Shane Moynihan
Question:1. Deputy Shane Moynihan asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the programme for Government office being established in his Department. [1677/25]
Ceisteanna - Questions
Programme for Government
Paul Murphy
Question:2. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Taoiseach his plans for the implementation of the programme for Government. [4512/25]
Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCeann Comhairle. I dtosach, guím gach rath ar an Taoiseach agus é ag tosú amach mar Thaoiseach. Baineann an cheist a chuir mé leis an gclár Rialtais agus le hoifig a bhunú i Roinn an Taoisigh le déileáil leis an gclár Rialtais a chur i gcrích.
Like me, I know the Taoiseach was extremely enthused by the prospect for delivery of the measures contained in the programme for Government. My question relates to the steps being taken to establish a programme for Government office in his Department; how we will monitor the necessary needs to focus on delivery of the much-needed policies in that programme for Government; if the office will decide on the indicators that will be used to monitor delivery; and if he will consider having an annual report on the delivery of the programme for Government.
Normally, the Taoiseach reads the response first and then we speak.
Okay, that is fine.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 2 together.
The Programme for Government 2025 - Securing Ireland's Future was approved by the Government on 23 January 2025. We will be working to establish an office in my Department to ensure the full implementation of the programme for Government over the lifetime of the Government.
The programme sets out policy and legislative proposals for the full term of this Government across a number of priority areas, namely, growing our economy; delivery and reform; accelerating housing supply; protecting our environment; investing in our future; a caring society; thriving communities; safe and secure communities; enriching our society and culture; Ireland’s place in the world; and political reform.
The programme for Government also includes details on the functioning of Government, which includes the office to which Deputy Moynihan refers. Over the lifetime of this Government, we will work hard to implement the commitments that have been set out. The Department of the Taoiseach will, via the Cabinet committee system, play a key role in the monitoring and implementation of the programme for Government and ensuring that a whole-of-government approach is taken to delivery.
We are in the first weeks of this Administration and the Government will shortly put in place a refocused system of Cabinet committees which will be central to the policy development, oversight and implementation of the programme for Government commitments.
The programme for Government refers to reforming the triple lock legislation. It was reported last Friday that a draft law to end the triple lock will shortly be brought to Cabinet. Will the Taoiseach provide some detail on this? In what way is the triple lock going to be ended or reformed? Back in 2013, the Taoiseach, who was not then Taoiseach, hit the nail on the head when he said that the triple lock was at the core of our neutrality and described the attempt to remove it as an out-of-touch ideological obsession by Fine Gael. That is, unfortunately, an obsession the Taoiseach has now adopted, and it seems with even more gusto than Fine Gael.
The Taoiseach might clarify, but I think he was in government when the invasion of Iraq took place. I was on the streets protesting against the invasion of Iraq. I see some other people in the Chamber who were also on the streets protesting. I think the Taoiseach was in government and that Government of course, while not sending troops - because it could not do so under the triple lock - to participate in that invasion, did facilitate the invasion by allowing US troops to go through Shannon Airport. Some 4 million have gone through the airport at this stage. The triple lock was the one thing that meant the Government could not send troops abroad to participate in the US-led war of invasion and occupation for oil and profit.
This attack on neutrality is being done in a very misleading way, so I want to challenge the Taoiseach on a couple of assertions, in particular on one he has made repeatedly. He talks about this being about getting rid of the veto the Security Council powers have on the deployment of our forces. Does the Taoiseach accept that no such veto exists because of the Defence (Amendment) Act introduced in 2006, which makes clear that it is not only peacekeeping missions endorsed or agreed by the Security Council that unlock the third element of the triple lock but that resolutions of the General Assembly of the UN would also do so?
The Taoiseach has a duty to tell people which missions he wants to send Irish troops on that he cannot currently do. The triple lock is currently in place. Where would he like to send Irish troops that he cannot because of the existence of the triple lock? He has a duty to inform people about that.
The Deputy will be aware that in my capacity as Minister for Defence we had significant discussions on this issue in this House. I outlined substantially the amendments that we were considering, essentially to end the veto. I do not accept Deputy Murphy's point about the General Assembly. I dealt with that before as well. Essentially, it is the Security Council that has the veto. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has caused a fundamental change in the world order and the way Russia is behaving. China and all the members of Security Council have a veto. It was very evident to us when we were on the Security Council that we had to work extremely hard and with great challenges to get humanitarian corridors opened, for example, to northern Syria during that war to make sure that millions of people would get access to humanitarian aid and, likewise, in respect of Ethiopia. We took a lot of heat for insisting on humanitarian corridors to Ethiopia during the war in Tigray. The Deputy may recall that during our time on the Security Council, when we fought to bring a resolution that would link climate and security together, it was vetoed by Russia. I do not think any decisions we take in respect of a peacekeeping mission should be subject to a veto by the likes of Russia. It is crazy.
You believed it in 2013.
Yes, but things have changed dramatically. Russia's behaviour, which has always been challenging in terms of human rights and compliance - you guys say that in a pro forma way but you do not really deal with it to the same extent as others-----
I bet you I have been on more protests outside the Russian embassy than you have.
The point I make is about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, for example. We are involved in KFOR, a NATO-mandated peace initiative. The European Union may be involved in conflict resolution, in line with the Seville Agreement. We have been involved in that regard as well, where people try to reach peace agreements. The UN itself has been supportive of regional approaches. For example, the African Union may want peacekeepers to keep the peace in certain conflicts on the African continent. Russia has been sending the Wagner Group to these places. Russia has been manipulating administrations all across the Sahel, promising security in return for coups d'état and so on, and the exploitation of minerals. Is Deputy Murphy really suggesting that Russia should have a veto on whether we participate in a peacekeeping mission?
No. It does not.
It does. It is the Security Council that approves peacekeeping missions.
That is the reality and the Deputy knows that. The triple lock is essentially about taking the Security Council out of the decision making. The Dáil has to decide and the Government of the day has to decide and anything we decide has to be in accordance with military neutrality and our Constitution.
We have a number of supplementary questions. Deputy Boyd Barrett is first.
The programme for Government refers to work-life balance, quality of life, quality employment and it even contains the phrase "a secure future for all living things", which is quite a noble ambition. I want to shout out for a group of workers very close at hand who do not have any of those things. They are the majority of people who work for Oireachtas TV, who broadcast proceedings from this Dáil Chamber, the Seanad Chamber and the committees but who are only employed on the days that we sit. That means that over the course of the year, they earn about €12,000. Imagine trying to exist on €12,000. Imagine over the last three months, as the Government was debating who would be in government and then forming that Government, not having any work and not knowing when they were going to be able to work, being laid off during the summer, at Easter and at Christmas but having to be always available to work for the company, whose name is Pi Comms. I am not sure, and maybe the Taoiseach will confirm the details, but I think the company gets €5 million or even €7 million per year for the contract. All of the equipment is provided directly by the Oireachtas and all the paperwork is done by the Oireachtas, so the only overhead that we can see for the company is to pay the workforce, who are on miserable earnings and have very few hours. There are five permanent workers but the majority of them are living in poverty. Given the role they play in projecting out the democracy of this country and the importance of that, they should have decent jobs and proper retainers and should not have to live in poverty in this precarious existence.
In relation to the programme for Government and what it says about pensions, I want to ask the Taoiseach about the pension entitlements of retired postal workers. As the Taoiseach knows, when An Post was founded in 1984, postal workers were promised at that stage that they would not lose their pension entitlements. That promise was copperfastened by the Postal and Telecommunications Services Act of 1983, which guaranteed that their pensions would never be less favourable than those of other civil servants. The retired postal workers have had pension increases capped since 2013 even though their pension fund now has a surplus of €500 million. Retired postal workers are being left out of pocket during the cost-of-living crisis. This makes a mockery of the promises that were made to them in the context of the dedication they have given, in their working lives, to public service. Will the Taoiseach ensure that the cap on the An Post pension increases is lifted without delay?
These questions are about the programme for Government specifically. Right throughout that programme, there are very clear commitments to investing in Ireland's artificial intelligence strategy and in digitalisation. I welcome the fact that the Taoiseach attended the global AI summit hosted by President Macron recently. The Department of enterprise has been charged with commissioning research on the impact of AI, as a key technology, on the Irish economy and developing a campaign on AI adoption for SMEs. The fact that there is such a commitment within the programme for Government is very welcome but I am concerned that Ireland may be falling behind. In terms of the commitments in the programme for Government, I ask the Taoiseach to outline how he sees them developing.
Thankfully there is a commitment in the programme for Government to review the drug reimbursement scheme process. This is something that the Taoiseach has spoken about and been supportive of in the past. I reiterate that urgency is required here. I hope that the review that has been committed to in the programme for Government will commence this calendar year and not in the latter stages of this Government's term. I impress that on the Taoiseach and ask him to raise it with the new Minister for Health.
I thank all of the Deputies for raising issues with me. Regarding Deputy Boyd Barrett's comments, that is a matter for the entire Oireachtas. It is not a Government issue as such because the Oireachtas Commission presumably-----
Does the Taoiseach agree with me?
Let me finish. I do not have the full background to this. I do not know whether these are self-employed contractors or how the company won the contract but it seems to me to be fundamentally an issue that the Deputy should raise in the context of the Oireachtas Commission and the organisation of the House. I do not know whether he has done that or not in the context of the House but-----
We do not have a place on the commission but the Government has a place.
I know but I do not think this issue has been raised with me in the past. It never has been-----
I just thought I would start the ball rolling.
Yes, but I am just wondering if he has raised it. He has been in the House a long time. I am just wondering whether he has-----
It was only raised with me last week.
Fair enough. Okay. Anyway, it is a matter for the commission and we will certainly check it out-----
Will the Taoiseach support them?
-----and examine it to see what has happened.
In response to Deputy O'Callaghan, there is a very real issue with regard to the entitlements of retired postal workers. I will be talking to the Minister for public expenditure in relation to that and to wider issues in terms of agreements of this type that happened in the past and people feeling that their pension entitlements have not stayed at par or have reduced in real terms. I met quite a number of people in the last while who were in quite a distressed state as a result of this reality. I anticipate that these issues will be examined in a considered way because they do not just apply in one area but could have consequences in and read across to other areas.
Deputy Byrne raised the extremely important issue of artificial intelligence. This is as profound as the industrial revolution of the late 19th century in terms of the level of impact and the profundity of change in social lives, business and the economy. Ireland has a strategy but we have to proactively work on delivering it. That means talking about issues like how we get the energy to drive on the huge computational demands that arise from AI and how we get sustainable energy to enable us to do that. We cannot stand still. We cannot have moratoriums for five years and hope everything will be grand in five years' time. That just will not work for the country. We have a technology lead as a country at the moment and we need to maintain that. AI is going to have to be a part of that and that is the reality.
The issue raised by Deputy O'Sullivan is in the programme for Government because of his insistence and persistence, to be fair to him. It is an issue about which he has long had concerns. I will work to make sure we get a timely review of the drug reimbursement scheme. I appreciate the work the Deputy has been doing on rare diseases, orphan drugs and so forth. He has been ploughing a somewhat lonely furrow, although I know the last Minister engaged with him and I engaged with him on it. It has been a long haul but we have got to keep at it for the benefit of the people who receive such medicines.
Cabinet Committees
Shane Moynihan
Question:3. Deputy Shane Moynihan asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the Cabinet committee that deals with infrastructure; and when it will hold its first meeting. [1678/25]
Peter 'Chap' Cleere
Question:4. Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the Cabinet committee that deals with infrastructure; and when it will hold its first meeting. [1684/25]
Mary Lou McDonald
Question:5. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on housing will meet next. [2679/25]
Rose Conway-Walsh
Question:6. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on housing will meet next. [4434/25]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 3 to 6, inclusive, together.
The new programme for Government underscores our commitment both to solving the housing crisis and to providing the infrastructure to sustain a growing economy and society. Delivering infrastructure effectively is necessary to continue to attract foreign investment to Ireland, grow our economy, foster regional development, deliver on our housing commitments, meet social needs and achieve our very ambitious climate goals.
The programme for Government sets out an extensive range of new actions in relation to infrastructure and housing in particular, building on the progress achieved in recent years. These commitments include the creation of a dedicated infrastructure division in a reconfigured Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform. This new division will be tasked with working with stakeholders on strategic project selection, prioritisation and delivery and will align with national priorities. It will develop a sustainable pipeline of projects to support delivery of the ambition under the national development plan, while expediting delivery and ensuring projects represent value for money. There will be an updating of the NDP in the early months of this year, out to the summer. Equally, the programme for Government sets out our ambition to accelerate housing supply, recognising housing as a major social and economic challenge. The programme sets out our intention to ramp up construction capacity, implement the Planning and Development Act, increase the quantum of zoned and serviced land, remove unnecessary red tape, increase innovation, and provide predictable policy which attracts private investment side by side with State investment.
These commitments build on achievements over the past five years where there has been a record level of more than €65 billion invested in capital infrastructure projects across the country. In budget 2025 we also allocated, on top of the existing funding, an additional €3 billion from the sale of shares in AIB to support further investment in water, energy and housing. The forthcoming review of the NDP will update the allocations for the years ahead, reflecting the priorities in the programme for Government.
There have already been unprecedented levels of State investment in housing under the Housing for All plan. Budget 2025 dedicated a record €6 billion in capital investment to housing for the current year, with about 130,000 homes delivered since 2020. There is a significant pipeline of commencements. The Cabinet committees will be important now in terms of policy development, overseeing its work. We will be establishing a reformed structure of Cabinet committees within 30 days of this new Government. This will include a new Cabinet committee on infrastructure as well as re-establishing the Cabinet committee on housing. I expect both of these committees to meet in the coming weeks, with the housing committee meeting next week.
Go raibh maith ag an gCeann Comhairle agus táim buíoch as freagra a thabhairt ar an gceist i leith cursaí infreastruchtúir. My constituency, Dublin Mid-West, is one of the fastest growing in the country in terms of the number of houses being delivered and population growth. I welcome the establishment of a Cabinet committee on infrastructure. I hope it will look favourably on the very real infrastructure and public transport requirements of the communities I represent. There is a need for a Luas to Lucan and proper roads infrastructure around rapidly growing areas like Rathcoole and Newcastle. Any housing delivered as part of the Adamstown and Clonburris developments needs to be accompanied by necessary transport infrastructure as well as the schools and medical services that are required. I look forward to the Cabinet committee on infrastructure being established. I ask the Taoiseach to give an indicative date by which it will be in place and will start reporting.
I welcome the establishment of the Cabinet committee on infrastructure. I will highlight a couple of key projects in my constituency of Carlow-Kilkenny. The first is the Kilkenny northern ring road extension, completion of which is of vital strategic importance to Kilkenny. It will help to reduce congestion in the city centre and improve traffic safety and convenience. Lots of projects are ongoing in Kilkenny city and the completion of the ring road is vital to these progressing. I ask that this project be included in the updated NDP and fast-tracked accordingly for the development of the city.
The Ceann Comhairle will be aware that the Waterford to Glenmore road project has stalled in recent years. The scheme needs to be reviewed and progressed with funding made available. Safety is of massive importance here. Unfortunately, there was a tragic fatality on this road recently. I offer my condolences to the family of the deceased.
Funding needs to be provided for the final phase of the N24 Waterford to Cahir road. Road safety needs to be improved along this road. A number of bypasses need to be provided in places such as Mooncoin. This infrastructure is strategically important for the south east as a region.
In the programme for Government I note there is going to be a significant increase in funding for the local improvement scheme, LIS, and community involvement scheme, CIS. I spoke to a constituent in Kilkenny who has been on the list for the last three years. On current levels of funding they will, please God, get their lane done within the next ten to 12 years, according to the engineer. Additional funding for these schemes would be most welcome.
Alas, there are roads in Mayo that have been waiting for 30 years. Renters in Mayo are deeply concerned about the rising cost of rents and the continued increase in homelessness in the county. The county of Michael Davitt, the founder of the Land League in 1879, is now one in which so many families are petrified of not having a home to call their own. However, the Taoiseach and his Government see no cause to implement a no-fault eviction ban. The great, improper declaration that 40,000 new homes would be built last year was very cruel and deliberate. Now, we have an increasing number of older people worried sick about being made homeless. Too many people with disabilities are living in precarious conditions. This week, I spoke to a disabled woman who was trying to work out how she could cut back on groceries just to able to afford her exorbitant rent. How can this be acceptable in one of the richest countries in the world? Is it acceptable to the Taoiseach? Is he really of the opinion that renters need to pay higher rents to guarantee the profits of institutional landlords? When will the Taoiseach declare a housing emergency?
About a week ago, I raised the plight of tenants in Sallynoggin who have been living in council houses for years with infants and children where there is mould all over the walls, all of the time, water running down the insides of the walls and rodent infestations. The tenants are still being forced to live there. It has been earmarked for redevelopment but the point is that the tenants want out of there because the conditions are terrible. People are getting pneumonia.
Where is this?
Sallynoggin. Since I raised this, the people are still in there and still looking to get out. By the way, the Rialto Action Group took a legal case against Dublin City Council some years ago because these kinds of conditions are a breach of the European Social Charter. The group won the case. The Sallynoggin case is similar. These people's rights are being breached by the local authority. Since I raised the case here last week - it was televised and so on - I have been inundated with messages from people living in similar conditions of damp, black mould and rodent infestations in local authority housing. It is not good enough. At the very least, there should be an instruction from the Minister for housing that such people will be prioritised to be rehoused, particularly where children are involved. Some are being hospitalised or they have to go to doctors. They are getting medical testimony saying they should not be living in these conditions, yet they are still not being rehoused. Something needs to be done about this as a matter of urgency.
The Taoiseach is the last man standing from the Fianna Fáil Governments that blew up the property bubble and then saw the whole thing come crashing down and ordinary people paid the price for a decade or so. It seems the Taoiseach is committed to going back to the future. He is resurrecting the same policies that caused the 2008 financial crash. At the weekend, it was tax breaks for developers, whom the banking inquiry, the Housing Commission and many others found to be instrumental in blowing up that bubble. There was also a proposal to lift the rent pressure zones.
This morning, in the Government's countermotion on housing, it states it is engaging "with domestic lenders to ensure that the banking sector is appropriately using its lending capacity to support the development of new housing nationwide" and developing "new financing sources, especially for brownfield sites and small builders with support from ... domestic banks as well as State support of equity investment". This is a long-winded way of saying that the Government wants the banks to lend more to property developers. The Taoiseach has suffered badly from amnesia in the past. He claimed that there was no bank bailout, for example. Has he also forgotten that the banks were bailed out because of billions of euro of bad loans to private developers? When will he learn the lessons of his own history and stop relying on the failing private market?
On the issue of infrastructure and education, I recently visited Gaelcholáiste Reachrann along with my constituency colleagues. It is an incredibly impressive Gaelcholáiste with a brilliant atmosphere. The staff are hugely dedicated and students achieve brilliant results both academically and on the sports field. Most of the school has been housed in prefabs for the last 20 years. The school has been promised permanent buildings. I raised this issue multiple times in the previous Dáil with the then Taoiseach, Deputy Simon Harris. When will the school get the permanent school buildings it has been promised and needs?
Regarding Deputy Shane Moynihan's comments, it is true that his constituency is a rapidly growing one. In the considerations for the updated and renewed national development plan, we will look at what can be included and what types of developments can be done, particularly in respect of rail services more generally, public transport and roads infrastructure, particularly in new areas. Very often, the necessary road infrastructure follows too late after the construction of very large housing areas. Recently, while visiting clubs with the Deputy I have been struck by the fact that the recreational amenity and supporting infrastructure of Dublin is much different from and way behind the rest of the country in terms of sports facilities that clubs can enjoy and sustain for a longer period. The leases seem to be very short.
The councils seem to have a very unacceptable and unsustainable relationship with many of the clubs and organisations. It is very different from the rest of the country, and we discussed that. I would like to see that developed over the lifetime of this Government, with better facilities created, but I get the main point the Deputy is making about roads, the Luas to Lucan and the infrastructure in Adamstown and Clonburris.
To respond to Deputy Cleere, the Kilkenny extension of the northern ring road is extremely important. Kilkenny is a growing city and is very attractive to many people. Many people visit Kilkenny, including many Corkonians, but it needs the infrastructural development that goes with that. The Deputy spoke a great deal about road safety. There is no doubt enhancing roads enhances road safety and has eliminated a lot of injury and death on our roads. The transformation on our roads over the past 25 years was one of the factors that has brought our death rate way down. We are at a moment in time when the numbers are creeping back up, so we need to nip all that in the bud and get deaths back down again. Investing in roads will enable us to do that. I appreciate the focus the Deputy has put on the road safety aspect of the Waterford to Cahir road. On the various schemes he mentioned, we are committed in the programme for Government to expanding those and getting some traction on them.
Turning to Deputy Conway-Walsh, again, we have made no proposals to end RPZs. We want to help and support renters. The Deputy's party has proposed a no-fault eviction ban. If we get into that area, we will reduce supply in time. That is the type of intervention that will hit any chance of getting more people into the rental market. This is all a balance but I think that over recent years, people have been unsure of what the Government will do next. There needs to be a stable environment to get more people into the rental market - both individuals and funds and so forth.
It is not very stable for tenants.
To respond to Deputy Boyd Barrett, the local authority needs to take action. Increasingly, people are asking the Government to get into the workings of local councils. They should be rehousing people-----
Impose minimum standards.
They should be rehousing people who are in the conditions the Deputy outlined. In many local authorities across the country, that has happened. Many of the regeneration schemes in Dublin seem to be very slow compared with those in other areas, which have been more extensive and focused. I do not know why that is. Some of the flat complexes and so on should have been refurbished a long time ago.
I am talking about rehousing people when they are in those conditions.
I know. That is what I am saying, but the council should do it. More social housing has been built to facilitate rehousing people who are living in those conditions.
The Government should impose minimum standards.
To respond to Deputy Murphy, I mentioned during Leaders' Questions that the Government will put in about €6 billion in 2025. It is estimated that what is required to reach the targets everybody agrees with will be between €15 billion and €20 billion. The Government will not be able to do €15 billion to €20 billion on an ongoing basis. It can do €6 billion and might even do more than that but, without question, we have to get substantial investment going in the private sector as well. That is the reality, despite all the noise and the politics that has been played with this. I am more focused on solution-driven approaches. All I have received in the past three or four days is a great opportunity to have a go or to try to associate the Taoiseach or his comments with certain positions and so on-----
Why did you not say this during the election?
The Housing Agency has been conducting a review of RPZs since last year. It will finish its review at the end of quarter 1. The Housing Commission asked that we would do a detailed, evidence-based examination of this German reference pricing system. That should happen because that is what the commission recommended. We do not have to go with it but at the very least we should examine it and understand what the pros and cons of such a scheme are. I simply said we were going to examine it and, apparently, we cannot even do that. This is a bit like the Deputy's approach to everything.
Banks do need to lend more to builders, including smaller builders. The financing of housing has been an issue for the past number of years. There is no point in saying it has not been. It is the number one priority in society and, therefore, there is absolutely nothing wrong with Government officials and people working with the banking system to see how we can develop products that can enable people to start building more houses in a financially viable way that will enable people to be able to afford to buy houses at affordable rates and get more supply because it is all about more supply, at the end of the day.
Deputy O'Callaghan raised Gaelcholáiste Reachrann. I will talk to the Minister for Education in respect of that to see where we are. If it has been 20 years, there must have been issues in the early years relating to site acquisition. I do not know but I will get on to the Minister and see where it is at.
Industrial Development
Shane Moynihan
Question:7. Deputy Shane Moynihan asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the response to Ireland’s Competitiveness Challenge 2024, published by his Department in November 2024. [1679/25]
Naoise Ó Cearúil
Question:8. Deputy Naoise Ó Cearúil asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the response to Ireland's Competitiveness Challenge 2024, published by his Department in November 2024. [4390/25]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 7 and 8 together.
The Government's response to the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council's competitiveness challenge report 2024 was published on 5 November last. The Government's response was co-ordinated by the Department of An Taoiseach, drawing together material from relevant Departments. This was the fifth year in which a formal response was issued by the Government to the council's annual competitiveness challenge report. The response addressed the 20 recommendations made by the council to the Government. These recommendations included: enabling stronger productivity growth through research, development and innovation; reducing the burden of regulation and the cost of doing business in Ireland; accelerating progress on the usage and generation of energy in line with our climate targets; and improving the planning, development and delivery of infrastructure. In its response, the Government welcomed the advice and views of the council and agreed on the importance and relevance of its recommendations to Ireland's continued competitiveness.
For a significant majority of the recommendations made by the council, meaningful action is under way and this is outlined in the formal response. These actions include the allocation in budget 2025 of a record €14.9 billion for capital investment and the decision to allocate an additional €3 billion from the proceeds of share sales to boost public investment in housing, energy and water infrastructure; the introduction of an initiative to minimise the regulatory burden on SMEs, including by rigorously applying the new SME test across Departments; and the phased commencement of the Planning and Development Act 2024 to enhance efficiency and certainty in the planning system. Additionally, for the first time, a competitiveness summit was held on 2 December last to consider Ireland's competitiveness challenge, drawing on presentations from the chair of the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council and the OECD. That ensured a focus on competitiveness concerns in advance of budget 2025.
As outlined in the programme for Government, the principal aim of the new Government is to protect the future security of our economy through increasing the productivity and competitiveness of our domestic and international business. This work will continue to be informed by the analysis and recommendations of the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council.
Mar atá ráite ag an Taoiseach, tá tábhacht faoi leith ag baint le cumas iomaíochta na tíre. I very much welcome the outline or blueprint that has been given in the Government's response to the competitiveness challenge. I will focus on two chapters of that report where focus is needed over the coming years. The first is with regard to the role of SMEs. I am proud to be a member of the board of Ace Enterprise Park, which focuses on start-ups in the broader Clondalkin, Bawnogue and Neilstown area, but an issue is coming down the track regarding how we help what I call scale-ups, that is, those companies that have gone past their start-up phase and need support from the State, space in the main, to make sure they stay up as companies. I would welcome the Taoiseach's thoughts on that.
The second aspect, relating to chapter 4 of the report, was alluded to by Deputy Malcolm Byrne earlier and I am sure he will focus on the digital side of things in his contribution. There is work we need to do in our focus on sustainability-related and green skills across the workforce. We can speak about conversion and energy and about transitioning in travel, transport and so on, but fundamental to a serious approach to climate action is embedding green skills across the wider workforce, not only in construction and sustainability-focused enterprises but across the entire workforce. We have, I think successfully to a point, embedded a digital-first approach in the skills programmes we have for our workforce. We now need to think about how we will take a green-first approach, and this is something I will raise with the Minister, Deputy Lawless, as well.
I agree with my party colleague Deputy Moynihan, particularly about that gap for companies that move from being supported by local enterprise offices to a point where they can be supported by Enterprise Ireland.
He and I are very much in agreement on digitalisation and the AI strategy we talked about. A key part of this is investment in skills. Critical to that is ensuring that the requirements of funding our future, the funding programme for higher education, are met. That is referred to in the competitiveness challenge.
I am also interested in how we can provide support to our innovators and entrepreneurs, particularly those looking at exporting. In these turbulent times, we need to defend the importance of free trade internationally. This is something that is built into the programme for Government and that underpins the competitiveness challenge report. There is a significant section in that report about Ireland's support for the capital markets union at EU level. It is critical we look at unlocking as many sources of funding as possible for Irish enterprise. Will the Taoiseach indicate if, in the context of the EU Presidency, Ireland will pursue that?
There are other issues tied to that concerning international trade on which it would be of help if the Taoiseach gave an indication. One is the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, CETA, with Canada. As the Taoiseach knows, we have increased business between Ireland and Canada significantly in recent years. Signing the CETA is critical to further develop that.
I previously raised with the Taoiseach Ireland's membership of the unified patent system. That is critical for Ireland's intellectual property and its protection. It requires a referendum to proceed. I ask that we proceed with it as soon as possible.
On competitiveness, the Taoiseach knows housing is a key challenge. The Taoiseach said himself there are issues with the refurbishment of long-term voids on a large scale. There is something that could be done to change this. On the cost of refurbishing long-term voids, the assumption is that it is spread over ten years. For other capital projects, it is usually spread over 30 years. If the Taoiseach wants to do something positive, that could be changed. There is no evidence base for it being restricted to ten years. It is holding up many of those projects.
I recently met members of a campaign group, Access for All Ireland. An issue they raised with me is how the housing crisis is affecting disabled people. As the Taoiseach knows, according to the Ombudsman there are more than 1,200 disabled people under the age of 65 living in nursing homes. They are an unsuitable setting for most of these people. It can affect their mental health and it infringes on their independence. What is the Government doing to address the scandal of more than 1,200 disabled people under the age of 65 living in nursing homes?
Classical economists Karl Marx and David Ricardo, on different sides of the political spectrum, agreed that all wealth is derived from labour. One of our biggest problems is skills shortages in every sector of our economy, whether it is construction, the health service, education or retail. The reason is increasing numbers in their tens of thousands of young people are bailing out of the country because they cannot afford to live here. If we are talking about competitiveness, this is the biggest challenge. I do not like competition as the basis of an economy but let us say we need the economy to function in order----
The Deputy is fairly competitive in here.
Society is not a football game. Perhaps the Taoiseach thinks it is. We need our housing to be affordable for young people and to remove financial barriers to education that drive many of our young people out.
I will let the Deputy's colleague in. I ask him to be brief for the Taoiseach to respond to all queries.
The quickest, easiest and most immediate response to the housing crisis is to deal with the scourge of vacancy and dereliction. In almost every estate in Dublin South-West one will find vacant houses. These are perfectly good homes or they were at one stage. They could be used to house families. Instead, they are a blight on the community. We got figures recently that 14,500 of the more than 100,000 vacant properties in the country are located in Dublin. There are more than 10,000 families in emergency accommodation in Dublin. This is the easy answer. We recently put a motion before South Dublin County Council calling on it to use its powers to bring these properties into public ownership by means of compulsory purchase orders and use them for social housing. Fianna Fáil abstained and Fine Gael voted against. Does the Taoiseach agree that this is what needs to be done nationwide, namely to use these vacant homes?
Do your best, Taoiseach.
I am conscious that Deputy Shane Moynihan and-----
When we start, it is a rotation and when we are out of time, we are out of time.
Dúirt an Teachta Shane Moynihan go raibh fonn air béim a chur ar na mionchomhlachtaí agus aontaím leis. Phléigh sé conas is féidir linn iad a threisiú agus a dhéanamh níos láidre diaidh ar ndiaidh agus an tslí ar féidir linn é sin a dhéanamh.
On competitiveness, the scaling up of smaller companies has been a key agenda item for Enterprise Ireland for quite a long time. It takes a great deal to form a company and grow it. After ten to 15 years, many entrepreneurs, if they have developed a fine product and company, may sell to a larger international company and call it a day because of the exertion involved. That is not often appreciated in this House. That is what I said during the election campaign about the economic model in Ireland. It has to support entrepreneurial activity and small to medium-sized companies. That economic model is worth protecting, which is why it is important to go to the United States, be global and be involved with all others.
On the digital side, I agree 100% on sustainability around green skills. Deputy Moynihan had a great idea, but it is embedding it widely across the workforce, not just in specific areas; we tend to say we need it here or there.
Deputy Byrne raised some key issues. On service-based companies and those supported by local enterprise, sometimes it takes a while for them to get into the Enterprise Ireland slipstream. Our support systems are primarily for export-oriented companies. That is an issue. Good work has been done by the LEOs but there needs to be greater synergy and connectivity between the LEOs, Enterprise Ireland and the supports we offer. The importance of free trade is the most important point that was made this morning. The era of free trade has been responsible for the greatest rise in prosperity in the world ever. It is under threat, however. There has been growing protectionism across the world from different countries and major states. The Government is committed to ratifying the Canada-European Union deal. That was opposed in this House by Deputies opposite who were all against it because of investor clauses. Business has gone up 30% for Irish companies exporting to Canada. It has worked. It is provisionally in place. We now need to ratify it and get on with matters in that respect.
Taoiseach, unfortunately, we went over time on an earlier group of questions. There is an option to write to the Deputies.
On the EU capital markets union, I discussed that with President Costa. Ireland will have a key role. That needs to happen for the future of Europe and releasing capital on European -----
Thank you, Taoiseach. We went over time on an earlier group and, unfortunately, the time available for this group was shorter. There is a maximum of 45 minutes for this session. Perhaps the Taoiseach will respond in writing. I will leave the matter with him.
Cuireadh an Dáil ar fionraí ar 1.58 p.m. agus cuireadh tús leis arís ar 2.58 p.m.
Sitting suspended at 1.58 p.m. and resumed at 2.58 p.m.