There are 15 minutes for questions on promised legislation today and already 17 Deputies have indicated they wish to ask questions. If Members ask concise questions and there are brief answers, we could get through a number of them.
Questions on Promised Legislation
Can the Tánaiste clarify whether the Government intends to proceed with the sale of its stake in Allied Irish Banks, AIB, by way of an initial public offering, IPO, before the summer recess? It is the Government's intention to use the proceeds from the sale of AIB to pay down debt. Is that because the Government believes it is the right thing to do or is it because it believes it must do so under the fiscal rules? We have written to the President of the European Commission seeking his support for a relaxation of the rules to allow at least some of the proceeds to be used for capital investment. Can the Tánaiste clarify the Government's position?
The Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, has been addressing this issue with the Deputy. I will ask the Minister to communicate further with the Deputy on the current plans.
In 2015, Garda Tony Golden was shot dead and Ms Siobhán Phillips, his partner at the time, was also shot and grievously injured by an individual known to An Garda Síochána, Crevan Mackin. Four days after the shooting Deputy Gerry Adams was in receipt of disturbing information as regards this individual and his relationship with An Garda Síochána. He wrote to the Tánaiste eight times and to the Taoiseach four times. The Tánaiste did nothing on the case. He then made a complaint to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, GSOC.
It falls very short of the kind of investigation this very disturbing and serious case demands. So far, the Taoiseach has given a deaf ear to the family of Siobhán Phillips who called for a public inquiry. When will the Tánaiste give an account of these events to the Dáil and answer questions about this serious turn of events? I believe that needs to happen without delay and should happen next week when the Dáil is in session.
That is not really a question relevant to promised legislation.
The matter was dealt with in a Topical Issue matter yesterday and the Taoiseach addressed it fully earlier this week. A GSOC investigation is under way in regard to the issues the Deputy raised and a comprehensive Garda investigation is also taking place. Both of those should be allowed to take their course and we should get the facts before further action is taken.
I wish to ask the Tánaiste a very short and direct question. Did the Republic of Ireland support the nominee of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the position of UN Commission on the Status of Women?
As the Deputy knows, it is the practice that countries do not disclose their votes at the United Nations. That is the approach which-----
The House deserves to know.
As the Deputy knows, that is the approach that has generally been taken in respect of United Nations votes. It has been the practice of previous Governments and this Government. It is the procedure that has been adopted in the UN in order to facilitate its business. The Government does not disclose-----
The Government will not tell the House how it voted.
Is that a "Yes"?
We can take that as a "Yes".
I am forced, once again, to ask the Government to clarify its position on legislation on access to medicinal cannabis. I am doing so because Vera Twomey, the mother of Ava Barry who suffers from a severe form of epilepsy, Dravet syndrome, has been outside all night and remains outside the Dáil. She is seeking a meeting with the Minister for Health, which he promised, regarding gaining access for her daughter to medicinal cannabis.
I appeal to the Government on this issue. We have had mixed and worrying signals that perhaps the reason the Minister does not want to meet Vera Twomey is because he is trying to severely restrict access to medicinal cannabis for people like Ava Barry and others who are suffering and need this product.
In the past ten days the medical profession of this country voted that people like Vera Twomey, who have a prescription from a general practitioner, should have access to this product. Why is the Minister and Government second guessing the medical profession in this country and leaving people like Vera Twomey suffering outside the gates?
Vera Twomey will for a second night sleep outside the Dáil in her fight to get medication for her child and every other person who suffers from the same illness in this country. In an answer to a question some weeks ago the Taoiseach said that for the medication to be legalised in this country it would have to be done through legislation which, in his view, would take some time. He also said a meeting of the Joint Committee on Health and Children could result in a licence being given on compassionate grounds. This meeting took place but, unfortunately, further hurdles have now appeared and Vera is unable to access the medication on compassionate grounds.
This lady wants to go home to her child and we have to have some compassion. She had a meeting with the Minister, Deputy Harris, who promised a follow-up meeting which has not taken place. Can the Tánaiste intervene with the Minister and ask him at least to meet the lady and allow her to go home today to her family?
I am reluctant to discuss individual details in regard to anyone in the House. Obviously, no one wants to see Vera camping outside Leinster House. However, far from what has been said the Minister is not trying to second guess any medical opinion-----
He is.
-----on the situation and I will tell the House why. Clearly, the treatment for the person in question must be managed by her clinicians and it is possible-----
That is not what the IMO said.
The Deputy asked me a question. Does he want me to reply?
Deputy, please let the Tánaiste respond.
The Minister, Deputy Harris, is not a doctor. Those in the IMO are.
Neither is Deputy Boyd Barrett.
The point I want to make is that the Minister has had lengthy meetings with the family on a number of occasions. He has explained to them that it is possible to grant a licence to prescribe a cannabis-based treatment containing THC. However, the application must be endorsed by the consultant treating the-----
The doctors of this country said that is ridiculous and that a GP is enough.
Please.
I am talking about each individual case.
No, sorry. The Minister, Deputy Harris, made that decision. The doctors of this country do not agree.
Let me make the point-----
It is flipping outrageous. The Government is second-guessing the doctors.
Quite the opposite.
Listen to the doctors.
Deputy Boyd Barrett, please.
Let me make the point that-----
It is outrageous.
Deputy Boyd Barrett, you are out of order.
Can I be very clear?
Deputy Boyd Barrett, please.
Once a consultant endorses and supports an application, the current situation-----
A GP is enough, according to the doctors of this country.
-----is that it can then be prescribed.
She has a prescription.
That is the reality.
She has a prescription.
If that prescription is available from a consultant then it can be prescribed.
Why does it have to be a consultant?
The Deputy knows the answer.
No I do not. The doctors of this country said it does not have to be a consultant.
In a meeting with party leaders, the Taoiseach said he would consider setting up a separate meeting between leaders and Michel Barnier, who will come before the House next week, as was suggested by Deputy Adams, the leader of Sinn Féin. He said he wanted to see what the arrangements were regarding the meeting of the Dáil. I understand Commissioner Barnier will speak here next week. My contribution might be limited to about one minute. In that regard, could the Tánaiste check with the Office of the Taoiseach and come back to the party leaders to confirm whether a separate meeting could be arranged to allow informal dialogue between leaders and the Commissioner?
That is not really relevant to the Order of Business.
I will follow up on that. I will ask the Office of the Taoiseach to communicate with the Deputy.
It was reported that this week the Cabinet cleared legislation as a priority to protect vulnerable workers who have precarious working arrangements such as zero and low-hour contracts. Can the Tánaiste tell us when the Bill will be published and offered by the Government to the Chamber for debate?
I understand it is going for pre-legislative scrutiny.
The Technological Universities Bill has sat on the Government's side of the House for in excess of 18 months. It was meant to come before the previous Dáil. The Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Bruton, has said on numerous occasions that it is imminent. We have yet to see it come before the floor of the House. A number of institutes of technology, such as Athlone, are anxiously awaiting a decision and have met other independent verified standards in order to be upgraded to a university. We are now waiting for the Government to produce the necessary Bill. What is the delay? When will the Bill come before the House for completion?
I understand it is awaiting Committee Stage. I will ask the Minister to link with the Deputy.
It has been parked.
I refer to the commitment in the programme for Government to increase Garda numbers. I draw the attention of the Tánaiste to the severe shortage and pressure on Garda numbers in Donegal. A recent reply to a parliamentary question indicated that the number of full-time community gardaí in the county has been reduced from 21 to two, because Donegal only received 13 of the 815 new recruits from Templemore. Does that concern the Tánaiste? It should. I ask that the Tánaiste and Government liaise with the Garda Commissioner to ensure the shortage in Garda resources in the county is addressed.
The good news is that 800 recruits are going through Templemore this year, which gives the Garda Commissioner the opportunity to make decisions regarding the allocation of gardaí within An Garda Síochána and to increase the numbers in whatever areas she deems appropriate. That is an operational decision for the Commissioner. I have no doubt she will bear in mind the points the Deputy has made. The allocation is based on the need in different counties. It is an independent decision that is made by the Commissioner. It is an operational decision.
A 16 year old child spent a night on a chair in an overcrowded acute adult mental health unit in Waterford.
The practice of placing children in adult mental health units has been described as inexcusable by the inspector of mental health services and the Mental Health Commission told the Government to end it six years ago. There is a Bill on the Order Paper, the Mental Health (Amendment) Bill 2016, which was introduced by Independent Senators Freeman, Craughwell and O'Donnell. Will the Government fast-track the Bill or introduce its own legislation immediately?
I will be working with Senator Joan Freeman on the Bill, but I cannot answer the question at the moment.
Can the Minister of State come back to me on it?
I can come back to the Deputy directly.
A Programme for Partnership Government contains a commitment to recognising a Palestinian state as part of a lasting settlement to the conflict in the region. As I am sure the Tánaiste is aware, 1,000 Palestinian prisoners are on hunger strikes to protest against inhuman and degrading treatment, torture and medical negligence. Unfortunately, a young Palestinian, Mazan al Maghrebi, has become the first to die on that hunger strike. Can the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade raise this issue with the Israeli authorities and, as a gesture of solidarity with the Palestinian people, can we recognise the Palestinian state?
I will certainly pass on the particular case Deputy Crowe has raised to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and ask him to liaise with the Deputy directly.
The Garda Síochána (compensation for malicious injuries) Bill is promised legislation. What is its current state of progress and when can we expect to find it passing through the Houses of the Oireachtas?
I await further legal advice on the Bill and will communicate with the Deputy directly when I have it.
Numerous Deputies, including me, have raised the issue of the reintroduction of the mobility grant for those with the primary medical certificate and those caring for them. They have been disadvantaged and discommoded and are suffering and I hope this is the last time the matter will have to be raised.
I will get information on that and communicate directly with the Deputy.
Page 23 of the programme for Government commits to a new model of affordable rental to be delivered within the first 100 days of Government. In fact, the detail of the cost rental model was to be rolled out in the third quarter of 2016. Unfortunately, we have yet to see it. With tens of thousands of individuals and families who are ineligible for social housing increasingly locked out of the private rental and home purchase markets, when will the model of affordable rental be introduced? Will legislation be enacted to ensure that local authorities can run such schemes?
There is a category of people who are caught out because their incomes are too high for local authority housing and too low to access mortgages. They attend our clinics every week and there are, unfortunately, very few options for them. Very little is being done for this category of people and it is deeply frustrating. Action is required. The cost rental model is one of the things that needs to be done but further action is also required.
The Minister with responsibility for this area has announced a whole range of initiatives to help those on a variety of income levels to access housing. A huge and unprecedented capital commitment has been made and a whole range of initiatives from social housing to rental proposals are part and parcel of Rebuilding Ireland.
For the fourth time, I ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Denis Naughten, the guidelines for wind farm development and renewable energy. The last time I spoke to the Minister, he said the guidelines would be provided before the Easter recess. It is now after the Easter recess and I am going to continue to ask until the guidelines are printed. It is a critical issue.
When I was on the other side of the House, I asked on numerous occasions. We have made significant progress. The finalisation of the draft is being settled between the officials of both Departments involved and the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Deputy Coveney, and I have signed off on the principles relating to it. The delay was related to the expectation that the World Health Organization would provide revised figures on noise, in particular from wind farms, at a meeting last Monday week in Brussels. The organisation has now informed us that the figures will not be available until the summer and we are not prepared to hold off on providing the draft regulations for consultation in the interim. We will make provision for that. The drafting must be completed before we bring the memorandum to Government.
Two sets of families, one in Littleton, County Tipperary, and one in Offaly, are waiting today for a high official of Bord na Móna to tell them about their futures. The Minister was down last week in a blaze of glory to announce the feasibility study on solar panels, which we welcome. Surely, however, the workers in the Bord na Móna plants have given dedicated service and are entitled to some modicum of respect from the company and the Minister as a shareholder and should not have to wait for this 2 p.m. announcement. They do not know which driver, car and official will come to which set of families. That is how bad it is.
That is a Topical Issue.
Possibly, but this is happening as we speak. They are waiting for 2 p.m. and surely the Minister can make some comment on it.
This is a very difficult time for the staff at both sites. My understanding is that the board has yet to make a decision. As soon as it has done so, it will be communicated with the staff in the first instance. The board is meeting as we sit here. This is an operational matter for the company and not something in respect of which I have a direct function. A transitional process will be put in place and engagement with the staff involved will occur. The intention is to ensure that as many staff as possible at whichever site are redeployed and that we explore potential alternative opportunities.
It is linked to carbon tax policy.
I will bring a memorandum to Government within the next couple of weeks to establish a new semi-State entity, bioenergy Ireland, to examine the development of the biomass industry in the State.
That concludes questions on promised legislation.
On a point of order, an issue was raised by a Fianna Fáil colleague yesterday. We saw the great benefit of having Deputy Naughten present for questions on promised legislation today. At the start of this Dáil, most Ministers were in attendance as part of what was an effective reform. That there are only two Cabinet Ministers here now really undermines that. I ask the Ceann Comhairle to remind the Cabinet of the reform we expected.
We will communicate accordingly. I thank the Deputy for that helpful suggestion.