Mary Lou McDonald
Question:1. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on housing will meet next. [36562/24]
Ceisteanna - Questions
Cabinet Committees
Richard Boyd Barrett
Question:2. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on housing will meet next. [36723/24]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 2 together.
The Cabinet committee on housing last met on Thursday, 11 July. The next meeting of the Cabinet committee will take place shortly. I believe it will be at the start of October. The committee works to ensure a co-ordinated approach to the implementation of Housing for All and programme for Government commitments regarding housing. The significant uplift in the supply of new homes in 2022 and 2023 has continued this year. More than 12,700 new homes were completed in the first half of the year - I think the figure is 12,730 - with independent analysis forecasting delivery of between 35,000 and 40,000 new homes in 2024. The Government still expects to deliver nearly 40,000 homes this year.
The future delivery pipeline is also strong. Construction started on almost 50,000 new homes - 49,613, to be specific - in the 12 months to the end of July. Commencements in the first seven months of this year alone are up over 90% on the same period last year. Planning permission was granted for almost 38,000 new homes in the year to end quarter 1 2024, with figures for quarter 2 expected later this week. There are 25,000 new social homes at various stages of design and construction.
On the planning reform agenda, the Planning and Development Bill will return to this House in early October for Final Stage. I think it will go before the Seanad next week. The Bill, once enacted, will enable house building at scale and the development of critical infrastructure at pace. On State lands, I will officially open the first new social and affordable homes at Shanganagh Castle estate later this week. This joint partnership between the Land Development Agency and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council will deliver almost 600 new social and affordable homes once complete.
Earlier this month, in another important partnership, the LDA and Dublin City Council received planning permission for more than 700 new homes in Cherry Orchard. Many more large-scale housing developments will proceed to planning or construction before the end of the year and in the time ahead. The Government's Housing for All plan is supporting first-time buyers across the country. First-time buyer mortgage data shows that almost 15,000 approvals and over 11,200 drawdowns, respectively, were recorded in the first half of this year. In a further demonstration of our commitment to first-time buyers, last week we pledged a further €100 million to the first home scheme. Since its launch, 5,400 individuals and couples have availed of the scheme. There were over 1,600 approvals in the first half of this year, which is an increase of 42% compared to the same six months last year. So far in 2024, there have been 5,882 claims under the help-to-buy scheme, an increase of 23% on the same period in 2023. It is interesting to see what today's Central Bank report states about the importance of that scheme in terms of assisting first-time buyers.
Tackling vacancy and dereliction is a continuing focus under Housing for All. More than 9,600 applications have been received for the vacant property refurbishment grant, with more than 6,300 approved and 730 grant drawdowns following completion of works to date. Work is well advanced on revised Housing for All targets for 2025 onwards, consistent with the draft revised national planning framework. These revised targets, averaging over 50,000 new homes per year, will be published in the coming weeks, together with an annual update on the Housing for All action plan, which will be focused on scaling up delivery to achieve these higher targets. The update will also take account of the analysis under way by the Housing Agency of the Housing Commission's recommendations. In advance of the update, I look forward to details of the housing package being announced as part of budget 2025 on this day in two weeks.
As there are quite a number of speakers, they will each have a minute and a half.
I am taking this question on behalf of Deputy McDonald. The Taoiseach will accept that it has been a difficult time for supporters of Dundalk Football Club. I wish the new consortium led by John Temple, which has taken over the club, well. We are at the beginning of a process. Dundalk FC could have gone to the wall, which would have impacted on the integrity of the entire league. There needs to be engagement with the FAI and the League of Ireland to make sure this does not happen again.
The Deputy's minute and a half is up.
According to the Housing Commission report, we need at least 300,000 new homes in the next five years, which is an average of 60,000 per year. Has the Taoiseach or the Minister for housing met the Housing Commission or do they have plans to meet it? Have they sought a briefing from the commission or its officials on its report? Does the Taoiseach accept the report's two key recommendations? The report was brought out by the Government. The Taoiseach's commentary and even the national planning framework refer to 50,000 new homes, while the Central Bank of Ireland has given a figure of 52,000. Does the Taoiseach accept that much of this is superseded by the findings and recommendations of the Housing Commission?
I appreciate that the Minister for housing came back to me with regard to Cois Farraige in Dundalk. They did not accept that we need to look at the criteria, but we do.
Go raibh maith agat, a Theachta. We are way over time.
I welcome the fact that an affordable purchase scheme will be carried out, but the criteria regarding affordable housing need to be looked at. A price of €305,000 for a house in Dundalk is not affordable.
The Central Bank has followed the Housing Commission in telling us that our housing needs are twice - maybe more than twice - what Housing for All projected them to be. That is how inadequate the Housing for All plan is. To meet these targets, we have to double housing output. In particular, we have to dramatically increase the social and affordable housing component of that because what the market is delivering is completely unaffordable for probably the majority of working people in this country. How on earth are we going to do that? How are we going to get to that level - we have no choice but to do so as otherwise we are facing a pretty grim future in terms of the housing crisis - when the construction capacity of private firms simply cannot do it? Even Goodbody stockbrokers, as I raised with the Taoiseach previously, has indicated that only a small number of firms can deliver houses on a large scale. I put it to the Taoiseach that we need a State construction company. Some of the money we now have from Apple and the big surpluses and so on that we have should be used as seed capital for a State construction company to build that housing. Whatever we think ideologically about private or public, the private sector does not have the capacity to do that. The State has to develop its own construction capacity in order to deliver that scale of social and affordable housing.
Did the Taoiseach just drop a rather large hint as to the timing of a general election?
I do not think so.
The Central Bank stated this morning that the number of housing completions by the end of this year will be 32,000. The Taoiseach came in and told the House that the Central Bank is wrong and the number of housing completions will be 40,000. If a general election is held in February of next year, the likelihood is that before it is held, the Taoiseach will have been shown to be wrong. It will have been shown that the Government's housing policy has failed and the Government has failed in the targets it has stretched out. It will be a real embarrassment to the Taoiseach on the number one issue at the centre of that election. However, if an election is held in November, it will be the Taoiseach's word against the Central Bank's word. I think the Taoiseach has dropped rather a large hint because the Government will not reach the figure of 40,000.
I want to ask the Taoiseach about stamp duty and the bulk purchasing of homes. There have been multiple instances of funds buying up housing estates. Earlier this year, 85% of homes in Belcamp Manor were snapped up by one fund. At the time, the Government agreed to review the ineffective 10% stamp duty rate on the bulk purchase of homes. That review has been concluded. The Taoiseach's colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Neale Richmond, said he would like to see the rate doubled. The Tánaiste, Deputy Micheál Martin, said he was surprised at these comments. What is the Government's position on this? Has it made up its mind? When will it act by increasing the stamp duty rate on the bulk purchase of homes to a level that would effectively ban the bulk purchasing of homes?
In 2015, I proposed a Private Members' motion calling on the Government to accept the Apple tax billions and to spend them on building social and affordable housing to solve the housing crisis. At the time, I told the House the resources existed and it was a question of political prioritisation to end the homelessness and housing crisis over Apple not paying any tax. Back then, there were 1,571 homeless children growing up in emergency accommodation. Today, there are approximately 4,500 children in that situation. The Taoiseach was in government then too and he voted against my motion. I want to ask the Taoiseach now, after the European Court of Justice ruling, whether he regrets that decision. Does he regret throwing away a golden opportunity to solve the housing crisis ten years ago before it escalated into the catastrophe it is now? Will he commit to spending the Apple tax billions on building social and affordable housing now?
There are 4,000 local authority homes in the State that are empty. That is an incredible figure. It takes eight months on average to get these local authority homes back into use. Many of them are empty for well over a year. It takes three weeks for private rental accommodation to come back into use. The difference is that private landlords cannot leave their accommodation empty for eight months. I have no doubt some of the local authority homes may be used for a longer period and therefore may need more renovation, but none of that makes up for the massive difference. If the same timescale was being used for local authority homes, 3,500 of those homes would be in use today. Believe it or not, that would accommodate the 14,500 people in the State who are currently homeless.
In addition, 90,000 private homes are empty and the Government is giving grants to get these empty homes back into use. However, it is only providing three, four or five grants per month. It will take 1,350 years at this rate to get all of those homes back into use. Where is the urgency with regard to getting local authority homes and private homes that are empty back into use? We need to sweat the assets that exist here to make sure people have homes. Having empty homes in the middle of a housing crisis is the equivalent of sending food out of the country in the middle of a famine.
I appeal to Government to consider a ban on no-fault evictions. I have looked at the research on rental markets. I heard the Tánaiste say there is fear that this would shrink the rental market but the evidence indicates that it would help to grow the rental market. That fear is unfounded.
There were only 35 exits from homelessness in County Clare in the period from 15 June to 22 August. There are huge capacity issues and the local authority is saying that demand for accommodation in the county is too high. Over 100 households are overstaying with family. As a result of the lack of legislation to recognise that they are homeless, they are not being prioritised. What happens is that all of the households are treated as one household, which affects social welfare entitlements, never mind the disproportionate impact it has on relationships. There is also a delay in people accessing their white goods grants. This is preventing people from exiting homelessness. I cannot get people into emergency accommodation. I have a number of cases where people have been sleeping in their cars for longer than three weeks. I have talked about the cold weather initiative and the likelihood that it will be opened up, but there is no willingness to do so at this point for the individuals in question. I am dealing with one case involving a lady who is six months pregnant and due to give birth in December. Will the Taoiseach consider banning no-fault evictions?
I thank colleagues for their questions. In response to Deputy Ó Murchú, I send Dundalk Football Club my best as well.
In relation to the Housing Commission, I have obviously been briefed on the report by the Minister for housing. The Housing Agency is now working its way through each of the recommendations. I look forward to the report being debated in the House. We should find time to debate it. I do not believe there will be political consensus on every element of it and I am not sure there is a political grouping in the House that would agree with every element of it. However, there are very good things in it and we need to thrash that out in advance of the publication of the updated version of Housing for All later this year. There is now a consensus that we need higher housing targets. The debate we will have is on how to deliver them and the credibility behind each plan to deliver them as well. On the Dundalk housing project the Deputy raised, I am pleased there was contact but I will follow up on that again.
Deputy Boyd Barrett spoke about the inadequacy of Housing for All. I would argue that Housing of All has got us to a point where there are very significant increases in supply. I accept, however, that we will have to increase again the targets we need to reach. The Deputy is correct that whether one looks at the Central Bank of Ireland's report, the ESRI, the Housing Commission or the views of political parties right across the spectrum, there is a consensus around the need to increase supply. The question is how we will fund that and create the capacity.
When it comes to the Apple tax, investing it in infrastructure, which includes housing, is a good way of considering how to spend it. Looking at how we deploy the sale of bank shares and the like - there is a significant amount of uncommitted resources in the ISIF - is another good way of going about that. These will be matters for budget day and beyond. We have the Land Development Agency as a vehicle, from a State point of view, for trying to make progress. From a capacity point of view, if there are capacity constraints in the economy in general in terms of workforce and public versus private, those capacity constraints are there.
I do not think I dropped any hints but I thank Deputy Barry for looking out for them. I certainly did not say the Central Bank was wrong. What I said was the Central Bank gives forecasts and that last year and the year before that, we significantly exceeded the forecasts. The Deputy will acknowledge that is a statement of fact. I put the figures on the record earlier. The Central Bank published its quarter 3 quarterly bulletin in quarter 3 of 2022 and its quarter 3 quarterly bulletin last year. In both of those bulletins, it predicted a number and we exceeded those numbers. I predict we will do the same based on information given to me by the Department of housing. The Deputy should not read too much into my comments.
In response to Deputy Cian O'Callaghan on stamp duty and the bulk buying of homes, some of the measures we have taken have had an effect. I can point to some of the planning changes we have had which have made sure that lots of homes were made available for owner occupiers. The stamp duty measure was important but we should constantly review it to make sure it is having the desired policy effect. Any changes we wish to make in this area, whether to stamp duty or on other issues to do with bulk buying, will be a matter for budget day. To answer the Deputy's question on when the Government will decide, it is our intention to do so on budget day.
In response to Deputy Paul Murphy, I do not accept that there were delays with accepting the Apple money because Apple was always going to contest this case. The question was whether the Government wished to stand by the independence of our revenue system. I do not believe the argument that if the Government of the day did not join the case, the case would have ended more quickly and, therefore, the money would have been available more quickly. We now have finality in relation to the issue. The court has given its final word. That is it, and now these resources are available. It is now a question of how we best deploy them. I do not believe, however, that it would have been made available to the Irish public quicker if the Government had not joined the case because Apple was always making the case.
Deputy Tóibín and I do not agree on everything but I must say I agree with him on the matter he raised. He made a logical point and he has made it to me in this House previously. I give him a commitment that I will come back to him in relation to it. There will always be a time lag, as the Deputy correctly said, and there will be reasons, good reasons on occasion, that it may take longer in the public sector than in the private sector but the reasons are not good enough to bridge that gap. The Deputy made a constructive suggestion and I thank him for it. I will come back to him directly and speak to the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, on it.
In response to Deputy Wynne, we do not have a plan to reintroduce the ban on no-fault evictions currently. I will not get into the debate in the time available. However, we saw homeless numbers rise when we had the ban on no-fault evictions in place. I take seriously the issues the Deputy raised in relation to County Clare and the constructive suggestions she made regarding the cold weather initiative. I will ask the Department of housing to engage with the Deputy and Clare County Council on these matters.
Cabinet Committees
Mary Lou McDonald
Question:3. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on health will next meet. [36563/24]
Peadar Tóibín
Question:4. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on health will next meet. [36612/24]
Richard Boyd Barrett
Question:5. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on health will meet next. [36722/24]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 3 to 5, inclusive, together.
The Cabinet committee on health last met on 1 July 2024 and is due to meet again soon. In addition to the meetings of the full Cabinet and of Cabinet committees, I meet Ministers on an individual basis to focus on different issues. I meet regularly with the Minister for Health to discuss progress and challenges in the area of health, including the Sláintecare reform programme.
Sláintecare is about four main things - making healthcare more affordable, making healthcare more accessible, ensuring better outcomes for patients and reforming our health service. We are committed to expanding the core capacity of our acute hospitals with more health professionals and more acute hospital beds. We have added more than 1,000 permanent beds to the health service since 2020 when this Government came into office. We have increased the total public health sector workforce by more than 28,000 since the beginning of 2020, which includes 9,000 nurses and midwives, over 4,000 social care professionals and over 3,000 doctors and dentists. There is a strong pipeline of capital projects. I opened a new five-bed ward block in Portiuncula hospital last week and phase 1 of the new National Rehabilitation Hospital. There are several new hospitals and significant new facilities for existing hospitals are under way or in the pipeline.
Our multi-annual approach to waiting lists resulted in an overall reduction in the number of patients exceeding the Sláintecare waiting times by 22% since the pandemic peaks. Waiting lists fell last year for the second year in a row. This is interesting at a time when they are not falling in many other countries, including nearby jurisdictions. The figures that matter most are the number of patients waiting longer than the agreed Sláintecare maximum wait time targets of ten to 12 weeks. Most of us adopted the all-party report relating to this in 2017. The fairest way of measuring waiting lists involves people who are waiting longer than the Sláintecare target.
The enhanced community care programme continues to improve healthcare at a more local level and alleviate pressure on hospitals. The majority of community healthcare networks, community intervention teams and community support teams are now in place and providing care closer to home.
We are also making healthcare more affordable at a time when the cost-of-living crisis is continuing to affect everyone by removing hospital inpatient charges, widening eligibility for the GP card and reducing the drug payment scheme threshold, among other things. Budget 2024 funding provides funding of hundreds of millions of euro for waiting lists and action on urgent and emergency care; investments in our workforce such as advanced practice, more college and training places and more hospital consultants; the first full-year programme of publicly funded assisted human reproduction services, including IVF; further expansion of the free contraception scheme to include women aged 35; and additional staffing for CAMHS teams.
Our health and social care service has its challenges but our systems are responding and we have expanded the health service dramatically in recent years. We are treating more people with better outcomes than ever before. Interestingly, Ireland has the highest self-perceived health status in the EU, with 80% of people rating their health as good or very good. Our life expectancy is continuing to increase and is above international averages. Ireland is among a group of seven EU countries where life expectancy is above 82. We continue to reduce mortality rates for stroke and certain cancers and report positive trends in preventative health. Our age-standardised mortality rates have declined for all causes over the past decade by more than 10%.
I raise the issue of the Drogheda department of psychiatry in Crosslanes. Planning permission has been granted for a ten-bed extension. The significant issue in Louth-Meath is historically poor bed provision. We are operating at around 12.9 beds per 100,000, whereas in the rest of the State it is more like 15 or 16 beds per 100,000. We need a timeline for that. The Mental Health Commission has said that a number of times when it has checked, it has found an insufficient number of staff from a safety point of view, even in the current building. We need to look at that.
I am told that in Louth-Meath, there are about 40 nursing vacancies. There were 40 vacancies just before the moratorium, which then suddenly fell to around 13. This raises questions regarding nurses who are acting up when the position they were acting up from suddenly disappeared. I am told that if we take other disciplines into account, the number is even greater. We also have an issue with assessments, which can happen in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, particularly in the evening and night when people have mental health issues. This leads to some of the problems in accident and emergency departments.
I raise the horrific case of Harvey Sherratt. Harvey is an eight-year-old boy. For some reason, he has been removed from the waiting list for scoliosis surgery without his parents being informed of this. Many people will have seen images of Harvey circulating in the media. It is shockingly clear that this child is suffering significantly. The curvature of his spine seems to be in excess of 90°. The curve of his spine has gone beyond what a right angle is. The child is struggling to breathe and is screaming in pain but Children's Health Ireland has removed him from the waiting list for some reason. He has been on the waiting list since February 2022. The Taoiseach made promises in 2017 that no child would wait longer than four months for surgery. How can a society that puts away a budget surplus of €8 billion not provide the necessary resources to ensure that children who need these critical and, in certain cases, life-saving operations receive them? Will the Taoiseach explain exactly how Harvey's name was taken off the waiting list?
In July, the HSE announced that there was a lifting of a recruitment embargo for the health services. That announcement was a deception. How do I know? It is because over the past number of weeks, I have had multiple calls from people at different grades and in departments in St. Michael's Hospital saying that a staff quota has been imposed. This means maternity and sick leave is not being covered, people who retire are not being replaced, department after department is understaffed and people are demoralised.
All of this is being done under a measure called the pay and numbers strategy. It turns out that this is not specific to St. Michael's Hospital. When the Taoiseach and I were in the National Rehabilitation Hospital, the clinical director confirmed to me that even her post took a while to get past the pay and numbers strategy. This is affecting the hospital and it is being applied everywhere. An arbitrary ceiling on staff is preventing recruitment, rehiring and safe staffing. The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO, confirmed this today. That ceiling needs to be lifted immediately.
Before this House rose for the summer recess, Members, including me, raised the urgent need for statements on University Hospital Limerick, UHL, particularly overcrowding and the number of patients on trolleys on a daily basis. As the Taoiseach knows, the mid-west is the only region with a model 4 hospital that does not have a supporting model 3 hospital with an emergency department. The Taoiseach stated at the time that he would prefer to wait for the results from the HIQA review but now we know that this is not likely to come before the House before next summer. We also know that surge capacity was triggered every day of last year in UHL and that one quarter of presentations at the hospital are from County Clare. We also know that there are 13% fewer beds in UHL compared with the average model 4 hospital and that the hospital is expected to care for a population of over 431,000. I again acknowledge the national heroes who are making great strides in the face of these extreme pressures. Can we have statements on the floor of the House?
Last October, I raised with the Taoiseach’s Fianna Fáil predecessor the case of a young boy in Castleblayney who was seriously injured in a football match and had to wait three hours before an ambulance arrived. The then Tánaiste informed the House that he could not understand why it would take so long but set out very clearly that things were improving and all the great things the Government was doing. A fortnight ago, another young boy in Monaghan town was seriously injured in a football match. He lay screaming in agony for two hours and 20 minutes before an ambulance arrived. As for the lived realities of people in this situation, the only thing the Government has really done that has had an impact is change the target response times for ambulance services. If Fine Gael is in power next year, how long will children be left waiting for ambulances?
Will the Taoiseach commit to introducing free HRT in the budget? Will he also agree not to limit access according to unjust criteria? All women who need HRT deserve equal access to it regardless of age or income or whether they are in menopause, perimenopause, premature menopause or post-menopause.
At the moment, women in this country are forced to pay the full cost of HRT, which ranges between €30 and €80 per month, themselves. It is a lot of money and it amounts to a discriminatory, so-called pink tax on women. It adds up to between €360 and €960 a year, not including the cost of doctor's appointments. If a woman who is lucky enough to have a well-informed GP who will prescribe HRT does not have a medical card, that is an extra €50 to €65 per appointment but if she is forced to see a specialist to get the care she needs, that means €200 per appointment. Very many working-class women simply cannot afford that. Will the Taoiseach commit to free HRT and to providing midlife health checks for all women free of charge?
The case of Harvey Sherratt has been raised in the Dáil today. Can the Taoiseach give the House a guarantee that no other children were taken off the CHI scoliosis lists without consultation with or notification of their parents and if he cannot, will he investigate whether that was the case? Will he call for the publication of the Arthur Cox investigation into CHI’s management of issues surrounding the scoliosis crisis? Will the State cover the cost of insurance for bringing children with scoliosis to the United States for surgery? The State is refusing to do that and pressure is being put on the parents. Will the Taoiseach guarantee that the State will do that?
In response to Deputy Ó Murchú, I will follow up with the Minister for Health with regard to an update and timeline for the Drogheda department of psychiatry and the issue of nursing and other vacancies in the health service in the Louth-Meath area.
I thank Deputies Tóibín and Barry for raising the issue of Harvey, which was also raised in the House earlier today. I have received correspondence from Harvey's mother and I have responded. I have spoken to the chief executive of the HSE and the Minister for Health on the matter. The suffering of any child is something nobody wishes to see and I certainly do not wish to see it. What I can say is that I believe it is essential that a clinical appointment is arranged because it is a clinical matter as to whether surgery is the best way to proceed or whether there is a more appropriate way of providing care. I am not the clinician but I believe a further clinical appointment is the right way to proceed and I hope that happens. I am certainly in a position to facilitate that happening. My team has reached out and I have reached out by letter to Harvey's parents. My team are happy to be in contact with them on this matter, which I know is extraordinarily distressing for the family and, most of all, for Harvey.
On the broader point, I will certainly ask the question of the Minister for Health and the HSE as to whether anybody else was removed from the waiting lists. My understanding is that these are clinical decisions but regardless of whether they are clinical decisions, proper communication with parents is, of course, essential at all times.
On a separate and distinct point, there is now a clinical lead, Mr. David Moore, in this whole area of paediatric spinal surgery. It has been important to have that clinician perspective and I look forward to meeting him again shortly and with scoliosis advocacy groups at the start of next month. At that meeting, I will be happy to discuss the reports and any information that can be useful.
On the issue of insurance, the Deputy makes a fair point. I do not want to make a commitment on the floor of the House until I know that I can honour it but let me inquire on that point directly and come back to him.
What about Arthur Cox?
That was the report I referenced. I will talk to the Minister for Health and the task force that he set up. I will familiarise myself and come back to the Deputy on whether that can be published. I certainly want to meet the advocacy groups with the head of the HSE and the Minister for Health at the start of next month to see how more progress can be made on this issue, and to discuss any information, reports or otherwise that are in place and that can be helpful in this regard.
In response to Deputy Boyd Barrett regarding St. Michael's Hospital, the embargo has been lifted but there is a pay and numbers strategy, as there is for every organisation. Whether it is the Garda Commissioner, the Minister for Education or the head of the HSE, people have to hire in accordance with their budgets. There was a blunter instrument in place that was causing a significant challenge and we have replaced that with a very significant level of investment.
It is worse. The IMO says it is worse.
I do not believe it is. There has been a very significant level of investment. I will read the IMO’s comments in that regard, the Minister will engage on that and, of course, we will have a new health budget delivered on budget day just two weeks from today.
In response to Deputy Wynne, I am happy for there to be a debate in this House on UHL. I might have said on that occasion that it would be useful to have the Frank Clarke report into the horrific and unimaginable loss of Aoife Johnston's life published in advance of that. My understanding is that the report is due to be published next week so perhaps this is something we can discuss and arrange through the Business Committee. I am also conscious of any debate in this House being conscious of her family, as I know the Deputy will be. I think the HIQA review is the way to proceed with regard to a second emergency department.
In response to Deputy Carthy, I will take up the issue of the National Ambulance Service in Monaghan with the Minister for Health and revert to the Deputy in writing.
On the question raised by Deputy Murphy, I would like to see HRT made free but these are matters for the budget in two weeks' time.
Cabinet Committees
Mary Lou McDonald
Question:6. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on EU and international affairs will next meet. [36564/24]
The Cabinet committee on EU and international affairs oversees implementation of programme for Government commitments and considers policy matters in relation to the European Union and international issues. The committee generally meets in advance of meetings of the European Council to discuss the agenda for these meetings. In addition, it considers current EU and international matters, including the ongoing situation in the Middle East and the war in Ukraine.
The committee most recently met on 10 June, when it looked ahead to the informal European Council meeting on 17 June and the meeting of the European Council on 27 and 28 June. Both meetings took place in Brussels. At the informal meeting, leaders reflected on the outcome of the European Parliament elections and focused on the new EU institutional cycle. At the meeting of the European Council proper on 27 and 28 June, leaders signed off on a new strategic agenda for the period ahead. We also discussed other issues, including Ukraine, the horrific humanitarian situation in the Middle East, security and defence and the EU’s competitiveness. The meeting of the Cabinet committee on 10 June also discussed my attendance at the conference on peace in Ukraine hosted by Switzerland on 15 and 16 June. It is expected that the Cabinet committee on EU and international affairs will next meet again as required, which is generally in advance of European Council meetings.
Mobile devices across Lebanon, whether pagers or two-way radios, exploded indiscriminately, killing 12, including two children, and injuring thousands. Obviously, this was a clear attempt by Israel to escalate the situation and further destabilise the region, and an attempt to distract from the genocide it is committing in Gaza. In February of this year, the then Taoiseach, Deputy Varadkar, with the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, wrote to Ursula von der Leyen concerning human rights abuses occurring in breach of the EU-Israel association agreement. Has a reply to that letter been received? The Taoiseach endorsed Ursula von der Leyen's second term only a few months ago. Were any guarantees received in advance with regard to ensuring there would be a review because of the barbaric actions of Israel? Are there any other means or is any other movement necessary in regard to dealing with the EU-Israel association agreement and the disgrace of dealing with a genocidal maniac regime? We also have to deal with the issue of Irish airspace so it is not used for the tools of genocide.
Has the Taoiseach dealt with the European Commission in the last while? We know about the Digital Services Act and Coimisiún na Meán. We had issues with social media in the last while, and the Taoiseach had his own issues. What movement has there been? We really need to address that.
It is reported that more bombs are going off in Lebanon now, with an additional three people killed today, and we know 12 were killed yesterday, including two children. This is state terrorism. It is a very clear war crime and I would like the Taoiseach to clearly condemn it in those terms. This is not some once-off out of nowhere. Over the last year, there have been more than 6,000 attacks by Israel on Lebanon, resulting in the deaths of well over 600 people at this stage. It is a very clear strategy to push for an all-out regional war.
Related to that is a question I put to the Taoiseach earlier about the munitions going from and paid for by the US to Israel through Irish airspace. The Taoiseach stated very clearly that no permission was given for that to happen. Therefore, these flights were in contravention of the law. What will happen about that? That is a very serious matter of our sovereign airspace being repeatedly gone through, on six occasions, bringing weapons of war to a country that is currently involved in genocide.
I say to the Taoiseach that there are no red lines for Israel. There is no atrocity it will not commit or horror it will not perpetrate. The latest one is by any definition an act of reckless, murderous state terrorism. This is the evil genius of getting thousands of pagers and putting explosives inside the pagers and then simultaneously detonating them all over Lebanon and parts of Syria. The mind boggles. To be honest, it is terrifying and this is after they have killed more than 40,000 in Gaza in the past few weeks, attacking schools and so-called safe areas and bombing tents. These people are absolutely out of control. They could not do that without the enabling of the United States, Britain, Germany and significant powers in Europe who are giving them the weapons and means to do that.
Does the Taoiseach agree that this is an act of state terrorism? When are we going to insist that we stop treating this regime as if it was a normal state? It should be fully boycotted and all relations between itself and the European Union should be shut down.
As we sit here, bombs are exploding across Lebanon. They are exploding in supermarkets, offices and cars and they are indiscriminate in the taking and injuring of life. This is clearly a strategic move on the part of the Israeli regime that is designed to escalate the conflict more widely and, crucially from its perspective, to bring the United States directly into the conflict. I can only assume that a large part of this strategy is based upon the wish to deflect attention away from the genocide that has now gone on for virtually a year in Gaza and for the escalation of attacks that we have already seen in the West Bank. The truth of the matter is that Israel will continue to do what it has been doing for as long as it gets away with it or, in other words, for as long as there are no consequences for it to pay. The question we must ask ourselves in this House and in democratic houses across the world is what are the consequences going to be.
We know what Ireland needs to do. We need to ensure that the occupied territories Bill and Sinn Féin's Illegal Israeli Settlements Divestment Bill and other meaningful sanctions are levied against a regime that is in blatant violation of international law every single day. Will the Taoiseach ensure that we play our part in enforcing those consequences?
Aontú has long been calling on the Government to introduce a common-sense migration policy. We want one that determines who needs help and who does not, and to do so in a speedy fashion in order that decisions can be made about whether people can stay in this country or are returned. We have been raising that information for the past two or three years yet the EU migration pact was passed by the Government. Things are moving very fast, however, on this issue. Germany has decided to close its borders, which obviously will bring an end to the Schengen Agreement on the European mainland. Three hours ago, the Netherlands officially put in a request to opt out of the EU migration pact. Does the Taoiseach even see the EU migration pact working in the future? During the European elections, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, said that Ireland could opt out of the EU migration pact if there were changes to the rules for which we have no veto at the moment. Does the Taoiseach envisage that as an option in the future? Will he give his opinion on Germany closing its borders and on the wish of the Netherlands to exit the EU migration pact?
I thank colleagues for raising this first issue. I am conscious as we are sitting in this House and in the time since I have come into this House, there have been significant further developments and escalations in Lebanon with the explosions the Deputies have referred to of walkie-talkies. This follows on yesterday from the explosion of pager devices. This situation should be utterly condemned. It is never acceptable to carry out explosions and attacks among the civilian population. It is not acceptable now and should be condemned by all. It is an unhelpful and dangerous escalation in the region at a time when we need to see de-escalation. Ireland will certainly use its voice at the United Nations General Assembly next week and will continue to engage at all levels and with like-minded countries in respect of what can be done to see a cessation of violence in the Middle East and a stabilisation in the region.
I take the point made by Deputies Ó Murchú, Carthy and others on the occupied territories Bill and its like. I will say inside this House what I have said outside of this House. I think the ruling of the International Court of Justice, ICJ, this summer is significant. The rulings of international courts have to mean something. This is a country that has always supported international courts and I have asked, as have the other coalition leaders in the context of the ICJ ruling, for the Attorney General to look again at a range of these issues and the options available to Ireland. I will keep this House briefed and informed on our deliberations with regard to that. I know the Irish people have strong views on this, and they are views I share, in wanting to see a cessation of violence and being utterly abhorred by the situation we are seeing in the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and now the civilian impact in Lebanon. This is an extraordinarily dangerous and concerning situation and should be condemned by all right-thinking people.
On the points raised by Deputy Tóibín, the Government still sees the way forward is through the EU asylum and migration agreement. The Deputy has a different view on that, which I respect. We had a vote on that in this House and the Government made a decision. I and the Government believe that the way we address these issues is through a common-sense approach at European level. I am sure we will have a chance to tease through this issue again when we have more time. The Government continues to monitor other developments at an EU level. I am not going to comment on the actions of other sovereign member states of the EU other than to say this. I am conscious that all governments, whether it is one with a social democratic or a conservative head, are grappling with the challenge of migration at the moment. I believe the way we are approaching this is the correct way in looking at we how we can improve processing times, have a system that is fair and firm, provide people more quickly with a "Yes" answer if they have a right to be here and a "No" if they do not have a right to be here, and to ensure that our social welfare system is not out of kilter with other European countries. We will work at an EU level on that and we will keep the Houses up-to-date on this issue.
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