I ask Members to have regard to the times allocated.
Leaders' Questions
As we know, the Brexit result is one of the greatest challenges that this country has faced for many decades. The air of uncertainty has already impacted consumer confidence and sentiment and investments across the EU, in particular in the UK and Ireland. There is also an air of uncertainty about how prepared Ireland is for what we are facing. Unfortunately, we are not yet Brexit proof.
The future relationship between Ireland and the UK will depend on the latter's priorities during negotiations and the extent to which the European Commission and other member states can and will accommodate Ireland's specific needs. It is well accepted that Ireland will suffer more from Brexit than any other member state. The German chamber of commerce confirmed this during the week, as did the report published yesterday by the Central Statistics Office.
The UK's importance to Ireland socially and economically is obvious. Last year, our exports to Britain amounted to €15.6 billion, of which beef was worth €1.9 billion. Other exports included medical and pharmaceutical products and food-based products. The agrifood sector across this island is exceptionally worried and is projecting job losses in the first and second quarters of next year. We are told that those jobs will be labour intensive and rurally based in the main.
If the euro climbs to 90p, there will be a drop of at least €700 million in Irish exports and a potential loss of 7,500 jobs, which will affect every region. We do not have to remind the Minister that the agrifood sector employs people in every county across the country. It does not believe that the Government is prepared enough for Brexit. The recent all-island civic dialogue on Brexit, while welcome, must now be backed up by practical initiatives in order to protect jobs.
Industry cannot be left feeling isolated while 18 months of negotiations take place. During the week, the EU negotiator, Mr. Michel Barnier, stated that negotiations would be completed by the autumn of 2018, so the pressure is on and a hard Brexit without any deal being in place may be the result, given the differences in and hostilities of the positions on all sides.
Employers are requesting that an enterprise stabilisation fund be set up to allow them to tackle the sterling depreciation that has already hit up to 370 jobs in the mushroom industry. Has the Government any response or plan to introduce this? Industry is crying out for assistance that would allow it to innovate, diversify and expand market access in the face of Brexit. For example, it has requested online trading supports and trade finance measures to allow for the fact that Ireland is one of only two EU countries without a state-backed support for export credit.
Has the Government taken any tangible decision on any of these requests? As the UK edges closer to invoking Article 50, what will the Government do to ramp up our preparedness for Brexit?
It will not be a surprise to anybody to hear the Government has put a huge priority on managing and navigating our way through what will be a difficult period as we build up to Article 50 being triggered and then the consequences of that afterwards. As the Deputy has pointed out, we have had an all-island civil dialogue already. We have had a North-South Ministerial Council that focused specifically on the issue. The Taoiseach, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and other Ministers are working towards getting a common agreed approach on the island of Ireland towards the outcome that we are looking for, across parties in Northern Ireland and across parties in the Republic.
I know more than most the reliance the Irish agrifood industry has on the British market. We are talking about a €7 billion trade relationship each year. Approximately half of our beef exports and 43% of agrifood exports go to the UK so I certainly do not need reminding of that and neither does the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Michael Creed. That is why we have a special unit within the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, which has already been set up for quite some time now. It has had multiple meetings with its counterparts in Northern Ireland to look at ways in which we can insulate and protect this country from currency changes and the potential consequences of a fallout from Brexit.
Let me make two things very clear. First, Ireland will not allow itself be forced to take sides, either on the British side or on the EU side, because we cannot afford to do either. Ireland needs to remain close with the UK in terms of our political and trade relationships and we will do so. We also need to be a proactive, strong and positive member of the European Union in the context of trying to manage the fallout from Brexit. Second, we will prioritise looking after Irish interests, whether they be Irish citizens in the UK or in Ireland or further afield. We have taken multiple actions to date in order to do that. No country in the European Union is even close to Ireland in terms of the level of priority and preparedness that we already have in place for the negotiations that are on the way.
The Minister said in his response that he has taken multiple actions but he did not outline any of them. He mentioned the all-Ireland civic dialogue which took place. I attended that myself. Organisations such as Enterprise Ireland, the IDA, InterTradeIreland, the Centre for Cross Border Studies, the Economic and Social Research Institute, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, IBEC, ISME and all the industry representatives point to serious job losses in the first half of next year. The Minister did not give us any concrete comfort here today or any detail of decisions the Government has taken to mitigate that.
Equally, if we look at, for example, the tourism industry how will the millions of people who visit this country from Europe be impacted in terms of border control? What will happen to people transiting from this jurisdiction to the North of Ireland? We hear a lot of rhetoric from the Minister. He said we will be Brexit-proofed and that we will be ready but he did not give any specific, concrete measures. Will the Government put money on the table in terms of enterprise stabilisation funds for industry? Will the Government properly resource the IDA and Enterprise Ireland? The Government has said extra headcount will be provided for those organisations but that has still not followed through. Will the Minister please outline some specifics on the issue?
With respect, it is a little naive to start asking for detail as to how border controls will work before we even have a formal political negotiation between Britain and the European Union under way. Our job is to ensure that there will not be a need for border controls. The political engagement is intensive at senior civil servant level and also at a leadership level within Government Ministries - both here, in Northern Ireland and in London - and that will continue.
In terms of tangible actions that have been taken, in the agrifood sector we have introduced a new low-cost agrifood fund for food companies and farmers that need to finance business growth and need low-cost finance to do that to help deal with the competitiveness challenge that clearly exists since the changes in value in sterling. We are taking practical measures on the ground to help businesses and individuals, through the IDA, Enterprise Ireland and setting up a focus group within the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine on Brexit.
It made recommendations to the Department of Finance for the recent budget. Subsequently, a series of practical measures were put in place to try to insulate Ireland from the potential fallout from Brexit. We anticipate formal political negotiations beginning towards the end of March.
The public transport system is in a perpetual state of crisis. In the past 12 months alone we have seen Luas and Dublin Bus workers go on strike and a very troubling rail review by the National Transport Authority. Bus Éireann is facing catastrophe. On Tuesday the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport told the Government that Bus Éireann was facing insolvency within two years and that because of losses of over €5 million last year and upwards of €6 million this year between six and eight bus routes would be cut. It is believed these bus routes are covered by Expressway services, on which thousands upon thousands of people depend in going about their daily lives. They connect people and communities and are the vital link between rural and urban centres. The Minister knows as well I as do that public transport provision is the most effective way to reduce traffic congestion, link communities and improve local and regional economies. It also has its part to play in protecting the environment. In fact, it is probably the main solution to the myriad transport problems we face. I am sure the Minister will also understand that by, their very nature, public transport services are not always profit making, but it is not about that, nor should it be. The hint is in the words "public transport"; it is about providing a service for the people and the State. The importance of public transport transcends profit. That is what having a public transport network is about. Citizens are justifiably concerned by any plan to cut bus routes or rail services, particularly in rural communities but also across the State. We also need to consider transport workers. Bus Éireann has mooted the potential separation of Expressway services and we all know what that means - it means privatisation. The solution is increasing subvention levels, given that there have been eight years of gross underfunding and underinvestment, to ensure we deliver a first-class public transport system in whatever way we can. Yesterday the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport did not give a commitment to support my suggestion that there be engagement with all stakeholders to find a solution to save the public transport network, but it needs to happen if we are sincere about protecting, preserving and enhancing the network. My question is simple but of massive significance to people living in rural and urban communities the length and breadth of the State. Unlike the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport yesterday, will the Minister commit to engagement with all stakeholders, including the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, the National Transport Authority, Bus Éireann and the unions, to try to find some solution to preserve and protect the public transport network and ensuring this will happen without delay?
It is important to deal with the facts. The subvented part of Bus Éireann's network, the public service obligation, PSO, network, is performing well and will receive additional taxpayers' resources both this year and next year. The issue arises where Bus Éireann is competing with other operators, areas in which the State is prevented from intervening in a way that would be seen to be anti-competitive. We need to identify what the real problems are. The State needs to ensure people have access to an adequate public transport service in areas in which it might not be commercially viable to provide a service, where there are no alternatives and no competitive routes. We are increasing the level of State support in these areas. What are at risk are Bus Éireann services on competitive routes.
Yesterday representatives of Bus Éireann attended the Labour Court. Their appearance was on foot of a pay claim lodged by unions. Bus Éireann outlined the very serious financial position it was in. All Members of the House are by now aware of the situation. I am advised that Bus Éireann is losing about €6 million a year. However, the core problem is on the competitive routes on which the State is prohibited from intervening and subsidising services. It is clear that management at Bus Éireann needs to develop plans to address the commercial challenges facing the company. The formulation and progression of these plans are, of course, matters for its management team. People should not cross over, fudge and merge the arguments between the PSO routes that are supported with taxpayers' money, as they should be, and the competitive routes on which Bus Éireann is struggling and losing money.
It is blatantly obvious that by saturating the competitive routes the public transport network will suffer. Particularly on urban routes competitors are coming in and creaming off the most profitable routes and leaving the least profitable ones for the public network. The Minister did not answer my question. I asked him that if the Government was genuinely interested in resolving the issue, would it give its support in the engagement of all stakeholders to find a solution. He did not answer that question and I hope he will. I cannot see why the Government would not encourage all stakeholders, given the crisis in which we find ourselves. If it does not do so, one will have to ask if it is now Government policy to cut off rural Ireland. Is that its policy? Is it its policy to tidy up the public transport network to make it presentable for privatisation? If not, it should have no qualms in committing to supporting engagement with all stakeholders.
With respect, I ask the Deputy to stop trying to fly kites and raise concerns that are not founded in fact.
They are founded in fact.
They are founded in fact.
Yesterday the Labour Court indicated-----
But-----
The Deputies should listen; they do not like to hear the truth.
About which Labour Court ruling are we talking for a start?
Giving easy answers is the usual approach of Sinn Féin. Yesterday the Labour Court indicated-----
It is 100% Bus Éireann routes.
May we have order, please?
Is the Deputy making a statement for the Dáil?
The Minister will need to cop on.
Will the Minister, please, continue?
Yesterday the Labour Court indicated that it would not issue a recommendation on the basis that the company was finalising a restructuring plan to be ready by the end of January. However, the Labour Court also stated it was available to the company and the trade unions in the interim, if required. I hope both sides will engage on a constructive basis to seek to resolve difficult issues. There are difficult issues and I do not belittle them. Irish Rail faces real challenges, as does Bus Éireann. Of course, the Government must be supportive in encouraging the arms of the State and mechanisms within it to try to find solutions. We are legally prevented from engaging in cross-subsidisation which seems to be what the Deputy is suggesting. Let us focus on the areas where we can legally see solutions to real problems, as opposed to trying to fly kites and pretend that certain things can be done when they cannot be.
I call Deputy Michael Lowry.
Does the Government support engagement?
May we, please, have order for Deputy Michael Lowry?
The Minister did not answer the question.
No; Deputy Michael Lowry is next.
Does the Government support engagement?
Will the Minister, please, answer the question?
I afford the Minister the opportunity to give his own assessment of progress made in the housing of homeless people and the supply of housing. He will be aware that Focus Ireland recently estimated that 20 families each month were becoming homeless. Owing to the current housing crisis, it is estimated that approximately 40 children every month are losing their homes. This is on top of the 2,500 children and 4,377 adults already officially recorded as homeless in October 2016.
Since 2010 it has become apparent that there has been a drastic increase in persons accessing homeless services. This is not just in the cities and towns where it gets attention, it is a problem across the State. For example, in County Tipperary a total of 25 persons presented as homeless in 2010. That figure has increased dramatically to 426 persons in 2015 and to more than 500 in 2016. Like other parts of the State, County Tipperary is facing a serious housing crisis. The lack of affordable rented accommodation, the lack of social housing, unemployment, unrealistic rent allowance limits, unsustainable mortgage payments and evictions from owner occupied and buy-to-let properties have created a situation where the frequency of individuals and families becoming homeless has accelerated drastically, resulting in homeless services becoming completely overwhelmed.
Many families and individuals are living only one crisis away from homelessness. Homelessness is a problem that affects all areas of our society. Across County Tipperary homelessness is on the increase, especially hidden homelessness, where people are forced to sleep in cars, pitch a tent or sleep on the couches of relatives and friends. My constituency office has seen a notable increase in the number of calls relating to homelessness or from families in fear of homelessness. Many of these people are on the county council housing list. They are being asked to leave their current accommodation due to repossession or they are being asked to leave because a buy-to-let property is getting repossessed by a financial institution or because their landlord has decided to sell the property. These people simply cannot source an affordable alternative and are living in limbo, fearing homelessness.
The introduction of schemes such as the housing assistance payment scheme, HAP, was designed to provide assistance to people currently on the social housing list to rent from the private sector. While the HAP scheme will pay a proportion of a person’s rent in private rented accommodation the scheme just is not working. Private rented accommodation is extremely limited in supply. Yesterday I checked the Daft.ie website and there were only 70 properties available to privately rent across County Tipperary for people in that situation. Those properties that are available range in price from €480 for a one bedroom apartment in Carrick-On-Suir to more than €900 for a three bedroom family home in Thurles. Yesterday, in Clonmel, there were three such properties available when the council checked. People cannot access the HAP scheme.
There are a lot of comments and questions there. I first want to give a little bit of good news. We have a lot of work still to do to respond comprehensively to the homeless crisis we face in this city and in other parts of the State. Today we have the November figures on homelessness in Dublin and for the first time in a very long time the number of adults and families who are homeless in Dublin has actually reduced, month on month. That is not to say that we do not still have a mountain to climb - we do. We still have far too many people without a home to go to or a bed to sleep in. Yesterday the Taoiseach and I visited a new homeless shelter that will open tomorrow. Three of these will be ready to open tomorrow providing 210 new beds for emergency accommodation in Dublin, to make sure that everybody who needs a bed will get one this winter. When we look at the numbers, we have provided more than 17,000 new social housing solutions this year. This is a record. There will be 2,700 housing solutions put in place for homeless individuals and families this year. That is 500 more than has ever been achieved before. The previous record was last year when the former Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly, was very focused on this area.
There is a lot that we are doing. In the budget we increased the budget for housing by 50% for 2017, an increase from some €800 million to nearly €1.3 billion. I believe we have outstripped all of the targets set for 2016 in actually trying to get people in to sustainable homes. With regard to the homeless HAP scheme in Dublin, the target for this year was 550 people. We will have probably hit the figure of 800 solutions there.
I fully accept that homelessness needs to be a big priority in finance and policy direction and we need to take radical decisions if necessary to try to prevent the stream of people and families coming in to homelessness.
Next week I will bring to Cabinet a new rental strategy which I hope we will have a chance to debate in the House afterwards. Many of the parties in the House contributed to the consultation process to get this right and I thank them for it.
There is a lot happening but there is still a lot more to do. I want to say to the House very clearly that from my perspective this is my number one priority as Minister. If the State cannot look after people who literally do not have a roof over their heads we have to ask ourselves some very serious questions. This is why in our homeless and housing strategy the first chapter, or pillar, focuses on homelessness and the need for a comprehensive response, whereby Ministers, such as Deputies Zappone, Harris and Varadkar, work in partnership with me to ensure we have a whole-of-Government approach towards not only helping people make the transition from homelessness into a stable home, but also to try to help them get over what are often mental health, addiction or family breakdown issues to ensure a permanent success story for them.
I thank the Minister for his response and I do not doubt his sincerity and genuine commitment to resolving an issue which is at crisis point and has been steadily building over a period of seven to eight years. Local authorities need to be more involved. Some local authorities are performing and operating to the strategy, but others are not delivering. Housing voids, which are those which are vacant and need refurbishment, need to be made available for new tenants but it is simply too slow. The system is too cumbersome and the reaction time of local authorities is too slow.
It does not make sense. We have 3,000 qualified applicants on the housing list in Tipperary. We built four houses in the past two years, and I am told there is a huge backlog in the Department. Responsibility to proceed with the work should be delegated to local authorities. At present we have five different stages. Local authorities must apply to the Department for an appraisal to be carried out on the requirement for housing. They must then go through a design process and a tendering process. It takes years and not months to get it through the Department. It would greatly assist if responsibility was delegated to the local authorities. Let them make their own decisions. Let them apply procurement laws and let the Department assign somebody to do an assessment of them.
I take the point in terms of streamlined decision-making and in some cases it may well still be a barrier. Yesterday, I approved €18 million for 56 houses to be built as part of the redevelopment of O'Devaney Gardens in Dublin. This year we will see 4,240 new units in terms of new builds, acquisitions and voids coming back into the system. Do not forget that last year the number of houses built by local authorities in the entire country was 75. We are dramatically ramping up the capacity of local authorities to deliver on social housing build programmes as well as getting voids back into use.
The Deputy is right to stay in the past the decision-making process between the Department and local authorities was not fast enough. There was an eight stage process. When Deputy Kelly was Minister he changed it to a four stage process. I am streamlining this even further to ensure we send teams of people to local authorities to get sign-off in a matter of days on decisions which in the past may have taken months. The Deputy will see significant changes in urgency and the pace of decision-making between the Department and local authorities if he looks at individual projects and the decision-making around them. If this is not happening and the Deputy knows this and has cases where it is not happening, I need to hear about them.
May we wish our greatest public servant, T.K. Whitaker, a happy birthday and honour him? He is a remarkable man. I must ask a follow on question. Where is today's version of Whitaker? Where is the person who will make the same type of leap we need to make? TK Whitaker was involved in Ireland's leap from being a closed country to an open one. What we need to do today is move from being a fossil fuelled country to a sustainable clean and better economic model.
We need to do that because we are, as our best scientist, Professor John Sweeney, has said, a "delinquent" State in terms of climate change and that is the only accurate word to use.
Our best regulator, Laura Burke, got it absolutely right last week when she said that when it came to climate change we were all talk and no action. The figures behind that argument are clear. In energy and transport our emissions are going up by 5% per year when they have to go down by that amount. I was at the sustainable nation business conference last month and all the people in this area gave one clear message, that we had everything in place to enable us to be good at this transition. We can create jobs and secure our economic future but all said that what was missing was political leadership. The money and the expertise is there and we have good companies with people ready to do it but nothing is happening.
The current capital plan is woefully inadequate to bring about any change or transition. The Minister responsible for energy spoke on the matter but there is nothing in the annual transition statement. The only plan we have is to burn biomass for power generation which, as anybody in the energy sector knows and Greenpeace has said, is like putting out a fire with gasoline. I have recently been critical of the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Shane Ross, for apparently having no interest in his responsibility to switch to a cleaner transport system in the form of public transport, electric vehicles and cycling and walking. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae was right to say yesterday that there is no money for cycling infrastructure in Kerry, which it needs, and nor is there any in Dublin. This is madness because by tackling the climate issue we will get a better transport system. We are facing gridlock and one of the ways out of it is to take action. The Minister for Transport is doing nothing. In agriculture we are trading on an Origin Green banner which we will not be able to use because it is not the reality. We have everything to gain by going green as Teagasc has shown that doing so gives a more profitable agricultural system.
We have no Whitaker and no Lemass. What is stopping the Government from taking real serious action on climate change? Why is it allowing this county to become a delinquent State on this crucial issue of our time?
In January we will publicly launch a plan for what Ireland should look like in 25 years' time, in 2040. We will take a long-term view and the plan will include an ambitious and proactive approach to our responsibilities on climate change. The Deputy spoke of people taking responsibility but there are many people in this House, the Deputy included, who had an opportunity to come in, be part of Government and help to drive this agenda from within as opposed to standing outside asking for things to happen. We have a commitment from Government consistent with the Paris agreement and we will have sectoral plans and commitments that each Minister will have to deliver on, including transport.
I agree with the Deputy that we have not done enough in transport. I was previously Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine and we changed the mindset among Irish farmers in terms of their approach towards the environment, because agriculture plays an enormous part in contributing to our emissions. However, a lot of people fail to focus on the fact that, in the past ten to 20 years, the contribution to emissions from agriculture has reduced, and is continuing to reduce because of the measures that have been taken in a responsible way by farmers and food producers across the country under the Origin Green banner. It is about changing mindsets as well as action and involves much more efficient food production. We will continue on that journey but we will do so in a way that does not undermine the capacity of people to make a living.
Ireland is recognised internationally as a country that is leading in the climate change challenge in respect of agrifood and agriculture and we will continue to do that too. I have had the privilege of speaking on these issues before the world food programme and the World Wildlife Fund because people want to understand how the Origin Green project, designed and implemented in Ireland, can actually be implemented in other countries, particularly in developing countries that have to produce a lot more food for their growing populations.
There are major challenges ahead and we need to meet them. We need to factor the challenges presented by climate change into many of the other planned initiatives such as capital programmes in the transport, agriculture and energy sectors. We need to set and meet ambitious targets. We need to move away from coal-powered electricity generation. The Deputy and I had many conversations on the issue during negotiations in advance of setting up the Government. The programme for Government contains strong statements to that effect. While there is much more we need to do regarding our responsibilities as a First World country that must give example and take a leadership position on how we reduce emissions and manage a growing economy in a more climate efficient way, let us not pretend that nothing is happening in this area.
I would love to have gone into government. My experience of being in government is that when one has leadership and big, bold plans, one can do things and change. We could do this and be really good at it. However, one of the reasons we did not enter government was we sensed there was no ambition among the Government parties.
(Interruptions).
Excuse me, but the facts bear it out. Emissions are increasing by 5% per annum, when they should be cut by 5%. That is the reality. Let us wake up to the reality, not deny it. This issue does not belong only to the Green Party. Yesterday in the Seanad a Fianna Fáil Member said he did not want a lecture. I do not want to lecture anybody; I want to work with everyone. This issue belongs to every party; it is not a niche issue. We must fundamentally change our entire economic model and do so quickly. They grass is being cut on Leinster Lawn in the middle of December. Today in the Arctic it is 25° Celsius above average. As well as these obvious, urgent reasons, there is an opportunity for the State to engage in a just transition to give us a more stable and secure economy. The rest of the world is moving in this direction, no matter what Donald Trump will do to try to stop it. It is in our economic interests to do this, but it is not happening. Let us be honest and wake up to the reality. Let us have dialogue. I do not want to lecture anybody, but, God Almighty, we cannot ignore the issue. We need a modern day T. K. Whitaker. Unfortunately, the poor man, at the age of 100 years, is probably not going to be able to do it, but somebody needs to do it. We need leadership.
In case I was misunderstood, I accept where the Deputy is coming from and can see how genuine and passionate he is about the issue. We have had many conversations on climate change and what needs to be done beyond what has been planned for. I agree with the vast majority of it. The programme for Government is very clear - it is in black and white - the Government's ambition is not to fudge on the climate change agenda or move away from it. We are committed to having a national dialogue on climate change.
There is nothing in the programme for Government about it.
It will be part of the dialogue on a national planning framework. All of these matters - how we move around, where we live, how we work, how we heat and power our homes and how we drive our cars - are interlinked. There will be an extra 1 million people living in Ireland. There will probably be 8 million people living on this island between 2050 and 2060 and we need to plan for it now in the context of the challenges with which we will undoubtedly be confronted in emissions management, but the Government is up for it. The Minister, Deputy Denis Naughten, is giving great leadership. We want the Deputy to be part of the dialogue and I hope he will be.