I want to return to the issue of the scourge of vacancy and dereliction that blights our cities, towns and villages. It grates all the more in the teeth of a deepening housing crisis created under this Government. The local property tax returns for last year found that more than 50,000 properties were recorded as vacant. Figures released to me by the Minister for Finance yesterday show that nearly 5,000 properties have been declared as vacant in the vacant home tax returns for this year, nearly 2,000 of which are claiming an exemption, which leaves just under 3,000 properties liable for the vacant home tax. That is 3,000 out of the more than 50,000 properties recorded as vacant last year. These are extremely low figures and, furthermore, the vacant home tax itself is too low and it is designed such that the tax will remain low, regardless of whether a property is vacant for five or even ten years. Last year, only 21 vacant property refurbishment grants had been drawn down over a year and a half. What is the Taoiseach's response to today's returns? Does he agree that more has to be done to tackle the scourge of vacancy and dereliction across the State and if so, what does he plan to do?
Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation
First, I want to clarify, from the HSE CEO's memo of 10 November, that the recruitment freeze does not apply to consultants, graduate nurses and doctors or anyone who has been given a formal offer already. That runs until the end of the year and next year, the HSE can hire an additional 2,000 staff, and that will include nurses and midwives.
In relation to vacancy, the approach we are taking is one of carrot and stick. We are providing grants to people to renovate old buildings and bring them back to life. There is enormous take-up on that, which is very encouraging. There is also a fund of €150 million for local authorities to purchase derelict buildings and bring them back into use.
On the flip side, we have the vacant property tax and the derelict sites levy. That puts a cost on people who leave properties vacant or derelict.
I will take a trip down memory lane on the subject of vacancy and dereliction. On 28 September, I raised with the Tánaiste the scourge of vacancy and dereliction across cities, towns and villages. On that date, he told me my question would be better directed to local councils. It seemed it was not a priority for national government. The following week, news broke that the HSE is hoarding hundreds of empty properties across the country. Subsequent replies to parliamentary questions I tabled confirmed that other public bodies, such as Irish Rail and the OPW, are engaged in the same practice and sitting on empty premises. When I raised the issue again, it seemed the penny had finally dropped. Now the Taoiseach is saying there is a carrot-and-stick approach, but it is clear there is not enough of either the carrot or the stick when a mere 3,000 properties will be subject to the new vacant home tax, the Government's so-called silver bullet. If we take census estimates, that amounts to fewer than 2% of all empty properties throughout the country at a time when 13,000 people are homeless. Can the Taoiseach assure the House he will take more effective carrot-and-stick measures to ensure the scourge of vacancy and dereliction is tackled and people can see those idle homes turned into proper family homes for them?
I have never argued, and nor has anyone on this side of the House, that the vacant home tax was some sort of silver bullet. A set of measures is needed - incentives and disincentives, carrot and stick - and that is exactly what we are doing. If anything is shown by the work done by the Revenue Commissioners on the vacant home tax, it is that those who argued in this House that 150,000 homes being empty on census night meant they were vacant are wrong. There are lots of reasons a home might have been vacant on census night. It might have been for sale, between tenants, under renovation or due for demolition. The person living there might have been away for a few weeks or months and decided not to rent it out. Those who claimed there were 150,000 vacant homes based on census figures got it wrong. We told them so at the time. Will they admit they were wrong?
There are 48,000 homes vacant between the two censuses. They should be getting charged the tax.
I wish to ask the Taoiseach about long-term leasing deals. A US investor has paid €75 million to buy up a Dublin social housing portfolio consisting of 156 apartments. That is almost €500,000 for each apartment. Investors are willing to shell out such huge sums as the State has guaranteed the return on their investment through long-term leases. Long-term leases are exceptionally bad value for money and turn social housing into a commodity for investors to trade. The State pays back the entire cost to the investor buying up these homes while the private investor retains complete and utter ownership. Would it not be much better to use our resources to build more social homes instead of signing up to these lucrative long-term leasing deals for investors?
Our preference is to build social housing and that is exactly what we are doing - building thousands of new social homes every year, whether it is through councils or approved housing bodies. In some cases, we will purchase them. That makes sense too, particularly in areas where it is less expensive to purchase a home than to build one. There is a role for leasing, too, but it is not the main part of what we are doing as a Government. What we are doing is scaling up the number of new builds. I cannot remember the exact figure for this year but it is maybe 6,000 or 7,000. It will be higher again next year.
Approximately one in 12 people in Ireland will at some stage in life be affected by a rare disease. When family members, many of whom are carers, are included, this means approximately 825,000 Irish people are impacted by a rare disease. The Taoiseach will recall that the programme for Government published in 2020 contained a commitment to deliver a revised national rare disease plan to replace the one that lapsed in 2018. As he is aware, 29 February next is Rare Disease Day. In light of the fact that the Government made a commitment four years ago to introduce a new plan and that the forthcoming Rare Disease Day will be the last one for this Government, will the updated plan be published and available by that date?
I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I know he has a particular interest in the issue of rare diseases and has raised it many times in the Chamber. I am not sure what the date is for publication of the new plan but I will check with the Minister for Health and revert to the Deputy directly by correspondence.
Earlier this month, I raised the issue of the outrageous waiting times for people waiting for DEXA bone scans at Tipperary University Hospital. This is an essential procedure used by doctors trying to assess patients' needs. It is very serious in the context of the risk of osteoporosis and many other issues. The scans are crucial for doctors to know how to deal with patients yet a reply I received on 13 November informed me the waiting time in Tipperary is 22 months. That is outrageous. It is beyond belief. How is a doctor supposed to treat patients and advise what is wrong with them or what course of action to take if they have to wait 22 months - almost two years - for this scan? It beggars belief and it is not fair to people who have these issues and could be developing osteoporosis and other forms of illness. Something has to be done about this. It is not acceptable by any manner or means.
I agree it is not acceptable that people should wait that length of time. As the Deputy is aware, our target is that nobody should wait more than ten to 12 weeks to see a specialist or to have an operation or investigation they need. Unfortunately, hundreds of thousands of people still have to wait longer than that time. In terms of the particular waiting list referred to by the Deputy, I do not know the details of that but I will make inquiries with the Minister for Health and reply in more detail next week.
My question relates to new guidance given on the General Medical Services, GMS, scheme regarding the tax treatment of GPs' income. This will have a detrimental effect on GP practices, especially community practices. I put a question to the Minister for Health, who said his Department and the HSE had been in contact with Revenue on the issue but offered little other information. A GP considered that reply to be very unhelpful. This is a move that massively complicates the administration of general practice. Will the Government reverse the decision to change guidance under the GMS? If so, how? I have heard it rumoured that the Minister will bring an amendment to the Finance (No. 2) Bill 2023 but I have searched for the amendment and cannot find it.
I am aware of the issue. It relates to a Revenue determination made with respect to how GPs are taxed. We have found a solution to it and an amendment was approved by Cabinet to the finance Bill. I am not sure why that has not been published yet. It has been agreed by Cabinet. I will double-check on that and follow up on it. It should have been published by now but perhaps it has not been.
Just over a year ago, on 11 November 2022, the Supreme Court stated the Constitution precluded the Government from ratifying the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, CETA, between the EU and Canada. It also ruled that it could be ratified if certain changes were made to the Arbitration Act 2010. What are the plans to make those changes? Is there a timescale for same?
My Department is looking at ways in which we can respond to the court judgment from a legal perspective. It certainly is the intention of the Government to ratify CETA but we have to do it in a way that is consistent with the court judgment that has been made. We are considering that and taking advice on it as we speak.
Yesterday we got news that the Adare bypass will go ahead and be supported by Government and development will be accelerated. The news was welcomed in most quarters. It makes sense to have the Ryder Cup as the deadline for construction of this project but it is not the only reason to do this. The project will provide ongoing benefit to west Limerick and the south west of the country and allow Adare to breathe again, which is important. A more beneficial project, which is equally deserving of Government priority and support, is the Limerick to Foynes railway line. It will open in the next year or two for freight purposes. We should be piggybacking on the freight opportunity to develop passenger services to and from the likes of Adare, Raheen, Patrickswell, Askeaton and so on.
I am pleased to welcome the fact that the Cabinet signed off on the approval of the Adare bypass. I expect that will get under construction next year and be completed by 2027. At the same time, we are very keen to progress the reopening of the line to Foynes for freight, but also the development of Limerick commuter rail and the opening of new stations in and around the city.
I raise the issues of what approach is being made to secure staff for the children's disability network teams, CDNTs, in south Tipperary, and what is the availability of private providers to fill the gaps that are being left because of lack of services, especially regarding provision for children who have been assessed. On the first issue, I have been told that staff in the CDNTs in Clonmel are leaving at an alarming rate and are not being replaced or not being replaced at a regular pace. This is having a massive impact on families who are waiting for assessments. What does the Minister of State believe would be an effective recruitment process, one which would will keep people in these roles and ensure they are not in turnover so often?
I understand that disability services nationally are working with HSE procurement to develop a tender process for service specification and delivery of assessment. What is the Minister of State doing to improve that? We raise this matter over and over again. How can we get people into the service and keep them in the service?
We are way over time. I ask the Taoiseach to respond.
I thought those questions were for one of the Ministers.
The Minister of State is here.
This falls under the remit of the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, but I will certainly pass on what the Deputy has raised with regard to CDNTs. I reiterate what the Minister of State said on the floor of the Dáil yesterday. The recruitment moratorium does not affect disability services. The Minister of State sees an opportunity now, working with the HSE, to try to recruit as many people as possible into CDNTs. The Minister of State is funded for over 500 staff that are currently outstanding. Every effort is being made to recruit into the service. I will ask the Minister of State to respond to the Deputy in writing.
Within a stone's throw of Leinster House, there are many council-owned properties and flat complexes that are in unacceptable condition. Some of the complexes were built in the thirties and they are now destroyed with dampness and mould. They have been long designated for regeneration but the process could not be moving any slower. "Glacial" is the only word that could be used to describe the process. Glover's Court is one example and Pearse House is another. St. Andrew's Court was designated for regeneration over five years ago. The process started then and private apartment blocks are springing up all around the complex. How can the Government allow this? Is the Taoiseach happy with the glacial process involved in the regeneration of inner-city flat complexes?
I am not, and I spoke to the Minister for housing about this only on Tuesday. We are seeing some great regeneration projects happening around the city but some are painstakingly slow. Dolphin House and St. Teresa's Gardens spring to mind, and that is very frustrating. It is a matter for Dublin City Council to lead on these projects, not central government, but it is certainly something I intend to take up with the new city chief executive once he or she is appointed.
This week we have seen something completely unprecedented in Irish politics whereby Reporters Without Borders and our own National Union of Journalists, NUJ, felt obliged to write to the leader of a political party, Sinn Féin, expressing their alarm about a series of legal actions taken by Sinn Féin members against journalists. The letter states: "... the number of legal actions that have been filed by Sinn Féin members points to a coordinated campaign against the media in Ireland". It goes on to say that these bear "all the hallmarks of SLAPPs ... a form of legal harassment used by powerful people to intimidate and silence public watchdogs, including journalists". The letter finishes by urging Sinn Féin to be "mindful of the chilling effect" that these legal actions can have on our media and democracy. All of that is the context of six sitting Sinn Féin TDs who are currently suing, or have sued, our national media. In the context of these serious concerns expressed by journalists, can the Taoiseach update us on when we are likely to see the reforms of our defamation law that are absolutely necessary to prevent more attempts at silencing our media?
People have a right to their good names.
I have just conferred with the Minister for Justice and we expect to have the new defamation legislation published in the new year, and we hope it will be enacted later in the year. I saw the letter that Deputy Cannon saw too. It is signed by the Coalition for Women in Journalism; the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation, named after the Maltese journalist who was murdered; the European Federation of Journalists; the International Press Institute; and Reporters Without Borders, among others. I have been in the Dáil for 16 or 17 years. I cannot remember a time when international bodies like this had to write to the leader of a major political party in this State expressing their concerns about an attack on press freedom. It is quite a serious matter and deserves attention.
Since 2020, Irish businesses - small and micro - have suffered because of Covid-19, the wars, the cost of living and now the refugee issue. Big Government is ruining small businesses. They complain to me about red tape and bureaucracy and the heavy-handed nature of the approaches from Revenue because of the warehousing of debt. The banks are not lending in the way they should and businesses are saying the decisions of Government are adding further to the cost of doing business in Ireland. I want to make a case to the Taoiseach for a special effort to be made by Government to reach out to the small and microbusinesses, which are part and parcel of every high street and main street in villages, towns and cities throughout the country. They give great employment and they are now suffering. I believe we will see a considerable number of businesses in difficulty over the course of the next year.
I assure the Deputy that I hear what he is saying. I spend a lot of time speaking to small businesses. That is my job. Even this morning, we were at a hub summit, which was about supporting, both financially and from a policy point of view, enterprise hubs around the country and helping small businesses to get on their feet and grow. We have never had more small businesses in the country. We have never had more people employed by small businesses than we have today but there are pressures that many small businesses are undoubtedly feeling with regard to the cost of doing business.
Through the Covid-19 pandemic and arising from the implications of the war on Ukraine for the cost of supply chains, energy and so on, the Government has provided hundreds of millions of euro in support for small businesses and will continue to do so. In the first quarter of next year, we will provide over €250 million to about 140,000 small businesses throughout the country in recognition of the increased cost of doing business.
I thank the Minister. We are over time.
This is a Government that is pro-enterprise, pro-business, pro-start-ups, pro-enterpreneurship-----
I am afraid I am pro-time.
-----and very conscious of the pressures that businesses face.
I supported the three most recent Finance Bills believing the Taoiseach's and the Government's commitment that Waterford would not be forgotten. However, Waterford has been forgotten. The Tánaiste's promise to deliver 24-7 to the region is in tatters. The Government gave not a penny of €650 million in the July hospitals spend to University Hospital Waterford, UHW. The promises made by the Taoiseach and the Minister, Deputy Harris, on transformational university change have consigned the south-east region to a second-tier university status, with the former Waterford Institute of Technology, WIT, the top-performing institute of technology in the country pre-merger, receiving not a penny to deliver new buildings, courses, disciplines or student accommodation. The promises on a borrowing framework for South East Technological University, SETU, look to be consigned to the next programme for Government. In addition, our regional airport remains shuttered while Dublin Airport provides a new €10 million community fund and Cabinet shells out €45 million for a new jet. Our arterial N24 and N25 roads remain bordering on boreen status. On this report card, on what basis I should support the Finance Bill 2023 tonight?
It is up to the Deputy whether he supports the Finance Bill but I ask him to look at the merits of the Bill with regard to whether he supports it or not. If he votes against it, as he is free to do, the Deputy will be voting against income tax cuts for people in Waterford and help for small landlords and people who are struggling with their mortgages. If he wants to vote against those things that are in the Finance Bill, as he is free to do, he will be voting against help for small business around angel investors and to keep the VAT threshold for very small businesses lower. The Finance Bill is about the Finance Bill and I encourage the Deputy to vote for it on its merits.
This morning, Deputy Marian Harkin and I organised a meeting for representatives of the nursing home sector. They are under pressure. They are small family-run, community-owned and not-for-profit nursing homes. While the Government provided some additional supports, they were nothing like the increase in the cost of living and energy costs they have to meet or the additional labour costs they have to meet.
On the other hand, there is a huge gulf between what HSE-run nursing homes and private nursing homes, respectively, are paid per patient. The gulf is justified by the claim that HSE-run nursing homes deal with patients with a greater degree of complexity. However, that was not borne out by the Government's value-for-money report. Is there any basis for the assertion that HSE-run nursing homes have patients with greater complexity than do private homes and, if so, what is the proof of that? Where is the basis for the assertion? There is a huge difference in the amounts paid per patient. In County Clare, there is an approximately 60% difference between what private nursing homes and HSE-run homes receive.
I was not in a position to attend the meeting the Deputy referenced but my adviser was there. I am meeting Dr. Cowley later this afternoon to discuss the concerns he raised regarding the situation in Mayo. In 2023, €1.4 billion will be provided to support 22,700 residents in the nursing home sector. That is more than what I am giving for mental health-----
The Minister of State is not answering the question I asked.
If the Deputy gives me an opportunity to answer, I will try to do so. A total of €1.4 billion will be spent to support 22,700 residents in nursing home care this year. That is more than the amount allocated to mental health for the whole year. Regarding the value-for-money review the Deputy mentioned, the sample used was very small. It referred to five nursing homes and does not stand up.
Where is the proof that we are talking about patients with a greater complexity? That is my question to the Minister of State.
The Deputy is eating into his colleagues' time.
I wish to support Tara Mines workers and share my disappointment at the failure of the management of Boliden Tara Mines to release the plans for the reopening of the mines. We all know the management has plans; it needs to share them with the unions and workers. The management has not yet provided a date for the resumption of operations, leaving hundreds of workers and their families in a state of uncertainty in the run-up to Christmas. It is a disgrace that workers have been temporarily laid off for 130 days and still have no return date. The prolonged closure of the mine has added undue stress to the lives of hardworking miners and their families. There has been a failure by the management of Boliden Tara Mines. After weeks of negotiation, it has failed to agree a facilitation process that can find a path forward with unions. Is the Government actively engaged in talks with management? If there has not been such dialogue, I urge immediate interaction in order to determine a clear path forward. Workers should not be treated like this.
There is an ongoing dialogue between my Department and management and unions at Tara Mines. Our objective is to get the mine open again and get people back working. A number of things need to be put in place before that can happen. The union leadership knows that and has been very responsible in how it has responded to the process so far. The situation is very difficult for the families that are impacted. I assure the Deputy we are working at all levels, with management, with the owners of the parent company, with the European Commission and with unions. That conversation will continue until, we hope, we can bring it to a successful conclusion.
The community safety plans can genuinely be transformative because they offer the vision of community Garda teams working to a plan shaped by the local community and backed by activist councils, activist transport companies and an activist HSE. I have two questions for the Taoiseach. Will he update the House on the progress of the three pilots that are already in place? The key to their success will be ensuring those who participate from councils, the HSE and so on are clearly mandated to deliver resources and actions. How will that element be assured? Disappointment may emerge if those people are not mandated in that way.
The Minister, Deputy McEntee, might be better able than me to answer that question but she is in the Seanad. The community safety partnerships are an important innovation, on which she is really leading, and will help to make our communities both safer and stronger. I am meeting the Garda Commissioner today to discuss a number of matters and this is one of the issues on the agenda. Once I have met him, I may be able to provide more up-to-date information on how the pilots are going. What is clear is that one size will not fit all. What might work in Longford or on the north side of Dublin, for example, will not necessarily work in County Cork. We will have to figure it out as we go along.
Ireland seems to be taking in far more Ukrainian refugees than is any other European country. We seem to be far more generous with our social welfare payments and all the other benefits. There should be a uniform rate of social welfare payment across the European Union. I ask that all refugees and asylum seekers who arrive here without any documentation be asked to provide their original identity details within six or eight weeks after coming here. No Irish people qualify for any payment without providing their details. Many Irish families cannot visit their relatives and friends abroad in places like Australia, while refugees who have come here are able to do so.
Ireland has welcomed a lot of people - approximately 100,000 - from Ukraine in the past two years. I am proud that we as a country were able to do that, notwithstanding the pressures and problems it has created. The numbers are big but we are not top of the league table in the EU, either on raw numbers or in percentage terms. There are much higher numbers in countries like Poland, Slovakia and so on, for obvious reasons. It would not work to have a single uniform payment rate across the EU for the exact same reasons we do not have a single minimum wage across the EU. The cost of living in Bulgaria, for example, is very different from the cost of living in Denmark. We have to set rates that make sense for this country.
On behalf of farmers and the gardening industry, particularly in Wexford, I ask for an extension of the ban on green waste burning. This year's exceptionally wet summer and autumn has delayed the work in disposing of the piles of bracken and brush from ditches and so on that were saturated during the summer. I am aware that burning is allowed until 30 November. Farmers need some flexibility to allow burning to take place up to March 2024, before the new nesting season. Currently, there is no viable alternative to burning. While farmers await TAMS grants for PTO shredders, the cost of hire purchase of industrial-sized shredders is far too high to complete this type of job. Will the Taoiseach use his influence to ask that any individuals who had these piles of green waste already collected in 2023 be granted an extension to burn in early 2024?
There are currently no plans to extend the burning season. There are other proposals around the harvesting of green waste for use in composting materials, etc. While there are no plans at present, we will take on board the Deputy's points.