Peadar Tóibín
Ceist:1. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on Brexit and Northern Ireland will next meet. [11112/23]
Ceisteanna - Questions
Northern Ireland
Ivana Bacik
Ceist:2. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on Brexit and Northern Ireland will next meet. [9677/23]
Ruairí Ó Murchú
Ceist:3. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on Brexit and Northern Ireland will next meet. [11253/23]
Brendan Smith
Ceist:4. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on Brexit and Northern Ireland will next meet. [11295/23]
Seán Haughey
Ceist:5. Deputy Seán Haughey asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on Brexit and Northern Ireland will next meet. [11297/23]
Mary Lou McDonald
Ceist:6. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on Brexit and Northern Ireland will next meet. [12441/23]
Mick Barry
Ceist:7. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on Brexit and Northern Ireland will next meet. [12648/23]
Gary Gannon
Ceist:8. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on Brexit and Northern Ireland will next meet. [12651/23]
Brendan Smith
Ceist:9. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the Britain and Northern Ireland division of his Department. [12838/23]
Richard Boyd Barrett
Ceist:10. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on Brexit and Northern Ireland will next meet. [12855/23]
Bríd Smith
Ceist:11. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on Brexit and Northern Ireland will next meet. [12858/23]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 11, inclusive, together.
The Cabinet committee on Brexit and Northern Ireland was reconstituted as one of ten Cabinet committees established in January 2023. It operates in accordance with established guidelines for Cabinet committees and, where appropriate, substantive issues are referred to the Government for discussion and approval. The committee is intended to oversee implementation of relevant programme for Government commitments in the area of Brexit and Northern Ireland and ongoing relevant developments. A date for the next meeting has not been set.
Northern Ireland-related matters are also discussed at meetings of the full Cabinet. Most recently, on 28 February, the Cabinet considered a memorandum on the agreement reached between the EU and the UK on the Windsor Framework. We also discussed the Windsor Framework at the Cabinet committee on European affairs last night.
The Department's Britain and Northern Ireland division consists of two units, the British-Irish and Northern Ireland affairs unit and the shared island unit. The former assists me in my engagement with the Good Friday Agreement institutions, including the North-South Ministerial Council and at the British-Irish Council summits, and also on my visits to Northern Ireland, as well as providing policy advice and input. Other responsibilities include oversight of the New Decade, New Approach commitments, working with the shared island unit in advancing these goals as part of efforts to enhance North-South co-operation. The unit supports British-Irish relations in light of the challenges arising from Brexit, including with the British Government and the devolved Scottish and Welsh Governments. The shared island unit in the division acts as a driver and co-ordinator of the programme for Government commitment to work with all communities and traditions on the island to build consensus around a shared future, underpinned by the Good Friday Agreement. It co-ordinates the implementation of shared island investment objectives across Government Departments, fostering dialogue with all communities on common concerns for the future and commissioning research on policy considerations for the whole island.
The Aontú councillor, Ms Denise Mullen, recently met Mr. Jon Boutcher, who is investigating a large number of murders of Irish people as a result of British collusion. Mr. Boutcher stated that his investigation team requested important and relevant documentation on a large number of murders from the Garda. These murders include, for example, the Dublin and Monaghan bombings and numerous other murders of Irish citizens. The Garda has still not provided these documents to the Boutcher investigation, despite the fact that they were sought well over a year ago. Councillor Mullen and I, along with victims and survivors of the Glenanne gang, met the then Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin, more than a year ago and requested the same documents. The then Taoiseach stated they would be handed over. We are now running out of time. The legacy Bill is winding its way through the House of Lords and will be finished very shortly. Many people are desperately in need of the truth and justice in terms of what happened to their loved ones. That journey and search is being held up by the South through the Garda's refusal to hand over the necessary documents.
The Democratic Unionist Party, DUP, confirmed that it will vote against the British Government's proposals on the Stormont brake on Wednesday. This is of real concern as it is a key part of the Windsor Framework agreement. The DUP's approach now indicates that, sadly, we are no closer to the restoration of the power-sharing Executive and the Stormont Assembly. This clearly has major political and practical implications for the people of Northern Ireland. We saw in recent weeks teachers and healthcare workers having to resort to strikes in the North due to unresolved issues and disputes about pay. We have seen the real prospect that 1,700 people in the community and voluntary sector who support those with disabilities will unfortunately lose their jobs on 31 March because of the end of European social funding initiatives. Dozens of organisations are at risk of closure, with many thousands of people who are supported by employability services impacted. The failure to restore the Executive as we approach the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement has very serious consequences. What next steps to seek the restoration of the Executive in Northern Ireland does the Taoiseach plan to pursue given this new indication from the DUP?
As regards the Windsor Framework, there are many who seek clarification on the issues. I am not overly worried about what way the DUP votes, but the protocol and framework are the only show in town. We all accept we need the Executive to be up and running and this needs to be made clear. This State also has to do its work on preparations relating to constitutional change.
I will deal with one particular issue caused by partition relating to PayPal. Not only have there been job losses but 120 people who are from the North will not be able to continue to work for PayPal in the South. They will have to be paid under so-called PayPal UK and there are particular issues relating to social protection, insurance and taxation. This issue needs to be dealt with between the Revenue Commissioners and HM Revenue & Customs but, beyond that, a bilateral agreement may be required. We are now in a better place as regards the relationship with Britain, and the Government must put its shoulder to the wheel and deliver on this.
One of the many benefits of the Good Friday Agreement was the establishment of all-Ireland bodies, including Tourism Ireland. Tourism Ireland has responsibility for marketing the island of Ireland as a premier holiday destination. Its remit is to promote increased tourism to all of our island. The Taoiseach is aware of the British proposal for an electronic travel authorisation scheme. Unless there are proper exemptions for visitors from the United States and elsewhere, this will cause serious difficulties. Some 70% of visitors to Ireland come through Dublin Airport, a very important airport and point of arrival for the tourism business north of the Border and throughout the northern half of the country. Recently, the Committee on the Administration of Justice, CAJ, warned that US tourists travelling north from the Republic could be detained at the Border under the Tories' proposed asylum laws. The British Government has proposed an illegal migration Bill which, allied to the electronic travel authorisation scheme, could pose serious difficulties for travellers from the North to the South and the South to the North. I would like the Taoiseach and his officials to ensure a close eye is kept on those proposals as they go through Westminster.
I ask the Taoiseach about his recent visit to Washington, where he attended a number of events and had a meeting with US President Joe Biden. John Hume began to engage with US politicians in the 1970s and get them to take an active interest in Northern Ireland. Since then, successive US administrations have played a key role in the Northern Ireland peace process. The Taoiseach's key message in Washington was that the Windsor Framework and the restoration of the Stormont institutions can result in significant investment in Northern Ireland over the next decade. The active support of President Biden for the Windsor Framework is most welcome as is the appointment of Mr. Joe Kennedy III as a special envoy for economic affairs. All the Northern Irish parties were in Washington for St. Patrick's Day, including the DUP. I am aware the DUP feels obliged to vote against the Stormont brake in the House of Commons this week as it awaits the outcome of the expert panel review. While in Washington, did the Taoiseach get any sense that all the parties realise the potential of the Windsor Framework and political stability in bringing about increased investment in the North?
Agreement on the protocol between the European Union and the British Government has been secured. The negotiations are over and the deal has been struck. The majority of people, political parties and business interests in the North want the Executive to be restored and those who were elected almost a year ago to get back to the business of governing.
The Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee will meet on Friday to ratify formally the legal changes to the protocol. I welcome the fact that the DUP says it is committed to the restoration of the North's political institutions, and we take its word on that. It is time now for the DUP to accept that the negotiations are over and the deal done and that a functioning Executive and Assembly should be established. It would be a huge lost opportunity on the occasion of President Biden's visit if there were no functioning institutions. Does the Taoiseach agree that the most appropriate manner in which all political parties, all of us, can mark the anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement is to respect the democratic outcome of last year's election and restore the Assembly and Executive?
The Taoiseach recently spoke of the responsibility of all politicians to fulfil the promise of the Good Friday Agreement not only in the area of peace but also when it comes to reconciliation. I do not for a moment disagree with that assertion but I will add that, as we approach the 25th anniversary of the agreement, we have much to do when it comes to the implementation of the goals contained in the accords. Much of the discussion will rightly focus on the fact that we are on the sixth collapse of the Stormont Assembly in 25 years, resulting in a cumulative total of ten years during which the people of the North have gone without a sitting Parliament.
In addition to having no functioning Government at present, the people of the North of Ireland still have no bill of rights and no anti-poverty strategy and have some of the lowest educational attainment levels in Europe. The Taoiseach speaks of reconciliation while at the same time the cruel so-called legacy bill, which will obliterate the calls for truth, is being pushed through Westminster. Even now, 25 years later, we have communities divided by peace walls that have no prospect of being taken down. As we celebrate it in a couple of weeks, how can we also analyse the Good Friday Agreement - its successes, failures and implementation?
The attitude of the DUP to the Windsor Framework and the Stormont brake, which was a major concession to the party, just shows that it will do absolutely anything to cling onto the sectarian bandwagon and maintain the sectarian status quo. When we see that, does it not suggest that if we need a force that can challenge the sectarianism the DUP seeks to perpetuate, the place to look is the public sector strikes in the North, where we have seen health workers and teachers, Catholic and Protestant, united, fighting for decent pay and conditions? Those are the sorts of forces that can challenge the sectarianism the DUP wants to perpetuate. Also, if we want to further that process of challenging sectarianism from the bottom up, one major stumbling block is the fact that things like the health service down here in the South continue to be dominated by Catholic religious organisations and we continue to have a two-tier system rather than a national health service.
I will take the questions in reverse.
Deputy Gannon asked about the Good Friday Agreement and how we would assess it now. I think it has been a great success despite its failures or limitations. It has given us three things, one of which is peace, and almost everyone in Northern Ireland accepts that political objectives can be pursued only by peaceful means. There is agreement on consent that Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom but we can have unification if a majority both North and South want that. There is also the parity of esteem principle, that is, that people can be British, Irish or both and should be accepted as such. If everyone had accepted that 100 years ago, 50 years ago or even 30 years ago, many fewer people would have died violently and many of the terrible things that happened would not have happened. Unfortunately, some did not accept that until 25 years ago, although they do now.
What is disappointing is that the agreement has not lived up to its promise, which was functioning power-sharing institutions that would evolve over time into more normal forms of government. That has not happened, but the next step has to be to try to get the institutions back up and running, and I believe that is possible. As other Deputies have said, people in Northern Ireland face very real everyday problems, whether it is the cost of living, housing, health or issues with the public finances. These are very similar problems to the ones we face here, sometimes worse, sometimes better. It is right that the institutions should be up and running as soon as possible. I have always said that having an agreement on the protocol would not necessarily mean that the institutions would be re-established, but the reverse is also true. It is still possible for the institutions to be re-established even if the DUP does not fully accept the Windsor Framework, but that is ultimately the DUP's call. I hope it makes a favourable call on that in the coming weeks or months but I cannot speak for the DUP, nor should I try to do so. I know there is ongoing contact between the DUP and the UK Government about its domestic legislation, but certainly when it comes to any changes to the Northern Ireland Act, it is really important that all five major parties are fully consulted. We should recognise the fact that there are five major parties in Northern Ireland.
There will be a vote in the House of Commons tonight. We will see how that turns out. The Windsor Framework was agreed at EU level just yesterday, at the General Affairs Council, and we will discuss it at European Council level, at Heads of Government level, on Thursday and Friday, with a view to putting something into the conclusions. We would like to see the result of the vote tonight before then. Pending that vote, I will not say any more than that.
We are in touch with the UK authorities about the new electronic transit authorisation, ETA. Irish citizens, UK citizens and people permanently resident in the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland will be exempt from that, but it could cause problems for tourists, particularly those who do not need a visa to come here, that is, tourists from other parts of the European Union who might come to Dublin or Cork or some other part of this jurisdiction who would then need to get the electronic authorisation to travel north. It will not be a hard thing to do but it is an additional barrier and not something that is welcome. Certainly, when I was tourism Minister, working with my counterpart at the time, Arlene Foster, we sold the idea that people can visit any part of Ireland, and why not take a day trip from Dublin to the Causeway coast or why not fly into Belfast and travel south? That will be more complicated now, and we will have to explain to potential tourists coming to the island of Ireland that there is this new complication. It is just an additional complication that we could do without, unfortunately. We will continue to work with the British Government on that issue and see if we can get further changes.
In response to Deputy Tóibín's question, I am not up to date on that issue of the documents sought from the Garda but I will get my office to look into it and revert to him on it if that commitment was made by Deputy Micheál Martin as Taoiseach. I will definitely follow up on that and see if there is something we can do to move that along.
The US visit will definitely be a good opportunity to engage informally with the five party leaders to talk about how they thought things would develop. One person I would like to mention, based on the comments earlier about different US Presidents' interests in Ireland, is Jimmy Carter. I think people will know that former President Jimmy Carter is in poor health at the moment. As part of my research before travelling over, I learned a bit more about the period when he was President. He was probably the first President who looked at the situation in Ireland and Northern Ireland a little differently. Previously, the US had been extremely close to the UK for lots of different reasons. Generally, the direction from the State Department had been that anything happening in Northern Ireland was an internal matter for the United Kingdom. He was the first US President to change that. I just want to acknowledge him for that reason.
I asked about cross-Border remote working and the difficulties with PayPal's closing of its premises.
Sorry. I heard Deputy Ó Murchú's question. I am afraid I do not have an answer to it. I am not familiar with those changes, but if he wants to come back to me directly on it, I will look into it.
Departmental Meetings
Mary Lou McDonald
Ceist:12. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach the number of meetings of the climate action delivery board, co-chaired by his Department, that have taken place to date in 2023. [10768/23]
Mick Barry
Ceist:13. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Taoiseach the number of meetings of the climate action delivery board, co-chaired by his Department, that have taken place to date in 2023. [12649/23]
Gary Gannon
Ceist:14. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Taoiseach the number of meetings of the climate action delivery board, co-chaired by his Department, that have taken place to date in 2023. [12652/23]
Christopher O'Sullivan
Ceist:15. Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan asked the Taoiseach the number of meetings of the climate action delivery board, co-chaired by his Department, that have taken place to date in 2023. [12657/23]
Richard Boyd Barrett
Ceist:16. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the climate action delivery board, co-chaired by his Department. [12856/23]
Bríd Smith
Ceist:17. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the climate action delivery board, co-chaired by his Department. [12859/23]
Ivana Bacik
Ceist:18. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Taoiseach the number of meetings of the climate action delivery board, co-chaired by his Department, that have taken place to date in 2023. [13427/23]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 12 to 18, inclusive, together.
The climate action delivery board is jointly chaired by the Secretaries General of the Department of the Taoiseach and the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications. Membership of the delivery board consists of Secretaries General from those Government Departments which have the main responsibilities for climate action delivery. Meetings are also attended by the chiefs of staff of the three Government parties. A full list of the members of the board and its terms of reference are available on the Department of the Taoiseach website.
The climate action delivery board has met once so far this year, on 15 February.
The delivery board met four times in 2022 and will continue to meet quarterly to provide strategic direction and co-ordination of the Government's climate action agenda. The climate action plan 2023 has given the delivery board an additional role in providing recommendations to the Cabinet committee on environment and climate change on measures required to overcome any barriers or impediments to the implementation of climate policies.
Friends of the Earth research has established serious problems with the Government's retrofitting and energy efficiency programmes, which include waiting lists of up to three years for the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland's free home energy upgrades for lower income households. According to the report, "Government policy on energy poverty is lacking in scale and ambition, with a greater focus on crisis response that prioritises short-term fixes over long-term solutions." This is a similar theme to concerns raised recently by IBEC and Chambers Ireland regarding the Government's social and affordable housing targets. The Friends of the Earth report also highlights the significant barriers for lower income households to access retrofitting schemes, either due to high cost or lack of eligibility, stating that "policies are overly market-focused and undermined by siloed Departments and public bodies".
What is the Taoiseach's response to the report's analysis that retrofitting grants remain skewed for well-off homeowners? Will he consider the introduction of a tiered, deep retrofit grant support of 65% to 100% for low- and middle-income households, dependent on income, as proposed by Sinn Féin?
The recent UN climate change report has warned us once again that if we do not speed up our climate action goals, the damage sustained by our planet will be irreversible. However, we still have time to prevent an all-out climate disaster if we begin taking these goals seriously now. The UN is urging wealthy countries, such as ours, to speed up our climate action goals by ten years, to 2040. Without doing so, the UN states that our future generations will remain under threat. The ask is not unreasonable. Finland, for example, has set its net zero goal deadline to 2035, a decision it claims is based on science and equity.
Will the Taoiseach consider committing to advancing the advice of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, to set our climate goals for 2040? Will he talk about where we are now in meeting current climate goals for net zero by 2050?
The IPCC report is not about goals or ambition because the Government clearly has those. It is the rate of pace at which we are putting the items in our action plan into action. I will break that down in respect of how it can work in rural Ireland and urban areas, especially in the area of electric vehicle, EV, sales. The good news is that EV sales increased by 50% in the first couple of months of 2023 compared with the previous year. That is good. The bad news is that fossil fuel cars grew even more as regards units sold. We need to see more incentives for the purchase of EV cars in order to get people away from fossil fuel cars. Average car journeys are by far the greatest in rural areas.
In urban areas, we need to ramp up the roll-out of BusConnects. I would like an update on where BusConnects is in Cork and Dublin. It is a political hot potato but in order to address this issue we need to be climate-brave. We need to start rolling out the likes of BusConnects and getting it up and running.
The Friends of the Earth report, which is still left out in the cold, is just the latest report we have, from either environmental or anti-poverty groups, that points out that the grant system for retrofit is massively skewed in favour of the well-off and is of little, if any, use to low-income households, particularly those in the private rented sector, although similar things could be said about those in social housing. Private rental tenants have no say whatsoever over whether they get their house retrofitted and, therefore, are impacted by high energy bills and, very often, cold conditions, with the obvious climate implications. Similarly, the roll-out of social housing retrofitting is absolutely glacial, with tiny numbers involved.
In reality, the grants are going to the wealthiest people. In fact, the ordinary taxpayer and low- and middle-income households are effectively subsidising the retrofitting of rich people's houses. Does the Taoiseach acknowledge that? Has he any intention to do anything about it?
The UN IPCC climate report, published yesterday, represents a last wake-up call. Decisions made this decade will have an impact lasting thousands of years. Although the window of opportunity is closing, the report makes clear that some feasible and effective options are available to us to reduce emissions. I will ask the Taoiseach about three of them. First, the report states we must phase out fossil fuels if we are to limit global warming. Countries will have to cease all licensing or funding of new oil and gas and stop expansion of existing reserves. Can the Taoiseach say that Ireland will ensure that exploration licences now in place are stopped from progressing any further? My second question relates to land use. When will the emission reduction targets for land use be agreed? When will the land use review be published?
On SUVs and transport, yesterday we heard Professor Peter Thorne of Maynooth University warning of the climate consequences of SUVs, in the context of the number of these new diesel and petrol SUV cars on our roads being a big part of our climate problem. Has the Government considered a progressive, weight-based tax, such as that introduced in France, to penalise the use of these fossil fuel-guzzling and extremely large SUV cars?
The recent elections in the Netherlands have sent shockwaves through its political establishment. Hundreds of thousands of citizens broke with all expectations and voted for the farmers' party in protest against their political establishment. We have a similar disconnect between many people in regional and rural Ireland and the political bubble that exists in this country. The majority of political parties in this country are heavily Dublin-based. Indeed, ten counties currently have no Minister, yet in one Dublin constituency, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, all the Deputies are Ministers. Currently, 40% of all Ministers in this country are from Dublin.
I am not a Minister.
Has Deputy Devlin been promoted?
Farmers in Ireland are suffering big style currently. One third of farmers are currently making a loss. They are not even making a living out of their farms. Another one third of farmers currently have to work off the farm to make a living. Only a third of existing farmers are making a living out of their farms. Many of them are living in fear. They want to do the right thing on climate change but they feel this Government is disproportionate in loading the climate costs on their families, while at the same time opening data centres, importing Brazilian beef, etc. When will this Government treat rural and regional Ireland as more than a box-ticking exercise? I apologise to Deputy Boyd Barrett. I got the constituency wrong.
The Deputy was within time.
I thank Deputy Tóibín. I think he was referring to the constituency of Dublin Rathdown rather than the council area of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown. As I often say to Deputies from all parts of Ireland, there is a lot more to Dublin than Dublin 2, 4 and 6. I often hear comments from rural Deputies about Ireland beyond the M50. I am somebody from Dublin who has lived beyond the M50 for almost my entire life. Those of us from Dublin need to get around the country a lot and get to know rural Ireland and every county in it. I make a point of getting to every county at least once a year. Perhaps Deputies from outside Dublin need to get to know it a little better because how many know where Dublin 24 is, for example, or Dublin 13? There is a lot more to Dublin than Dublin 2, 4 and 6, or Dublin 1. I guarantee that Dublin Rathdown is not the same place as Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown. That is another day's work.
Dublin 2, 4, and 6 are great.
They are great but there is more to Dublin than Dublin 2, 4, 6 and 1.
The publication of the IPCC report yesterday confirms that with global warming already having reached 1.1°C above pre-industrial levels, climate change is causing widespread and increasingly irreversible losses and damages. We have a rapidly closing window of opportunity to maintain a liveable future for humanity. The report brings together the latest scientific evidence on climate change solutions to inform policymaking at national and international levels. The IPCC has demonstrated there are options for all sectors to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions significantly.
The increased use of renewable energy, improved energy efficiency and fuel switching have reduced global carbon dioxide emissions across global industry and the energy sector. I look forward to working with our international partners not just at the next UN climate conference, COP28 in Dubai later this year, but also on an ongoing and continuing basis. Equity, rights-based approaches and a just transition must also be essential to our actions. Ireland is committed to ensuring that as we increase international finance to ensure that developing countries can develop in a climate-friendly way, these funds are aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement and must be directed at the most vulnerable.
Yesterday's report clearly reinforces the message that the time to act is now. The Government is doing so by passing one of the most ambitious climate laws in the world and mobilising the public and private sectors to reduce emissions. The Climate Action Plan 2023 sets out in detail how Ireland can accelerate the actions that are needed to respond to this crisis by putting climate solutions at the centre of Ireland’s social and economic development.
I was asked about motor vehicle duty and vehicle registration tax. I had understood that was emissions-based. I will double-check on that. I think that is how it has been redesigned over the past couple of years to make it much more emissions-based in order that the higher emission vehicles pay higher taxes.
We are not issuing any new exploration licences and have not done so for a number of years but there are existing ones which are still valid. Our view is that we will continue to need to use natural gas, perhaps for decades. Natural gas is a much cleaner fuel than coal, which we also use, and oil, which we use on occasion. It makes sense to see natural gas as a transition fuel. Indeed, the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, has signed off in recent weeks on the purchase of new gas turbines to guarantee energy security next winter. For so long as we are using natural gas as a transitional fuel, it makes sense to use it rather than to import it. More emissions arise from bringing gas in from other parts of the world than from using our own gas if we have it.
On electric vehicles, the main investment at the moment is around charging points. We believe this is the most appropriate way to invest Government resources.
There are a number of different BusConnects projects but many of them are now in planning and are with An Bord Pleanála. That applies to the DART+ and metro projects as well. I hope that An Bord Pleanála can turn those applications around pretty quickly. We have been talking about things like a metro for Dublin and DART expansion since the 1980s and 1990s. We have never got those projects to the point of being in An Bord Pleanála. I hope this will be the year when we get railway orders for DART expansion and for metro in order that we can start building them in the next two to three years. The same thing applies to BusConnects for Dublin and the other cities, but of course that is a more recent project.
We are not proposing any changes to the climate goals. As we all know, we will struggle to meet the targets of 51% reduction by 2030 and net zero by 2050. Our expanding population and economy, our settlement patterns and our agricultural base make it much harder for us to achieve those targets than many other countries. We are committed to doing this, however. We must ensure it is done in a way that is fair and does not result in increased unemployment or lower living standards for people.
On the retrofit programme, I hear the criticisms from the Deputies. I know that when we discuss this at Cabinet committees the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, will tell a very different story and will produce statistics and information to show that the retrofit programme is going well with good uptake. There is a special provision around the significant number of people who qualify for the fuel allowance. The grants they can receive are much higher than those received by people who do not qualify. We have to acknowledge that there are real constraints because we are asking our construction sector to do so much at the moment. We are asking it to build many new houses, build out public infrastructure, build renewable energy and retrofit other houses. It creates a real constraint on us. I hear what Deputies are saying about the delays in the applications being processed and we are working on that.
Health Strategies
Aindrias Moynihan
Ceist:19. Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the well-being framework for Ireland overseen by his Department. [10825/23]
Mary Lou McDonald
Ceist:20. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the well-being framework for Ireland overseen by his Department. [11070/23]
Richard Boyd Barrett
Ceist:21. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the well-being framework. [11606/23]
Mick Barry
Ceist:22. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the well-being framework. [12650/23]
Gary Gannon
Ceist:23. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the well-being framework for Ireland overseen by his Department. [12653/23]
Cian O'Callaghan
Ceist:24. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the well-being framework. [12944/23]
Ivana Bacik
Ceist:25. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the well-being framework for Ireland overseen by his Department. [13430/23]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 19 to 25, inclusive, together.
The Wellbeing Policy Statement and Framework for Practice is a programme for Government commitment to measure how we are doing overall as a country and to improve our understanding of quality of life in Ireland. It does this by bringing economic, societal and environmental outcomes together under one framework. It places a particular focus on equality and sustaining well-being into the future. The framework provides a multidimensional picture of quality of life in Ireland. It covers 11 dimensions, including areas like mental and physical health, income and wealth, the environment, and safety. Analysis of the framework takes place annually. This analysis assesses Ireland's progress over time in comparison to other EU countries and with reference to equality and sustainability.
Last year, the well-being framework featured as part of the national economic dialogue, the summer economic statement and expenditure reports. It was also part of a new budget day document, Budget 2023: Beyond GDP - Quality of Life Assessment. An updated analysis of the framework will be published ahead of the next national economic dialogue and budget cycle. Work is ongoing to further integrate the framework into policy making. This includes work by the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform to embed a well-being perspective into expenditure and evaluation decisions. What has been accomplished in Ireland over a short period compares very favourably with other countries as we continue to learn from the experience of leaders in this area. We believe the framework can help policymakers to make decisions to improve quality of life beyond economic growth alone.
The Department of the Taoiseach has a lead role in advancing the well-being framework, which is aimed at ensuring budgetary funds are advanced not merely through purely economic measures but also through a range of things that are of value and are priorities for us, including educational attainment, biodiversity, the quality of housing and many other different values.
A very significant milestone was achieved in advancing the framework last year when it was included in the summer economic statement and in budget 2023. Is that pace and roll-out going to continue this year and in the years ahead? What Departments are now actively engaged and included in advancing the programme? I understand that not all of them are there yet. What is the plan for ensuring all Departments will be part of the framework and will include it as part of their budgetary framework?
Looking ahead to budget 2024, can the Taoiseach give us an example of somewhere where we will be able to see evidence of the framework influencing budgetary policy ahead of 2024?
The well-being framework tells us that the number of people experiencing discrimination in Ireland is rising. It is important to acknowledge this reality today as we mark International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Analysis commissioned by the Higher Education Authority, HEA, in 2021 found that more than a third of minority ethnic third level staff were subjected to racial or ethnic discrimination. The research also demonstrated widespread discrimination blindness among non-ethnic staff with fewer than half of respondents agreeing that there was clear guidance on what actions to take when they experienced or witnessed racist discrimination, harassment or abuse. University employees from minority ethnic groups were less likely to have a permanent contract and were more likely to earn less than their white colleagues.
I commend the HEA on the launch of the antiracism principles initiative yesterday and the acknowledgement by the presidents of our universities that race inequality is an issue in their institutions. Racism, of course, is not limited to higher education. The structural discrimination set out so starkly in the HEA research tells us that today’s message on discrimination - "Learn, Speak Up, Act" - must be adopted by leaders across all State institutions. The theme of this year’s international day focuses on the urgency of combating racism and racial discrimination. What initiatives will the Taoiseach and his Ministers announce today to reinforce that very important message?
If well-being and quality of life are to mean anything, they must surely mean that people have some security about the place where they live.
I do not see how someone can possibly have either of those things if they do not have security about where they live. The Government's decision to lift the eviction ban means approximately 750,000 people in rented accommodation in this country have now confirmed they will have no security, and many of them will face eviction into homelessness and have nowhere to go.
Earlier, Deputy Duncan Smith made the comparison with Europe, where if a landlord is selling or if there is no fault on the part of the tenant, people cannot be evicted. We believe that should also be the case here. The Taoiseach said that would cause us problems because we cannot do it retrospectively. I want to draw that out from him. Is he saying that from now on, he is in favour of that principle and that, while we might have to deal with a legacy, in future we are going to give security to all tenants in the private rented sector and the Government will legislate to that effect? I doubt he is saying that, but that was the inference one could draw and that is what should happen. Why is it that anybody in private rented accommodation should not enjoy the security and well-being of knowing that if they do nothing wrong and pay their rent, they will not end up being evicted? Why should they not enjoy the security that other people in society enjoy? Will the Taoiseach please explain that to me? Currently, they do not have that security. The Damocles sword of potential homelessness is constantly hovering over their head, and for many of them, that sword will fall in the next few months.
One strand of the well-being framework is dedicated to improving the mental health of the population in their workplaces, schools and homes. However, it was reported this morning that there has been a drop since the pandemic in the number of people who believe it is okay to ask their employer for a mental health break. St. Patrick's Mental Health Services in Dublin have shown that 22% of people have experienced discrimination at work due to a mental health difficulty, while over half of those surveyed were not aware that people with mental health difficulties have the right to reasonable accommodations in the workplace. These statistics come just weeks after it was found that Ireland is among the countries with the lowest mental health scores in the world. The annual mental state of the world report shows that our young people are five times more likely to have mental health setbacks than those in previous generations. In what way is the well-being framework tackling these workplace issues and the attitudes which cause them?
The well-being framework specifically recognises the importance of housing to well-being. There can be nothing more important for a person's well-being than having a secure home. Renters from all over Ireland have posted their harrowing stories on uplift.ie of how the lifting of the eviction ban will affect them. Has the Taoiseach read these testimonies, and if not, will he read them? Here are three testimonies from people in my constituency that I will share with him. Áine says she is one half of an older couple due to be evicted because their home is being sold. They have been on the housing list for 14 years. Anna says she has been living in her home for 13 years and is at high risk of eviction. She says the rent she has paid over this time could have bought her her own house. She cannot believe she will be homeless, given she has been working full-time since she was a teenager. Gerard says he is at constant risk of eviction and that people cannot plan beyond their lease length or start a family. This is Ireland, he says. Will the Taoiseach do the right thing, reverse his utterly reprehensible decision and keep the eviction ban in place?
I note the focus on equality in the well-being framework and highlight that this year marks two important anniversaries, namely, the 30th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality through the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 1993 and 40 years since the landmark case taken by our dear colleague Senator Norris to the Supreme Court in 1983. In that context, have all Government records regarding the litigation and the proposals for law reform been released to the National Archives and are they now publicly available? This would include records from relevant Departments and the Office of the Attorney General, among other State offices. The releasing of all these records, and making them publicly available by way of an archive, would be a really great and positive way of marking, in particular, the 30th anniversary of this important law reform. Of course, cataloguing the records to make them accessible to researchers would be a huge part of that.
As the Taoiseach will recall, my party colleague Deputy Nash proposed some years ago an apology and exoneration Bill to set aside convictions for sexual acts between men that are now lawful and the then Minister for Justice held a public consultation on this late last year. Will the Taoiseach advise what the next steps on that will be? Again, it would be good timing to bring forward that legislation now.
I thank the Deputies for their questions. On the wider piece about the use of well-being indicators, which I am very much in favour of, in fairness to this Government and all previous Governments, including ones I did not support, they have always taken into account more than economic growth, GDP and public finances. The nature of politics is that you take into account many different indicators in making your decisions, whether it is unemployment, inflation and the cost of living, homeownership, which is the ultimate form of housing security in my view, safety, crime rates or poverty rates. All those things have always been taken into account by governments in making their decisions, or at least in my experience.
We will publish the new national action plan on racism at 4 p.m. today. The Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth has done a huge amount of work on it and it is very positive. Deputies will have a chance to go through that during the course of the day.
Deputy Boyd Barrett asked whether we could pass a law prospectively, applying to new rental properties, whereby evictions could happen only on a no-fault basis, and my understanding is that that could be done. I do not think it could be done retrospectively, applying to people who rented out properties on a different basis, but if we were to say to people that from now on, if they are renting out a property for the first time, they must accept they may never be able to gain possession of it provided the person pays their rent, we could potentially do that, but that is a very different model of a private rented sector. It is the kind of model that exists in some European countries, where almost all landlords are professional or institutional landlords and there are not the kinds of small or mom-and-pop landlords we have here, but there would be consequences. One thing we have done already is to make all new tenancies tenancies of indefinite duration. We have already made that change. If we were to say all future tenancies were going to be no-fault tenancies, that would bring about a major change in the private rental sector, but it would have other consequences. I think we would probably see an increase in vacancy rates, because the person who, for example, goes abroad for a year or two, which is pretty common, would, of course, never rent out their apartment or house if they would never be able to recover it unless the person did not pay their rent. We would probably see people who currently might buy a property for their kid to live in when they become a student in college buying it and leaving it vacant because that was the purpose of their buying it. We might even see people willing to pay the vacancy tax rather than not being able to move back into their own house after having to go away for six months or two years. We would have to think of all those kinds of knock-on consequences that would arise from a pretty fundamental change like that, but I am sure it could only be done prospectively. I do not think we could say to somebody who bought a house to live in ten or 15 years ago and is renting it out for a particular period that they could never regain possession of it unless the tenant did not pay their rent or was engaging in antisocial behaviour. I do not see how that would be either right or constitutional.
On the issue of mental health, absolutely, mental health is a huge part of well-being and we will have to see how we could integrate it into this framework. I saw a survey the other day which said that Ireland is the 14th happiest country in the world, which is not bad out of 200 countries. Obviously, I would like us to be in the top ten - as we are in almost everything in the world, believe it or not - or certainly in the top 20. Obviously, different surveys work in different ways and use different methodologies.
In respect of the documents Deputy Bacik raised, I will have to check up on that. I do not know where we are in terms of that but I will certainly do that.
Finally, I was asked about how the well-being framework works into the budget. We have committed to featuring the well-being framework at relevant points in the budget cycle. It was the theme of the national economic dialogue last year and the analysis also featured in the summer economic statement and in budget day documentation. It is intended this will be an annual contribution to the budget which will feed into a broader discussion of the impacts of budgetary decisions. For example, this approach provides evidence for the identification of potential priorities, highlighting progress, or a lack thereof, across a wide range of policy issues that are important for longer term quality of life and sustainability over the medium term. Work is also ongoing in the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform to further embed a well-being perspective into expenditure decisions.
The Department has published a working paper that locates well-being within the context of the budgetary timeline and, in particular, proposes an approach that provides a cross-governmental description of current and capital expenditure in terms of well-being dimensions. I look forward to the impact the framework will provide to the budget every year as we use it to look beyond economic indicators and assess how Government policies are best serving the people of Ireland.