Mary Lou McDonald
Ceist:1. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on EU and international affairs will next meet. [4084/23]
Ceisteanna - Questions
Cabinet Committees
Ivana Bacik
Ceist:2. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on EU and international affairs will next meet. [5719/23]
Seán Haughey
Ceist:3. Deputy Seán Haughey asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on European Union and international affairs will next meet. [5758/23]
Ruairí Ó Murchú
Ceist:4. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on EU and international affairs will next meet. [5851/23]
Richard Boyd Barrett
Ceist:5. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on EU and international affairs will next meet. [5891/23]
Paul Murphy
Ceist:6. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on EU and international affairs will next meet. [5894/23]
Ruairí Ó Murchú
Ceist:7. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on EU and international affairs will next meet. [6864/23]
Mick Barry
Ceist:8. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on European Union and international affairs will next meet. [6918/23]
Rose Conway-Walsh
Ceist:9. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on EU and international affairs will next meet. [6947/23]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 9, inclusive, together.
The Cabinet committee on EU and international affairs was established by the Government on 18 January. Its role is to oversee implementation of programme of Government commitments relating to the EU and international issues.
It generally meets in advance of regular meetings of the European Council. Its next meeting will take place before the March meeting of the European Council.
We have a good few contributors. They will have a minute and a half each.
As I noted to the President of the European Parliament earlier this month, one of the necessary ingredients to create change in the world is to speak honestly with our friends. I believe this honesty is needed now more than ever from the EU and the international community in its engagements with Israel, as Israel heaps injustice after injustice on the Palestinian people.
Political leaders have, I believe, a responsibility to name Israel's aggression for what it is - an apartheid regime. Equivocation on calling out this violent system of apartheid is failing everyone as Israel's new administration lurches even further to the right.
In a television address, President Herzog warned at the weekend that Israel is on the brink of constitutional and social collapse as the ultra-right coalition sets its sights on the judiciary. Earlier that same day, the prime minister told a meeting of his government that he wants to strengthen illegal settlements and the security cabinet announced its plans to authorise nine illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank. Prime Minister Netanyahu's so-called reforms of the judiciary will significantly interfere in the courts' ability to overrule a cabinet decision that seeks to so brazenly break the law. These are not the actions of a democratic state.
It remains my firm view that Government must introduce and support the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill 2018. This is now a matter of urgency.
I also want to raise the issue of Palestinian rights. Indeed, two weeks ago, I called on the Government to take a strong stance in defence of Palestinian rights. Conditions have worsened since, as we have seen the new far-right Netanyahu government in Israel, which took office at the start of the year, take even further steps to trample on the rights of the Palestinian people and, indeed, take further steps to undermine democracy in Israel also, with concerning plans to meddle with the judicial system. Indeed, we saw at the weekend a mass demonstration of nearly 100,000 people outside the Knesset protesting against plans to undermine the independence of the judiciary there.
The same Israeli Government has introduced draconian security clampdowns in Palestinian areas in Jerusalem and the West Bank and we have seen the expansion of illegal settlements with reports of 5,000 new settler homes being planned. It appears the current government has no interest in a two-state state and, indeed, no interest in pursuing peace. The state itself in Israel, it appears, has been captured by the far right and we have seen appalling deaths already. At least 40 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed by army fire this year alone.
I am asking how Ireland and indeed the EU can maintain trade relations with a country that is carrying on like this. Will the Taoiseach and his Government take on Senator Francis Black's Bill to ban the import of goods from illegal settlements and from occupied territories, as we, in Labour, and others across the Opposition have called for?
Every nation-state has an obligation to protect and maintain its borders; so too do the 27 member states of the European Union.
In this context, I wish to ask the Taoiseach about his attendance at the special European Council meeting last week, where the issue of migration was addressed. It seems this issue has risen to the top of the EU agenda, as it has in Ireland. I understand a substantial package of new measures to deal with illegal migration was agreed by EU leaders, including the provision of EU funding to improve border protection capabilities and infrastructure. President Ursula von der Leyen talked about strengthening our external borders. Of course, EU nation-states have a moral and legal obligation to shelter those fleeing war and persecution. We also know that legal migration benefits our economies, among many other things. However, people are now asking for appropriate measures to be taken to speed up the determination of international protection applications, to ensure deportations actually take place, to deal with applicants coming from so-called safe countries of origin and to address the problem of applicants losing or destroying their travel documentation. What approach did the Taoiseach take at last week's special EU Council meeting?
Israel is involved in a brazenly naked illegal occupation of Palestinian land and territory. This week, its cabinet authorised further illegal settlements on land that, under international law, is designated for the Palestinians. In the first month of this year, 50 Palestinians died in what was the deadliest month we have seen in decades, with the Israeli army running constant military raids into Palestinian territory, as they did last year. International human rights organisations have said, categorically, that the entire apparatus of the Israeli state has been operating on an apartheid basis against Palestinians since its foundation. Will the Taoiseach explain why the EU and our Government does nothing about this? Will he explain to me, to the world and to the Palestinians why the EU says that any and all means must be used to support the Ukrainian people in their fight against the illegal occupation of their country, but not a thing is done to support the Palestinians in their fight against the illegal occupation of their land and territory, the crushing of their right to self-determination, the apartheid system that is obnoxious to international law and to human rights and the 17-year-long siege of Gaza? The murder, oppression and persecution goes on and nothing is done. No sanctions are imposed. Will the Taoiseach explain the double standards?
The Taoiseach said earlier in reply to me that nobody should be trying to make political gain out of migration. Will he distance himself from the conclusions of the European Council meeting and from Deputy Haughey's comments just now? The meeting represented a further hardening of the fortress Europe policy. The tone was set by the hard-right government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Italy, followed by the so-called centre right. There was agreement on reinforced co-operation on search and rescue missions in the central Mediterranean, a reference to the activity of NGOs that have saved the lives of people who would otherwise drown as a result of fortress Europe policies. A total of 25,000 people have died in the past nine years as a consequence of fortress Europe, which is being strengthened and strengthened. Over the past eight years, the aggregate length of fences at the EU's external borders has gone from 315 km to more than 2,000 km. There has been no attempt to address the illegal and violent pushing back of refugees into the ocean where they could drown. Will the Taoiseach reject this fortress Europe policy, which serves the interests of nobody?
The crackdown on asylum seekers announced at the EU summit last week was based solely on the narrative of the far right. These are not my words or the words of any radical socialist; instead, they are the words of a colleague of the Taoiseach, Fianna Fáil MEP, Barry Andrews, and he is right. When I made the point in this House last week that the Government's failures on housing were a gift to the far right, the Taoiseach urged me to consider my language. The next day he flew to Brussels and said that the EU needed to be "fair, firm and hard" on the asylum issue. He gave himself a get-out-of-jail card by saying the EU needed to be hard on the traffickers, but that was the small print. It was not the headline and a man of the Taoiseach's experience would know, or have a pretty good idea at the very least, what the headline was going to be. Given that he is careful with his language, will the Taoiseach admit to the House that this was a dog-whistle?
Has the Taoiseach received clarity from the British Government regarding the concerning Nationality and Borders Act 2022 and the recently proposed roll-out of the electronic travel authorisation, ETA, scheme for third country nationals crossing the Border? I have grave concerns about this proposal. The Border is already too hard. We cannot have a situation where people travelling across Ireland could be subject to visa requirements. This is an affront to the Good Friday Agreement and would cause untold damage to community, societal and business relations on the island. My colleague, Senator Niall Ó Donnghaile, tabled a motion in the Seanad, which received unanimous support, condemning the introduction of the electronic travel waiver for non-British citizens. If introduced, ordinary men and women who wish to travel to the Six Counties, be it for work, tourism or for study, will be expected to apply under ETA. The policy is both absurd and offensive. Will the Taoiseach assure us that no new restrictions on the free movement of people on this island will be introduced?
The issue of migration is sensitive and we all should be careful in the way we speak about it. It is important that we do not call one another names. We must speak respectfully on the issue without labelling people with certain names. Both extremes of the political spectrum seem to be ramping up tensions in this regard. Middle Ireland wants to help people who are fleeing war, violence and famine, but they also want to be able to differentiate between those who need help and those who do not. On the radio last week, the Taoiseach mentioned he wanted the length of the process to be reduced to six to eight weeks. It takes 80 weeks currently for applications to be decided on. Some people are waiting 14 years for their application to be processed. The Taoiseach said he did not know how many people were being deported because such information is not collected. Is this the case and, if so, is this the right way to proceed with this?
When the Taoiseach answers the Deputies' questions, in particular those of Deputies Haughey and Tóibín, will he explain the complications for a person seeking sanctuary in Ireland coming from Eritrea, for example, where they do not have the capacity to get a passport in the way we do, or a person fleeing persecution in Afghanistan, where passports have not been issued since 2021, or a person arriving to Ireland from Georgia fleeing on the grounds of LGBT persecution, or a person from a place where we have not given any working visas to? There is a complexity to this and there is dog-whistling under the guise of speaking on behalf of middle Ireland. The people of Ireland are very decent but we need to understand the complexities and streamline the process to make it easier for people coming here, particularly from regions of the world where it is far more difficult to access the resources we have at our disposal in Ireland.
I thank the Deputies for their questions. On Deputy McDonald's question about Israel and Palestine, I agree that we must speak honestly with our friends. I hope, when the Deputy is in the US in March, she will speak honestly with her American friends about the stance she takes on issues relating to Palestine, Cuba and Venezuela. I have yet to see evidence of that but I will check her remarks in March to see if she does so.
I agree that we must support a two-state solution and we continue to do so. We support the right of Palestinians to their independence. We oppose the settlements and the expansion of the existing settlements, and anti-democratic forces, whether they are in Israel or Palestine. We are very concerned about what is happening in Israel in regard to judicial independence and the actions of the new government.
I am also concerned that we have not had elections in the Palestinian areas now for a very long time.
What is the point?
I do not think I need to answer the question as to what the point is in having elections, at least I hope not.
Israel does not recognise Palestinian elections.
In relation to----
Palestinians in Jerusalem do not get to vote at all.
Please, Deputy.
In relation to Israel itself, we should acknowledge that it is one of the few countries in the region that has a democratically elected Government, an independent judiciary and equal rights for women and LGBT people. We would not like that to change. I am concerned that Israel is going down a very different path from that but I do not think our concerns about Israel should blind us to other governments and administrations in the region that do not uphold the rights of women and LGBT people or have free and fair elections.
Israel does not uphold the rights of the Palestinians.
We need to be fair and even-handed and not apply double standards.
What about the breaches of international law that are legendary at this stage?
I agree with the Deputies in that regard.
In response to Deputy Haughey's question, the focus of the summit-----
What about the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) 2018 Bill?
What about the occupied territories Bill?
-----was Ukraine for the first part and then migration for the second part. A particular focus was placed on external borders, and how we can strengthen the external borders of the European Union, and also on returns, and how we can increase the number of returns of people who have been deemed ineligible for international protection in the European Union after an appropriate legal process. I reassure Deputies that those conclusions were unanimously supported. They were supported by the socialist governments and the social democratic governments-----
They are not really socialists.
-----and they were supported by governments that include green parties in various parts of Europe. Those include the socialist government in Malta and the social democratic government in Denmark, for example. The mainstream centre left in Europe supported these conclusions-----
Yes, they go along with it. That is correct.
-----and to try to present them as something hard right followed by the centre right-----
And followed by the centre left.
-----really misunderstands where the mainstream of European opinion now lands. These conclusions were supported by centre-left Governments, the Party of European Socialists and the European Green Party in government. For my part, I supported the conclusions on behalf of the Irish Government. I also made the case for legal pathways, which is something we in Ireland do better than other countries. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, at which I was the Minister last year, issued a record number of 40,000 work permits to economic migrants who wanted to come here and who we wanted to come here. When there are legal pathways to migration, that is the big door. We should have a big door when it comes to migration-----
What about the occupied territories Bill?
-----but we also need controls as well. I do not agree with the view that we should have no controls at all or have no nations or borders. Those who have that view should be honest about it and not try to cover up that they do not believe in any returns or any borders. They should be honest about that if that is their view.
As the Deputy rightly pointed out, my reference to being hard was specifically in reference to traffickers. We need to be hard on traffickers. That is what I said in Brussels, what I said on Sunday and what I am saying again here today. I do not see any reason to misrepresent it. The Deputies must have their own agenda if they are trying to misrepresent those words. I agree that we all need to be careful in the words we use. Those of us who are politicians in the centre ground need to be willing to talk about migration. We have been a bit afraid to talk about it, quite frankly, for the past number of years. If those of us in the centre ground do not talk about migration, we will allow the far right and the extreme left to dominate the debate in this regard and that will not be good. That is why we need to talk about it and find ways to talk about it carefully but sensibly as well.
In relation to the electronic travel authorisation, I raised this matter with Prime Minister Sunak when we had our phone call a couple of weeks ago. We have not met in person yet but I hope to do so soon. I expressed our very strong concerns about the impact this could have on third country citizens. It will not apply to Irish or British citizens but could certainly apply to EU citizens living in Ireland, North or South, and non-EEA citizens living in Ireland, North or South, and could make their lives difficult. They could inadvertently find themselves breaking the law in some circumstances just by crossing the Border. We have real concerns about that and would seek to have those allayed.
On the issue of deportations, approximately 700 orders have been issued since September. I do not know the exact figure of the numbers of people who have been affected but they are very small. What I am told is that in most cases where somebody has a deportation order served, they will either return to their home country or go to another country of their own volition. Very rarely does a deportation have to be effected. Some people also just disappear into the system and that makes them very hard to trace.
Deputy Gannon mentioned individual countries. In the context of this debate, it is probably not a good idea to mention or list individual countries. I have been advised not to do so by people in the past and I think that should work in all directions. To be frank, I can understand-----
We are way over time.
-----why somebody may have false papers if they are coming from a country where they cannot get papers. What I do not understand is the destruction of papers.
What about the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill 2018?
What about the occupied territories Bill?
Trade is an EU competence so it is the same position as we had before.
There are only three questions in the next group. With the Taoiseach's co-operation, we will deal with them in ten minutes to allow 15 minutes for the subsequent group, which has a long list of contributors.
Urban Development
Mary Lou McDonald
Ceist:10. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the role of his Department in the north east inner city initiative. [4086/23]
Ivana Bacik
Ceist:11. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the role of his Department in the north east inner city initiative. [5720/23]
Gary Gannon
Ceist:12. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Taoiseach if he will provide an update on the work of the north east inner city task force. [5887/23]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 to 12, inclusive, together.
The Mulvey report, Dublin's North East Inner City: Creating a Brighter Future, which was published in February 2017, contains recommendations for the social and economic regeneration of Dublin's north-east inner city. The report has been further supplemented by the north east inner city strategic plan 2020-2023. Implementation of the Mulvey report and the strategic plan is overseen and progressed by the programme implementation board. The board meets on a monthly basis and its members include representatives from relevant Government Departments and agencies, business and the local community. The board is assisted in its work by six subgroups comprised of Departments and agencies, and community representatives. These subgroups look at enhanced policing; maximising educational, training and employment opportunities; family well-being; enhancing community well-being and the physical landscape; substance use, misuse and inclusion health; and the alignment of services.
Officials from the Department of the Taoiseach work closely with the board, the subgroups and the dedicated programme office based on Sean McDermott Street. The chairperson of the programme implementation board reports to an oversight group, chaired by the Secretary General of the Department of the Taoiseach. Membership of the oversight group is comprised of senior civil servants across Government Departments and agencies who are actively engaged with the work of the north east inner city initiative. This group ensures strong and active participation by all relevant Departments and agencies and deals with any barriers or issues highlighted by the board. Following the recent resignation of the chairperson of the board, arrangements will be made for the appointment of a new chairperson and I will advise the Government of a nominee in due course. In the interim, the work of the board will continue with the aid of the Department of the Taoiseach. The Government is committed to ensuring that the programme implementation board has the necessary resources to achieve its targets and fulfil its ambition. From 2016 to 2022, inclusive, the Government provided over €38.2 million in funding for the initiative. In 2022, funding was increased by €1 million to provide €7.5 million for the initiative and the Government has committed a further €7.5 million for this year.
I have raised the need to review this initiative with the Taoiseach's predecessor, the Tánaiste, Deputy Micheál Martin, and I raise it again with the Taoiseach at this juncture. We need to assess in real terms what progress has been made. The review needs to also include the need to expand the boundaries of this initiative because only one section of the north inner city is actually covered. Other areas which have been just as affected by poverty, drugs and the whole gangland phenomenon have been left outside of its scope. This has caused a real problem right across communities. I argued back in the day that all of the north inner city needed to be included. I believe that remains the case. I hope a proper thorough and independent review of the initiative will occur. The north inner city community coalition, a very broad-based coalition, has, I understand, written to the Taoiseach. It wants to meet him to talk about the appointment of a new independent chairperson. It is important that the chairperson is independent. I understand the Taoiseach has not yet undertaken to meet this group. Will he meet it?
The north east inner city has no drugs task force.
We are way over time.
I raised this with the Taoiseach and put the question. I want to make the point on behalf of the community I serve.
There will not be enough time.
If you let me finish my sentence-----
No, we are way over time. I am really sorry. We are way over time.
The north inner city has no drugs-----
Deputy, please. I have no choice but to enforce the rules.
No, you have-----
I have gone way over with you. Please. There are four more contributors and there is a whole list to be done before 4 o'clock. I call Deputy Bacik.
The north inner city-----
Deputy please.
-----has no drugs and alcohol task force.
Deputy please.
I raised this matter with the Taoiseach and I would like to know what progress he has made on it. I am now finished my sentence and I am now sitting down.
It is most unacceptable from you. It is absolutely unacceptable. I have gone way over the time. Just a tiny bit of-----
I have placed my question.
I am not having a discussion with you. I am trying desperately to be fair.
You are not being fair.
I ask you to take that back.
That you are being unfair?
That is right.
I take it back. When I put my questions I am entitled to put them and to get an answer.
You are still wasting time. I will reflect for a moment. The more this happens, the less time there is available. I ask you all for co-operation. Every Deputy is important and every question he or she raises is important. We have now four minutes and 46 seconds to get the Taoiseach to respond and each Member has to come in.
I have two specific questions. Has the Taoiseach decided who will take over as chair of the north east inner city programme implementation board since the resignation of Michael Stone? He said he will announce the nominee in due course. Can he give us a timeline and some indication as to who it will be?
I would also like to raise an issue with the Taoiseach on behalf of my Labour Party colleague in Dublin Central, Senator Marie Sherlock. She has asked what the Government is planning to do about the severe shortages of preschool and early years places in the area. Research undertaken by Young People at Risk, YPAR, a group of childcare professionals, community groups and others under the auspices of the north east inner city task force, has found that one in four children in the north east inner city have no preschool place. Can the Taoiseach indicate what money will be put in place for the area to deliver new childcare and early years places?
I believe we are now six years into the north east inner city task force following the Mulvey report and €38 million has been spent. Where is the record of achievement? Deputy McDonald asked for a review. I would like a review. The Taoiseach may remember that the reason the north east inner city task force was initiated to combat drug related crime, poverty and dereliction in the area. Six years later and with €38 million spent, what can be pointed to as a record of achievement? Young people are still being taken into the drugs industry - and it is an industry - not only in the north inner city but throughout Dublin. Dereliction remains a problem in the area. The boundaries are rather obscure. Last year, we had a conversation about O'Connell Street, which does not come under the north inner city committee's remit, which seems strange. Hardwicke Street, an area just outside the catchment, does not receive the same level of funding as the north inner city task force. The independence of the chair is an issue of utmost importance. There was an expectation that the Taoiseach would announce a process for the selection of a chair, in consultation with the community.
Last week, the Taoiseach, in responding to Deputies Barry and Pringle, suggested that those who are pointing to the need to address the housing crisis were in some way giving succour to the far right. They were not; both Deputies were very clear about their position that refugees are welcome in this country. Does the Taoiseach accept that it is the case that where there is deprivation, neglected communities, a deep housing crisis with multiple generations living in one home and so on, it breeds alienation and is fuel for the likes of the far right to take people's righteous anger and turn it in the wrong direction? That is not to justify or excuse in any sense any racist or anti-refugee sentiments and so on. Rather, it is simply the reality that the likes of the far right prey on real social issues but then points people away from those responsible, that is, those at the top, towards those at the bottom.
I thank Deputies for their questions. Regarding the programme implementation board and the appointment of a new chair, no decision has yet been made on the appointment of a chair but I would very much welcome any suggestions or nominations that Members may have, perhaps on a confidential basis. It can be difficult to approach people for these roles. The enthusiasm for taking on this kind of work is not what it used to be for all sorts of obvious reasons, but any suggestions from Deputies would be dealt with confidentially and welcomed.
I reiterate that the Government is fully committed to the important work that has been under way in Dublin's north east inner city to oversee the long-term social and economic regeneration of the area. The north east inner city programme implementation board and subgroups, established following the publication of the Mulvey report and which comprise Government Departments and agencies alongside community representatives, will continue this work and ensure sustained momentum for the many initiatives being driven under the board's programme of work. Arrangements will be made for the appointment of a new chairperson for the implementation board. As I mentioned, I will advise the Government of a nominee in due course. In the interim, the work of the board will continue with the assistance of the Department.
Regarding the letter to which Deputy McDonald referred, I have not yet seen it. I am sure the Deputy's inbox is as big as mine and on any given day, I could receive 100 emails and letters, if not more, coupled with requests for meetings. They will all be responded to as soon as we can get to them.
I was asked about childcare and school provision. The early learning and care component of the Sheriff Street crèche and after-school education support programme, formerly on Sheriff Street, closed after the landlord informed the service in May 2020 that the lease of the premises would not be renewed after 30 June. The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth is looking at the wider implications for capacity in the area. However, affordable alternative premises have proved difficult to secure. Several options have been explored by the service but were found to be unsuitable in terms of size and affordability. The Dublin city childcare committee, in consultation with other stakeholders, is continuing to consider options in the area to minimise the risk that local families will not be able to secure appropriate early learning and care placements, should the need arise.
Cabinet Committees
Richard Boyd Barrett
Ceist:13. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach when the Housing for All progress report for quarter 4 2022 will be published. [4417/23]
Paul Murphy
Ceist:14. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Taoiseach when the Housing for All progress report for quarter 4 2022 will be published. [4420/23]
Ivana Bacik
Ceist:15. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Taoiseach when the Housing for All progress report for quarter 4 2022 will be published. [5721/23]
Pádraig O'Sullivan
Ceist:16. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on housing will next meet. [5783/23]
Mary Lou McDonald
Ceist:17. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach when the Housing for All quarter 4 2022 progress report will be published. [5646/23]
Cian O'Callaghan
Ceist:18. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Taoiseach when the Housing for All progress report for quarter 4 2022 will be published. [6028/23]
Peadar Tóibín
Ceist:19. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on housing will next meet. [6736/23]
Ruairí Ó Murchú
Ceist:20. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Taoiseach when the Housing for All progress report for quarter 4 2022 will be published. [6863/23]
Paul McAuliffe
Ceist:21. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Taoiseach when the Housing for All progress report for quarter 4 2022 will be published. [6886/23]
Jennifer Murnane O'Connor
Ceist:22. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor asked the Taoiseach when the Housing for All progress report for quarter 4 2022 will be published. [6887/23]
Mick Barry
Ceist:23. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Taoiseach when the Housing for All progress report for quarter 4 2022 will be published. [6919/23]
Rose Conway-Walsh
Ceist:24. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Taoiseach when the Housing for All progress report for quarter 4 2022 will be published. [6948/23]
Cian O'Callaghan
Ceist:25. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on housing will next meet. [7239/23]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 13 to 25, inclusive, together.
The Cabinet committee on housing met on 30 January. The next meeting of the committee is scheduled for 9 March. The committee works to ensure a co-ordinated approach to the implementation of Housing for All. The quarter 4 2022 progress report was discussed at the most recent meeting of the committee, and was subsequently approved by Cabinet and published on 7 February. This is the sixth quarterly report under Housing for All and details further progress in the Government's commitment to increase the number of homes for our citizens.
Just under 30,000 new homes were completed in 2022, not including student accommodation and derelict homes brought back into use. This exceeded the target of 24,600 set in Housing for All and represented the largest annual delivery of new homes in over a decade. The quarter 4 progress report outlines our progress in accelerating the supply of homes, while bringing about fundamental reform in the delivery of housing in our country. The Government is now focused on the 2023 target of 29,000 new homes, and we hope to exceed that.
Through Project Tosaigh and Croí Cónaithe, we are enhancing the financial viability of homes which already have planning consent. The quarter 4 report details initiatives which will accelerate the adoption of modern methods of construction, MMC, which has the potential to improve construction sector productivity, innovation, speed of delivery, sustainability and, ultimately, cost. Over 30 sites have been identified for accelerated delivery using MMC, involving over 1,500 new social homes.
We are also making progress on vacancy and dereliction. In 2022, over 2,300 vacant social homes were brought back into active use. On 30 January, the Government published a new vacant homes action plan which will return as many recoverable vacant properties back to viable use as soon as possible, while also revitalising communities.
There are ten contributors, each of whom has up to one minute.
For a very long time, some of us campaigned for the Government to introduce a policy of using public money to buy the homes of people threatened with eviction. Very slowly, and not very consistently, the Government has started to do that. It is not doing enough. A cohort of people is not getting any benefit from this, namely, those who happen to be over the social housing income thresholds.
This is because the Government will not sanction the purchase of homes if these people are not on the social housing list. These people are not entitled to HAP and, therefore, are in many cases in a worse position. I know of a family who are going to court for an enforcement order to evict them from the home in which they have lived all their lives. They have written to the Taoiseach and the Minister and they believe they will probably be living in their car with their two children by next week. These are working people who have paid their taxes and have always paid their rent. Will the Taoiseach do something about that?
People need to know whether the Government's partial eviction ban will be extended after 31 March. We need to have a proper eviction ban such as the one we had during Covid. We know for a fact that the number one cause of homelessness is eviction from private rental accommodation. This is from Focus Ireland. We know that eviction bans work. They are not the full answer to the housing crisis but we saw the impact during Covid when the figures dropped from about 9,000 to about 6,000 before rising.
We are heading towards having 12,000 people, almost 4,000 of whom are children, homeless. Will the Government commit that those people will not be evicted and we will have a proper eviction ban as long as this housing crisis lasts while we build social and affordable housing and use vacant properties?
I have two questions on housing and planning policy. The Taoiseach will have seen the explosive allegations in the Sunday Independent by Mark Tighe reporting that ESB staff have been accused of seeking backhanders from companies to get works completed and new developments connected. We know there are significant delays in getting connections from the ESB for new developments. These are slowing down and obstructing delivery of new homes and other developments. The report said there was evidence of a payment of €10,000 agreed with an ESB engineer, among other such payments. This begs the question as to whether this is a common practice and if it extends to other public utility company. What does the Taoiseach and Government propose to do about it? Is An Garda Síochána involved? Will there be an investigation into this practice and will the Government set up a confidential reporting line so that those who may have been asked to make payments to speed up delivery of residential and other developments can report it without risking such developments?
The draft planning and development Bill is before the Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage for pre-legislative scrutiny but the draft seems to have removed the requirement for local authorities to reserve land for use as allotments for cultivation. Many of our councillors are seriously concerned about this deletion. Can the Taoiseach assure us that it will be addressed?
In recent months, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage issued a circular allowing HAP residents at risk of homelessness to remain in their homes and the local authority to purchase their homes. This has been broadly welcomed and comes as a relief to many families. However, the implementation of this circular has varied from local authority to local authority. For example, one local authority has used the new initiative but has placed a five-year stipulation on a person's tenure for it to be available to him or her. Another local authority has not availed of the initiative as much as it is already on its way to meeting its social housing targets. Is it about time that the ad hoc implementation of this good initiative was regularised with specific guidance and criteria issued?
What was the Deputy referring to?
The tenant in situ scheme.
The final progress report for 2022 does not include social and affordable rental or purchase output. This omission is incomprehensible. When will the Government publish these figures? The Daft.ie rent report for the same period shows new rents spiralling upwards to record highs. Spiralling rents are, of course, a consequence of Government failure to deliver adequate levels of social and affordable homes. At least one third of renters should not be living in privately rented accommodation and the private developer sector alone cannot deliver the volumes of homes to rent or buy at prices that working people can afford. Property price inflation will continue to rise without an adequate market intervention that meets that challenge head on. The Children's Rights Alliance has highlighted the lack of a specific focus on children or a dedicated plan that targets child and family homelessness in the Housing for All strategy. When will that be addressed? I had other questions but I do not have time to put them.
I want to ask the Taoiseach about the number of homes that were completed in 2022. Significant data were published on this today. In his previous remarks, the Taoiseach repeated the claim that almost 30,000 new homes were completed last year. However, figures published today by Construction Information Services show that fewer than 24,000 homes were actually built. This figure is based on hard data compiled from the National Building Control Office, which certifies completions. This is a gap of 6,000. Does the Taoiseach agree that the hard data compiled by the National Building Control Office are highly reliable as it has a legal role in certifying house completions? How does he explain the gap of 6,000 for which there is no paper trail?
According to Daft.ie, new rents in the past three months of 2022 were 13.7% higher than in the same period in 2021. Rents have increased to an average of €1,733 compared with an average rent in 2011 of €765. It is incredible that since Fine Gael took office in 2011, we have seen an increase in rents of 126%. The Taoiseach, his Government and his party have left a massive legacy to tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people who are struggling to pay rent. In my office, I see on a weekly basis people who have to migrate westwards - people who are leaving Dublin to live in Ashbourne, then move to Cavan and then move on to Leitrim because they cannot afford the rents. They are surfing a wave of rent affordability across the country. It is incredible that local authorities are only now looking at ways to identify vacant homes for the vacant home tax. Will the Taoiseach tell us when the vacant home tax be put in place?
The Daft.ie report published yesterday shows that it now costs way more than €20,000 to rent for a year in Cork city. A generation that could not afford to buy its own homes now cannot afford to rent. After the publication of the report, Ronan Lyons said that "among the worst affected cohorts are younger adults, with the median adult age of leaving the parental home having grown almost 50% in the last decade." In other words, since shortly after Fine Gael came to power, if the median average age was 18, it is now close to 27, and if it was 20, it is now close to 30. Does the Taoiseach accept that his Government has let down the under-30s very badly indeed on this issue?
I welcome the figures in the quarter 4 report. Regardless of what figures we look at, we see last year's performance on housing was better than any other year for some time. Certainly in terms of public housing, we are back to where we were in previous decades. In my constituency, there are sites off Oscar Traynor Road, Collins Avenue, St. Joseph's Hill, Parkview, Church of the Annunciation and Kildonan, all of which involve public housing on public land. However, where we are struggling is on sites like the Ballymun Shopping Centre site where there is a necessary commercial element and retail must be provided. Dublin City Council has gone out for expressions of interest. Given the changing interest rate market, this has proved challenging and I am not sure the interest that was there last year or the previous year is still there. We need the Land Development Agency to examine this site in partnership with Dublin City Council. We need both retail and housing built on it and we need the same action on the site as we see on many other sites.
The Government finally moved on the issue of the rent tax credit and introduced a watered-down version of the Sinn Féin proposal. However, the requirement for the landlord to be registered with the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, excludes so many, including students. Will the Taoiseach clarify whether RTB registration is a requirement? This punishes renters for landlords not following the rules. Students under the rent-a-room scheme and digs-style accommodation are also excluded. This is particularly galling for parents when the Government promoted this heavily as its solution to the student housing crisis this year. The tax credit is also restricted to rentals in the State, meaning that a family in Donegal with a student studying in Derry is excluded as are students forced to study abroad because there is no place for them here. PhD researchers are also excluded as they are not recognised as workers. Parents and students are technically included but it seems that no effort was made to include them in practice.
Will the Taoiseach urgently review this?
I apologise if I did not catch everything. The Deputies spoke much more quickly than I can write, but I will try to cover as many questions as I managed to jot down.
In respect of Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan's question about the tenant in situ scheme, that is a scheme the Government supports and I know the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage supports it very strongly. We are providing funding to local authorities for it and we need to push it and promote it more. One thing we are considering is an amendment to the Housing Act to put a positive duty on local authorities to assist people who may fall into homelessness because homelessness prevention is probably the most effective, never mind cost effective, way of reducing the number of people who are homeless. If we put a positive duty on local authorities in that regard, we might see fewer people falling into homelessness and more properties being bought up by local authorities or approved housing bodies, as the case may be.
Can it apply to people over the threshold?
I do not know. I will have to check with the Minister on that.
People who are over the threshold are being evicted. They are not entitled to anything.
In regard to Deputy McAuliffe's question, I am not familiar with the site-----
You are welcome to visit it.
We might have a chat afterwards and he can let me know where it is. We can certainly ask the LDA to take a look at it.
On the rent tax credit, it does cover students who are paying rent and where parents pay on their behalf, but it does not cover unregistered landlords. The difficulty with unregistered landlords is they should be registered. They are either not registered with the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, or are not paying their own taxes, and that has to be regularised. I do not think we could have a situation where we pay the tax credit in respect of a property that is not registered. I think that for lots of reasons, we could not do that. It does apply only to people who are renting in the State. If they are renting in Derry, for example, it would be up to the Government in Northern Ireland to bring in a rent tax credit. There was a lot of time when Deputy Conway-Walsh's party could have done that, in fairness, but it did not. The same applies, obviously, to other jurisdictions too.
In respect of Deputy Cian O'Callaghan's question, I did not see those figures out today. As I understand it, the figures that suggest we built close to 30,000 new homes last year come from the Central Statistics Office, CSO, and there is no body we could say is more accurate than the Central Statistics Office when it comes to statistics. It is certainly not subject to political influence and does not spin statistics or anything like that. Where there are different numbers out there, I would tend to go with the ones from the CSO rather than from anywhere else, but the Deputy raises a legitimate question and I do not know what the discrepancy or difference is, so I will make inquiries about that.
We do not have the exact numbers for new social housing for 2022 yet, but the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, tells me it will be close to 8,000 new builds last year, which looks like it will be the highest number since 1975, and that is a very significant increase in the provision of new social housing. In most of our lifetimes, no government has built as much social housing as this one did last year, but we need to build more and we have a higher target again for this year and the year after.
As for the median age of people leaving home, I think I saw the report and, if I remember correctly, the median age now for people leaving home is 28. It was lower but it has gone up. Of course, the Government accepts responsibility for putting that right and we are doing that through the help-to-buy scheme and the first home scheme and also by increasing supply. As I have said before, just under 70% of people in Ireland own their own home, but that is not the reality for people who are in their mid-20s and mid-30s and we need to change that. At the heart of the Government's housing policy is a commitment to increasing home ownership again. We do not believe in the rent-for-life models other people believe in. We want to see home ownership increase, but for those who are renting, we want to make sure they have secure tenancies and affordable rents too.
Deputy Bacik mentioned the allegations in respect of the ESB. I only became aware of them through media reports at the weekend. I have been briefed since. I am seriously concerned about them. The ESB is a respected State company and a respected public body. I would not like to believe these things are true but they may well be true, and if they are true, it is a very serious matter. I have been briefed that the Garda is involved now, that a Garda investigation is under way and that a confidential phoneline is available for people to make reports. I encourage anybody, whether home builders, businesspeople or anybody who has information on this, to share it with the Garda because we need to get to the bottom of it very quickly.
In respect of the eviction ban, or partial eviction ban if you prefer, we will make a decision on that in the next few weeks. When we took the decision to reintroduce it, we had hoped it would see the numbers of people in emergency accommodation fall, because they did fall during the period of the pandemic restrictions. That has not happened. Numbers have continued to rise and it shows many factors are at play when it comes to homelessness.
Because it is not a full eviction ban.
Family breakdown is one and another, of course, is people being evicted from private rented accommodation. We are seeing a change in the profile of people who are homeless. It is quite different from what it would have been five, six or seven years ago and that is a factor too, but we will assess that over the next couple of weeks. It will remain the case that if somebody is not paying rent or is engaging in antisocial behaviour, that will be grounds for eviction. I do think we have a problem - it might be a small problem but it is a growing problem - of people who cannot move back into their own home. People might go away for six months or a year, maybe to Australia, Dubai or Britain, come back and find they cannot move back into their own apartment or house. That is a difficulty. It might be okay for six months but if it is extended for longer, I think it becomes a real problem.
When is the vacant property tax going to be implemented?
I will have to check with the Minister for Finance but I would have thought there would be a charge this year.
They are still searching for vacant homes, by the looks of things.
That completes questions to the Taoiseach. Before we conclude, I point out there is a 45-minute slot for these questions. I really do my best in respect of this and I ask for co-operation generally in that regard. There is flexibility, but if there are ten speakers in a 45-minute slot, it is practically impossible. If there are difficulties, take them to the Business Committee.