Paul McAuliffe
Question:1. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Taoiseach if he will provide an overview of the two reports by the child poverty and well-being programme office recently published by his Department. [8041/25]
Ceisteanna - Questions
Child Poverty
John Connolly
Question:2. Deputy John Connolly asked the Taoiseach to report on the work of the child poverty programme in his Department. [9481/25]
Richard Boyd Barrett
Question:3. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach to report on the work of the child poverty and well-being programme in his Department. [12375/25]
Paul Murphy
Question:4. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Taoiseach to report on the work of the child poverty and well-being programme in his Department. [12378/25]
Gary Gannon
Question:5. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Taoiseach for an update in respect of the programme plan for child poverty and well-being 2023-2025. [12936/25]
Ruairí Ó Murchú
Question:6. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Taoiseach the progress made by his Department in reducing child poverty and promoting well-being. [13487/25]
Erin McGreehan
Question:7. Deputy Erin McGreehan asked the Taoiseach to report on the work of the child poverty programme in his Department. [13733/25]
John Lahart
Question:8. Deputy John Lahart asked the Taoiseach to report on the work of the child poverty programme in his Department. [13734/25]
Ivana Bacik
Question:9. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Taoiseach to report on the work of the child poverty and well-being programme in his Department. [13744/25]
Seán Ó Fearghaíl
Question:10. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Taoiseach to report on the work of the child poverty programme in his Department. [13751/25]
Pádraig O'Sullivan
Question:11. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Taoiseach to report on the work of the child poverty programme in his Department. [13753/25]
Rose Conway-Walsh
Question:12. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Taoiseach to report on the work of the child poverty and well-being programme in his Department. [13820/25]
Ruth Coppinger
Question:13. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Taoiseach to report on the work of the child poverty and well-being programme in his Department. [13975/25]
Rose Conway-Walsh
Question:14. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Taoiseach to report on the work of the child poverty and well-being programme in his Department. [15662/25]
Cian O'Callaghan
Question:15. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Taoiseach for an update in respect of the programme plan for child well-being. [17121/25]
Gary Gannon
Question:16. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Taoiseach for an update in respect of the programme plan for child poverty and well-being 2023-2025. [17214/25]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 16, inclusive, together.
We are retaining the child poverty and well-being programme office in the Department of the Taoiseach because we know we need to continue to build on the work to break down silos between Departments and drive delivery. We will not be able to make a decisive impact on child poverty without a whole-of-government and whole-of-society response.
From Poverty to Potential: A Programme Plan for Child Poverty and Well-being 2023 to 2025 was published in August 2023 and is the initial programme plan for the child poverty and well-being programme office. The programme builds on six focus areas which have potential to bring about significant change for families and children. These are income assistance and joblessness; early learning and childcare; reducing the cost of education; family homelessness; consolidating and integrating family and parental assistance, health and well-being; and enhancing participation in culture, the arts and support for children and young people affected by poverty. The programme plan is intended to be a living and dynamic document. As we need to, we will revisit our priorities to make sure we are focusing on those things that really make a difference. In 2025 we will start to develop the second programme plan for the office. We will consider carefully what we have learned so far and what remains to be done.
The role of the Department of the Taoiseach is to co-ordinate and focus Government action. To help to facilitate this the office has established a cross-government network on child poverty and well-being. The network has met five times to date with the next meeting due to take place soon.
On 23 May last year the programme office hosted the inaugural child poverty and well-being summit. This was an important moment to take stock and shape the agenda for future action. I very much look forward to hosting the second summit later in the year. Budget 2025 is the second year of spending plans on child poverty and well-being co-ordinated through the programme office. The second budget report captures a wide range of initiatives in budget 2025 which reflect the cross-government ambition to reduce child poverty.
I was delighted recently to publish the programme office's first progress report, Child Poverty and Well-being in Transition: Learning and Adapting to Accelerate Change in Children's Lives. The report presents progress updates for the six focus areas while acknowledging challenges and highlighting emerging lessons and priorities. The impact of the programme office is also outlined.
I am encouraged that the report shows the programme office has genuinely strengthened cross-government focus on addressing child poverty. In the years ahead, I expect the programme office to report on even greater progress that would help to transform the lives of children and families.
A number of initiatives under the Department of the Taoiseach deal with the issue of child poverty and tackling disadvantage. Enda Kenny established this in the north-east inner city and the Taoiseach rolled that out to other communities, including my own in Ballymun. The former Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, established the child poverty unit. As we head into the second part of the programme, there is the possibility to try to bring some of those programmes together and embed them into each of the Departments. While leadership from the Taoiseach's office is really important in a programme like that, we also need sustainability in those programmes. In particular, I ask that the child poverty unit looks at those areas covered by the north-east inner city roll-out model, for want of a better word, and that the two units work closely together or are brought together.
The Taoiseach identified the six areas where the Government sees the potential to make the most difference to children living in poverty. One of those mentioned is family homelessness. If the Taoiseach will forgive me, I am going to be parochial on the issue. As the Taoiseach will be aware, the homelessness figures are calculated monthly per region for nine different regions.
A consistent statistic is that outside Dublin, the west region has the highest number of child dependants accessing emergency accommodation. This has been consistent for some time. The west region contains counties Galway, Mayo and Roscommon and of these, Galway has the highest number. Data is not available but my expectation is that it is Galway city where most of the families and children in need of emergency accommodation are. A more alarming statistic was that at the end of 2024, 28 families in the west region had to rely on emergency accommodation for over two years. Outside Dublin there is no other area where that is comparable and that is deeply discomforting and concerning for someone who is a public representative for that area. Families and children in Galway are suffering disproportionately. Other regions with larger populations do not have the same number of children reliant on emergency accommodation.
I want to raise the crucial issue of child well-being in terms of children with scoliosis, in particular three children who had unauthorised metal springs inserted in them by a surgeon. The report was published at 12 noon, so I have only had the chance to read the executive summary so far but it makes for pretty horrifying reading, including making the point that the type of metal is "known to corrode in the presence of moisture". In other words, it could have effectively been rusting in children, which is horrific to think of. The Taoiseach made the point earlier, which I agreed with, that what happened should not have happened and that an important responsibility needs to be taken here by the surgeon responsible for buying the springs and inserting them into the children. However, the broader question remains unanswered, which is how this was able to happen and continue over a period of time. It may have continued were it not for a very brave whistleblower who spoke out resulting in parliamentary questions and a series of important articles by Pádraig Ó Meiscill in The Ditch. Those questions remain unanswered, which is why the families are calling for a public inquiry into everything that happened here - how it was able to take place. Does the Taoiseach agree with this call? Does he agree that it should be expanded to include all of the operations performed by this surgeon, including those on adults? I have been contacted by at least one adult with serious concerns about how they were treated. I raised it previously in the Dáil. If the surgeon was operating in this way with children, why not with adults?
On the topic of child well-being, I wish to discuss an immensely cruel anomaly whereby a parent who has been convicted of unlawfully killing the other parent of a child retains his or her guardianship of that child. Retention of guardianship in this context means that the convicted person must be informed about the child's situation, consulted in major decisions being taken for the child and can influence the child's placement. A Bill was brought to Cabinet in respect of Valerie's law. When will that Bill be brought before the Dáil? Research demonstrates that the best outcomes for children in these terrible situations is to be placed with the victim's family not under the perpetrator's control.
We all wish Deputy Boyd Barrett the best of luck. It is apt to do this during Questions to the Taoiseach because if ever there was a Deputy who made very great use of Questions to the Taoiseach, it was Deputy Boyd Barrett.
When we talk about child poverty, we are all aware of the added costs of dealing with children with additional needs. The issue of special school places and the fact that we had parents in here who were at their wits' end have been raised multiple times today. I raised the case of Senan Maguire, a 13-year-old autistic boy who is now out of school, with the Taoiseach. There has been engagement with the Minister. We need to ensure that Senan is returned to school as soon as possible and that he definitely has a place next year. We need to make sure the multidisciplinary team is there so we can avail of CAMHS-ID, for which Senan and his parents have been looking for a considerable period of time. The big issue is that when we get to a one-stop-shop, there is no wrong door and that we have the follow up regarding school-based therapies and assessments because we are dealing with failure at the minute. It worries me when I hear about the likes of Scoil Bhríde Shelagh, which said it was sanctioned for two ASD classes but has only been okayed for one. This needs to be followed up.
The work of this programme on child poverty is hugely important for the future of the country. When looking at childhood poverty, the State could look at its causes, namely, single parent households, households where nobody is in employment and intergenerational poverty. Often our social protection system puts constraints and restraints on single parent families preventing these parents from going out to work and leaving them in that poverty trap. The State spends over €4.5 billion dealing with the consequences of poverty when money could be spent on targeting and eliminating poverty. What about setting up an Oireachtas committee on youth affairs to look at youth mental health, youth poverty, the youth sector, youth services and the capital programmes that could be set up to empower young people to ensure they do not fall into mental health difficulties but take the right path because if we do not look after our young, we will not look after our future?
I add my voice to the well wishes to Deputy Boyd Barrett. Regarding the well-being side of the child poverty and well-being committee within the Department, our commitment as a Government to establish DEIS Plus is an important milestone. The Taoiseach will appreciate that in constituencies like my own, there are a breadth and intensity of challenges that simply do not exist in other communities. These include intergenerational poverty, which was just mentioned, and intergenerational trauma. That is one of the characteristics of the asks of those schools involved in caring for these children. They talk about nurture rooms and trauma-informed practices. Over the past five to ten years, one of the biggest learnings that has been made by school staff is the idea of nurture schools or trauma-informed practices in schools. The idea is simple. Children clearly cannot be in a position to learn unless they experience love, care, safety, routine, predictability and structure. Could the subcommittee look at the establishment of these nurture rooms in the DEIS Plus context?
The February figures for homelessness showed that 5,653 children are without a home. Child homelessness has deep and lasting impacts on children's lives and well-being. It is associated with childhood poverty. The tenant in situ scheme was a key measure brought in by Government that sought to address the root causes of child and family homelessness and enable people to stay in their homes as social tenants yet it has simply become ineffective in protecting families and children from homelessness. The Irish Times reported yesterday on a young woman with children aged three months and 18 months who is facing homelessness because of unnecessary restrictions on the tenant in situ scheme. She is on HAP. Her landlord is happy to sell to the council and does not want to see a family made homeless but the home does not qualify as it has not been in HAP for two years. Across the country, many of us are hearing stories of families being excluded from the scheme because of changes that have been made and a smaller allocation for the scheme. On the Taoiseach's watch, child homelessness is at record highs and rising and it is shameful to see this. The tenant in situ scheme was one measure to seek to address and alleviate child homelessness. Will the Taoiseach reconsider the changes that have been made and ensure that families will be protected and that the scheme will become effective to secure people in their homes?
One child living in poverty is one child too many nonetheless we must recognise that major achievements have been made. ECCE, increased child support payments, the free clothing scheme, free school books and the meal allowance have helped to support families in dire need. Points were made by Deputies Bacik and Connolly about child homelessness as being one of the key issues affecting children living in poverty and it must be tackled aggressively. It is an area where Bertie Ahern's slogan applies. A lot has been done generally about child poverty but there is an awful lot more to be done. In tackling the problems of dysfunctional families, drug abuse and substance abuse generally, we need to look at resourcing local communities, family support centres and so on to give them the resources to work locally to support people in dire need.
The Taoiseach will remember that on 4 March I raised in the Chamber the case of 16-year-old Mikey Henry, who suffers with scoliosis. Mikey, along with his parents Penny and Michael and his sisters Clara and Cate, travelled from Mayo to the Dáil last week and while they were here they met the Minister for Health. I want to sincerely thank the health Minister, Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill for taking the time to meet the family but now is the time for action. They want an independent second opinion on his surgical options. His parents are requesting the help of a spinal specialist who deals with specific complex care along with a respiratory expert either in Ireland or abroad to get a full and thorough assessment on whether surgery can be done at this critical stage. Mikey’s consultant appointment in Crumlin hospital has been cancelled for the fourth time. This means he has not seen a consultant since August 2024 and all the while his condition worsens. I ask that the Taoiseach work with the Minister to ensure there is an urgent intervention.
I, too, want to formally send our very best wishes to Deputy Boyd Barrett.
I want to ask what kind of monitoring there is on the well-being of children, particularly disabled and vulnerable children, in our children’s hospitals. Will there be any accountability by successive Ministers for the fact that the HIQA report published today outlines how there was no written approval for springs that were used in children’s bodies yet there was a post-holder for new treatments; no engagement with the ethics committee; poor process and communication; lack of formal multidisciplinary structures; no formal safety checks; no purchase order number for the equipment; a deviation from decontamination procedures; and parents not fully informed of bespoke and experimental procedures? It is not only that but also the unnecessary hip operations that have been carried out on a number of children. Some 561 patients in Temple Street and Cappagh hospitals have been recommended to be recalled. Parents are asking for a statutory inquiry. Nothing less than that is needed. We cannot have another review. There are questions which the Taoiseach and the Ministers with responsibility for health must answer.
On child homelessness and the 4,653 children growing up out of home, I want to mention one such young person. Arash is just 14 years old and has spent the last three months in emergency accommodation with his parents and baby brothers. He is 21 km away from school, with no direct links to it. Arash told me that he is 14 years old and should not have to fight this hard to get his family a proper home. What is the Taoiseach doing to help Arash and his family and the thousands of children like him?
There are a number of questions there. Deputy McAuliffe started on the model that has been developed in the north east, and there is something similar in Ballymun. I have asked my officials to look at broadening that model out to certain areas, as we had before. In previous times, under the former Minister, Pat Carey, or Noel Ahern and others, going back to Pat Rabbitte’s time, the drug task forces were established in about 12 areas across the country. I have seen at first hand the impact of the north east inner city initiatives. They have been quite impactful and effective. I would be interested in progressing through the work in the Department of An Taoiseach and the sustainability of those models. They do not yield results immediately. When we establish these models we should be clear they are there for the long haul as a constant intervention. That is very important.
Deputy Connolly raised the specifics of family homelessness. Family homelessness is a very significant issue in terms of child poverty. It is something we need to focus on very keenly over the coming months, which we will do. I will look at the Galway situation because those figures are quite high. The objective is to get people out of emergency accommodation as quickly as we can. There were about 8,500 more social houses built last year and, on top of that, a couple of thousand more leased or acquired. We have had a higher number of social housing units coming on stream in the past three to four years than we have had since the 1970s. There is an issue, then, with regard to what is happening. The dynamic is changing. There is a complexity to the composition of homelessness today that was not there five or ten years ago - certainly ten years ago. If you look at the raw data at the moment, it does not say anything. Some 50% of those homeless now are either EU or non-EU citizens. There needs to be a greater analysis of why that is happening. I was talking to homeless organisations during the week. There is a need for greater analysis of the trends that are creating a lot of pressures in the homelessness area. No one should be there for two years. They should be exited much quicker than two years.
Deputy Paul Murphy raised an issue which we dealt with during Leaders’ Questions. I believe what happened was fundamentally wrong. I do not believe a public inquiry is the way to do it. I have looked back over the years since 1997. If you look at all the inquiries that have been conducted across the board in different areas, €500 million has been spent on inquiries. The House needs to think about that. People get very annoyed, and rightly so, about individual projects that might cost €1 million of an overrun and they talk about value for money, yet we willingly come in here every week and we say we want an inquiry into different areas. Inevitably, these inquiries last years. They do not give you closure and they do not give victims the closure they want. They cost millions of euro. I do not mean this in any negative way towards the legal profession but there are huge fees involved. We need to ask ourselves honestly the question of whether a public inquiry is now the first course of resort as opposed to being one of last resort. I think HIQA is doing a good job here. Maybe HIQA is the vehicle if there are further issues. We have two other reports to come and we should then look at those three reports in their entirety. We have to look at other mechanisms to get the basic facts surrounding any given situation. It does not necessarily mean a public inquiry that will last years, and, believe me, it will last years. Look at Siteserv. I think Deputy Murphy was in the House at the time. He will recall how there was meant to be ten modules and it took us years to get one. We had Project Eagle. It cost millions. It came out of this House. What did it come up with? It did not see anything untoward at the end after all of that. The institutions that we set up to investigate things must be better and must do their job. Otherwise, what is the point of having GSOC, HIQA, the Health and Safety Authority and various other bodies if we bypass all of them and say we are going for the inquiry or a commission of investigation? At the moment there could be six or seven issues on the agenda in respect of which a Government Minister will be asked to hold an inquiry. I understand where people are coming from – they want answers – but sometimes they are led to believe that the inquiry is the preferred route to an answer. It is not the preferred route, I think, having experienced so many of them leading to such disappointment when they are published and at such enormous cost. There is also an ethical question of whether a lot of those resources should be allocated to the children in need today. Tusla needs more resources. Children with special needs today need resources. Children in poverty need resources. These are fundamental questions that we, as politicians, should take on the responsibility of asking. The funding will not be there for everything. There is prioritisation involved here. There may be an inquiry in 20 years time about the neglect of certain kids under the care of Tusla – I just picked that out; there may not be – or it could be on other matters. These are legitimate. That is all I would say. HIQA, for example, did the report into CervicalCheck, or Dr. Scally did, and did a good job there. It is a good illustration of how there might be other ways of getting to the truth faster and with the victims in mind.
On Deputy Gannon’s question, the Minister for Justice has brought that through Cabinet, Valerie’s law. I hope that with the co-operation of the House we can get that progressed as quickly as possible. I cannot give a timeline on that.
I join with Deputy Ó Murchú in sending best wishes, as I did earlier, to Deputy Boyd Barrett. This is certainly a platform that he enjoyed utilising quite a lot, effectively and with impact, and we wish him well.
Deputy Ó Murchú raised the issue of child poverty, as did others, including Deputy McGreehan.
I would hope that the budget becomes the focal point for dealing with child poverty and children with special needs in terms of income-related decisions. That will mean the targeting of funding to those who need it most. The SILC data is not good in that consistent poverty went up from 4% to 8%, although the overall deprivation index came down a small bit. We have to be prepared to target resources through social protection to children in poverty and children with special needs. As Taoiseach, I am responsible for this unit and intend to co-ordinate that with the Departments of Social Protection, Education and Health to make sure we target our resources, so we make a definitive impact on children in poverty and children with special needs.
Deputy Lahart's was a very good idea on the well-being side. On DEIS Plus, at the moment there are about 1,200 schools under DEIS, covering about 260,000 students. About €180 million of targeted support is allocated annually to the DEIS programme. There is a need to target that more to DEIS Plus in respect of intergenerational trauma and intergenerational poverty, which was spoken about, and the idea of predictability.
In the north-east inner city good work has been done in the early years on multidisciplinary therapy provision, which has helped children enormously in terms of reducing anxiety. As was said, they are then prepared to learn and are in a position to learn once they go into the classroom. That is something we are very keen to do.
Deputy Bacik raised the issue of homelessness. I have dealt with that generally.
The tenant in situ scheme.
There was a need to target that too because it was being used by some local authorities as a catch-all and maybe not targeted at those who were about to become homeless or in danger of becoming homeless.
What is the problem with that?
It was never meant to be a scheme to just buy second-hand properties. The Minister is engaged in refining and targeting that. I will talk to the Minister in respect of that case. It is not that the person was not two years on HAP but that the house was not in HAP for two years----
It was the house.
Again, the idea of being in HAP means you are within the social housing provision and the prospects of homelessness are higher there, so the idea is to target the resources there. I will talk to the Minister in respect of that case and come back to the Deputy.
In response to Deputy Ó Fearghaíl, in fairness, "a lot done, more to do" is correct. There needs to be more focus on what the Deputy described as dysfunctional families and the multidisciplinary teams I spoke about earlier in the north-east inner city. Those are very effective ways and I would like to see DEIS Plus look at that. We are doing the idea of multidisciplinary teams in special schools. When we roll out DEIS Plus, I would like to see it applied there as well. We would get significant outcomes.
In response to Deputy Conway-Walsh, I will talk to the Minister in respect of Mikey Henry. The Deputy spoke to me last week about that case. As I said to her last week, I think a second opinion should be facilitated and if it is necessary to go to the States or elsewhere - I think there was another case-----
Yes, or London.
Whatever, we should do so. They regularly do refer people to London.
There are blocks.
In response to Deputy Coppinger, I have dealt with the public inquiry. I have views on that. I think there might be better ways of getting to it. Again, we will assess it fully when we have the other two reports - the one on dysplasia and the Nayagam report, which is the overarching report. When we have both of those with this report, we can progress it.
I have answered Deputy Cian O'Callaghan's question.
Cabinet Committees
Ruairí Ó Murchú
Question:17. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on infrastructure will meet next. [15161/25]
Peter 'Chap' Cleere
Question:18. Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee dealing with transport will meet next. [5905/25]
Cathal Crowe
Question:19. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee dealing with transport will meet next. [6492/25]
Aisling Dempsey
Question:20. Deputy Aisling Dempsey asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee dealing with transport will meet next. [6495/25]
Ryan O'Meara
Question:21. Deputy Ryan O'Meara asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee dealing with transport will meet next. [6719/25]
James O'Connor
Question:22. Deputy James O'Connor asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on infrastructure will meet next. [8515/25]
Shay Brennan
Question:23. Deputy Shay Brennan asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee that deals with transport will meet next. [9483/25]
Richard Boyd Barrett
Question:24. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee dealing with transport will meet next. [12376/25]
Paul Murphy
Question:25. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee dealing with transport will meet next. [12379/25]
Ruth Coppinger
Question:26. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee dealing with transport will meet next. [13703/25]
Emer Currie
Question:27. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee dealing with transport will meet next. [13707/25]
James Geoghegan
Question:28. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on infrastructure will meet next. [13795/25]
Emer Currie
Question:29. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee dealing with transport will meet next. [13709/25]
Séamus McGrath
Question:30. Deputy Séamus McGrath asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on infrastructure will next meet. [13972/25]
Rose Conway-Walsh
Question:31. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on infrastructure will next meet. [14195/25]
James Geoghegan
Question:32. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on infrastructure will meet next. [15528/25]
James Geoghegan
Question:33. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee dealing with transport will meet next. [15529/25]
Cian O'Callaghan
Question:34. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on infrastructure will next meet. [17122/25]
Emer Currie
Question:35. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee for transport will meet next. [17217/25]
Emer Currie
Question:36. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on infrastructure will next meet. [17218/25]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 17 to 36, inclusive, together.
The first meeting of the new Cabinet committee on infrastructure took place on Monday, 24 March, and the next one will take place on Monday, 28 April. Membership of the Cabinet committee consists of the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence, Minister for Finance, Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform, Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, and for Transport, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment and Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. Note the long titles of all Ministries. With the constitutional prohibition, we are not expecting any more but there is a lot of activity being covered by individual Ministries. That is just on reflection.
The committee will oversee programme for Government commitments in relation to infrastructure delivery and reflects the importance this Government is placing on the delivery of infrastructure as the key enabler for regional development, economic development, delivering on our housing commitments, meeting social needs and meeting our climate objectives. A significant measure is the establishment of a dedicated infrastructure division in the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform. This new division will work with stakeholders on strategic project selection and prioritisation, aligned with national priorities and making maximum use of resources. It will develop a sustainable pipeline of projects to support delivery of the ambition under the national development plan. The new division will provide oversight, co-ordination and expertise across Government to remove barriers, break down silos and ensure infrastructure projects are delivered on time and on budget.
One of the first tasks of the Cabinet committee is the oversight of the review process for the national development plan, which is now under way and will be completed by the summer. The review will focus on major projects to meet our overall priorities, namely housing provision, energy, water, transport and health digitalisation, ensuing we are investing in programmes which will truly support economic and social development. The committee will also oversee the progress of large and strategic projects in these priority areas, such as MetroLink and the various road and other active travel projects, many of which are well under way across the country.
While large-scale transport infrastructure will be overseen by the infrastructure Cabinet committee, transport issues may also arise in other Cabinet committees, given their relevance to various policy areas, for example, the economy and climate action. Formal decisions in relation to infrastructure issues will, of course, continue to be made at full Government meetings.
Many of us have brought up the infrastructural deficits we are talking about here, namely housing, Uisce Éireann, the electricity grid and communications. The recent Storm Éowyn showed serious pressures and the need to deal with this. Housing is just a crisis that has, in no way, improved for those who are impacted.
We also know we are under severe pressure in respect of Donald Trump and tariffs. While we need to have cool heads, we do not exactly know how this will go. I want to give some details of a constituent with a business in the medical devices sector and the impacts tariffs are already having, although I will not name the company. The business is a provider of specialist precision manufacturing in the medical devices industry. It describes itself as a world-class operation competing at the highest level with companies across the globe. As it works on a global level, it is heavily reliant on international customer and supply chains. It has described losing a number of orders from US customers and is afraid of further knock-on. This is a grave risk to employment at the company. The main concern with the impact on employment is that its staff are highly trained and it has taken the company many years and significant investment to bring them to that level. If they are lost, regaining that expertise will be near impossible. The company is asking for immediate measures to be put in place by the Government to support staff who are put at risk due to the imposition of tariffs by the US Administration.
The urgency of the matter cannot be overstressed. Cancellation of orders by the company's customers has already been decided and implemented. It is afraid of what is to come and is sure this is happening to many other companies. While we do not know exactly where this will go, we know it will have to end in an engagement with the American Administration. As was done in Covid, we need to make sure we maintain companies like this, which have a really good business model and have done a significant amount of vital work in the past. We must ensure that the company and its workers have a future.
All development indicators, such as population, jobs and infrastructure, show Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick cities developing at a much faster rate than Kilkenny, Waterford, Carlow and the south-east region. If we continue to focus on growth in and around Dublin without addressing the specific development challenges facing other regions, such as the economic underperformance of the south east, this will have negative consequences that could further add to growth pressure in the wider Dublin region and inhibit more peripheral parts of Ireland, like my own constituency of Carlow-Kilkenny, from realising their full potential. We need to improve accessibility between centres of scale along key east-west and north-south routes. Belview Port, for example, is a significant piece of national infrastructure based in south Kilkenny. It will not realise its full potential without improved east-west connectivity.
There is a commitment in the programme for Government to invest in all road projects in the current national development plan, with multi-annual funding clarity for road budgets so that agencies can plan accordingly. The N24 Waterford to Cahir project is listed in the NDP and, therefore, will be funded under the programme for Government. I require an assurance from the Government as to when the project will be funded and how quickly we can get it over the line.
I raise the regional airports fund. This programme has been run by the Government for the past number of years. The current regional airports programme runs from 2021 and expires this year. The Government has reviewed it. The programme benefits airports which have fewer than 1 million passengers per annum. Shannon and Cork airports became beneficiaries during the Covid years when the numbers travelling through those airports dropped significantly. The ask of these airports, particularly Shannon Airport in my constituency, is that the Government raise the 1 million passenger cap. This is possible under state aid rules and increasing it would allow Shannon and Cork airports to have a regular and steady income stream each year. This would allow them to improve airport infrastructure.
Dublin Airport currently has a dominant position, accounting for 91% of all inbound and outbound air traffic. This means Cork, Shannon and Knock airports have to grapple and fight it out for the remaining 9%. If the Government is going to raise the airport passenger cap for Dublin, a little bit more could be done for the regional airports. I would love to see the regional airports fund cap raised. As I said, this is in the gift of the Government and it would hugely-----
How high?
I believe a cap of between 2.5 million and 3 million passengers per annum would be within state aid rules. It would also allow those airports to grow and compete more effectively for market share. It is in the gift of the Government to do that. The new programme begins in 2026. I would love to see those airports grow. I do not see why we should allow Dublin to grow to the detriment of other airports. That the national airport should have such dominance - 91% - over other airports is extraordinary among EU member states.
While we call it a regional airports programme, we take pride in Shannon Airport not being a regional airport. It is an international airport of the highest calibre.
Navan rail line is firmly on the agenda of this Government and is of great importance to the people I represent, not just in Navan but to the entire constituency of Meath West. Meath has the highest number of commuters leaving the county every morning.
We are halfway through year one of two years of design, route selection and public consultation. This means we will not get the project into the planning system until 2027, with construction and delivery not planned until between 2030 and 2035, which is a decade away. Why are three years needed for planning? Is there anything that can or will be done to ensure this vital project is delivered as soon as possible?
Thurles is being strangled by traffic. There is a glaring and immediate need for the inner relief road to progress. The Taoiseach visited the area previously and I was with him at the Slievenamon Road side of the proposed inner relief road, which will link the N62 at the Slievenamon Road to the Mill Road. All the lands are now in place since the Taoiseach last visited and funding is in place for detailed design. I call for the funding for this road to be prioritised and for a sense of urgency regarding its development. It is in the national development plan but we need to see it delivered, from a road safety point of view but also regarding congestion. Thurles, the number one town in north Tipperary, has been strangled by traffic and the people of the town are crying out for this road.
I raise with the Taoiseach the issue of energy security ahead of the infrastructure meeting. I want to bring forward the idea that Ireland follow suit and join other countries in the EU which use nuclear technology as part of their energy production. Ireland has the highest non-residential electricity prices in the European Union as of 2024, according to Eurostat. Finland has the cheapest because between 35% and 40% of its energy comes from nuclear power. Should we not look at nuclear as a solution instead of focusing on solar, which, unfortunately is taking up huge amounts of good agricultural land in my constituency? To paraphrase the Taoiseach's words on the last day we discussed this issue in the Chamber, we talked then about the transition from the 40 shades of green in Cork East to 50 shades of grey. Local people are not happy about the visual impact visually and the vast amounts of land being transitioned to solar energy. I would appreciate if the Taoiseach would comment on this issue.
Given the Luas Green Line between St. Stephen's Green and Sandyford was originally designed to allow for a future upgrade to metro standard, and with MetroLink tunnelling provisions already in place to Charlemont, can the Taoiseach confirm if and when it is planned to proceed with the full metro upgrades southwards to Sandyford, considering its long-term necessity for capacity demands and, in particular, the significant cost-saving advantages of doing this at the same time as the MetroLink work?
Just last week, a plane from Lufthansa flew through Irish airspace carrying about a tonne of munitions to Israel to be used in the horrific genocide in Gaza. I watched a video just yesterday on social media of a beheaded baby in Gaza. Tens of tonnes of munitions have passed through Irish airspace on their way to Israel to murder innocent people. This is not legal. Unless these flights have exemptions, and I understand these flights do not have exemptions, they are not allowed to do it. There seems to be no consequences whatsoever for major commercial carriers like Lufthansa flying weapons through Irish airspace without an exemption.
Before the last election, the then Government sounded very concerned about all of this. It said it would act and there was talk of legislation to enable random checks on planes. As with the occupied territories Bill, nothing has happened. Last week, Independent Senators introduced a Private Members' Bill to try to force the Government to act and the Minister for Transport claimed that there was a genuine concern about how this legislation could actually be implemented. The Ditch is publishing the receipts for these flights. Why does the Taoiseach not announce that any airlines found to be carrying munitions through Irish airspace to Israel during the genocide will have their operating licences revoked or is the Government going to continue to deepen its complicity in genocide by allowing these flights to go through and Israeli war bonds to be authorised by the Irish Central Bank?
It is important to mark a situation where the right to travel of all citizens no longer exists. Trans and non-binary people were issued with a warning in the past ten days from the authorities in Ireland that if travelling to the US, the traveller's biological sex at birth should not differ from the sex on their passport. They were told by the authorities here to contact the US Embassy if they are such a person. We campaigned and voted for marriage equality and, by extension, for trans and non-binary people to have the right to exist in this country. Yet, with Trump's executive orders and the official policy of the US declared to be one of only recognising two genders, we have a situation where people in this country are now fearful to travel to the US and may be turned back from the US. Has that happened to anybody yet? Has anyone been turned back when they reached the US? Has the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste, who is the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, lodged any protest with the authorities in the US over this policy? I do not know if the Taoiseach raised this matter in his discussions with Trump when he met him. A small percentage of our population now live in fear of this and cannot travel to the US.
Our public transport in Dublin West is under serious pressure. Punctuality figures for the 37 bus route over winter and spring last year stood at approximately 60%. I often wonder what employer is okay with staff being punctual just 60% of the time. The National Transport Authority, NTA, admits that we are badly affected by ghost buses. The BusConnects roll-out is now delayed until late 2026 because of a lack of mechanics and drivers and issues around the electrification of bus depots, which I believe warrants more scrutiny. We have active judicial reviews on both our major public transport projects, namely, the BusConnects core bus corridor and the electrification of our rail line through DART+ West. In the meantime, the NTA has stated its priority is to fix capacity issues rather than enhance them because it had a limited budget for new or additional services in 2024. In effect, the NTA wants to run to stand still in an area that never stands still. We have also lost out on additional train carriages which were earmarked for the Maynooth line but, post Covid, were moved to intercity services.
I am not sure whether the previous Minister signed off on this decision or whether it was the NTA alone. My question is whether the work of the new Cabinet committee will hold the NTA to account for delays and its decisions, and ensure sufficient investment, not only in capital projects but also in capacity in the here and now.
A very important infrastructure project is before An Bord Pleanála at present. This is the expansion of Dublin Port. Part of this expansion includes the construction of a new bridge alongside the toll bridge. Part of this bridge will facilitate the extension of the Luas from the Three Arena to Poolbeg via Irishtown and Ringsend. Does the Taoiseach agree it would be common sense that we proceed now with this extension of the Luas to Poolbeg, where 3,500 homes are being built to facilitate a growth of population in the area by 10,000? Connecting the Luas between Ringsend and Irishtown would provide a level of connectivity between the DART and the bus which would make a massive change for the area.
Will the Taoiseach give an update on the interdepartmental group on the Dublin city task force? There is a fear out there that it is being mothballed. Will the Taoiseach allay this fear and give a clear timeline on when the recommendations will be brought to the Government?
I welcome the establishment of the subcommittee on infrastructure. I want to raise the issue of the accessibility of our towns and villages for people with disabilities. I acknowledge a lot of funding has been spent under the active travel heading to improve accessibility but many challenges remain and we need to continually improve this funding. Recently, unfortunately, I heard the story of a wheelchair user who became dismounted and ended up on the footpath because of the poor condition of the footpath. This was in a large town. This is something that is not acceptable to any of us. We need to ensure we have sufficient funding to address these issues. I ask for an improved ring-fenced fund to be set aside under the active travel heading specifically to improve access for those with disability issues and mobility challenges in our towns and villages throughout the country.
In the context of global economic turmoil, investment in infrastructure is very important. In 2021, the national development plan set a target of 5% of GNI* to be invested in capital projects for the period 2021 to 2030. We know this target has not been met in any of the years so far. In 2021, the national development plan was underfunded by almost €1 billion. In 2022, it was underfunded by €2.2 billion, in 2023 by €2.3 billion, and in 2024 by €2.4 billion. Nor have the budgets been adjusted for inflation. This underfunding has led to real implications for infrastructure projects in the State, particularly in County Mayo and throughout the west and north west. We know this from the EU infrastructure investment index, which ranks us in the bottom 7%. The western rail corridor has not yet been reopened. There is no rail connectivity to Ireland West Airport Knock. The Government has failed to increase grid infrastructure to harness the potential of renewable wind energy on the western seaboard. Water and sewerage treatment plants, such as the one in the town of Newport, have not been delivered. The lack of housing is seriously impacting our competitiveness. Has the Taoiseach identified the shovel-ready projects that can protect us in the turmoil we are experiencing and maintain our competitiveness for foreign direct investment and real sustainable growth in our country?
Quite a number of issues have been raised. Deputy Ó Murchú started with housing, Uisce Éireann and the medical device sector. In the past week, I have spoken to a number of CEOs in the medical device sector as well as in the pharmaceutical sector about the challenges that are arising. The discussion was more on the medium-term and longer term impacts of the tariffs and other non-tariff initiatives that might yet be taken by the US Administration. One would hope the complexity of the supply chains and their integrated nature may force either a rethink or at least greater reflection in terms of measures that might or might not be announced.
Through IDA Ireland we are monitoring and keeping in touch with every company in terms of how things are operationally impacting on them. It is early yet to draw definitive conclusions. The medical device sector is probably in a different situation to the pharmaceutical sector. We are very conscious of this. Ireland represents a large footprint of medical devices in Europe. It is a significant sector in Ireland. In European terms we are the biggest location for medical devices. As I said earlier on Leaders' Questions, anything we do must be done in a financially sustainable way also. We are conscious of the risk to employment.
I agree with Deputy Cleere on the need to weigh investment in favour of the south east and Kilkenny, Waterford, Wexford and Carlow. We will continue to do so. A lot of progress has been made. Kilkenny is a very attractive city. On tourism it has gone ahead of others because of its attractiveness. It will continue to require investment. Deputy Cleere specifically asked that access to Belview Port, east-west connectivity and the N24 be prioritised. I will certainly feed that into the process of the NDP review.
Deputy Cathal Crowe has been a constant advocate for Shannon Airport, to his credit. I remember at the time a decision had to be taken to bring Cork and Shannon airports into the regional airports because of Covid. Ordinarily they were never in that group. Now they are in it people are asking that they be kept in it. We will have to weigh that up. Both airports have grown very well in recent years. The problem with the growth of airports generally is that the airlines tend to decide. There is still the preponderance of airlines drawn like magnets into the Dublin area. What the Government is about really is raising all airports. Dublin Airport will be key for the national economy. Cork and Shannon airports will be key for the national economy and for the regions and getting real investment into them. The airport in Knock should never have been built if we were to believe economists, the then Opposition and everybody else. It has more than survived to tell the tale. It has also grown and the Government has been consistently supportive in different ways of Shannon Airport. I will come back to Deputy Crowe and I will speak to the Minister for Transport about his proposal.
Deputy Dempsey spoke about the Navan railway line. It is great news that we have got it sanctioned. Now that is old news and the next question is asking to accelerate it and expedite it. There has to be proper design. Again, we will do everything we can. It is a key piece of infrastructure. The whole issue with infrastructure is delivery and speed. People come in and raise this issue, that project or the other project. There are issues with delayed planning and all of that.
I have been to Thurles. Thurles needs the bypass. To respond to Deputy O'Meara, we will try to feed that into the NDP. It is being funded at design stage. All of this has to happen. We have to make sure it gets completed. Without it, Thurles will be a bottleneck. A lot of good things have been happening in Thurles in recent years. The education campus has been groundbreaking, I would suggest, in terms of third level students in Thurles. We need a traffic solution there, not least to facilitate Cork on our next visit with all those supporters behind us. The long queues would be a thing of the past if we had a bypass.
Deputy O'Connor raised an interesting point. Forfás did a study 15 or 20 years ago on nuclear technology and felt it would be too expensive at the time. There is now mini nuclear reactor technology. I was in Texas prior to going to Washington during St. Patrick's week. What is interesting is that everybody associates Texas with fossil fuels but it also has nuclear, wind, solar and battery storage. It is doing all five to facilitate participation in AI and what it considers to be the revolution in AI and the energy implications of all of that. I would not say "No" to what Deputy O'Connor said but there are significant expenditure considerations and work to be done on it. Solar is growing fast in Ireland. The issue, which Deputy O'Connor has raised with me, is a planning issue. This is something we need to look at collectively. People have a constitutional right to sell their land. On the other hand, it should be a function of planning as to what goes where in terms of various activities, I would have thought. We will continue to engage on this issue in terms of the growing number of farms converting to solar and the long-term implications of this.
Solar is an important source and we put our eggs in the renewable basket, particularly offshore wind. We have done very well on onshore wind over the past three decades. Ireland is a leader in European on onshore wind. The challenge is to become a leader on offshore wind as well, which I think would change the story significantly. I will come back to the Deputy about how we can best progress an examination, without prejudice, into whether it is a viable option. It is interesting that there was a lot of opposition to nuclear in the past. It turns out it was far cleaner than fossil fuels. There were never big protests about fossil fuels. We just accepted it, and now look-----
We were battered off the roads in Rossport.
With fossil fuels 20 to 25 years ago, there was no Carnsore Point for fossil fuels.
There was Rossport.
That was a different kettle of fish.
We are 11 minutes over time.
It is an interesting point. It ends up that fossil fuels are one of the reasons we are where we are with climate change. Anyway, that is a philosophical point but that is where we are.
Deputy Shay Brennan is revisiting the great work his dad did, and he now wants to bring the metro to Sandyford, with his dad having done the initial work. Fair play. It is at the design stage and there is a lot of work yet to be done on the metro. It will probably take up huge amounts of national development plan funding. I will have to do a deeper examination of that and come back to him on it, but I hear him.
Deputy Paul Murphy raised the overflights. I will speak to the Minister for Transport about this latest report of Lufthansa. There is an issue if people are doing it. They should seek permission. They would not have been given permission. They can circumvent Ireland's airspace if they so wish, and they should. They should not be going through Irish airspace if they are carrying munitions. I will talk to the Minister in respect of what we can do. We cannot inspect planes going overhead, but nonetheless that is not a practice we want to see continued.
In respect of Deputy Coppinger and having raised it with the US Administration, I think there is a duty on the Department of Foreign Affairs to alert people to the potential challenges they may encounter. It is something we do not agree with and have concerns about, but there has been a general election in the United States. These issues have been debated at length there. So far in Ireland there has been, and correctly so, a tolerant, proper, informed and mature debate. We do not want to enter into the kinds of culture wars that are going on elsewhere.
I turn to Deputy Currie. I will follow that up with the NTA, which will be held to account by the committee. I anticipate the NTA will come before the committee at some stage. To Deputy Geoghegan, I will examine that proposal about the connection between Ringsend and Poolbeg.
It is the Dublin city task force.
That is being worked on. It has not been mothballed or anything like that. It is being progressed and we will come back to him on that.
Deputy Seamus McGrath made an excellent point about new active travel facilities. The facilitation of participation by people with disabilities should be built into public infrastructure, full stop. We were both at the opening of the marina promenade in Cork last week. It is an excellent active travel initiative and we saw bicycles for all and people with disabilities in a position to use that from day one. That is the kind of thing we want to see built into all active travel projects in the country.
I think that is it. I apologise, Deputy Conway-Walsh raised the western rail corridor. Those issues are coming within the national development plan. In the early years, I think during Covid, some plans were not advanced enough to get to the 5%. With some spending in the first year or two of the last Government, there was an underspend in what was provided for in capital. We now have the opposite. My understanding is that the next NDP will be 5% GNI*.