At the beginning of this month, with workers and families in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, the Government increased the price of petrol and diesel at the pumps. It plans to increase them again in August and again in October. The Tánaiste knows this will see Irish households facing among the highest petrol and diesel prices in Europe. I asked the Minister for Finance yesterday and he did not answer the question. Maybe the Tánaiste will make an attempt at it. There are 390 fuel stations along the Border counties and they tell me and the Government that their viability will be under serious threat if these price hikes go ahead. The price hikes, which the Government is adamant are going ahead, will leave the price of petrol over 20 cent cheaper in the North than the South. That is a serious differential. These businesses tell us they will not be able to compete. There are jobs and livelihoods at risk. Will the Government see sense, support households, help these businesses and not go ahead with these petrol and diesel price hikes that will push petrol and diesel prices to these levels?
Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation
On one level, I admire the excellence of the Deputy as a polemicist and propagandist. This is about the restoration of excise duties and was well flagged. They were reduced during the crisis. The Government staggered the restoration but Sinn Féin in its alternative budget proposed the excise reduction be restored in one go on 1 April 2024, unlike the Government's two-step restoration.
No, we said it should be kept under review.
Your budget said the excise reduction should be restored in one go.
We said it should be kept under review.
Then you mentioned October. I presume you are referring to the carbon tax.
Which is excise duty.
It is sleight of hand by you. In your budget you factor the carbon tax revenue into your calculations.
No, we do not.
You are playing Tadhg an dá thaobh all the time, are you not? Are you for the carbon tax or against it?
We are against it. Answer the question.
Why do you put it into your budget then?
You are doing what the Minister for Finance did yesterday. You are refusing to answer the question of the 390 businesses.
You are a Tadhg an dá thaobh. You are flip-flopping. You are U-turning.
You are refusing to answer the question.
Deputy Doherty, will you stop disregarding the Chair and the rules of the House. If you want a conversation with the Tánaiste, have it outside and not in here.
The Tánaiste should be answering the questions put to him.
I asked-----
I do not care what you asked.
With respect, I asked the same question yesterday and did not get an answer-----
Resume your seat, Sir.
-----and the Tánaiste will not answer the same question today. This is supposed to be questions.
Resume your seat. Now, Deputy Bacik, please.
It sounds like conversations on promised legislation rather than questions.
Definitely not answers.
Tragically, we have seen more than 60 deaths on our roads so far this year, each one a human tragedy for those involved. Those figures exclude those injured or maimed in accidents. Clearly, we need to see more action on this. More gardaí and policing are crucial, as are more evidence-based policies and planning to improve road safety.
I wish to raise a specific concern I have. The Road Safety Authority has not been able to share road traffic collision data with councils for six years, apparently due to GDPR concerns.
I understand that tonight on "Prime Time" we will hear experts describe local authority road engineering teams, which cannot see crucial information when making key decisions on road improvements, as effectively shooting in the dark because they cannot access this information. My colleague Duncan Smith and I have been raising this issue about data with the Minister for Transport for years now. It is incredible that it took until 2022 before the RSA even contacted the Data Protection Commissioner on this issue.
What will the Tánaiste and his Government do about this issue to ensure we can see proper sharing of data to ensure evidence-based decisions on crucial aspects of road safety improvement? We know it is a contributing factor in so many of these human tragedies on our roads.
I thank the Deputy for raising what is a very serious issue for us as a country. After decades of the numbers of road fatalities and injuries going down, there has been a significant increase in recent years, with 188 road fatalities in 2023. As of 11 April 2024, 61 people have lost their lives in 56 collisions on our roads. That is an increase of 13 on this time last year. Clearly, we need a more evidence-based approach to this. As the Deputy knows, the Road Traffic Bill has passed Committee Stage. That is important in the context of the new priorities, such as penalty points system reform, mandatory drug testing at the scene of serious collisions and so forth.
On the sharing of collision data, I agree with the Deputy one hundred per cent. It is not satisfactory that the inability to share collision data because of the GDPR has gone on. A specialist group has been established to resolve this and it needs to be resolved as quickly as possible because this is nonsense. That is my view.
One of the more odious aspects of the Taoiseach's contribution to the Fine Gael Ard-Fheis on Saturday was when he said, "It is time to have pride again in our capital city", as if Fine Gael had not held the justice Ministry for the past 13 years. He went on to say he would immediately convene a Dublin city centre task force, bringing together the council, retailers, business, community groups and the Garda. Will the Tánaiste tell me what his understanding of this task force is? As he will be aware, I have been asking for such a task force for about two years now. What sort of budget will be applied to it? How will the task force the Taoiseach talks about differ from the task force for the inner city already initiated under the Department? How will it differ from the joint policing committee for Dublin City Council? How will it differ from the initiative already under way by DublinTown? What is this task force? Who is involved in it? Has it been discussed at Cabinet or is it just more bluster?
I know the Deputy is an avid follower of Fine Gael Ard-Fheiseanna down through the years-----
You are an avid supporter.
-----and that is commendable in terms of his broader interest in politics. I am not responsible for anything said at the Fine Gael Ard-Fheis.
But this is policy.
You are responsible for keeping them in government.
What the Taoiseach indicated in the House the other day was that he would establish a task force in respect of Dublin. I think Deputy Gannon has called for one, has he?
Several times.
I think he will probably welcome it so.
I really do.
The details of that and the consultations will follow, and I am sure the Taoiseach will be in a position to apprise the Deputy of the detailed-----
It was just an announcement.
Yesterday, a majority of MEPs voted to support the EU migration pact. There was also opposition to the pact, and in the European Parliament some of the commentary on the pact is that it is regressive in terms of human rights, xenophobic and reactionary in not upholding the right to seek asylum in the EU. Does the Tánaiste believe signing up to this pact is the right course of action for Ireland in trying to demonise people fleeing war and persecution?
I would not accept those descriptions of the EU asylum pact. We do need a stronger system across the European Union in terms of those seeking asylum in respect of the efficiency of the system in terms of those who may not be entitled to asylum such that the cases are dealt with more quickly and, if people are not entitled to asylum, they are returned to where they came from and that there are stronger measures in respect of secondary transfers from within the Union, where people are moving about and so on. All of that is needed, particularly for the front-line countries. Migration is a huge issue across the European Union. There is no point in burying your head in the sand and saying it is not. It is, and because it is such a big issue, it is leading to a lot of regressive policies in certain member states. I think it is sensible that we can get a Europe-wide agreement that means a more timely, efficient and fairer but firm system.
I welcome the appointment of Jennifer Carroll MacNeill as Minister of State at the Department of Defence on Tuesday. I look forward to working with her. I am just mindful that her predecessor, Peter Burke, and indeed his predecessor, Jack Chambers, had no defence powers delegated to them at all during their tenure. Does the Tánaiste intend delegating any formal defence powers to Jennifer Carroll MacNeill and, if so, what role does he see her having in the defence apparatus of the country?
The role will be very similar, the same as for the Minister of State, Deputy Burke, now and the Minister of State, Jack Chambers. For years, I think people wanted a senior Minister in the Department of Defence. I am the senior Minister in the Department of Defence as well as the Department of Foreign Affairs because for years people felt that having just a Minister of State dealing with defence matters was somehow undermining of the Defence Forces. That is the way it has been ordained since the commencement of the Government and that is the way it will continue.
Thanks be to God it is a lovely day today, but we have had inclement weather since last July now, and all types of farmers and communities are suffering hugely. I welcome the recent fodder package but, as regards cereal farmers, grain farmers and crops, potatoes were not even taken out last year on some farms and none are planted this year. There will be a huge problem with food shortages later in the year. These farmers in horticulture and cereals as well as fodder need a dedicated, targeted package of supports and measures because it is, as was said, well into May now and there are very few crops put in and the winter crops that were in are struggling and suffering with the wet and the constant inclement weather. It is more than the dairy sector being affected. The whole farming sector, especially cereals and horticulture, as well as sheep - the whole lot - is affected by the continuing bad weather.
I think you are ahead of yourself. We are not in May yet; we are still in April.
Gabh mo leithscéal. I am. It is April.
I share the concern of the farming community at the incessant rain we have experienced now since last July. Bar maybe a few weeks in August, it has been raining. Our food production system is being undermined as a result of that weather - there is no doubt about that - which, on another day, we should also reflect on in terms of broader debates about the changing weather patterns. As regards the immediate issue, especially in terms of horticulture and tillage, the Minister will engage with the sector as to what can be done to support it because we are aware of, as the Deputy says, the challenges with both early spring crops and summer crops last year. The weather has seriously impaired the work of our horticulture sector and it is having consequences and will have consequences, I think, for the remainder of the year.
I noticed in the Tánaiste's reply to Deputy Pearse Doherty earlier that he talked about the importance of oversight of State funding and ensuring value for money. The Irish Mirror has learnt that, in addition to the moneys being spent by the Department of agriculture transporting pets from Ukraine, the Department of integration was paying for their accommodation, up to €20 per pet per night, but it varied from centre to centre. It is not possible to establish actually how much money was spent because there is just one invoice covering everything from various accommodation providers, and they do not differentiate between the cost of accommodating pets and accommodating humans, which, obviously, we are required to do under international law. Ireland, unlike other countries, seems to have had no policy at the time. Other countries had. Some had a policy of "Absolutely no pets - we cannot take your pets". Others had a policy of "Yes, you can take your pets with you, but you pay for them yourself". Ireland was paying for them, but we do not know how much money was spent. Based on the number of pets in the country, which was seven times more than the Department of integration knew about, it could have been up to a million euro a month. Is the Tánaiste happy with the oversight of spending in that Department when he was Taoiseach and is he happy with the oversight of spending now?
There is a context to all this. I will always recall, when I was leaving Kyiv, that there is an exhibition in the train station which recalls the horror facing the population of Ukraine at the time.
There were desperate photographs of mothers with their children looking out the windows at their husbands, in-laws, grandparents - frightened children. That was the scene.
They had their pets with them.
We all responded in a humanitarian way at the time. No one believed the war would go on for two years.
Really?
I did not believe it would go on for two years.
Really?
Fine; Deputy McNamara is an expert.
I am not an expert but-----
Please can we desist from having a conversation?
I have to come back to the essential response we made at the time, which was a humane response. The Deputy may now, two and a half years on, instance one aspect of that response and-----
Several aspects.
-----create a lot of angst about it.
I thank the Tánaiste. The time is up.
There was a context at the time in which this country responded. We can be overly negative about ourselves all the time. I think it was a decent response.
So oversight of State funding is only important when Deputy Doherty raises it.
No. I think it was a decent response that reflected the best of what are as a people.
Time is up, thank you.
The Taoiseach said when he assumed office that supporting people with additional needs would be a key part of a re-energised partnership in government. Surely access to a school place for children with additional needs is a key priority. Tyrrellspass National School in County Westmeath received a letter of sanction from the NCSE for special classes for pupils with autism spectrum disorder to start in 2024 or 2025. Despite the fact that the NCSE sanctioned this approval, the school building unit is questioning the need and resisting the sanction of the additional modular classrooms needed. It does not seem right that one arm of the system says this is required and another arm says it is not going to happen. It is causing anxiety for the parents who already have their children enrolled in this school. It is not good enough.
Normally, when a special class is sanctioned, accommodation has to follow. I will ask the Minister for Education and the Minister of State with responsibility for special education in particular to examine the situation urgently and to bring clarity. If the class has been sanctioned, it means a need has been determined. Children are entitled to be accommodated. I am sure we can get this resolved.
I am sure the Ceann Comhairle has noticed that the condition of many local rural roads is deplorable and that the situation has been getting worse in every year of this Government. The fact is that the Government is starving local authorities of the funding needed to maintain the current poor state of local roads, never mind to ensure the situation can improve. The result is that at a time when fuel prices have been increased by the Government, many people travelling in rural communities are bursting their tyres on local roads or other damage is being caused to their cars. It appears the Government is sitting on its hands. I have never seen so many local roads in my own county of Monaghan in such a poor state of repair. I ask the Tánaiste to give me a yes-no answer to the following question: will the Government provide sufficient additional funding to local councils so they can undertake the road resurfacing programmes that are desperately needed?
Deputies Niamh Smyth and Brendan Smith have consistently made the same point in respect of the roads in Cavan and Monaghan and the need for additionality.
It has not done any good.
The fundamental problem is that even though the funding has increased, inflation has been quite dramatic in terms of the input costs. Senator Gallagher pointed this out to me last evening. Having consulted road engineers in the area, he went through the input costs involved in getting a road repaired today compared with two years ago, which is quite dramatic for bitumen and other materials. That inflation has eaten away-----
Will the Government going to provide additional funding to address that?
-----at the effectiveness of the allocation. I am keeping it under review.
The BusConnects plan is ploughing ahead across Dublin. We in People Before Profit truly welcome improved public transport. I always advocate for free, frequent public transport as a means to alleviate traffic problems and to help climate initiatives. The Minister for Transport disagrees. Having said that, there are serious problems with how BusConnects is being implemented, mostly because the community - I specifically want to talk about the community in Ballyfermot - has not been consulted about major changes in infrastructure to their area, the loss of 50 mature trees, the compulsory purchase of public spaces and gardens, the loss of a roundabout and, crucially, the loss of parking spaces at two rows of shops and the loss of access in and out of the Ballyfermot Road. We had a huge protest there last Saturday with about 600 people turning up. People thought that was small but I thought it was amazing for this day and age. It was not something divisive; it was positive. We need to get the NTA to engage with the community.
Time is up, Deputy, please.
The Department, which takes a hands-off approach, says that the NTA deals with these matters and it does not.
Deputy, please. The time is up.
We need an intervention by the Department to tell the NTA to talk to the community.
Is the Deputy saying there has been absolutely no consultation at all?
At the end of Covid, there was a day in the civic centre, when everybody was not coming out, to show maps etc., but there was no consultation on the infrastructure.
You are off again. Please, can we not have a conversation? Just answer the question. You were asked a question.
The NTA has been consulting communities across the country. I have been involved in some of the consultations in respect of BusConnects in Cork, for example. We managed to get many issues resolved but not all of them. I will talk to the Minister. I am sure the NTA will engage if there are specific items, like those raised by the Deputy in her presentation. I will ask the NTA to consider them and to engage with the local community.
I know the Taoiseach is only new to the job but I hope his predecessor might have given the Tánaiste and him a confirmed date for the commencement of the inquiry into the State's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. I have asked for this and been promised a date multiple times, but there is still no date. Those who died and their families deserve justice and closure. Will the Tánaiste have a date before we are in government and get it ourselves? Will the Government give us a date? Let me be clear; I am not going to keep standing up here and asking the same question over and over again with no response. The Government's lack of ambition is deplorable for the people who died during Covid-19. I want an answer and a date, please.
The Government did not lack any ambition during the Covid period.
I will be back again, will I?
There are international assessments of that. On the specific issue of an evaluation of how this country did during Covid-19, that is nearing completion. There has been a change, as the Deputy referenced, with Deputy Varadkar retiring as Taoiseach and Deputy Harris coming in as the new Taoiseach. The three party leaders will bring this to a conclusion very quickly.
Will I have a date?
You are out of the traps early, Deputy O'Dowd.
I have a lot to say in a very short time. I repeat that Drogheda people are extremely angry and dismayed by the decision of the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, to remove the only remaining hotel of scale in Drogheda, the D Hotel, from public use. The Government has acknowledged that this will not happen in any other town but that means nothing to the people of Drogheda. We continue to be dismayed at the lack of an appropriate and proper impact assessment and appropriate support packages for businesses, communities, tourism and, frankly, for families. If this Government intends to restore a measure of confidence in what this Administration, which I have supported, is doing in Drogheda, it has a hell of a lot more to do. People like me have been completely and utterly blind-sided by this decision. Not alone that, but I am now aware that the original contract as itemised by the Minister for 500 beds could not have been signed at that time because up to close of business yesterday, the fire safety certificate only allows 240 people to reside there. Are we paying for 500 beds when we can only fill 240? Who is making the profit or the difference? The Tánaiste was right about the women and children and the fear and trouble they have in other countries. Drogheda welcomes them all the time and will continue to do so, but they cannot be walking the streets of Drogheda with plastic bags in the rain and no centre to go to. People who live in the town cannot get their families to stay in the only hotel that was there. I represent their anger. I want the Tánaiste to do something about it.
The most effective way to do anything about this is to try to implement, as quickly as we can, the policy position adopted recently by the Government in respect of direct construction of State-owned centres in parallel with the private sector, which is providing the majority of accommodation to date.
The problem, as we just discussed with respect to the EU asylum pact, is that there are unprecedented levels of migration across Europe and the world. Many political parties in many countries have risen on the strength of it. We saw what happened in the UK where Brexit became a consequence of migration. It changed the whole politics of the country with devastating results, I would argue, in terms of the economy and so on. It is not simple.
It is not simple. What will you do in Drogheda?
The idea of the only hotel being used is something the Government acknowledges we do not want to do.
But you have done that.
I am saying that alternative development has to happen.
What happens in the meantime?
I have no doubt that will also be opposed. I have no doubt about that. I am realistic about it. For any party in this House that aspires to be in government-----
Thank you, Tánaiste.
-----this will be an ongoing issue.
That is not good enough at all.
It is not that simple.
When will the new guidelines on wind turbines be published? There have been draft guidelines since 2019 and nothing has moved since then. There are many communities like mine in County Offaly, where there is a rich heritage bog, Leamonaghan bog, which is rich in monastic heritage and has links to Clonmacnoise. There is a proposal to put a wind farm there which is absolutely ludicrous and against the wishes of many members of the community. Communities feel disillusioned, frustrated and angered that there are no protections and their rights are not being upheld. The guidelines need to be published urgently. People need rights. Legally binding rights and protections are needed for communities like Leamonaghan, which, may I add, is a bog rich in habitats. If a wind farm went into that area, it would lead to the destruction of the habitats, flora and fauna and the destruction of our monastic heritage in that area.
I appreciate the Deputy's commitment to the protection of our habitats, flora and fauna. I am not in a position to bring clarity to an exact timeline for new guidelines on wind farms. I acknowledge it has been an issue for quite some time. I will revert to the Minister about the specific issues the Deputy raised about the guidelines.
First and foremost, I thank the Tánaiste and the excellent team in his office for their assistance with many urgent passport renewal cases over the years. People who find themselves in that predicament appreciate the helpful response he gives which has helped many people to rescue their travel plans that would otherwise have been lost.
It is April and many people are thinking about their holidays. I will ask about two matters that relate to passport renewals. First, has there been any progress on giving notification to people about the upcoming expiration of their passports? Second, could we look again at the possibility of putting a one-day rapid renewal printing service in the Cork passport office? It is available in Dublin. It is a great service, but to avail of it in the southern part of the country in the Cork office involves a four-day turnaround.
Thank you, Deputy.
It would be helpful if there was a one-day turnaround in Cork as well.
I love the way Kerry people always endeavour to look after the best interests of Cork.
Especially in Gaelic football.
Yes, particularly. I was in the Cork passport office just before Christmas. It is an excellent office. Generally speaking, it is at this time of year that people are beginning to make their queries and so on. The timelines have gone well in the past year and a half. The online application is very efficient at the moment and the passport service responds. I will come back to the Deputy on whether we are in the business of alerting people about expiry - I do not think we are - and on the machinery that is required for the one-day rapid facility. I have made inquiries about that already. We will see how it progresses.
I support that as well.
We are always eager to look after Kerry.
We have had the wettest March on record with a huge amount of rain, but in Ratoath and Ashbourne we have consistent problems with water outages, shortages and restrictions. There is an investment programme. It is late, but it is welcome. The issue I will raise is Uisce Éireann's engagement with public representatives, local businesses, local communities, families, householders and children with disabilities. There is a charter in place but its engagement is wholly inadequate. Its support for communities when there are outages is wholly inadequate. Does the Tánaiste agree and, if so, what will he do about it?
Is this in terms of engagement?
I will raise the issues raised by the Deputy with the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien. There should be engagement with communities. There has to be. I will pursue that.
On the earlier point, given the rain that is falling we should not be short of water. I put that question to Uisce Éireann when I was Taoiseach a number of years ago. All of us, collectively as a society, should collect water when it rains and store it. If we get a notice this summer saying we need to reduce our water usage, it will be some moment for the country; I will put it that way.
The Independent Reporting Commission, IRC, is the statutory body established under the Fresh Start agreement of 2015 to report on measures aimed at ending paramilitarism. The reports of the commission provide a comprehensive insight into the work being done to tackle this problem. One of the recommendations of the fifth report, the most recent report, was that the two Governments should consider appointing an independent person to engage and report in detail on the possible establishment of a formal process of comprehensive group transition, in other words engaging with the paramilitary groups and getting a transition.
I understand that the Irish Government has been in favour of proceeding with this and that it is due to hold meetings with the British Government and its Northern counterparts.
Thank you, Deputy.
Will this be a matter for discussion at those meetings? Is there a chance this could be pressed home and the suggestion of the IRC adopted and implemented? It would make a big difference and lead to significant progress.
I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. It has been on the agenda at the last two British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference meetings. We are endeavouring to progress it but we have not been in a position to bring it to conclusion in respect of the specific recommendation that was made, of which I am supportive. The Executive has now been formed. I am sure the justice minister in the Executive has views on it as well. I expect it to be on the agenda at the next British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference meeting.
We are out of time, but I will take 30-second questions from the three remaining Deputies.
In recent weeks, I have been contacted by parents in Monksland in south County Roscommon who have no special class place for their children in September. I am told that there are 18 children in Monksland alone who have no school place. Of course, this is just one area. In one case, a mother has tried seven local schools with no luck. Another mother has been told that the only school she can get into would mean a three-hour round trip for her child. Both of their sons have autism. Will the Tánaiste ensure there are special class places for all children who need them by September? Parents are worried sick and stressed and we need more special class places, especially in the Athlone, Ballinasloe and south Roscommon area.
There are approximately 20 children in the Greystones-Kilcoole area who are in sixth class at the moment and still do not have a secondary school place for September. Their sixth class year will finish in ten weeks' time. Their peers are getting their yearbooks ready, going to open days in their secondary schools and picking their subjects, but these children still have no idea where they will go to school in September. It is wholly unacceptable to treat parents and children in this manner. It is the absolute opposite of being child-centred in education. We have been promised for months now that there would be an answer from the Department of Education on this and that those places would be provided. Will the Tánaiste please let us and those parents know when the children will be told they will have places and where they will be going?
The Central Bank has just produced the latest liability data up to 21 December 2022. It has taken 15 months to publish that.
Will Government give a commitment to publish the 2023 data before the summer recess to see what is happening in the insurance market? The headline takeaways in terms of the report that was just published are that insurance profit margins have risen 55% in the last year, in comparison to 9% and 14% in the previous two years, but liability insurance cover has risen this year by 8%. The cost of settlements continues to drop and is now down €43 million, or 14%, but legal costs have increased overall compensation costs by over 60%. I ask the Tánaiste to please have a look at this. Will he also look at speeding up the licensing for new underwriters through regulation? It is taking up to three years. Surely we can do it in much less time.
Deputy Kerrane raised the issue of 18 children with no school places for special classes. I will talk to the Minister for Education about that. Much progress has been made in the last three years. Seven new special schools have been established and there has been a massive expansion of SNAs and special education teachers. The basic principle is that children who need a place should be given one, and not just any place but one that is appropriate to the individual child's needs.
I will talk to the Minister in respect of the 20 children mentioned by Deputy Whitmore. I presume that is an urban growth issue in terms of the capacity of schools and so on but, again, maybe temporary provision can be made in prefabricated buildings or whatever is required.
There is an issue emerging on foot of the significant reforms that have been undertaken by this Government in respect of insurance, as mentioned by Deputy Shanahan. All the major items that were identified at the commencement of the Government have been dealt with, legislated for and implemented, but we have not seen the level of premium reductions that should reflect the reforms. We have seen increased margins and profitability of the insurance companies. There is an issue there that needs to be addressed.
I thank the Tánaiste. That concludes the morning's business.