Bernard Durkan
Question:1. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on Social Affairs and Public Services will meet next. [52551/23]
View answerTuesday, 12 December 2023
Questions (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
Paul McAuliffe
Question:2. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on Social Affairs and Public Service will next meet. [53903/23]
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Pádraig O'Sullivan
Question:3. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on Social Affairs and Public Service will next meet. [53904/23]
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Ruairí Ó Murchú
Question:4. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on Social Affairs and Public Services will meet next. [55079/23]
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Jennifer Murnane O'Connor
Question:5. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on Social Affairs and Public Services will next meet. [55088/23]
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John Lahart
Question:6. Deputy John Lahart asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on Social Affairs and Public Services will next meet. [55089/23]
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Richard Boyd Barrett
Question:7. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on Social Affairs and Public Services will next meet. [55112/23]
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Paul Murphy
Question:8. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on Social Affairs and Public Services will next meet. [55115/23]
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Peadar Tóibín
Question:9. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on Social Affairs and Public Services will next meet. [55132/23]
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Mary Lou McDonald
Question:10. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on Social Affairs and Public Services will next meet. [55162/23]
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Mick Barry
Question:11. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on Social Affairs and Public Services will meet next. [55230/23]
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Cian O'Callaghan
Question:12. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on Social Affairs and Public Service will next meet. [55338/23]
View answerJohn Lahart
Question:13. Deputy John Lahart asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on Social Affairs and Public Services will next meet. [55383/23]
View answerOral answers (14 contributions)
I propose to take Questions Nos 1 to 13, inclusive, together.
The Cabinet committee on social affairs and public services oversees implementation of programme for Government commitments in the areas of social policy and public services. The committee covers a range of topics, including immigration and integration, with a particular focus on equality and public service reform. Other topics covered by the committee include sport, social protection, arts and culture, justice issues such as policing reform, community safety, and domestic sexual and gender-based violence.
The committee has met on six occasions this year to discuss the proposed referendums and has considered detailed policy papers prepared by the inter-departmental group and incorporating extensive legal advice provided by the Office of the Attorney General.
The Cabinet committee on social affairs and public services last met on 20 November and will continue to meet in the period ahead. In addition to meetings of the Cabinet committee, I have regular engagements with Ministers at Cabinet and individually to discuss issues relating to their Departments.
I ask the Taoiseach to outline the extent to which discussions took place on the most serious social issues facing the country at the present time such as homelessness, people sleeping rough, and addiction of various forms and to what extent it was possible to identify the means of addressing these particular issues in early date as we approach the season of Christmas.
I would like to raise the issue of the humanitarian assistance fund. Glanmire was one of the areas that was worst affected by flooding in the last number of weeks. In my opinion we need to be better prepared for future instances in terms of how we deal with people after such events. It must be said that the welfare officers working in east Cork and Cork city have been phenomenal and very giving of their time to people. However, given the gravity and impact of the flooding events in Cork city and east Cork, the sheer volume of cases they have had to deal with has been very difficult. An awful lot of people would require one-to-one help with filling out what are quite extensive forms. We need to update the whole application process for future flooding events and to increase staffing levels. All resources necessary should be diverted at such times on an emergency basis.
I raised previously the issue of the 93-year-old woman in Dundalk who suffered an injury at home on 10 November. Her son called an ambulance but she had to wait from 5.20.p.m. until an ambulance crew saw her at 9.05 p.m. In fairness, having brought this up, an apology has been given to the woman but the answer I got back on this matter is insufficient. I will be writing to the Taoiseach and have already written to the HSE about this because I got no answers on how many crews and vehicles were operating that day and whether we have a system that is fit for purpose and which can provide the ambulance service that is required by our people.
Like previous speakers, I am concerned about a number of matters in the context of Christmas coming. I want to wish everyone a happy Christmas. There are many families who find this time of year very hard. In my own area of Carlow the staff in the social welfare office do a great job but I firmly believe the office needs more staff. The issue that is raised with me every day is that when people ring the office the staff will send out a form but there is no communication. As I said, the staff are doing a great job but we need to look at staffing there. Hand on heart, we need to look at the reduction in services provided by citizen's information offices. There are people out there who need to get forms, to get help with filling out forms, and who need more information. Could that be addressed?
An older lady rang me today. She was delighted that she had a medical card. I am raising this while the Taoiseach is here. She was delighted that her medical card meant that she would not have to pay but she went for an eye test for her driving licence and was charged for it. There is so much misinformation and I ask the Taoiseach to look at that.
I want to try to explain the cost-rental scheme to the Taoiseach again. I know it is a bit technical but it is a Government scheme. The point about cost-rental housing is that it is supposed to be for people who are above the social housing income threshold but below €66,000 in net income. However, as well as the income criterion there is an affordability criterion which means the rent must be no more than 35% of a person's income. People have to meet those two criteria. I have two examples, but it involves thousands of people most likely,one of a person earning €42,000 and the other of a person earning €46,000, both of whom are eligible on income grounds but not on affordability grounds because the rent is being set at a level that is higher 35% of their income. That means there is no scheme for them. This potentially affects thousands of workers, precisely those for whom the scheme is supposed to provide affordable accommodation. This is a basic failure to align the cost-rental criteria and I am asking the Taoiseach to address it.
I want to raise the inadequacy of local sports facilities in many of our communities. St. Kevin's Kilian's GAA club serves Kilnamanagh and Kingswood, where I live. It has close to 500 players and 1,000 members across 26 teams and an academy. It caters for boys and girls aged two up to adults but it does not have basic facilities such as toilets and changing rooms. The club produced a ten-year strategic plan a couple of years ago with the modest ambition of having changing rooms and toilets and building to a position of having a small AstroTurf training area and a hurling wall. I met a guy the other night who was going down with his kid to play against the shopping centre wall, where he can be kicked out, because there are none of these facilities. The problem is with the council. The club is willing to pay for these facilities, to do the fund raising itself but the council will not allow it on the basis that it falls outside its remit. It does not make sense. There needs to be local facilities in local areas.
Last month the Minister for housing, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, and the Minister for integration, Deputy O'Gorman, were exchanging blows at Cabinet on the issue of migrant accommodation. This month the Minister for public expenditure, Deputy Donohoe, and the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly, are taking lumps out of each other on the issue of public health spending.
According to the Irish Daily Mail, the Minister for public expenditure, Deputy Donohoe, thinks that the actions of the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, are appalling and are leading to a material and significant risk to our public finances. The Minister for public expenditure labelled the health Minister's management of his Department as exceptionally frustrating. The Minister, Deputy Donnelly, retorted that he thought Paschal Donohoe was insane. It seems the closer we get to the election, the gloves are starting to come off on this issue.
The key point is that while these Ministers are squabbling, we have a health service that is in free fall in the delivery of key services to people. When will the Taoiseach put an end to the squabbling and make sure that the health service gets the funding it needs?
Staying on the issue of health, since the Government was formed, we have seen a doubling of child and adolescent mental health services waiting lists. In 2020, 1,115 children were waiting for first-time appointments. This year, that figure has risen to 4,421. In the area where I live, CHO 9, children are waiting more than 200 days for treatment for suicidal ideation and more than 100 days for treatment for eating disorders. Throughout the State, young people are being let down. Services are unable to recruit staff, funding is now lower than it was in 2019, and the number of beds needed for children in mental health crisis is half what it should be.
The first recommendation of the Mental Health Commission is to regulate CAMHS under the Mental Health Act. This would ensure that recommendations for governance and clinical reforms made by the commission can be implemented by the State and the HSE. My colleague, Deputy Ward, has brought forward legislation. It has passed First Stage. Will the Government embrace and support that legislation?
It is a Christmas bombshell. The new owners of VMware are proposing 364 redundancies. That is one job in every three at this company. It is a devastating blow to the workforce, the vast majority of which is based at Ballincollig in Cork city. How can a family enjoy their Christmas when a job is on the line like this and the new year is threatened by the spectre of unemployment? Last week, I asked the Taoiseach to ensure that the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Simon Coveney, contacted this company to impress upon it the importance of each and every one of those jobs. Has the Minister done so?
I urge these workers to organise. A workforce that is united and organised will always have a better chance against a global corporation that puts profits first than a case where it is every worker for themselves.
I will ask about child homelessness and protections for renters. The Taoiseach has consistently stated that the no-fault ban on evictions last year did not work. However, last December, after the eviction ban was introduced, the number of children growing up without a home dropped for the first time in 11 months, and for three months in a row the number of children who were homeless fell. Since the eviction ban was lifted, the number of children growing up without a home has increased every single month. Now, almost 4,000 children are living in emergency homeless accommodation as we approach Christmas. That is the highest number ever on record.
In most European countries, renters who pay their rent cannot be evicted and there is a permanent ban on no-fault evictions. Will the Taoiseach withdraw his previous statements that the eviction ban was not working? Will the Government do the right thing and take action to tackle child homelessness by reinstating the ban on no-fault evictions?
I thank the Deputies for their questions. Deputy Durkan asked about the depth of discussion on the social issues most affecting people. That is very much what the Cabinet committee on social affairs and public services is all about. Health is dealt with separately, as is education and children, but that committee has a major focus on housing issues, in particular, and monitoring the implementation of Housing for All. This year, we will exceed our target of building 29,000 new homes. It will be well over 30,000 this year, which means bed spaces for 75,000 extra people, if you think about it. A considerable amount of new housing is being built in the country but, of course, a considerable deficit has to be closed as well.
In recent months, there has been a big focus on the cost of living. People will be aware of the measures announced in the budget to help them with the cost of living. They are seeing energy credits reduce their bills during this billing period. We heard some good news today from one of the electricity companies announcing a reduction in electricity and gas costs. We expect to see other companies follow suit, which is very encouraging. People will also have received the double payments, such as double child benefit payment and the Christmas bonus, in recent weeks. Those are the kinds of things we focus on. I am very pleased to see that inflation is now coming down and, I hope, is back under control and will be in 2024.
On Deputy O'Sullivan's question on flooding and the humanitarian assistance scheme, I join him in complimenting the community welfare officers in Cork on their work. It is possible for the Department of Social Protection locally to second staff to help out where needed. The paperwork is kept under review. I appreciate that it can be quite stressful to have to fill in all those forms when somebody has experienced a flooding event or some other form of emergency, but we need some form of checks and controls as well. It is ultimately taxpayers' money in the end and nobody will forgive us if it is found to have been misspent.
Deputy Ó Murchú again raised the issue of ambulance delays in his constituency. I have seen correspondence with him on that. I have asked the HSE to come back with replies to his questions, provided it is able to. It should be able to in most cases.
Deputy Murnane O'Connor talked about staffing in Carlow Citizens Information Centre. I am not sure whether the issue relates particularly to a lack of staff or just an inability to get staff. It could be a bit of both. We need to work on that for sure. More and more, we need to try to use modern technologies to help people. I am not saying a person can be replaced by a YouTube video or AI or anything like that, but they can certainly be helpful in providing people with information and assistance in a way that was not possible in the past.
I understand the point Deputy Boyd Barrett made on the cost-rental thresholds. I will ask the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, to examine the misalignment that may exist between income and affordability criteria. We will certainly examine that. I point out, however, that cost rental, when advertised, is heavily oversubscribed so it is not that any more people would benefit. We need to significantly scale up cost rental so that more people can benefit.
Deputy Paul Murphy raised some issues around the lack of sporting facilities in his constituency. Through my work in my constituency down the years, we have greatly improved sporting facilities across Dublin 15. It requires work. You have to sit down, work with the council, and help clubs to make sports capital grant applications. In my constituency, through a lot of work and working with clubs, we have managed to improve the number of facilities people have. It is that twin-track approach that works best.
I assure Deputy Tóibín that nobody has ever exchanged blows at a Cabinet meeting or subcommittee meeting. Rows in the Government are always greatly exaggerated by the media. Sometimes, I only know I was involved in a row when I read about it in the papers. That is the quality of some journalism in the State, unfortunately. When it comes to health funding, the health budget for 2024 is the biggest ever. There has been a very substantial increase in health funding, which has gone up from €14 billion in 2016 to €22.5 billion in 2024. It has gone up faster than population growth or the rate of ageing. These are real increases. We allocated an additional €92 million today in the REV. While the Ministers, Deputies Donohoe and Stephen Donnelly, have to work out exactly how that will be allocated, some will be for new drugs in 2024 because they are needed, and some will be for the nursing home support scheme to make sure we do not see an increase in waiting times for the fair deal scheme.
On CAMHS, Deputy McDonald spoke about the big increase in demand for mental health services among young people. That is something we have all experienced in our constituency work. We think legislation for the regulation of CAMHS makes sense in principle, but I have not read the Bill from cover to cover. We will have to make sure we do that and examine it too.
I am informed that yesterday VMware notified the Minister, Deputy Coveney, of potential redundancies in Ireland. The company has advised us that it will seek to avoid the proposed redundancies where possible and will explore that in the consultation process with staff, which will begin this week. IDA Ireland will work with the local leadership team to understand the skills profile of the affected employees and match that with existing or target client skills requirements.
Has the Minister been in touch with VMware?
I do not know. The Deputy will have to ask him. They have certainly been in touch with him, but that was only yesterday.
On Deputy O'Callaghan's question on homelessness, I am happy to check up on what I said. I am always willing, unlike some others, to correct the record if I make errors. The point I made was that during the period in which the temporary winter eviction ban was in place, overall homelessness continued to rise. I do not believe I got into any particular subgroups or details but I will check that out and make a correction if I erred.