Brendan Smith
Ceist:1. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his attendance at the Queen's University Belfast conference to mark 25 years of the Good Friday Agreement. [19259/23]
Ceisteanna - Questions
Good Friday Agreement
Mick Barry
Ceist:2. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his attendance at the Queen's University Belfast conference to mark 25 years of the Good Friday Agreement. [20293/23]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 2 together.
On 19 April, I was delighted to give the closing address, along with Prime Minister Sunak, to the three-day conference at Queen's University to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. The President of the European Council, Charles Michel; the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen; and former US President Bill Clinton also gave keynote speeches at this closing session, chaired by former Secretary of State, and now Chancellor of Queen's University, Hillary Clinton. It was great to hear a diversity of perspectives and to participate in such an interesting programme. A shared theme across all contributions was the political and personal courage of those who forged the agreement and their recognition that mutual co-operation and understanding was the only viable way forward. We all hope that what was learnt then can be applied to Northern Ireland today.
While I was at Queen's University, I had a short bilateral meeting with President von der Leyen, during which we discussed the political situation in Northern Ireland and the Windsor Framework, as well as our recent international engagements, including President Biden’s visit here and her visit to China. I also briefly met President Clinton to talk about developments in Northern Ireland. I had a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Sunak, where we discussed developments in Northern Ireland and the wider British-Irish relationship, as well as the broader domestic and global challenges. Our shared priority is the return of a functioning Assembly and Executive, and we committed to working together in the period ahead in ongoing support of the agreement and its institutions. We discussed the potential economic opportunities ahead for Northern Ireland and the scope for further strengthening the British-Irish relationship. I also raised our concerns regarding the UK legacy Bill and the importance of a collective approach that has the backing of victims, survivors and the political parties in Northern Ireland.
I thank the Taoiseach for his answer and his contribution at the conference. I was privileged to be present for most of the conference, which was excellent. It was inspiring to listen to those people who brought peace to our island by reaching the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. I was struck by many of the comments, particularly the contribution of former Senator George Mitchell. Two or three of his comments resonated with me in particular. He said it was his "genuine sincere hope, that people of Northern Ireland will get the self-governance that they’re entitled to". He spoke about ensuring it will be "possible for every child in Northern Ireland to go as high and as far as their talent and willingness to work will take them". He continued:
That’s the fundamental aim of democratic societies everywhere. And Northern Ireland, I think more than most, has people of energy, commitment and they deserve that chance.
That is exactly what the Taoiseach referred to. The clear message running through all of the contributions from former government leaders, people in political leadership roles today in government, the European Union and political parties North and South was that the institutions need to be up and running. We listened to Bertie Ahern, Tony Blair and others talk about the huge challenges and issues they faced leading up to 1998, such as the huge constitutional issues associated with trying to set up institutions, reform policing and make major legislative changes. Surely it has to be possible to get the institutions - the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly, the North-South Ministerial Council and the British-Irish Council - up and running. The Taoiseach will have heard former Congressman Joe Kennedy, President Biden's special envoy to Northern Ireland, speak about the importance of political stability and certainty for Northern Ireland's regulatory framework to ensure US investment is brought to Northern Ireland in order to benefit every community there with jobs.
First, I want to condemn the sectarian abuse of a young mother in Lurgan on Sunday, which we know about because a camera captured the footage of what happened. The report highlights how much more we have to do to achieve a lasting peace.
I was unable to attend statements in the Dáil last week to mark 25 years of the Good Friday Agreement because I was in Brussels, but my colleague Deputy Howlin articulated our Labour Party views. As he said, we must recognise that the institutions created by the agreement have not functioned as they should and that political silos have grown, emphasising difference and division, with the middle-ground parties squeezed and with a great deal of stagnation in terms of the functioning of the institutions.
I look forward to being in Belfast over the coming weeks to canvass with the SDLP in advance of the local elections on 18 May. What is the view of the Taoiseach and the Government on how we can ensure that one party cannot veto the wishes of the vast majority for a functioning devolved government in the North? What are the next steps for restoring the institutions? What approach will the Irish Government take? After the local elections have concluded on 18 May, what is the next step for the restoration of the institutions in the North and the restoration of functioning democratic procedures and processes through Stormont, the Assembly and the Executive?
People have been celebrating the Good Friday Agreement for the past number of weeks. It was a phenomenal international agreement which has created peace for 25 years. It is not a living document, however; it is defunct. The Assembly is on the floor. The Executive is broken. The North-South Ministerial Council is AWOL at the moment. There is no urgency in terms of the Government's approach to fixing it. The Government is a guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement but is not guaranteeing it. The celebrations for the Good Friday Agreement are akin to having a birthday party for a person who does not have a pulse. The Government should be absolutely ashamed of the fact that there are no democratic institutions operating in the North.
The legacy Bill gives an amnesty for the British state in terms of murders that happened in Ireland for the past 50 years.
It is the son and heir of British murder and collusion over that 50-year period. I am shocked by the Government's very careful wording on this. The Government should be stating very clearly that it will bring the British Government to the European Court of Human Rights if it proceeds with the legacy Bill. The legacy Bill is likely to be finished in the House of Commons at the end of this month and signed into royal assent by King Charles, which is incredible. The British are going the opposite direction with regard to reconciliation with this country and fixing the wrongs it is doing, and the Government is standing idly by.
I will raise the question of how a shared island works out when it comes to women's healthcare. When the repeal vote was won almost five years ago, it was famously declared that the North would be next. Now, however, we find that the North is way ahead of the Republic in its delivery of abortion care for women. Women have considerably more abortion rights in the North. There is no three-day wait. They have access up to 24 weeks for pill and surgical abortions, with a multidisciplinary team agreeing on the procedure. Abortion is fully decriminalised and it is legal to perform an abortion in cases of severe foetal abnormality, with no time limit. All of these things are denied to women in the South and therefore, they have to travel. What does the Taoiseach say about trying to have harmony in abortion care North and South? Was this part of the discussion? I add that the North has free contraception for everybody, not according to age, which we were promised but still do not have.
Next Saturday, the British state will spend £100 million of public money on a coronation for "King Charles". James Connolly was right when he described the British monarchy as "tyranny imposed by the hand of greed and treachery upon the human race". The coronation comes at a time when 4 million children in Britain are facing food poverty. The monarchy as an institution is built on racism, privilege and empire. This is a very obvious attempt to rehabilitate that institution. Some republicans are saying they will attend the coronation on the grounds of reaching out to the unionist community. We think it is perfectly possible and necessary to build a united socialist movement of working-class people from Catholic, Protestant and non-religious backgrounds, not on the basis of this sort of anachronistic and hated institution but on the basis of the interests of ordinary people and the need for a socialist Ireland and a socialist world. Even in Britain, only 29% of people think the monarchy is very important. It is an increasingly unpopular institution. However, a viewer who turns on RTÉ on Saturday will be treated to four hours of the coronation. Why on earth is our State broadcaster spending four hours on a Saturday displaying this so-called coronation?
Many of us see the importance of the Good Friday Agreement. There were many painstaking moves that needed to be taken over many years and still need to be taken to ensure the continuity of the trajectory of the agreement. We all realise where we came from and it is about where we go to, that is, a better society and Ireland, somewhere that we can all share and a place where we all live. We have seen the importance with which the European Union sees the agreement. The Joint Committee on European Union Affairs met with Maroš Šefčovič lately, who spoke about the great hope to the world that is the Good Friday Agreement. We all wish to see the DUP join with the rest of us and to have an up-and-running Executive and Assembly. Internal conversations may be happening within the DUP, but they cannot go on forever. We know local elections may play a part. I have been in Lurgan with Mary O'Dowd and in Portadown with Paul Duffy. I get that people want the Assembly back up and running. We are afraid of drift, that is, going from local elections into the marching season. I would like to think the Taoiseach's interactions, especially with Rishi Sunak and the British Government, are all about the necessity of not allowing that drift to happen. It is just far too important.
This is a republic. Whatever political differences there are, most of us identify with the aspect of it being a republic whereby we do not believe in kings and monarchs or inherited power and privilege, especially when it is associated with empire, colonialism and shocking inequalities between a tiny group among the royal aristocracy that has the inherited power and ordinary people. Against that background, while of course we all very much welcome the peace that arose from, or at least accompanied, the Good Friday Agreement, there is an idea that building bridges should extend to us having an uncritical approach to a coronation, something that most of the remaining royal houses in Europe have completely abandoned. They do not have coronations anymore; it is not legally required. Yet, this weekend, a considerable amount of public money in Britain will be spent on this coronation, which is an insult to considerable numbers of people living in poverty in Britain and the national broadcaster in this country will broadcast this for four hours. Is that really an appropriate thing to do from the standpoint of a republic?
I have to concur with Deputy Brendan Smith's remarks about the quality of the conference in Queen's University. I extend my thanks and congratulations to those who organised it. I was only sorry I could not be here for the Wednesday, because of my responsibilities here, but I managed to get the read-out of Senator Mitchell's speech. The point Senator Mitchell made, as Deputy Smith said, was solid. The peace process, over the course of the past 25 years and more, has seen many great challenges around policing and decommissioning and those challenges were overcome. Those were much greater challenges than the ones we face now and we need to make sure we overcome the current challenges we face.
I join with Deputy Bacik in condemning the sectarian attack in Lurgan. We can all agree with that.
When it comes to restoring institutions in Northern Ireland, it is not quite as simple as saying that one party has a veto. Only two parties have a veto, Sinn Féin and the DUP, by virtue of the fact that they are the major parties representing unionism and nationalism. Both parties have brought down the Executive in recent years. If there is a time to review the Good Friday Agreement - it has been done before at St. Andrews - I do not think that time is now. The appropriate time for doing that and discussing any potential future changes is when the institutions are up and running and the mandate given by the people at the last Assembly election is honoured. That has to happen before any of those rules can be changed again. The British and Irish Governments are working together in our efforts to persuade the five parties to re-enter an Executive. So far, one party is not willing to do that. We hope further efforts can be made after local elections to change that picture.
I discussed the legacy Bill with Prime Minister Sunak and in my meeting with President Biden. We are very clear as a Government in our opposition to the legacy Bill. We think it is the wrong approach. All five major parties in Northern Ireland are also against it. They do not always agree on everything, but this is one issue they agree on. It should not be imposed on Northern Ireland. As the Tánaiste has said, the Government is not ruling out taking legal action on this, but we are not at that point yet. Of course, others may take legal action. Even if it does become law - it will be interesting to see if it ever actually comes into effect - it has not become law yet and we have been very clear with the British Government in our views on that.
Abortion laws North and South were not discussed in any of my meetings. Laws in Northern Ireland are set by Westminster and Stormont; here they are set by the Oireachtas. We have different laws on different things. I do not necessarily think there is anything wrong with that, but I agree with the point on free contraception. We are expanding that at the moment and will do so further in the year ahead.
Regarding the monarchy, the United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy and that position is supported by the majority of its people. That is something we should respect. Monarchies sometimes become republics; Barbados was the latest to do that. They do it when their people want to change their system of government. The majority of people in the United Kingdom want a constitutional monarchy with a democratically elected parliament and government and I think we should respect their choices.
Northern Ireland
Peadar Tóibín
Ceist:3. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Taoiseach if he will provide an update on the working of the shared island unit in his Department. [19262/23]
Peadar Tóibín
Ceist:4. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Taoiseach the costs associated with the running of the shared island unit in his Department. [19264/23]
Peadar Tóibín
Ceist:5. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Taoiseach if he will list the projects funded by the shared island unit of his Department since he took office. [19265/23]
Peadar Tóibín
Ceist:6. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Taoiseach if he will detail what investments have been made through the shared island unit of his Department in the north-west and Border regions. [19266/23]
Mick Barry
Ceist:7. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Taoiseach the average costs associated with the running of the shared island unit in his Department. [20294/23]
Mary Lou McDonald
Ceist:8. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach if he will provide an update on the work of the shared island unit of his Department. [20296/23]
Brendan Smith
Ceist:9. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Taoiseach if he will provide an update on the working of the shared island unit in his Department. [20374/23]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 3 to 9, inclusive, together.
As provided for in the programme for Government, we are progressing the shared island initiative, to benefit the whole island by working with all communities and traditions for a shared future, underpinned by the Good Friday Agreement. This involves unprecedented all-island investment through our €1 billion shared island fund; engaging with all communities through a comprehensive dialogue series on how we could better share the island; and commissioning research to deepen understanding of the whole island in economic, social, cultural and political terms.
The Government has so far allocated €191 million from the fund. With this resourcing, we are moving ahead with long-standing commitments, like the Ulster Canal and the Narrow Water bridge, and with new investments that meet the objectives under the revised national development plan to create a more connected, sustainable and prosperous island for all communities.
New initiatives that have been funded from the shared island fund include a €50 million contribution to the North-South research programme; €15 million for electric vehicle charging points at sports clubs across the island; €5 million seed funding to develop new cross-Border local authority investment projects; and €11 million for all-island actions on peatland restoration and biosecurity.
Projects are taken forward by Ministers and their Departments, working through all-island partnerships, including with counterparts in the North and the UK, and with local authorities, educational institutions and civil society. A full list of shared island fund allocations can be provided to Deputies by correspondence.
Shared island unit costs relate primarily to the research programme and dialogue series with approximately €620,000 in expenditure on the shared island research programme and €200,000 on the shared island dialogue series in 2022. A full outline can be provided in tabular format for last year.
The programme for Government affirms the Government’s commitment to greater investment in the north-west and Border regions. There have been a series of shared island fund allocations for existing and new investment projects, including on tourism and innovation, which signifies significant funding in the region. Institutions have also successfully applied for funding through the shared island local authority development funding scheme and the North-South research programme. Specifically in the north west, the Government is working to move ahead this year with our commitment under the New Decade, New Approach agreement to capital investment at Ulster University’s campus in Derry to expand provision for young people in the region.
We are firmly committed to capital investment in the A5 road upgrade, as provided for under the New Decade, New Approach agreement, and hope to see this progress without undue delay.
Deputies will have about a minute and a half on these.
The North is in the middle of an horrendous economic crisis at the moment. Poverty levels are increasing, at 300,000 people. Hospital waiting lists are increasing, at nearly 450,000 people, and the number of people homeless, without a house, is increasing at 45,000 people. The collateral damage to families by the undemocratic Democratic Unionist Party's boycott of Stormont is absolutely horrendous. In the middle of this, MLAs who are not doing their job are taking their wages, which has cost £4 million so far since the Stormont election. The only political actions they have taken is to increase the council rates on people. Rates have gone up by as much as 8%. Sinn Féin, the DUP, Alliance and the UUP are hiking rates on families who are hardly able to survive at the moment.
The real frustration is that on top of this, the British Government is introducing an austerity budget imposing cuts of up to 20% on families at the moment. There will be deaths as a result of this British austerity budget. There will be economic misery. It will shred the very fabric of families and communities across the North of Ireland. It has been done seemingly to punish the DUP but it will have the effect of punishing everybody who lives in the North of Ireland. In the Taoiseach's discussions with Rishi Sunak and through the shared island project, what is the Government doing to stop the British punishing the people of the North of Ireland at this time?
We will have to go to about a minute each.
Last Wednesday saw tens of thousands of workers striking in Northern Ireland. It was the biggest strike there in ten years. The strike involved four civil service unions and five teacher unions defending pay in the face of a cost-of-living crisis. More than 2,000 workers attended the strike rally at Belfast City Hall. Meanwhile, Oxfam has advised that workers in the Republic of Ireland have suffered a 3.9% pay cut as wages lagged behind inflation over the past year, that the average worker lost more than €2,000 and that the working population as a whole lost an incredible €5 billion. Given that the Government has failed to defend workers' living standards, is it not time for working people in this part of our shared island to follow the example of their Northern Ireland counterparts?
The north west suffers from historically poor transport connectivity and this continues to impact on innovation, the creation of good jobs, a just transition and cost burdens on families and businesses. There is currently no motorway, no direct rail line or air route from Dublin to Derry, the fourth largest city on the island. As we know, the New Decade, New Approach Agreement commits to an air connectivity review, which includes the Dublin-to-Derry route. Some 40% of the passengers who use Derry Airport are from County Donegal. It has connections to London, Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Glasgow as well as a number of other locations in Europe and services a population of 500,000. Reopening the Dublin-to-Derry air route would create enormous economic and social opportunities for the north west and particularly for counties Donegal and Derry. We need to make sure that we lift the block at the moment on what is a modest budget by the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform for public spending on a public good that we all agree will have an economic and social benefit for the north west and the island as a whole.
I very much welcome the success of the shared island initiative to date. I welcome the funding for a project in my constituency, namely the Ulster Canal, which will bring economic benefits to many counties in Ulster. As the Taoiseach may recall from his days at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, I have continually raised the value of developing enterprise centres and business hubs in towns and smaller communities where it is not possible to attract inward investment. We have had the development of different enterprise centres throughout counties Cavan and Monaghan that have been key to the growth in jobs locally. One issue that arises all the time for local authorities is their inability from a financial point of view to prepare sites and put services on them to draw down the Enterprise Ireland funding that is available for the actual development of an incubation unit or enterprise centre. Thankfully, some time ago, the then Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin, sanctioned what was known as cross-Border investment proposals where local authorities such as those in Cavan and Monaghan with a number of their counterparts in Northern Ireland work together on specific plans to put together projects to avail of shared island funding in the enterprise space and the development of enterprise centres and business hubs for Border counties, North and South. I would appreciate if that particular area could be given urgent and favourable consideration.
I raise with the Taoiseach the fate of Iceland workers who now have very different conditions on this island. The company has sold its stores in the South while retaining the stores in the North. Staff in the South were told nothing about the fact that their employment was being transferred and they are now working for a franchisee of Iceland. Clearly, the workers should be covered by the transfer of undertakings legislation. They should be guaranteed the same terms and conditions but that has not happened. Workers have been left weeks without being paid. One worker was owed 110 hours, including holiday pay, with children to feed. Conditions have dramatically worsened with electricity turned off in stores and workers left without air conditioning in extremely warm stores. The company has not engaged with their union, the Independent Workers Union. Workers have balloted for strike action. Does the Taoiseach agree that the workers' terms and conditions must be guaranteed? The company should give that guarantee and should engage with workers and their union representatives.
I wish to follow up on my earlier comments and questions to the Taoiseach and his statement at the opening of this session. His vision of a shared island is all about canals and bridges, tourism, enterprise, innovation and research.
That is fair enough but we should prioritise health and, in this case, women's health. It must be a source of embarrassment that, having fought a campaign to give women access to full reproductive health, we now find ourselves lagging behind Northern Ireland. I would have thought that the Taoiseach would feel more uncomfortable about that than he does about the review and the attempt for us to change the laws around it. I ask the Taoiseach to comment on whether his discomfort to change the laws is not as important as guaranteeing women access to all healthcare, both North and South.
The North has been given a temporary reprieve, we understand, for a £300 million overspend but it is reported today that Stormont officials from the Northern Ireland Fiscal Council believe that £800 million needs to be found. This is a shortfall which will be devastating for public services in Northern Ireland if this is not resolved. It demonstrates the urgent need for an Executive to be formed.
It raises questions for the shared island unit. Can the Taoiseach comment on whether the unit, or, indeed, the Government has considered how best to proceed to establish a fund to pay for a future united Ireland and how to ensure that there is sufficient capital there for investment in cross-Border projects?
On a separate issue, I wish to raise the situation in Sudan again with the Taoiseach. Can he reassure us that all Irish citizens there are being supported to safety? Are we also assisting citizens from Northern Ireland who may be in Sudan? Will there continue to be humanitarian corridors for civilians from all countries to leave safely from the dreadful conflict which is going on there?
I was canvassing in Derry and Strabane for the People Before Profit candidates over the past couple of weeks and I wish to mention a couple of issues which were of concern in that north-west area.
First, on the Ulster University Magee campus, there have been promises after promises about expanding the investment and the capacity to build up that university, particularly when many people are leaving that area. Those promises have come to very little despite being made repeatedly. The case for investment in Magee was impressed strongly on me, as also was the anger over the reduced programming of BBC Radio Foyle and what a fantastic local service it provides for the Derry area.
The Government believes, in respect of the budget announcement by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, that the people of Northern Ireland are entitled to a functioning Assembly and Executive and to be fully represented by the politicians they elected in May of last year. In recent weeks we have seen cuts to services which will affect the people of Northern Ireland adversely. The budget places difficult decisions in the hands of civil servants and we believe that it is vital that an Executive is in place as soon as possible so it can make the right decisions that respond to the needs of people north of the Border.
As Deputy Tóibín pointed out, Northern Ireland is facing an economic, social and fiscal crisis, and this is further evidence, when one sees the contrast between the UK's budgetary position and ours, that we have made the right choices economically and have a much better economic model. We have full employment, rising levels of public expenditure every year, rising incomes and a budget surplus. The biggest threat to that would be any fundamental change to our economic policy or our European policy, and I hope that does not happen in this country.
We do not have rising incomes.
Last year, but that was because of inflation. Incomes will rise in real terms this year and they have risen in real terms almost every year for the past five or six years.
Were there rising incomes this year?
They will rise this year, yes, in real terms, but we will not know that until next year because of the way statistics work.
On where the Government stands on this, we want to help the people of Northern Ireland and the Executive if and when it is established. We have the shared island fund, which we can use to help in different ways. We have the PEACE PLUS programme from the European Union; €1 billion will be in that fund. We have made commitments, for example, on projects like the A5. We can make other commitments also. We want to help, certainly, if the Executive can be back up and running again.
On Deputy Barry's remarks earlier, if I understand him correctly he was encouraging workers in Ireland to go on strike like they are doing in Britain and Northern Ireland. I would not encourage that. It is causing huge disruption and inconvenience to people in Northern Ireland and in Britain and I am glad that we are not having the kinds of strikes which they are having in the UK at the moment.
There are fundamental differences. Pay in the UK is lower than it is in Ireland and, by and large, over the past five to ten years, pay in Ireland has increased faster than inflation. That was not the case in the same way in the UK. That is a pretty fundamental difference. The other is that we have a central pay mechanism. We negotiate a deal with public sector workers in the round and in one go and that is a much better model than in the UK, where it is done by a pay review body. The approach we have avoids strike action by and large and means by and large that workers get pay increases which exceed inflation. This was not true every year but has been broadly true over the past five to ten years. That is a good model and one we should keep.
Constitutional Amendments
Mary Lou McDonald
Ceist:10. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his plan for constitutional amendments. [19137/23]
Ivana Bacik
Ceist:11. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his plan for constitutional amendments. [20420/23]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 and 11 together.
As I announced on 8 March, the Government intends to hold a referendum in November this year on gender equality as recommended by the Citizens' Assembly on Gender Equality and the special Oireachtas Joint Committee on Gender Equality.
The decision to hold one or more referendums on this issue is in line with commitments in the programme for Government to respond to the recommendations of the Citizens' Assembly on Gender Equality. An interdepartmental group, led by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, was established in March and is working on the development of policy recommendations for consideration by the Government and wording for the proposed referendums.
There are various other proposals for further constitutional reforms under consideration. However, no final decisions have been made as yet on the timing for the holding of other referendums in respect of them. Some of these proposed reforms arise from the programme for Government, such as housing and extending the franchise at presidential elections to Irish citizens living outside the State, while others, such as the EU Agreement on a Unified Patent Court, arise from existing legal requirements.
The recent establishment of the Electoral Commission will help streamline the conduct of referendums and provide independent oversight.
The current programme for Government commits to the holding of referendums on housing and on extending the franchise at presidential elections to Irish citizens living outside of the State. While respecting the independence of the Housing Commission and acknowledging its members reported disagreement, surely some indication has been given to the Minister as to when he can expect a proposed wording for the referendum. Housing is the greatest challenge of this generation and the crisis is down to the failure of successive governments in not building public housing and in also handing too much responsibility over to the markets. A constitutional right to housing will not guarantee every person in the State a home but it would place an important legal obligation on this Government and on all future governments to realise progressively that right through their policies, laws and budgets. This is an important point.
There is even less certainty on extending presidential voting rights with the Minister, Deputy Coveney, indicating that this may take place only if the Government reaches its full term. What exactly is the delay on the Government side? The Taoiseach told us in the past month that there would be a window for constitutional change from November of this year so will this window include both referendums?
I welcome the Taoiseach’s commitment to hold the gender equality referendum in November. As the Taoiseach said, this is the referendum which was recommended by the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality and also recommended by our own special Committee on Gender Equality, which I had the honour of chairing. As the Taoiseach knows, in our report from December, Unfinished Democracy: Achieving Gender Equality, we recommended specific text for putting to the people by way of referendum to amend Articles 40 and 41 of the Constitution. The Taoiseach has pointed out that an interdepartmental group was established in March. Can the Taoiseach give the House a timeline on when the group is likely to recommend a final wording? Is this group actively considering the cross-party wording which we proposed? Also, are we likely to see a housing referendum held at the same time? I think the Taoiseach said that no decision has yet been made but I ask for some urgency in working on these proposals, particularly given that we have already seen a cross-party wording put forward by our special committee.
I welcome this commitment from the Taoiseach and I also specifically ask if he is committing to hold the referendum in respect of all three recommendations of the citizens’ assembly and of our own committee relating to both Articles 40 and 41.
On a related electoral matter, can the Taoiseach confirm whether the Irish Government has expressed a preference at EU level for the proposed date for European Parliament elections next year?
I understand that 23 to 26 May would fit with when we have traditionally held such elections alongside our local elections but that 6 to 9 June is likely to be the preferred outcome at European level. If the European Parliament elections are scheduled for that June period, will our local elections be held simultaneously or has a Government decision been made on that?
The Government is committed to a referendum on the most urgent issue of all in this country, namely the housing crisis. When will we know what that referendum is about?
Somebody who would like to know and to whom I want to give a shout-out is Martin Leahy, an accomplished musician who has come to the gates of the Dáil every Thursday for one year to sing a song called “Everyone Should Have a Home”. He has performed at a number of cost-of-living and housing demonstrations organised by Raise the Roof and the Cost of Living Coalition. He is in a housing emergency situation. He has spent 25 years performing music and has played with some of Ireland’s greats, including John Spillane and Christy Moore. Like so many others, he is caught in this dire housing crisis. Tomorrow, on the anniversary of his coming up from Cork, where he is from, every week to perform that song, it would be good for the Taoiseach to say something to people like him about the efforts they are making to appeal to the Taoiseach to take the radical action necessary to ensure everyone has the right to a home, as his song suggests.
I have a simple question: will we get a constitutional referendum on neutrality? The Government likes to talk of the need for a public debate on neutrality. It has a ready-up system of forums on international security policy, led by a dame of the British Empire who has publicly come out in support of the US invasion of Afghanistan and US coups in Chile, Cuba and Nicaragua. The Tánaiste has spoken of the need for a debate that is not about a binary issue, so not neutrality or militarism, but some secret third thing, which I suspect is militarism and alignment, bit by bit, with NATO.
We disagree on this. There is no question that the Taoiseach would like to abandon neutrality, though he might not want to put it in those terms. Does he accept that the people should have the right to decide this and that any change to our policy of neutrality must be put to the people in a referendum? Our preferred option to do that is to enshrine neutrality in the Constitution.
We, as a Government, are committed to a referendum on housing. The Housing Commission is considering the matter. It has not yet advised us on a wording. Once we see it, we will consider it. Without any wording proposed from the commission, having a referendum concurrent with the other one in November is very unlikely at this stage. We will see the wording when it comes.
Any amendment on housing worth having has to be one that makes it easier to build homes. There is no point in putting language in the Constitution that gives people a legal right to housing if it does not help housing to be built. I do not want to see a court ruling against the State and giving people compensation for not providing them housing while the court next door strikes down planning permissions. That would be incongruous to me. Some aspect of any housing amendment has to make it easier to build homes. We have to consider that as part of the deliberations. Otherwise, it will be meaningless. There is no point in having a right that cannot be vindicated. Any housing amendment worth having should tip the balance in favour of more homes being built, not against it. That would be crucial from my point of view in supporting any wording.
We have no plans for a referendum on neutrality. I doubt we could even agree on a definition of "neutrality". It was a Government decision to declare a policy of neutrality in the 1940s or 1930s. It was never put to the people.
Work is ongoing on presidential voting rights. Reports are done. It is a huge job because it means compiling an international electoral register. Huge numbers of people in the North and around the world would be able to qualify to vote. It is something I support and of which I was very much in favour during my first term as Taoiseach. We do not have a time for it yet but making it happen would be a huge job. Essentially, an international electoral register for Irish citizens and passport holders abroad would be required. Logistically, it would be a huge operation. Now that the Electoral Commission is in existence, it is something it could do but perhaps the time to have it – and this is just a personal view – is at the time of the next presidential election. I do not think we would be able to get it all done in time for the next presidential election so perhaps that would be the right occasion to have a referendum on extending voting rights concurrent with the next election when it comes.
On the interdepartmental group on the gender equality referendum, we hope to have a final proposed wording before the summer recess. The proposals of the all-party committee are under active consideration and we hope to consult with Opposition parties and NGOs in the next couple of weeks to keep everyone informed and in the loop about where the current deliberations are and where they are going.
On the European Parliament elections, I do not know if the Government has taken a formal position on this yet; at least it has not gone to Cabinet. We would generally prefer a May date over a June date but have a slight complicating factor on this occasion as we may gain seats in the European Parliament. We may gain one or two; it has not been decided yet. If we gain one or two, the Electoral Commission will have to do a boundary review and redraw the boundaries for the European Parliament. With an extra seat or two, it could add a seat to an existing constituency and change the boundaries or we could go back to four constituencies roughly modelled on the provinces, like we had before. That might create a complication for us but we will hold the local and European elections concurrent. It would not make sense to have people go to the polls twice within a few weeks.
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