Gerry Adams
Question:13. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Taoiseach the plans he has to review the progress made with the implementation of the Programme for Government. [41492/12]
View answerTuesday, 6 November 2012
Questions (13, 14, 15, 16)
Joe Higgins
Question:14. Deputy Joe Higgins asked the Taoiseach the steps he will take to review the progress of the implementation of the Programme for Government. [44570/12]
View answerGerry Adams
Question:15. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Taoiseach his plans to publish a progress report on the implementation of the Programme for Government. [47410/12]
View answer
Micheál Martin
Question:16. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Taoiseach the number of his staff that are allocated to the Programme for Government Office in his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48016/12]
View answerOral answers (20 contributions)
I propose to take together Questions Nos. 13 to 16, inclusive.
Last March, the Tánaiste and I launched the Programme for Government Annual Progress Report 2012 which set out the Government’s work and achievements in its first year in office. It is my intention to publish a second progress report next March, which will review progress made by Government during its second year.
Earlier this year all Departments published their strategy statements for the period 2011 to 2014. These demonstrate that every Department is clear on which commitments it has responsibility for and is fully focused on working towards delivering them in turn.
The programme for Government office established in my Department is fully engaged with all Departments in monitoring progress on all the commitments contained in the programme. The office comprises three staff together with an intern from the JobBridge programme.
The programme for Government 2011-2016 is a five year plan. The pace of delivery will vary for each commitment. Many commitments have already been delivered in full and there are others where substantial work is under way. Some will take longer and will be implemented over the lifetime of the Government. While there remains much to be done, I am satisfied that good progress is being made and there will be much to report on next March.
I welcome the fact that a progress report will be made in March. However, if we take stock here, we have dealt with mortgage distress and education but the two big issues affecting people are health and jobs. The Taoiseach promised universal health insurance with equal access to care for all. A White Paper was to be published in the Government's first term. An implementation group was established in February but there does not seem to have been much progress since then. We still do not have legislation for free GP care for those with a long-term illness. A particularly sensitive and urgent issue, given the news about suicide, is the fact that the Government promised to ring-fence €35 million for mental health and 414 new posts but the money was not ring-fenced and the 414 posts have not been delivered. The Taoiseach also promised additional funding for the elderly and to provide more home care packages and residential places. Instead 1 million home health hours have been sliced and 900 beds in public nursing homes are being closed. I could go on but I am conscious of the time restraints.
The programme for Government rightly identified jobs as one of the major challenges facing the Government. Earlier the Taoiseach spoke about us being praised for the progress we have made, but 500,000 people are unemployed. The first annual review last March trumpeted progress made in the jobs crisis such as the establishment of NewERA and the strategic investment fund, but after 18 months in office the Government still has not introduced legislation to put NewERA, whatever its merits or demerits, on a statutory footing. A year after the strategic investment fund was announced we still do not have legislation to give effect to it. Despite what Sinn Féin has constantly said, the Government has not brought forward a stimulus package. We have nowhere near the 60,000 additional education and training places promised in the programme for Government.
In the progress report will the Taoiseach bring forward a specific focused report on health? Do the commitments in the programme for Government on jobs still stand? When will legislation be brought forward on NewERA and the strategic investment fund? When will the 60,000 promised education and training places be delivered?
This is a five-year programme and we are just over 18 months into the lifetime of the Government.
The proposal to introduce universal health insurance is a specific commitment of the Government to be delivered towards the end of the first term of its life. Page 43 states:
In the first term of this Government, the foundations will be laid for the introduction of Universal Hospital Care Insurance:
- The legislative basis for UHI will be enacted.
- Public hospitals will be given autonomy from the HSE.
- The HSE's function of purchasing care for uninsured patients will be given to a Hospital Care Purchase Agency which will combine with the National
Treatment Purchase Fund to purchase care for the uninsured over this transition period.
That was never going to be introduced in the first 18 months of this Administration. It is a commitment that will be carried through but it will not be realised until the back end of the lifetime of this Administration.
This is the first occasion on which any Government has ring-fenced money for mental health services. Specific responsibility has been given to the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, in this area, and she is doing a superb job. Recruitment is in train and the successful candidates will take up positions next year. Clearly, the tragedy of suicide is very close to the Minister of State's heart. She is working very hard with the relevant groups and voluntary organisations throughout the country.
The work on legislation for NewERA is ongoing. The Government announced a stimulus fund of €2.5 billion in respect of the public-private partnership system, covering transport, schools, health, justice and the major development at the Grangegorman campus in Dublin Central. Deputy Adams is aware that PPPs normally take 15 to 18 months to get up and running. There is quite a deal of administrative material to go through before they become a reality. I expect there may be developments on some of the major routes around the country that are ready to proceed in so far as tenders have been received and contracts awarded.
The programme for Government is a five year programme overseen by my Department. As of the end of September, 111 of the 620 commitments in the programme have been honoured, substantial progress has been made on 144, there is ongoing implementation in the case of 37, some progress has been made on 220, and action is required on a further 108. Some of the commitments that have been dealt with include the opening of the new cystic fibrosis unit at St Vincent's Hospital, which was long-awaited and much required. The report of the forum on patronage and pluralism in the primary sector, which is of interest to parents throughout the country, has been completed. Other commitments that have been dealt with include the development of the national intellectual property protocol, the publication of the national carer's strategy, the register of residential property prices, which is of interest to everybody, and the report of the commission on credit unions.
There are other commitments in respect of which an end is almost in sight. In this regard, I hope the children's rights referendum will be piloted through successfully by the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs on Saturday. I hope as many people as possible vote "Yes". The highly complex personal insolvency legislation is to be enacted. Other commitments include the review of the White Paper on Irish Aid, the enactment of legislation to protect small building subcontractors, which matter was raised in the House on many occasions, the establishment of the shared HR service for the Civil Service and making high-speed broadband more accessible. The Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Rabbitte, is overseeing the last commitment in respect of more than 200 schools nationwide. These are the figures.
Next March, we hope to have a further progress report. At today's Cabinet meeting, I advised every Minister that while they will be very busy between now and the end of the year, and even busier in the first six months of next year, I expect them to delegate responsibility through their Secretaries General and senior public servants to ensure the commitments for which they are responsible will be worked upon in order that we will be able to make available a further progress report next March. The report can be debated in the House.
Does the Taoiseach agree that when he reviews the progress made on the implementation of the programme for Government, he will have to acknowledge that, unfortunately, any job strategy he envisaged has been a spectacular failure? What is his view on the fact that there are 33,000 fewer jobs now than at the end of last year, some 87,000 have emigrated in the past 12 months, the highest figure since the 1800s, and the unemployment rate is 15.1% according to EUROSTAT? Does the Taoiseach agree, therefore, that a very serious review is needed and that it should conclude that the policies of bailout and austerity must be jettisoned in favour of a different and completely radical policy of public investment to lead to job creation? Can the Taoiseach not see that continuing with the policies of the previous Government represents a disastrous failure for our people? It is not a question of reading out a list of algebraic details on what has been done but a question of the lives and quality of life of the people and the future for young people. On these grounds, a complete change of policy is called for. Does the Taoiseach not realise this?
I do not accept that at all. In the past 12 months, more than 17,000 jobs have been created in the private sector. While a live register figure of more than 430,000, including those working part-time, is much too high, the Deputy will acknowledge that there has been a change in the order of 12,500 every month on the live register since the beginning of the year. This demonstrates the movement within the labour market. Unfortunately, the people in question are replaced by others, which is not satisfactory. The Government introduced a levy to allow for a reduction in VAT in the hospitality sector, resulting in the creation of 7,000 jobs there. Many hoteliers have informed me that they have had the best year for many years because they have changed their programmes and have produced real opportunities for customers to avail of bargains. Our approach is the reason we managed to have the troika's memorandum of understanding changed to exempt 330,000 from the requirement to pay the universal social charge. It is why almost 10,000 jobs have been created under the JobBridge scheme, which is one of the best of its kind in Europe. It is driven by the private sector, working together with the Department of Social Protection. We introduced the partial loan credit guarantee scheme for small and medium-sized enterprises and the microfinance agency for very small operators, and we pay the PRSI for employers who take on a person who is on the dole. Our approach makes it easier for employers to take on staff for short-term work - at Christmas, for example - without those staff losing their existing benefits or medical cards. One can return seamlessly to availing of social protection when the short-term contract has expired.
We continue to work with the relevant agencies on drafting legislation for NewERA. The potential to sell some State assets is being assessed with a view to having sustainable employment. In dealing with social protection fraud, we expect that, by the end of next year, 600,000 biometric cards will have been produced to end the perception that every person who is, unfortunately, in receipt of social protection is engaged in some sort of scam. The majority of people I know who are on social protection want to work. The Government must emphasise this in order to cut out the red tape and administration and make it easier for employers to take on new employees. The new Intreo service, which I had the privilege of launching with the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton, in Sligo recently, means those on social protection will not just be treated as statistics drawing money. They will have an opportunity to contribute and follow a career and lifestyle. They will have an opportunity to change direction and get a job.
Austerity is failing the domestic economy.
It is a question of providing education for employment, not just education for education's sake.
I do not accept the Deputy's argument at all. On the contrary, the entire focus of the Government has been to shift away from the type of picture he paints.
I welcome the Taoiseach's promise to publish a review in March. I hope it will be deserving of classification in the non-fiction category of our bookshelves. The Government rightly gave a strong commitment in the programme for Government in the area of education, including a commitment to protect and enhance the educational experience of children. In the aftermath of that declaration, the Taoiseach cannot deny that there have been several occasions of considerable disappointment in this regard. The first was when the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairí Quinn, broke his written pledge to third level students in regard to fees. On the next occasion, funding to schools under the Delivering Equality of Opportunities in Schools, DEIS, programme was brought into question. Special needs assistants then found themselves coming under challenge and, in addition, the guidance counsel system across the country was at least undermined if not in fact decimated. The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs is very conscious of the critical role guidance counsellors play in our schools, particularly in light of the tragic deaths in recent weeks of very young teenagers as a result of cyberbullying. There was never a greater need for funding to be concentrated in this area.
Another issue of concern in the area of education relates to the processing of third level grant applications, with students throughout the country arriving at politicians' constituency clinics to report delays. We wish the new Student Universal Support Ireland, SUSI, service well. I am sure it will work effectively in the future but, in the meantime, 48,000 of the 66,000 students who applied for a grant are still awaiting a decision. In accordance with the commitments given in the programme for Government, does the Taoiseach envisage additional resources being allocated to the processing system as a matter of urgency? Students should not have to wait until the end of this year to receive their grant. Some will be forced to drop out of third level education, where we all want them to remain, because the funding that is so essential to them is not forthcoming.
The Taoiseach indicated that some of the commitments in the programme for Government will not be dealt with until the end of what he described as the Government's "first term". That was interesting, fair play to him. While it might be fair enough in normal times to put some issues back over the four or five-year term of a Government, these are not normal times. There are priorities to deal with, some of which I have itemised. I asked the Taoiseach if he will bring forward a progress report on the health sector. It is the one sector that affects every single family in this State.
I endorse the Taoiseach's call for people to vote "Yes" in the referendum on children. I have, however, two concerns arising from my own experience of canvassing on the issue. It is clear that some people will vote "No" because they justifiably do not have any trust in the way the State is treating and has treated children. While I acknowledge that reality, I applaud the work of the Minister in seeking to change it.
The Deputy is straying from the questions we are discussing.
The other concern is that some people will vote "No" because they want to give the Government a black eye. I take this opportunity to appeal to those voters not to do so.
On the Deputy's last point, I thank all the Members of the House, with the exception of one, for their support for the referendum on children.
Who is the Member who does not support it?
This is a separate matter from any difficulties we might have in terms of political views on the economy or anything else. I recently met a young woman in Blanchardstown who spoke with courage and passion about the defilement of her body, mind and soul by her swimming coach. Her courage and strength was so far-reaching that nobody who heard her, irrespective of their political views and how we in this House might differ, could vote against a referendum that provides protection and a recognition of responsibility and rights for children. I hope people will get out and vote, having taken the opportunity to reflect on the information given to them by the independent referendum commission and all of the political parties and Members - all but one of them, I understand - who support the referendum proposal.
Come on, Taoiseach, who is this person?
The amendment will insert a specific article in Bunreacht na hÉireann setting out a new standard for this country whereby children will be both seen and heard and where their rights and their protection will be vindicated by the State. However, neither I, Deputy Adams nor the Minister can make that change to the Constitution. It is the people's Constitution and I hope they take that decision strongly on Saturday.
In the area of health, the programme for Government, from items 321 down to 410, sets out a range of issues that must be dealt with. The Department of Health, which is now under the leadership of the Minister, Deputy James Reilly, and the Ministers of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch and Alex White, was a jungle for many years, with no clarity as to where the whole process was headed. We are now, at least, getting clarity in a number of areas-----
Not in regard to primary care centres.
-----which will, in turn, lead to great change for the benefit of the people of this island, old and young, as we move towards introducing universal health insurance. I recognise that health is an issue which causes great difficulties, in any country, for Ministers. We hope to do the very best we can, working with everybody and in the interests of everybody, before the progress report in March, which will include a special section on health.
Will the Taoiseach name the person who opposes the referendum?
I heard a comment about it, but I cannot say for sure.
Written Answers follow Adjournment.