Pádraig O'Sullivan
Ceist:1. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Taoiseach when the Cork city task force will be established. [1680/25]
Ceisteanna - Questions
Regeneration Projects
Séamus McGrath
Ceist:2. Deputy Séamus McGrath asked the Taoiseach when the Cork city task force will be established. [2221/25]
Paul McAuliffe
Ceist:3. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the implementation of the Dublin city task force recommendations through his Department. [4432/25]
Paul McAuliffe
Ceist:4. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Taoiseach if he will report on plans to apply the Dublin city task force model to other cities, towns and regions in need of revitalisation. [4433/25]
James Geoghegan
Ceist:5. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Taoiseach when he expects the interdepartmental group on the Dublin city task force report to submit its report to the Government. [4439/25]
James Geoghegan
Ceist:6. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Taoiseach when he expects the interdepartmental group on the Dublin city task force report to submit its report to the Government. [4799/25]
Ivana Bacik
Ceist:7. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Taoiseach to report on his plans for new city task forces, and on when the interdepartmental group on the Dublin city task force report will submit its report. [5752/25]
Mary Lou McDonald
Ceist:8. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the implementation of the Dublin city task force recommendations through his Department. [6073/25]
Paul Murphy
Ceist:9. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Taoiseach if he will report on plans to implement the Dublin city task force recommendations. [6089/25]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 9, inclusive, together.
Proposals are currently being developed regarding the establishment of a task force for Cork city centre. Once they are finalised, the proposals will be submitted to the Government for its consideration. In essence, the role of the task force will be to examine and develop a strategy for the renewal and refurbishment of the city centre of Cork and issues related to the city centre. We hope to come back to Deputies in respect of that.
With regard to the Dublin city centre task force, the goal is to make Dublin city centre a more thriving, attractive and safe cityscape, as well as a desirable location to live, work, do business and visit. To deliver on these missions, the task force identified ten big moves it recommends should be addressed. As agreed by the Government, the Department of An Taoiseach convened an interdepartmental group to examine the task force recommendations. The interdepartmental group is currently preparing a report for consideration by the Government in the coming weeks. Following this, we will come back to the House with those specifics.
With the Ceann Comhairle's permission, I wish to acknowledge the passing of former Minister of State and a colleague of the Taoiseach for a number of years, Danny Wallace. The Taoiseach wrote a piece in a local newspaper yesterday in which he remembered Danny fondly. I first met Danny many years ago, but I really got to know him during the 2019 by-election in Cork North-Central. During the 2020 general election campaign, I was struck by how many people would approach him, by how affable he was with people, and by how highly he was held in their regard.
It really struck me how inherently decent he was. I mark his passing. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.
We all have wish lists of things that we would like to see in our constituencies, particularly with regard to infrastructure. I hope the newly established Cork task force will be able to deliver for the people of Cork. I often listen to the Taoiseach and he says that we need to deliver things quite regularly but if I look across my side of the city, I can see it is beset with planning difficulties, for example relating to two of our three primary care centres. We would like to see an elective hospital delivered in Glanmire as quickly as possible. Former Minister of State Danny Wallace would have mentioned the north ring road in this House on many occasions over the years but 25 years on, no progress has been made. I emphasise that all of these projects would, hopefully, feed into regenerating and rejuvenating the city we love so well. Above all else, I ask the Taoiseach to consider including political representation on the task force. I believe this is crucial to ensuring we can drive and deliver for the people of Cork.
I join my colleague in passing on my condolences to the family of Dan Wallace. As somebody entering politics in Cork, Dan was very much a prominent politician in the area, a person of great integrity and a genuine public servant with the best interests of his constituents at heart at all times. I pass on my condolences to his wife Ethel and family.
I very much welcome the Taoiseach's comments on the task force today and the inclusion of the task force in the programme for Government. Cork is a wonderful city with wonderful features and, of course, wonderful people but like all urban areas, it requires investment, rejuvenation and a continued focus. This is something I sincerely hope the task force will do. It will work closely with Cork City Council, which will have a critical role to play. I know it has already been making moves in this regard. The issues of dereliction, vacancy and underutilisation of buildings are critically important. Hopefully, we can align with our aims in terms of improving housing supply when it comes to housing over shops. The underutilisation of buildings in the city centre is a blight in Cork and the task force needs to deal with this. Transport, connectivity to the city centre, improved local bus services and the light rail system progressing are critically important. One issue that is close to my heart is the lack of a shuttle service between the city centre and Cork Airport. This is something that needs to be delivered as part of this task force. Regarding safety in the city, I listened to other Deputies earlier talk about Garda presence. This is something that came up strongly during the general election. People, unfortunately, do not feel safe in the city centre. The lack of a visible Garda presence and the lack of a proactive policing management plan for the city are issues I hope the task force can deal with. The events centre is something we want to see progressed. I know the Taoiseach shares that view.
The events on South Anne Street late on Saturday night were some of the worst and most shocking scenes we have seen in our city since the Dublin riots. As the Taoiseach said, we are all thinking of the family of the victim and of the victims who were subjected to the violent attacks that took place in Stoneybatter. The pretext for the Dublin city centre task force established by the Tánaiste was safety in our city. It was a recognition and a reflection that increased numbers of gardaí in our city centre alone will not be enough to improve the outlook of our city and make Dublin the city we all know it can be. There was a lot of discussion here about the lack of Garda resources and the lack of gardaí in the city centre. There has been an increase in Garda patrols. We need to commend the responsiveness of An Garda Síochána, particularly in the way it carried out the investigation into the incident on Saturday night and its speedy response to the significant danger it faced in Stoneybatter. However, we need this task force to be up and running and the recommendations need to be implemented. The only way those recommendations can be implemented is if they are matched by funding. I very much welcome that it is coming to the Government in the next few weeks and I sincerely hope it will include funding commitments.
I spoke earlier about the awful incidents of knife crime, particularly on South Anne Street, and expressed my sympathies to the family of Quham Babatunde. I do so again, as I do to all those victims of South Anne Street and Stoneybatter. Clearly we need to see the positive aspects in the report of the Dublin city centre task force implemented, particularly where the report called for 1,000 extra gardaí. We need a commitment from the Government that recruitment will be ramped up within An Garda Síochána. We need to see conditions, particularly for trainee gardaí, made more attractive so that we will see more gardaí brought on. This is a crucial issue.
In terms of improving the quality of life in the city centre, we saw an announcement today of a new development in Boland's Mills in Barrow Street. This is a discounted rental scheme for key workers that is very welcome. It is a collaboration between Google and Clúid Housing. Again, it is very welcome but why is it that a private company is stepping up to do this? Why are we not seeing more of this sort of positive development for housing in the city centre within the canals and in the Dublin 2 and Dublin 4 area coming from the State?
I endorse the questions that others put to the Taoiseach about including local elected representatives on the Cork city task force and seeing more commitment on the Cork events centre. Our councillor Peter Horgan in Cork has fought for years for transparency with regard to this project.
If take Moore Street as an emblem and an example of the interest of the State and successive governments in the regeneration of Dublin's north inner city, I can tell the House that it tells a very depressing tale. It tells a tale not just of indifference to those families and communities in the here and now, but also of utter and gross disrespect for the history and the historic nature of the Moore Street quarter. I very much welcome the fact that the GPO will be put to good use and that a cultural hub and quarter will be developed around it. This should extend to Moore Street and the lanes of history. Do I hold out much hope of this Government actually investing in that? Quite frankly, no.
I welcome the proposal for 1,000 extra gardaí. I would be very curious to know the timeline for that, the funding that will be put aside for it and, as Deputy Bacik has said, the recruitment plan for that.
A significant portion of the entire transient and homeless population of the State is resident in Dublin 1. It is a quilt of hostels and emergency services for some of the most broken citizens in our State. It has become a dumping ground. I am loath to use this term because we are all human beings and worthy of respect and support, but I want to register in the clearest possible terms the feelings of the inner city communities that they have been left behind and put upon. For those reasons, this strategy had better work.
The Dublin city centre task force recommends improving public transport by implementing the city centre transport plan. How on earth does the Taoiseach think this is compatible with outsourcing more and more routes to private companies like Go-Ahead Ireland, which has been a disaster for commuters? Workers and students in Tallaght, Knocklyon and Rathfarnham have had their lives turned upside down by the number of no-show buses and ghost buses run by Go-Ahead Ireland. The S6, S8 and S4, all of which are run by Go-Ahead Ireland, are totally unreliable. I have talked to countless people over the past couple of weeks who said they have had to get taxis multiple times to work and can no longer take public transport to work because they do not know whether it will arrive on time. They are waiting on a bus and it does not show for a couple of hours because various buses simply do not appear. Yet Go-Ahead Ireland has been rewarded by winning another contract - the so-called ODMA, which is a series of different routes worth €50 million. The bottom line issue is that Go-Ahead Ireland cannot recruit the mechanics to fix the buses because it makes profits by paying the mechanics less than Dublin Bus pays them. Privatisation is a disaster for workers, commuters and our environment. Will the Taoiseach instruct the NTA to return the bus routes to Dublin Bus?
In the context of the Dublin city centre task force, I wish to ask the Taoiseach about motorbike theft. A total of 787 motorbikes were stolen in Dublin in 2023 - a 100% increase on the previous year. This means that for every 100 motorbikes bought, 44 were stolen. It is completely out of control. Will the Government follow the example of London, which launched Operation Venice and introduced a range of measures to clamp down on moped theft? Within a year, moped theft had fallen by 36% and moped-enabled crime had fallen by 47% across London. Will we follow the example of London and take action on this?
We all know about issues like violent crime, organised crime or chaotic crime. We know about the estate management failures that exist. We all deal at times with the Garda, Tusla, the council and intervention services, which have insufficient tools to deal with the cases in front of them. The Drogheda implementation board did good work but could not deal with the issues in front of it. We will wait to see what comes from the community safety forums. I want to deal specifically with one issue that is constantly in front of the Garda, that is, mental health. I will not give specifics, but I know of people who have been arrested multiple times under the Mental Health Act and have not been committed. The Garda is the only body dealing with such people, and that is insufficient and a failure to everyone.
On the development of Dublin, we learned today that the builders of the national children's hospital require an additional €800 million of taxpayers' money. We also learned that there will be a further delay until this time next year. The Department of Health has stated that the delay is due to the fact that it is difficult to bring children from hospital to hospital in the winter. I find it hard to believe that we are delaying construction again for that reason. Will the Taoiseach publish the clinical advice pertaining to this advice?
Before the Taoiseach starts his reply, I welcome our new Senators who are on a tour of the House. I congratulate them and hope they enjoy proceedings. Seeing as the Taoiseach has so many questions to answer, I will be lenient and allow him six minutes to reply.
I wish to be associated with the comments of Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan in respect of the late Dan Wallace. He was a good friend of mine, a Member of this House for over 25 years and a Minister of State. He was a very decent man and a fierce advocate for the people of the north side of Cork. In some respects, I learned the nuts and bolts of electoral politics as a student with Dan Wallace on the north side of Cork, when we canvassed in Gurranabraher, Blackpool and Farranree. He personified the indomitable spirit that characterises the people of the north side of Cork. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis. I hope we will have an opportunity at a later date to pay sincere tribute to him.
Deputies O'Sullivan and Séamus McGrath raised the Cork task force. I acknowledge the list of issues that Deputy O'Sullivan raised, including the health facilities and the northern ring road. There is also the issue of the elective hospital, which the Deputy did not raise but has campaigned strongly for. I hope we can get that activated. Deputy McGrath was correct in saying there is underutilisation of buildings in Cork city. In the transportation area, light rail is coming to the city centre. The transformation of Kent Station is a great platform, excuse the pun, to energise the city centre. It will lead, we hope, to a new active travel bridge across the river, which would link to the light rail system. There are great opportunities there. I met representatives of Iarnród Éireann recently in respect of that. We will also be meeting representatives of the NTA.
Safety in the cities of Cork and Dublin, as Deputy Geoghegan said, is, in some respects, the context for much of the work of the task force. We need to reimagine our cities. They are going to be different spaces in the future. I am not sure we will have the big anchor tenants of yesteryear in our cities. Our city centres will become more residential, sharing space with retail, hospitality and other forms of activity. There is a bit of work to be done yet in terms of planning and the contexts that govern developments within our city centres. The safety issue is core. Architecturally, how we design cities and streets has an impact on human behaviour and can also have an impact on safety issues. Very often, stronger residential content or density brings the prospect of self-policing, if you like, or community-based deterrents and so on. We need to examine and explore that issue more deeply than we have done to date.
Garda resources will increase. The Covid-19 pandemic, and the closure of the Garda College in Templemore, stopped a lot of recruitment. It has now been reactivated. Measures have been taken, including an increase in the training allowance and an increase to the age for retirement. We hope we will have better retention. We have more work to do on that front.
The events centre in Cork is going out to tender. It will take time for that to come back in, given the level of investment that is proposed.
No one is more exasperated than me about Moore Street. We had previous agreements that Deputies backed away from. Oireachtas committees met on the issue and thought they had agreement with all parties but that did not turn out to be the case. The GPO is a good example of what can happen in a positive way. I visited the outpatients department of the Coombe hospital, which opened recently and is a good example of how we can bring life back into the city centre. It provides an excellent service for women and there is a good footfall of workers on the street who are availing of the service. It is a top-class facility. We must look for more services of that kind that we can reintroduce to the city centre.
We are expanding public service transport. We are increasing the numbers recruited to Bus Éireann and Iarnród Éireann. They have had difficulty recruiting. We had to cancel services in Cork city because of the inability to recruit bus drivers as a result of the growth and expansion of our full economy. Let us be clear that the Government has presided over an expansion of public transport services, both rail and bus, with additionality in terms of the numbers of passengers and so on. We will continue to do that.
We would be open to examining the London experience, which was raised by Deputy Cian O'Callaghan.
Deputy Ó Murchú raised the issues of estate management and mental health. His was valid commentary. We must be careful how we say this, but sometimes many issues have underlying causes that do not amount to criminality when we consider the person's mindset or state of health. There are issues there to which we need to attend. Gardaí can be the people who engage in the first instance. It can sometimes be difficult to analyse issues around crime because of the shocking nature of it and the immediacy of the commentary. I know of cases where there was no violence, attempted violence or an engagement where we would find there was a background issue. We must work on mental health, addiction, alcohol use and drug use, which is growing exponentially, in our society. All of that is having a negative impact on behaviour and is leading to violence, particularly late at night and early in the morning. There is no point in saying otherwise. Any parent of young people knows the fear when they go out. There is always concern and worry. We must work hard.
On the children's hospital, the developer, BAM in this case, has submitted claims. There is a process for dealing with those claims. They are robustly contested by the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board, and will continue to be. Our objective is to complete the process with proper procedures and systems applying before we get a first-class hospital for the children of the nation.
Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements
Brendan Smith
Ceist:10. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Taoiseach if he will report on any recent discussions with Prime Minister Starmer. [1681/25]
Brendan Smith
Ceist:11. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his attendance at the 42nd British-Irish Council in Edinburgh in December 2024. [1682/25]
Erin McGreehan
Ceist:12. Deputy Erin McGreehan asked the Taoiseach if he will report on any recent discussions with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. [4235/25]
Erin McGreehan
Ceist:13. Deputy Erin McGreehan asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his attendance at the 42nd British-Irish Council in Edinburgh in December. [4236/25]
Pa Daly
Ceist:14. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Taoiseach to provide a report of his recent meeting with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer (details supplied). [4388/25]
Ruairí Ó Murchú
Ceist:15. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Taoiseach if he will report on any recent discussions with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. [5940/25]
Ruairí Ó Murchú
Ceist:16. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his attendance at the 42nd British-Irish Council in Edinburgh, in December 2024. [5941/25]
Ivana Bacik
Ceist:17. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Taoiseach to report on his recent engagements with the British Prime Minister. [5754/25]
Richard Boyd Barrett
Ceist:18. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach to report on any recent discussions with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. [6085/25]
Paul Murphy
Ceist:19. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Taoiseach to report on any recent discussions with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. [6088/25]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 to 19, inclusive, together.
I most recently met with Prime Minister Starmer on 3 February in Brussels in the margins of a dinner with European Union leaders that we both attended. We discussed our shared ambition to strengthen our bilateral relationship and looked forward to seeing each other at the first in a series of annual Ireland-United Kingdom summits that will take place in the United Kingdom next month. We also discussed Northern Ireland, noting that that day marked the first anniversary of the restoration of the power-sharing institutions, as well as European Union-United Kingdom relations, including in the areas of security and defence.
I also spoke with United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer by phone on 27 January when he called to congratulate me on my appointment as Taoiseach. We discussed bilateral relations, Northern Ireland and our shared commitment as co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement, and international issues, in particular Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East.
We also discussed Storm Éowyn and ongoing recovery efforts. I welcomed and thanked the Prime Minister for the assistance to ESB Networks provided by UK and other international crews as part of a mutual association agreement among electricity companies.
I spoke to the First Minister of Scotland, John Swinney on 4 February and discussed the significant effects of Storm Éowyn and the challenges of addressing climate resilience in both countries.
On 6 December, I attended the 42nd British-Irish Council Summit, hosted by the Scottish Government in Edinburgh. In the margins of the summit, I had bilateral meetings with the Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, the Northern Ireland First Minister, Michelle O’Neill and the Deputy First Minister, Emma Little-Pengelly, the First Minister of Scotland John Swinney and the First Minister of Wales, Eluned Morgan. The overall theme of the summit was financing a just transition. The then Taoiseach Simon Harris attended the plenary session and set out Ireland’s commitment to climate action and the work we are doing to ensure that the transition to a low-carbon economy is done in a just and fair manner.
I look forward to attending the next British-Irish Council Summit to be hosted by the Northern Ireland Executive in June.
I thank the Taoiseach for his reply. I sincerely hope that in any discussions with the British Government, Prime Minister or members of the British Government, regardless of the agenda, that the British Government’s despicable and deplorable legacy legislation is discussed. Many times in this House and within meetings of parliamentary parties and Oireachtas committees, we have unanimously called for the repeal of that legislation. No amendment by the British Government of that legislation will ever make it acceptable to the victims and the families of victims who have suffered so much for many decades now.
I also sincerely hope that the Taoiseach raised the ongoing issue of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 1974. I think on four occasions this House made unanimous calls on the British Government to give access to an independent international legal person to all papers and files pertaining to those tragedies on that day both in my own constituency and in Dublin city. As the Taoiseach knows, I have always referred to other atrocities in my own constituency, and particularly the Belturbet bombing of December 1972 when young, innocent teenagers were killed. In all of the discussions with the British Government, whether with us at parliamentary level or at Government level, and at Head of Government level in particular, the need to address legacy and reconciliation must be to the forefront in all discussions. I would like an assurance that those issues were raised in all discussions with the British Government, the British Prime Minister and other members of that Government as well.
I also seek an update on what conversations were had relating to the legacy Act. As Deputy Smith rightly said, the contents of that Act are deplorable, despicable and absolutely unacceptable to every victim and family of those victims in Northern Ireland.
The Taoiseach spoke about the just transition and putting this on a sustainable footing. Has there been a conversation with British authorities about co-operation in the area of building offshore windfarms? We do not have ports that are sufficient to be maintenance ports for the building and maintenance of offshore wind turbines. Is there potential co-operation between Scotland, Belfast and the Republic?
I wish to be associated with the comments about the former TD, Dan Wallace.
The Taoiseach said he spoke about climate resilience with Keir Starmer. Just as the war in Ukraine showed how exposed this country is to the vagaries of the international energy market, the recent storm exposed how ill prepared we are to deal with the consequences and our resilience in terms of climate change. The Taoiseach does not need me to tell him about the 750,000 people who were without power or particularly the people in the Brosna area in Kerry who were without power as a result of the snow, some of whom have had up to 20 power cuts in the last calendar year.
Recent Governments have failed to prepare Ireland’s electricity grid and network to withstand these types of extreme weather events. I think everyone can agree with that. As a result we are reliant on other countries such as Keir Starmer’s Britain to provide things like back-up generators. While we appreciate their generosity, we have been left at the mercy of others. Were any concrete steps discussed to reinforce our back-up generation capacity? Can the Taoiseach provide an update on the development of any long duration energy storage to build our climate resilience? Similarly, we have become over-reliant on Britain and rather than developing our own potential we have been dependent on British energy imports. Did the Taoiseach discuss the impact of this mechanism with Keir Starmer?
I would like to agree with all that has been said on the legacy Act. I imagine there is agreement across this House and beyond that it is utterly unacceptable and some of this relates to the fact that Britain does not want to deal with its particular role in the dirty war that it conducted in Ireland. In my own constituency, in my own town of Dundalk, we are looking at the 50th anniversary in December of the Dundalk bombing which was the same night as Donnelly’s Bar. In Dundalk we lost Hugh Watters and Jack Rooney so it is very real for these families.
Was there any conversation about dealing with the electronic travel authorisation and the issues it might create for cross-Border tourism which we need to deal with? I concur with what Deputy Daly and others have said on how we need to look at our infrastructure and resilience. There are particular issues in the Border area around addressing that including facilitating each other around work but also on the actual infrastructure. I am thinking especially of water, electricity and other facilities.
As the US Administration moves to the authoritarian right I think all in this House agree that it is vitally important that we strengthen solidarity across Europe and that we strengthen our links with Britain and between Britain and the EU. Given our unique bilateral relationship with Britain and the fact that we now have a Labour Prime Minister in Britian, we will all agree it is especially important that Ireland strengthens those links with Britian.
The Taoiseach said that on 27 January, in his phone call with Keir Starmer, they spoke about Ukraine and Gaza but so much has changed since then. We see the Trump Administration tearing up the international rules-based order, undermining and destroying international human rights protections and environmental accords, pulling out of the World Health Organization and the Paris Agreement, sanctioning officials from the International Criminal Court, promoting ethnic cleansing in Gaza and now seeking to negotiate a deal with Russia over the heads of the people of Ukraine and sidelining the EU. My family background is Czech. The Czech people know about what Munich accords can mean and what they can lead to. There is desperate fear and distress across the EU and across Ukraine in particular as we approach the dreadful anniversary of the invasion just three years ago and the appalling devastation we have seen across Ukraine. Does the Taoiseach propose that at the next meeting with Keir Starmer, which I think he said will be in March at the next British-Irish Summit, he will speak to the Prime Minister about how best to ensure that Britain and the EU can stand firm in solidarity with the people of Ukraine and ensure that any negotiations or peace agreement is not done over their heads and without their input or the input of the EU?
The Dublin and Monaghan bombings were the single biggest atrocity in one day of the entire Troubles when 33 people were killed in bombings that Loyalist paramilitaries admitted they carried out, almost certainly with the collusion of the British Government. The Taoiseach should ask for Britain to release all the files and information available about those atrocities but he is in a very weak position to make such demands of Keir Starmer if the Irish authorities, and the Garda specifically, are refusing to give the files in their possession about those bombings, which the families of the victims of the bombings in 1974 have repeatedly asked for. Relatives of the victims of this atrocity have had to go to the High Court to try to get the Garda and the Garda Commissioner to share those; the Garda is refusing to give the Police Ombudsman of Northern Ireland and Operation Newham the files it has on the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings. That stinks to high heaven. It means we have no credibility asking the British Government, which we should, to release the files it has on its outrageous collusion with the paramilitaries who carried out those massacres but the Garda Commissioner, despite repeated requests and legal action by the relatives, will not give Operation Newham the files it has on the bombings.
Will the Taoiseach explain that and do something about it?
As we speak, representatives of two big imperialist powers are sitting down in Saudi Arabia to decide the future of Ukraine - to carve it up without any Ukrainian representatives even being present. It is illustrative of the fact that the world we live in is increasingly divided between these big imperialist powers and their rivalries and it underlines the need for Ireland to be a consistent voice against imperialism and oppression and for peace. The Ukrainian people have suffered throughout all of this. They have suffered throughout the horrendous invasion by Russia and now the US is willing to use them, willing to see Ukrainian people suffer in order to attempt to weaken Russia and then for it to walk away when the US, under Trump, decides to pivot to Asia. Their interests have always been at the last of this.
What is ironic is that the invasion of Ukraine was used in this country to drive an agenda of militarisation, with people saying we needed to align with the US and align with NATO. The coming to an end of this war will now be used to say we need to align and be part of some sort of European process of militarisation. I have a concrete question. Starmer has said he is willing to send British troops on the ground to Ukraine. Simon Harris has not ruled out Irish troops being sent. Will the Taoiseach rule out sending troops abroad? Will he say we will not be sending military aid, whether it is lethal or so-called "non-lethal", for an armed conflict?
There is cross-party agreement in this House on the necessity to repeal the legacy Act. The Taoiseach will be representing us all when he ensures that happens.
The issue I wish to raise with the Taoiseach relates to Frank Stagg. The 50th anniversary of his death will be marked in 2026. The Taoiseach will be aware that Frank Stagg was a hunger striker from Mayo. An academic work on his case is under way, but it transpires that the British have locked away his files in Kew until 2089. I raised this issue with Hilary Benn previously. I ask the Taoiseach to raise it with the British Prime Minister. There is no reason whatsoever the files on Frank Stagg, the hunger striker, should be locked away until 2089.
I have one minute now, is it?
Can we give the Taoiseach more time?
I just want to get a bit of discipline here now. There are 45 minutes for Questions to the Taoiseach. It is not an hour. We need to make up our minds.
Can we take time from the third grouping?
We can.
Will we allow two more minutes?
I do not mind. I am open to that, if it is means ten minutes or whatever.
Deputy Brendan Smith and a number of other Deputies raised the issue of the legacy legislation. I remind Deputies that I took the decision as then Minister for Foreign Affairs to refer that legislation to the European Court of Human Rights. To be fair to the new Government in the United Kingdom, it has moved to remove core aspects of the legacy legislation, particularly in respect of immunity. I have discussed this at length with Hilary Benn, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. The Tánaiste, Simon Harris, is now engaging. The core issue relates to the commission having a separate strand in terms of information and investigation. There are other issues as well. Those discussions are ongoing between officials in the Department of Foreign Affairs and officials in the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland's office in respect of whether ICRIR can be reformed in a manner that would win back the confidence of victims' groups. Our officials have engaged with all of the victims' groups. I have met them personally in respect of the issues that have arisen. There has been progress, however - we need to put that on the record - compared with what was in the original Bill tabled by the then Conservative Government. Also, the inquests are restored, and the civil cases in particular. That is progress, but it is not enough. We have to continue to work on it.
More generally on the legacy issue, I watched "Say Nothing" on the Disney Channel. There are a whole lot of issues of bombings, murder and the kidnapping of Jean McConville where there has been no real attempt at closure, no real attempt at reconciliation and no attempt to say what happened was wrong. It was wrong. If you look at the episode on the bombing of the Old Bailey, with 200 innocent British people injured and maimed, what was all that about? We need to deal with legacy in a most comprehensive way. It is striking we have not had a debate on Kenova in this House. There is a comprehensive report. It deals with collusion between the British state and loyalist paramilitaries in the murder of innocent people and, indeed, of others. It also deals with the campaign of the Provisional IRA against its own people, as Kenova describes it, but this House has not even had a debate on that. That is something we should consider in terms of the comprehensive aspect of dealing with legacy because it does matter for future generations that these issues are properly teased out in terms of the use of violence for political ends.
On the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, I am clear that any material we have should be given to any inquiry-----
It is not happening.
Hear me out, please.
It is not happening.
It happened already where the bespoke legislation was passed in respect of Kingsmills, for example, with a judge there paying tribute to the Irish Government. I am clear - I have been saying it to the Minister for Justice and his predecessor - that in respect of the Omagh bombing, there is an inquiry up and running and information should be provided by the Government, and the Department of Justice in particular.
Thanks, Taoiseach.
It is not happening in Drew Harris's case.
On the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, I make the point that it was previous Fianna Fáil Governments that led the way in respect of inquiries into the Dublin and Monaghan bombings.
Sort this one out.
We know the outcome of the various reports in terms of access to the British files.
I do not have time to respond to all the other Deputies. Deputy Daly raised the energy market and the energy question.
The meeting was a preparatory meeting for the summit, which will happen in March and will be comprehensive. It will cover a wide range of issues which will involve a number of Ministers. Obviously, the security situation in Europe was discussed, as well as Northern Ireland and legacy.
Deputy Bacik raised a very important point regarding fear in Ukraine and fear in Czechia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Poland about Russian aggression. We do not appreciate enough in this country or in this House the absolute fear that what has happened in the past will happen again. They feel in real danger. That is changing the nature of debate in Europe on security and defence. The Members should be under no illusions about it. We have to be clear about that and be supportive of Ukraine. We will be providing non-lethal aid to Ukraine. I make no apologies for that because they need it.
Departmental Staff
Brendan Smith
Ceist:20. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Taoiseach the plans in place to increase staffing levels in the shared island unit within his Department. [1683/25]
Erin McGreehan
Ceist:21. Deputy Erin McGreehan asked the Taoiseach the plans to increase staffing levels in the shared island unit within his Department. [4237/25]
Ruairí Ó Murchú
Ceist:22. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Taoiseach for an update on the work being done by the shared island unit in his Department. [4795/25]
Rose Conway-Walsh
Ceist:23. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Taoiseach if he will provide an update on the work of the shared island unit. [6038/25]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 20 to 23, inclusive, together.
Our new programme for Government, Securing Ireland's Future, commits to delivering for all people and all regions across our shared island over the next five years. The Government is committed to the unity of the Irish people and believes this can only be achieved through a sustained focus on and investment in reconciliation, developing the three sets of relationships recognised in the Good Friday Agreement to unlock the full potential of our island.
We have set out in the programme for Government significant new commitments and an ambitious agenda for building our shared island, which will be delivered on a whole-of-Government basis. This is backed by the Government's commitment to increasing the shared island fund by a further €1 billion up to 2035. Over €500 million has been allocated by the Government from the shared island fund to date, in addition to Government funding from other sources.
With sustained political commitment and a partnership approach there has been a clear step up in what all-island co-operation delivers, with major cross-border infrastructure projects like the Narrow Water Bridge and Ulster Canal now moving forward, ambitious new education, enterprise, tourism and environmental programmes commenced with the Executive, and, crucially, new funding and ways for people across all communities on the island to connect and work together more. The Government will push forward with the historic task of building a lasting reconciliation, implementing the largest ever programme of North-South research and investment, opening critical links and building further engagement and understanding.
My Department’s shared island unit will be strengthened over the coming months to co-ordinate the actions covered by the initiative across every Government Department. We are introducing targets for each Department to develop new shared island projects. The Government will deepen our partnership with the Northern Ireland Executive, with the British and Irish Governments as co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement, and work every day to harness the full potential of the agreement to build reconciliation between the different traditions of this island.
We have five speakers so I ask them to keep their contributions as brief as possible.
I welcome the additional substantial funding being provided for the shared island unit. There is a particular need in the less developed areas of the central border region, including my counties of Cavan and Monaghan, as well as counties Tyrone, Fermanagh and Armagh, as they do not have the critical mass of a major population. The programme for Government refers to developing the full potential of the Dublin-Belfast economic corridor. I think that will develop itself. We need to prioritise resources for the less-developed areas and I sincerely hope we will do so.
The programme for Government also refers to mandating each Government Department to come forward with projects. That is worthwhile, but I am glad the potential and role of local authorities is also recognised in that document. I recall very well that prior to the Good Friday Agreement and the political atmosphere and environment we have today, local authorities were doing work on a cross-Border basis, to their credit. There is great corporate knowledge within local authorities, and worthwhile projects. I am particularly anxious that a proposal I put forward some time ago relating to development of enterprise units - local innovation centres - on a cross-Border, all-Ireland basis, particularly for the Border region, should be prioritised.
The shared island unit is fantastic. I only have to walk a few miles from my house to see the work that has been progressed on the Narrow Water Bridge. I am incredibly ambitious for what the shared island unit can achieve. I ask the Taoiseach to consider that the shared island unit should look towards schools North and South and create a project almost along the lines of the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition to discover what future young people on this island - North and South - want to see. If the brains of our young people are engaged on projects and innovation on how this island can work in future, we will be onto a winner.
If we are to move anything regarding the constitutional question and unity, there is obviously a huge body of preparatory work that needs to be done. I accept that some work on modelling and comparison has been done by the shared island unit. More needs to be done on that.
The Taoiseach gave his answer about the citizens' assembly. I do not care what it is called once it is a forum that allows for a conversation on what a new Ireland could look like. If the Government is against a citizens' assembly, there is an onus on it to set out what it is actually in favour of.
There is no shortage of cross-Border issues. I raised this previously with the Taoiseach, as well as the former Taoiseach, who spoke about a hub or something to deal with these issues. The Executive is up and running and some of these are bilateral issues. The taxation of remote workers is a huge issue. There are those who work in taxi tours and that is a particular issue. Another issue I have raised is the derogation of the second generation version 2 tachograph retrofit. That is an issues for hauliers who work cross-Border.
Student accommodation tax relief is not available to students who live in the North and attend Magee College.
Tax relief? You are all against tax relief.
This is the Taoiseach's proposal. Obviously, he is against tax relief for students-----
I thought you guys were all against tax relief.
-----in the North. It is the Government's tax relief.
I have no problem with it. You guys have attacked me.
It is an anomaly that could be dealt with.
You guys have attacked us about tax relief. "You should not go near it", you said. Talk to your leader.
I welcome the programme for Government's commitment to implementing the Good Friday Agreement in all its parts. Obviously that includes provision for a referendum on Irish unity. I welcome the enhancement of the shared island unit and wish to say how important it is, in light of the geopolitical turbulence we have seen, that the investment in the initiatives and projects must be to secure or increase our competitiveness and productivity. I welcome the departmental targets. How will those targets pan out and be measured? Will they feed back to the Taoiseach? Will we get an update on progress every quarter, for example?
We welcome the commitment to investing on an all-island basis and the additional funding to the shared island fund. There are two areas that I would ask to be included. As the Taoiseach did not mention them when he was listing the priorities, I want to ensure they are clearly up on the agenda. The all-island strategic rail review report was published last year and contains really important proposals, including a proposed railway line from Portadown to Derry, with a spur to Letterkenny. Investment in rail is one key priority on an all-island basis.
The other issue comes from the SDLP, which made very practical policy proposals last year for developing the all-island economy and North-South co-operation, in particular on renewable energy infrastructure. I ask, again, that this be prioritised.
I take on board the points made by Deputy Brendan Smith. He has been a really consistent voice on behalf of cross-Border co-operation and has a great understanding of the issues in that area. I take on board what he said about the less-developed areas of Cavan, Monaghan, Fermanagh and Tyrone. We are willing to work with county councils on this and we developed a pipeline initiative some time back. Approximately 25 councils engaged, so there is a good pipeline of projects coming through at local authority level, through shared island funding.
There is also funding of approximately €2.5 million to €3 million through the Department of Foreign Affairs, which we have allocated in the shared island unit, for civic groups. This funding is for civic initiatives on a smaller scale than some of the big projects.
Deputy McGreehan raised the issue of the Narrow Water Bridge.
It is a great job.
We look forward to its completion. The Deputy will be looking out every day at its progress. She can keep an eye on it and make sure it is completed on budget and within time.
Will it come in on budget?
It is a very good example of an area that I think will be transformed. Deputy McGreehan's point about schools was well made. There is already a very interesting shared island project we have agreed with the Northern Ireland Executive on school completion. That is an innovative programme and there is good co-operation on all sides.
On the points raised by Deputy Ó Murchú, what we are for is a shared island. There is real substance in this initiative on the dialogue, research and investment fronts, which will bring people together. It is about reconciliation and we have to prioritise reconciliation. There are issues around the taxation of workers that we have been trying to resolve for some time between the two departments of finance. Some of the cross-Border bodies, in particular, have had real difficulty with their employees in that regard.
Deputy Conway-Walsh referred to geopolitical turbulence. We are making a lot of progress here and we have to continue to build on the progress we have made. We have done it in a non-political way, to be frank. We have not used the shared island unit as a Trojan horse for anything. That has been important in terms of gaining widespread societal acceptance in Northern Ireland. It has gained widespread acceptance from all communities and I want to retain that ingredient when moving this forward.
On the all-island strategic rail review Deputy Bacik raised, we will examine that to see what we can do from the shared island fund to develop some of the easier projects. Well, they may not be easier, as they will require a lot of time and investment. The Dublin-Belfast line, for example, could potentially be a game-changer for connectivity.
We are also looking at areas in both aviation and rail. The north west is not connected enough-----
Yes.
-----in any shape or form. The A5 has been bedevilled with planning issues and so on. There is no connectivity via rail, road or air and we have to address that.
It is an important issue.
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