It is proposed to take No. 1, Vehicle Clamping Bill 2014 [Seanad] - Second Stage. The Friday fortnightly business shall be No. 77, Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas) Bill 2014 - Second Stage; and No. 17, report of the Joint Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht on the outline heads of the climate action and low carbon development Bill 2013.
Order of Business
There are no proposals to be put to the House today.
The Taoiseach is in Davos rubbing shoulders with millionaires and billionaires.
Deputy Kelleher's guy went to Galway.
Today he is partaking in a debate entitled "The Rise of Populist Parties in Europe". He might have to come back here and look at the demise of one or two populist parties in Ireland.
Deputy Kelleher could tell us a thing or two about that.
Do not go there.
The CSO published a survey on income and living conditions in Ireland and, by any stretch of the imagination it makes very disturbing reading, particularly as regards child poverty. Over the last weeks we have seen many announcements by Ministers and Ministers of State on commitments to be entered into over the next 18 months. In other words, these are election promises, including promise on child care and funding for GP cards. Could we not have a genuine debate in the Chamber on the direction we are beginning to take? We are now leaving cohorts of our community behind as the Government convinces itself and tries to convince the public that everything is rosy in everybody's garden. I assure the Tánaiste that there is a great deal of poverty and deprivation and the idea that the Government can spin the living standards survey upwards is not possible. It must be done by meaningful targeted policies.
The CSO's survey on income and living conditions is an indication - as has been highlighted by the ESRI previously - that the Government is targeting its scarce resources in the wrong areas. It is time to have a debate on this and the direction we are taking with regard to where we are providing funding and scarce State resources to those who most need them. The income report highlights that in stark terms.
On the Taoiseach being in Davos, where I presume there are far more millionaires than in the Dáil, he is spending his time meeting senior executives in companies such as Facebook and Google with a view to bringing jobs to Ireland.
I was just stating a fact; millionaires and billionaires.
I wish the Taoiseach well in bringing more employment to Ireland.
The country is in safe hands.
The SILC report is a very important one. If Deputies want to take the matter up with the Whips, I would be happy to make provision for a debate on the report in the House at any stage. The report relates to the second half of 2012 and the first half of 2013, which was just as Ireland began to emerge from the crisis. It shows that the incomes of those in the lowest income groups increased in absolute terms and relative to the highest earners. As a result, the numbers at risk of poverty fell for the first time in three years by a small amount of 1.3%.
It is statistically insignificant according to the CSO.
This is based on 2012 and 2013. It shows that the 300,000 plus jobs that Fianna Fáil lost the country after the disastrous bank guarantee were still working their way through.
Hear, hear.
There was less poverty in 2008.
If Deputies care to recall, the jobs recovery was beginning very slowly at the very end of 2012 and it began to gain momentum in 2013. More importantly, I agree to a debate and I want to respond to some of Deputy Kelleher's points. The most important thing in the SILC report is that the median household disposable income went up. That is the one that is regarded internationally as being the most important sign of improvement for ordinary people. The median income increased by a small amount. Given where the country was coming from at that point, it was a significant achievement.
Hear, hear. I am sorry about that but Deputy Kelleher made a bad choice.
Deputy Durkan has spoken. It is time to go.
I appeal to Deputies for brevity. A lot of people are offering and I have five Members from yesterday. We only have 20 minutes in total.
I welcome the fact that the Tánaiste is open to assigning Dáil time to a debate on the findings of the report. It would be a very useful discussion to have. Try as she might to soften their edges, the findings are shocking, particularly in regard to child poverty and poverty in families headed by single parents. There is probably nothing very new in those findings but they are shocking nonetheless particularly as the Tánaiste proposes to increase the burden on single parent homes in the near future.
When can the House expect to see the consolidated domestic violence legislation? In terms of the findings and outcomes of the Constitutional Convention, we have raised repeatedly with the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach the huge disappointment that having heralded the convention as a significant initiative of reform, the Government is now indifferent to the deliberations of the citizen participants in particular. It is clear now that we will not see the range of issues discussed and decided on brought to referendum. It appears we may not even see Dáil debates on the full range of issues. If we are to see those debates, can the Tánaiste tell us when they will happen?
The Government has published legislation on the issue of amendment of the voting age and the removal of the blasphemy provision, which I see in the new legislative programme. Does the Government intend to publish legislation on the outstanding Constitutional Convention commitments? I refer in particular to gender equality, the women-in-the-home clause, extending the right to vote in presidential elections to citizens resident outside the State, and on enshrining full economic, social and cultural rights.
As I said to Deputy Kelleher, I am happy to facilitate a debate on the SILC report. The critical issue relates to poverty and it is important as we approach 2016 that we do everything as a country to secure an economic recovery that gets people of working age who are entirely dependent on social welfare incomes into employment. The best way to help lone parents is to help them into employment when their children are settled in school. When the youngest child is seven or more, a parent should be encouraged - as happens in the UK and Northern Ireland - to go back in particular to education, retrain and get a job. That is the absolute best way to help people who are parenting on their own with children. That is why the success of the Government in having an additional 80,000 people go back to work is one of the key indicators of a recovery taking hold in Ireland.
I am very aware of the fact that not every family has experienced recovery, which has been most difficult for those who are unemployed, including the long-term unemployed. The Deputy expressed concern about child poverty. Notwithstanding the economic difficulties this country has experienced and which have been very hard on people, I have prioritised in a very tight budget situation the weekly core social welfare benefits.
What about large families?
The SILC report shows that has reduced the number of those at risk of poverty in Ireland by 60% because of the social welfare supports.
Every year, I have also prioritised putting direct funding into additional school meals, particularly school breakfast clubs so that when children arrive in school, they can get breakfast.
This is a debate.
This is wasting our time.
What has this to do with the Order of Business?
On the legislation.
On the legislation, the Government takes the reports of the Constitutional Convention with the utmost seriousness and we were very happy to make an historic announcement yesterday on this State and its citizens having the opportunity to vote on marriage equality. Yesterday I also introduced transgender legislation into the Seanad. The Government has taken the issue of social reform very seriously.
Are we having a debate on it now?
There is no legislation on the voting age or blasphemy listed for this period because the focus will be on the two referendums announced by the Government, namely, marriage equality, a very important social issue on which voters will make a decision, and the lowering of the age at which a person can stand for election as President from 35 to 21.
It is a very important issue.
I call Deputy Mathews and I appeal for brevity.
I raise the matter that will be discussed in the Private Members' debate tomorrow at 10 a.m. Yesterday, I met the Chief Whip just outside the Chamber to ask what the position of the Government parties was on this Private Members Bill because it affects our Constitution, parliamentary representation and responsibility to conscience. The proposed section has the exact same wording as the official translation of Article 38.1 in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany.
This is outrageous.
The Chief Whip said he could not tell me the Government's position on it.
The Deputy will find out tomorrow.
It is absolutely outrageous.
It was discourteous. Earlier this week, I had spoken to the Secretary General of the Department of the Taoiseach to apprise him of what was in this, its meaning and why it was being proposed.
Please, resume your seat, Deputy. I will call the Tánaiste.
I am sorry.
No, I am sorry.
Yesterday, The Taoiseach told me he had consulted the Attorney General. There is no need to consult the Attorney General at this stage.
Deputy Mathews, please co-operate with the Chair.
I have always co-operated with the Chair.
I know, I am asking you to resume your seat.
The Leas-Cheann Comhairle is on his feet.
I will have to ask you to leave the House if you do not resume your seat.
You do not have to ask me to leave; you may choose to ask me.
This is very unfair. I will have to suspend the House, and many Members are trying to ask questions.
I will take only one further minute.
(Interruptions).
No. Please, Deputy. I call the Tánaiste to deal with the question if she is able to.
I thank Deputy Mathews for his question. His Bill will be debated in the House tomorrow and the Ceann Comhairle - I mean the Chief Whip-----
It was a Freudian slip.
Is that a sign of what is coming down the track?
Now we know.
-----will be present at the debate and will respond to the proposals in the Bill on behalf of the Government.
I hope he knows his lines by heart.
All will be revealed.
The Chief Whip is a theatre actor. He can learn his lines by heart.
Given the urgency of the ongoing concern about the lack of appropriately trained apprentices and apprenticeships, when will the Bill be passed? Is it intended that the proposed health (reform) Bill will encompass reforms within the Bill, or is it intended to bring the Bill before the House and carry out the reforms afterwards as a result of it?
I do not have a date for either Bill.
I welcome the Government's publication yesterday of the wording of the marriage equality referendum. On a slightly related piece of legislation, when does the Tánaiste expect the children and family relationships Bill to be published? Does she anticipate that the Bill will have concluded its passage through the Oireachtas before the marriage equality referendum?
They are unrelated and trying to relate them makes it difficult.
A great deal of work is ongoing in preparing this very important legislation, which will be published in February.
Many sentences handed down by the courts for murder and other serious crimes are an insult to ordinary, decent, law-abiding citizens of the State. The granting of bail needs to be tightened, monitored and improved. It has been on the agenda for some time. Electronic tagging for people on bail is a must for serious offences. While we cannot blame our judges, they need clearer guidelines for serious offences. When will the bail Bill be introduced?
I do not have a date for the publication of the bail Bill.
The education (admission to schools) Bill sets out to make the process of school admissions more inclusive, equitable and transparent. Does the Tánaiste agree that we need a process to ensure there is confidence in the junior certificate process?
Hear, hear.
Hear, hear.
Will she encourage the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, to talk to the teachers' unions about protecting the integrity of the junior certificate? We need outside, independent assessment and professionalism, and, above all, we need confidence in the process. I support the Teachers Union of Ireland, TUI, and the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland, ASTI members, who are on the picket line today. They deserve our support. They are standing up for education, pupils, teachers and this country.
Hear, hear.
The education (admission to schools) Bill is very advanced. I commiserate with the tens of thousands of students due to sit their leaving and junior certificate exams and who are working intensively. I have talked to students who feel very put out and upset in their study plans by the two strikes that have happened so far and I am concerned about them. As an experienced trade unionist such as the Deputy would know, the way to deal with it is for the two unions to sit down with the Minister, who has offered a very readily implementable structure, which meets the needs for reform and retains a significant, externally moderated exam.
I call Deputy Troy.
On a point of order, I had my hand up last Thursday.
I will get to Deputy Coppinger. Only three Deputies remain.
The Tánaiste does not realise the severity and consequences of what was in the CSO report. It stated that 140,000 children, one in eight, were without food and heat in 2013. The Tánaiste has agreed to a debate. When will the Government make time available to debate the findings of the CSO report? We need the debate not at some distant future time but now.
My second point is about the manner in which the Government is ignoring rural towns.
No; the Deputy should table a question on that issue.
In Longford town third-generation family businesses are closing down and the Government is doing nothing to support them.
The Deputy knows how to raise that issue. He can raise it by way of a Topical Issue or a question.
When will the Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012 be brought before the House to give all Deputies an opportunity to discuss it and to ensure archaic practices are outlawed and that people will pay rates based on their profitability, not on the size of their premises?
On the survey of income and living conditions, SILC, report, I have indicated that it is a matter for the Whips. However, I would certainly welcome such a debate. Second, the valuation legislation is listed for debate in the forthcoming weeks.
When does the Tánaiste think the courts (consolidation and reform) Bill will be brought before Members for debate?
As yet, I do not have a date for that item of legislation.
The National Concert Hall Bill appears on the A list. The purpose of the Bill, obviously, is to establish the National Concert Hall on a statutory basis. Is there a timescale for bringing forward the Bill?
I call on the Tánaiste to correct the record of the House. She misled the House for the second time recently with regard to the construction programme carried out by the previous Government for social housing. I have checked the records and note that between 2002 and 2011 the previous Government built 45,000 social houses and delivered 10,000 affordable units. That equates to half the number of people currently on waiting lists. The least Members have a right to expect is that statements made by Ministers will be truthful.
Factual.
Will the Tánaiste admit that she was wrong and misled the House? Will she correct the record?
On the National Concert Hall legislation, it should be before the House shortly.
In respect of my comment, if the Deputy wishes me to expand, what I said was that from 2000 onwards - during the time the bubble was building, during the period the Deputy's party was in government - local authorities moved away from an emphasis on the key role played by social housing.
No; that is not what the Tánaiste said.
Social housing-----
It is a fact.
There were 45,000 units provided. The Deputy is unbelievable.
I wish to ask the Tánaiste specifically about forthcoming referendums and legislation. Two referendums have been announced, one on marriage equality and the other on the age limit to stand in presidential elections. Amazingly, however, there has been no announcement on the repeal of the eighth amendment. Is this also the view of the Labour Party because in the House last week the Taoiseach stated there would not be a referendum on the eighth amendment? This is despite the horrific case over Christmas and a court case today involving a migrant rape victim where women were demeaned and used as vessels and incubators under the eighth amendment. Is it the Tánaiste's view that women should be treated in this way or will she allow a repeal of the eighth amendment which is supposed to be Labour Party policy? Will she argue for this at Cabinet level or has she also voted at the Cabinet to exclude the eighth amendment from forthcoming referendums?
The Deputy perhaps needs to think a little. The eight amendment - this has been on the public record for a long time - does not serve the best interests of women or the unborn child a pregnant woman may be carrying. That is my considered view and why, when the eighth amendment was put before the people, the Labour Party, as it does now, stated it was not in the best interests of women. If one looks back at the history of the times when the eighth amendment was brought forward and argued, one reason it has not served women well is that nobody will deny that it was an extremely rushed constitutional amendment. The consequence of that rush is that what was inserted into the Constitution does not serve the best interests of women in my view or that of the Labour Party. From what the Deputy has just said, she appears to wish to rush into a further situation in respect of the eighth amendment-----
It has been 30 years.
-----without any serious consideration being given on a broad basis to what is in the best interests of women. The Deputy referred to the Labour Party, members of which are working on the issue. They are considering and examining all of the issues that arise in considering this most delicate, difficult and important issue of women having children and having them safely in a strongly supportive environment. The Deputy may wish to rush into another amendment without even looking at what the best outcomes ought to be for women, but that is not the approach of the Labour Party. Moreover, the rhetoric she is using does a disservice to women in Ireland. What we are all seeking are the best outcomes for women who are pregnant and their babies.
The Tánaiste is blustering.
That is my position and that of the Labour Party. If the Deputy has a different position, that is her entitlement, but this House should look at the best interests of women, women who are mothers and expecting babies and the best outcomes for children.
It is amazing the way the Tánaiste-----
Will the Government consider making time available at the earliest possible opportunity for a debate on the anticipated imminent offer for the State's minority holding in Aer Lingus?
In fairness-----
I am simply asking if the Government will consider making time available for a debate on that issue. That is legitimate on the Order of Business
That is fine, as long as the Deputy does not start a debate on it.
No, I will not. There are critical issues pertaining to accessibility for the regions and, in particular, Shannon and Cork airports. I ask that the Government consider making time available for such a debate.
This is an important issue in terms of connectivity and access for the entire country, not for one particular region. Certainly, arranging such a debate would be a matter for the Whips. I ask the Deputy to refer to his own party Whip in the first instance.
The Chief Whip is sitting behind the Tánaiste.