Vol. 943 No. 1
1. Deputy Brendan Howlin asked the Taoiseach the number of freedom of information, FOI, requests received by his Department in 2016; the number of staff working in the relevant section; the number of requests that have been refused; and the number appealed. [11759/17]
2. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Taoiseach the number of freedom of information requests received by his Department in 2016; the number granted; and the number refused and appealed, respectively. [13985/17]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 2 together.
In 2016 my Department received 275 freedom of information requests, which was a 59% increase over the number of requests received in 2014, the year in which the new Freedom of Information Act came into operation.
Of the 275 requests received in 2016, 51 were fully granted, 133 were part-granted and 57 were refused, including five where no records were held.
There were requests for internal review in respect of seven cases and there was one appeal to the Office of the Information Commissioner.
There are two staff in my Department's FOI unit, both of whom also have other duties. Staff from across the Department are also involved in processing requests in addition to their routine duties, for example, in searching and retrieving records and making decisions on the requests received.
I thank the Taoiseach for providing the House with details of the FOI requests his Department has received. It is certainly a substantial number at 275. I ask the Taoiseach about the Open Government Partnership, which, he will recall, I signed Ireland up to on behalf of the Government. It is an initiative of 70 countries which aims to secure concrete commitments from governments on transparency, the empowerment of citizens, the fight against corruption and harnessing new technologies to strengthen governance. Ireland's Open Government Partnership national action plan was published in December. Commitment No. 11 is to develop an open data strategy and represents the fundamental plank of what we wanted to do in signing up to the partnership. We wanted to go beyond freedom of information so that the default position would be open access to data whereby people could interrogate as a matter of course all the information available to the State. On the open data website, www.data.gov.ie, the Department of the Taoiseach is not listed as a data provider. What role does the Department have in providing data and what is the Taoiseach's attitude to the Open Government Partnership initiative and the open data commitment in the national action plan?
As a general principle, I am all for open data except in matters of State security and whatever else. The two questions put down relate to the numbers of FOI requests received. As the Deputy will be well aware from his own time as a Minister, one never sees these requests and has nothing to do with them. I have advised the Department to put them all up on the website when they are processed to let everybody see them. Some of the requests that come in are purely nonsensical while others are of particular interest to those who ask them. I remember entertaining the former Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Mr. John Beohner, at Lahinch where he wanted to play a round of golf a couple of years ago. We did not play on the course further down the coast.
Is the Taoiseach sure? That will be next year.
I tell Deputy Boyd Barrett now - just to be clear - I went along and played a round of golf. The club invited us in for a bowl of soup, a couple of sandwiches and a cup of coffee and, I declare to God, the following week, the Department received an FOI request to know how much this cost the State. I do not know how much it cost the State to provide the answer that there was no charge at all.
More than the price of a sandwich.
The esteemed people in Lahinch were very honoured to have a Taoiseach of the day and a Speaker of the House of Congress come and walk around the course, but whether they played well is immaterial.
I do not see these things at all. I will come back to Deputy Howlin with more detail because he signed the document. I never see any of them and I rarely hear about them, but I told the Department to put them all up on the website so everybody can see what was actually sought. I will come back to the Deputy with the specific information to which he referred.
I thank the Taoiseach.
In the section of A Programme for a Partnership Government on making partnership in democracy work, the Government commits to transparent oversight. This includes building on freedom of information reforms and committing to further changes, including a more open freedom of information regime. Under the Act, people have the right to access records held by bodies under the aegis of the legislation. These bodies must give people an explanation if they are not given what they asked for and normally that decision must be made within four weeks. Our experience in submitting freedom of information requests and securing responses within the specified period falls very short of the commitment made in the legislation, and we are not making inquiries about how much the Taoiseach's sandwiches and soup cost in Lahinch or elsewhere.
Nothing.
The point I am making is that they are not vexatious or frivolous matters. For example, the time taken to release information is significantly longer than the four weeks specified and, in fact, it can often take up to three months. We have found that only after repeated calls, e-mails and virtually wrestling with bureaucracy, which, by the way, does not seem terribly happy with the idea of providing information that would not normally be in the public domain, we may eventually get a response and in those circumstances sometimes we see great creativity by the civil servants. We can get reams of information already in the public domain rather than the specific information requested.
In 2011, and again last year in the programme for Government, the Taoiseach spoke about the need for ending secretiveness in government and providing greater transparency and accountability, which is the open government system to which Deputy Howlin referred, but the experience is very different. Will the Taoiseach give a commitment that the structure laid out in the legislation, including the timeframe for answering freedom of information requests, will be adhered to? Will he tell us what discussions have been held and with whom in this regard and what progress has been made? Will he indicate what legislative or other changes are envisaged to ensure the more open freedom of information regime to which the Taoiseach has committed?
With regard to the Freedom of Information Acts, the procedures used by the Department followed the guidelines set out in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform's decision-makers manual. I am satisfied the processes being followed by the Department comply fully with the manual. Systems are in place to ensure requests are answered within a set timeframe. My Department has a database which is dedicated to processing freedom of information requests. The database allows the Department to know the details and status of every request. It is monitored by the freedom of information liaison officer who receives all requests, logs them on the system and refers them to the appropriate division for reply.
I do not have the exact figure to hand in respect of the number answered outside the 20 day statutory framework of 2016, but I understand approximately 50% of the requests received were answered outside the timeframe. I emphasise though that many of the replies which were answered late issued within a few days of the statutory deadline and in many of these cases it should be noted it was agreed with the requesters that replies could issue slightly outside the statutory deadline where, for example, the decision-makers were attending to other duties or for pressure of work reasons because the Department does not have full-time freedom of information officers.
It should also be noted that there has been a significant increase in the number of freedom of information requests received by the Department since the abolition on 14 October 2014 of the application fees for freedom of information requests. In 2013, the Department received 92 freedom of information requests, while this figure rose to 290 in 2015 and 275 in 2016. Quite a broad span of people answer these questions and there is not a specific figure we can give for the time spent by officials on answering the queries that come in.
The Taoiseach will obviously provide me with the data I require to answer the question I asked.
Yes, I will.
Is it the practice in the Department that all freedom of information requests are published? Is this at the same time as they are provided to the requester? This is a very good idea because it gives the public an opportunity to evaluate them given that not all freedom of information requests are of equal value. There is a really important underpinning of democracy in having access to information, but an inordinate amount of public service time and cost goes into frivolous repetitive freedom of information requests, often accessing data that is freely available through other means if the requesters sought it. It would be a good idea if there was a general Government policy whereby at the same time as the information is given to the requester, it is published.
I am not surprised to hear that the number of requests increased once the fee was waived. Half the concern about the fee was that it would act as a disincentive for people to lodge freedom of information requests. I am certainly not trying to be a champion for vexatious or frivolous requests, such as the one outlined by the Taoiseach about sandwiches and the cost of a bowl of soup, but it is important to note that very many of the requests made are far from frivolous. They are genuine legitimate attempts to seek information which, if we had truly open government, might automatically be in the public domain. The Taoiseach gave the figures on the number of applications received. Did he state the figure of 275 was an increase of 50%?
We received 173 in 2014, 290 in 2015 and 275 in 2016-----
So it is slightly down, but nevertheless-----
-----and 92 back in 2013.
Will the Taoiseach remind me how many of these were refused and how many went to appeal? If the Taoiseach does not have the information to hand, he might provide it to us afterwards. What was the reason for refusal? Were they all asking about sandwiches and bowls of soup?
I would not think so.
I have a quick observation. The process can be quite cumbersome and many replies come back late. The people submitting the request are contacted and asked whether they mind if the reply is late, but they do not really have any choice in the matter because if they force the issue, the response could be incomplete. Some of the redactions are pretty inexplicable. The freedom of information officer seems to have quite an amount of discretion on this issue and we cannot judge as recipients whether it is fair and reasonable and that the number of redactions is justified. With regard to freedom of information requests by Members of the Oireachtas, if the responses we receive to parliamentary questions were more detailed, many freedom of information requests from Members would not be necessary. Obviously, if we want the backup documentation, we must go through the freedom of information process because typically they do not come with replies to parliamentary questions.
Deputy Howlin raised a good point. Sometimes when people in the media send in a freedom of information request to a Department or Minister, they like to say the information is an exclusive although it might be available through public sources anyway. No more than when the Deputy was a Minister and he never saw these requests coming in because they were dealt with completely outside his influence or remit by the freedom of information officer, and whatever redactions were to be made were made by the officer unless there was an appeal to the commissioner subsequently, I do not see the requests.It would be a good thing to put up all the requests that are received and, on the day that the information is available, to put it all up again so that everybody knows. Perhaps we should look at it in some other way to see if it can be improved again. There is such a mountain of information that people are probably not going to go through much of it. There could be ten questions in one request and it might cover quite a range of material. There was an increase in the number of requests that were lodged when the fee was abolished by the Government in the interests of increasing the capacity to be able to apply for information.
Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked about the numbers that were granted. I have the information for 2016. Some 275 requests were received and 51 were fully granted, 133 were part-granted and 57 were refused, including five where no records were held. There were requests for internal reviews in seven cases and there was one appeal to the Office of the Information Commissioner. I do not know why they were refused or what they were about, but if Deputy McDonald wants similar information for some other years, I can forward that to her too, including numbers that were refused or part-refused.
Section 8 of the Freedom of Information Act 2014 requires each freedom of information, FOI, body, including my Department, to prepare and publish a publication scheme with as much information as possible about its work in an open and accessible manner on a routine basis outside of the FOI system, having regard to the principles of openness, transparency and accountability as set out in the Act. This allows for the publication or giving of records outside the FOI process, provided such publication or giving of access is not prohibited by law. The scheme commits FOI bodies to make information available as part of their normal business activities in accordance with this scheme. In the spirit of openness and transparency, my Department's publication scheme publishes a range of information on a quarterly basis on the Department's website. This includes details of foreign travel expenses, details of invoices paid in excess of €20,000, minutes of the Department's management advisory committee meetings and a log of freedom of information requests.
Deputy Michael McGrath said that if further information is given in parliamentary questions, it might obviate the need to make freedom of information requests in some cases. I support that and have always said to Department officials to provide as much information as is appropriate and of value to the requester of the information in the first place by way of Dáil questions and so on.
I understand that Parliamentary Questions Nos. 3 to 5, inclusive, in the names of Deputy Gerry Adams, substituted for by Deputy Mary Lou McDonald-----
The Leas-Cheann Comhairle knows everything about this. He has been around a long time.
-----Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett, and Deputy Micheál Martin, substituted for by Deputy Michael McGrath, are being taken together.
He is on top of his game.
3. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his Department's recently published strategy statement for 2016 to 2019. [12044/17]
4. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach his plans to implement his strategic priorities as laid out in his recent strategy statement. [12132/17]
5. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Taoiseach the supports his Department provides to Independent Ministers of Government, as outlined in his Department's strategy. [12054/17]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 3 to 5, inclusive, together.
My Department's strategy statement sets out the key objectives for the Department for the period of 2016 to 2019. The strategy statement is aligned to the Government's key priorities and policies and sets out six strategic priorities. These include providing excellent support services for the Taoiseach and Government, ensuring Ireland has a sustainable economy, helping to ensure that Government policies and services support a socially inclusive and fair society, and ensuring that Ireland maintains strong relationships in Europe and the world. It also includes ensuring the best possible outcome for Ireland in relation to Brexit, which includes protecting the common travel area and the peace process, as well as developing North-South co-operation. It also includes planning for the future in the context of all of the many uncertainties arising in the international environment.
The strategy statement recognises the central and co-ordinating role of the Department to ensure that policies are developed and implemented which support economic development and social progress. Recognising that Brexit is the major issue facing Ireland, the Department created a newly amalgamated international, EU and Northern division under a new second Secretary General. The work of this division includes supporting the Cabinet committees on Brexit and European affairs, overseeing the overall Government response to Brexit, including both the economic impact and the negotiations at EU level and with the Administrations in London and Belfast.
The parliamentary liaison unit referred to in the strategy statement was established to perform a liaison function to help ensure that Ministers and Departments are properly informed of new responsibilities and procedures in the Thirty-second Dáil. The unit liaises on a regular basis with advisers to the Independent members of Government in performing this function, including the chief strategist for the Independent Alliance and the political co-ordinator for the Independent Ministers in government to ensure that they are informed of Oireachtas issues and to assist them in engaging with the new processes arising from Dáil reform.
Progress is reviewed on a regular basis by my Department's management advisory committee and by senior management in each division. The Secretary General holds a quarterly meeting with all staff at which progress across all aspects of the strategy statement is reviewed. My Department publishes an annual report formally setting out progress achieved across all the strategic priorities.
If we had more time, the Department of the Taoiseach's strategy statement for 2016 to 2019 would demand and really deserves more rigorous and critical scrutiny than we can afford to it today. The Government's multiple failures regarding housing and homelessness, health, including mental health, and water, are just some of the issues that expose the inadequacy of the strategic objectives set out in the strategy statement.
The paper sets as one of the Department's core activities the formulation of policy with regard to the North. Negotiations are currently under way to restore the political institutions in the North and, indeed, are in their final and crucial week. Sinn Féin has met daily with the other Assembly parties and the two Governments as part of the implementation talks at Stormont Castle. There are significant obstacles in the way of progress, as the Taoiseach is aware. Not least of these is the British Government's deliberate blocking of money for the commencement of legacy inquests. All of the families involved have suffered the grievous loss of loved ones, and they have the basic right to expect that inquests will be held. Some have been waiting for over four decades. The British Government needs to stop hiding behind its claims of national security. An inquest is the least that a family should expect. It should not be subjected to a political veto, or indeed a negotiating ploy.
Does the Taoiseach accept that the funds should be released immediately to the Lord Chief Justice to proceed with his five-year plan to deal with the backlog of legacy inquests? Does the Taoiseach accept that under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, the British Government has a responsibility for delivering on equality and rights protections in the North and that thus far it has failed to do so? The issue of An Gaeilge and Acht na Gaeilge is a case in point. Will the Taoiseach report to the Dáil on his approach to the negotiations and his expectations for them with only days to go? The Taoiseach indicated in the United States last week that his future as Taoiseach was dependent on the Northern talks and the EU's decision on Brexit. Will he clarify what this means? What is his timeframe for the talks in Belfast?
With the House's permission, does Deputy McDonald agree that we take the three supplementaries and a composite answer from the Taoiseach? That will give more time.
The strategic priorities document is littered with pious aspirations and noble objectives, particularly in the area of housing and social inclusion. They are belied by the actual policies implemented in these areas. I will quote the better society section of the Taoiseach's document, "We will seek to ensure that the position of vulnerable groups in society is taken into account." It continues, "There will be a focus on providing a safe and supportive environment for children, families and older people, including through reforms in the areas of housing." Let us test those noble aspirations against the human reality.
I am dealing with the case of a young mother called Sinéad at the moment, who has a four year old child. There is a history of abuse in the background of the family. They are very vulnerable, and Sinéad is terrified for her four year old daughter. She is homeless. She has been told, as part of a new policy, that she cannot stay in hotel accommodation in Dún Laoghaire near a supportive family network, but must instead go into a hostel 11 km away, in Francis Street, over a pub. How is she supposed to get her child to school? This is a policy that has been set down by the Minister because he has to meet a target of getting everybody out of hotel accommodation.
Therefore she cannot stay in a hotel in Dún Laoghaire near her family, but it is okay to put her in a hostel over a pub in Francis Street, 11 km away.
A year ago, Amanda got a HAP scheme housing placement, which was the Government's big solution. One year later the landlord pulls out of the HAP scheme. In my naivety, I thought that under the HAP scheme, the council had an obligation to find her something else. That is not so, however. Amanda has been told to take her three young children under the age of three into a hostel in Dublin city centre, 11 km or 12 km away from where they go to school. Is that the supportive environment for families, including children, that was promised in the document?
The strategy statement is fairly harmless but not terribly useful either. It is quite woolly in nature with very few tangible and firm commitments, deadlines or action points. It sets out six priorities which no one could argue with, although one could certainly add more. The one I want to focus on is Brexit, which is priority (e). There is reference to a workforce planning report in quarter one of this year. Given that his Department is taking the lead role in respect of Brexit, can the Taoiseach confirm what resources are now available in that Department to deal with the Brexit challenge? It would be useful if he could outline that to the House.
I would be the first to admit that I do not know a huge amount about the parliamentary liaison unit. The Taoiseach has said that it relates to the interaction between Government and the Independent members of the Government. Is it focused solely on the interaction with the latter members of Government, or does it also involve interaction with Independent Members of the Opposition who may or may not support the Government? In practical terms, what does that liaison unit do?
My question is on the same issue of Brexit. Deputy McGrath put it succinctly in describing it as a harmless document. Brexit is listed in the strategic priorities but among a group of (a) to (f), including planning for the future and a better society. Specifically, however, Brexit does not get a mention in the core work activities of the Department, which are listed in the document. The last four pages of the document are simply a rehash of the programme for Government's commitments. The document is harmless but does not seem to lay out in clear terms what the Department of the Taoiseach is doing in this regard. Is it still the Taoiseach's view that his Department should be like a Cabinet office driving the heart of Government on the issues that are of most importance to the country?
First of all, Deputy McDonald made a couple of points about the statement of strategy in the areas of water, mental health, energy and Northern Ireland political institutions. Obviously, the Department of the Taoiseach is central to all these Departments in the way that outcomes are achieved. I chair the Cabinet committee meetings which deal with many of these issues where the relevant personnel from different Departments and agencies appear before Government and report on progress made, or otherwise. These matters are published on a regular basis, as the Deputy knows.
In America, I said there were two overriding priorities on my return. One is the setting up of an Executive in Northern Ireland. The second is to deal with the clarification that we now have on the negotiating stance of this country in respect of our participation as a European Union negotiator arising from Brexit.
It is true that the two major parties in Northern Ireland, the DUP and Sinn Féin, have a principal responsibility to put together a functioning Executive for Northern Ireland, including all the communities and people there. That is something that I cannot impose on them, but I made it clear to Prime Minister May that we would not want to see in any circumstances a return to direct rule. Therefore, the options are limited. One either sets up the Executive within three weeks or not. If not, the Secretary of State can call fresh elections, introduce legislation to grant a further period of time, or else direct rule will be reimposed. If the latter is out, what is one left with? The first is a functioning Executive, which I hope can happen and which I have to be optimistic about. The second is further elections and the third is some further extension of time. I do hope that given these circumstances and in the knowledge that Article 50 will be moved, the politicians will get together, put the Executive in place, decide on a First Minister and deputy First Minister and get on with that particular business.
I have pointed out those two priorities which are really important. In respect of the facilities for Brexit, I can send Deputy McGrath some further information about this. There is a dedicated unit in the Department of the Taoiseach under a new second Secretary General. It works well with the European affairs section of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The Minister of State, Deputy Dara Murphy, is the liaison person between both of those. If necessary, we will have an opportunity to call in specialist services or personnel who might be required for particular issues.
As we now prepare our response and contribution to the EU negotiating stance, that is a matter we will continue to re-examine. There has been a great deal of background work in preparation for all the options. I will not go into the details but I can furnish the Deputies with the numbers involved and refer to the opportunity to bring in specialist personnel if we need them.
The Taoiseach did not answer my question at all.
Gabh mo leithscéal. The Deputy asked about Sinéad and Amanda. I would ask him to give the details to the Minister of State with responsibility for housing, Deputy English. I am not accusing the Deputy of being incorrect but it appears strange that a single mother would be asked to go with her child 11 km away to a different local authority area.
That is what happened.
I am quite sure his own councillors on the council there would have raised this.
The decision is not being taken by the council.
Please, Deputy.
No, but I am sure they would have raised the matter as well. I am quite sure they are not giving the Deputy false information.
Our councillors have raised it at Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council.
We are eating into time for the next questions.
I suggest the Deputy give the details of that case to the Minister of State, Deputy English, and he will have that matter followed up. People are still going into hotels.
Better a hotel in Dún Laoghaire than a hostel in Dublin.
6. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his meeting with Prime Minister May on 9 March 2017 and the issues that were discussed. [13174/17]
7. Deputy Brendan Howlin asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his conversation and discussions with Prime Minister May following the Northern Ireland Assembly elections. [13187/17]
8. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his meeting with the British Prime Minister, Ms Theresa May, on 9 March 2017. [13682/17]
9. Deputy Eamon Ryan asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his meeting with Theresa May at the EU summit held on 9 March 2017. [13923/17]
10. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Taoiseach the discussions he has had with Michelle O'Neill MLA and Arlene Foster MLA since the Northern Ireland Assembly elections. [13988/17]
11. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Taoiseach the discussions he has had with Prime Minister, Theresa May, regarding any revisions in the timeline for the invoking of Article 50 of the Lisbon treaty by the United Kingdom Government. [13989/17]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 6 to 11, inclusive, together.
I met the British Prime Minister, Theresa May, on the margins of the European Council meeting in Brussels on Thursday, 9 March. We discussed the Northern Ireland Assembly election results and the implications that Brexit will have for the North and for relationships across these islands. We reiterated our joint and continuing commitment to the Good Friday Agreement and its institutions and our shared desire to see a fully functioning Executive back in place within the required three-week period.
The absence of political leadership in Northern Ireland is regrettable at this particularly critical time and in that regard, we welcomed the engagement by the political parties in Northern Ireland with Secretary of State Brokenshire and the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Charles Flanagan, and hoped that these channels of communication would remain open. I emphasised to the Prime Minister the importance of finding a way forward on outstanding commitments, in particular, on issues like the legacy institutions under the Stormont House Agreement, and the Irish language.
The Prime Minister confirmed she would trigger Article 50 before the end of the month. We now know the date of that. We discussed the enormous challenges that Brexit presents for Northern Ireland and the peace process. We are agreed on the importance of our two Governments working together to ensure that the framework of the Good Friday Agreement and successor agreements is fully preserved in the upcoming Brexit negotiations and outcomes. We both reaffirmed our commitment to maintaining the common travel area and the need to find a solution that would preserve the common travel area and also maintain a seamless Border on the island of Ireland.
Following the outcome of the Northern Ireland Assembly elections, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Flanagan, spoke with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and a number of the main party leaders in Northern Ireland. The Minister and Secretary of State Brokenshire have been engaged in talks with party leaders to encourage them to play their part in creating the conditions that allow for the formation of a new power-sharing Assembly and Executive.
The heart of the Good Friday Agreement is its interlocking political institutions. However, they can only be sustained on the basis of partnership, equality and mutual respect. As a co-guarantor, the Irish Government is determined to uphold the principles of the Agreement and to protect its institutions. In the coming weeks, we will work with all concerned to see the power-sharing Assembly and Executive restored to effective and harmonious operation.
I thank the Taoiseach for his response. Dealing with the Assembly elections and the efforts to put a new Executive in place in Northern Ireland, can the Taoiseach outline to the House how he sees that happening? I think we all agree that fresh elections or a return to direct rule are not desirable or acceptable options. I do not see how they would advance the peace process and bring about the stability that is required for the peace process to continue to flourish. If it is Sinn Féin's position that it will not accept Arlene Foster as First Minister pending the outcome of the investigation into the cash-for-ash scandal, and she has not acknowledged or accepted that position, then how will that circle be squared? What initiatives are the Taoiseach proposing with Prime Minister May to break the impasse? There is a very serious impasse there which needs to be resolved.
On the issue of Brexit, which the Taoiseach also discussed with the Prime Minister on 9 March, did he raise with her the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland's statement that there should not be any special status for Northern Ireland as a result of these negotiations? It is difficult to see how we are to achieve our objectives of free movement of people, goods and services and of a seamless Border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland if there cannot be some special status recognised for Northern Ireland. How can Ireland achieve all of those objectives while the UK leaves the European Union and potentially leaves the customs union?
I agree entirely with the view, as I think everybody in this House does, that we need to have a functioning Executive back in Northern Ireland. We certainly do not need either another round of elections or the imposition of direct rule. We must find a path that avoids those two outcomes. We are all reflecting on the death of Martin McGuinness today. How, in the Taoiseach's view, will that impact on the timeline that is available to the parties in Northern Ireland? Does he think that the timeline should be extended, because there will be a process of genuine grieving involved to which space must be given and that process will impact on a deadline that says things have to be done by next Monday? Has the Taoiseach had those discussions with Secretary of State Brokenshire, whom, I have been informed by Deputy McDonald, has the authority to extend the timeframe without any legislative action other than his own?
I take it the Taoiseach has raised directly with the Prime Minister the Irish Government's views on the specific issues and impasses that there are, such as the Irish language Bill and the bill of rights. He has set out the Irish position in regard to that? Will the Taoiseach reiterate that for the House? How is the issue of legacy payments, in terms of costs that will arise post-Brexit for Northern Ireland, to be met? We understand that all these things have been raised by the Irish Government but it is important that the Taoiseach puts them on the record of the House.
My final question is in regard to the need for a special status. We have set out repeatedly in discussions here the unique situation on the island of Ireland. I am very concerned, and the more discussions I have with my European colleagues the more concerned I become, that Ireland will end up as collateral damage of the clear view that is emerging within Europe that the primacy of holding the entity that is the European Union together is so important that all other considerations are lesser, and that, whatever words are being used now, the specific requirements of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, the island of Ireland, will be pushed aside in that regard.
The Taoiseach has said repeatedly today that it is the role and responsibility of the two large parties to get the Executive up and running. We know that. I want to unburden the Taoiseach of any need he might feel to keep repeating that. I want to remind him that in order for us to do that we have to have delivery of those things that were agreed. That means the DUP, Sinn Féin and the others parties putting their shoulders to the wheel. It also relies upon the Governments delivering. We do not have the scope here for me to go through the matter point-by-point and issue-by-issue, but let me remind the Taoiseach that it is an intergovernmental responsibility to ensure the delivery of equality provisions. It says so in the agreements. It was the Governments who took on, at an intergovernmental level, to deliver Acht na Gaeilge. It is the British Government that is blocking dealing with the issues of legacy. The Taoiseach and his officials are well aware of this. The question that then arises is what pressure, leverage, contact and diplomacy can the Taoiseach deploy to move the British system and, alongside the DUP, to actually deliver? That is what we are looking for. If we get delivery on the agreements as agreed, we are back in business. There is no blockage from our side.
On the issue of Brexit I share Deputy Howlin's concern. We are sleepwalking on these matters. I see the work of the Minister of State, Deputy Dara Murphy and of the Taoiseach, and the meetings and contacts that have happened. I want to acknowledge that and to commend it, but I think on the core essentials of needing a driving strategic position for the island, we are sleepwalking. I am increasingly alarmed that there is nearly a blasé or a laissez-faire view taken around the damage, not that might visit Ireland, but that will inevitably, unavoidably visit this country unless we attain that special status to which Deputy McGrath referred and which this House voted to support.
What moves has the Taoiseach made to secure that status? The health and durability of the Good Friday Agreement rely on the achievement of special status. Agriculture, agrifood and the smooth functioning of so many sectors of our economy rely on achieving that. I have other questions but I understand that I am out of time.
There will be statements later. I call on Deputy Eamon Ryan for the final supplementary and then the Taoiseach who will have a very limited time to respond.
I have one key question in regard to the meeting with Prime Minister May and the role of this House. What is the role of this House when it comes to the final deal? The Prime Minister has been under huge pressure in terms of whether she would cede any vote or any call on it to the House of Commons or the House of Lords. When it comes to the end, and if, as Deputy Howlin or others have said here, it is patently a bad deal for Ireland, what are the powers of veto that we might have as one of the 27 and how would such powers be applied? Would any prospective deal be brought back to the House for consideration or is it something that would be exclusively decided within a European Council meeting and taken as a fait accompli, whatever the Taoiseach of the time decides?
I believe it would be appropriate for this House to be informed every step of the way but also to ultimately have a key role in any final deal. It is going to be of such consequence and it is appropriate for us to apply all the knowledge and different views of this House before any final call is made. How will this House get that power or what role does the Taoiseach believe it will have when it comes to the end point of these talks and negotiations in two years time?
If the Taoiseach could answer them all in two minutes please.
This is ridiculous. I have had four speeches from well-intentioned Members, Deputies Michael McGrath, Brendan Howlin, Mary Lou McDonald and Eamon Ryan and I am expected to answer in one minute and 20 seconds.
That is mad.
This is not the way that it should be. These matters are far too serious-----
Agreed. I know it is not the Leas-Cheann Comhairle's fault.
I will use some discretion.
-----to be crammed into a one minute speech. Deputy McGrath mentioned the elections that took place in Northern Ireland and the result is very clear.
If I recall correctly, I think the Sinn Féin president said the priority was the establishment of the Executive over the appointment of the First Minister. An Executive arose from the Good Friday Agreement which has functioned in difficult circumstances and which, I would suggest, were more difficult than current circumstances but Deputy McDonald seems to be saying there will not be an Executive until the intergovernmental agreement is implemented. The fact of the matter is that everyday life goes on in Northern Ireland and there is a requirement for a Finance Minister, a Housing Minister, an Education Minister, an Agriculture Minister and all the Ministers who turn up at the North-South Ministerial Council. They have day-to-day work to do, so I again say to the Deputy it is a case of accepting responsibility and putting together an Executive. How are we to determine what the agreed wishes, objectives and proposals of the Executive and of the elected members representing the people of Northern Ireland are if we do not have some sense of agreement? While there were difficulties previously between the late Martin McGuinness when he was deputy First Minister and his three First Ministers, he was in a position to put forward a series of papers setting out what an agreed position for Northern Ireland was. The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade is talking to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, James Brokenshire, today. I accept that the death of Martin McGuinness is an unforeseen circumstance and the question of whether an extension can be given is a matter the Minister and Secretary of State Brokenshire will discuss. Obviously, nobody wants to see this breakdown leading to further elections or direct rule.
I do not accept that this country will become a pawn in the negotiations between the UK and the EU. We have already set out matters very clearly for the lead negotiator in the Barnier task force. He wants the situation in Northern Ireland dealt with as one of his three priorities. This is very important. Within that, we have agreed that there will be no return to the hard Border of the past because that brought with it sectarian violence. We have made this perfectly clear to the British Prime Minister and the British Government accepts that. We agreed at our meeting in Brussels that it should not be beyond the ingenuity and creativity of all those who have laboured long and hard to bring about a position where there is no hard border and where the situation is seamless. I have referred here previously to the issues that will now present themselves. What do we do in terms of water, energy and animal and veterinary health, which are all cross-Border issues where an all-island solution can be had? We have a unique set of circumstances here which constitute a special status. We are the only place in Europe that has a peace process, the only place in Europe where PEACE funds apply and the only place that has an international legally binding agreement lodged in the UN and backed by Europe and the US so we have a unique status. Let us build on that.
I have made it perfectly clear on quite a number of occasions that what I want to see in the negotiated outcome from a European perspective is that in respect of the wording of the Good Friday Agreement to allow and cater for the possibility of the people of Northern Ireland joining the Republic in a united Ireland at some future time by consent, the same process would apply as applied in East Germany and West Germany when the Berlin Wall came down and where there was a seamless transfer and they did not have to reapply for membership over a very long period of time. The European Council will make the final decisions based on the recommendations that will come through from the negotiating team. We sit on the European side here but want to retain our very close trading relationships with our colleagues in the UK and Northern Ireland. All the economic indicators and reports point out that the Republic and Northern Ireland would be most adversely affected by this. We are under no illusions about the scale of this challenge. It is coming at us now and we must deal with it. This is why I have offered on many occasions to have full up-to-date briefings for the leaders of the parties opposite so that they are fully acquainted with all the facts here. The triggering of Article 50 may contain some other relevant information about the principle of the closest possible relationship between the UK and the EU from hereon and what is behind it. This will consume all our time for the time ahead.
Will we have a vote before the final deal is signed off on?
We will certainly have information and discussions here on a regular basis. As leader of his party, the Deputy is entitled to have the full up-to-date briefing I have myself.
I know it is a topic that deserves far more time but I used discretion in giving an extra five minutes.
