We know move to Questions on Policy or Legislation. As usual, Members are asked stick to their times. There is one minute for questions and one minute for responses. We begin with Deputy Doherty.
Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation
Go raibh maith ag an gCeann Comhairle. It is now over four weeks since I put to the Taoiseach serious claims about Deputy Michael Lowry's evidence to the Moriarty tribunal. So much for the Deputy's huffing and puffing about coming before the Dáil and making a statement. We have not heard a peep from him since. He is one of yours, Taoiseach. He is a Government-supporting TD and one the Taoiseach is going to great lengths to accommodate. Did the Taoiseach ask Deputy Lowry if he had 57 meetings on the Doncaster deal, including here in Leinster House and at Doncaster Rovers Football Club, a deal that he swore to the tribunal he had no involvement in? Did the Taoiseach ask him if he went to a rural farm in August 2002, as claimed by one of those present, to burn original documents pertaining to the deals that are at the heart of the Moriarty Tribunal investigations? Has Deputy Lowry explained to the Taoiseach how his accountant made two separate payments that originated in Gibraltar to the person who was arranging the Doncaster deal - payments that were never disclosed to the tribunal? I am going to continue to ask these questions and others until we have answers. The Deputy is one of yours. He is a Government-supporting TD. Has the Taoiseach asked him any of these questions in the past four weeks?
Before the Taoiseach responds, I am going to stop the clock while I address this issue. Just to clarify matters, Deputy Lowry has written to me and has asked to make a statement. I have requested further information from him. I just want to let Deputy Doherty know that this is where the matter is at. I have not received the information yet. We can start the clock again.
We will be waiting a wee while for those things.
We will be waiting a long time.
Yes.
Deputies. I call the Taoiseach to respond.
I understand what Deputy Doherty is at here. Deputy Michael Lowry is an independent TD. He is not one of ours.
He is supporting you.
I will say one thing. Sinn Féin needs to reflect. A funeral happened this week. While I have great time for the victims and for wife and those who have lost a loved one, the truth is that Deputy Doherty's party called somebody who murdered five innocent people in a bar and injured 16 more and who was involved in the murder of a trainee garda and a member of the Defence Forces in Derradda Woods a patriot.
I thank the Taoiseach.
What Michael Lowry did-----
I thank the Taoiseach.
-----pales into insignificance in terms of what the members of your movement did. Please-----
(Interruptions).
The Taoiseach's time is up.
I would ask Deputies Doherty and McDonald-----
Your time is up, Taoiseach. I call Deputy Kelly.
Answer the questions on Lowry.
You are into Deputy Alan Kelly's time now, Taoiseach. Take your seat, please.
-----to ask members-----
Not answering these questions is a new low.
-----of your movement what they did. Do not be so judgmental. I will not be getting involved in what the Moriarty tribunal.
I call Deputy Kelly.
You were a member of the previous Administration-----
Deputies, please.
You have some nerve.
You had your chance.
Deputy Kelly, your clock is running down.
You have had your say. You had your chance.
Taoiseach, please.
He is your colleague in government. Remember the statements.
Deputies.
May we stop the clock, Ceann Comhairle, please?
I am not stopping the clock. You work away Deputy. Your time is limited.
How can the Taoiseach's stand over people being taken into the Garda College in Templemore without being vetted? People who were not vetted went into the Garda College towards the end of last year. They are being trained and this is costing a significant amount of money. They have access to all facilities, to guns, to the armoury and to a lot of information, but they were not vetted. This was done in order to massage the figures relating to the intake of gardaí last year. It was done at the very end of the year. Prior to this, all people going into Templemore had to be vetted. We have a ludicrous situation where those who passed everything to go into the college in 2023 are still awaiting vetting and have decided not to join An Garda Síochána because it has taken so long-----
Thank you, Deputy. Have respect for other Deputies. I call the Taoiseach.
How can the Government stand over the intake in question when the people involved were not vetted. We do not know if they will ever become gardaí. What is the Government going to do about this?
Deputy, a little respect for the other Members. I call the Taoiseach.
In terms of recruitment, everyone wants us to get more gardaí as quickly as we possibly can and to get them trained and out on the street in order to increase policing. That is the whole objective of people going into Templemore. On the precise arrangements involved, I will engage with the Minister for Justice and raise with him the issue the Deputy has raised.
Does the Taoiseach agree that they should be vetted?
I will ask the Minister for Justice to-----
Should they be vetted?
Thank you, Taoiseach.
My honest view is that vetting is important but that it is overstated.
I call Deputy Gibney of the Social Democrats.
What does vetting actually mean?
If you are going to Templemore, surely you should be vetted.
I call on the Taoiseach to resume his seat, please.
It is quite limited in what it actually does.
Just bypass vetting.
Thank you, Taoiseach.
There are backlogs everywhere.
I call Deputy Sinead Gibney.
Just bypass vetting.
Deputy Kelly, have respect for his colleague whose time you are taking up. I call Deputy Gibney. Taoiseach, please stop behaving like a child.
Absolutely.
(Interruptions).
I call Deputy Gibney.
(Interruptions).
What I am doing is not out of order. When I hit the bell, I ask Members to resume their seats because their time is up. Deputy Gibney.
I have not been interrupting.
Deputy Gibney
The multinational tech company-----
(Interruptions).
What we seem to have today is a playground. I ask everybody to conform and to have respect for the Members whose time they are taking up. Deputy Gibney.
The multinational tech company Meta has announced a new round of layoffs, with 5% of its workforce under threat. This is in the context of the chief executive of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, abolishing equality, diversity and inclusion programmes, stopping fact checking on the Facebook platform and essentially bending the knee to Trump in the same way we saw Elon Musk do when he took over Twitter. There are reports in the press today that Irish employees of Meta are very concerned that they are being arbitrarily fired. This new round of layoffs is using performance management as window dressing when the company is engaging in arbitrary firings. Does the Taoiseach share the Social Democrats' concerns about the lurch to the right of these tech companies and the impact that this will potentially have on workers and customers of these platforms? Is the relevant Minister meeting with Meta to deal with this matter?
Deputy, your time is up. The Taoiseach to respond, please.
In terms of lay-offs, our thoughts have to be with the workers in the company or those who may be laid off - from our perspective, in Ireland - and we have to do everything we possibly can to make sure they can secure alternative employment. We have a strong industrial relations framework and strong employee protection rights in Ireland, along with legislation.
We will do everything to make sure we maintain those rights, maintain the legislative framework we have, protect employees and help employees in situations where either companies are engaging in lay-offs - which can happen, and I will not speculate on the reasoning beyond the lay-offs. Our fundamental obligation is to help those employees who are going through a traumatic time if and when they are laid off.
We are now in the last week of February and, as yet, the climate action plan for 2025 has not been published. Under the climate action Act, the Minister has to present the climate action plan annually. The draft action plan for 2025 was ready for publication in December last year but Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael took a political decision not to publish it until the new Government was formed.
The section in the programme for Government dealing with the climate action plan gives us a sense of the Government's ambition on climate. It actually talks about placing a focus on a smaller number of strategic and impactful actions. Is that what is happening? Is the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, going through the original draft and actually cutting a few chunks out of it so there is a smaller number of actions, as per the Government's own programme for Government? When will the Taoiseach publish the climate action plan for 2025?
I have noticed, since the Government was formed, there has been a deliberate attempt at trying to present the Government as somehow rowing back on climate change and this is going to be the narrative now, whether it is true or not. The Deputy is articulating that idea, even though the Government and the programme for Government commits very strongly to the legal framework governing climate and to the measures we have already embarked upon and that were decided upon by the previous Government.
I notice the Taoiseach is not answering the question.
I am. The Deputy-----
There is nothing new there.
-----prefaced his remarks-----
Allow the Taoiseach to answer.
Thank you. There has been no resiling by Government from the climate change objectives of this country and the climate plan will be published - my understanding is that it will be in the next number of weeks. We did not deliberately not publish it. The outgoing Government and the Green Party did try to railroad a whole load of things through before the interregnum period; that would not have been proper. The climate action plan-----
It is ready to go. Why can it not be published?
-----is something for the entire Oireachtas to give due consideration to and have a genuine debate about it, not something that is rammed through at the death of a Government.
Taoiseach, I have always advocated for the rights of Irish fishermen whose quotas have been decimated over the years with 25% lost after Brexit and no recovery of quota since. Irish boats have, for generations, fished Rockall but in 2021, the Scottish Government claimed the rock and a 12 mile limit around it. Has the Irish Government conceded the ownership of Rockall to the UK? If not, what is the Government proposing to do to get Ireland's right to fish the grounds around the rock back?
We have not. There has been good, constructive engagement with the Scottish Government, to be fair, over the last number of years on this issue. Actually, it was the last British Government that did not facilitate an agreement on research and so forth that had been arrived at between the Scottish Government and the Irish Government.
We have reactivated that with the new British Government and with the new Scottish First Minister and there is ongoing engagement with officials on both sides with a view to arriving at an agreement that can then be green lighted by the UK Government in Westminster. That is the sequence and process by which it has to be done. We are, however, very mindful of the situation pertaining to fishermen in the Rockall area more generally.
I raise with the Taoiseach the issue of equine welfare but maybe animal welfare in a broader sense. In Glanmire in the last week, we have had an issue, particularly with horses, and I know this is happening up and down the country. We have reams after reams of animal welfare legislation but no enforcement. We came across another case in Glanmire last week as I said where all of the agencies, from the Department of agriculture and Cork City Council to An Garda Síochána who all have adequate powers to deal with issues on site are not utilising their powers and basically leaving it to animal welfare activists and charities.
I know in the spring legislative programme that was published, there is an animal welfare Bill coming forward. I ask that consideration be given to a Bill that I helped with myself on the appointment of an equine officer in each local authority so we have a designated person who can deal with it and none of this faffing around and trying to shovel responsibility onto other agencies.
That is a very good idea from the Deputy and there are issues, as he has described, in Glanmire this week. Across the country, we have had appalling conditions of animal cruelty, particularly in respect of horses and that needs to stop and the agencies need to get stronger and be more effective. The idea of appointing an equine officer in every local authority makes absolute sense to me. It is something I will pursue with the Minister and with the local authorities.
I raise a specific issue here today on the oversight of the various boards that are responsible for managing the spending of public money. We all know about the waste of public money that is making the headlines. Many are expressing outrage, but we are not hearing many solutions. We need to come up with changes and I offer one here today.
I have reviewed many State boards and I am struck by the lack of people on these boards who have accountancy, cost control or audit qualifications and experience. Is it any wonder then that we have poor oversight in terms of expenditure? I propose to the Taoiseach that all State-funded boards include at least one member with these qualifications and experience. This would be one small step in reducing the amount of uncontrolled spending we read about every other week.
That is a very good idea also. The methodology for the appointment of State boards changed some years ago; there is a greater reliance on the PAS system and I am not sure that has been ideal either. We need to look more broadly at experiences and expertise that would add a certain competence or discipline to a board, such as cost control or accountancy.
There was an article written this morning, which I read and it was quite correct, that said we in the political sphere have an instinct for more spending on everything. It is spending in advance and there is remorse afterwards if it is not spent properly.
It breeds inefficiencies.
You have it right throughout every debate. There is not enough examination of how the existing resources are properly spent or allocated. I agree with the Deputy's broader point.
The programme for Government refers to road safety in terms of enhancing driver training and introducing re-education courses for those who commit road traffic offences. I have raised the issue of the backlog of the Tallaght test centre with three different Ministers and now two different taoisigh. Five years ago, there were 5,000 people on the waiting list in Tallaght. There are now 18,000 waiting to sit their test. I do not know where the capacity for retraining and retesting will come from.
Talk of additional tests is a drop in the ocean for what is required. Can the Taoiseach outline how his Government promises to deal with this ongoing backlog and demand in places like Tallaght? I suggested the opening of an additional testing centre in south Dublin but this seems to have fallen on deaf ears.
I am really concerned; 18,000 are waiting. Will I have to raise this at Easter and there will be 20,000 then? In another couple of months will it be 25,000? We need solutions.
I agree with the Deputy and that is why the last Government in the last number of months proposed structures to reform the Road Safety Authority, in terms of dividing work particularly in terms of the operational issues like driver testing, so there will be a more focused approach on that which is separate to the broader work the RSA is engaged in with respect to road safety. A new CEO for the RSA has been approved by the Government and the structures simply have to change - that has already been decided and it is now up to us to implement that change and get these waiting lists down. They are not acceptable.
The new national fare structure for train fares announced by the NTA will see the implementation of the Dublin city zone later this year. Skerries and Balbriggan, two towns in my constituency of Dublin Fingal West, have been excluded from the Dublin city zone; unlike Maynooth, which is in the county of Kildare and Bray, which is the county of Wicklow.
This exclusion poses an additional annual financial burden of up to €440 on people living in Skerries and Balbriggan. I have already received numerous emails from people angry at this increase, particularly at a time when we are trying to encourage more uptake of public transport. I also received emails from some individuals who, out of economic necessity, will be forced to drive to Rush and Lusk. Will the Government intervene with the NTA and request that the zone radius will be reviewed to ensure all towns in the county of Dublin are included in the Dublin city zone?
My understanding is that the review of the zone radius was done, but I will talk to the Minister and ask him if he will engage with the NTA in respect of the issue the Deputy raised.
Insulin pumps are not available as a treatment option for adults with type 1 diabetes in the HSE mid-west region, even though they are available for children. Ours is the only region where this is the case. Patients who require pumps have to go on the waiting list in other regions and then travel for treatment. This is an extra burden on the host regions' overstretched services and on patients who have to travel for treatment that should be available locally. The only other option is to go to a private endocrinologist for treatment, but this is expensive. As with any medical condition, a range of treatment options must be available to ensure the best possible care can be provided. The mid-west diabetes advocacy group was told, through a parliamentary question in 2022, that pumps would be available in the mid-west region from the end of 2023. In June 2024, the group got an answer to a parliamentary question which said this would not happen. No explanation was provided. Will the Taoiseach indicate why the promised treatment was not delivered and advise as to when it will be?
I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. Perhaps I could follow up with her directly because I do not have notice of this. I will try to find out the position. It should be available consistently. What we want is that there is consistent access to both treatments and medications right across the regions. I will investigate and come back to the Deputy.
We have two special education classes in Kerry for primary school children who are deaf or hard of hearing. However, there are no classes for second level students. I cannot understand how the Department of Education does not see that there is a need for continuation of supports for second level, particularly when students are faced with learning so many new subjects and also when they are at an age when, in terms of their mental health, they can struggle to cope with so many challenges. Every child is precious and deserves to be helped in every way to reach their full potential. Deaf children need full access to education. Technology can only do so much. Deaf children still miss out on so much. A Kerry student who spent four years in a school before it opened its unit was lost, withdrawn, anxious and prone to complete meltdowns from the stress of trying to engage and to keep up with her class. She is a different girl today.
I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. In an earlier time, I was, as an educator, involved with hard-of-hearing children. There has been a movement towards integration, and that is perhaps why the two special classes are available at primary level in Kerry. I will talk to the Minister for Education with a view to discovering why special arrangements cannot be progressed at second level in order to facilitate those children as they progress from primary to secondary school. Historically, people had to travel long distances, which was not acceptable either. There are mechanisms to enable this to happen. I will certainly follow up with the Deputy. If he gives me some further details, I will talk to the Minister for education about this.
After Storm Éowyn and recent snow storms, bushes and trees are overhanging roads everywhere and wires have collapsed down on top of ditches. The Association of Farm and Forestry Contractors in Ireland, FCI, has asked me - as have many other people because it is common sense - to extend the hedge-cutting season for at least a month in view of the ferocious damage that has been done by overhanging wires. It is a threat to the health and safety of road users as well. Hedge cutting is supposed to finish on Friday. The FCI could not possibly finish this year with the weather, but its members came to the fore and helped everybody out in the meitheal style in the snow and after the recent storm, particularly in the west of the country. They are willing and ready to continue doing their work but they cannot do it if the rule is applied. They will be prosecuted if they go out cutting hedges on Saturday. Never was there more need to allow common sense to prevail and to allow the hedge-cutting season to be extended - for two weeks at least or a month, hopefully - in order to allow the backlog to be cleared and to make our roads safer for all road users.
There is a lot of hedge cutting going and clearing being done by local authorities and contractors at the moment. That is evident across the country. On the other side of the coin and as the Deputy knows, issues around biodiversity, etc., have given rise to this. Those issues are significant. I will talk to the Minister in terms of his assessment of the matter.
Last week, the Government published its spring legislation programme. I am interested in the planned reform of the legislation relating to corporate governance in RTÉ and TG4. Governance in RTÉ has been like a terrible soap opera at times. Employment arrangements there are often unacceptable. Our national broadcaster needs to be the subject of ongoing scrutiny. Specifically on what we talked about recently with the disposal of GAAGO, right now we need to see governance in RTÉ and TG4 improved. In the context of the role of the Comptroller and Auditor General, when are we likely to see an amended broadcasting Bill?
My understanding is that this Bill is a priority for drafting.
I wish to ask the Taoiseach about a problem we have with two estates in Aghadoe in Killarney. These are the Old Killarney Village and the Birch Hill estate. Their treatment plants are out of date and no longer suitable. For many years, I have been requesting in the House that they be connected to the public sewer. On two occasions, funding has been made available in this regard. Going back a number of years ago, €400,000 was provided. Last year, the then Minister, Deputy O'Brien, committed €998,000. There is €300,000 to be made up by the local authority or someone else, but the local authority has informed me that it is no longer able to deal with these matters or ask for wayleaves and that it is up to Irish Water to do so. There is a stand-off between them now, but the people of these two estates are suffering. There is a pub and a restaurant involved. Last weekend, these septic tanks, or whatever you call them now - treatment plants - flowed over. In this area, you are on top of the hill looking down into the lakes of Killarney. If pollution happens there, it will be detrimental to the whole tourist business in the town of Killarney and far beyond. This is going on for far too long. The money was committed last year. Why is it not being used? Will the Taoiseach intervene and ensure-----
Thank you, Deputy, your time is up.
-----that for once and for all the matter will be resolved? I have been at this for six years and everything is still the same-----
The Taoiseach to respond. Your time is up, Deputy.
I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. What is frustrating here is that the money has been allocated it seems to me. The officials on both sides, those in the local authorities and Uisce Éireann, should apply common sense and pragmatism and get this sorted. I ask that this would happen and I will ask the Minister. I met with Uisce Éireann some time back. The Government has increased its allocation and will be increasing it further in terms of additional capital money. This has to be ring-fenced, not just for the general upgrading of the water system but also for new water supply capacity and wastewater treatment, particularly in rural towns and villages across Ireland. Things cannot move at the moment because of capacity limits for wastewater treatment systems and water supply systems. I will follow that up for the Deputy.
The programme for Government reiterates the intention to continue the development of greenways and cycle routes across Ireland, which I warmly welcome. Greenways have simply transformed rural communities throughout Ireland. However, I want to flag a concern following a decision by An Bord Pleanála to refuse permission to Blessington greenway due to wildlife and environmental concerns. If roadblocks such as these continue, I honestly fear for the future of greenways. I would like a reassurance that this will be addressed. For example, in my constituency of Wicklow-Wexford, approval for the Arklow to Shillelagh greenway is both eagerly and long awaited. This greenway would bring much needed opportunity to south Wicklow, to small rural communities such as Shillelagh, Tinahely, Annacura, Aughrim, Woodenbridge and Arklow. We have all travelled the world.
Thank you, Deputy. Time is up.
I would like to re-emphasise how important it is that we have access to our countryside and our greenways.
There are enormous investments in greenways, walkways and cycleways across the country. Biodiversity and wildlife must be protected as well but the two are mutually exclusive. The specifications on some of the greenways are sometimes a bit higher than people would have anticipated. These issues should be resolved, and they can be resolved with a bit of imagination and creativity and not having to be exact all the time in terms of some of the standards. Some of the ones in Cork are excellent, but there is one park where there is more tarmacadam than is necessary. We had greenways prior to the more modern ones and there just needs to be a bit of common sense in working out of greenways. They are phenomenal, have a huge impact and bring people closer to nature by virtue of the facility created, which is positive overall. I take on board what the Deputy is saying. I do not have the specifics of the area, but there certainly needs to be common sense-----
I thank the Taoiseach. The time is up.
The lack of access to GP services has become a serious matter of concern for many of my constituents in County Wexford. For those patients lucky enough to have a GP, the waiting times for appointments are far too long, especially in rural areas with some waiting for up to three weeks. This needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency. What about the people who cannot get a practice to take them on as patients, particularly people whose family doctors have retired or citizens who have moved from one village to another? Where or who do they turn to? I am constantly being contacted by people who have real health and medical needs. I am also being contacted by a large number of people who are just above the threshold for a medical card or GP service card. When they contact the HSE, these people are told it is not its responsibility. Has the Government any plans to address this problem of accessibility and the replacement of retired doctors in my county?
People allocated a medical card are allocated a GP. That is the basic position. Now, there is an issue with access to GPs more generally. That is acknowledged. Part of the response has been to significantly increase the number of people in training in general practice. There are different figures in this regard, but my understanding is that for every one retired doctor, there are at least two in training. We must keep this focus and get more people into training because undoubtedly there are real challenges, particularly in rural Ireland, but also in urban Ireland, as was pointed out by some Deputies yesterday. I accept there are issues with access to GPs.
I raise the very serious matter impacting first responders in all our communities. Recently, a number ambulance officers were informed, many of them, indeed, trained paramedics, that they could no longer park their ambulances, their vehicles, at their own homes. Instead, they will have to park them at ambulance bases and primary care centres. This is having a knock-on impact on first responder response times, particularly in relation to cardiac arrests and other emergency medical situations. We are asking for an urgent response in this regard to allow those first responders who are trained paramedics, to continue to park their vehicles at their own homes and to be allowed to respond in the quickest possible time to events within communities. It is having a serious knock-on effect and it has raised problems for these first responders.
There are limits to what any Taoiseach should have to deal with and parking arrangements for first responders should be dealt with by the HSE and the local office. Let us call a spade a spade. There could be insurance issues, etc. I do not know, neither am I going to arbitrate on it. I hear what the Deputy is saying. There should be proper parking arrangements for first responders, but it is not for the Taoiseach of the day to get into that level of detail in how public services are delivered and operated. I respect that the Deputy is raising this matter through frustration perhaps and so on, and on behalf of those who come to him. I acknowledge that.
Unfortunately, it is impacting a lot of families.