I ask all leaders, their representatives and the Taoiseach please to observe the three-minute time limit as I dislike interfering.
Leaders' Questions
We are now in the 12th day of the nationwide Bus Éireann dispute. People are extremely frustrated, annoyed and angry by the lack of activity at Government level to resolve this dispute. The simple refrain across Ireland is that if this dispute was in Dublin, it would have been resolved a long time ago. That is the general sense in regional cities, rural towns and across the countryside and one which we encounter all the time. There is massive disruption. Many businesses are reporting a significant decline in footfall and business activity in the towns and cities affected. Some 2,500 staff are also very worried about their position, notwithstanding the 110,000 people who use Bus Éireann services which are no longer available to them.
We have insisted from the beginning that there are policy dimensions to this issue which the Government refuses to acknowledge. The Minister has stated, for example, that one cannot have cross-subsidisation of the Expressway services from public service obligation, PSO, funding. That is not true.
The NTA can through the reasonable profit mechanism, which is there and which is allowed under EU regulations, facilitate transfers under that facility to the bus companies. It is interesting that under that arrangement Dublin Bus received €4.5 million last year while Bus Éireann received €400,000.
The Dublin-rural issue is evident again when comparing how Dublin Bus is funded under the PSO and how Bus Éireann is funded. Bus Éireann is not getting its fair share and is not getting a reasonable deal. The same applies to free travel. Bus Éireann recoups approximately €4.70 per passenger availing of free travel on the Expressway service while the average fare is €11.74. There has been a significant reduction in the free travel subsidy since 2010. The reasonable profit mechanism might sound complex as a formula but the bottom line is Bus Éireann gets a lower subsidy per passenger than Dublin Bus under the PSO operation as well. Whatever way you look at this, rural and regional Ireland is not getting its fair share. Bus Éireann is an indispensable part of the transport infrastructure of rural Ireland and of the towns and cities outside Dublin. That sense of prioritisation is not manifest in the Government's response to this crisis.
From the outset the company has insisted on preconditions before the unions enter into WRC talks, which is unacceptable. The talks should be without precondition but they should be assisted. Why will the Government not make an intervention on the policy front that would create the background, which would facilitate a resolution of this dispute at the WRC? The Government and the NTA have options open to them if they see fit to use them but so far the Government has been determined to avoid any consideration of legitimate policy issues that could help here.
This is the 12th day of an all-out strike at Bus Éireann and it has discommoded hundreds of thousands of people. I condemn the wildcat strike which took place unofficially last week and which brought this city and so many other places, as well hundreds of thousands of people, to a standstill. The Deputy mentioned that this would have been sorted out long ago if it was in Dublin, drawing an analogy that the country is being treated differently from other areas. The Minister for Tourism, Transport and Sport has intervened in respect of policy decisions in so far as the PSO is concerned and his colleague, the Minister for Education and Skills has been looking at the question of the school transport system while the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs has been looking at the question of rural transport take-up of any changes that might occur to the Expressway service. The Deputy said it is possible to cross-subsidise the service; my information is different. Subvention is only provided for PSO services and it cannot, under law, be provided for commercial services such as the Expressway service. The Deputy seems to have a different view on that and that is something I will check.
I hope the unions and management get together with the WRC. As the Deputy mentioned whatever way you look at it - and whatever way you look at it, the Deputy is correct - there is a strike on here and the only way to settle that is around the table between unions and management. They have both agreed there are issues that need to be dealt with and the company needs to reform how it goes about its business to address the inefficiencies that exist. The place to settle those issues is not on the airwaves; it is around the table assisted by the WRC.
The Minister has been more than encouraging that unions and management would get together on this matter. The only parties that can agree a fair and acceptable deal to sort this out and have Bus Éireann continue to do the job it has done for many years are those in management and in unions. Nobody else can do that deal for them and no amount of taxpayer's money can solve the inefficiencies that both management and unions agree exist within the company. They both want to talk about them and the opportunity is available through the WRC to settle this.
On matters of policy, the Minister has been active. On matters of encouraging both sides, unions and management, to get back to talks at the WRC, I hope an invitation to resume those talks will be extended to them quickly and that people will understand that realistic negotiations between management and unions are required to solve these internal issues.
The WRC and the LRC are ready to assist, as they played a leading role in dealing with previous industrial relations within the CIE group. The biggest impact is on Bus Éireann's PSO network. Those who rely on those services have little alternative public transport options. The impact is lessened on the loss-making Expressway network as there are numerous competitors providing bus services in addition to the rail network. It is an issue that can only be sorted out at the WRC. I hope an invitation is extended to both union and management again quickly to do that.
Since 2016, the NTA, under EU regulations, has had to pay a reasonable profit on PSO services to CIE companies. Where a reasonable profit is paid to a director or operator, it is a matter for that company to decide how it wishes to apply these funds. It goes through all the possible applications of reasonable profit. No one is arguing that Bus Éireann is not very successful at discharging its PSO service obligations because it is. One of the anomalies that has arisen is with regard to the amount paid to the two semi-State bus companies. Why is Bus Éireann being paid so little in contrast to Dublin Bus? In 2016, Bus Éireann was only paid €400,000 in reasonable profit while Dublin Bus was paid €4.5 million. That is 11 times more than Bus Éireann. That is despite the fact that Bus Éireann is paid a lower subsidy per passenger than Dublin Bus for PSO services. If the Government was serious about this and committed to it, there are ways and means of contributing to its resolution, not by saying it is entirely the workers of the company who have to bear the brunt of all of the restructuring, which is what has happened to date. People are facing 30% cuts in their take home pay. That is the Government position.
The company is fortified by the position taken by the Government and the Minister, which is a race to a bottom in terms of wages. It is a savage cut and a disproportionate burden on the workers in terms of the restructuring and the transport policy dimensions which not only involve what I have just spoken about but also the free travel issue. The company has lost a lot since 2010 in terms of the subsidy it used to enjoy per free travel passenger. The Taoiseach has an obligation for the Government to make sure this is resolved fairly quickly. What I said to the Taoiseach at the outset is not my opinion. It is the opinion of the people across the country that if this was in Dublin it would have been resolved a long time ago. That is what the people are saying across the regions.
It cannot be one way only. If unions and management agree there are inefficiencies within the service that need to be sorted out then it cannot be that the workers bear the brunt of this only. How could that be? If unions and workers agree there are issues to be sorted out and dealt with then the place to do that is at the WRC. PSO funding for transport services increased by 11% this year. Last year it increased by 13%. Bus Éireann received a 21% increase in its PSO funding in 2016. In 2017, almost €263 million will be provided to fund our PSO services across bus and rail. Some commentary has suggested it is only rural bus services that are under attack.
It is attacking bus services in Dublin as well.
In fact, the Government is expanding the public bus service in rural Ireland through increasing the amount of PSO funding to Bus Éireann and increasing the funding through the rural transport programme. The Deputy is well aware of that. Taken together, funding for both programmes has increased by €28 million in 2017 compared to last year. Total funding for both PSO and rural transport will amount to approximately €277 million this year.
In respect of the free travel scheme, the Minister, Deputy Ross, and the Minister for Social Protection have instructed their officials to report back to them very shortly on this matter. The Minister, Deputy Ross, has publicly stated that he expects ministerial level discussions will resolve that particular issue very satisfactorily. Policy, the PSO, rural transport and the free travel scheme are matters the Minister has been very active on-----
He is the worst Minister in the Cabinet and that is saying something.
-----and has encouraged the WRC to invite both sides back to the talks again.
Today, the future of policing and justice in the State is at a crossroads. Public confidence in the management of An Garda Síochána has been shattered by scandal after scandal and there is a flagrant lack of accountability and a detached arrogance among the top brass. The extent of the damage done to the Garda cannot be overestimated - it is immense.
This issue is bigger than any political party. It is about the fundamental administration of justice. People across the country in every community are left scratching their heads as they wonder how someone who has messed up so badly and presided over fiasco after fiasco is still in her job. They are wondering how Nóirín O'Sullivan is still the Garda Commissioner. People rightly ask themselves how ordinary rank and file gardaí can be expected to account for their actions when their boss, the top garda in the country, is immune from that same basic standard of accountability. She has been given this immunity by the refusal of the Government, including the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality, to act decisively and by Fianna Fáil's refusal to come off the fence.
Hear, hear.
No review or inquiry, no matter how robust or comprehensive, will be successful in addressing the dysfunctionality at the heart of the Garda while Nóirín O'Sullivan remains in office. It is as simple and clear cut as that. She has presided over a litany of catastrophes and her position is untenable. In no other walk of life would this be a matter for debate.
The Commissioner is not a new kid on the block. She has been the boss for three years and was deputy commissioner prior to taking the top post. It is unbelievable that the Tánaiste accepts the Commissioner's line that she must remain in her role to complete her "journey of work", as she describes it. This is the same journey of work that has fostered the list of debacles in which the Garda finds itself embroiled. Does this journey also include her speculating out loud as though she were some detached onlooker that the controversy around breath tests and motoring offences might not be the end of scandals surrounding the Garda? Is the Taoiseach okay with this frightening lack of accountability? He is in charge. This corruption, malpractice and mismanagement in An Garda Síochána is happening on his watch. We are agreed that it must be replaced with accountability, transparency and integrity from the top to the bottom, so the Garda Commissioner has to go. When will she go? When will the Taoiseach relieve Nóirín O'Sullivan of her duties?
I dealt with this last week. This is bigger than any political party, as the Deputy says. It is bigger than any individual, and it is about trust and confidence, it is about respect, it is about pride, it is about an organisation of 14,000 people - that rises to 15,000 people - being able to be seen to do their job professionally, competently and in the interests of the State in which we reside and the people to whom they have a duty of care in terms of both their security and their protection from criminal elements.
This goes back quite a distance, as the Deputy is well aware. I might say to her that the Government treats this with the utmost seriousness. The Tánaiste briefed the Cabinet this morning on her proposals for a commission on the future of policing in Ireland arising from the decision made last week by Government that there should be an independent analysis of the figures in respect of fixed notice penalties and the question of breathalyser statistics. Both of those have been referred to the independent Policing Authority, which, as the Deputy knows, has the full right to contract in any expertise - national or international - that it so wishes to look at those statistics and determine how they happened, why they happened, who is responsible and who is accountable.
The second decision that the Government made was on the longer term restructuring of An Garda Síochána, and that is not in any way to take from the valid propositions put forward by the independent Garda Inspectorate.
It is not to take in any way from the exceptional work now being carried out by the chairperson of the independent Policing Authority, Ms Josephine Feehily, or from the review and additional powers being sought by Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring in respect of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, GSOC. The Minister is proposing to engage with this House and the Opposition spokespersons on putting together a review that will examine the management and structures of all the functions of the Garda Síochána, the composition, recruitment and training of personnel, the culture and ethos of policing, and the structures and legislative basis for oversight and accountability.
I am glad that the Garda Commissioner has published the modernisation programme. There is a whole raft of reforms currently under way, to which Deputy McDonald may not want to refer, but this commission, in which she will have a direct involvement, will be forward-looking in terms of what we want for the structure, method and recruitment of policing for years to come. The Minister will consult with the Opposition during the course of this week.
For the information of the House, last weekend, within the appointed time, I received the final report of the Fennelly commission. It was delivered to my Department after 6 p.m. last weekend. It is an extensive report which runs to over 740 pages. The executive summary runs to 85 pages. The report deals with the history of telephone recording systems, the level of knowledge of the system among gardaí, whether the recording was authorised by law or not, whether there was improper or unlawful use involved-----
The Taoiseach will have another minute later. I call Deputy McDonald.
This is important.
It may be.
Following the process here, I am statutorily bound to give that report to the Attorney General, which I have done. The Attorney General is now examining the report with her personnel. I expect to publish the report as soon as she informs me that I can do so. The Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality has not seen the report. I want this House to know that whatever its implications, they will have to be included in the recommendations that she makes for the future policing structures of An Garda Síochána. I would expect that later this week we might be able to deal with that.
I know all items are important. I am seeking a little co-operation. Members will have to tailor their contributions.
I thank the Taoiseach for the information in respect of the Fennelly report. We await its imminent publication.
I could not agree more with the Taoiseach that trust, confidence, respect and pride are exactly what we need. Despite the Taoiseach's talk about commissions and restructuring, and his repeated assertions of a need for accountability and modernisation, his actions shout against those motivations. The Taoiseach is still wedded to the old way of doing things. That is the reality. The reason he is slow to relieve the Garda Commissioner of her duties is, I assume, a fear on his part of contagion. It is politics that is directing this matter. I cannot see any other rationale for it. The rationale of the Taoiseach's friend, Deputy Micheál Martin, is fear of an election - more politics.
Nonsense. It is about trying to get a result as opposed to doing nothing for one's party.
What is getting lost in the midst of all of this is that we are now at a crossroads such that the decisions we take now will affect not only us and policing in the here and now, but generations to come. The Garda Commissioner's position is untenable. Sin é; that is the position. The commission and restructuring will amount to nothing if the Taoiseach is not prepared to take the first step in accountability and relieve the Garda Commissioner of her duties.
As I said earlier to Deputy McDonald, two advertisements have been placed this week by the independent Policing Authority for senior positions within an An Garda Síochána. That these appointments will be made by the independent Policing Authority is the most radical change made in the structure of An Garda Síochána since the foundation of the State. This will take some time to filter down through the ranks. What I said about trust, confidence, respect and pride is true, but also important are transparency and accountability. Deputy McDonald will be aware of how the chief superintendent of An Garda Síochána in the north inner city relates to the communities there on a regular basis.
Chief Superintendent Pat Leahy's position is not in question - Nóirín O Sullivan's position is in question.
The Taoiseach without interruption, please.
Everybody understands exactly what the Garda Síochána and gardaí on the ground are doing and the work that is being done in exceptional circumstances in many places throughout the country. To get this right, from the top to the latest recruit, we need to change the structure.
We cannot do that without involving the Members of the Oireachtas who carry messages from those who send them in here.
The Taoiseach is waffling.
The Deputy is focusing on one person only.
It is much bigger than this.
There are reforms in train. The modernisation report has already been published. The inspectorate report contains 73 recommendations.
Implement it.
They will be followed through over the course of the next five years, with more to follow.
The Taoiseach is in an old politics bubble.
All of this might not be enough for the Deputy, but it is very important-----
It is kind of tragic.
The Deputy is wrong.
-----in the context of having a police force that enjoys-----
Stop talking.
-----the trust and confidence of the people of this country.
It is a great pity the Taoiseach's interest in policing reform was not present a number of years ago when Deputy Wallace and I proposed the precise type of legislative reform he is talking about now. As he is in the mood for catching up, he might want to catch up on another issue as well. I refer to the case of a young man who has narcolepsy, which is a lifelong debilitating disorder. He can fall asleep without warning and has done so. He has smashed his teeth and broken his bones. He experiences terrifying hallucinations in a state of sleep paralysis. He has to be given expensive anaesthetics so that he can get a few hours' sleep. He has developed joint and muscle pain. He suffers from anxiety and depression to the extent that he has tried to kill himself. He is 14 years of age. This condition, for which there is no cure, limits every aspect of his daily life. While his condition is bad, the worst thing is that he did not always have it. He was not born with it. It is not a genetic disorder. This was an avoidable catastrophe. This young man, like 80 others, developed the condition as a result of receiving the Pandemrix vaccination for swine flu in 2010.
The Health Service Executive and the State Claims Agency went into the High Court last week unnoticed and undocumented to obstruct this boy and people like him who are seeking documents under discovery. The HSE and the SCA had stated they would voluntarily disclose these documents in 2015. We need to be clear about the fact that the HSE decided to purchase Pandemrix and continued to distribute it even after it knew it was dangerous and untested and before most of the public in Ireland received it. It knew there was a sevenfold or eightfold risk of serious adverse effects in comparison with its sister drug and alternative vaccinations for which there were no adverse side effects. Poland, Switzerland and the US did not give a licence to Pandemrix, but Ireland gave GlaxoSmithKline, GSK, full indemnity against its harmful side effects. Incidentally, the company made €8 billion in profits out of it.
In 2009, before 95% of Irish children were vaccinated, the Irish Medicines Board, which is now known as the Health Products Regulatory Authority, was told there was a huge difference between the safety profiles of these vaccines. Did the board tell the Minister about this, as it had a statutory obligation to do? Given that it was in possession of that knowledge, why did it continue to administer the least safe vaccine? Was it cheaper? Did the Government have a deal with GSK in return for jobs? Sweden, Finland, Norway, Iceland, France and, recently, Britain have all compensated victims. In contrast, this country's Government is continuing to deny the requests of victims for discretionary medical cards and other benefits. I want to know why Ireland is the only country that does not operate a no-fault vaccine damage payment scheme. Will the Government introduce such a scheme and order the SCA to co-operate with it?
I thank Deputy Daly for raising this matter, which is of intense personal sensitivity for the young person involved. I do not know the answer to the Deputy's question about why the HSE, having said it would voluntarily disclose the information that was sought, seems to have had a sudden change of direction. We will follow that up for the Deputy. The Minister for Health has met representatives of SOUND, which is the support group for people with narcolepsy, in recent days. He has sanctioned the go-ahead for the centre of excellence for sleep disorder at St. James's Hospital. This has been sought for a very long time and has been welcomed by the group involved. As Deputy Daly knows, the programme for Government includes a commitment to examine supports for people who have been harmed by vaccines. The Deputy has made strong claims about Pandemrix and the company involved. She has suggested that the authorities continued to use this vaccine even though they were aware of the difficulties it might cause.
That is something which deserves immediate analysis and I will ensure it is followed through. I do not have the answer to the Deputy's question because I was not aware of the details of the case she mentioned.
I do not expect the Taoiseach to know every detail as that would be completely unreasonable. This is one of the biggest public health scandals in recent years and the Taoiseach should know about it. Now that he does, I am not accepting that he will fob it off on the Minister for Health. I expect the Taoiseach to follow up on some of the issues.
Knowledge about the dangers of adjuvant vaccinations for young people, in particular, has been available from the World Health Organisation since 2007. The HSE and the Irish Medicines Board, now the Health Products Regulatory Authority, were aware in 2009 of the increased dangers of the Pandemrix vaccination.
This was on the agenda in the first ministerial briefing from the Minister for Health almost a year ago. In the minutes of the briefing it was stated that disclosure of the documentation would be a priority for last year. The documentation has not been disclosed.
The State Claims Agency will be in court on 23 May. Will the Taoiseach instruct it to bring forward the documentation to assist people in their fight for justice, given the very serious health consequences for the individuals concerned? Over 80 cases have been diagnosed in what is a completely avoidable catastrophe. The matter is very serious and I expect the Taoiseach to have a hands-on approach.
Deputy Daly said the situation was avoidable given the information that was available to the company. A court case is ongoing. I do not want the Deputy to assume that I would not have an interest in following through on this matter. Many cases come across the desk of the Department of the Taoiseach every week. It is a serious matter. I will work with the Minister for Health to see that the matter is followed up on as soon as possible. I will keep Deputy Daly informed of what is happening.
It is said that a society can be judged on the way it treats its most vulnerable citizens. Last Thursday, hundreds of people gathered outside the gates of the Houses to protest for the rights of people with disabilities and highlight the tenth anniversary of Ireland's failure to ratify the EU Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Those with disabilities and their families face many issues. Parents are distressed about the inadequate provision of care for their children as they get older. Some parents are fearful that their adult children will be moved from congregated settings, where they have lived for most of their lives, to community settings. Parents are struggling to transport their adult children to disability day centres.
Is the Taoiseach aware that a significant number of parents, in particular those living in west Cork and Kerry, are driving their adult children for up to four hours a day to the nearest disability day centre? Elderly parents are being forced to drive their children to and from day centres, which means they have to leave their homes early in the morning and may not return until late in the evening, giving them no break.
I have tried to engage with the HSE on this matter in order to get it facilitate all disability organisations in working together to share their transport services and transport as many people as possible, but the HSE has refused to engage with me and other major stakeholders. I am aware that buses around the country are driving only one adult a day to a centre, bypassing many others along the way due to their age and the fact they attend different centres. I ask the Taoiseach to examine policies to integrate the transport services available to disability organisations and for an increase in the transport budget for disability organisations so that every adult attending a disability day centre is provided with access to transport.
For the first time ever a Minister of State dealing with disabilities sits at the Cabinet table, and Deputy McGrath is assiduous in following up on issues relating to disability. As I understand it, the Bill in respect of the recognition of the convention is on Second Stage and is moving through the House after many years of anticipation.
I am sure it is possible to streamline the transport services in a more effective way. This applies in any case where new people have to avail of disability services of one sort or another. I suggest Deputy Collins speak directly to the Minister of State, who will have first-hand information for him. If Deputy Collins is making the case that HSE services are not listening to him, I am sure the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, who has responsibility and a serious budget for a range of disability areas, albeit there are challenges, would be interested in taking up the case.
The Taoiseach said the disability convention Bill is on Second Stage. While I am happy to hear that, it has taken ten years to get there. That is a long time for people with disabilities to be waiting. The bottom line is that the Taoiseach says I should contact the Minister of State, but these services should be available to those with disabilities already. The fact is that if one has a child with severe disabilities who is 18, he or she is not entitled to a free transport service to day-care centres. If that child is a day younger than 18, he or she will get a free transport service. That is a fact. I have been approached by parents all over west Cork and Kerry and there are probably others throughout Ireland. Parents have been travelling on a daily basis from Bandon, Bantry and Skibbereen to and from the service in Cork, which is a twice daily journey. I have met with those parents and spent time discussing the matter with them. I have been in contact with the HSE but I cannot succeed in getting people to sit around the table despite the fact that we still have a situation in which buses with only one or two people on board are passing very close to these centres already. It is simply a matter of people sitting down and using their heads. There must be a policy that can be applied. Does the Government have a policy to provide a free bus service to day-care centres for children or adults with disabilities after the age of 18? Is that a factor?
I note the Deputy's comment on the convention on disability. It is on Second Stage, but it is only a matter of formal recognition and signing up to a convention. It will not change the transport scheme in west Cork. I suggest the Deputy sets out his problem and his proposition and indicates to the Minister of State those who are not listening or will not sit around a table. If he has a recommendation for greater efficiency in the delivery of services for disabled children or adults in the constituency where it could be made more effective by having more people travel on a single bus to different day-care centres, I am sure the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, who has responsibility for the area and is very active in trying to deal with many of these problems, will be happy to respond to him.