchú
Question:15. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on EU and international affairs will next meet. [46321/23]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 11 to 15, inclusive, together.
The Cabinet committee on EU and international affairs oversees the implementation of programme for Government commitments and considers policy matters in relation to the EU and international issues. The committee met most recently on 2 October, when it reflected on the attendance of meetings at the UN high level week in September and looked ahead to meetings of the European political community and of the European Council that took place in Granada on 4, 5 and 6 October as well as the meeting of the European Council which will take place on 26 and 27 October. It was expected that the Cabinet committee would meet last week but that meeting was cancelled on account of the flooding in Cork. It is expected that the committee will meet again before December.
I have made it very clear that it is quite shameful what people like Ursula von der Leyen and some of the European Union states have done to essentially give carte blanche to Israel to commit war crimes against the people of Gaza, and indeed their failure to hold that regime to account over many years for its crimes against the Palestinian people.
I will refer to a particularly disturbing case that has come to light in that regard in the last couple of days. My office was contacted yesterday by Courtney Carey who was sacked yesterday from Wix, which is an Israeli-owned IT company based in Grand Canal Dock that does website building. They sacked her because she had put posts online - according to her, they were quite mild - in which she essentially laid the responsibility for the current violence in Gaza on the shoulders of the Israeli Government for its apartheid policies, its occupation and its siege of Gaza. She was sacked for that, with the chief operating officer of the company apparently telling her that to say those things was tantamount to justifying terrorism. Very worryingly, Ms Carey reports that since 7 October, the company, through inner channels to the employees, was telling them it would be in their interests to put up pro-Israeli content and posts in company updates and so on. She has said, disturbingly, that they were told it would be best only to show some of those posts to people who looked European. She has now lost her job. This is shocking behaviour. I understand - perhaps the Taoiseach could check - that this company is supported by IDA Ireland. Will the Taoiseach condemn what Wix has done to Courtney Carey and investigate this treatment of an employee?
Might it be possible to set up an international forum on site and close to the zones of conflict where it could be regarded as the go-to authority to relay grievances on both sides? We must acknowledge that the incursion into Israel by Hamas two weeks ago was not necessarily a friendly gesture, as some would try to paint it nowadays. The retaliation is not a friendly gesture, as some would try to paint it. That cannot go on. The tit-for-tat response to one act of violence with another and another cannot continue. There will be no solution unless it is recognised that both sides have a problem. Both sides have a right to exist. The Palestinian Authority has a right to exist without necessarily relying on Hamas to set the stage for it. Similarly, the Israeli people have a right to exist as well. There are people who reject that argument and say that there should be only one authority in the whole area. Experience has shown in the last number of years that this has not been possible and that we are back to square one. I reiterate the need for an authoritative body that can adjudicate, listen to the grievances, and at least deal with them in a way that would bring about a semblance of useful results.
The nightmare in Gaza is worsening day after day, hour after hour. There is no water, no food, no fuel for the hospitals, no electricity and no basics. The bombs are raining down at an increasing intensity. In the last 24 hours more than 700 people have been killed, bringing the total to over 5,000, including more than 2,000 children. It is really a sick joke to have 15 trucks entering Gaza when on a regular day 500 trucks would be going in. The starvation policies of Israel continue. This may be about to get even worse. It may be unimaginable to people that it could be worse but it could be even worse. There are huge numbers of Israeli troops on the border getting ready for a ground invasion. The defence minister has told them that they will soon see Gaza from the inside. This would mean not thousands of civilian casualties, but tens of thousands. It would potentially mean a new Nakba, a new displacement, forcing people out of their homes permanently - or attempting to do it permanently - for more than 1 million people if not more than 2 million people.
I do not know if the Taoiseach remembers but 20 March 2003 was known as Day X. It was the day the war on Iraq started. People right across the country, in schools, colleges and in work, walked out in protest and went to the city centre to protest. We will need to do the same again if there is a ground invasion and head to the Israeli Embassy and demand the ambassador is expelled.
I hope the Taoiseach is going to speak out against the clampdown on public expressions of support for the Palestinian people that we have seen in certain EU countries when he is at the European Council this week. I am talking, for example, about the banning of pro-Palestinian protests in France and Germany and the use of tear gas and water cannon against protestors in France. Of course, the Taoiseach cannot credibly oppose censorship and repression in other countries unless he does it when it happens in this country too. Courtney Carey was a customer care team lead at Wix, an Israeli tech company that employs 500 people here in Dublin. She commented online about what she described correctly as the indiscriminate bombing of Gaza. She was fired from her job for doing so. I am calling on the Irish Congress of Trade Unions to speak out on this case. It could have a chilling effect on thousands of workers in this country who wish to speak out against a brutal war. It also creates a terrible precedent whereby workers can be fired for expressing a political point of view. I would also like to hear from the Taoiseach on this. I would like to hear him condemn this firing and to comment on this case here today.
The Israeli onslaught on Gaza continues. What Israel offers is bombs and starvation. We have all heard the figures at this stage - 5,791 Palestinians killed, including 2,360 children, and 704 Palestinians killed in the last 24 hours. There is nothing else this can be called but a war crime and forced displacement. It can be called ethnic cleansing. We dread to think what a land invasion will look like. We dread to think about the disparity of power we are dealing with. Many of us have called out what Ursula von der Leyen and others have done in greenlighting these types of war crimes. I have asked the Taoiseach before about what engagements we intend to have. If we have allies we can deal with, we need to push them. We also need to push ourselves forward more as regards condemnation. If we cannot get agreement at a European level, we will need to get some agreement, perhaps at a reduced level, among those allies on calling out what are Israeli war crimes and the fear of what is to come. We need to ensure there is no element of greenlighting provided by any element of the European Union. I ask the Taoiseach to detail the pushback that has happened in relation to those who seem to be a lot more pro-Israeli than this State.
I thank the Deputies for their comments. It is important, when we engage with our European partners in the 27 member states of the European Union, that we always try to understand the positions they are coming from. We may disagree, we may criticise each other and we may compromise but shouting and pointing the finger really does not work in international affairs or in forums such as the European Council. We have to understand where different countries are coming from. Every country sees the situation in the Middle East through its own historical experience. We certainly do. That is one of the many reasons we identify with the Palestinian people and support their quest for statehood, because we see certain parallels between what Ireland experienced and what they experience. We also need to understand that other European countries might see it differently, given the horrendous treatment of Jewish people in Europe for centuries, culminating in the events of the 1930s and 1940s and causing so many to flee to Israel, their ancestral homeland. We also have to bear in mind that many countries, much more recently, have been at the receiving end of very serious Islamic terrorism, killing people on their streets. The attack on the music festival in Israel was not the first Islamic terrorist attack on a music event. It has happened in France, in Britain and other places. We need to understand that other people will see things in a somewhat different way than we would. If we cannot do that, we are not going to persuade anyone of anything. We will just be taking an isolated position. What I will do on Thursday and Friday, as I have done in the past two weeks, is bring the Irish perspective to the table to say that Europe cannot have double standards when it comes to human rights. We cannot say one thing about President Putin's actions in Ukraine and then take a totally different position when it comes to violations of international law happening in other places.
We also need to consider the impact on Ukraine. Ireland and a number of countries have done a lot of work to say to countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia that what is happening in Ukraine is an imperialist war. It is Russia trying to re-establish its old empire and it should be seen as that. That is why we ask people in Latin America, Africa and Asia to stand with Ukraine in defending its independence, its democracy and its sovereignty. That gets a lot harder when people in the global south see different standards being applied. We have to think not just of what is right but also of Europe's interests in terms of victory in Ukraine and how Russia will exploit what is happening in the Middle East to pursue its imperialist course. That is a big concern I have and a point I will strongly be making in Brussels during the week.
Some of the Deputies raised the case of a former employee of Wix. I am not aware of the case. I do not know the details or the facts. Before coming to any judgment on anything or condemning anyone, I would always wish to know the facts and hear all sides of any case. Under Irish employment law, it is not okay to dismiss somebody because of their political views. I believe that to be wrong and would encourage the woman concerned to seek advice, whether from the WRC, a trade union or a solicitor, because it may well constitute wrongful dismissal and there are remedies that would then apply. Of course, all the facts would need to be known before we know what the outcome will be.
Deputy Durkan talked about the need for one authoritative body. In a world that worked better, the United Nations would be such a body. Unfortunately, we do not have a body that is trusted, accepted and respected by everyone. That is the real dilemma and the real shame in the situation.
On the question of expelling ambassadors and closing embassies, I will say the same thing I said when people called for the Russian ambassador to be expelled and the Russian Embassy to be closed. Even countries at war have diplomatic relations, have diplomats, have ambassadors and sometimes have embassies.
You expelled Russian diplomats though.
We need to keep channels of communication open. It would be of no advantage to Palestine to throw out the Israeli ambassador. There would be no advantage to Ukraine in throwing out the Russian ambassador-----
You expelled Russian diplomats.
-----but it would cut us off. We need to be able to talk to countries, particularly countries where we have citizens and people, because we need to make sure they are protected.
Departmental Offices
Alan Dillon
Question:16. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Taoiseach for an update on the economic policy unit of his Department. [45024/23]
Richard Boyd Barrett
Question:17. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach for an update on the economic policy unit of his Department. [43875/23]
Paul Murphy
Question:18. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Taoiseach for an update on the economic policy unit of his Department. [43879/23]
Mick Barry
Question:19. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Taoiseach for an update on the economic policy unit of his Department. [45265/23]
Cian O'Callaghan
Question:20. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Taoiseach for an update on the economic policy unit of his Department. [46600/23]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 16 to 20, inclusive, together.
The economic policy unit is part of the economic division of the Department. The unit assists me, as Taoiseach, in achieving sustainable and balanced economic growth and in advancing the Government’s economic priorities. The unit also advises me on a broad range of economic policy issues and provides me with briefing and speech material on economic and related policy matters. It seeks to promote the Government’s economic commitments as outlined in the programme for Government, especially where these are cross-cutting issues affecting multiple Departments. In particular, it assists the work of the Cabinet committee on the economy and investment and several related senior officials groups. The unit is also responsible for co-ordinating Ireland’s participation in the European semester process, the annual cycle of economic and fiscal policy co-ordination among EU member states. This includes preparing each year the national reform programme for submission to the European Commission. The national reform programme provides an overview of economic reforms and policy actions under way in Ireland, including in response to country-specific recommendations received. The unit is also responsible for liaison with the Central Statistics Office, CSO, and for the preparation of the national risk assessment.
A pressing concern that is affecting the heart of our tourism and hospitality sector in Mayo and beyond is an acknowledgment of the pivotal role the sector has played in supporting our communities and the State's humanitarian effort, especially in response to the Ukrainian crisis. As we know, approximately 30,000 beds, of which 25,000 are hotel beds, have been taken out of circulation to accommodate refugees under the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. While we stand in solidarity with those efforts, we cannot ignore the economic repercussions this displacement has had on our tourism sector, particularly in regions like Mayo where occupancy rates are traditionally high. Recent analysis revealed that in counties like Offaly, Mayo, Leitrim, Meath and Clare, the impact of this displacement is significant, with more than 20% of registered tourism accommodation now unavailable. While I am pleased that the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media has secured funding in budget 2024 of up to €10 million to support businesses facing trading challenges in these regions, the situation raises important questions. I would like clarification from the Taoiseach on the measures the Government intends to implement to support downstream businesses affected by this displacement, which is evident from the comprehensive approach that is being taken by Fáilte Ireland in engaging with these companies. It is really important that we support them as best we can to ensure they have sustainable tourism into the future and these regions are not negatively impacted.
The severity and extent of our housing crisis is shameful in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, but it will also increasingly become, and is already, an economic problem. When workers cannot afford to live because rents and house prices are so high, that is a serious economic problem. It is increasingly the case that people are going out to work and working very hard but rents and house prices are so off the Richter scale that they are ending up homeless and there are no supports for them.
Following on from our earlier engagement on this issue, the Taoiseach is saying cost rental is coming and can address this issue. At the moment, however, it is not available and the delivery of it is pretty small compared with the huge numbers of working people finding themselves homeless or threatened with homelessness. I am asking whether in the interim, until we deliver the sort of massive scale of social and affordable housing that is necessary, the Government will take some measures for people who are working but are over the social housing income threshold, who cannot afford to live and who are ending up homeless or threatened with such. As the Taoiseach knows, approved housing bodies and the State are buying up new developments for social housing. One of the things the State could do is also buy up new developments for cost rental. This could ensure people who are over the thresholds but have incomes that are not enough to pay the rents being charged out there would get some rent support in order to have some chance of accessing rental accommodation. Some urgent measures need to be taken on this front.
It is a week until the scheme of temporary special leave with pay for healthcare workers with long Covid is due to expire. This is a scheme for healthcare workers who contracted long Covid as a result of their work on the front line. It is due to expire in a week and there is still no announcement, as far as I know, as to whether it will be extended. These are workers who got a round of applause in here and from ordinary people across the country. Now, in the words of one of the workers affected, they are getting a kick in the teeth from the Government. It is scandalous. Long Covid should be recognised as an occupational illness across the board but particularly for healthcare workers who were asked to, and did, go on the front line when there was no vaccine and very little knowledge about Covid and who contracted long Covid as a result. They should be cared for, protected and provided for by the State, not thrown off this scheme unceremoniously. Will the scheme be extended?
I accept that some countries have a different starting place on the basis of what has been a disgraceful history of pogroms, expulsion and extermination of the Jewish people, but we must deal with the Israeli regime that is in existence at this point in time. We can judge the people in that regime by their own words and deeds. They are involved in maintaining an apartheid state and in annexation of lands that are not theirs. We could call it settler colonisation in the modern day. At this point in time, they are involved in downright slaughter and ethnic cleansing. If we cannot necessarily get support from European partners, we should look to be a beacon of light and at least to present ourselves as having the back of the Palestinian people. I request Government support for the Illegal Israeli Settlements Divestment Bill 2023 or an alternative measure. There is a difficulty in that the State, through its agency, the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, ISIF, is able to invest in companies that have involvement in illegal occupations. That is utterly unacceptable and we need to ensure it is absolutely banned. Sometimes, we have to take that first brave step. Doing so would at least tell the Palestinian people that somebody cares.
Deputy Dillon raised the really important role of the tourism industry in our economy and society. I remember very well that back in 2011, when I was Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, we had just experienced an appalling economic crash, with mass unemployment, mass emigration, empty houses and falling incomes. Three industries lifted us out of that, namely, the multinationals, farmers and the food industry, and the tourism industry. I do not think we could have recovered in the way we did without them. The tourism industry received help, with a reduced VAT rate, The Gathering, the abolition of the travel tax and a lot of investment in attractions. One of the best things about the sector is that it was able to create jobs in all parts of the country and often in places where the only other jobs might be linked to agriculture or the public sector. The tourism industry needs help again. The taking out of so much bed stock because of the refugee crisis has had a very severe impact on certain businesses in certain parts of the country.
How can we help? The €250 million fund for small business will benefit small businesses such as hospitality businesses by helping them with their costs. There is €10 million set aside for a targeted scheme, particularly for businesses that have seen their footfall drop as a consequence of accommodation being used for refugees. The Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, is working that out and has had a meeting with the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation. She wants to make sure the scheme is targeted to help those businesses to survive and pivot. We have also done some other things in the budget, including increasing the VAT thresholds, which will help a lot of very small businesses to have better cash flow. The Minister is correctly very keen for me to point out that the money we provide for Fáilte Ireland, Tourism Ireland and all those important bodies is 30% higher than it was in 2019. If we strip out the exceptional payments that were made during the Covid period, the budget for next year is still 30% higher than it was prior to Covid. That gives Tourism Ireland the marketing money it needs to promote Ireland abroad and Fáilte Ireland the money it needs to improve attractions around the country.
Deputy Boyd Barrett correctly said the housing crisis is not just a social problem but is also an economic problem. That is absolutely true, not to the extent that we are losing a lot of investment or jobs at the moment, but there certainly is a high risk of that. It certainly contributes to employers struggling to recruit; not as much as full employment does but it definitely is a factor. As I have said previously, we keep the social housing income limits under review. They have been increased recently and we may well increase them again in line with prices. The Deputy suggested we should buy up new developments for cost rental in the way we do for social housing.
I do not think that is a bad idea; we just need to be careful. Many new developments are being bought up by approved housing bodies, with funding from the Government, for social housing. They are often estates, houses and apartments that people would have hoped to buy and own. That is causing some difficulties for us around the country.
What we need is more supply, and significantly more supply. Of the 30,000 new homes built last year, I am not sure how many of them were on the open market for sale. When you strip out own-builds, social housing and apartments built by funds and others, probably only about one third of those 30,000 houses were actually available for people to purchase. If we were to step up the purchase of homes for cost rental, there could be even fewer homes for people to buy, and we have to be aware of that because we should prioritise homeownership. The solution, of course, is more new housing of all types, getting up from 30,000 and closer to 40,000 or 45,000 in the years ahead. That is what we plan to do and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, will come to the Government early in the new year with proposals to increase those housing targets.
Deputy Paul Murphy asked a question about long Covid and the occupational scheme. I will have to check with the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, about that. I do not know the exact answer but I will come back to the Deputy within the next few days. When it comes to Covid-19, our general approach has been to remove the exceptional status that was afforded to it in the past. It is now endemic. It is part of the many viruses any of us can get at any given time. It makes more sense to treat Covid as we would any respiratory virus, such as influenza, and to treat long Covid in the same way we would treat any other chronic disease. Rather than having a specific scheme for a specific disease, we should apply the same approach we apply to others.
The Government does not do that, however. It is not counted as an occupational illness.
What about ISIF and the divestment Bill?
I am sorry but I will have to come back to the Deputy on that.