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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 9 Feb 2017

Vol. 938 No. 2

Questions on Promised Legislation

Problem gambling destroys lives and one major omission from the legislative programme again is the gambling control Bill. I had expected it would be published in this session but it appears that will not be the case. Problem gambling is leading to the break-up of relationships, mounting debts and the loss of family homes in many cases. The nature of gambling has changed. All anyone has to do now is get on the phone to bet on whatever, wherever. Young people in particular are extremely vulnerable because of the lack of protection. The current legislation is archaic. When will we see the gambling control Bill published and brought forward in order that we can put in place a proper regulatory framework to protect people from addictive gambling?

The Minister of State, Deputy Stanton, has initiated a general process review of regulation of the gambling sector in Ireland. This is a priority area for him. He recently met stakeholders to examine what action can be taken. We are considering the current programme to see if there are particular areas of pressing concern, intended to be dealt with in the gambling control Bill, which could be dealt with sooner in 2017 by separate legislative measures.

I will ask the Minister of State to liaise with the Deputy and let him know the particular issues he is examining because they are quite serious and he believes there is a range of initiatives which can be taken forward before the gambling control Bill is ready.

Last night in a debate in the House of Commons on the Brexit Bill, the Conservative Party voted down an amendment which would have blocked any changes to the Good Friday Agreement pursuant to Brexit. It is clear that contrary to the assurances by Theresa May to An Taoiseach, the future of the Good Friday Agreement is not in fact sacrosanct. The Brexiteers from the Democratic Unionist Party, DUP, the Ulster Unionists and the United Kingdom Independence Party, UKIP, all supported the Conservatives in voting against protection for the Good Friday Agreement. Two weeks ago, my leader, Deputy Adams, warned that the agreement would be destroyed if the North is dragged out of the European Union-----

These are questions on legislation in this House not in the House of Commons.

This decision confirms our worst fears. Will the Tánaiste raise this matter with An Taoiseach to ensure it is raised at the highest level within the British Administration and ask that An Taoiseach stop playing as junior partner to the British Government in these matters?

The Taoiseach has made clear, and is doing so today in Poland, the absolute priorities of the Government in respect of Brexit, as indeed I did in meetings with the Home Secretary last week and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Of course that will be to the fore in the Taoiseach's discussions on Brexit.

In respect of the O'Neill report, whose terms of reference we are about to debate, my understanding is that the only document that has been circulated to Members contains five paragraphs, the recommendations and the original terms of reference and recommended terms of reference. Is it proposed at any stage to circulate a more comprehensive document? That would be of advantage to us before debating the terms of reference of the tribunal.

Over the past few weeks I took serious legal advice and spent a lot of time examining what precisely could be published. The legal advice is that what has been circulated, that is, the conclusions, terms of reference and the recommendations, are the part of the report that I can circulate. This is to do with protected disclosures, it is legislation Deputy Howlin brought in, the key element of which is confidentiality.

When does the Tánaiste expect to see the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill 2015 return to the Dáil, particularly in the context of the reported ferocious lobbying by the alcohol and retail industry against the structural separation of sale of alcohol? Will that element remain in the Bill? Does the Tánaiste agree that public health should take priority over profits?

On the same issue, this week I received a reply to a question about the incidence of foetal alcohol syndrome. I was told that it is estimated that some 600 babies are born in this country every year with significant difficulties associated with foetal alcohol syndrome. This is yet another example of the serious problem that we in this country have with alcohol. It is five years since the expert group reported, making clear recommendations on legislation. What on earth is delaying that urgent legislation? It is inexcusable that the Government has been dragging its heels to the extent that it has, as did the last Government.

This is a very important Bill. I agree with both Deputies. It is absolutely critical that we move forward on this from a public health point of view. It is on Committee Stage in the Seanad and the Government wants to ensure that it is passed this term and I hope the discussions can continue again very soon. The Minister of State has been considering some elements of the Bill. I am not in a position to say precisely whether changes will be introduced. Several points have been made about some elements of the Bill which it was felt would be unduly punitive, particularly for small enterprises. She is examining that. I agree that, given the principles behind the Bill and the general approach it is taking, it is important that we see it on the Statute Book as soon as possible.

In the context of the health information and patient safety Bill, the mobility allowance was discontinued some years ago. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, who met a family from Tipperary with me, namely, Maggie Butler and her son Alex. This is a profound difficulty for families who have to have specially-adapted vehicles. We were told we would see the allowance in December or early January. When will it be reinstated? People who have children with disabilities need these vehicles.

This allowance was of great benefit to people who were unable to get wheelchair-accessible taxis. It helped them to get their children to medical appointments and school, etc. When will its restoration be announced or delivered on?

I understand the matter will be before the Cabinet in the next couple of weeks.

It was agreed in the programme for Government that Ireland's future forestry policy would be the subject of a mid-term review this year. Such a review is necessary because outside interests like vulture funds are putting pressure on family farms by buying land in local areas at prices that local people cannot afford. It was announced last week that a vulture fund from Helsinki is buying up land in this country worth €110 million with the blessing of the European Investment Bank. Will the Government undertake this review in the interests of helping and saving family farms, or is it going to allow the land of Ireland to be up for sale, just as it has done with buildings and properties around the country?

I will ask the Minister of State, Deputy Doyle, who is responsible for this area, to link directly with Deputy Fitzmaurice on this issue.

The programme for Government includes commitments to "prioritise the rollout of the Young Farmers Scheme, the Young Farmer Capital Investment Scheme and give continued priority for young farmers and new entrants under the National Reserve" and to "support the agricultural education sector in responding to the demand and ambitions of new students, to ensure the sector continues to attract high calibre entrants to the agricultural workforce". Young farmers who have applied to start green certificate courses at the Teagasc training centre in my home town of Ballymote later this year have been told that those courses have been cancelled and that there will be no such courses in 2018. I understand that nationally, there are 600 young farmers waiting to do these courses. At a time when the Brexit juggernaut is thundering down the road towards us, we need to bear in mind that agriculture is one of the industries that will be most affected by Brexit. It has never been more important to train young farmers to try to keep alive an industry that employs over 200,000 people in this country.

There has been a significant increase in the take-up by farmers of various training courses in recent years. I welcome this increase in demand. I do not doubt that the Minister, Deputy Creed, will seek to ensure that demand is met and courses are available. I do not know the circumstances of the particular course that has been mentioned by the Deputy. I am sure the Minister will be in a position to outline the details to him.

In 2014, the Constitutional Convention recommended by a margin of 80% that the Government should enshrine the right to housing in the Constitution. A commitment in this regard was included in last year's programme for Government. I am sure the Tánaiste is aware that the Dáil Committee on Housing and Homelessness has also made a recommendation on this issue. Will the Government commit to the introduction of legislation to give effect to the overwhelming majority view of the Constitutional Convention that the right to housing should be enshrined in the Constitution?

The Government has to consider that recommendation from the Constitutional Convention.

Unfortunately, I was absent on official business associated with Brexit and the chief negotiators with the Joint Committee on European Union Affairs yesterday when my own back yard suffered a major loss of jobs. My question relates to an area where legislation is promised, but it does not really come into the category I had in mind. Is it necessary to enhance the monitoring that normally takes place when companies find themselves changing their plans or policies in a way that might result in redundancies, particularly when there are large numbers of jobs involved?

I am not sure whether the Deputy is asking about legislation. Yesterday's events were terrible for the people who are employed at the facility in question and their families. I assure the Deputy that since yesterday, IDA Ireland has been out securing another investor or buyer for the plant. We have directed Enterprise Ireland to go into the site. The elected representatives from County Kildare, the chief executive of Kildare County Council and members of both chambers of commerce met yesterday and agreed to work together. We will be working with the State agencies, including Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland, and with the Department of Social Protection. We are also exploring the educational and globalisation fund to help the people who lost their jobs.

I thank the Minister.

Over 12 months have passed since the Fine Gael-Labour Party coalition Government gave this House a commitment to put in place an inquiry into the horrific sexual abuse cases that were reported in the south east. On 7 February last, the Minister replied to a parliamentary question in my name on the Devine and Resilience Ireland reports, which have yet to be published. When will we see legislation on the Grace case? I remind the House that we are not just talking about that case; we are talking about all the cases relative to the care home in question. We are still waiting for the terms of reference. Can we have a timeframe for those terms and for the publication of the two reports?

As the Deputy knows, the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, is dealing with that issue. I believe the matter will be dealt with in the near immediate future.

I understand the Tánaiste and the British Home Secretary had some discussions on Brexit at their recent meeting. Did they discuss the British authorities' proposals, if any, to require the movement of goods and people to be recorded and examined in the event of a hard Brexit? Has the Department of Justice and Equality examined the possibility that such a scenario might arise? The Tánaiste is aware that almost nobody wants to see the return of any kind of hard border in the future, but this is what Britain is opting for, in effect. I assume these matters were discussed in some detail during last week's discussions. We have not received a report on the scenarios the British authorities are talking about, or indeed on what the Tánaiste herself might have put forward.

These top-line topics have arisen at every meeting the other Ministers and I have been involved in. We have made our priorities very clear at each of those meetings. I said to the Home Secretary that our priority is for things to continue as they are as much as possible. That is our goal because the current situation is working well. The UK has decided to leave the EU and so-----

What situation is the Tánaiste referring to when she says "the current situation is working well"?

I am referring to the current situation in terms of free movement and the common travel area. Clearly, we are satisfied with the situation as it is at present. The UK has decided-----

We are all satisfied with that.

Yes, exactly.

We are not satisfied with partition.

The point I am making is that any departure from that is problematic. The UK has decided to leave the EU. Therefore, we have to consider what the new situation will be. We are very clear on our priorities. I raised those again with the Home Secretary. This process is at an early stage. Article 50 has not yet been triggered. The UK authorities do not have very detailed proposals at this stage.

Is the Tánaiste saying they have not even thought about it?

They will be developing such proposals.

What is the Tánaiste suggesting?

We have just one Deputy remaining. I ask Deputy Troy to be very brief.

What about me?

I did not see the Deputy indicating.

I did indicate.

I am sorry. I did not see it.

You acknowledged it.

Then I will not take anyone. Sorry.

No, no. I will not take anyone as there is a problem.

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