I call Deputy Jim O'Callaghan who is taking Leaders' Questions on behalf of his party for the first time.
Leaders' Questions
I am indeed. I thank the Ceann Comhairle.
We learned yesterday that the Garda Representative Association, GRA, had voted to take industrial action on four days in November. This is an unprecedented development which will have serious consequences not just for the Garda force but also for the public. Unlike other workers, gardaí do not have the right to strike. The reason for this is they are responsible for the safety of the State. An Garda Síochána has always served the State with great pride and its members take an oath to defend the public and the State, but their decision to strike shows that there is rampant demoralisation and anger within the force. This has happened in the past few years. Like other public sector workers, gardaí have faced pay cuts and a reduction of 2,000 in their numbers since 2009. In addition, more than 100 Garda stations have been closed.
The Government has been aware that an industrial relations issue has been brewing in the Garda for some time. It has been in place for five months and one of the biggest issues on its agenda is public service pay and industrial relations problems within the public sector. In recent months deals have been done in respect of low grade entry nurses and teachers and allowances for firefighters, yet the Government only entered into what it thought was an agreement with the GRA late last Friday evening. It is to be regretted that the Government, unfortunately, has stumbled and stalled in dealing with the challenges facing An Garda Síochána.
We spend many hours in the House discussing and critiquing the performance of An Garda Síochána, whether it be through reports from the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, GSOC; the Policing Authority, the Garda Inspectorate or commissions of investigation. Do the Tánaiste and the Government recognise that all of these reports and critiques will be meaningless unless we have a Garda force in which morale is good and in which gardaí feel valued by the State and have a sense of pride in their work? Morale is low because of members' terms and conditions, for which the Tánaiste still has responsibility. The Commissioner, GSOC and the Garda Inspectorate are not responsible. The grievances of gardaí have not been treated seriously by the Government.
In the confidence and supply agreement my party entered into with Fine Gael it was agreed that a public service pay commission would be established. When will it be established? Can the Tánaiste give a commitment to the House that the Government does not intend to allow a Mexican stand-off between the GRA and the State? Will she re-engage with the GRA? What is her plan to resolve the dispute?
I agree that members of An Garda Síochána are essential and pivotal to civilised living in this country. They protect individuals in communities and never know the day or the hour when they may be exposed to violence or asked to make the ultimate sacrifice. The Government views An Garda Síochána as a key strand in Irish life and is committed to supporting it in every way possible.
As I said in my statement yesterday, I am disappointed to hear of the GRA's rejection of the agreement which was reached with the Department last Friday and in which we addressed a range of issues. I am also disappointed to hear of the announcement that it is to take industrial action. The agreement addresses in a very positive way many of the issues raised by the GRA in the course of negotiations which, contrary to what the Deputy said, have been taking place for a number of months. In the past four months there have been detailed negotiations between my Department and the representative associations and agreement was reached with the AGSI. The agreement seeks to address, in particular, the concerns articulated about the pay of new recruits, the additional hours gardaí are required to work, access to pay determination and resolution bodies and the completion of the review of An Garda Síochána. The Department has yet to hear officially from the GRA, although its concerns have been articulated in the public arena. The outstanding issues can only be addressed through engagement between the parties and my Department which continues to be available to address them. To facilitate that engagement, I want the GRA to set out to us its outstanding concerns about the agreement. Everybody in the House agrees that it would be most unfortunate if, rather than engaging, further action was contemplated which would not be in the best interests of communities or An Garda Síochána.
The AGSI has also raised a number of issues about the public service pay commission, something about which the Deputy asked and which I will address. The Government recognises that members of An Garda Síochána, like all public servants, played a very significant part in stabilising the public finances and bringing about economic recovery. They were subject to the same reductions as all other public servants during the financial crisis and, similarly, have benefited from the partial restoration of pay commenced on foot of the Lansdowne Road agreement.
I fear that the Government does not yet realise the significance of and danger attached to yesterday's announcement. We, as legislators, and Ministers, as members of the Executive, cannot allow a situation where members of An Garda Síochána see themselves as having no option other than to go on strike. The legal system in the State is dependent on members of An Garda Síochána being available to the public and in the community to enforce the law. If they break the law and go on strike, it will put the legal system in an extremely serious position. The Minister is the person with responsibility to resolve the dispute and six weeks are available to the parties involved to resolve it before the first day of strike action. We hope that what happened in the dispute between Dublin Bus and the bus workers' union will not happen in this case. It is imperative that the Government becomes involved to resolve the dispute which is more important than any other industrial dispute. The grievances of members of An Garda Síochána need to be recognised and dealt with by the Department in the talks.
I am in no doubt about the seriousness of the situation. That is why my Department has engaged very intensively with the GRA and it is absolutely open, as am I, to meeting to resolve the outstanding issues. It is in the interest of everybody in the country. It is in the interest of An Garda Síochána, as the Deputy rightly said, and of the legal system across the board. Of course, we wish to ensure that we can resolve this. However, it is important that we find a pathway towards pay resolution and restoration. I heard a representative of the GRA say that this morning. It is imperative that we find that way forward and I believe we can. We have shown good faith in the discussions that have taken place already. A range of issues was on the agenda and among the areas addressed in those talks were: the lifting of the increment freeze, backdated; the restoration of the rent allowance; promotion opportunities to be increased on a pro rata basis with increasing Garda numbers; review of An Garda Síochána to be completed by the end of the year; commitment to review the appropriateness of voluntary overtime; no overtime this year and, by agreement with the Garda Commissioner, in the course of next year and the following year; and a range of other items on the table. There is a very serious commitment to examine the issues.
I will conclude by pointing out, and I know this particularly well because I meet so many gardaí in the course of my work, that we know how much gardaí suffered as a result of the economic meltdown. The financial problems of a garda married to another garda were doubled. As in the case of other public servants, the Government is committed to finding a way forward. On the question about the public service pay commission, the closing date has passed for submissions from various bodies. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has had the consultation process and will make a statement shortly on the establishment of that commission.
I will follow up on Deputy O'Callaghan's question and remain on that topic. We have heard much about the economic recovery from the Tánaiste and other Ministers and while there is some recovery under way, it has yet to trickle down to many members. Many people have suffered as a result of the austerity that was imposed in the State over recent years and there is no argument about the level of austerity imposed on public sector workers in particular. Gardaí are no different from anybody else in that context. There have been pay restoration demands from various sources, including nurses, teachers, Luas drivers and bus drivers, all of whom have engaged in some level of industrial action over recent months. The Garda is in a unique position in that regard. What was announced yesterday is unprecedented. Nobody inside or outside the Government should take lightly what was said by Pat Ennis of the GRA yesterday. If anybody is naive enough to believe that the GRA will not proceed with the four days of withdrawal of service it announced yesterday, it would be a huge mistake.
We have a situation with the pay demands and the restoration demands. The Tánaiste said the Department is open to further negotiations. I am glad about that but I believe the Tánaiste must proactively engage with the GRA. The GRA indicated yesterday that it is willing to return to the negotiating table provided there are real and tangible measures from the Government for resolving this. Everybody wants to know what the next step is. Is it a wait and see game on the part of the Tánaiste? Is she waiting for the GRA to come back to her or will she actively engage with the GRA, as of today, to try to resolve this before 4 November?
I have made it clear that both I and the Department want to re-engage. After many hours of discussions we concluded the negotiations late last Friday evening with an agreement, as we understood it.
That was with the leadership but it was not accepted by the broader group, as has been obvious through media reports and interviews in the past number of days. We have not heard anything formally from the GRA and we await hearing about the particular issues it wants to see considered. There will certainly be no grandstanding about who approaches who first. The important point is to get back into discussions and see how we can negotiate.
Of course, this must be put in the context of the overall public pay situation, as the Deputy rightly says, where 280,000 public servants have an agreement that is in operation and that has been worked through with the Government. A total of 20 unions have voted their acceptance of it. A number of unions, including the GRA, have not accepted it and the deal has not been concluded. It is my intention and that of the Government to do everything possible to ensure that the negotiations can start again, that the items on the table can be worked through and that we can find a pathway forward. This is what is important.
No one person or country is going to recover overnight from the kind of economic meltdown seen in this country where recruitment and investment stopped and where we saw lower numbers of gardaí around the country. Why was that? It was because there was no investment for a number of years. What has this Government done and what did the previous one do? They started re-investing in people in Templemore, in vehicles, in the tools the gardaí needed and in ICT. The Government has shown its commitment to An Garda Síochána. Look at the recent budgets in terms of the initiatives we have taken. Clearly, we want to deal with the issue of pay in so far as we can under the constraints that are there at present and that are well understood by everyone in this House.
They are very well understood but I do not think it is simply a matter of saying that we do not have the money to resolve this. There is only one way this will be resolved. It will be resolved in the same way that every other dispute has been resolved, namely, around the negotiating table. The quicker we get back to that, the better. We certainly do not want to waste the next six weeks trying to resolve this. I am glad that there will be no grandstanding because this will escalate even within the next six weeks. We know that the AGSI will have a special delegate conference to discuss this matter. Time is of the essence.
The Tánaiste spoke about the deal concluded by the Government with the management last week and which has now been rejected. I spoke to one garda this morning. One thing that really stuck in his craw was the issue of the rent allowance of €4,000. New gardaí are coming in on salaries of €23,000. This is not a case of me sensationalising the issue. I am sure the Tánaiste is well aware of it. Gardaí speak to her as frequently as anyone else in this House, probably more frequently. New gardaí are earning €23,000 and do not have that allowance and are being forced to sleep in their cars. That is not acceptable. I do not think it is fair of this Government to use an allowance like that as a quid pro quo bargaining chip in any negotiations.
The issue of the rent allowance was raised by the GRA and was a key demand made by it, particularly relating to new recruits. Contrary to what the Deputy said, I am quite sure the rent allowance will be welcomed for new recruits. It was an important support for new recruits in terms of finance. That was something the GRA put on the table. We were able to negotiate to a point where it was available. I think it would be a support for new recruits.
The Lansdowne Road agreement is flexible enough to allow for the concerns of recent recruits in the public service to be addressed in a negotiated way. I agree with the Deputy that we are speaking about a negotiated way forward. That is what has happened. We have seen that happening already in respect of the TUI and the AGSI, notwithstanding its more recent concerns about the public service pay commission. Of course, it is through sitting down and negotiating that this can be resolved. I am very clear, as are most Deputies, about the hardship people in this country have endured and the sacrifices they have had to make.
Gardaí are certainly within that group. It has been very difficult for them. The economy is recovering and we want to make sure that they, as well as other public servants, get the benefit.
Farmers are going through one of the most difficult periods experienced on family farms in many decades. Farm families are at an all-time low. Grain farmers throughout the country have lost their crops and many face ruination this year. The year 2016 is the fourth year in a row that many grain farmers are trading at a loss. I welcome the announcement of the round table meeting of tillage sector stakeholders due to take place next month. I expect that, following this meeting, increased supports will be put in place and compensation awarded to farmers who have suffered significant losses.
For many dairy farmers, 2016 has been the worst year in farming history, with milk prices at an all-time low. However, there has been an increase in global markets in recent months. These increases must be reflected at the first opportunity in prices paid to farmers. There must be no stalling on milk price increases by co-ops. Since Brexit, farmers have experienced a major drop in prices for beef, which has decreased from €4.70 to €3.70 per kilo. Our beef farmers are trading at a loss with these prices. This drop in prices to farmers has not been reflected in the prices paid by consumers. Suckler farmers are also experiencing great financial difficulties. I feel strongly that the suckler cow grant must be increased from €80 to €200 per cow.
There are serious issues that need to be addressed. The sheep grant has to be examined. A promise was made in the programme for Government to farmers, but it has not been delivered. Disadvantaged area payments have also been cut.
Given that this has been an exceptionally difficult year for farmers, I ask that the Government has forbearance, defers the payment of farmers' taxes due this year and spreads payments over the next five years. I am not asking that farmers be exempt from paying taxes. Rather, I ask that they be offered the opportunity to pay them over a period of five years in order to ease the major financial burden they currently face.
I also ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Michael Creed, to intervene with banks, co-ops and the Department of Social Protection to find solutions to providing aid for farmers at this difficult time. I have spoken at length with two of our national farming organisations, namely the IFA and the ICSA, in the past number of weeks. I have visited many grain, dairy, suckler and sheep farmers in recent weeks, from Kinsale to Mizen Head to the Beara Peninsula and Innishannon. I have seen the crisis we are in at first hand.
I reiterate my request that the Government does everything in its power to support farmers during this difficult time. I ask the Tánaiste to ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to visit farms that have been affected in rural Ireland and west Cork over the coming days. He can see at first hand the acres of grain that will not be harvested and instead ploughed into the ground.
I also ask the Tánaiste to consider tax issues facing farmers who are in significant financial difficulties, and spread the payments over five years. I reiterate that I am not asking for a tax exemption for farmers. Rather, I ask that payments to be spread over the next five years in order to ease their burden.
I thank the Deputy for his points on the farming community and the challenges it faces, in particular in regard to pricing. The Government is determined that the recovery is felt in every part of the country, and that of course includes rural communities. There is evidence of that beginning to happen but, of course, there is more to be done, as the Deputy correctly said.
The IFA briefed Deputies this week about a range of issues it wants to be addressed in the budget. The Minister, Deputy Creed, is actively addressing those issues. On the cycle of tax payment that is due by farmers, I am sure farmers will be considered very sympathetically by the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, and the Minister, Deputy Creed, in the upcoming budget. That is the place where the matter will be dealt with and a decision will be taken on the particular approach that is needed to support our farmers and rural communities.
The general economic recovery, which is ongoing, takes time to be felt in every sector. The farming community very often has a cyclical movement, whereby prices can be very high and then low. As Deputy Michael Collins said, this is a very difficult period for farmers, in particular those in the dairy industry. I will make sure that his comments are brought to the attention of the Ministers for Finance and Agriculture, Food and the Marine. As I said, I have no doubt this will be considered in the context of the budget.
I thank the Tánaiste for her response. I would appreciate her bringing to the direct attention of the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, my proposals on a tax exemption or a spread of payments for taxes to give the farmers an opportunity to survive this year. The Tánaiste knows as well as I that when farmers are affected the whole community is affected.
We face many serious issues. Some farmers are finding it extremely difficult to get farm assist. We were promised an increase in the rural social scheme where farmers on a low income would get an opportunity to participate on a work scheme. That has not happened in the programme for Government. I plead with the Tánaiste to go to the Minister for Finance and to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to plead the case on behalf of the farmers. Many of them face ruination and that is a very serious issue which we must resolve. I ask that the Tánaiste and the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Creed visit some of these farms over the next few days. I would be happy to show both Ministers around. I would also welcome both Deputies from west Cork to join in the visit to that area, if they would consider that, to see the serious situation of grain farmers and dairy farmers at this time.
We know, and this reinforces the Deputy's point, that on 50% of farms either the holder and-or their spouse has off-farm employment to try and deal with the economic situation they face. Commodity price variation and volatility is an increasing feature of agriculture markets and it is very difficult to deal with. As the Deputy knows, a number of measures have been introduced to support farmers in regard to the price volatility, including direct payments to farmers which are estimated by Teagasc to be approximately €17,000 per farm, or €20,000 for dairy farms. That is a fundamental hedge against volatility which is going to be very important in the challenging years ahead. As the Deputy has said, the budget decision was taken last year with regard to income averaging from three to five years to give more scope for income smoothing to help deal with that commodity price cycle. I am sure the Minister, Deputy Creed will consider that issue again in this year's budget given the volatility we are seeing in prices currently.
Earlier this week some 17 leading NGOs came together to brief Deputies and make the compelling case for greater investment in home care and community supports as part of budget 2017. The picture painted by the NGOs is of a system approaching crisis point. Their stories cannot be ignored. Consider, for example, Moira Skelly who cares full-time for her daughter Ciara, a 21 year old woman with autism and profound disabilities. Ciara has a mental age of two and requires 24 hour care. Moira has received a mere six hours of community supports and home care. In recent months this allocation has been cut further to four hours making life exceptionally difficult for Ciara and cutting off this lifeline for her mother. Consider also Sinead McArdle from Louth who was diagnosed with MS in 2005. Due to her condition she had to give up her full-time job. She has been refused home care support by the State and because of this her husband now has had to go part-time in his job in order to care for Sinead, putting the family under huge financial pressure as well as medical pressure.
In all our constituencies Members are receiving frequent calls from people with disabilities or from frail elderly people who have been approved for home care packages but, because of the funding cuts in this area, are being put on a long waiting list . It is incredible that people who meet the qualification criteria for a full home care package are put on a waiting list. People with severe disabilities and people in their 80s and 90s cannot wait three, six or nine months to receive the kind of support they require to live life with dignity. We also know of many families whose loved ones have no choice but to remain in a hospital bed because funding is not available to allow them to return home safely.
We know that these are not isolated cases. They are arising all the time and with increased frequency. Will the Tánaiste give a commitment to prioritise funding in this area in the upcoming budget?
We are all familiar with the demand for home care packages in our own areas and across the country. Of course, it is a very striking feature at present that there is increased demand. There is increased investment as well but there is a huge increase in demand with the increasing number of older people. Our policy is one of keeping people in the community and making sure that they get the kind of supports that they need. In terms of prioritising areas in the health service, this is a priority area. I reassure the Deputy on that. This is a priority for the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, for the Government and for the Department of Health. Our health services remain a priority and there are additional resources being provided. As the Deputy knows, there was an additional €500 million provided earlier this year. Some 270,000 extra home help hours have been agreed along with 2,000 more home care packages.
Let us be clear. People are receiving these. These are being provided in the community. New home care packages are being given. More people are benefitting from the increased investment. However, there has also been a huge increase in demand. It is right that we fund home care packages and that we support families to enable them to cope with a disabled child, as the Deputy has described, or an older person in order that they can stay in their home. It is a priority. We now have the winter initiative, with an extra €40 million and another 950 home care packages provided. The number of home care packages is increasing all the time. However, no one will disagree with the Deputy that there are cases, individuals and families out there who need home care packages right now. The Government is doing everything possible to respond by increasing the money and the number of home care packages but we are in a situation in which there is huge demand. It is certainly a priority to meet that demand over the coming weeks and months.
While some additional funding has been provided, there is no great evidence that it is making any kind of significant difference to the waiting lists because of the fact that there are so many demographic pressures. The 17 NGOs that came together this week deal with our health system on a daily basis and believe that home care must be made a priority for our health care system. We need to listen to their experiences. There is a need for Government to give a very clear commitment to re-orientate the health service to ensure that there is much more priority attached to home care supports and community supports in order to end this nonsense of people being unable to leave hospital because they do not have home care packages in place or they are waiting for ramps or different aids to be provided in their homes due to the long waiting lists in the local authorities. People are being denied the opportunity to live any kind of life with dignity because of this.
We know that providing home care is in the patient's interest. It achieves better health outcomes and makes absolute financial sense from the State's point of view. To remain in their homes, these people need to be able to be assured of the care that they require and they must have the necessary supports. Does the Tánaiste accept that it is now time to move to a situation in which there is a legal statutory entitlement to a home care package, just as there is with a statutory entitlement to a nursing home place? It makes sense to do that. Will the Tánaiste commit to moving in that direction?
The Deputy raised a number of points. The last point she raised was one of policy in relation to whether there should be a statutory entitlement. The Minister for Health informs me that is in fact being considered by the Department. The second point to make is that the delayed discharges are down this week by 34. Obviously, there is more work to be done because some patients' discharges are being delayed because they do not have home care packages. Each and every one of us here is familiar with that situation. The increased investment is reaching more people but there is still that huge demand. I agree with the Deputy that the focus needs to be evermore on primary care. As the Deputy knows, that is the direction our health service is taking. There is huge investment in primary care. Part of that is having the kind of home care package that enables people to stay in their homes. However, it is very costly. We all know, whether it is from our own parents or what we see with family and friends, just how intensive the demand is when it comes to keeping people in their homes.
Occupational therapy, physiotherapy and home care packages are needed-----
Home care is much cheaper than a hospital bed.
Yes, and the focus is on home care for that reason. That is also the reason we must make the shift from secondary care to primary care, as the Government is committed to doing. This will not happen overnight, however. We need to get the message out to members of the public that investment in home care packages has increased and they are not being cut back. However, demand has increased also and while the service is reaching more people, there is still the demand in our community that the Deputy described.