We have 15 minutes for questions on promised legislation and 15 Deputies have already indicated. Deputy Michael Moynihan is first.
Questions on Promised Legislation
The programme for Government contains commitments to rural communities and refers to the post office network in particular. However, there does not seem to have been any serious attempt by the Government, particularly in recent weeks, to address damning reports on the closure of post offices. Three years ago the then Government promised a whole-of-Government report on the post office network in the face of the local elections but nothing has been done since. Does the Government have a strategic policy on maintaining the post office network?
Deputy Eugene Murphy, on the same issue.
For four months I have questioned the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste on the status of the commitments in the programme for Government relating to post offices. In an article in The Irish Times yesterday, Pat Leahy stated that the Minister of State at the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputy Ring, had transferred responsibility for post offices over to the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Naughten. What is going on as the post office network falls down around us? Is this a deliberate policy by the Government? Could we have an honest, direct answer today as to where we stand with regard to post offices?
The Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Naughten, has clear responsibility for An Post. That has been confirmed this week in government but that does not mean that other useful work is not being undertaken to strengthen our post office network. The Minister of State, Deputy Ring, undertook work to look at models that could be developed that would help to bolster the long-term future of the post office network. He has come forward with proposals and I understand that he is supporting the possibility of pilot schemes to test some of the approaches. A lot of work is being done to try to protect the post office network. The issue cannot be solved simply within the narrow remit of the post. It is also about finding new services that can be transmitted, across all of Government, through the postal network. Those models have to be tested within the context of the oversight of the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment of the specific operations of An Post.
It is ten years since the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was signed by the Government. Ten years on, when it is proposed that we will ratify this convention? The Minister will be aware that the ongoing delays and the failure to ratify the convention have caused frustration and hurt to people with disabilities, their carers, families and to Irish society in general. This matter has been raised more times than I care to remember. I hope that today we will see some light at the end of the tunnel and get a date from the Minister.
Deputy Murphy O'Mahony, on the same matter.
It is exactly ten years to the day since Ireland signed up to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Despite a lot of promises and talk, the Oireachtas has yet to ratify that convention. I ask the Minister to tell us when this will happen and when the Disability (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2016 will reach Committee Stage in order to move this on?
I cannot give a specific date but I do know that the Minister of State with responsibility for disability issues, Deputy Finian McGrath, is working very diligently on this.
He said last May that it would be ratified within six months.
I am not aware of all of the details but that does not mean that we are not making progress in many of the areas of provision. I know that in his own Department, he has made very specific provision for disability. In my Department, we provided additional resources for children with special educational needs. In terms of rolling out services, there is a very strong commitment by the Government to support people with disabilities. In terms of the actual ratification of the convention, which requires certain legal instruments, work is ongoing on that.
I want to stay within the area of supports for people with disabilities, recognising that it is exactly ten years ago today that Ireland signed the aforementioned convention. We were among the first to sign it but are among the last to ratify it.
In terms of other related legislation, the health (transport support) Bill has been promised for months on end. Most recently, at the beginning of March, the Taoiseach congratulated all of those involved and promised that it would be done within two weeks. Where is that Bill? The delay underscores the fact that for all the talk about supporting people with disabilities on this important day, very little is actually happening on this Government's watch.
I understand that the proposals do raise budgetary issues. Obviously, they have to be considered in the context of budgetary provision as well as the policy statement.
The Taoiseach was misleading us then when he said-----
Clearly, any new policy has to be backed with a credible implementation plan. I am sure that is where that discussion lies. As the Deputy will know from experience, this is a difficult matter to get right. I am not surprised it takes some time to put a full package together.
When will we see the legislation?
It is being treated as a priority but those issues have to be resolved first.
No date.
I will stay with the theme of disability. Probably 1,000 people outside the House are extremely angry regarding the failure of the Government to honour the promise made in the programme for Government. As the Minister knows, there have been several protests in recent months demanding that the Government stick to its promise. It is too late to stick to its promise to ratify the UN convention but it should deliver belatedly on it. What is the delay? The Minister keeps saying we need the legislation but we do not. Can the Minister confirm that? There is nothing whatsoever to stop the Government from ratifying now. The legislation can follow afterwards. Ratification would really be a great relief to the people outside, who do not want to be there. Many of them were saying how difficult it was to get here because of the transport difficulties. They also said they would continue to come back, however, if the Government did not indicate it would ratify the convention. Why does the Minister not just save them the hardship and ratify now, after which we can deal with the legislation?
The approach traditionally taken in other countries is to ratify in the way the Deputy suggests. They just sign up but nothing happens. We are making sure that the provisions are embedded in law and that they will actually change what will happen thereafter. The approach to ratification that we take is more time-consuming but more reforming in the longer term because it is embedded in law.
The programme for Government refers to the need to build general practitioner capacity to respond to patients' needs and provide access to X-rays, ultrasound and other investigative services, in addition to the need for chronic disease management by those in general practice. The outpatient unit and accident and emergency unit in Clonmel are overrun. Will the Minister visit Clonmel with me? General practitioners have the capacity to provide many of the treatments or carry out many of the examinations I have mentioned. It would reduce attendance at accident and emergency departments by at least one third. That has been proven. It was proven in a pilot project over eight days. We have chaos in the hospitals. Why will the HSE not allow a service to be offered to the public that is positive and good and that would take the chronic pressure off the accident and emergency unit in Clonmel?
That is at the heart of the strategy that the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, is implementing. It is to see more procedures carried out at primary level and reduce the pressure on hospitals. He has endorsed that through the rolling out of a series of primary care centres. These are being built all over the country and they represent a means by which to provide resources in a way that takes the pressure off hospitals. Notwithstanding this, I acknowledge that the caseload in accident and emergency units has risen by close to 20%. As a result and notwithstanding the provision of the new centres, the level of demand relating to accident and emergency services has increased. There are challenges in meeting the requirements.
Bureaucracy.
The programme for Government identifies the need for the establishment of a new schools excellence fund. Can the Minister advise me on the progress that has been made in respect of this Government priority? What new approaches to learning are being rewarded by the Minister's Department?
We have implemented changes in areas of disadvantage for the first time by using this approach. With the disadvantaged schools, we will be encouraging clusters of schools to develop programmes together that would achieve better approaches to teaching and to developing relationships with agencies in the public service and beyond to improve the delivery for children in disadvantaged areas. We have also introduced a call for higher education to open up new pathways for people with a disadvantage to participate at third level. Therefore, we are trying to use innovative funding mechanisms to get institutions to think a little beyond their own approaches in order to build partnerships to deliver better in the area of education.
In the programme for Government, there is a clear commitment on the delivery of arts, specifically arts education. Has the Minister's Department had any specific engagement with the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs on the establishment of the long-promised local arts and education partnerships in education and training boards throughout the country? As the Minister knows, there are only 16 of them so it should not be that difficult to do. Has there been any funding allocated specifically in this regard?
My Department has a number of initiatives in the arts area in conjunction with the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. The initiatives cover music and other arts. I was very pleased to publish a research report showing the impact of bringing artists into the community and the quality of the engagement of young people with artists. The programmes embedding artists within schools are progressing and we will be expanding them.
I suppose there is no hope the Government will pay the farmers the GLAS payments.
That is not relevant to the Order of Business.
It is the order of business that they were to be paid.
It is to the farmers but I am afraid it is not relevant to the Order of Business.
It is in the programme for Government to protect farmers' incomes. Over 4,500 farmers are still waiting to be paid.
The Deputy should submit a Topical Issue.
They were promised payment before the end of last year. Is it next year's payment or last year's payment that they are now to be paid? I am asking the Government to give up the blackguarding and pay the people. If the Exchequer were owed revenue or income tax, it would have to be paid.
As far back as 2007, the then Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr. Thomas Hammarberg, said some of the delays in the criminal justice system could possibly be in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights. In that context, we have the criminal procedure Bill. I fail to understand why this is not priority legislation. It provides for pre-trial preliminary hearings and increased use of video link hearings. Could I please have an answer in respect of this matter?
The advice is that it will not be introduced during this session. I will, however, ask the relevant Minister to respond to the Deputy directly to ascertain whether it is possible to accelerate that work.
The programme for Government contains a commitment on rural crime. Crime levels in Kerry have increased at a significant rate in recent weeks. On the weekend of 25 February, for example, there were six home invasions in the Muckross, Lough Guitane and Glenflesk areas by thieves who made their way out onto the N22, the Killarney-Cork road. Thousands of euro and jewellery were stolen. The thieves even went as far as robbing all-Ireland medals. There was another incident in Ardfert during which an elderly man was tied up for several hours while a gang of thugs raided his house. A substantial sum of money was taken. Where does the Government stand with regard to rural crime? What is it going to do to protect ordinary, decent citizens who are being terrorised in their homes in this way? The Government should stand up now. There is enough nonsense going on about senior gardaí and what they have been doing. I want the authorities to stand with the people in rural Ireland, including rural Kerry, and protect them and our farmers and their machinery and goods.
And the medals.
A very specific initiative has been taken by the Garda and resourced by the Government. This initiative is designed to confront burglary in rural and urban areas and includes targeting mobile gangs. It has been very effective. There has been a very significant reduction in crime levels in the targeted areas. This is an area which the Garda has targeted and in respect of which it is showing results.
I would not rely on those figures either.
My question is on promised legislation. For the past three or four years, we have been promised legislation on wind farms. Recently, there has been a raft of planning applications for solar farms. There are no specific planning guidelines in place for these. We need to see them sooner rather than later.
Work is ongoing on the part of the two relevant Departments to figure out the exact underpinning of such legislation. I am not in a position to give the Deputy a categorical date.
The building control Bill is promised legislation. In view of the extensive building works being and likely to be undertaken in response to housing needs, is it intended to bring the Bill before the House as soon as possible and expedite its passage?
I understand the heads are in preparation in the Department at present. Work on the Bill is progressing.
The Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Deputy Coveney, promised he would bring forward a report on vacant houses. There are almost 200,000 vacant housing units across the country. Recent statistics have shown that there has been no let-up in the housing crisis and that there has been an increase in the number of people who are homeless. It is urgent that we address this issue, get to the bottom of how and why there are so many vacant units and discover whether any of these can be utilised. In light of the fact that urgent action is needed, when will this long-overdue report be issued?
I understand that work on the programme is ongoing. This has not stopped the Minister taking action, however. He has put in place an initiative to bring vacant properties back into use. I see from today’s newspaper that six different areas in Dublin city have been identified and the council is engaging with voluntary housing agencies to undertake this work in order that housing might be delivered. There is tangible work going on in this area.
The Government has committed to producing a report on the impact that discriminatory cuts to jobseeker’s benefits for under 26s had on young people. Budget 2017 facilitated ridiculously tiny increases in the benefit of €2.70 for those aged 18 to 24 and €3.80 for 25 year olds. The report was promised for the second quarter of 2016. It is now 2017 and we have still to see any report on the discriminatory cuts and the impact they have had on young unemployed people. Where is the report? When will we see it and when will action to reverse those cuts be taken?
The report is being done externally, so it is not yet ready for publication. I anticipate that it will be ready for publication within a matter of weeks. From recent information from the Central Statistics Office, the Deputy will know that unemployment is falling rapidly, particularly among young people. Youth unemployment is falling much faster than unemployment in general. Some of the policies we are implementing must be having a positive effect. Work is always better than welfare.
Yes, but it must be proper work.
The programme for Government refers to funding for areas of natural constraint being increased by €25 million in 2018. Will the Government commit to providing that funding in 2018? Will it also explore an increase in that funding and restoring it to pre-2008 levels in light of the backdrop of Brexit and the current review of the areas of natural constraint scheme?
I am not in a position to answer the Deputy’s question but I will get a reply for him.