Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 22 May 2024

Vol. 1054 No. 5

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions

Deputy Mary Lou McDonald

One of the major criticisms in the Housing Commission's damning report relates to Government waste of money. The report states: "Ireland has, by comparison with our European partners, one of the highest levels of public expenditure for housing, yet one of the poorest outcomes." Why is that the case? It is because the Government decided to pass the State's responsibility for housing people to private landlords. Last week, I referred to the €3 billion the Government is forking over to wealthy property funds to lease homes that neither the State nor the tenants will ever own. In one case, the Government is coughing up close to €1 million leasing one property in Dublin that goes back to the fund after 25 years. That is incredible incompetence. However, there is even worse.

Fine Gael came to office in 2011. Since then it has put nearly €10 billion of public money into the pockets of private landlords. It has done this through mechanisms such as the housing assistance payment, HAP, the rental accommodation scheme, RAS, rent allowance and long-term leasing. That money could and should have been used to build tens of thousands of permanent homes for ordinary people. Instead, the Government paid out €10 billion to keep workers and families in the private rental sector with very little housing security. Housing supports are necessary, but they must be short-term and temporary and not result in not a never-ending bill for the taxpayer. The Government has turned what is supposed to be a temporary short-term support into indefinite, uncertain and insecure situations for many people.

The Taoiseach should know as well as I do what life is like for people on HAP. They talk about their rip-off rent leaving them with very little to pay other bills. They worry about being forced to move out with nowhere to go. The insecurity of their housing situation is always on their minds. It is stress, worry and constant uncertainty over the future. These workers and families should have the security of a permanent home. Of course, the Government does not see its housing failures. Families forced to go without permanent homes see it. A generation locked out of affordable housing sees it and young people paying extortionate rents see it because they live with the consequences of the Government's housing decisions every single day and they have had enough. They have had enough of the Government's rhetoric; they want delivery of and real change in the area of housing.

Tá Fine Gael agus Fianna Fáil ag cur beagnach €10 billiún d'airgead poiblí i bpócaí tiarnaí talún príobháideacha. Ba cheart an t-airgead sin a úsáid i gcomhair tithe ar phraghas réasúnta, rud atá ag teastáil ó dhaoine.

The Housing Commission has called for rental subsidies to be reformed to make them short-term temporary supports. It has called for a massive ramping up of the delivery of social and affordable housing because workers and families need permanent roofs over their heads. Putting €10 billion into the pockets of private landlords does not get the job done, and that is the bottom line. The Government's approach to housing has failed. It is simply recycling the same policies that got us into this mess in the first place. How can the Taoiseach stand over spending €10 billion to keep tenants in insecure housing when that money could have been used to build tens of thousands of homes for workers and families?

The Taoiseach

There are a couple of different aspects here, namely the Housing Commission report, to which the Deputy referred, and rental supports. Today, the Government will publish the Housing Commission report. In an effort to be helpful to the House and to inform debate on this, the Minister will also publish alongside it an initial assessment of where we are at with a number of the actions. This is a good thing to do and will allow us to have an informed debate. The Deputy will see that a number of recommendations are already under way.

The Housing Commission has been referenced a great deal in the past 24 hours. It is important to remind ourselves of what it was tasked to do. Its terms of reference state:

The commission will consider long-term housing policy post 2030 and examine how to build on the policy changes outlined in Housing for All and related Government policies.

The idea was to arrive at a long-term approach to housing and identify where we want to get to between 2030 and 2050, what housing policy needs to look at and the areas in respect of which resets will be required. That has been missed from any analysis or commentary so far today.

The Housing Commission report definitely contains some good ideas, but also some challenging ones. I think the Deputy will find those challenging and we will find them challenging. There will be a legitimate debate on them. There are issues relating to reference rents. Could that actually see people's rents being higher than in the rent pressure zones? It has worked in one European country, but how would it work in an Irish context? There are issues in respect of incentivising landlords in order to have a viable rental sector. Does the Deputy believe that is a good idea? Is it a good idea? Let us debate those issues as well.

On diverse funding, there is a need for Exchequer funding but there is also an acknowledgement that there is a need for more than just that. There are also disagreements and different points of view even among members of the commission on a number of the recommendations. This report will not just be challenging for Government - it is good to be challenged on the biggest societal issue we face - but it will also be challenging for the Opposition and for policymakers. Let us publish the report and have the opportunity to scrutinise it, and let us take matters from there.

This report is very useful and helpful, and I thank the Commission for its work. While all of this is going on today, there are people who need help in the here and now. That is why I want people at home to know that on every working day in Ireland so far this year, 337 homes have commenced construction. Every single week, almost 500 people have drawn down mortgages for their first homes. Last year, we saw the largest number of social homes provided since the 1970s. This is what the graph looks like when talking about direct social house building in Ireland. The year 2011, the year my party came into government, tends to be referenced a great deal. From 2011 up to now, there has been a significant increase by any objective or fair analysis.

The Deputy has a point in the context of moving people from rental supports into secure tenures. I agree with her in that regard. That is why we need to continue to build more social homes, more affordable homes and more cost-rental homes. I get that. What is disingenuous, and I say this respectively, is to talk about the €10 billion to which the Deputy referred. She knows well that €3.2 billion of that was spent on rent supplement, €1.8 billion was spent on RAS and €3.5 billion was spent on HAP. Every year, you could paper the walls of Dáil Éireann with press releases and statements from Sinn Féin TDs asking us to increase the limits and to spend more.

(Interruptions).

The Taoiseach

Deputy Ó Broin should be very careful telling me what he does not do because I have the information here. Just to be clear on this, Sinn Féin has asked us to spend more than €10 billion on these supports. If you want to know why, it is because in an emergency while ramping up housing supply, we have to do something in the here and now. You say landlords; I say renters. You say €10 billion given to landlords; I say €10 billion given in rental support to people who come into your constituency offices and mine looking for assistance. It is news to me that you believe the money devoted to rent supplement, RAS and HAP was not money well spent at a time when the country had no money. Remember that when my party came into government in 2011, it was your party's position, when Gerry was in charge, to send the IMF home and tell them to take their money with them.

Deputy Mary Lou McDonald

The point is that the Housing Commission report is damning. It is not neutral in its assessment of the Government's performance; it is damning and states very clearly the Government's failures. An important failing it identifies is the fact that the Government has turned what should be a temporary, short-term support into a permanent feature in the lives of many people. The Taoiseach did not dispute my figure; it is €10 billion since 2011. That is a lot of public money. That is a lot of potential bricks and mortar. That is a lot of permanent homes that ought to have been built. That is the point here. I will put the question again. How can the Taoiseach stand over that?

That is a clear measure of the Government's failure.

People who come to anyone's office who are on or who are seeking HAP are never filled with joy at that prospect. People on HAP are, in the main, pretty miserable and universally frantic with worry with regard to these matters. As it happens, only the other evening, I was talking to one young mother who is on HAP. She has two small, beautiful children. Her rent is €2,500 and she does not have a decent night's sleep. That is what her housing situation is. The Government has spent €10 billion keeping people in that situation that ought to have been spent on building affordable and social homes, but of course that is not the Fine Gael way.

The Taoiseach

That is a great line, but unfortunately the graph shows that you are wrong. Look at the increase in social housing building since my party came to office. You are, yet again, wrong.

Deputy Eoin Ó Broin

Have a graph with need beside that. How many social homes are needed? It is twice what you are building.

An Ceann Comhairle

Please, Deputy Ó Broin.

The Taoiseach

If a contest in fluency and verbosity was an Olympic sport, you would win a gold medal, but it does not build houses. We are not afraid to take more radical steps when it comes to housing. That is why we asked the Housing Commission to come up with ideas. How do you build a sustainable model that does not have boom and bust, with ghost estates one year and no housing supply the next? That is what we are doing. Deputy McDonald asked how we can stand over €10 billion. There was political consensus in this House that we needed to take steps to help people in the here and now, and Deputy McDonald led the charge. Deputy Dessie Ellis said, "RAS has provided many people with housing and allowed them to dig their way out of the poverty trap." Deputy McDonald is now criticising the expenditure on what a Sinn Féin TD said was a scheme that helped to dig their way out of the poverty trap. Sinn Féin proposed legislation to make sure that people could get their HAP applications processed quicker, calling for the Minister for housing to increase the housing payment.

Deputy Eoin Ó Broin

And all the time calling for an increase in social housing.

The Taoiseach

The Simon Communities said it must increase as well.

Deputy Eoin Ó Broin

Where are the social homes?

An Ceann Comhairle

Deputy Ó Broin-----

The Taoiseach

Let me tell you this. It is 153 days since Deputy Mary Lou McDonald told the people of this country that she would provide homes for €300,000 in Dublin. I ask the same question that I ask every day: how? Please tell us.

Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill

How do you do it?

Deputy Eoin Ó Broin

Published it in 2021.

The Taoiseach

How?

Deputy Eoin Ó Broin

We published it in 2021.

The Taoiseach

You advocated for €10 billion and now you are against it.

Deputy Eoin Ó Broin

Go and read it on the website.

An Ceann Comhairle

Deputy Ó Broin, it is beneath you to keep distracting the House in this manner.

Deputy Eoin Ó Broin

I am being helpful to the Taoiseach to know where to find the plan.

An Ceann Comhairle

It is beneath you, sir.

Deputy Eoin Ó Broin

It is on the website.

The Taoiseach

I thank Deputy Ó Broin for his assistance

An Ceann Comhairle

I call Deputy Holly Cairns.

Deputy Holly Cairns

I warmly welcome the Government's decision to recognise the state of Palestine. The Social Democrats have long called for the Government to match its strong words on the carnage in Gaza with action, and this is a powerful move which sends a commanding message. That message is one of hope, peace, justice and freedom for an imprisoned Palestinian people being massacred by a brutal occupier. I also pay tribute to the many tens of thousands of Irish people who have fought for the Government to take this step every weekend in every corner of the country. In cities, towns, villages and college campuses, people have marched in support of the Palestinian people and demanded an end to the ongoing genocide. The Irish people's solidarity with the Palestinian people is unbreakable. It is long past time that this solidarity was formally acknowledged by our Government with recognition of the state of Palestine. My only wish is that it happened sooner.

It is now eight months into this conflict, with nearly 130,000 Palestinians having been killed, maimed or gone missing, presumed dead, under mountains of rubble. The scale of death and devastation is truly horrifying. That so much of the western world has turned a blind eye to this carnage is shameful and shocking. These same countries will criticise Ireland, Spain and Norway for the action they have taken today. Their hollow criticisms have no credibility. Any country which provides weapons being used to slaughter 15,000 children has abandoned not only the rule of law but any shred of moral authority.

The Israeli ambassador has been recalled to Israel. All I can say to that is "Good". Her presence at our Famine commemoration at the weekend, while Israel uses starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza, was grotesque. Ireland should not be facilitating apologists for genocide.

After many months of inaction, international institutions are finally beginning to act. Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. The UN Security Council has issued a resolution calling for a ceasefire and the International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Hamas leaders and the Israeli Prime Minister and defence minister. Here in Ireland, we must continue to increase the pressure on Israel to end this war.

I commend the Government on recognising the state of Palestine. Will the Government now take the next step and enact the occupied territories Bill and the Illegal Israeli Settlements Divestment Bill and commit to enforcing any ICC warrants against the leadership of Israel and Hamas?

The Taoiseach

I thank Deputy Cairns for her contribution. I acknowledge her long-standing support and that of her party for the recognition of the state of Palestine. I am proud to be Taoiseach in a country where there has been, for a significant period, a political consensus about the importance of this. We have division in this House on many occasions, which is right and proper in a Parliament and Dáil, but there are rare moments where we can be unified in speaking with one voice for the people of this country, who wanted us to recognise the state of Palestine. They do not do that naively or, as some of our critics say today, to virtue signal. They do it because they passionately believe in a two-state solution and they believe, forgetting governments and political figures for a moment, that the people of Israel and Palestine have a right to live side by side in two states in peace and security. If you believe in a two-state solution, it is important that you recognise the existence of two states.

Deputy Cairns said she wished it happened sooner. I can understand why she would say that. It was always our wish and, I believe, the wish of other countries that have recognised Palestine today, to move as part of a peace process, but sadly we are at a time where a just and comprehensive peace settlement seems further away than ever, and we cannot wait forever to recognise the state of Palestine. I am pleased we managed to move in lockstep with other countries, with Norway and Spain. The three countries have powerful historical track records in the Middle East and wanting to see peace and a two-state solution. I expect other countries to follow in the coming weeks. The Deputy will have heard a number of other countries in recent weeks indicate their wish to follow. I am respectful of the fact that everyone has their own national process.

Regarding the International Criminal Court, Ireland respects the work of the court. I am conscious that the prosecutor has sought a certain position and now I believe the judges of the criminal court need to make a decision on that. I do not wish to cut across that. Ireland will always abide by the rules of the International Criminal Court, as I would expect to be the case.

We debate and discuss the occupied territories Bill regularly. There is clear legal advice to the Government on this. That legal advice, in short, is that trade agreements are a European competence. I say honestly here that I am continuing to push at a European level, as my predecessor did and as the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, does, for the review of the association agreement, because it has human rights clauses in it. The human rights clauses were not put in it to have nice flowery language, to pad it out or to make it longer. They are real and meaningful words. I am frustrated that we have not yet been successful in persuading people of the merits of the need for that review. We continue that work.

Deputy Holly Cairns

Government representatives have been telling us since 2020 that the occupied territories Bill is contrary to EU law. The Taoiseach refused to clarify a really important point. Has the Government sought updated legal advice to reflect the fact we are now witnessing a genocide unfold before our eyes? That can and should change the legal advice and allow the Government to enact this important Bill. Israel should not be entitled to slaughter with impunity and maintain normal trade and diplomatic relations. Things have changed. We should also be doing everything we can at EU level to stop this carnage. The Taoiseach mentioned what he is doing at EU level. The EU's inaction in the face of these horrors inflicted on the people of Gaza is shameful. Israel's cheerleaders in the EU, like outgoing Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, have created a permanent stain on the EU's reputation. It is important to people to know if the Taoiseach will clarify if he has sought updated legal advice and if he can confirm that Fine Gael MEPs will support another term for Ursula von der Leyen as President of the European Commission.

The Taoiseach

I have got recent legal advice.

I am happy to share with the Deputy the date of the most recent legal advice. I do not have it to hand. We have engaged on this in good faith.

I believe that, at a European level, we had a significant breakthrough at the last European Council meeting in April - the first one I was honoured to attend - where the unanimous conclusion was a call for an immediate ceasefire. That had not been the unanimous position. The Minister of State, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, and I were in Brussels for that. The conclusion includes the view of the President of the European Commission, President von der Leyen. We want to see an immediate ceasefire, an immediate cessation of violence. We want to see an immediate release of all the hostages. We want to see unimpeded access to humanitarian aid. However, at this point, I think that we in Europe and other parts of the world have to ask ourselves a question: if we want to see all of these things, what must we do to create the environment to bring them about and what levers are at our disposal? That is why I continue to pursue, on behalf of this country, the need for a review of the association agreement on the basis of its human rights clauses. Trade agreements are decided at a European level, and I believe that review is the most appropriate way to take the matter forward.

Critics of our country will seek to misrepresent all of our views on this. It is important to say on the floor of this House that we deplore Hamas, that we see it as a terrorist organisation, and that we can differentiate between a terrorist organisation and the people of a country. This country can do that better than most because we know what it is like to live in a country where a terrorist organisation tries to hijack our national identity.

Deputies

Hear, hear.

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

Seven months of public outrage and protests have finally forced the Government to recognise the state of Palestine. I hope that is going to be accompanied by sanctions.

I wish to discuss another protest that will happen this Saturday at the Customs House over the Government’s failed housing policies. This comes at an appropriate moment, given that the Housing Commission has confirmed what the dogs on the street know, namely, that the Government has made a catastrophic mess of the housing situation, resulting in untold housing misery for hundreds of thousands of working people, young people and the 13,500 people languishing in homelessness. It is no surprise to me that, while the Government received this report some time ago, it did not publish it. It is an outrage that journalists have it and can read it but TDs cannot. What is clear is that the report is utterly damning of the Government’s housing policy failures. The references are fairly familiar at this point, but they are worth reiterating: ineffective decision-making; spending more than most other European countries but getting less; a chronic deficit of 250,000 houses compared with what we need; the failure of the Government’s rent pressure zones to control rents; the Government’s failure to deliver enough social and affordable housing; and the need for an emergency response, something that we in the Opposition have been appealing to the Government to adopt for years. The most telling part of the whole report is where it reads “the overall strategy to successfully achieve a sustainable housing system is not complicated.” The Government has managed not only to complicate it, but to make a dog’s dinner of it, resulting in a great deal of misery, suffering and hardship.

The core of the problem is that most of the housing in this country is delivered by private landlords, private developers and private investors who are interested in profit, not in putting affordable roofs over people’s heads. Some of them actively engage in speculation on housing, vacant properties and land. The Government’s policy is to pour approximately €1 billion every year into various subsidies, including HAP, RAS and leasing, for landlords who still fail to deliver the housing we need, with anything they do deliver being unaffordable in terms of rents and house prices.

Is the Government going to accept the need for a radical reset of policy that would prioritise the delivery of social and affordable housing, control rents to make them affordable and introduce “use it or lose it” policies on vacant and derelict properties in order to stop the profiteering of property investors and speculators?

The Taoiseach

We will publish the Housing Commission report today. It is a bit old-fashioned, but it is useful to read things before commenting on them with such authority. Before the Deputy wraps himself in the recommendations of the report, I recommend that he read them. I received the report last night. There are 83 recommendations, 500 actions and subactions, 400 pages of text and three years of work. There is not even unanimous agreement on all of the actions by all of the members of the commission. I am not sure the Deputy will agree with all of the recommendations either, by the way. The idea has been put forward in this House – quite successfully, in fairness to the Opposition – over the past 24 hours that it is a binary choice of whether we accept or reject the commission’s report. I look forward to asking the various Deputies that question next Tuesday. I do not think there is any party in this House that will accept in full every recommendation because there were many members of the commission who did not seem to accept all of the recommendations either. Let us publish the report today, read the report and debate the report.

The Minister for housing should also publish an update on where we are at in respect of each of the 83 recommendations because there is a radical reset of housing policy underway. That is why we have a Land Development Agency. That is why we have record social housing building. It is the largest amount ever in my lifetime and the largest amount in 50 years. That is why we have cost rental schemes. That is why we are seeing 337 new homes going to construction every working day this year. That is why we have had more than 30,000 homes commence construction so far this year as well.

Deputy Boyd Barrett talked about incentivising private developers. The report is very clear. Just to be clear for the Deputy on this matter before he talks about the-----

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

The Taoiseach has probably read it.

The Taoiseach

I have read it because that is the useful thing to do-----

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

We have not had a chance yet.

The Taoiseach

-----when one is Taoiseach. When one gets a report the night before, one reads it.

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

The Government gave it to the press, not to us.

The Taoiseach

I would advise the Deputy to read it when it is published, too, and then we can have a more informed discussion on it because the report very clearly talks about the need for diverse funding models. Yes, we need and have record levels of Exchequer development, but this idea of private investment and diverse sources of investment being the devil incarnate is not what the report has found. It is just the Deputy’s political view of the world.

We asked 12 people to come together. We asked them to do three years of work. They did it and we should be grateful to them. Let us read the terms of reference as well. We asked them to outline what housing policy post 2030 should look like. That just keeps getting airbrushed. This is 2024, so we are not post 2030. Everyone is just jumping to asking why we have not done everything in the Housing Commission report. It is not post 2030 and I have not had a chance to analyse all of the recommendations yet. So, let us read the report and consider it.

We need to continue in the here and now to do everything we can to help people who are trying to buy their own homes. That is why we are now seeing a very significant increase in housing supply, a very significant increase in social housing supply, and a very significant increase in the incentives available to people that the Deputy is not in favour of in terms of the help-to-buy scheme and the first-time buyers scheme.

I take the point that the Deputy makes about some of the rental supports, the wish for those not to be a permanent destination for people and the need to get people secure accommodation, be it social, affordable or private, but I also get the point that he raises with me on a very regular basis in this House – probably once per week – about the need to continue with those supports and the need to reform and improve them further.

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

For those who are not convinced by the Taoiseach's answer, the housing protest will be outside Customs House at 2.30 p.m. this Saturday. I hope people will come out onto the streets for it.

No one disputes that there will be a private sector in housing, but the private sector should not be subsidised at the expense of delivering the social and affordable housing that it is incapable of delivering. The majority of Government policy is about giving subsidies to private developers and speculators who are incapable and unwilling to deliver affordable housing at the expense of the social and affordable housing we actually need. That is a crazy policy. The Government needs to accept that current house prices and rents are unaffordable for approximately 60% to 70% of ordinary working people. The market the Government subsidises and incentivises by pouring billions of euro into the private sector’s pockets is not delivering housing that is affordable. Therefore, the Government needs a radical reset. That is what the commission report says. Admit the policy is failing, break from it, reset and begin to direct the State’s resources, which are plentiful, towards building social and affordable housing and controlling the obscene rents being charged by these property investment funds and corporate landlords.

The Taoiseach

The Deputy is picking one line out of approximately 400 pages of a report, which I accept he has not had an opportunity to get or read yet, but what I would suggest-----

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

I have been phoning the journalist to try to get it.

The Taoiseach

We will be publishing it today. When the Deputy sees the actions, he will see that many of them are underway. We agree with many of them, by the way. Many of them are in line with Government policy. Many of them are things that we are working on right now.

Deputy Cian O'Callaghan

The Government voted down a land price registry.

The Taoiseach

There are some with which I am not sure Deputy O'Callaghan will fully agree.

Deputy Cian O'Callaghan

The Government voted down our proposals on a land price registry.

An Ceann Comhairle

Deputy, please.

The Taoiseach

There are some with which I am not sure Deputy Boyd Barrett will agree either.

I do not think it will be a case of every single recommendation meeting the satisfaction of every political viewpoint in this House but there are good ideas here. We need good ideas. We need to be open to listening to new ideas. We should never be so complacent or arrogant to suggest, when it comes to housing, that we do not want them. There is good stuff there that we will advance. There is also stuff there that we may not be fully convinced of and there is stuff there the Deputy may not be fully convinced of either. When it comes to housing, we are open for business when it comes to new ideas. That is what the Housing Commission is helpful in relation to. That is why we set it up in the first place and that is why we look forward to engaging on it.

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

Let us have 50% social and affordable on all developments, as we have asked for.

An Ceann Comhairle

I call Deputy Shanahan.

Deputy Matt Shanahan

Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle.

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

Let us have 50% social and affordable of all housing.

An Ceann Comhairle

There is somebody else in possession now.

Deputy Matt Shanahan

We held a remembrance event in Waterford on Saturday to mark the recent passing of Brendan Cummins, someone who I recommended to the Taoiseach to the board of SETU. Brendan was a global CEO of Ciba-Geigy for many years and a board member of two companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange, but it was his civic work in Waterford he will be most remembered for, especially his outstanding work for Respond Housing Association. Ar dheis láimh Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

Anger is an important emotion in politics. After the termination of the prolonged period of social distancing in the Leinster House bubble necessitated by the return to the campaign trail, party elected are meeting palpable anger at many doors and they are asking where is all of this going. Obviously, our first instinct is defensive. How can we protect our society from all of this anger? There is worry, too, that it may spill over into something more sinister.

Anger is also an indispensable political emotion, for without angry speech, how would we know that the powerless get an audience with the body politic. Since my election to this Chamber more than four years ago, I have advised the Taoiseach and the Government about the anger building in Waterford and the south east. I have tried to do this in a measured tone, not to stoke it but rather to relay it, which is my duty as an elected representative. Of course, anyone watching Waterford will have seen the anger rising. In 2013, the Waterford "gives a shirt" protest saw 22,000 people march on the street. People were worried and angry then too, seeing the treatment of their regional hospital and university. That anger did not materialise for no reason. In 2011, the Taoiseach's party, Fine Gael, promised a full university to Waterford. Cut to today, Waterford people continue to remain angry at the failure to progress higher education with meaningful funding - no new promised teaching buildings at Waterford, no new promised courses, no new promised funding resources. After 13 years of Fine Gael rule, there is no publicly funded delivery.

We saw James Reilly, as the Fine Gael health Minister, promise in 2012 that the Cork hospital grouping would be fair to Waterford, but what a story of tatters and tears that has resulted in. Not to be outdone, roll on 2016, where Fianna Fáil promised it would deliver 24-7 cardiac care to the south east. In fact, the Tánaiste took electoral advantage in an infamous 2016 photo showing him on hospital grounds standing with a banner making that very promise. Fast forward to today, three announcements to deliver service funding over a ten-month period by the present Minister of State for health continued to be more political bluster. On 24-7, we have not seen investment even to begin the recruitment for the seven-day service.

The major parties that formed the Government have made promises to the people of Waterford and the south east. All were deeply important promises. All were deeply symbolic. These promises have been made for electoral advantage and they have been subsequently broken. Can the Taoiseach understand the sense of anger and betrayal in Waterford over these promises. Is such anger not justified?

The Taoiseach

First, the Deputy referenced anger and toxicity in politics. While anger and toxicity, when manifested in the way some local election candidates across the political divide have experienced it, is utterly unacceptable and should always be called out by all of us, as I know the Deputy would, my overwhelming experience when I engage with people right across this country is that people are fundamentally decent and that we have not lost our way in this country in knowing how we can disagree without being disagreeable and how we can have a debate without being rude and obnoxious. That is worth saying in terms of providing a degree of context to all of this as well.

In relation to a number of issues that the Deputy has raised regarding Waterford - I visited there recently and I will visit again in the next few days - to be very clear, we promised in the programme for Government to deliver a technological university. That is what the programme for Government says. Job done, we delivered it. Many people, and perhaps the Deputy, thought we might not. Staff voted for it. Students voted for it. It is in place. Businesses see the benefit of it in Waterford. Students see the benefit in Waterford. When I go around Waterford, I do not see anger around the university. I see a sense of relief that they finally have one. The Deputy's view and mine on this are a little different.

We need to do more to continue to invest in the South East Technological University. The Deputy spoke to me last week in the Dáil about the engineering - the PPP bundle 2 - and I gave him an answer that the Government is committed to that. However, the South East Technological University has already benefited from significant additional funding for its transformation to a university, including €9.5 million from the technological sector advancement fund and €13.6 million under a research agenda fund specifically ring-fenced for technological universities. Other universities cannot apply. We are currently engaging with the South East Technological University on building internal capacity through the establishment of its senior leadership team and trying to bring our academic staffing structures in line with the university sector when it comes to the role of professors.

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue of University Hospital Waterford as well. I thank the staff in that hospital for their ongoing dedication and I want them to know that we have seen the staffing growing in that hospital by more than 800 since the end of December 2019, a 43.2% increase. There is 47 more consultants working in the hospital now, 101 more non-consultant hospital doctors, 353 more nurses and mid-wives, and 123 more health and social care professionals. The budget for the hospital now, at €290 million, has increased by 44% since this Government came to office. Capital projects at the hospital have been delivered to a tune of €69.81 million since this Government came to office as well. This includes the second cath lab. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, Senator Cummins and Deputy Ó Cathasaigh for their work on this and the construction of the OPD modular unit as well. We remain absolutely committed in relation to the cardiac services. The second cath lab opened on 4 October 2023. It operates five days a week, Monday to Friday, currently. Obviously, we want to see the opening times extended. Additional staff have been approved to extend the opening hours, and recruitment of staff is the next step in that.

Deputy Matt Shanahan

I sometimes get bemused when I am making these statements because I wonder do I see different evidence from what the Taoiseach does when he responds to me. I would make the point here that the Taoiseach has raised the issues of SETU and what is happening. I point out to the Taoiseach that there has been no delivery on the promises that were given there, be it the courses, the teaching building or the development of the PPP. That is what people see and that is what people are looking at.

In terms of the hospital, we were promised a seven-day cardiac service and the implementation of a service in July of last year. We have not even yet lifted the HSE embargo on those positions to begin recruitment. That shows the lack of delivery.

I brought up the issue of the Waterford Gaeltacht with the Taoiseach in recent days. I point out to the Taoiseach that, according to responses I got to parliamentary questions, €53 million in funding through údarás in six years was given to the seven Gaeltachtaí in the country and the Waterford Gaeltacht got €66,000 out of it. That is what I am talking about. This is what I see. This is what the people of Waterford see.

It is not to be argumentative but to point out to the Taoiseach that this is about delivery. Until delivery happens, people will not believe. It is as simple as that. To be honest, we have to put our fingers into the wounds and see them.

The Taoiseach

The Deputy has every right to vigorously represent his constituents in Waterford here, as he does, and I respect that. I have a right to put across the Government's view too. We promised a technological university. It is in the programme for Government. It has been delivered. We promised ring-fenced research funding. It has been delivered. We promised that we would help secure the Waterford Crystal site. It has been delivered. We will deliver the PPP bundle 2. I said that last week; I say it again this week too. We are committed to expanding opening hours in the cath labs and we have put investment in there. We have seen a €30 million flood protection scheme to protect businesses and residents along Waterford city's quays. There is a new state-of-the-art fire station with an investment of €10 million. There is investment that has paved the way for a €30 million expansion of the courthouse. The old disused railway line between the picturesque town of Dungarvan, which I visited two weeks' ago, and Waterford city is now a first-class greenway. There was investment of €25 million in that. There was €37 million from the ERDF and active travel funding for the city centre, the transformation of Grattan Square in Dungarvan and main street in Tramore. There has been €170 million committed by the Government for the north quays as well, enabling infrastructure, developing a new integrated transportation hub and a new grid linking the new north and south quays. There was €200 million spent on capital projects, including a number I have outlined. In the hospital, there is the 100-bed Dunmore wing, palliative care, second cath lab, new mortuary, primary care centres and lots more as well. There is always more to do in politics, but this is a Government that is investing in Waterford city, Waterford county and the south east because we believe in regional development and we believe in Waterford.

^ Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation ^

Deputy Mary Lou McDonald

Ireland's recognition of the state of Palestine is an historic step in the struggle for freedom, self-determination and human rights for the Palestinian people.

I commend all those who campaigned for this over many decades.

Today, the people of Gaza continue to endure slaughter, displacement and starvation inflicted upon them by an Israel that acts with impunity. Israel's attacks on Gaza are war crimes. Ireland can and must take an active role within the international community in pushing for an immediate and full ceasefire and to hold Israel to account. The Government must follow today's important announcement by enacting the occupied territories Bill and taking the lead in Europe in pushing for sanctions against Israel. Will the Government take these important steps? Will the Taoiseach outline the arrangements for the formal recognition, which I understand will take place next Tuesday?

The Taoiseach

I thank the Deputy. I genuinely welcome that the Government and the Opposition in Ireland speak with one voice on this matter. It is important for the people of Palestine and for Ireland that we recognise the state of Palestine. I acknowledge the Deputy's long-standing support for that. I assure her and the House that we will continue to work at every possible opportunity for an immediate ceasefire. I will do that at every avenue, every conversation and every engagement. The Tánaiste is doing that. Every member of the Government and the Opposition should use every forum and lever available to them to do the same.

I outlined our view on the occupied territories Bill. It is a legal position based on the advice we have. I also outlined how we intend to progress that and how we will continue to try to win the argument at a European level.

The recognition by the Government will formally take place effective next Tuesday. I suggest we should, with the agreement of the Business Committee, have statements in the Dáil next Tuesday on it.

Deputy Duncan Smith

In 1987, when Beaumont Hospital was founded, the population of Fingal was approximately 140,000. It is now 330,000 and is expected to grow to 400,000 by 2030, yet we are still fully reliant on Beaumont Hospital. Last week, in the town of Swords where I live, we found out that the long-overdue HSE primary care centre is now in doubt because the developer says it cannot be delivered at the agreed price. As a former Minister for Health, the Taoiseach knows how important a primary care centre is. Swords is the largest town in Ireland without a primary care centre and the pressure on Beaumont Hospital is unsustainable. Can the Taoiseach please give some comfort to the people of Swords and south Fingal that they will be able to avail of a primary care centre in their town as soon as possible?

The Taoiseach

I can. I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I fully agree with him. I am aware of the size of Swords and the population expansion being seen there. I am of the view that if there are challenges in the delivery of any such primary care centres, we will have to come up with alternative ways of progressing them. I accept the need for the people of Swords and south Fingal to have that primary care centre. I will ask for a direct update from the Minister for Health.

Deputy Róisín Shortall

I will ask the Taoiseach about the provision of autism spectrum disorder, ASD, classrooms. Two years ago, the NCSE recommended two new ASD classrooms for a school in Glasnevin in my constituency. However, the planning and building unit is not responding to any of its calls and has not responded for more than a year now. Is there an unwritten policy that only reconfigured classrooms, where there is already some existing space in a school, are getting the go-ahead and not those that require new modular builds? That seems to be what is happening. There seems to be a policy of quantity over quality.

The Taoiseach

If that is an unwritten policy, it has not been approved by the Government and somebody would need to scrap that policy pretty quickly because we are in urgent need of more additional autism classes. What the Deputy outlined has not been my experience in a couple of projects I worked on in my constituency, but that situation must be very frustrating if a school puts up its hand to say it is willing to assist. I will directly inquire about this and come back to the Deputy.

Deputy Bríd Smith

Everybody welcomes the formal recognition of the state of Palestine. I also recognise and welcome the departure of the Israeli ambassador. Although she has been called back by her country for discussions, we should formally expel her and keep her out. The reason, as the Taoiseach more or less acknowledged, is that after seven months of genocidal massacre in Gaza, the Government has been forced to recognise the state of Palestine years after it said it would do so. There are also years and years of illegal occupation, of apartheid, and rule by a state that does not have the right to exist. This is not a normal state. The State of Israel needs to have sanctions imposed on it, it needs to be boycotted, and the Israeli ambassador needs to be expelled from this country. Much more needs to be done, not just for the people of Gaza but for the entire people of Palestine. We want peace. Everybody wants peace, but we will not get it unless the Government puts the absolute strictest sanctions it possibly can on the apartheid State of Israel to stop the massacre in Gaza.

The Taoiseach

I do not want to be overly argumentative with the Deputy, but I want to check. She did not say that Israel does not have the right to exist?

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

Apartheid does not.

The Taoiseach

To be very clear, it is the Government's position-----

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

Israel is an apartheid-----

The Taoiseach

-----that there is a State of Israel and a state of Palestine, based on the 1967 borders.

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

We do not agree with that.

The Taoiseach

The Deputy may not agree with that. I am articulating the Government's position on what recognition means today and that both states have a right to exist in peace and security, as do the Israeli and Palestinian people, their children and their children's children. We intend to keep diplomatic relations with Israel.

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

As equals.

The Taoiseach

We keep diplomatic relations with countries we vehemently disagree with. Those diplomatic relations are often very important in relation to our citizens.

Deputy Matt Shanahan

We just spoke about how the health recruitment freeze is affecting the seven-day cardiac service, but it is also stopping other initiatives in the national hospital space. A large hospital in the country was able to transfer 220 patients who receive bimonthly infusion therapy into a community primary care setting because it had specialist nurses to help it do that. The patients remain under the active care of the hospital management teams but the topline results are demonstrated by this initiative. It reduced the hospital drugs bill by €850,000, freed up 1,760 appointment spaces in the schedule, saved 3,520 nursing hours and treatment bed-share options, allowing those to be offered to other patients, and it saved the pharmacy significant compounding time. This could be done at a national level, and could possibly affect up to 2,500 patients, but it is a fact that the embargo is stopping the recruitment of nurses to assist that process, which I make the Taoiseach aware of.

The Taoiseach

I thank the Deputy for making a constructive suggestion regarding how innovation is helping patients and being cost-efficient. The health service is funded this year to grow its staffing levels by 2,200 additional staff; it is 3,000 when disability services are included. I will ask about the service the Deputy referenced and its particular benefits from a cost and patient point of view.

Deputy Mattie McGrath

Once again, I return to the issue of disability services and school places in south Tipperary. Last week, I handed a number of letters to the Tánaiste from very concerned families who cannot get school places for their children with autism. This continues, with many children still without a school place.

This week, I was in receipt of a letter highlighting the urgent action required to support Scoil Chormaic special school in Cashel. It is a wonderful school with wonderful staff. Scoil Chormaic is a special school providing education to 219 children and young people with more severe and complex special educational needs. The staff of Scoil Chormaic have now come together to highlight the difficulties they are having in getting the essential and necessary resources required. They believe the processes are far too onerous and long. The needs of children have become more complex but resources have not increased with that need. For example, in respect of dual diagnosis and behaviours of concern, resources are lacking or there are none at all. We need supports for such schools, as well as for school places in general, but this particular school badly needs extra resources.

Minister of State at the Department of Education (Deputy Hildegarde Naughton)

I thank the Deputy for his question. There is a very important focus on special educational needs services being provided throughout the country. I will follow up directly regarding the school referenced by the Deputy. The matter was also raised in the Seanad this morning. I will come back to the Deputy directly on it. We are investing. The NCSE is working very closely with the Department of Education and all schools throughout the country. I will come back to the Deputy on the specifics of that school.

Deputy Thomas Pringle

Before I start, will the Palestinian flag be flown at Leinster House next Tuesday?

An Ceann Comhairle

It will.

Deputy Thomas Pringle

Thank you. The fishing industry in Ireland has been in serious and rapid decline since the introduction of the Common Fisheries Policy. Due to this, fish factory workers, who once worked ten months of the year, are now lucky to get six weeks' work in factories. This decline has meant that it is no longer possible for workers to work up enough stamps. They are forced to apply for jobseeker's allowance rather than jobseeker's benefit, which impacts on their income. Although scarce, the work carried out by factory workers is vital and important. Without it, we would not have fresh fish in our shops or supermarkets. These workers need to be supported to carry out this work, but many are leaving the factories because of the decline in hours and the fact that they are now forced to claim means-tested jobseeker's allowance. Support will benefit factory owners as well as workers and is very important. Will the Government introduce measures, through social welfare, to support fish factory workers to allow them to continue providing this vital work?

The Taoiseach

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue of factory workers and the benefits support for them would have for the whole sector. I will ask the Minister for Social Protection to look into his suggestion and to revert to him directly.

Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan

If we told people there was a medicine that could reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by 33%, they would take it. If we told people that there was a tonic that could reduce the risk of type 3 diabetes by 40%, they would absolutely take it. If we told people there was a tool that could reduce the risk of depression by 30%, they would absolutely take it. This medicine does exist. It is called physical activity. We need to incentivise it. Physical inactivity costs the State approximately €1.5 billion per year. Yesterday, we heard a presentation from the Irish Physical Activity Alliance calling for a tax relief for gym memberships and physical activity. I ask that we support this call. It would lead to healthier lifestyles and longer lives and would save the State a fortune. I ask the Taoiseach to support that call.

The Taoiseach

We will certainly look at any good ideas in advance of the budget. Obviously, we should all exercise. I include walking around your local park and exercising in your community in that. We have introduced a number of important measures, including the bike to work scheme. It is a novel idea that is certainly worthy of consideration. I will ask the Minister, Deputy McGrath, to consider it.

Deputy Brendan Griffin

Will the Taoiseach provide an update on the sports capital programme to the House? I welcome the recent allocations for sports capital equipment. It is great news for many communities and for the volunteers in sports clubs around the country. There seems to be a bit of confusion, however. There was a list detailing amounts and club names circulating online yesterday. On closer inspection, it seems it was a list of the amounts sought rather than the proposed allocations. Will the Taoiseach provide clarity to the House as to when we can expect allocations under the capital side of the sports capital and equipment programme?

The Taoiseach

People in Wicklow are very interested in the sports capital programme as well. I inquired about this myself only the other day. My understanding is that the sports capital funding allocations are likely to be made in the autumn, probably in September or October. I will ask the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, and the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, to confirm that to the Deputy. As Deputy Griffin has said, we have made an announcement regarding sports equipment grants. The bigger scheme will follow in the autumn.

Deputy Maurice Quinlivan

The Housing Commission report, which is devastating for the Government, called for a radical strategic reset of housing policy. In Limerick, a significant amount of land is in the control of the Land Development Agency. These are lands that could and should be used for the development of social and truly affordable housing that working families can access. In 2022 and 2023, the Land Development Agency failed to deliver a single home in Limerick. It has lots of plans and projects but will not deliver anything in the near future. I ask the Taoiseach to instruct the Land Development Agency to transfer some of these lands to Limerick City and County Council, which has been much more successful in delivering homes for those who need them in Limerick when provided with the funds needed. We cannot wait for the Land Development Agency while thousands of people in Limerick do not have a home. Will the Government release funding to Limerick City and County Council and instruct the Land Development Agency to give some of the State-owned land to the council so that it can start building the houses that are desperately needed? We need delivery and this is something the LDA is not providing.

The Taoiseach

This will be the benefit of a directly-elected mayor for Limerick because this sounds like something the local authority and LDA should work together on. I will certainly ask the Minister for housing to follow up on Deputy Quinlivan's suggestion and revert to him.

Deputy Patricia Ryan

Will the Taoiseach clarify whether it is common practice for GPs to put medical card holders who are applying to become patients of their practices onto waiting lists rather than giving an outright refusal, thereby preventing these medical card holders from getting the three refusals required to ask the HSE to step in and appoint a doctor for them? Is this issue specific to GPs in Kildare? Applicants are without an assigned GP while on the waiting list. What legislative measures can the Minister for Health take to alleviate the situation? I have put in parliamentary questions to the Minister but he sends each one on to the HSE, saying that it is an operational matter. I really do not care whose remit it is. I mean that. I just need to have this resolved. I note the Taoiseach had a lovely green chart at the beginning of Leaders' Questions. Does the Minister have something similar, which would allow us to see the failure in this area?

The Taoiseach

I am not sure whether he has charts-----

Deputy Patricia Ryan

I am not sure either.

The Taoiseach

-----but I can sense the Deputy's frustration in trying to get an answer to this question for her constituents in Kildare. I will ask the Minister for Health to revert to her directly to clarify the issue.

Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan

I will raise the issue of IBD services in Cork with the Taoiseach. Over the last few weeks, I have been liaising with the HSE on this issue but it is appropriate to raise it again here today. The IBD service at CUH is led by three consultant gastroenterologists and two academic consultants. One clinical nurse specialist provides support for more than 2,000 patients with IBD who attend that clinic. In 2023, the IBD service was supported by two clinical nurse specialists but, as one is on maternity leave, the responsibility and workload of three clinical nurse specialists and two advanced nurse practitioners have fallen on one clinical nurse specialist. In a reply to a parliamentary question, the chief executive of the HSE has stated that this decreased staffing is a direct result of the recruitment moratorium and that a risk report has been filed in this regard. I understand the need for the moratorium but, when an issue like this is affecting 2,000 people, there surely has to be some flexibility.

The Taoiseach

The entire reason the Government provided the HSE with a budget that allows it to expand staff numbers by 2,200 in the HSE and by more than 3,000 when disability services are factored in was to ensure that service delivery issues like this could be considered. I will certainly ask the Minister for Health and the CEO of the HSE to revert to the Deputy directly on the specific query he has raised.

Deputy David Stanton

Will the Taoiseach tell us the date on which the call for the next round of the excellent urban regeneration and development fund, the fourth such round, will be made? The people of Carrigtohill and Cobh in my area are very interested in this because it is an excellent fund.

The Taoiseach

I fully agree with Deputy Stanton. As I travel around the country, I see many projects that have benefited from the fund. I am sure there are many in his own county of Cork. I do not have the specific date but I will ask the Minister for housing to revert to Deputy Stanton directly.

Deputy Alan Kelly

I will ask the Taoiseach about staffing levels in UHL. The Government has said that it is committed to doing everything it can in this regard, hence Mr. Justice Clarke's report, which is due out soon and which I presume will recommend a level 3 hospital given the Minister's statement in recent weeks. There are 183 nursing positions vacant despite some derogation from the embargo. What is going to be done about this? There is another real issue that is even more important. A recent missive of 19 April stated that all temporary higher appointments in UHL will be blocked and reversed. Anybody acting up, which is normal across the HSE, in UHL will no longer be allowed to do so. This applies to approximately 60 people in UHL, including some who work in the emergency department. Will the Taoiseach please get on to the Minister and investigate this matter? Not only are there 183 nursing vacancies, but now all of those who were acting up until that date have gone back to their normal jobs. Many senior positions and other positions are therefore vacant because of this unilateral decision, which is in breach of the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act 2003 and the Payment of Wages Act 1991. If the Government is doing everything it can to solve the issues in the mid-west and at UHL, why in the name of God is it doing this?

The Taoiseach

I thank Deputy Kelly for raising this issue regarding temporary higher appointments. I will not pretend to have been aware of it because I was not. I do not doubt what he has said. I will ask the Minister for Health to come back to the Deputy on the matter directly. I have a note here that shows the very significant increase in staffing at the hospital. I will send it to the Deputy but I know he is well aware of that increase. I will ask the Minister for Health to revert to the Deputy on the specific issue he has raised.

Deputy Johnny Guirke

Last Friday, 18 modular homes arrived in Coole, County Westmeath, although there is no planning permission to erect them. There are almost 100 international protection applicants on the site at the moment. Westmeath County Council has said there is no planning permission for these homes and it has issued a letter to the developer instructing it to stop works. If the homes are for international protection applicants, the developer needs planning permission. However, if looking for a loophole in the law, the developer can say they are for Ukrainian families and, if it has an agreement with a Government Department, it will not need planning permission. Will the Taoiseach tell me which it is? Deputies Peter Burke and Robert Troy were on site and stated that the developer does not have an agreement with a Government Department yet Taggart Modular states that it has a contract with the Government for these modular homes. Will the Taoiseach tell me and the people of Coole, County Westmeath, what is the truth? Is it any wonder that good people and communities right across the country are up in arms when there is no communication, engagement or dialogue from the Department? It is turning good people and communities against one other.

Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (Deputy Roderic O'Gorman)

I do not agree with the Deputy's assertion that there has been no communication. We have been very clear that there is no contract for modular homes at this location for either Ukrainians or international protection applicants. There are approximately 100 international protection applicants staying at the site already. That is recognised and members of the community have been supportive of them. However, there is no contract in place for modular homes for Ukrainians or international protection applicants. That is as crystal clear as I can make it.

Deputy Marc Ó Cathasaigh

National parks are a bit like buses; you wait 25 years for one and two of them come along at once. The addition of Páirc Náisiúnta na Mara, Ciarraí and Páirc Náisiúnta Bhrú na Bóinne to our store of national parks will be one of the enduring legacies of this Government. While I am unequivocally in favour of these new designations, I cannot turn a blind eye to the fact that there is not actually a legislative underpinning for our national parks. The national biodiversity action plan sets as one of its objectives to ensure the legislative framework for biodiversity conservation is robust, clear and enforceable. One of the sub-targets is that the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, should publish legislation to provide a legal basis for our national parks. Can we instigate and expedite this process under this Government? I am not sure I can trust the next government to do as good a job as the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, would do in this regard.

Deputy Peadar Tóibín

Will you not be in it?

The Taoiseach

That is terribly defeatist, Deputy Ó Cathasaigh.

Deputy Marc Ó Cathasaigh

Not at all.

The Taoiseach

I am glad the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, is doing an excellent job, as, of course, is the Government on many issues and we look forward to putting that case to the people in due course. On the important point that the Deputy has made on national parks, the progress that has been made and the need to look at legislative underpinning, I will speak directly to the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, as will the Deputy, I know, and the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and we will revert to the Deputy.

Deputy Jackie Cahill

I ask the Taoiseach to give us a date for when works on the health centre in Freshford, County Kilkenny, will commence?

The Taoiseach

I cannot do so but I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. I will raise it with the line Minister and get an up-to-date answer for the Deputy on the date.

Deputy Matt Carthy

The announcement that Ireland will formally recognise the state of Palestine next Tuesday is an historic moment for both Ireland and Palestine. I want to commend today all those who have campaigned, marched, petitioned and stood up for international law and the reality that the only route to a lasting peace in the Middle East lies with a free, independent and sovereign Palestinian state. The state we will now officially recognise has long endured oppression, occupation and apartheid. Today, the people of Gaza face a relentless genocide. I hope that the occasion of recognition will be marked in this House with statements, the flying of the Palestinian flag and the attendance of Palestinian representatives. More than that, I expect the Government will take the next logical steps. Israel must be held to account and meaningfully sanctioned for the ongoing gross violations of international law in Gaza and across Palestine. Ireland must be a world leader not just in recognising a Palestinian state but in securing a viable free Palestine and a lasting and just peace.

The Taoiseach

I share Deputy Carthy's view that we should have statements in this House next week with Palestinian representatives and with the flag flying. I note that the Ceann Comhairle has indicated that is his intention, and I welcome that fact. There will absolutely need to be justice and accountability in respect of the atrocities and the humanitarian catastrophe that is unfolding in Gaza; of that, there is no doubt. The immediate priority for the Government and for all governments and all peoples has to be for an immediate cessation of violence and for the humanitarian aid to flow. We are seeing people being starved to death in Gaza at the moment. The Government's priority is to continue to work for an immediate ceasefire in every possible forum and avenue available to us, continuing to pursue that at a European level also and continue to support every effort around humanitarian aid.

Deputy Gino Kenny

I am sure the Taoiseach, as a former health Minister, he is concerned about an article in The Irish Times on Monday on accessibility to cancer drugs. I will just quote some of what the oncologists said. They said public patients are facing huge delays in accessing cancer drugs and that a two-tier health system exists in the context of cancer drugs. They stated that less effective cancer drugs are being prescribed to public patients as a result of the delay in reimbursement of drugs. I am sure the Taoiseach agrees this situation is very unfair in the context of cancer treatment. Can we fix it? There should be equality when it comes to cancer care and access to cancer drugs.

The Taoiseach

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. When it was raised with me recently, I committed to reaching out to some of the doctors and oncologists concerned who have voiced views on this as I would like to hear from them directly. We have allocated significant resources for additional new medicines in 2021, 2022 and 2023 and this has seen the introduction of 61 new cancer medicines. A further €30 million is available this year. The total spend on cancer drugs in the past three years is now over €600 million. This year the HSE will launch an application tracker to increase transparency in the medicines assessment process. I will get the Deputy a direct update on the matter.

Deputy Pauline Tully

I am extremely concerned about the future for children with additional needs in this country. In the past week, I have been informed of children who have been referred to primary care for speech and language therapy or for occupational therapy, OT. They have been told the waiting time to be seen is anything from 12 months to four years. One parent whose six-year-old son was referred by his teacher for speech and language therapy has been told the waiting list is 18 to 24 months. Another parent whose daughter, who is due to start school in September, cannot even say the names of her friends and needs speech and language therapy has been referred by her community nurse and is on a 12-month waiting list. Another parent of two children requiring speech and language therapy and one requiring occupational therapy has been told there will be a four-year waiting list. These situations all involve separate primary care centres within the county of Cavan but I am sure Cavan is not an outlier in this regard. What plans does the Taoiseach have in place to address this severe shortage? The staff are excellent but there are just not enough of them.

The Taoiseach

I share Deputy Tully's view that the staff are excellent and I also share her view that there are not enough of them. The relatively good news is that we have just completed phase 1 of a recruitment campaign into our child disability network teams which will see more therapists, more speech and language therapists, occupational therapists and physiotherapists. We are about to see the HSE launch a second phase of recruitment. I will get the Deputy a note on what that should mean for Cavan.