Yesterday the Central Bank confirmed that I was right in the claims I made to the Minister for Finance last week when I highlighted the fact that tens of thousands of home owners who had their loans sold to vulture funds were now exposed and unable to make complaints to the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman, FSPO, to receive compensation on foot of those complaints. For years, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael - the previous Minister for Finance has just walked out - claimed that mortgage holders would lose none of their consumer protections. That was never true. It has now been confirmed by the Central Bank and the FSPO that they have lost their consumer protection, as we told the Government. We made the point last week that this loophole has to be closed down immediately. I ask that the legislation currently going through the House be dealt with to close down this loophole for these loans that should never have been sold to vulture funds and, at the very least, the mortgage holders should have the consumer protection the Government promised they would have but they do not have today.
Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation
I acknowledge that the Deputy raised this matter in the House last week when we were bringing through legislation. It is important that all consumers have equal access to the FSPO. We are engaging with the ombudsman on its interpretation of the legislation and also with legal advisers to identify a way forward so that the gap that has been identified is fixed. As the Deputy will be aware, we have 2015 legislation, which was strengthened in 2018. That was legislation I brought forward in opposition that was supported by Sinn Féin and adopted by the Government at the time to ensure loan owners were directly regulated as well. This is an issue that predates the entities that were not regulated prior to that and how that affects access of the customers of those entities to the services of the FSPO. If a legislative amendment is necessary and possible, it will be brought forward and I will revert to the Deputy.
Last night in Dublin city centre and in Cork, we saw hundreds of delivery workers in high-vis gear on bikes take to the streets to strike and to protest against the exploitation they face because of the practices of online platforms like Deliveroo and Just Eat. We know that platform workers such as delivery drivers are paying a very high price for our convenience. These workers have been utterly exploited throughout the years and we have allowed a model to develop whereby cycling across the cities on the island come rail, hail or shine, they nonetheless still earn much less than the national minimum wage with many riders reporting that their payment is dropping to as little as €1 per hour. What is the Government doing to support them and why did it oppose the EU platform workers directive that should have been agreed before Christmas and that would have provided some rights and support for workers such as the delivery riders who took to the streets last night?
I agree with the Deputy. I have long had concerns about that model of work used by Deliveroo or Just East involving young people, many of whom are migrants. To say the very least, there has always been the potential for exploitation in situations like that. The Government will consider this and I will talk to the Minister in respect of the basic existing labour legislation to see what additional measures we can take to protect workers in these situations. What normally happens with EU directives is toing and froing and discussions and it evolves, and eventually there is agreement. I will discuss what the up-to-date position is on that directive.
I want to ask the Tánaiste about the allocation of special education teaching hours, particularly the removal of complex needs from the criteria for the provision of special education teaching hours, which has been described by Inclusion Ireland as shameful. The Minister spoke about different algorithms and matters of data collection but Inclusion Ireland has come out against it, AsIAm has highlighted serious concerns and the National Principals Forum has said the system simply will not work. My phone has been inundated with calls from schools in Dublin Central about this issue for the past week. Will the Government reconsider this? We have a system in schools where children with complex needs already do not feel like they are getting the hours they deserve. This change is causing significant fear. I do not believe there has been a level of engagement as has been stated previously. Perhaps we need to go back to the drawing board.
I thank the Deputy for his question. As he will be aware, there was an oral parliamentary question on this issue a day or two ago. It is important to stress that there was engagement with education partners on this issue and I mentioned that to the Deputy previously. A total of 70% of schools will have a reduction of only about five hours while 67% will maintain the same allocation or receive an increased allocation. Based on feedback from the review we received from education stakeholders, we believe that this is a much fairer and more equitable scheme across the 4,000 schools. A review mechanism is embedded in the system so if schools are not satisfied with their allocation, they can appeal it.
More than 100 workers at Activision Blizzard in Blackpool in Cork city face redundancy within the next couple of weeks. Their company was purchased late last year by Microsoft for $75 billion, which is the largest video game acquisition transaction volume in history. Microsoft is arguably the largest company in the world with gross annual profits last year of $146 billion. It plans to gut nearly 2,000 Blizzard jobs worldwide. The Blackpool workers have many issues they would like to discuss with the company. These include a reduction in the number of job losses, a fair redundancy package and making any and all redundancies voluntary but the company refuses to talk to their trade union, Game Workers United Ireland, which is part of the Financial Services Union. How can the Government defend a situation where a huge American corporation can buy up a company with a base in Ireland, announce life-changing changes for its workforce and refuse to talk to the union chosen by long-standing workers in that company to represent them?
I am familiar with Blizzard Entertainment as I attended the announcement when it was first set up in Ireland in Cork. Our thoughts are with the workers of Blizzard and the situation regarding the employees is our foremost concern. The Government will provide a range of supports to those being made redundant, assisting with appropriate training and development, opportunities and income supports. The number of people employed is 198 and the number of redundancies is expected to be 136, which is very serious for these workers and their families. Microsoft is a very large organisation in Ireland and, hopefully, there may be opportunities for redeployment but I am not sure. We have to do everything we can to seek alternative employment for the workers. That would be our main concern. Regarding representation for workers, it is unclear from what the Deputy said whether the union is already in existence within the company or whether it is now seeking to represent workers. In any event, I have no doubt the Minister will work with the company to ensure that the rights enshrined in legislation are followed through on.
Should the company talk to the union?
Earlier this week on the wonderfully irascible Damien Tiernan's radio show, the Tánaiste's ministerial colleague from Waterford lamented the Government's mishandling of the business case for Waterford Airport particularly referencing the painful amount of time it is taking. Two months have been lost with time running out to progress this strategic project this year as planned. The slow walking of this project appears in stark contrast to the breakneck speed with which favoured projects in favoured constituencies are flashed through the Department's value for money processes. Without a review response soon, public procurement timelines will stall any hope of construction this year. The Minister of State was clear in her radio interview that the decision to fund this project is ultimately a political one. Does the Tánaiste support this vital project for the south east and if so, will he commit to using his power and influence to ensure that appropriate consideration is completed to the manner required to allow construction of this regional infrastructure as per the 2024 build schedule?
As the Deputy will be aware, €5 million was committed in 2019. There is an additional ask of Government and private investment is on the table as well. The matter is being examined by the Department of Transport.
The Government has been prompt in many other investments in Waterford as well. We have not been slow in allocating to other initiatives in the Waterford area. We will continue to do so, and also to try and attract inward investment into Waterford city and county, and in the region as well.
With respect, it is the review time.
The home help system is chaotic. There are huge anomalies in it. The changes that are in it now are very disturbing. A couple of years ago, we were all here looking for extra home helps and extra hours and we could not get them, but now the system has changed it is a bit of a trick of the loop. One is being allocated the extra hours but one cannot get the home help people. The ones who are visiting are not allowed to work extra hours. I had a family from Cahir on to me this morning about their elderly mother. They are approved for extra hours but they cannot get them, yet the management will not allow the good people who are coming to provide home help do the extra hours. There are a lot of games going on. It is giving the optics that there is heaps of money, as with the Tánaiste's answer to Deputy Michael Collins. There is but when it comes down to reality, one gets approval and there is a sea change. They will approve you now in reasonable quick time but there is no one to do it and they will not allow the people who are doing it to do extra time. This pressure of having a half an hour or 25 minutes is not good enough.
As I rise to my feet today to answer the Deputy, I am aware that 56,000 people the length and breadth of the country are receiving home care supports. I thank the Government for providing me with a budget of €726 million this year so that people can age in place. It is important for people to receive home care, day care and meals on wheels so that they can live for as long as possible in their own homes.
There are some challenges. The Deputy is quite right. The issue is not funding. The issue is in relation to having staff to support us. I am delighted to announce that, of the 1,000 permits that were issued outside the EU last year, 450 workers have come in to support us delivering home care. They are very welcome.
Last year, we delivered 21.5 million home care hours, the highest ever in the history of the State. When I came into this role, it was 19 million hours. We are building week on week, month on month, but I accept there are challenges. If the Deputy wants to pass on that particular case to me, I will have it looked at.
I have received a number of emails in relation to the lack of community neuro-rehabilitation in CHO 7, which covers part of the constituency I represent, and I gave a commitment I would raise the matter. Only 15% of people countrywide have access to a community neuro-rehabilitation team. Under the implementation framework for the nuero-rehabilitation strategy launched in 2019, a team was promised for each CHO, and yet only two of the nine have been delivered and the CHO is without a team. For people living with acquired conditions such as stroke and brain injury, these teams allow patients to leave hospitals more quickly. For people living with progressive conditions such as multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease, access to these teams could help prevent unnecessary disability. There is now more of a need, with long Covid. Can the Tánaiste give a date for the planned community team to be put in place in CHO 7? If the Tánaiste cannot give that date today, will he inquire and give a commitment to my constituents that he will come back with that date?
I appreciate the Deputy raising the issue. I will talk to the Minister for Health and ask that the information be sent to the Deputy in respect of either timelines or the wider issue of neuro-rehabilitation.
I too want to raise the issue of the funding application from Waterford Airport towards the runway extension. I have been fair-minded when it comes to Government funding for projects in the south-east and in Waterford but I have to put it to the Tánaiste that there is an urgency in relation to this funding application. There is huge pressure on Dublin Airport. We need a counterbalance in the regions. It is make-or-break time for the airport in Waterford. It either gets this funding or it does not. Three local authorities in the region - Wexford, Waterford and Kilkenny - are putting money up, private sector investment is coming and the missing piece is funding from the Department. I have spoken informally to the Minister for Transport and I do not get the sense that there is an urgency from him or from the Department. I appeal to Deputy Micheál Martin, as the head of his party and Tánaiste, and I appeal to the Taoiseach, to bring an urgency to this because if the funding is not forthcoming, I do not see a future, or a viable one, for that airport. I ask the Tánaiste, in the interests of regional development, to look at that issue.
As the Deputy knows, and as I said earlier, in 2019 the then Government agreed €5 million in funding towards a runway extension project. The estimated cost then was approximately €12 million and that €5 million was contingent on local authority and private investment necessary to complete the project being committed. It said at the time any risks relating to cost escalation would be borne by the non-State investors. The situation has changed now.
Everyone is talking about urgency but the detail remained outstanding until 13 December 2023 when Waterford Airport submitted a capital expenditure strategic assessment report to the Department of Transport. The Department is currently assessing this report, submitted on 13 December last.
It is going on for years.
The Deputy knows what I am saying.
I understand that.
The real meat of this came in December last. Neither of the Deputies mentioned that, but that is the reality. What that is clearly saying is that the €12 million cost is no longer a relevant overall cost. Apparently, the cost is closer to €26 million. There is a public spending code.
The time is up. I thank the Tánaiste.
There is all of that. That has to happen. We will come back to the Deputies.
A constituent of mine, a man who was finally allocated a property in October last year after 18 years on the Kildare County Council list only to be told he cannot move in to his long-awaited home because there is no street lighting installed, may, worse still, be forced into emergency accommodation. The Tánaiste promised Housing for All and yet people waiting years on housing lists are now unable to move in to their housing due to utility supply companies, such as Electric Ireland and Uisce Éireann, dragging their collective heels in connecting basic services to this housing. What measures can the Government take to push these entities to do what they are supposed to do and to ensure people, such as my constituent, can move in to their long-awaited housing promptly? This is disgraceful. Imagine giving somebody the answer that they may put him into emergency accommodation even though he has been granted a house after 18 years. What is the Tánaiste going to do? It is absolutely disgraceful.
First of all, the number of social houses being built is way greater than anything in many years. It is record numbers. It means that people are being offered social housing now, which is a good thing.
They are not getting into them.
The Government cannot organise every single connection to every single public light in the country. There are people paid and funded to do that. I agree that they should go away and get it done and the person should occupy the house. We need to focus where the issues are - on the utilities or on the local authority. There is a limit to what the Dáil has to-----
One cannot put people into emergency accommodation who have been allocated a house.
They are funded and they should go and do it.
Nobody should be 18 years by the way. That is another matter. I do not know the background to the case or the individual. The bottom line is the house has been allocated. They should get the public lighting sorted.
They should not get emergency accommodation either.
That is a matter for the local authority.
What we are witnessing in Gaza at the moment is horrific with the slaughtering of innocents and the withholding of aid. The past number of months have been horrific. I acknowledge the role the Tánaiste has played. Indeed, the Taoiseach has been very much to the fore in condemning what is going on there. The Taoiseach's intervention yesterday with his counterpart in Spain, the Tánaiste's press conference today and meeting this morning, and the allocation of a further €20 million in aid to the Palestinian people are all very welcome but it appears that the Irish voice is in the minority from a European perspective in relation to what is happening in Gaza. I myself witnessed that as part of the Council of Europe debates a couple of weeks ago. We are in the minority. Europe is not standing behind the Palestinian people. As a consequence, innocent people, including innocent children, are losing their lives daily. What more can this Government do to get our partners in Europe on-side to protect innocent people and to save lives because it has gone on too long? Second, the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill 2018, from an Irish perspective, is something that is long overdue, long-promised and in the programme for Government. When can we envisage or expect that Bill to come before the House?
First of all, it is a bit more complex than that. The European Union is divided and member states have different perspectives for historical and other reasons. Ireland has a very strong pro-Palestinian position in terms of the right of the Palestinians to their own state living in harmony with an Israeli state. We work with approximately eight like-minded countries on a number of issues. The vast majority of European Union countries now want an end to the war in some shape or form, and everybody agrees with a two-state solution across the European Union.
The difficulty I see is around issues such as UNWRA which is why this morning we announced €20 million. That is the highest amount ever given to UNWRA. Last year, we initially only allocated around €6 million, which was the norm, but because of the war we increased that towards the end of last year. There will be more demands on us in relation to the reconstruction of Gaza. It has been levelled. Children are being slaughtered, as the Deputy correctly said. We will continue to work with European partners. The first part is to get the European Commission to agree to release funding to UNWRA and then get other member states to do the same.
I raise the issue of a GP service for Swanlinbar in County Cavan. Since the retirement of the GPs in the area at the end of 2020, there has been a rolling locum contract in place. The HSE has claimed it has advertised the position but has not been able to fill it. Now it says it will ask a GP from Ballyconnell to provide a three-day service to the people of Swanlinbar. They are not happy with this solution. They want a five-day service. They also believe there is a possibility that the locum will take on that contract. They have asked the HSE for a meeting to discuss that possibility or other possibilities for having a GP service in Swanlinbar itself. Will the Tánaiste ask the Minister for Health to ask the HSE to engage with the local community? It is only an engagement to look at possible solutions to this.
I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. The Government is actively working to increase the number of GPs working in the State and to increase GP access throughout the country. GPs are self-employed and the HSE steps in when there is a situation where a GP may retire. There are currently 23 vacancies around the country, down from 34 last year. We are making considerable inroads as we try to secure someone to take on the role in question. While this matter is ongoing, the general medical card scheme has been frozen to ensure there is a good and viable business for people to take on the role. If the Deputy sends me details of the case, I will ask the HSE in the area to examine it. It is important that there is community collaboration. The HSE is focused on getting permanent GPs into communities the length and breadth of the country.
Allowing speculation and rumour to circulate in any community with respect to where international protection accommodation service centres or any forms of asylum accommodation are going to be located is never a good idea. I am sure the Tánaiste will agree with me on that. To avoid those outcomes, however, we must ensure the Department of integration and its community engagement unit are resourced and staffed to such a degree that it can offer swift, accurate and comprehensive information when questions of this kind are put to it by communities through their constituency TDs. At present, the process is far too slow. The replies at times are misleading. I am concerned about that. I had that experience last week but I am not the only one. An Independent colleague also received a misleading response. That is very concerning, particularly at this level when we have a job to do. Will the Tánaiste ensure that the staffing and resourcing issues necessary to help communities that are living in the shadow of rumours are addressed, particularly with respect to the community engagement unit? I want to be in a position to assist anyone who asks me a question by providing him or her with factual information. However, it has to be clear and concise and not misleading information.
The Deputy has made very fair points about communication. There has been a ramping up in respect of the community engagement teams, additionality and additional resources. The scale of the challenge is enormous and that has to be recognised as well. In January alone, over 2,000 people sought international protection in the country. That is double the average of last year. We have 27,000 people in accommodation. We have to rapidly improve our administrative processes, which we are doing in the Department of Justice, to make sure that those who are genuinely seeking asylum and those who are economically seeking asylum are addressed speedily. There is very rigorous assessment going on. I take the Deputy’s point on communication. The Government acknowledges that. It is continually working to try to improve communication and make sure people have information that is as precise as possible.
Recently, the Sporting Liberties report highlighted the severe lack of sports facilities in the inner city. It is an example of inner city neglect. Regeneration of council housing in the inner city is beyond slow. Flat complexes are being left derelict and empty for years in the middle of a housing crisis. Regeneration at Glovers Court, Pearse House and St. Andrew’s Court is painfully slow. Verschoyle Court which is just a five-minute walk from this House has 70 one-bedroom units for senior citizens, which are damp, have mould and are the size of dog boxes. That is another example of inner city neglect. The Government’s legacy will be neglect of the inner city. When will the Government take regeneration of the inner city seriously and give it the attention it really needs?
The Government has allocated unprecedented funding for inner city renewal across a range of funding, including housing, city centre infrastructure and regeneration. Dublin City Council is the key agency here and is responsible for its own housing stock and regenerating many of the apartment complexes the Deputy has spoken about. In many other cities, regeneration of various apartment blocks and complexes has happened much faster. The focus has to be on Dublin City Council. As the Deputy said, many of these projects are painfully slow, which means they are under way, but, by definition, they do not happen overnight. We are very focused on the housing crisis, not only on building new homes and apartments but refurbishing and making others fit for living.
It has been four months since Storm Babet hit the country, particularly my home area in east Cork, with the devastation that followed. I understand Cork County Council has requested assistance to repair roads. I think a bill of around €60 million has been mentioned. What is the Government’s response to that? How much has been made available to date and when will we see financing to enable this vital infrastructure to be put back in place?
I read recently that the county council had made a submission. That will have to be examined by the Department, obviously, in respect of the wider damage to the area. That figure is a huge amount, and it is illustrative of the cost of climate change. I have no doubt the storm was a climate event. It is an illustration of how we have to move on adaptation and flood relief. I will come back to the Deputy in respect of the Department’s response.
I raise again the issue of school bus drivers. Drivers and bus companies are on to me constantly. They are completely exasperated about the age limit that applies to school bus drivers. Under a recent change, people can hold a driver licence up to the age of 75 years without a medical report. School bus drivers are pensioners in the vast majority of cases. Driving a school bus part-time is excellent for their mental health and financially. They can drive a tourist bus from Donegal to Cork but they cannot drive a school bus a couple of kilometres around their own homes. Before next August and the season when we get into trouble over having buses on school routes, I urge Bus Éireann to revisit its decision and remove this anomaly. We fully accept that bus drivers should have a medical check to determine competence at six-month intervals but surely this rule has to be revisited.
I agree with the Deputy, basically. I think he has articulated the case very well. There is a shortage of drivers. Obviously, Bus Éireann wants to make sure the safety situation is correct and it has resisted making that change, in its view, in the interests of safety. The world has changed dramatically in relation to life expectancy and people are now in a position to work at ages we would have considered inconceivable 20 years ago. The world has changed and with the appropriate procedures, we should be able to facilitate older people to work, particularly in the school bus context.
People in their thousands are presenting to emergency departments in mental health crises because of the lack of mental health care in our communities. If they are lucky enough to be seen in emergency departments, they are then referred back into the community for treatment. An average of 4,500 people are so referred every year. There are huge vacancies in our community mental health services. I will give the example of my area of Clondalkin.
I only got this response a few days ago. We have vacancies for one area director of nursing, two clinical nurse managers, three clinical nurse specialists, two community mental health nurses, one advanced nurse practitioner and five staff nurses. Does the Tánaiste think this level of vacancy is acceptable? What will he do about it?
I thank the Deputy for his question. There are 12,500 whole-time equivalents working in mental health the length and breadth of the country. There has been a significant increase in the past three and a half years. In relation to the clinical programmes, for example, an additional €5.6 million has been allocated nationally and we saw recruitment of 120 staff in the past three and a half years. We do have challenges in relation to populating some of our 75 CAMHS teams. I was delighted in the past three weeks to secure an additional €10 million for youth mental health-----
These are adults.
-----specifically to increase the workforce. We will continue to do that. Last year we recruited heavily in mental health - with over 390 people recruited - and we will continue to do that. There are gaps and I am trying to address them at the moment.
I am not sure if the Tánaiste is aware but there is disruption to our postal service in Dublin. It is due to what An Post calls a new operational plan for Fonthill and Blanchardstown delivery offices. The result is that residents in Lucan and Clondalkin are badly affected, with many deliveries significantly delayed. I have constituents and businesses experiencing delays with important documentation and others are having ghost deliveries, whereby they are notified they are about to get a delivery and it does not arrive. An Post has informed me it is taking steps to minimise disruption. I hope it is also taking steps to minimise disruption to its staff through a fair and reasonable change management strategy. What is going on with our only postal service provider? How can we better support postal workers and ensure my constituents get their deliveries on time?
I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. The Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, has been attentive to the needs of An Post. He and the Government have worked over the past two or three years to support An Post through a variety of funding approaches. An Post is responsible for operational planning and change of systems. I think the Deputy indicated it will either review or make sure the situation lands well.
The management of An Post has executed significant reforms in recent times and has been effective in that regard, while understanding the calls from the political system for good coverage of An Post services across the country. The retention and viability of An Post are things that everybody in the House, because of the company's social and community dimensions, is keen to see continue.