Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 13 Dec 2016

Vol. 932 No. 3

Leaders' Questions

Deputy Micheál Martin

The issue I want to bring to the Taoiseach's attention this afternoon is a crisis in the availability of post-primary places for children on the autistic spectrum. There is a chronic lack of places and a similar lack of secondary schools making provision for children and young people on the autism spectrum. If one looks at how the primary situation evolved over the past decade and a half, one will see that initially in the late 1990s - from 1998 onwards - departmental inspectors engaged with schools to facilitate the establishment of many special classes in primary schools. There was quite dramatic growth and engagement.

There has been a complete absence of that kind of proactivity, co-ordination and demographic planning at second level for children with autism. Overall, we have 548 autistic spectrum disorder, ASD, classes at primary level, which are classes for children with autism. At post-primary level, there are 237. One can immediately see the enormous shortage of suitable places. There is also a complete lack of proactivity on the part of the Department of Education and Skills. The National Council for Special Education does not have the powers to instruct schools to take in children with autism.

There is no planning and every year there is incredible pressure on parents to do all the running. Everything is left to the last minute. A meeting was organised in Cork last night by a teacher who worked in a school with a special autism unit at second level. He is absolutely fed up of having to deal with the anguish of parents who are applying to this particular school but who are told there are no places available. There are not many other schools to send their children to because very few offer second-level placements for children with autism. There was a huge turnout at the meeting but this is a national issue. In every county there are parents who do not know where their children will be next September. This is because of gaps in the legislative framework and the absence of a proper engagement with schools, as well as a lack of proper planning and of resources.

The wherewithal to deal with this matter exists in the Education (Admission to Schools) Bill. Will the Government agree to give powers to the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, to ensure that children are accepted by second-level schools and to instruct such schools to set up special units? It cannot be left to a small number of second-level schools to do it but that is what is going on at the moment. It is about time that everybody put their shoulder to the wheel and that the national council is given the legislative powers it needs.

The Taoiseach

It is always a very difficult situation when a child is assessed as being on a particular point on the autistic spectrum and it creates a great challenge for the child, the parents and a school. In some cases, however, things work out very well. The NCSE is carrying out a review of facilities for autistic children nationally, with particular emphasis on Cork. The number of classes for autistic children has increased from 500 to 1,000 in the past five years. This is an increase of 100% and it is continuing. It is a decision for each school as to whether it wishes to have an ASD class. The decision is not for the Department to make. There is full engagement because this service is critical in the lives of the children concerned, as well as fundamental to the lives of their parents and children in general. The Minister for Education and Skills and his Department will continue to expand the number of ASD classes because they are a fundamental part of allowing every child the best opportunity to make his or her way forward. The increase in classes that I mentioned will continue and the strategy will make further progress in the time ahead.

Deputy Micheál Martin

The Taoiseach has not answered the question and his reply is dangerously disengaged and disconnected. There are 548 special classes at primary level and 237 at post-primary level. There is also a big shortage at preschool level but I am concentrating on post-primary level. The Taoiseach said it was up to schools to decide but that is what I am asking him to end. It can no longer be left to individual schools to decide. At primary level, every single school got involved after 1998 when we brought in automatic entitlement at primary level for children with special needs. At post-primary level, only certain schools are working to take in children on the autistic spectrum. The rest of the schools are not engaging and the Department is not engaging with them. Everybody in this House knows that this is happening each year. It is appalling and scandalous that parents have no idea whether they will have a place next September. There is no need for this situation in light of all the work that has been done in the primary sector in the past decade and a half. Everybody should know who is coming through the primary sector and there should be proper assessments.

It really worries me that the Taoiseach did not really respond to my key point. There is some progress in the Education (Admission to Schools) Bill towards this end but the legislation needs to be strengthened dramatically. First, it should be strengthened to place an absolute requirement on a second-level school to accept a child in the locality who is on the autistic spectrum and who is recommended for such a placement.

Second, the national council should have the powers to engage proactively, to plan, map, organise and co-ordinate the provision of units-----

An Ceann Comhairle

I thank Deputy Martin. His time is up.

Deputy Micheál Martin

-----for children with autism at second level and to instruct schools to establish such units and resource them effectively. That is the way to do it. The matter cries out for such action and intervention. The schools admissions Bill is the way to do it. Will the Taoiseach indicate that the Government would be willing to accept amendments to the Bill to make sure this becomes a reality?

The Taoiseach

The matter should be discussed on Committee Stage. The Deputy asks that the State compel schools to form such classes.

Deputy Micheál Martin

Absolutely.

The Taoiseach

He is aware that the State can oblige a school to take in a pupil. It is a very different prospect to legislate to the effect that such classes for children with autism must be created. This is a big difference. I am quite sure the Minister is willing to tease out the issue on Committee Stage of the schools admissions Bill. However, the Deputy suggests that boards of management in secondary schools should receive orders from the Department of Education and Skills to create classes for ASD children-----

Deputy Micheál Martin

We are saying we must have an inclusive society.

The Taoiseach

-----whereas we know that the Department can oblige a school to take a child into a class if the school attempts to refuse to do so. It is a different prospect to set out to issue instructions and orders to every school to form ASD classes. The Minister would be very happy to engage with the Deputy or anyone else on the matter in the discussions on Committee Stage of the admissions to schools Bill.

Deputy Gerry Adams

Today the Taoiseach's Government launched its long-overdue and long-promised propositions for the residential rental sector. Despite the Government's reluctance to support rent certainty in the past, Sinn Féin had hoped rent certainty would be part of the Government's plan. We had hoped some relief would be given to the more than 700,000 citizens struggling with increased rents. The case for introducing rent certainty could not be more obvious. Rents have risen by almost 12% since this time last year and continue to rise because the Government has failed objectively and abjectly to address the rental crisis. The current annual rental increase is the largest on record. Four households per day are losing their homes. Last month's daft.ie quarterly rental report showed average rents throughout the State are now more than €1,000 per month. The figure for Dublin is more than €1,500. It is out of control. Rents are already at unsustainable levels. Today's announcement lacks ambition and will actually compound the difficulties faced by citizens.

The most glaring omission is the absence of a system of rent certainty linking annual rent reviews to an index such as the consumer price index, as proposed by the Dáil Committee on Housing and Homelessness. What has been produced is an ad hoc package by an ad hoc Government supported by an ad hoc Fianna Fáil Party that plucks the arbitrary figure of 4% out of nowhere to be applied to rent increases annually in Dublin and Cork. This means that those currently renting an average-priced property in Dublin will pay an extra €2,314 over the course of the next three years. In Cork, the increase will be €1,628. Does the Taoiseach think people have this kind of money? Does he think they can afford this? What about those who live outside Dublin? The old rules still apply. What about people in Galway, Castlebar, Sligo or other parts of the State? Rents in my constituency are now at an average of €913 per month. This represents a 15% increase. In Dundalk, people are paying €400 extra; in Drogheda, almost €700. Citizens need the Government's help. They have not got it. Today's announcement will copper-fasten a wider housing crisis that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have consistently refused to deal with.

The two parties voted against Sinn Féin's rent certainty proposals three times. Why did they do so? Why will the Government not introduce rent certainty? It says it cannot interfere with the market. It says it is okay to force through emergency laws to cut public services and wages, it is okay to reward the greed of private bankers and it is okay to force struggling families to pay this bill, but it will not introduce rent certainty.

The Government could do it today if it wanted. It could link rent increases to the consumer price index. Will the Government do this?

The Taoiseach

In the past hour, the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government has launched publically the rental strategy which has been worked on extensively in recent months. The rental strategy covers a number of areas relating to security which will bring greater certainty to tenants and landlords. It covers supply and will maintain levels of existing rental stock and promote additional supply through a variety of measures. It covers standards to improve the quality and management of rental accommodation. It covers services in respect of broadening and strengthening the role and powers of the Residential Tenancies Board to more effectively provide key services to tenants and landlords. There will be an extensive discussion on this today at the Oireachtas committee.

Obviously, this is an issue that is complex and not easy to resolve. The fundamental flaw in the situation that has arisen regarding the construction sector has been the lack of supply of housing. That is the fundamental issue. Rents in this city, Cork and a number of other areas throughout the country have begun to increase. It is happening to an extraordinary extent in Dublin. The Minister now proposes to intervene in the market to bring predictability in respect of the increases allowed and the time limits imposed. This measure is being taken to limit the scale of increases in rent and to provide predictability and certainty for tenants, many of whom are hard pressed, in houses in two cities where there is a distinct shortage of supply. This is not a blanket intervention in the market for an indefinite period. It is focused and targeted on areas subject to increases in rent over a period as determined and approved as rent pressure zones by the Minister for Housing, Planning Community and Local Government.

I do not accept the argument of Deputy Adams in respect of this not going far enough. This has been a difficult situation for the Minister to attempt to rectify. Obviously, the housing market nationally suffers from a serious lack of supply. This is where the other elements of the comprehensive housing strategy brought in by the Minister are focused. A time limit is set out in a focused and strategic way in the interests of tenants and landlords.

Deputy Gerry Adams

The Taoiseach says this has been a difficult situation for the Minister; God help him facing this situation. We have heard it all before - Enda-speak, platitudes and plamás. The Taoiseach says it is quite complex. The bottom line is the Government has refused to act on rent certainty once again. The Government and the other team across the floor have created the biggest housing emergency in the history of the State. Under the Taoiseach’s Governments, there has been one certainty where wealth has been transferred from the poorest to the better off and social mobility has been reversed. Poverty and inequality have increased.

Today, the Government and Fianna Fáil, if it supports the Government with its confidence and supply agreement, have guaranteed that citizens renting in Dublin will pay €2,300 more for exactly the same property in three years' time. They have ensured that inflation and the cost of living are going to increase savagely. They have guaranteed knock-on pay demands in the private and public sector and ensured that people are going to be priced out of their homes. I will ask the Taoiseach again. Why does the Government not bring certainty to these tenants?

The Taoiseach

This is a comprehensive programme. I am sure Deputy Adams has not read it yet. He might make time to read it.

Deputy Dessie Ellis

There are too many landlords. That is the problem.

The Taoiseach

There are a number of key actions, first, to introduce rent pressure zones to provide rent predictability in areas where there is unsustainable rent inflation. That includes this city and Cork. Evidence of that is before our eyes and we either do nothing or something. The second action is to provide more effective termination procedures for non-payment of rent and the third will place restrictions on the use of sale as a reason for ending a tenancy, something the Minister has referred to as the Tyrrelstown amendment.

The fourth action is, through engagement, to encourage banks and landlord borrowers to agree sustainable solutions to buy-to-let arrears which result in properties being retained in the rental sector. The fifth action is to review how landlord obligations are addressed during receiverships of encumbered buy-to-lets in order to secure protections for tenants. The sixth action is to improve enforcement of the Residential Tenancies Board's determination orders. The seventh action is to encourage longer-term lettings by allowing unfurnished lettings, as in other jurisdictions, subject to the introduction of an appropriate standard and a minimum lease term of ten years. This plan, which is in the interests of hard-pressed tenants who are experiencing severe rent inflation as a result of the lack of supply of housing, is one element of a comprehensive housing strategy that focuses on dealing with housing right across the spectrum. It will be the subject of extensive debate and discussion in the committee and the Dáil over the course of this week. It is in the interests of tenants and landlords.

Deputy Brendan Howlin

Last Thursday, the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government urged the Dáil to reject the Social and Affordable Housing Bill 2016, which was proposed by the Labour Party. According to the amendment he proposed, our Bill "pre-empts" the delivery of the commitment in his action plan for housing and homelessness to publish "a strategy for the rental sector". We now find ourselves in a daft position. The Government announced its strategy for the rental sector earlier today. In two days' time, the House will be invited to vote down a housing Bill on the basis that it is premature in advance of the publication of the strategy. I hope all Members of the House remember on Thursday that this was the reason given by the Government for not providing rent certainty. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, promised last week that the rental strategy would, above all else, provide "predictability for landlords and tenants and... improve security of tenure", so we cleared the decks and waited expectantly. To put it bluntly, the Government has failed the test today.

The only way the Government can stand over this excuse for a strategy is by admitting that it has no real grasp of the nature and scale of the problem. Tenants are facing increasing pressures, such as increasingly unaffordable rents, insecurity of tenure and poor standards. Many single people and families now spend 40% of their net incomes on modest private rental accommodation. As we have just heard, rents have increased by an unprecedented 12% in the past year. It is obvious that one solution is to increase supply, but that alone is unlikely to stabilise or reduce house prices or rents. Everyone apart from the Government and the Fianna Fáil Party now agrees that rent control is needed. This view is shared by Threshold, Focus Ireland, the Simon Community, the Peter McVerry Trust and the National Economic and Social Council. The all-party Committee on Housing and Homelessness recommended that rent reviews be linked to the consumer price index or a similar index. There is virtual unanimity on doing this, but for some reason that is not enough to persuade this minority Government and Fianna Fáil.

As the Taoiseach knows, rent regulation is the norm in Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden. He is aware that the Labour Party did not become converts to rent regulation in opposition. We did our best to get movement on it when we were sitting on the other side of the House. The Taoiseach knows how ferocious the lobby on these issues was and remains. He will agree that a concerted campaign waged by Irish and international property and mortgage interests against any form of rent regulation has so far held sway. When a representative of the biggest landlord in the country was interviewed in The Irish Times last month, he referred to the Irish rental market as "a great market". He said that his company would be content with 3% annual rent increases but, astonishingly, the Government and Fianna Fáil believes that a 4% limit on rent increases is acceptable. I suggest that such a measure is not enough. I ask the Taoiseach, even at this late hour, to accept the consensus that rent controls are required in the crisis market that currently exists and to allow the Labour Party Bill that will be voted on in the Dáil on Thursday to be agreed.

The Taoiseach

The Labour Party is perfectly entitled to put forward its Bill. It is focused on keeping rent in line with the consumer price index nationally. This would undermine completely the ability to supply the necessary number of houses to help ease this situation. Other elements of the Bill are compatible with what the Minister has produced today on behalf of the Government such as, for example, longer tenancies through a variety of arrangements with landlords.

Deputy Brendan Howlin

They can charge what they want.

Deputy Simon Coveney

They cannot.

The Taoiseach

New dwellings are exempt under this programme, as are completely refurbished existing dwellings, which brings them within the scope and scale of what the Minister is talking about. This is targeted and focused. The Deputy's Bill seems to be a national clampdown. Landlords, in the vast majority of cases, are owners of private property and, clearly, there is an issue in respect of determining what rent increase might apply. The Minister is proposing - under an assessed and agreed system - where pressure exists for rent inflation over a period, to set a cap on the rent increase that can be levied. Within that, the rent pressure zone would apply for a three-year term. There may be additions or areas may drop out, but this is based on balancing the opportunities for tenants to have predictability and certainty and to have much longer tenancies available to them, with incentives for landlords to continue to supply accommodation that can be rented.

There has been a significant increase in the number of tenancies over the years. People are happy to enter into tenancies that are compatible with their needs and this can only be effective where the issue with the supply of houses is dealt with. That is the other focus of the programme being introduced by the Minister. Clearly, that is a fundamental issue that has been lacking since the collapse of the construction sector a number of years ago. This is part of the overall housing strategy approved by Government, and, hopefully, accepted by Members in the context of giving predictability and opportunity, while at the same time offering a balance between the availability of existing tenancies. New houses and completely refurbished existing dwellings are exempt. This is a time limited, focused strategy to allow the opportunity for supply to come on stream.

Deputy Brendan Howlin

The Taoiseach is arguing an increasingly lonely, isolated and unsustainable position. Does he not accept the view of those on the front line, including Threshold, Focus Ireland, the Simon Community, the Peter McVerry Trust and even the NESC on these matters? Are they all wrong in respect of this issue, with only the Government and Fianna Fáil in the right?

The Government is proposing an allowable rent increase that is a multiple of any index? It is eight times the consumer price index. How could that be justified? Someone paying €1,500 a month could under its plan spend an additional €19,000 in after-tax income on rent over the next three years. That is an extraordinary amount, which could be devoted to alleviating household pressures. It is just not acceptable.

I refer to the notion that the only pressure zones are Dublin and Cork. The Taoiseach is famous for talking to people over the garden wall and on his travels around the country. He knows that these rental pressures exist in counties Louth, Meath, Kildare, Wicklow and Wexford and probably elsewhere too.

Deputy Simon Coveney

But they can be designated.

Deputy Brendan Howlin

They can, but not under the Minister's plan. He is arguing about a plan that he published 40 minutes ago.

He might at least have given us the chance to debate it.

Deputy Simon Coveney

The Deputy is arguing about it and he has not even read it.

Deputy Brendan Howlin

I have read the Minister's leaks this morning.

Deputy Finian McGrath

We never leak.

Deputy Brendan Howlin

We would like the Dáil to be treated with some respect. We would like to see it before the Minister sends people out to present it in the media. The bottom line is we have a real crisis in terms of sustaining people in their houses. Would the Taoiseach accept that the Bill to come before us on Thursday merits at least being passed on Second Stage so that we can debate it on Committee Stage?

The Taoiseach

No, because it recommended the consumer price index. These are private properties.

Deputy Brendan Howlin

And an all-party committee.

The Taoiseach

Perhaps if the Deputy had taken the time to look at the designation process, the housing agency in consultation with the relevant local authority-----

Deputy Brendan Howlin

I would love to see it.

Deputy Joan Burton

We have not seen it.

The Taoiseach

It proposes that an area be designated - I thank Deputy Burton - as a rent pressure zone, RPZ. The Minister requires that the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, will prepare a report based on the recent price data which it collects and uses to compile the quarterly RTB rent index, whether the criteria for designation are valid or not. The criteria for that designation are whether in the area concerned annual rent inflation has reached or exceeded 7% in four of the past six quarters and the average rent in the most recent quarter is above the national average rent.

Deputy Joan Burton

That is a 30% increase.

The Taoiseach

If the RTB confirms to the Minister that these two criteria have been met-----

Deputy Simon Coveney

It is not.

Deputy Joan Burton

The Minister should do the maths.

The Taoiseach

-----the Minister will then make the order and that order applies for three years. It is a focused targeted strategy to deal with the question of predictability and certainty for tenancies but also to give the opportunity for accommodation to continue to be rented. New houses and buildings are exempt as are fully refurbished existing tenancies. Areas can come into the RPZ or drop out of it depending on the assessment in terms of rent inflation over that period.

Deputy Thomas P. Broughan

We are now approaching the sixth anniversary of the Taoiseach's occupying his office, if we get that far, but it is also the sixth anniversary of the final report of the Moriarty Tribunal of Inquiry into Payments to Politicians and Related Matters and the fifth anniversary of the final report of the Flood-Mahon Tribunal of Inquiry into Certain Planning Matters and Payments. On several occasions since these reports were published in 2011 and 2012 I have asked Ministers for Justice and Equality to comment on the status of investigations by An Garda Síochána and possible action by the Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP, into the findings of Flood-Mahon and Moriarty and generally received very brief holding replies or just complete brush-offs. I believe that other Deputies have had similar experiences.

In January 2015, for example the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, said "following the examination of the Garda Síochána of the report of the Moriarty Tribunal, the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions was sought with a view to determining whether or not a full Garda investigation should be commenced". She also said "the Garda authorities have also been engaged in an examination of the Report of the Mahon Tribunal which was referred to the Garda Commissioner by the Government". On 24 March 2015, the Minister replied to my query on whether she had received a report from An Garda Síochána to the questions I had submitted in late 2014. The Minister then said that she was "informed by the Garda authorities that the position in relation to these matters remains the same". A few months later on 26 May 2015, I submitted further questions relating to these investigations and was told that an “examination is ongoing at present” of both tribunal findings.

In the last weeks of the Thirty-first Dáil, on Thursday, 21 January this year, I inquired from the Minister about the resources within the Department, including staff and the budget that she was allocating to follow up on issues raised in the Flood-Mahon and Moriarty reports. In her reply, she assured me that "all appropriate resources are available" and that detailed consideration had to be given to "the full suites of recommendations" made by the Moriarty tribunal and to the judgments of the Supreme Court. On 2 November last, I again asked the Minister for Justice and Equality about this and in a follow-up letter she stated:

I am now informed by the Garda authorities that investigations relating to the findings of the Flood and Mahon Tribunals as well as the investigation of certain matters arising from the report of the Moriarty Tribunal are ongoing. I am also advised that relevant liaison is maintained with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

She also said the overriding concern for An Garda Síochána is to ensure these investigations are carried out as "comprehensively and effectively as possible".

After the experience of these two incredibly long tribunals, we are well aware of the limitations on the use of evidence gathered and the impact of various court challenges on their findings.

Is the Taoiseach concerned that a series of parliamentary questions from myself and colleagues has been met with this kind of non-answer? Is he concerned that these questions have never been directly answered? I acknowledge that several of the key recommendations of the Flood-Mahon and Moriarty tribunals on the public funding of politics, the regulation and registration of lobbyists, the protection of whistleblowers and the establishment of a planning regulator have been partially or fully implemented. However, is it not time that the Taoiseach or the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality gave the House a full report on the actions and investigations being taken on foot of the reports of these tribunals, which fundamentally affected the Taoiseach's party and Fianna Fáil?

The Taoiseach

The Moriarty tribunal recommendations were aimed at breaking the link between big money and politics. As the Deputy pointed out, that was achieved through the enactment of the Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Act 2012, which effectively banned corporate donations. The Government published comprehensive legislation on the protection of whistleblowers and on the registration of lobbyists. The recommendations of the Moriarty tribunal were, as the Deputy knows, grouped into five different areas: political funding, company law, revenue matters, regulations and tribunals of inquiry.

In respect of political funding, the Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Act 2012 was enacted on 28 July that year. The Act brought into force restrictions in corporate donations and considerable reductions in the maximum amount that a political party or individual could accept as a political donation. The Standards in Public Office Commission, SIPO, has published guidelines for political parties on the steps to be taken in receiving donations and on prohibited donations. There are also published guidelines for the registration of corporate donors. Under the 2012 Act, there is a requirement that political parties submit audited accounts for SIPO for publication. This requirement began with the 2015 accounts, which had to be submitted by mid-2016. Such requirements mandate that both the income and the expenditure of the political parties be open to scrutiny, which goes beyond the recommendations of the Moriarty tribunal.

The Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Act 2014 reduced the levels of payment made to political leaders and Independent Members and provides that Independent Members are now required to furnish to SIPO an annual statement of expenditure. Also relevant in that regard is the Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015. As we have seen in recent days, a web-based register of lobbying has been developed by SIPO and is designed to bring greater transparency in respect of those communicating with public officials on policy matters.

In respect of company law, the Moriarty tribunal recommended that a provision similar to section 172 of the UK Companies Act 2006 be adopted in respect of establishing a post of director of statutory duties. The then Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Bruton, stated that he considered the matter to be covered under Part 5 of the Companies Act 2014, which came into force on 1 June of that year.

In the context of matters relating to Revenue, section 101 of the Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Act 2011 placed on a statutory footing the independence of the Revenue Commissioners exercising the statutory functions provided to them under enactments relating to taxation and customs.

In regulation, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, has identified a number of specific actions, including the introduction of a new fitness and probity regime in accordance with the Central Bank Reform Act. The Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2013 attempts to strengthen the ability of the Central Bank to impose and supervise compliance with regulatory requirements and to undertake timely prudential interventions.

On tribunals, the Moriarty tribunal made a number of observations and the Tribunals of Inquiry Bill 2005 awaits Report Stage in the Dáil. While not directly related to the operation of tribunals of inquiry, the introduction of the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 should be noted.

The Public Sector Standards Bill 2015 has passed Second Stage. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform is dealing with it. He expects to bring it before the House again by the middle of next year to deal with the appointment of a commissioner for tribunals, a matter that arises on foot of the provisions contained in that legislation.

Deputy Thomas P. Broughan

I note the litany of measures the Taoiseach has just listed that were taken following the recommendations of both of those tribunals. Ultimately, our constituents want full accountability for decisions. I do not think the Taoiseach in any way addressed the fundamental question I asked him. Can he outline what resources are available to the Revenue Commissioners, the Criminal Assets Bureau, the Bureau of Fraud Investigation, the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation and other vital Garda agencies, such as the Director of Corporate Enforcement, SIPO and the Director of Public Prosecutions, to complete any and all ongoing investigations into the corruption revealed by the Flood-Mahon and Moriarty tribunals?

The Criminal Assets Bureau currently has a staffing complement of 71 which is the same as in 2013.

Will there be an interim report to Dáil Éireann on all of the key issues I have raised? Will the Taoiseach or the Minister for Justice and Equality indicate when a final report from An Garda Síochána and the Director of Public Prosecutions will be sent to the Department and laid before the House regarding investigations into the findings of the Flood-Mahon and Moriarty tribunals?

I looked back over a speech I made in March 2012 on the Flood-Mahon tribunal findings. I noted the responsibility of the two big parties who are still in control of this House, that is, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. I said that they are different sides of the same coin in relation to, unfortunately-----

Deputy Bernard J. Durkan

No, we are not.

Deputy Thomas P. Broughan

----- all of the matters that were investigated. Perhaps we need to have a Government made up of other Deputies in this House to have these investigations concluded.

The Taoiseach

I have read out the list of legislation that has been enacted following the publication of the Moriarty tribunal report. The legislation was, as the Deputy knows, the subject of very intensive debate, discussion and scrutiny before being enacted. I also pointed out that the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform will be bringing the public sector standards Bill to the House. By the middle of next year he will be seeking the support of Members for that Bill so that a commissioner for tribunals can be appointed.

In respect of the Deputy's direct question about the amount of money and resources available to the Criminal Assets Bureau, I will ask the Minister for Justice and Equality to respond to him directly. I cannot give him a date for an overall response from the Department of Justice and Equality but I will update him on the work that is ongoing in the Department.