Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 5 Feb 2025

Vol. 1062 No. 4

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate

Building Regulations

Deputy Danny Healy-Rae

I hope they do not find out I am here; they might stop me talking.

It is very important to debate this issue here tonight. Many people in Kerry have been perished from the cold when the houses that were basically heated by electricity lost power. Can the Minister of State imagine young families trying to heat a bottle for babies? Simple things became an awful ordeal. Water pumps did not work because of the electricity being out. In times gone by it would not have been so bad because people could boil the kettle of water or hang it on the crane like my grandmother did and it was boiling all the time and she even had the door open.

However, this whole thing has gone mad. The whole thing is overkill. They are advised to take the chimneys out of the houses and it is totally and absolutely wrong because the chimney was the most important component of the house. It was there to take the smoke out, but it was also there to take the foul air out. None of this is needed because there is plenty of insulation in the houses being built today. I passed through the village of Kilgarvan. There is a scenario where the roofs have been taken off three council houses that are void and vacant, and people are crying to get into them. The roofs have been taken off to take out the chimney. They have to take off the back side of the roof to get the chimney out and this is what they are ordered to do.

The purpose of this is to get the house fitted and ready for the next tenants, but this is the delay. In Gneevgullia, it took five years to get three houses reinstated because the Department demands that the chimney is taken out before the house is made liveable again. It is unbelievable that chimneys are being taken out of houses that were lived in until the other day. It costs any amount of money. I must presume it costs at least €100,000. The cost for three houses would build another new house or perhaps one and a half new houses, no bother in the world.

I am asking for common sense. We will forget about the way this came about. I want the Government to rectify it. There is no need in the wide world for it. If people who, all of a sudden in the snow and frost, had electric heating all around them and everything was at the touch of a button, had a simple stove, they could boil the kettle, fry or boil an egg or fry a rasher and a sausage. They would not be hungry. However, they were cold and miserable and some of them did not even have water. On top of that, they had no access until the Kerry Mountain Rescue Team came to their assistance. It is unbelievable what is happening today.

I wish the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan, and all the Ministers well in their new posts. It is important for the sake of the people of Ireland that they do well. Common sense must prevail, however. The Minister of State should forget this racket or caper of taking chimneys out of houses because they are insulated enough. Please leave them something for times of emergency when they need food or need to boil the kettle, a pot of spuds or whatever. Leave them something as a back-up.

Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan)

I thank Deputy Healy-Rae for raising this matter. It gives me an opportunity to say for the first time that my heart goes out to the people affected right across the country, especially on the western seaboard, many of whom have, for almost two weeks, gone without either power, running water and the bare essentials. I cannot begin to imagine how difficult that is for them. Luckily, west Cork, where I am from, was not hit as bad as other areas. Some parts of Kerry were clearly hit pretty bad and we have to take cognisance of and acknowledge that.

I thank wholeheartedly the emergency services, local authority staff, fire crews and medical staff. Across the board, their response to this emergency has been incredible. In particular, I pay tribute to the nurses and staff of some hospitals. On the night of the storm, before the worst winds hit, staff and nurses in hospitals throughout Ireland, including Clonakilty Community Hospital, Bantry Hospital, Cork University Hospital and, I am sure, hospitals in County Kerry, got mattresses out and stayed overnight to ensure patients received the best care. I want to acknowledge that.

On the point Deputy Healy-Rae put across incredibly well, I am sure lots of people along the western seaboard who have fireplaces or stoves were very glad they had them. Electric heat pumps are the way to go in electrifying heat and having efficient homes but that will be at a point where we have a steady and reliable grid and supply of electricity. People across the country were glad they have stoves and fireplaces and the Deputy put that eloquently.

In response to the Deputy's point, there is no requirement, from this Department at least, to remove chimneys. That is set in stone, as I will explain later.

The technicality involved is that all new dwellings must comply with building regulations, the aim of which is to provide for the safety and welfare of people in and about buildings and, in addition, to achieve 60-year durability for all key elements. The building regulations set out the minimum requirements for the construction of new buildings and certain works to existing buildings.

The climate action plan commits to reducing the use of fossil fuels in buildings and that the energy performance requirements for new buildings are set out in accordance with the nearly zero energy building, NZEB, requirements of the energy performance of buildings directive. NZEB means a building that has a very high energy performance with nearly zero or a very low amount of the energy required covered to a significant extent by energy from renewable sources. As NZEB dwellings have a very high fabric performance, the heat will typically be retained for a longer period in an NZEB dwelling than in an average dwelling.

Building regulations require new dwellings to achieve an overall energy and carbon emissions performance which is calculated using the dwelling energy assessment performance published by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland.

Secondary heating systems such as single room solid fuel stoves using renewable wood can still be installed in new housing under building regulations once the overall energy performance requirement for the dwelling is achieved. That speaks to the Deputy's point.

Overall, modern highly insulated houses retain the heat for much longer than traditional uninsulated houses and are more resilient during power cuts, while, at the same time, reducing carbon emissions from the built environment.

With regard to the retrofit of local authority homes, in 2021 a new holistic approach was applied to the local authority energy efficient retrofit programme. This was designed around a programme for Government commitment and led by the Department for the Environment, Climate and Communications.

Deputy Danny Healy-Rae

I thank the Minister of State for the reply. I join him in thanking all the emergency services and all the people who went out in the dark and wet, night and day, trying to get the electricity going again and all the people in the health services, especially those who visited old people - home helps, etc. - for all the great work they did.

The Minister of State said there are no regulations preventing stoves being put in to new houses. To get a loan and to achieve the BER rating that the banks demand, whatever business of the banks that is, people cannot have a stove or chimney. That is the hard fact.

Why will the Department not give the money to the local authority - in our case, Kerry County Council - to retrofit houses? They will not qualify for the retrofit grant if they do not take out the chimney. I am asking the Minister of State to deal with that and not to have the scenario where it is taking 12 months for householders to draw down the grant. One of the implications of that is that they have to take out the chimney. That requirement will have to be removed.

I am depending on the Minister of State and the Government to sort this out because it is costing double or triple. If these three houses had a rub of paint and a few necessary things done to them, they would have been roaring again after two months at most. It has now been 12 months or more. How long more will this take? It will not happen in a couple of days. Three houses have been gutted in Kilgarvan village to take the chimneys out of them. Please stop this. I ask the Minister of State to do just that.

Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan

I take the Deputy's point. I have the response here and it is quite clear on the energy efficient retrofit programme, EERP. I will read it out because it should answer the Deputy's question. Works eligible under the Department's revised EERP include attic-cavity wall insulation or external wall insulation, where required, window and door replacement, heat pump installation as well as ancillary and associated works. I will repeat the following line: the removal of chimneys is not required by this Department.

Deputy Danny Healy-Rae

The Department is asking the local authority to take out the chimneys.

Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan

We will send the Deputy a note on that.

Deputy Danny Healy-Rae

They are not doing it off their own bat, surely.

An Ceann Comhairle

Let the Minister of State answer.

Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan

That is underlined by the point that building regulations are performance based and technology neutral. There is nothing preventing new dwellings from including fireplaces or chimneys and it is possible to comply with building regulations when these are installed. That is pretty clear. We can send the Deputy a further note on that.

New rated homes are highly insulated and will retain heat for longer than traditional poorly insulated houses. There are also multiple benefits during normal operation of improved comfort, improved indoor air quality and carbon emissions reductions.

Local authorities, supported by the national emergency co-ordination group, are co-ordinating a local level a humanitarian assistance response to the needs of people who have significantly been impacted by the storm. More than 280 emergency response hubs have been set up in the counties most affected by service outages.

Emergency response hubs are assisting people with basic needs such as water, hot food, phone charging, broadband access and shower facilities. A key focus is ensuring the welfare of vulnerable or isolated people and making sure supports or resources are directed to where they are most needed.

Deputy Danny Healy-Rae has made his point well and has outlined the difficulties that people in Kerry and right throughout the western seaboard are having. As he outlined, there were many people who were happy they had a stove of some sort that would heat water but it is pretty clear there in black and white that there is nothing required by the Department that says chimneys have to be removed or that they cannot be installed once they are compliant.

Deputy Danny Healy-Rae

Will the Minister of State tell us why it is happening in Kilgarvan so, and why they could not find that out-----

An Ceann Comhairle

Deputy, please, that is your question time.

Deputy Danny Healy-Rae

My questions have not been answered.

Forestry Sector

Deputy Frankie Feighan

I congratulate the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Healy-Rae, on his recent appointment. I wish him well in his new role. I have no doubt he has hit the ground running.

The Minister of State will be aware that a public meeting was hosted by the secretariat of the Leitrim public participation network, PPN, in Ballinamore, County Leitrim, on Thursday last, 23 January. This was a significant date as it was the night before Storm Éowyn hit our island. I commend the Leitrim PPN for organising the meeting. The meeting's main focus was the terrible impact around the constant loss of electric power for long periods following Storm Darragh in December when many households were out of power for over two weeks. Many are experiencing their fifth and six outage over the preceding 12 months. This is, to say the least, unbearable living conditions. I could talk at length about the impact of this on my constituents who live in rural Leitrim, Sligo, Roscommon, Donegal and the west and north west, but my time would diminish. Suffice to say there are still tens of thousands of people in those counties and around the country going into their 13th day without power. Given the turn in the temperature life is very challenging. We must focus on why this is happening and what the Minister of State can do to reduce the impact of multiple power outages in rural parts of the north west.

It is estimated that one third of the available land in Leitrim is covered by forestry. I do not intend to go into that debate but will focus on the point that there are multiples of kilometres of lines, both high and low voltage, running through these forests. In many cases they are less than 5 m from a tree. Hundreds of these trees fall on lines in the course of a year and then inevitably the power is out. The access to some of these forests is akin to getting into the deepest jungles anywhere in the world and requires heavy-duty machinery.

I understand from personal correspondence to my office that when I sent the Leitrim PPN report from that meeting that the Minister of State has not delayed and has, in fact, proceeded to act. He has moved to set up a task force to deal with the crisis, which I hope would include the following: that the Department would engage in a mapping exercise in conjunction with ESB Networks to understand and see where electric lines are running through forestation; to determine a proper distance and an agreed setback of power lines from trees; to clarify the legal entitlements of the ESB and its contractors to go on lands to clear trees that are dangerously close to power lines; to clarify the issue around felling licences for such clearances and the need to provide a Department exemption for same for forest owners and managers; and consider the introduction of by-laws to reinforce the responsibility of forest owners. Finally, I ask that the Minister of State would have regular reviews and meetings of the said task force to determine progress and ensure that another storm will not have the impacts of the ones that came before.

The last two weeks have been incredibly difficult for the families, the farmers, the people in the west and the north west, as well across the country. I commend the front-line people who have worked so hard, namely, the ESB, the local authorities, Coillte and the many other people working. We need to do better, however. In my 25 years in politics it absolutely has been the hardest time that I have seen people experience on the ground. They have run out of patience. They are angry and have a right to be angry. I believe that as a Government we need to do more. I believe that the Army should have been called in. They should have been there to help. Other people have said they are not skilled but they have great resources and great skills and they should have been there to help. It would have sent out a signal that we were prepared as a Government to help our people in the west and north west, from Dublin. I believe it is an opportunity missed but we need to learn from this and I believe we will.

Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Deputy Michael Healy-Rae)

I acknowledge that Deputy Feighan has worn a path to Agriculture House on behalf of the constituents of Sligo-Leitrim and that he has worked diligently in highlighting the concerns he has on the ground following on from the recent storms. We are taking all possible steps to facilitate appropriate responses to allow forest owners to clear blown trees in a safe and sustainable manner. In this context I thank the Deputy for his Topical Issue matter, which is appropriate. I appreciate this opportunity to provide an overview on the current situation regarding the setback of trees from power lines and to elaborate on my Department’s response to Storm Éowyn.

First, let me highlight the legislative powers in relation to power lines, which reside under section 98 of the Electricity (Supply) Act 1927, as amended by section 45 of the Electricity Regulation Act 1999. These allow the ESB and its representatives, taking due care and attention to avoid unnecessary damage, to lop or cut any trees, shrubs or hedges which obstruct or interfere with laying or maintenance of electrical wires. Such works are a matter between the ESB and anyone acting on their behalf, and the landowners in question, and do not require a felling licence from my Department. There are no express provisions in the Forestry Act 2014 or in forestry regulations governing the interaction between ESB power lines and afforestation.

There are, however, long-standing forest design requirements in place to protect the electricity network where it interacts with forestry land, at different scales of supply, and the protection of utilities is considered and applied during afforestation approval processes. Section 7 of the Forestry Standards Manual provides guidance on how to deal with ESB lines interacting with grant-aided forest areas. This guidance was based on an agreement between the ESB and the IFA, which defined corridor widths by power line type and other requirements regarding access. These requirements are outlined in the Forestry Standards Manual.

One of the actions for my Department in the programme for Government is to work together with the ESB to support and accelerate the timber and vegetation clearance programme and I am fully committed to this process. Contact has already been made with the ESB and we will aim to facilitate any mitigations or actions proposed by them in relation to the interaction of power lines and forestry. In this connection I held a meeting of the forestry wind-blow task force, which comprises key stakeholders including the IFA, Irish Forest Owners, IFO, and Coillte. The aim of the task force is to co-ordinate the response to the storms, with particular emphasis on dealing safely with the large areas of forest that have been blown down. The question of the interaction of forestry with power lines will also be considered in this forum.

In terms of our immediate response to the storm damage, my Department has started a process along with Coillte, using satellite imagery, which will be able to provide information nationally and at forest level. This assessment of damage nationally using satellite imagery will aid in determining the extent of damage and will provide a map indicating where in each forest damage from the recent storms has occurred. This deals directly with an issue that was raised by the Deputy. This information will help to inform any next steps. We have already decided to prioritise both felling and road licence applications that are required in storm-affected areas. We have to ensure the licences that will be issued are robust and free from any challenge. My Department has also issued guidance for forest owners with wind blow who are advised not to rush into decisions but to make a step-by-step plan to minimise risk and maximise the salvage value of their plantation.

Deputy Frankie Feighan

I thank the Minister of State and it is plain to see that he has done a lot of work already. There is one thing I have noticed over the years. We have a lot of various Departments, and everyone is busy, but no-one seems to spend time talking to one another. I saw this happening when we had flooding on the Shannon many years ago - about 12 years ago. The local authorities were blaming one another, the ESB was blaming the OPW and the OPW was blaming Waterways Ireland, but we got them all working together. Now, years later, although flooding happens, it is being managed to a certain extent. That is because of co-operation. On this occasion we need co-operation.

I have a letter here that was sent to me by a lady who is a single parent with a son for whom she is a carer. She is living in a house beside a wood in rural Leitrim. She has a history of outages because the trees in the wood are falling down. On 21 January, there was an outage for two hours. On 22 February, there was an outage for 5.5 hours. On 1 March, there was an outage for 12 hours. On 8 April, there was an outage for 2.5 hours. On 15 April, there was an outage for 4.5 hours. On 21 April, there was an outage for two hours. On 19 August, there was an outage for two hours. On 19 September, there was an outage for four hours. She has now been without electricity for two weeks. How can anybody live in rural Ireland if they want to work from home or care for a child with a certain diagnosis? How can people live with these outages?

I know the Minister of State will work hard. We need to step up to the plate because by God, we were caught napping on this occasion. It was a severe storm, but we could have done better. The argument we hear is that if the damage was done nearer Dublin, the full resources of the State would have been set aside. We took our eyes off the ball, perhaps because there is a new Government and the people in the Department did not fully get it. The people of Leitrim, Sligo, Roscommon, Donegal, Mayo and Galway are equally important as the people in Dublin. On this occasion, we did not step up to the plate fully enough.

Deputy Michael Healy-Rae

I thank the Deputy and agree with his last statements. I again thank him for raising this Topical Issue. It is important that we let the people of the country know exactly what we are doing.

I further confirm that this morning I visited counties Meath and Monaghan to see some of the devastation at first hand. I came back this evening and reported to the Minister, Deputy Heydon, what we had seen on the ground. He is raising the issue at Cabinet level and every effort will be made by this Government for the people in forestry and horticulture who have been affected. We in the Department will do our level best and will not be found wanting. We will put our shoulders to the wheel and will work together. I take on board everything that Deputy Feighan has said. The people in his constituency can be assured that they are well represented by him on this important issue. I appreciate that there is afforestation in his constituency. It is important to recognise that because afforestation is welcome but there are concerns about it in his constituency, particularly given what has happened during the recent storms.

I am confident that the forestry windblow task force will help to ensure that a co-ordinated response to deal with the affected forests will be rolled out as soon as possible. I again thank the emergency services, the people who had to go out late at night and early in the morning, whether they were working for the ESB or the local authorities, those working in our hospitals, those working with Eircom and all the county council workers. Everybody put their shoulders to the wheel on this occasion. They put themselves in danger in many instances while working in very difficult conditions throughout the country. We owe them all a big debt of gratitude for their excellent work.

Bus Services

Deputy Paul Murphy

In the past two weeks, I have been inundated with complaints about Go-Ahead Ireland buses not showing up. I have spoken to my colleague, Councillor Conor Reddy in Ballymun-Finglas. I have also spoken to Deputy Boyd Barrett, who represents Dún Laoghaire. It is clear to me that this is not just an issue in Tallaght or Dublin South-West. It is the same story everywhere that Go-Ahead Ireland has a contract to operate bus services. The S6, S8, N6 and N2 all provide the same terrible service. I am not talking about a ghost bus here or there. In some cases, half the buses have been cancelled, leaving people late for work, school and college. Cancellations and ghost buses have been an ongoing issue with these privatised routes but in the past few weeks, it has become absolutely ridiculous.

I will give the House some examples from people who have contacted me. One person said that their 14-year-old son gets the S6 bus service from Rathfarnham to his secondary school in Booterstown every day. My correspondent went on to state that the service has been appalling ever since the family started using it in 2023. Services are often cancelled and sometimes consecutive buses are cancelled and the following buses are therefore full. As one can imagine, this leads to extremely long waiting times and lateness for school. My correspondent went on to state that in the past few months, the service has deteriorated even further and has become utterly unreliable. My correspondent tells me they have contacted Go-Ahead several times but have received no response at all.

A UCD student contacted me to say he was late for lectures three days in a row because of cancellations, delays and overloaded S6s that did not stop. He said that many young people like him are considering buying cars because public transport is so unreliable.

Another parent contacted me to say that she had to pay for her daughter to get taxis to her college exams because they did not trust the buses to get her there on time, if at all. Once her daughter gets her driving licence, she says, she does not see why she would ever use a bus again.

The S6 from Tallaght to Blackrock and back is the route most often reported to the no-show bus tracker of the Dublin Inquirer. The statistics of the National Transport Authority, NTA, show that one in three S6s fails to arrive within seven minutes of the advertised departure time. It is no coincidence. All of these testimonies and complaints are about privatised services that are operated by Go-Ahead Ireland, which is more concerned with making profits than providing a decent and reliable bus service. The latest excuse is that it does not have enough mechanics and that is why buses are out of service. Why does it not have enough mechanics? It is because Go-Ahead Ireland has worse terms and conditions than Dublin Bus. It understandably cannot attract mechanics. Why does it have worse terms and conditions? It is in order to maximise profits at the expense of workers and passengers.

The Government's response has been to repeatedly fine Go-Ahead Ireland for its terrible service. In 2023, it was fined €3 million. Go-Ahead Ireland stated that the problem was staff shortages and promised to rapidly recruit more staff. Here we are again nearly two years later. What is the Government's response? It is to give Go-Ahead Ireland more routes. Last month, the NTA gave Go-Ahead Ireland a new €50 million contract to operate an outer Dublin metropolitan area bus service from next October. Go-Ahead Ireland might leave its customers waiting but we can be sure that its shareholders will not be left waiting for dividends.

Will the Government instruct the NTA to give Go-Ahead Ireland's routes back to Dublin Bus? Instead of pursuing privatisation, will the Government commit to investing the billions of euros from the Government surplus and the Apple tax money into improving and expanding bus services? Will it invest in desperately needed new public transport infrastructure, such as metro north, metro south west and additional Luas lines?

Minister of State at the Department of Transport (Deputy Seán Canney)

I thank the Deputy for raising this important topic, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister, Deputy O'Brien.

From the outset, I would like to clarify that the Minister for Transport has responsibility for policy and overall funding in respect of public transport but neither the Minister nor his officials is involved in the day-to-day operation of public transport services. The statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally rests with the NTA. The NTA works in conjunction with the public transport operators that deliver the services and have responsibility for day-to-day operational matters, in this case Go-Ahead Ireland.

That said, I reassure the Deputy that the Department is strongly committed to providing all citizens with reliable and realistic sustainable mobility options, and public transport plays a key role in the delivery of this goal. To support this objective, in budget 2025 the Department of Transport secured €658 million of funding for public service obligation, PSO, and Transport for Ireland, TFI, Local Link services, which was an increase from €618 million in 2024. That includes funding for the continuation of the 20% fare reduction on PSO services, the young adult card on both PSO and commercial bus services and the 90-minute fare until the end of 2025. Funding has also been secured to extend free child fares on PSO services to include those aged between five and eight years and to support the roll-out of new and enhanced bus and rail services under programmes such as BusConnects and Connecting Ireland.

As the Deputy will be aware, the Government recently commitment to improving public transport under the new programme for Government, Securing Ireland's Future, and is backing up that commitment with significant investments across the bus and rail network.

I understand that the Department of Transport is engaging with the NTA regarding the issues concerning particular bus services operated by Go-Ahead Ireland across some of the greater Dublin area routes. The Department has been advised that Go-Ahead Ireland is currently experiencing fleet reliability issues across its network of services due to a shortfall of the availability of mechanics to carry out essential maintenance works. This is unfortunately having a knock-on effect on the delivery of services, resulting in reduced availability of vehicles and a disruption to service levels.

These fleet reliability issues are primarily affecting routes S4, from Liffey Valley to UCD, and S6, The Square Tallaght to Blackrock, as well as some of the routes in the Bray and Greystones area, which were launched on 26 January as part of the roll-out of the latest phase of BusConnects Dublin.

I acknowledge the concerns that the Deputy has raised about these services and fully appreciate how frustrating it is for users. The Minister for Transport understands the importance of maintaining connectivity for all users and I assure the Deputy that I have been advised that the NTA is closely monitoring the situation with regard to service delivery on these routes and is receiving daily reports from Go-Ahead Ireland on service availability by route and progress with resolving these issues. I have been advised that the operator has indicated to the NTA that there have been significant improvements in dealing with these issues, and that the services will continue to improve over the coming days. I have been further advised that the NTA has requested that a remedial plan be supplied from Go-Ahead Ireland, outlining details of when services are expected to return to a full timetable on each of the affected routes.

Deputy Paul Murphy

I thank the Minister of State for the answer. I obviously accept that the Minister for Transport is not involved in the day-to-day operation of public transport services. I am not holding the Minister personally responsible for any bus not turning up, but at the same time, the Minister of State referred to the Government's recent commitment to improving public transport under the new programme for Government. The underlying issue here is a policy choice of pursuing privatisation of public transport routes, in this case, routes formerly done by Dublin Bus. That is why we have a crisis with the S4, S6 and so on. I recommend that people report no-show buses on noshowbus.ie, on which one will see that between 16 October and 3 December, public transport users reported 48 ghost buses on the S6 route alone.

Like the Minister of State said in his response, the issue being reported is "fleet reliability issues across its network of services due to a shortfall of the availability of mechanics". Why is it having that problem when Dublin Bus is not? The answer is very simple. Go-Ahead Ireland cannot recruit mechanics because Dublin Bus offers better terms and conditions, so if you are a mechanic, you make the entirely rational and reasonable choice to go and work for Dublin Bus and not, therefore, for Go-Ahead Ireland. Who pays the price for that? The workers, who end up with worse terms and conditions in Go-Ahead Ireland, and the commuters who are trying to use public transport. The Taoiseach earlier referred to the Opposition as being fundamentalist in its ideology. It is the most fundamentalist neoliberal ideology to think that we need to do this somehow. It clearly does not work and a different policy decision should be made to get rid of privatisation and to bring the routes back in-house, to Dublin Bus.

Deputy Seán Canney

I assure the Deputy that I fully recognise that transport connectivity is hugely important for people who live, work and study in Ireland and it is key to revitalising our villages, towns and urban centres. We need to expand the public transport network and increase service levels as outlined in policies like Connecting Ireland and BusConnects. We aim to achieve more balanced regional development and greater connectivity for all public transport. BusConnects has already achieved significant success in transforming Dublin’s public transport network. In the latest progress report, published in July 2024, comparisons were made between network redesign phases 1 to 5a before launch, from quarter 4 of 2019, and after launch, from quarter 4 of 2023. The programme has led to a substantial increase in service levels, and customer satisfaction research carried out earlier this year shows that phases 1 to 4 of the network redesign project are positively rated by users. The research shows that 80% of users are satisfied with the service and 49% reported that the service is now better.

It is important from my point of view that anybody who uses public transport has a good experience so that they will continue to use it. When issues arise, they have to be treated seriously. That is why I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. The NTA and the Department of Transport will continue collaborating with operators and customers to enhance the punctuality and reliability of services throughout the network redesign. As I mentioned earlier, I have been advised that the NTA is working closely with Go-Ahead Ireland to identify steps that can be taken to improve service delivery on the impacted routes, and that some improvements have already taken place. Further, through initiatives like the capacity improvement programme and the implementation of ticketing technologies, we are taking steps to enhance capacity and improve the overall travel experience for passengers. On behalf of the Minister, Deputy O’Brien, I thank Deputy Murphy for raising this important issue.

Social Welfare Code

An Ceann Comhairle

We now move to Deputy Pat Buckley.

Deputy Pat Buckley

Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. I notice she saved the best for last.

I thank everybody in east Cork, in my constituency, for putting their faith in me and putting me back here for a third term. I thank my family and my supporters on the ground who canvassed for me. I congratulate the Minister, Deputy Calleary. I hope we will have plenty of good banter and battles here, but most importantly, that we will have results.

The Social Welfare (Bereaved Partner's Pension) Bill 2024 is important legislation which is intended to give effect to the O'Meara judgment by expanding entitlements to social welfare schemes aimed at bereaved partners and families to qualified cohabitants and their children. I bring this up today because three or four week ago, a family had a funeral in my own town. It resonated with me. I was interested in this Bill and was watching it because I had been lobbied by many constituents. The family had five beautiful children. Mam and dad were supposed to get married on Wednesday three weeks ago. Unfortunately, the dad passed away on the Tuesday three weeks ago. Now, the mam is a grieving widow with five young children.

Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael need to follow up on their pre-election commitments to bring this Bill into law. I know it is committed to in the programme for Government. My biggest worry is about how long this could go on. I researched it and I think it will only be backdated to January 2024. If the Bill continues to not be enacted, it could cause problems further down the line. Thousands of families are affected by this. This is an excellent Bill. It is a Bill about doing the right thing. We often speak about doing the right thing in here. This has massive potential to ease the pressure on families. Those who have already endured the heartbreak of losing a loved one should never have to bear the additional trauma of being ostracised, cast aside or judged just because they did not sign a certain contract, having spent a lifetime with their partner and having built a family and a life even though, technically, they did not have a marriage certificate but had their own marriage in life and had harmony. I think it is bad. Enacting this Bill would provide significant peace of mind and security for the families who I am speaking about. It would give the best security to people when they are at their lowest ebb. That is not the only incident but it is the most recent incident and I know the family.

I would love to go back to those people and others, as I am sure the Minister on the other side would, to say that we did the right thing and enacted this Bill. Is there a timeframe to do this Bill? Will it be enacted with urgency? What is the procedure? Is there anything that we can do on this side of the House to push it and facilitate that?

It is not a pat on the back for any of us. It is just about doing the right thing. I hope the people outside of the Houses who need this Bill to be enacted will benefit from it. I thank the Minister for his patience.

Minister for Social Protection (Deputy Dara Calleary)

This is my first time since my appointment to address the House in this form - I spoke earlier on the storm debate - so I thank Deputies for their good wishes. I congratulate the Ceann Comhairle on her election and Deputy Buckley on his re-election.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I am sorry to hear about the case he described. As he will know, in some of its laws, the State distinguishes between the treatment of people in a marriage or civil partnership and those not in a marriage or civil partnership. In some cases, these are important distinctions because they have a direct bearing on a person's rights and entitlements, including in the areas of taxation, social welfare, succession, immigration and others.

As Deputy Buckley referenced, on 22 January 2024 the Supreme Court delivered its judgment in the O'Meara case on the entitlement of a surviving cohabitant to a widow's, widower's or surviving civil partner's contributory pension. The Supreme Court judgment overruled the previous High Court decision and found in favour of Mr. O'Meara and his children. In simple terms and as the Deputy described, the Supreme Court found that section 124 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005, as amended, was inconsistent with the Constitution insofar as it excluded the claimant from the category of persons entitled to benefit from it. The court reached that conclusion on the basis of the equality guarantee contained in Article 40.1 of the Constitution. The Supreme Court noted that, in order to resolve the issue, a legislative amendment was required.

In June 2024, the then Government approved the priority drafting of the legislative changes required to respond to the Supreme Court decision. The general scheme of a Bill was referred to the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel for priority drafting and to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Social Protection, Community and Rural Development and the Islands for pre-legislative scrutiny. The committee issued its report and recommendations on 26 July 2024. All of this is very technical but the Deputy should be assured that I fully agree with him and Deputy Kelly, who has consistently raised this issue with me over the past two weeks, that this legislation needs to be enacted. The draft legislation raised a number of complex issues that required further advice from the Office of the Attorney General and ongoing engagement between officials in my Department and the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel. A draft Bill has now been finalised and I intend to bring it to the Government in the near future to obtain approval for its introduction to the Oireachtas. It is a priority for me. I will keep the Deputy informed as to how it progresses.

I again express my sympathy to the family of the Deputy's friend on his recent passing.

Deputy Pat Buckley

I apologise to the Ceann Comhairle, as I never congratulated her on her official status.

I welcome the Minister's response and the fact that the Bill is being finalised. I read the report of the Joint Committee on Social Protection, Community and Rural Development and the Islands. In fairness to its recommendations, I was a bit worried when the Minister said there might be some complications. However, if a draft Bill is now being finalised, I would be very interested in working with him. We will give any support we can. This is about doing the right thing for people. Bills sometimes fall, get lost or are shelved but I am passionate about this one because, whenever you can help someone who is at a disadvantage and you can get that right, it is a great day for everybody and a win for everybody. I thank the Minister for his response and I look forward to working with him and keeping an eye on the Bill.

An Ceann Comhairle

I thank the Minister, Deputy Buckley. Excuse me; I thank Deputy Buckley and the Minister. It is getting late.

Cuireadh an Dáil ar athló ar 9.54 p.m. go dtí 9.30 a.m., Déardaoin, an 6 Feabhra 2025.

The Dáil adjourned at 9.54 p.m. until 9.30 a.m. on Thursday, 6 February 2025.