Violet-Anne Wynne
Ceist:1. Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne asked the Taoiseach when it is expected that the Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs will take place. [3275/23]
Ceisteanna - Questions
Citizens' Assembly
Gino Kenny
Ceist:2. Deputy Gino Kenny asked the Taoiseach the proposed running order of the citizens' assemblies. [3413/23]
Paul McAuliffe
Ceist:3. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Taoiseach when the Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs will take place. [4161/23]
Aindrias Moynihan
Ceist:4. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Taoiseach when the Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs will take place. [4234/23]
Ivana Bacik
Ceist:5. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Taoiseach when the Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs will take place. [4369/23]
Richard Boyd Barrett
Ceist:6. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach the proposed running order of citizens’ assemblies. [4415/23]
Paul Murphy
Ceist:7. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Taoiseach the proposed running order of citizens’ assemblies. [4418/23]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 7, inclusive, together.
The programme for Government commits to establishing four citizens' assemblies on the topics of biodiversity loss, the type of directly elected mayor and local government structures best suited for Dublin, matters relating to drugs use and the future of education.
The Citizens' Assembly on local government in Dublin has concluded its work and submitted its report and recommendations to the Oireachtas in line with the assembly's terms of reference. I met with the Chairman of the assembly, Mr. Jim Gavin, last week and he briefed me in detail on the work done. I want to take this opportunity in the House to thank him and all those who took part in the Citizens' Assembly for their participation and commitment to the task.
The Citizens' Assembly on Biodiversity Loss held its final meeting on 21 January and will submit its report and recommendations to the Oireachtas and Government as soon as possible.
Two further citizens' assemblies are committed to in the programme for Government: one on matters relating to drugs use and another on the future of education. It will be a matter for the Oireachtas to agree the timeline and terms of reference for the next assemblies.
I anticipate that the Government will shortly discuss the question of the new citizens' assembly and will bring forward a proposal on the matter to this House in the coming weeks.
There are a number of speakers and each will have up to a minute and a half.
I thank the Taoiseach for the information that he has provided thus far on this important issue.
I congratulate the Minister of State, Deputy Hildegarde Naughton, on her appointment as the new Minister of State with responsibility for the national drugs strategy. Last month, her predecessor, Deputy Feighan, reiterated the Government's commitment to holding a citizens' assembly on drugs in early 2023. Last week, the Taoiseach also confirmed that he will bring forward a proposal in the coming weeks, but we need more than that now. We need to hear a timeline and a date for the establishment of the citizens' assembly. It is almost three years since the programme for Government committed to holding this citizens' assembly and we are still no closer to a definitive date. As the Taoiseach will be aware, the Joint Committee on Justice recently undertook research on the current legal position on possession. I hope the Taoiseach can confirm today that the recommendations made in that report will inform the terms of reference of a citizens' assembly. Hopefully, that work has begun. Will the Taoiseach lay out the timeline for the citizens' assembly on drugs to take place?
My question is the same. The programme for Government stated that there would be a citizens' assembly on drug use and the broader question of decriminalisation. We have waited and waited, but as of yet there has not been a date, which is disappointing. This issue has gone on for decades and the status quo is completely unacceptable. It is unacceptable on the basis that as long as governments do not do anything positive, people will die. That is what we are talking about. We are talking about people's lives. I believe that if we had a different approach to drug use, there would be people still living today. Most people in this country have changed their opinion on maintaining the status quo or even going backwards. I firmly believe that the Irish public now are open to a different approach to drug use. Whatever the recommendations the citizens' assembly gives, it is imperative that the Government implement them. I believe that in the lifetime of this Government, however long it takes, for the sake of people who are living today who will be dead it has to change its stance on the Misuse of Drugs Acts. It does not work.
Like the other Deputies, I urge the Taoiseach to name a date and a chairperson for the citizens' assembly. I join the Taoiseach in congratulating the chairs of the two previous bodies. We have a citizens' assembly infrastructure. It has dealt with two issues and we have two more to go. I can appreciate why it has taken some time to get here. There is a commitment in the programme for Government. That is positive. Both the Taoiseach and his predecessor have committed to having it in 2023. That is hopeful.
Along with the citizens' assembly debate, we also need to have a civic society debate. We need to ensure that organisations, such as the drugs task forces, are funded in order that they can have those conversations with communities that have been impacted by drugs and with communities that have not been impacted by drugs, or believe that they have not been impacted by drugs because we know drug use is across all of society. I ask the Minister of State to engage with the drugs task forces to enable that civic society campaign in parallel to the citizens' assembly. I would ask for society, more broadly, to start to have the discussion. If you have not thought about the issue of drugs, if you have not thought about how it impacts you and your community, I ask that you start to have those discussions. By doing that, we will have an informed debate, not one based on moral judgments.
I welcome that there is a commitment in the programme for Government to hold a citizens' assembly on drugs. I am conscious that the other citizens' assemblies are unfinished at this stage. I am thinking of the one on biodiversity. Would the Taoiseach envisage that it would have to be finished up before he would advance the other ones or can they run in parallel? I would hope that they could, and that there would not be any delay, because the Government already had the Dublin mayor and biodiversity ones running in parallel. It is important that the citizens' assembly on drugs would get up and running as soon as possible. The conversations are already taking place right across the country in communities, at dinner tables and in various places. I had the opportunity to meet with so many different groups on it. These included those on youth diversion programmes and students. The Joint Committee on Justice has also been debating the issue. I would be interested to hear if the Taoiseach has a view on its deliberations as well.
I was involved in organising, along with the Save Our Forests Save Our Lands campaign, a protest last week around the debate on Coillte's outrageous deal with Gresham House to buy up large amounts of land and forestry. The demands of that protest were strongly echoed by the Citizens' Assembly on Biodiversity Loss when it expressed grave concern about the Gresham House deal. It has been said, rightly, that the Forestry Act and the mandate of Coillte need to be radically changed in order that Coillte stops acting as a commercial outfit doing forestry in a way that is damaging biodiversity and instead starts to operate for the common and environmental good. The truth is that the Irish forestry model is destroying biodiversity. That is the actuality of the situation. That will be exacerbated by the Gresham House deal or any other such similar deals. I ask the Taoiseach to reconsider the Government's position that it cannot back out of the deal with Gresham House. The Government must back out of this deal because it will contribute to further destruction of biodiversity and move us further down the wrong road when we need to listen to what the Citizens' Assembly is saying about forestry in this country.
I want to ask if the Taoiseach will listen to the citizens' assemblies when they report. We establish them and they make recommendations on the basis of the evidence that they hear. For example, will the Taoiseach listen to the Citizens' Assembly on Biodiversity Loss in the context of the Gresham House deal? Will the Taoiseach listen to them when they say that State-owned woodland should be recognised and managed as a strategic long-term national asset for the benefit of the common good? They make such a recommendation because they understand that we are in, internationally, a sixth mass extinction event. In Ireland, one in every fifth species is threatened with extinction and one in every third species of bee is threatened with extinction. We are in an absolute dire crisis. Unfortunately, the monocultural Sitka spruce model of forestry practised in Ireland means that instead of being a guardian of biodiversity, our forests have been turned into a graveyard of biodiversity. That is a direct consequence of organising our forestry for profit rather than for combating climate change and biodiversity loss.
Does the Taoiseach accept he must instruct Coillte to tear up the deal with Gresham House? If he says he cannot do that, he should bring emergency legislation to the House to enable Coillte to do it. A majority of Deputies in the Dáil would vote in favour of it. The deal must be torn up and Coillte's mandate must be changed.
Two months ago the Labour Party brought forward a Dáil motion calling for a firm date to be set for convening a citizens' assembly on drugs. We are looking for a date for the establishment of that assembly. In particular, its terms of reference must ensure it addresses the central issue of how we move away from a criminal justice approach to drug use and towards a health-led approach. Permission was finally granted over Christmas for a supervised injection facility at Merchants Quay in Dublin. We still see a clear need for other such facilities in other cities and urban areas. Will the Taoiseach confirm whether there are plans to have supervised injection facilities available, even on a mobile basis?
The case for a citizens' assembly on drugs has been made for a long time and there is an urgency around it. I support it. I wish it could be brought forward more quickly than the Taoiseach has indicated but I appeal to him to stick to the commitment and to the date as set out.
Would the Taoiseach believe me if I told him that for the past year and a half there has been no functioning drug and alcohol task force in Dublin's north inner city? Can he imagine that? It was ground zero of the heroin epidemic in the 1980s. It is still an area where neighbourhoods are ravaged by intergenerational drug misuse, abuse and addiction, and all the associated social phenomenons. I have raised this issue for a year and a half. I raised it with Deputy Feighan when he was Minister of State, with the Taoiseach and with the Minister for Health. There has been a deliberate running down and disbandment of the drug and alcohol task force in the north inner city of Dublin. A report was drawn up by the outgoing Minister of State. It was submitted somewhere. I appeal for the report to be published, for the duly selected chair to be appointed and for the body to be allowed to go on with its work. I will not elaborate on the behaviour of the Department and others in this fiasco. I simply appeal that it be brought to an end.
We need the citizens' assembly on drugs to happen as soon as possible. We are looking at absolute failure. When we talk about drug use, drug addiction, the services that relate to those problems, drug criminality and drug-debt intimidation, we speak about its impact across society, which is particularly bad in working-class areas in urban settings. We need to do something different. We all accept and have said that the war on drugs has failed. We need to try something different. We need this assembly to be up and running and then we need to ensure we have the services and the interventions. We need to try something different because what we are doing is not working and we are failing multiple people. Many people are dying and I do not see anything hopeful, other than if we listen to what a citizens' assembly says and act upon it.
I thank the Deputies for their contributions. I anticipate the Government will consider the question of the next citizens' assemblies in the near future. Once a decision has been taken, we will promptly bring forward a proposal to the House for debate and resolution. Subject to the timely passage of the resolution, my expectation is that the next citizens' assemblies could commence as early as April or May and should be in a position to report back to the House before the end of the year. The Government is committed to fulfilling the programme for Government commitment to establish new citizens' assemblies on matters relating to drug use and the future of education. We are keen to have them up and running before the summer recess. I can confirm that the work of the Joint Committee on Justice will inform the terms of reference, as will earlier work carried out by former Justice Garrett Sheehan's group and the justice committee previously under Deputy Stanton's chairmanship. The citizens' assembly on drugs will look at issues in the round and decriminalisation can be part of that.
The two citizens' assemblies in 2022 were run in parallel. It is possible. However, the clear advice from the chairpersons of both assemblies and the independent evaluators was that future assemblies should be run sequentially rather than concurrently. That is the best way to give each assembly the necessary space and time to undertake its deliberations without undue constraints. In response to the Deputies' questions, we will listen to what the citizens' assemblies have to say. It is fair to say we did so on marriage equality, on the eighth amendment and on the climate law, but listening to what they say does not necessarily mean adopting every recommendation lock, stock and barrel.
There is some misunderstanding and misinformation with respect to the Irish Strategic Forestry Fund. No State-owned land is involved. No public land is being privatised. The land is already privately owned and most of it is under forest already. We need forests for many reasons. We need them as a climate sink, for biodiversity and for leisure but also for timber, and that is where spruce and conifers are the most useful. We want to move away from using concrete and steel in favour of timber-----
We have plenty of spruce, though. We have loads of it.
-----and that is why there is room for different types of forestry.
We have exported loads of them.
I will take up the issue of the north inner city drugs and alcohol task force with the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton. She is new to her role, but I will ensure that she is aware of it and that progress is made on it.
Cabinet Committees
Mary Lou McDonald
Ceist:8. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on social affairs and equality will next meet. [61817/22]
Richard Boyd Barrett
Ceist:9. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee that deals with social protection will next meet. [3074/23]
Paul Murphy
Ceist:10. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee that deals with social protection will next meet. [3077/23]
Jennifer Murnane O'Connor
Ceist:11. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on social affairs and equality will next meet. [4217/23]
Niamh Smyth
Ceist:12. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on social affairs and equality will next meet. [4219/23]
Ivana Bacik
Ceist:13. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on social affairs and equality will next meet. [4370/23]
Ruairí Ó Murchú
Ceist:14. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee that deals with social protection will next meet. [4413/23]
Bríd Smith
Ceist:15. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee that deals with immigration and integration will next meet. [4422/23]
Richard Boyd Barrett
Ceist:16. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee that deals with immigration and integration will next meet. [4426/23]
Paul Murphy
Ceist:17. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee that deals with immigration and integration will next meet. [4429/23]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 8 to 17, inclusive, together.
The Cabinet committee on social affairs and public services oversees implementation of the programme for Government commitments in the areas of social policy and public services. The committee covers a range of topics in the areas of social policy with a particular focus on equality and integration and public service reform. Other topics covered by the committee include sport, social protection, arts and culture, public services and justice issues such as policing reform and community safety.
The Cabinet committee will receive detailed reports on identified policy areas and consider the implementation of commitments and reforms. The first meeting of the new Cabinet committee will be held shortly.
Issues recently considered by the previous Cabinet committee on social affairs and equality, which last met at the end of October 2022, include the implementation of the third national domestic, sexual and gender-based violence strategy and progress on policing reforms. In addition to meetings of the Cabinet committee, I have regular engagement with Ministers at Cabinet level and individually to discuss priority issues relating to their Departments. Meetings have also been held between my officials and officials from relevant Government Departments on a range of social policy issues.
The Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, GREVIO, which is tasked with monitoring signatory states' implementation of the Istanbul Convention, is meeting with Irish stakeholders this week. In its submission to GREVIO, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, IHREC, has called for the urgent implementation of multi-agency domestic homicide reviews. A former Minister for Justice commissioned an independent study into familicide and domestic homicide reviews a number of years ago. The current Minister has yet to progress legislation despite a commitment in the 2020 programme for Government. We know the report has been sitting on the Minister's desk since late last summer, yet there is no mention of the promised Bill in the recently published legislative programme. Multi-agency domestic homicide reviews have been in place in Britain for years. They are carried out by an independent chair with the support of a panel of representatives from statutory, voluntary and community organisations. They were introduced in the North in 2020. When will the Minister publish the study and when will we see the legislation on this?
If one were to believe the ads the Government ran about the cost of living that stated people were entitled to various supports from the Government, one would think there was a lot of support for people who need exceptional needs payments and are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis. My clinic was absolutely overrun in the days coming up to Christmas with people in desperate situations and it has become worse in the new year. People are seriously struggling. People need money for food and to pay heating bills and pre-pay power. People are paying up to €10 a day for gas and so on. They simply cannot afford it. People are crying in my clinic. One of the things that is an obstacle to people getting support is that there is no longer a community welfare officer whom a person can go to see. When I asked a parliamentary question about this, I was told that there is a hotline and that people can make appointments. It is simply not true. A community welfare officer cannot be seen for love nor money at the moment and desperate people are finding it impossible to access supports they badly need.
On Saturday, there was a horrendous attack on homeless migrants living in tents in Ashtown. They were attacked using dogs, baseball bats and sticks because they are migrants. It is the horrifying consequence of the spread of far-right, racist, divisive and hateful ideas and organisations. Last night, far-right activists were claiming to have burnt down a building. A building was certainly burnt down, seemingly because it was potentially going to be used as refugee accommodation or for refugee education. This is going to get worse unless a significant change in Government policy takes place. Far-right activists are running amok and someone - most likely a migrant or an Irish person of colour - will either be seriously injured or killed. The Government should change its approach to housing because this is being abused by the far right. The Government should stop its divisive and discriminatory rhetoric and policy, for example towards non-Ukrainian asylum seekers.
Carlow County Council has applied for €12 million funding for conservation work on a former Presentation Convent building at Tullow Street in Carlow, which is a huge part of our cultural quarter. This is a dynamic design at the rear of the existing library building, which is too small and inadequate for the expanding services since university status was awarded to Carlow. The new build will have an enhanced local studies section, which is so important for schoolchildren and students; an impressive county archives area; a children's library; a new tourism office; and a large light-filled civic space in the centre of the building. This building is extremely important for the people of Carlow and I ask that funding for it be supplied. I know it is at stage 3 planning. I ask the Taoiseach to talk to the Minister to see what can be done.
I raise the matter of women’s refuges in the Cavan-Monaghan area. Counties Cavan and Monaghan are among the nine counties not to have such a facility. I work very closely with Safe Ireland, which has done incredible work, particularly Mary McDermott, on this issue. It presented a blueprint document that all of our local authorities can work and strive towards on designing centres of domestic violence prevention and response. The blueprint gives us all a design we can follow. More importantly, I ask all the arms of the State in counties Cavan and Monaghan, including the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and Tusla, to come behind our local authorities. There is a willingness to deliver it among all these great people. I ask that the push to deliver this, which is already coming from the Government, continues.
When I chaired the special Committee on Gender Equality over the past year, the Taoiseach engaged extensively with us, as did his colleagues in government, for which I thank him. One of the committee's clear and unanimous recommendations was that referendums on constitutional changes to Articles 40 and 41 would be held to give effect to recommendations Nos. 1 to 3, inclusive, of the citizens' assembly. Our committee also took the view that these votes can and should be held during 2023. The report we published in December provided a draft form of wording for the proposed amendments to see recognition for the principle of gender equality and to remove the sexist language currently in the constitutional text, referring exclusively to women and mothers as having a life and duties within the home. Our recommendations would expand the definition of "family" under the Constitution to make it more inclusive. There is a clear opportunity to hold such a referendum this autumn, which would leave extensive time for engagement and wording and for the establishment of the necessary commission. Will the Taoiseach agree to hold a referendum during this calendar year?
The Government has spoken about community welfare or exceptional needs payments as a means of dealing with the cost-of-living crisis that many people are dealing with. We are all aware of many people who are waiting an extremely long time. I know of cases in Dundalk of people waiting eight, nine and ten weeks, or longer. In some cases, we know these people are applying for exceptional needs payments to purchase white goods, for example if they have just got a council house. The delay in making such payments slows down the process of their leaving their previous house, a house that we would probably like to engage with renters and other people on from the point of view of getting them into absolutely necessary accommodation. We are dealing with multiple issues. This is meant to be a solution. We need to ensure that the resources are in place, but I do not believe they are and neither do the people trying to avail of it, who are generally looking for emergency payments. We need to do something.
Most Irish people want to help those who are fleeing from war, violence or hunger around the world. Most Irish people want to be the Good Samaritan, but there is genuine concern with the Government's handling of the migration process. There must be consultation with communities. They have a right to have a say over how their areas will be developed. There must be a community dividend. Many working-class areas are already suffering from a lack of housing, GPs, school places and transport. Bringing large numbers of people into these deprived areas must be accompanied by real investment into these issues.
The asylum application process also needs to be speeded up. It should not take more than six months. Those who are not genuine asylum applicants or who have destroyed their travel documents to confuse the process must be sent home. Services that are designed to help asylum seekers, such as housing services, must also be available to Irish people in need; otherwise, the Government will divide people.
The Government is far too reliant on hotels in this system. Many communities are dependent on the tourism industry. Unless alternative accommodation is found for refugees, other than hotel accommodation, the livelihoods of many communities will be hammered in the near future.
I thank the Deputies for their contributions. At the outset, reports of the attack in Ashtown near the Tolka river are very disturbing. While I cannot comment on the specifics of the case, I condemn unreservedly any incident or threat of violence against vulnerable people in our society, particularly those from migrant backgrounds. People have the right to protest but they do not have the right to do it in a way that causes others to fear for their safety or in ways that threaten public order. I sought a report from gardaí on this, which I have received but have not yet had the chance to read. They are continuing to investigate the incident. I am sure Deputies will appreciate that I cannot comment further on an open investigation.
While the number of people sleeping rough is down to approximately 91 in the Dublin region, the upward trend of people accessing emergency accommodation in recent months is of serious concern to the Government. We introduced a no-fault eviction ban, a new acquisitions programme for vulnerable households, emergency leasing of extra units and increased housing assistance payment discretion rates. We are implementing the largest social housing programme in the history of the State. We do not have the figure yet, but we think the number of new social homes provided last year will be the highest since 1975. I know that the men who were the victims of this attack have been offered shelter. One is in hospital and others are in contact with services. They were offered shelter previously but did not avail of it for their own reasons. They want to be able to stay together and that has complicated matters a bit.
Several Deputies mentioned the community welfare service. I hear what they are saying in terms of difficulties their constituents are having in accessing community welfare officers. I will certainly raise this with the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, in the coming days.
On the referendum on gender equality and on the family, I anticipate bringing forward the proposed wording. I welcome the fact that there are options but we hope to bring the proposed wording to the Cabinet before the end of this quarter. The electoral commission will be established next week. I think I am correct in saying the electoral commission will be the referendum commission, which means we do not have to go through the complicated process of establishing a referendum commission every time we have a referendum. I cannot promise that we will have the referendums this year but I would like to have them done this year. We will have a better idea in that regard in the next few weeks.
I will check with the Minister, Deputy Harris, about the timeline with regard to the homicide reviews. We have launched a new strategy to combat domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, DSGBV. It is a five-year programme of reform, which aims at achieving a society that does not accept DSGBV or attitudes that underpin DSGBV. The strategy and accompanying implementation plan contains more than 140 detailed actions for implementation. There will be strong political oversight of implementation through the Cabinet committee on social affairs and public services, which I chair. Education and awareness raising is also a big part of the Government's fight against this form of violence. We are working on national campaigns to raise awareness, including on the meaning of consent. Some of the main actions include doubling the number of refuge spaces available in Ireland.
Deputy Niamh Smyth raised the issue of advocacy in relation to County Cavan, in particular when it comes to providing refuge spaces there.
National sexual violence and domestic violence prevalence studies will be conducted at five-year intervals. There will be new legislation to provide for the introduction of the specific offences of non-fatal strangulation and stalking. Other measures include the training of front-line workers to identify domestic violence and refer victims and survivors to the appropriate services, and improving prosecutions and breaches of any and all DSGBV civil orders provided for in domestic violence and family law legislation.
The Government is also continuing to drive forward with the implementation of Supporting a Victim's Journey. We are determined that when victims of crime come forward, they will be safe in the knowledge that they will be helped, informed and treated with respect and dignity at every stage of their journey through the justice system.
We have also focused on strengthening legislation, including the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2022. This wide-ranging Bill will increase the maximum sentence for assault causing harm from five years to ten.
Regarding the geographical provision of refuge spaces, we acknowledge the need for a significant increase in the provision of spaces and are committed to achieving this in order that every person who needs a refuge space will have access to one. During the initial phase of work, we expect to provide 24 more spaces in Wexford, Dundalk and Navan by next year. There will be a further 98 units in identified locations in 2025 along with a further 19 additional and upgraded units by the end of the strategy period. There are also plans to have 32 safe home units operational presently with plans to expand the numbers to 55 before the end of 2023.
Child Poverty
Alan Farrell
Ceist:18. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Taoiseach his views on the creation of a new division within his Department focusing on child poverty. [1634/23]
Jennifer Murnane O'Connor
Ceist:19. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor asked the Taoiseach if he will provide an update on the proposed child poverty unit in his Department. [4218/23]
Ivana Bacik
Ceist:20. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the new division in his Department to address child poverty. [4371/23]
Ruairí Ó Murchú
Ceist:21. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Taoiseach if he is considering the establishment of a new division in his Department to tackle child poverty. [4414/23]
Richard Boyd Barrett
Ceist:22. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach his views on the creation of a new division within his Department, focusing on child poverty. [4416/23]
Paul Murphy
Ceist:23. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Taoiseach his views on the creation of a new division within his Department, focusing on child poverty. [4419/23]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 18 to 23, inclusive, together.
Our vision is to make Ireland the best country in Europe in which to be a child. The role of the Department of the Taoiseach is to pull things together and co-ordinate Government action in order that it is targeted. Poverty restricts a child's opportunities. The new unit will build on what has been achieved by Government and place a greater focus on improving the lives of all children in Ireland. The aim is to have the unit established by the end of March and preparatory work is under way.
As a first step, the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and I met with representatives from the Children's Rights Alliance to discuss the development of the new child poverty and well-being unit. Further work and engagement is ongoing to inform the scope and programme of work for the unit. The aim is to ensure the unit brings co-ordination as well as strategic leadership and enhanced accountability to the child poverty agenda and makes a tangible difference to the lives of children and families.
My question aimed to elicit further information and I certainly welcome what I have heard regarding a broad Government approach being needed to address child poverty. Poverty cannot be looked at in isolation and, on that basis, the inclusion of well-being is welcome.
One of the issues relating to well-being is education. Access to education is as important as healthcare. Will the new unit consider the issues children across the country have faced with regard to childhood disability networks and access to them and access to diagnosis and the supports that flow from those diagnoses?
I work with an organisation that gives out food parcels and provides meals. The uptake is a concern. I spoke to families when the double children's allowance was given out in November. Many families told me they bought food with the payment because with Christmas coming, they wanted extra food. Every week, I contact the Minister for Education to ask her to look at one school or another seeking DEIS status. This is the key to everything. I welcome the fact that 14 schools in County Carlow received DEIS status this year, which is the highest number ever, while ten schools in County Kilkenny received DEIS status.
We must get the Deputy to move to County Kildare.
Every school should be a DEIS school because under it, students get hot meals, including lunches, which is important. It is also important to mention free schoolbooks for primary schools this year. These are the things we need to do to make sure parents have enough money to pay for extra costs because of the cost-of-living crisis. I ask the Taoiseach to consider that.
I thank the Taoiseach for the update on the new child poverty unit but we still need more detail. In particular, does he have specific objectives or targets he intends to meet in addressing the critical issue of child poverty?
Given the severe shortage of early years and childcare places, will he set up a public model of delivery for childcare that can guarantee children a place in early years education? Regarding socioeconomic discrimination, which is at the heart of this intended unit, does he support the addition of socioeconomic discrimination as the tenth ground in equality legislation as another way in which child poverty might be addressed?
Regarding access to specialist health services for children with disabilities, particularly those from families with less means, I am aware of some families having to go to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul for financial assistance to pay for speech and language therapy because they cannot access it anywhere else. Other colleagues have had the same experience. Will the Government commit to refunding parents left with no choice but to pay for essential healthcare and supports such as this for their children?
Regarding access to specialist health services for children with disabilities, particularly children from families with less means, I am aware of some families having to go to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul for financial assistance to pay for speech and language therapy because they cannot access it anywhere else. I know other colleagues will have had the same experience. Will the Government commit to refunding parents who are left with no choice but to pay for essential healthcare and supports like this for their children?
It goes without saying that many children are affected by the housing crisis and disability supports that are not available. Let us be clear. If we are talking about real and meaningful change in tackling child poverty, we need to look at the pathways available to many of us, be they through education, apprenticeships or employment. A significant number of people are born without those supports and that scaffolding. Major early childhood supports are needed. If we do not do that, we will constantly fail a number of citizens. What we need is a multi-departmental approach to give those supports to those families and children so we can provide them with the pathways the rest of us have. Some of that is down to money, which provides opportunities that a significant number of people do not have. This is gross inequality and this is grossly wrong.
Because of the State's failure and neglect, many children are literally having their childhood stolen from them. If the new subcommittee is to be of any use, it must do tangible things about that. I will provide two examples. On Friday of next week, a working family with two teenage children, one of whom has special needs, will be evicted from their home despite the eviction ban mentioned by the Taoiseach. The family has done nothing wrong. They have paid their rent and their taxes all their lives and they are going to be evicted from the home in which they have lived all their lives. When I go to the council or to the Minister, I am told there is no scheme for them. There is no scheme in which this family fits so they think they will be living in a car in about a week.
Another case I have raised with the Taoiseach and others for four years involves a mother, who ironically works with Tusla and vulnerable children, whose child has lived with her in emergency accommodation for four years. His mental health is on the floor. His mother does not tick any of the boxes. She is slightly over the threshold for this, there is no scheme for that and so on. These children are suffering. One group of children will be suffering more in a week and there is no scheme to help them. Will this unit intervene in cases such as that and say to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage or whichever other Department that children will not suffer any more, that they are not going to be forced to live in a car or, if they have been in emergency accommodation for four years, that they will be got out of emergency accommodation? Their childhood is being stolen from them.
When Deputy Varadkar became Taoiseach again, he spoke about his vision to make Ireland the best country in Europe in which to be a child. The point has been made about hot school meals and the substantial impact that can have on children. Why is at least one school, and presumably others, in one of the most disadvantaged areas of the country having its entitlement to hot school meals removed? That is happening to St. Aidan's Senior National School on Brookfield Road, Tallaght. The school authorities were previously told by the Department that they were entitled to access the hot meals scheme. They made arrangements with Glanmore Foods and installed industrial ovens. The pupils completed their food orders. They have recently been informed that their school is not entitled to access the hot school meals scheme, even though it is a DEIS band 1 school. It does not make any sense whatsoever.
We once again have record homelessness figures. Nearly 3,500 children live with that trauma. I ask the Taoiseach, as his first move in dealing with child poverty, which requires dealing with poverty itself, to commit to extending the ban on evictions, which is due to run out in a short number of weeks. As a confidence-building gesture around this commitment to deal with child poverty, I ask that the damage that was done post crash, in Fine Gael's years in government, to the community sector, community development and the very supports that families, children and young people, in particular, rely on across communities, but especially in the most disadvantaged communities, be undone. We need investment and resourcing in our young people and children. That needs to happen through family supports and public services. Hot school meals and so on have been mentioned. Crucially and critically, if the Government is serious about this, it has to be done in the form of robust, resourced community development. Sadly, the Taoiseach's party in government has a record of destruction of that very infrastructure. I hope he will turn the tide on that, change direction, and invest, invest and invest. It is the smartest money the State will ever spend.
I thank Deputies for their contributions. Deputy Farrell raised the children's disability network teams. They will not specifically fall under the remit of the new unit. They will fall to the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, with the transfer of disability functions to her and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, which will happen on 1 March, but it is relevant to the well-being aspect of the unit's work. I hear the frustration that parents have and endure when it comes to not being able to get assessments of need and particularly when it comes to not being able to get the treatments and therapies that their children need. I had the chance in the past few weeks to spend some time in Barnardos in my constituency and at family resource centres in Kildare and Newbridge. I recognise the good value that we get from the services they provide. It is money well spent and the return on investment is good. We will invest more in these areas in the years to come.
The hot school meals is a great programme. I am a big fan of it. I do not know the details of St. Aidan's and why it is no longer part of the programme. If Deputy Paul Murphy wants to send me the details, I will certainly have it looked into. As Deputies will be aware, the roadmap for social inclusion is our national strategy for poverty reduction and improved social inclusion. It includes a specific chapter on helping children and families with the goal of reducing child poverty and ensuring that all families can participate fully in society. The roadmap incorporates the national child poverty target identified in Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures, the national framework for children and young people, which requires a 66% reduction in the number of children in consistent poverty by the end of 2021. We had been going in the right direction in that regard in recent years, but the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis that has followed has thrown that, which, unfortunately, will show up in the numbers quite soon.
The roadmap includes two commitments specifically relating to child poverty targets. One is to establish and report on a new target in respect of child poverty to improve Ireland's ranking from 20th to the top five for the EU Statistics on Income and Living Conditions, SILC, reporting year of 2025. This will be the equivalent of reducing the percentage of children under 18 at risk of poverty and social exclusion from approximately 24% to 16%. The roadmap includes continued reporting on progress on the national target for reducing the number of children experiencing consistent poverty by the end of 2020 and setting a new target for the period to the end of 2025, consistent with any revised EU targets.
The aim, as I mentioned earlier, is to have the unit established by the end of March with a clear work plan. Preparatory work is under way in that regard. Further work and engagement will inform the scope and programme of work for the unit. The aim is to ensure the unit brings added value, as well as strategic leadership and enhanced accountability, to the child poverty agenda and makes a tangible difference to the lives of children and families.
The issue of a public model of childcare has been mentioned. I will have to speak to the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, about that. Perhaps the right way to approach it, if it has not been done, is with the pilot of a few publicly provided childcare facilities to see how they work, how they compare to the private sector with regard to quality, cost, reliability and so on, and perhaps take it from there.