Léim ar aghaidh chuig an bpríomhábhar
Gnáthamharc

Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 21 Jun 2006

Vol. 622 No. 1

Leaders’ Questions.

I welcome the delegation. I remind the Ceann Comhairle that his predecessor used always say céad míle fáilte, the 100,000 welcomes.

On 31 May 2005 on the Leas Cross issue, the Taoiseach said that the "Prime Time" programme:

uncovered shocking treatment of vulnerable people in the units investigated. No excuse should be offered to defend what happened, as there is no defence for it.

Despite that shock and the promises the Government made, it is still failing to protect our elderly and vulnerable citizens who found themselves in nursing homes. Last week I raised the issue of Leas Cross and the O'Neill report into 95 deaths in that nursing home. The response was the normal response of the Government, like the three monkeys, hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil. It seems that the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste have not seen the report, have not looked for it and do not know what it contains. It seems as if the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and other members of the Government want to hide behind a legal wall and avoid taking responsibility for what is a fundamentally serious issue.

Early last year the Health Service Executive sought tenders from nursing homes for 100 high and immediate-dependency beds. Some 85 nursing homes submitted tenders in that process. All of these homes were evaluated. The second stage of that evaluation required visits to the nursing homes by representatives of the HSE. As a result of that process 15 nursing homes were awarded contracts for beds and 70 homes were unsuccessful. Deputy O'Dowd, who has been pursuing the matter for some time, has been informed that the process also uncovered nursing homes with a very poor service of care for the elderly. We have also been informed that the O'Neill report made a recommendation to the HSE in February which stated:

Residents (and their families) of any nursing homes that scored poorly in the ERHA tendering process in 2005 for Heavy Dependency/Intermediate Care Beds should be informed of this as a matter of some urgency, as there is a likelihood that there are residents with high or maximum dependency in all of these nursing homes.

Is it not a shocking indictment——

The Deputy's time has concluded.

——that this report has not been seen by the Government, has not been sought by the Government and has not been examined by the Tánaiste, given that last Thursday was World Elder Abuse Awareness Day? Is it not a shocking indictment that the report contains that reference and makes it clear that in the case of those nursing homes that have been uncovered by HSE inspections as having a poor service of care, the people and their families should be informed. Nobody wants to have a relative in a nursing home where care is poor. I ask the Taoiseach to instruct the Tánaiste to get a copy of the O'Neill report today. He should ask her to identify the recommendations that can be implemented forthwith and he should order the HSE to implement those recommendations immediately.

There are a few points of fact. When Leas Cross was uncovered, I stated that the position was entirely unsatisfactory. The Deputy indicated that nothing was done, but we closed Leas Cross. It went out of business. Even though it was a new building, because the standards of care and attention to elderly people were nowhere near the acceptable standard, it was closed down and Leas Cross has not been in operation since.

As I told the Deputy last week, I understand the O'Neill report is with the HSE. There are a number of legal ramifications arising out of that report which must be resolved before the report is published, if it can be published. However, that is a matter of legal practice and the Deputy knows that cannot be breached until it is resolved by the HSE. It has not been given to the Government. It is not a question that the Tánaiste can demand the report when the HSE, on legal advice, is dealing with issues. Obviously, the HSE will be aware of the recommendations arising from it and since last year has been enhancing its existing inspectorate and preparing for the legislation for the new health quality authority. As I said last week, the Bill should be taken in the House later this year.

The HSE has commissioned and sought additional beds from several nursing homes. It has done that successfully and has moved patients from acute hospitals into nursing home care. These are people who cannot go home owing to various circumstances. By and large their accommodation is funded by the budget of the HSE, which is a dramatic improvement on what happened previously. I assure the Deputy that any recommendations that come to Government will be considered. Our nursing homes are governed by fairly strict conditions. If people break the law — the law has been strengthened — it will be enforced and we will continue to do that. I will not repeat what I said last week when I outlined a whole host of schemes for the elderly that were enhanced last year, including the inspectorate and care for the elderly in nursing homes.

I am concerned about the ramifications of what the Taoiseach has said. As I stated, he indicated last year that no excuse should be offered to defend what happened as there is no defence for it. I agree and I want to help the Taoiseach if I can. I do not want the Government or the Tánaiste to hide behind a legal wall in so far as this report is concerned. I have quoted one section of the report which states that families of patients in nursing homes that scored poorly in the tendering process for high dependency or intermediate care beds should be informed of this as a matter of urgency. In that case, there is no legal wall which it is necessary to hide behind. Surely informing the families of patients in nursing homes with a poor standard of care, as identified in the HSE visit which followed the tendering process, should have no ramifications. Does any Member of the House want to have a relative or family member in a nursing home which has been officially determined as having a poor level of service to remain in that place for one day longer?

The Taoiseach does not need to state that there are legal ramifications or that matters must be brought before the Cabinet. I am bringing to the attention of the Taoiseach, as the head of Government, that the words I quoted are in the report, as Deputy O'Dowd has been informed. I ask him to see to it that the families of patients in nursing homes which have been identified as providing a poor level of service are informed forthwith of that fact. The Government should not attempt to let this matter drift behind legal ramifications before the report might or might not be published. The truth is essential.

It is the Taoiseach's duty to govern, lead and make decisions, and this is one decision I want him to make this morning in the interests of the elderly and vulnerable residents of nursing homes which the HSE has identified in its study as providing an inferior level of service. Surely there is no legal basis for not taking action immediately.

The HSE and the former health boards have always had an inspectorate to examine nursing homes. After the appalling revelations which emerged from Leas Cross, the HSE stepped up the number and frequency of inspections to make sure nursing homes were up to an acceptable standard. I understand this is the approach the HSE is following. We give a great deal of resources to the HSE for the beds it hires and I expect and understand that it ensures that those beds are up to the proper standard. I do not think there is any legal issue that would prevent publication of the O'Neill report. The legal issues are around individuals' rights and their ability to take action in cases, and they are being examined. They are not about the standards of care for the elderly.

I hope and understand that, given the resources we have provided for the HSE, it has been dealing with these issues on a more active basis than it did prior to the Leas Cross report. I will make that point again to the Tánaiste today. I have no doubt the HSE is doing that. If the HSE is bound to consult patients, I am sure it is doing that too. That is the function and duty of the inspectorate, which it should be fulfilling and, in so far as the point is made, I expect it is doing so. We are, now more than ever before, committing a large amount of resources to private sector nursing homes to ensure the level of care and comfort available to our elderly people is higher than ever. In return, the State — in this case, the HSE is the agency of the State — is entitled to expect the highest standards of care and attention. I am sure that where breaches occur they will be dealt with.

The Taoiseach will recall that one of the main factors giving rise to punitive taxation over a generation was the massive, widespread and endemic scale of tax evasion. He will recall that the Minister for Finance of the day used to claim there was no pot of gold out there and it took various tribunals and good journalism to highlight that this was a society in which tax evasion was normal and that only people whose taxes were deducted at source and some other tax compliant citizens contributed to the cost of running the State's services. A figure was put on the scale of tax evasion by inquiries such as the Ansbacher inquiry, the NIB investigation and the DIRT investigation, which has retrieved almost €1 billion for the Exchequer. We thought we were in a new era but we now read of a tax settlement of €25 million, the largest in the history of the State, by a building company called Bovale Limited, the principals of which are two prominent members of the Taoiseach's party. They are also prominent donors to his party and attendees at every significant Fianna Fáil occasion. Has the Taoiseach taken action as a result of this settlement? How does the tax compliant citizen know whether this massive scale of settlement is unique to this particular building company? How are we to know whether other companies have a similar dedication to evading their tax liabilities?

Tax evasion is not a victimless crime. The moneys are deprived of those who are dependent on the State for a safety net in terms of minimal welfare payments and on getting access to a hospital bed and so on. What signal does it send out to tax compliant citizens that the perpetrators involved in this episode are feted at every significant event held by the Fianna Fáil Party? Does the Taoiseach intend to take action on this matter now that it has been finally resolved and the scale of evasion has become evident to all?

I agree with Deputy Rabbitte that people who abuse the tax system, avoid or evade tax or operate outside the tax code are committing a serious offence against compliant taxpayers, not to mind against the law, and nobody should do that. This Government and Governments of which I have been a member have, in the past ten years and more, strengthened our legislation and enhanced the powers and capacity of the Revenue Commissioners to become a very efficient organisation in stopping breaches and defaulters.

As the Deputy knows, individual cases are not brought to the attention of the Government other than through the publication of cases by the Revenue Commissioners, a document we will all receive later in the year. I hope this case is true as it will show the success of the system and prove that the powers we have put in place, the laws we have enacted and the procedures that are operated are working effectively and that large settlements of tens of millions of pounds, the amount of money that ordinary people would not understand, are now being made by many people.

Most Members of this House are not against wealth creators but we are against people operating against the laws of the land and the Revenue Commissioners. In this case, if it is true, I congratulate the Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Finance, which works with Revenue to enact the laws and procedures that ensure people are tax compliant. As far as Bovale or any other company is concerned, I am glad it was caught and has to pay up.

I agree with the Taoiseach that nobody in this House is against wealth creators. For that reason, we have a very low corporate tax regime and a number of instruments that can be used to minimise tax, yet we have this scale of evasion. With all due respect to the much improved revenue collection facilities, the settlement does not owe anything to the Revenue Commissioners but was the result of a tribunal of inquiry. The Taoiseach says we are not against wealth creators but it appears the unfortunate person who buys a house in this country has to pay a king's ransom in stamp duty, whereas no limits are put on the profits to be made by the big companies which build the houses. Despite that, they are not prepared to pay their due taxes.

I visited the website of the company in question, which states: "Bovale have gained an unrivalled reputation for meticulous attention to detail". This evasion has been going on for years but I do not know whether a file has been referred to the DPP and did not hear the Taoiseach reply to the point that the people concerned are conspicuous at Fianna Fáil events, major donors to the party and prominent in the tent at the Galway Races. They have engaged in this scale of tax evasion at a time when most citizens, notwithstanding the new affluence being experienced in this country, find it hard to make ends meet and pay their taxes as best they can. I know the situation in Revenue has improved in recent years and commend the agency on that. However, much of this evasion took place over an entire generation under the very noses of the Revenue Commissioners, with little action taken. I am satisfied the culture has changed but I am not satisfied that sufficient resources have been put into, for example, random audits of self-assessment or that the Revenue Commissioners have had the resources in recent years to apply themselves to this industry, which is a major locus of bogus subcontracting and widespread tax evasion.

The settlement is to the credit of the Revenue Commissioners and the powers they possess. Tribunals carry out useful work but they do not collect taxes and cannot operate settlements or examine the issues which can lead to huge settlements such as this one. Their work is undoubtedly helpful to that but the cases have to be examined independently and verified by the Revenue Commissioners.

We have provided low taxes and many incentives to those who are wealthy enough to invest their money. I am not interested in rehearsing the political affiliations of the people on the Revenue Commissioners' lists.

Is the Taoiseach not embarrassed that his candidates are accepting money from these people?

Deputy Seán Ryan's leader is capable of dealing with his own question and does not need the Deputy's help.

All companies and individuals should abide by the law. They should not be involved in evasion or avoidance.

Should they be prosecuted?

That is a matter for the arms——

A social welfare recipient who took €1,600 would be put in jail.

I ask Deputy Burton to allow the Taoiseach to speak without interruption. Her leader went five minutes over the time allowed for the question and she should not continue now.

Obviously, the Deputies do not want to listen to a serious answer. It would be interesting to look at the last list, as well as helpful in terms of highlighting some of the political affiliations of the people listed.

The Permanent TSB-ESRI house price index makes chilling reading for tens of thousands of young working people in need of homes. In March 1996, the average price of a home in Dublin was €82,000. This year, ten years later, it is €384,000, an increase of €300,000. That represents a shocking €30,000 increase per year, the equivalent of the current average industrial wage each year for ten years. Prices outside Dublin have increased pro rata. Is there any appreciation by the Government of the dire situation facing young people who earn the average industrial wage and need a home or any recognition of the hardship of young parents who are saddled with 30 and 40 year mortgages? Are members of the Government so cosseted by their massive salaries that they are oblivious to the suffering, hardship and desperation?

This happened on the Taoiseach's watch. He failed cataclysmically to stop the unbridled speculation by developers and house builders. Of course, that was deliberate. The matter goes all the way back to the devil's pact made between Fianna Fáil and house builders and speculators in the 1960s. They bought the party's councillors, who in turn corrupted planning in Dublin and, perhaps, other areas and created the nightmare we now have. They got everything they wanted. They bought the party's former leader, who the Taoiseach eulogised unstintingly last Friday. The VIP pen in the Donnycarney church was like a major house builders' convention. Oddly enough, the politicians were probably the poorest people there, with the exception of some of the Taoiseach's colleagues who are publicans, landlords or dabblers in hair dressing salons in Moscow for the Russian nouveau riche.

This is a serious situation, with a serious downside. Speculators are buying houses in working class communities left, right and centre. A frightening percentage of homes in hitherto stable communities are now rented. Stable communities are being replaced by transient communities, by people who are forced into the laps of landlords, such as migrant workers and those on rent supplement. That means, for a Government which is completely unprepared, massive pressures on services. The Taoiseach is recreating in 2006 the alienated and neglected communities of the 1970s and 1980s in what were extensive council housing estates, yet the Government is oblivious to this.

What will the Taoiseach do during the time available to him to rectify this situation, to make homes affordable and to stabilise communities so that ordinary working people can live stable lives?

As Deputy Joe Higgins knows, house price increases are primarily driven by the increase in demand for housing which has resulted from the unprecedented growth in recent years in the population and the economy. Now that we have stopped mass emigration by working class people, unemployed trade unionists and those who lived in working class communities who had to seek refuge in Australia, Canada, the United States and Britain, people are again living in the working class areas which the Deputy and I represent. Thankfully, we have moved away from the terrible blight which affected the country from the 1920s to the end of the 1980s.

The Government has taken action across a wide front to maximise access to home ownership. Thankfully, we have one of the highest home ownerships in the modern world, achieved in particular through measures which promoted a supply of housing adequate to meet demand. While house prices have increased, the cost of mortgage repayments, growth in incomes, employment, lower taxes, interest rates and availability of finance have had a positive impact on affordability. Typical outgoing as a percentage of income remains better than the position of the late 1980s, as evidenced by the report published in recent days. People are taking longer term mortgages, which reduces annual outgoings. Investment in infrastructure, streamlined planning and more effective use of land have produced record housing output. Almost 81,000 houses were built in 2005 whereas ten years ago the figure was fewer than 30,000. As a result we are producing new houses at a much faster rate than other countries. Home ownership is rising and some 20 new homes are produced annually per 1,000 of population compared to five per 1,000 in the EU. Thankfully, unlike in large parts of the EU, people are buying houses.

Not the people who need them.

There are issues of affordability. Deputy Higgins asked what the Government is doing. Some €4 billion has been invested in the programmes of affordable housing for this year and next year and 15,000 households will benefit under the affordable housing schemes in that period. The affordable schemes partnership will accelerate the delivery of affordable housing in the greater Dublin area where problems are most acute. Partnership is making good progress and I appreciate the effort. These are important elements of our policy to address the affordability concerns of people.

Last December we launched a new housing policy framework, "Building sustainable communities" to build on achievements, focus delivery and increase investment. This will ensure we improve the quality of housing in neighbourhoods, create conditions where housing output will meet demand and provide targeted support for those with affordability problems. Social housing is of the highest standard in the State. We will continue to allocate resources, including the €4 billion invested in the programmes of affordable housing and continue to make improvements in tax relief and stamp duty to help the less well off. As the population grows we must ensure that supply outstrips demand because that is the only way we can stem house price increases. I disagreed with those who stated that prices would go into reverse this year. We must build more houses to stop the rate of increase in prices and ensure we keep a satisfactory level of affordability for everyone.

An increase of 270%.

The Taoiseach said nothing that will give consolation to the tens of thousands of young workers who need homes. He said nothing to console those stuck with 30 or 40 year mortgages. In fact, he lauded the concept of longer term mortgages. Some people will be saddled with mortgage repayments into their 70s. On the Taoiseach's watch, the price of an ordinary home increased by nine times the rate of inflation. That makes a mockery of the Taoiseach's commitment to so-called social partnership and the recent national wage agreement. Whereas one part of the so-called partnership is allowed to profiteer in an unbridled fashion, workers' wages do not keep pace with the price of a home for young industrial workers. If so much money is being spent on social housing, why are 50,000 families on the housing waiting list? More social houses were built in the 1930s than in recent years.

That is true.

That is to the eternal shame of this Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrats Government. We do not hear a squawk from the Progressive Democrats about this. Naturally, as far as it is concerned, that is the capitalist market. The Taoiseach said nothing to indicate that house prices will stop increasing and gave no indication of a Government measure to stop the increase. Is that because the Government has no such measures or because the clatter of developers' helicopters as they descend on the Fianna Fáil tent at the Galway races is drowning out the calls from tens of thousands of young people and their parents to stop this scandal of unbridled profiteering in the housing market?

Deputies

Hear, hear.

The only way we will reduce house prices is to increase supply above demand.

That is not working.

This Government has brought supply from 30,000 to 80,000 in a short period. The Deputy wants me to highlight the Government's measures but will not listen when I respond. Deputy Joe Higgins knows that an enormous number of people are receiving assistance on social housing and rent supplements.

They are called landlords.

Some 15,000 units will be delivered by various affordable schemes this year and next year. More than 70 sites have been identified for State and local authority owned land.

What about the Kenny report?

Part V will produce up to 10,000 houses under the partnership agreement. The initiative delivered 1,500 under Part V and this year it is estimated that 2,250 will be produced.

Two were built in Kildare.

How many were built on the northside of Dublin?

The total capital provision for social and affordable housing this year is €2 billion — more than double what it was five years ago. That includes €1.4 billion Exchequer provision, an increase of 13% on last year. Some 6,000 local authority houses will start this year, including units provided under various schemes. The needs of some 14,000 households will be met by a range of social and affordable housing. The most recent assessment of housing need was undertaken by local authorities. The results found that just under 44,000 households were in need of social housing, a decrease of almost 10% on the figure a few years ago.

Some 60,000 families are receiving rent subsidies.

The next strategy of the affordable homes partnership is under way. Des Geraghty and his colleagues are doing an excellent job of promoting that. Legislative proposals for additional powers under the partnership are being developed. The housing framework policy, Building Sustainable Communities, includes policies to ensure an effective private housing market, increased supply and reformed social housing. Some €4 billion is allocated to that end of the market.

As always, Deputy Joe Higgins would like to bring us back to the 1930s.

They built more houses in the 1930s.

Deputy Joe Higgins loves asking questions——

That is his job.

——but never wants to listen to answers. He would love to return to the days of——

——pathetic poverty when de Valera and Lemass built social houses, when no other houses were being built. People were living in council houses and had to emigrate because they had no jobs and no future.

Fianna Fáil was in power when that happened, not me.

That is the great tradition Deputy Higgins and his merry warriors want to bring back. We are building at a greater rate than the United States, Europe or the UK. We are providing new homes to the working class and young people at a rate matched by no country in Europe.

Some 60,000 families are receiving rent subsidies.

Approximately 20 new homes are produced annually per 1,000 of the population compared to an EU average of five. We are providing houses for our young people at four times the average rate.

The population is increasing so that is not surprising. The Taoiseach is in the pockets of speculators.

Deputy Higgins went five minutes over the allocated time.

Does Deputy Higgins wish to drag us back to a time when people had no salaries and no jobs? He has a failed ideology and the most hopeless policy pursued by any nitwit. He is a failed person who was rejected and whose political philosophy has been rejected. He will not pull people back into the failed old policies he dreamed up in south Kerry when he was a young fellow. Now go away.

I am surprised the Taoiseach is criticising his fellow socialist.

Barr
Roinn