Ryan O'Meara
Ceist:1. Deputy Ryan O'Meara asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on housing will next meet. [14723/25]
Ceisteanna - Questions
Cabinet Committees
Catherine Ardagh
Ceist:2. Deputy Catherine Ardagh asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on housing will next meet. [14730/25]
Ruairí Ó Murchú
Ceist:3. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on housing will next meet. [15162/25]
Séamus McGrath
Ceist:4. Deputy Séamus McGrath asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on housing will next meet. [7772/25]
Tom Brabazon
Ceist:5. Deputy Tom Brabazon asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on housing will next meet. [13976/25]
John Lahart
Ceist:6. Deputy John Lahart asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on housing will next meet. [13977/25]
Richard Boyd Barrett
Ceist:7. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on housing will next meet. [15507/25]
Paul Murphy
Ceist:8. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on housing will next meet. [15510/25]
Barry Heneghan
Ceist:9. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on housing will next meet. [15512/25]
Cian O'Callaghan
Ceist:10. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on housing will next meet. [17123/25]
Rory Hearne
Ceist:11. Deputy Rory Hearne asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on housing will next meet. [17124/25]
Rose Conway-Walsh
Ceist:12. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on housing will next meet. [17316/25]
Cian O'Callaghan
Ceist:13. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on housing will next meet. [18952/25]
Peadar Tóibín
Ceist:14. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on housing will next meet. [20955/25]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 14, inclusive, together.
The Cabinet committee on housing last met on Monday, 31 March and is due to meet again this Thursday, 1 May. The committee works to ensure a co-ordinated approach to the implementation of housing policy. Housing supply has increased significantly over the past number of years. We now have the highest social housing build per annum in half a century, while the latest figures published by the CSO show that almost 6,000 new homes were completed in the first quarter of this year, a rise on the same three months of 2024.
While these figures are welcome, the Government is committed of course to scaling up delivery further. The programme for Government sets out our ambition to accelerate housing supply, building on progress to date and recognising housing as a major social and economic challenge. Since we have come to office, we have demonstrated our commitment to this ambition. Just this morning, Government approved the establishment of a dedicated housing activation office in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to identify and seek to address barriers to the delivery of public infrastructure projects required to enable housing development. This office will engage and align stakeholders, including local authorities, infrastructure providers, industry and others to tackle barriers in a co-ordinated way.
It will also have a key operational function seeking to unblock issues on the ground. The office will focus on infrastructure needed at a local level to support housing delivery on multiple sites.
In addition, we now have a dedicated division in the Department of public expenditure focused on the delivery of very large scale infrastructure projects, many of which will enable the delivery of housing at the scale we need in the areas where it is needed most. To build houses at scale, we need to provide other services at scale such as energy, water and transport. These areas are front and centre in our priorities as we review the national development plan. The housing activation office will co-ordinate its work with the new infrastructure division to ensure effective co-ordination.
We have consistently said we need to reform our planning process. A very important milestone will be the imminent establishment of An Coimisiún Pleanála to replace An Bord Pleanála. This new body will result in a changed and more resourced organisational structure and will have mandatory statutory deadlines, accelerating crucial planning decisions and reducing delays in court. In support of this reform, we will all need to recognise the importance of a more effective planning and legal process that balances the rights of the individual with the broader societal need for improved services.
Since coming to office, we have allocated an additional €450 million to build a further 3,000 social, affordable and cost-rental homes. This is on top of the €6 billion already allocated in budget 2025. We have also approved the allocation of €325 million in capital funding for the second-hand acquisition programme. This increased funding, which will support tenant in situ acquisitions, will help to prevent people falling into homelessness due to the sale of their rental homes. Earlier this month, the Government agreed the first revision to the national planning framework. This sets the strategy for our development in the years to come and, importantly, will enable local authorities to zone sufficient land for residential development to support the step up in delivery. The Government has also approved the drafting of legislation to regulate the short-term letting market. This will provide for more long-term availability of homes in areas of greatest need while balancing the legitimate requirements of the tourism sector. We are in the process of developing the plan for home delivery for the next five years and beyond. We will pursue every action possible and be creative in our thinking as we move to step up delivery of housing.
It is clear that we have challenges, in particular, with the viability of apartment development and the high cost of construction. We will need to be ambitious in our approach, keeping all options on the table in order to address these challenges. I am confident that we can build on our success to date and achieve further momentum across all areas of housing delivery over the lifetime of this Government.
Housing is the single greatest issue facing my generation. We need to fully embrace modern methods of construction. I will focus on modular-style homes and log cabin buildings or whatever name one wants to give them. I welcome the discussion on planning permission exemptions for backyard-style extensions or developments but we need to move beyond that. Will the Government consider expanding planning permission to modular and log cabin-style homes beyond what is currently being discussed? There is massive scope in that regard. I appreciate it will not be the single solution but it is part of the solution. I ask for consideration of that matter.
The tenant in situ scheme funding allocation to Dublin City Council in 2025 was reduced to €95 million, a significant decrease on last year. Coupled with the new exclusions that a property cannot be in need of refurbishment and has to have been in HAP or RAS for the past two years, this has limited the council's ability to work. There are currently more than 100 tenants with applications pending a decision from the council on whether it will go ahead with the purchase, leaving many families in this city at risk of homelessness. Given that Dublin City Council already has the burden of nearly 70% of the national homelessness figure, I ask the Taoiseach to reconsider the funding and operational restrictions on the tenant in situ scheme. Providing adequate resources and flexibility to Dublin City Council is essential to continue protecting vulnerable tenants and preventing homelessness in our city.
The tenant in situ purchase scheme was a means of saving people from homelessness. It is frightening that Louth County Council, which was provided €18.884 million last year for social housing acquisitions, has only been provided €12 million this year. That is a reduction of 36%. The previous Deputy spoke about the tighter constraints and conditions. In my engagement with Louth County Council, it said it will be able to apply this scheme to fewer people. People in the same circumstances as those who previously were saved from homelessness will not be saved now. There needs to be a rethink of a scheme that actually saved people from homelessness.
I ask for a timeline for the publication of rural housing guidelines. We were told they were with the Attorney General over the summer. We all know the difficulties people have. They just want to know that they will, if they follow decent planning conditions, be able to build and live in the areas they are from. It is necessary. We have to look at planning as it concerns the modular and log cabin-type buildings discussed earlier. Like everyone else, I have been contacted by multiple people. We need to get on with that work. I understand it is a solution for a small number of people but it is necessary. We need to look beyond what is being spoken about at the moment.
I thank the Taoiseach. I have a sore throat, so please excuse me being brief. Regarding the first home scheme, the programme for Government sets out the intention to extend that scheme to second-hand homes. It is a critical provision. I would like it to happen as soon as possible. The first home scheme has been incredibly successful for newly constructed homes. It has helped many individuals and couples bridge the gap between what they could raise through mortgages and so on and what the properties actually cost. It has helped to create the necessary bridge, providing family homes for thousands of people. It needs to be extended to the second-hand market. There has been debate about inflationary pressures that may result. We do not have the luxury to debate these issues endlessly. We need to get on with it. This scheme has proven to be a success. I ask the Taoiseach to use every means in his office and the new housing activation office, which I welcome, to ensure we fulfil the commitment in the programme for Government as soon as possible.
Like some of the other Deputies, I raise the tenant in situ scheme. A recent motion passed by Dublin City Council, the second-largest democratic chamber in this country, asked for the previous tenant in situ scheme to be reintroduced. Not only have Dublin City Council and other councils around the country run out of funds, but there are changes in the system whereby a tenant in situ applicant must have been in receipt of HAP or RAS for two years prior to application. I am at a loss as to the public policy objective of that change. Surely, if somebody qualifies for social housing, he or she should qualify for the tenant in situ scheme. It is urgent. It is the only method of saving people from homelessness right now.
I also wish to raise the commitment in the programme for Government regarding modular homes, which Deputy O'Meara raised. We need to move this on with speed. I agree with some of the previous speakers - we cannot endlessly debate these things. We need the public consultation to be dealt with and truncated as quickly as possible and to get on with the policymaking and necessary legislation to bring in exemptions so that people can start planning and looking at designs, builds and delivery for young couples who cannot otherwise acquire housing on the market.
Regarding the Cabinet sub-committee on housing, I know the issue of the gazumping of young people will mean a lot to the Taoiseach. I saw a house for sale recently in my constituency for €495,000. That is really expensive but by the time it was sold, it had gone up and up. In Scotland, when a house is put up for sale, quite a bit of consideration is given by the vendor and the person selling it on the vendor's behalf. When you name the price on the market in the local estate agents, if it is £495,000 and you are offered that figure, the house must be withdrawn. You have attained the market price you looked for. Will the housing sub-committee examine a process like that? That would save soul destruction and heartbreak for younger people in particular who think they have the means to afford a house but are then outbid.
People want to know what is so impressive about Brendan McDonagh's CV that he is worth almost €500,000 a year to be the so-called housing czar.
They will be outraged when they find out that his qualification is not experience in addressing the housing crisis but instead in causing it. He has been CEO of the National Asset Management Agency, NAMA, since 2009, when he was appointed by the late Brian Lenihan. It took on loans on land and property originally valued at €88 billion. That gave the State control of almost all development land suitable for housing. Over the next 16 years, Brendan McDonagh flogged it all off for less than half the price. Some 90% of it went to US vulture funds, which sold it back to the same developers who took out the bad loans in the first place for far less than they originally owed. It was an absolute scam, which cost the people €34 billion and has left vulture funds and property developers hoarding all of the housing and development land that we need to solve the housing crisis. How on earth can the Government appoint Brendan McDonagh to solve a crisis he created?
Right across Dublin Bay North and, indeed, the entire country, vacant and derelict buildings are sitting idle while people are crying out for housing. Hundreds of people email me weekly. They are dying to get into these houses on the same street they are in in north Dublin. Local authorities are struggling with enforcement. I urge that there be an investigation into Dublin City Council and Fingal County Council regarding the amount of funding that is going into derelict and vacant sites investigation teams. Will there be a commitment to the radical overhaul of our approach, penalties put in place on a long-term vacancy, the streamlining of our CPO powers and finally giving communities in Dublin and across Ireland the power to bring these sites back to life?
The housing crisis is an absolute disaster. The Taoiseach spoke about homelessness earlier. I want to raise this issue. It is very clear from the data that the main cause of homelessness is evictions from the private rental sector. There is no lack of clarity in the figures on that. Some 30,000 households have been evicted since the Government linked lifted the eviction ban in 2023. However, one of the key measures in response to that is the tenant in situ scheme. I have been contacted by constituents from Dublin North West, including one from Santry, a mother with three children at immediate risk of homelessness. She has lived in her home for the past seven years with her children and is in receipt of the housing assistance payment. We contacted Dublin City Council, which did not mention tenant in situ as one of the responses to this case. It is clear that Dublin City Council and other councils across the country do not have the funding for the tenant in situ scheme to prevent families like this mother and her children from becoming homeless.
How does the Government think it is appropriate that we allow this scale of homelessness? Will the Government fund the tenant in situ scheme properly? Does the Government feel it is appropriate that a person who caused homelessness and stood over the evictions of properties - the Taoiseach can raise his eyes to heaven-----
Get out of it.
Do not tell me to get out of it.
You cannot talk about personalities in here.
Yes, we can. He was a CEO who oversaw the eviction of thousands of people from NAMA receiver properties. He contributed to the housing crisis. The Government will now appoint him as a housing fixer. The only doors that will be battered down, as the Minister said, will be the doors of people who are facing eviction. It is absolutely inappropriate. The Taoiseach can shake his head. He should shake his head in shame at the level of homelessness in this country and not put his eyes up to heaven about me raising this issue.
Did the Cabinet sign off on the €430,000 salary associated with the strategic housing activation office today? People in County Mayo and across the country who cannot access housing or who are paying exorbitant rates want to know that. This is almost €500,000 in salary for a role that should not be necessary if the Government stuck to its housing projections and implemented the recommendations of the Housing Commission report.
Earlier this month, I wrote to Mayo County Council to seek information about a number of social housing acquisitions in 2024. In Mayo, there has been a cut of 63% to funding for new applications for social housing acquisitions. This has a real impact on people's lives. By the end of 2024,13 tenant in situ acquisitions had been paused.
I am working with a woman whose landlord is selling the house she has lived in for the past seven years. This mother is living with a brain condition and she has a nine-year-old daughter. They are facing homelessness, but because of the restrictions on Mayo County Council, it can no longer purchase a home under the tenant in situ scheme. She said, in her own words, "We have nowhere to go". The best the county council can offer them is emergency accommodation. I ask the Taoiseach to reverse the cuts and severe restrictions to the tenant in situ scheme.
The Government is employing a new housing tzar with a salary of €430,000, which is an incredible figure. Because of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Independents, that may well be the salary someone needs to buy a home in many parts of this country at the moment. We have a record breaking Government for all the wrong reasons. We have record house prices, rents and numbers of people on the homeless list at the moment. There are incredible figures. This Government is in reverse on the most important issue facing the country.
In the majority of Government targets on housing, the Government cannot meet its targets, even those targets that are well short of what is actually necessary. Does the Taoiseach agree that at the heart of this plan is the Government is looking to put space between itself and the housing crisis? It is looking for a mudguard to deflect attention from its actions on the housing crisis. It is another effort to outsource what should be the competency of the Minister. He is well paid and has at least 20 senior managers in his Department. Will the Government go about the job of building houses for Irish people?
This Government and the previous Government built more social houses than had been built since the 1970s in the past four years.
That is not-----
That is a fact. Up to 48,000 social housing units were built. Nothing compares with that in the previous 15 or 20 years.
There were one and a half-----
The Deputy just keeps on shouting.
I am not shouting. I am just-----
The Deputy keeps coming forward with facile and superficial analysis of the housing crisis.
It is not-----
He sets himself up as a housing expert. He is nothing of the sort.
That is not true, actually. The Taoiseach can take that back.
That is why I would appreciate if he allowed other people to give their perspective. The only reason I raised my eyes was because I thought it was wrong of the Deputy to personalise the issue, demonise an individual who cannot defend himself in this House and make the assertions he has made about someone who has not been nominated to any position by Government. No decision has been taken, but the Deputy chose to take a cheap shot at an individual, blaming that person for all of the evictions that have happened in the past ten or 15 years. That was wrong. That is all I am saying. I do not think that is good enough either. We are all entitled to have different perspectives on the housing problem but let us not demonise individuals for the sake of a cheap political score.
The Taoiseach just said I was nothing of the sort. I was an academic in Maynooth. That is-----
We have built close to-----
This is the same nonsense. The Taoiseach is trying to take me down. My academic-----
The Deputy is an elected representative and he has set himself up-----
I am, but I was also an academic in Maynooth. The Taoiseach said I am nothing of the sort of a housing expert.
I did not say the Deputy was-----
The Taoiseach did. He said I was nothing of the sort.
You are out of order, Deputy. I ask the Taoiseach to continue.
The Deputy is not a construction housing expert. He never has been. He is-----
There is also housing policy. That is an expertise.
The Deputy lectures in social policy, and I believe he is a good lecturer in social policy.
That is part of housing.
That does not make the Deputy a housing expert.
Yes, it does. Housing policy is-----
It was good for the electoral pathway.
I will ask Deputy Hearne to please observe the rules of the House and allow the Taoiseach to answer the questions that he has been asked.
The Taoiseach is making derogatory comments.
You have had your opportunity.
In terms of social housing, there has been a significant step change. Last year, more than 10,000 social houses were delivered. More than 48,000 social houses have been added to the social housing stock since 2020. We need to do more and we need to build more social houses. The tenant in situ scheme was introduced in 2023. All Deputies have correctly raised that. There was no tenant in situ scheme before 2023. Substantial progress was made in respect of it. There were approximately 1,000 such arrangements in 2023. Approximately 1,800 social homes were acquired in 2023. A thousand of those were for properties where tenants received a notice of termination. In 2024, more than 1,000 notices of termination under the tenant in situ scheme were received. Some €325 million is to be applied this year to local authorities.
There is a sense in the examination of the application of the tenant in situ scheme across the country that not all funding was being used for those for whom it was designed, that is, people in immediate need or those at risk of homelessness because of the termination of a tenancy. There is some evidence that it has incentivised second-hand acquisitions more broadly than was intended. The scheme, therefore, has been refined with a view to trying to get local authorities to focus specifically on those at immediate risk of homelessness and not as a way out for some landlords to sell their houses expeditiously to local authorities.
We have to get the balance right on new builds and acquisitions as well because other Deputies earlier in the day referenced, for example, the fact that in one city in County Limerick, apparently, approved housing bodies were purchasing 60% of their stock as opposed to new builds. The balance has to be gotten right in that respect.
Artificial Intelligence
Ruairí Ó Murchú
Ceist:15. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Taoiseach to report on his attendance at the AI Action Summit. [15163/25]
Malcolm Byrne
Ceist:16. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Taoiseach to report on his attendance at the AI Action Summit in Paris recently. [9168/25]
Naoise Ó Cearúil
Ceist:17. Deputy Naoise Ó Cearúil asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his attendance at the AI Action Summit in Paris recently. [15471/25]
Richard Boyd Barrett
Ceist:18. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach to report on his attendance at the AI Action Summit. [15508/25]
Paul Murphy
Ceist:19. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Taoiseach to report on his attendance at the AI Action Summit. [15511/25]
Rose Conway-Walsh
Ceist:20. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Taoiseach to report on his attendance at the AI Action Summit. [17317/25]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 15 to 20, inclusive, together.
I travelled to Paris for the AI Action Summit on 10 and 11 February, co-hosted by President Macron and Prime Minister Modi of India. The summit gathered key stakeholders to explore how we can develop artificial intelligence, AI, technologies and uses globally while ensuring that nobody is left behind. It also discussed preserving our freedoms in the AI revolution and ensuring that the technology serves society and the public interest. The event included a working dinner at the Elysée on Monday evening, attended by political, business and civil society leaders, and a closing ceremony at the Grand Palais on Tuesday morning, which was live-streamed. The closing ceremony featured panel discussions and keynote remarks, including from President Macron, Prime Minister Modi, US Vice-President Vance and European Commission President von der Leyen. Panellists included musician-producer Pharrell Williams, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Secretary General of the International Telecommunications Union.
In my engagements, I emphasised the need to embrace the opportunities that AI can offer across all sectors for our start-ups and enterprise base and, ultimately, for our citizens and their quality of life. We must acknowledge the watershed nature of AI as a breakthrough technology. AI can be a game-changer in helping us to deal with many of the economic and societal challenges we face here in Ireland and across the European Union. We need a balanced approach that does not stifle entrepreneurship or over-burden innovative firms with regulation. We must be open to the significant economy-wide productivity gains made possible by fast-growing young firms at the technological frontier. AI can also help transform the delivery of our public services. This includes exciting potential in the health sector, such as diagnostics, and in the management of disease and chronic illnesses. We also need to ensure that the AI revolution does not come at the expense of the most vulnerable in society, that it does not deepen existing digital and gender divides and that it does not risk the erosion of individual freedoms, including freedom of expression. We need to protect our children and young people online, protect the integrity of our democratic values and combat the effects of disinformation. Ireland will continue to be a strong voice in Europe to ensure that we are striking the right balance on innovation-friendly rules for trustworthy AI, consistent with our democratic values.
The AI Action Summit issued the Statement on Inclusive and Sustainable Artificial Intelligence for People and the Planet. That sounds wonderful. It is how we deliver it and what our plan is in this State in that regard. We all know the dangers of artificial intelligence in the sense that it is the garnering of information and machine learning on a huge level, or on steroids for want of a better term. That can be used for good and ill. It is how we wed the absolute necessity that we are part of this in the context of innovation and the breakthroughs there may be in medicine and education and all around while, at the same time, having sufficient protective regulation. We have all seen the damage that has been done and we all know there are insufficient supports and protections in what social media companies can do at this point. That is only one part of the danger in this regard. Therefore, it is how we set out with a real plan on delivery as regards innovation and beyond, but also that we have that regulation to protect those who are vulnerable at this point in time because of big tech. Many times it will go where the money is and not necessarily where people's rights are.
I thank the Taoiseach for his personal interest in the subject and in the potential and opportunities that artificial intelligence presents in so many aspects of Irish life. The fact that there are references to AI and digitalisation within the programme for Government including, as the Taoiseach referenced, the improvements to public services, means it is going to be critical.
Our challenge, as the point was made, is how we govern the roll-out of this new technology, not just at a national or European level but, indeed, globally because technology like this is going to be transnational. The Taoiseach is correct that the concepts of regulation and innovation are not mutually exclusive. It is about getting the appropriate balance right.
The EU AI Act, while not perfect, is certainly a very good start. However, how does the Taoiseach envisage on a global level us ensuring the kinds of principles that are laid out in the AI Act, and, as he mentioned, how we defend human rights, the rule of law and our democratic values in the roll-out of this new technology, both to avoid a small number of individuals controlling technology companies setting the agenda and the misuse of AI? We have seen, for instance, in China social credit scoring by the Chinese Communist Party, the Israel Defense Forces using particular technologies in Palestine and, indeed, Iran using AI to discriminate against women with its hijab law. From an EU and an Irish perspective, we have certainly made a very good start, but it is important for Ireland to play a lead in setting out the basis on which we use this new technology globally.
AI represents one of the biggest economic opportunities of our generation. I was fortunate enough to work in this space for three and a half years and in the tech sector for eight and a half years prior to being elected to this House. The Taoiseach's attendance at the AI Action Summit was extremely encouraging, as eill the establishment of the Oireachtas joint committee on artificial intelligence. I wish my colleague, Deputy Malcolm Byrne, the very best of luck as he chairs that committee. Opportunity demands action, however, and I would like that particular committee to come up with some suggestions to Government with how we can utilise AI from an international perspective and a State perspective. Will the Taoiseach ensure that AI is treated not just as a tech issue but as a cornerstone of Ireland's future economic strategy?
The Government is drunk on the propaganda of big tech with regard to AI. It is so drunk that it is trying to force AI into the leaving certificate examination. From September, students will be allowed to use AI as an additional assessment component, which will be worth at least 40% of marks in many subjects. It is meant to be cited in the paper that AI was used but this will give a massive advantage to students from better-off backgrounds who will be able to pay for more advanced AI programmes to give them answers without them being detected and without them being cited.
Additional assessment in science subject will require access to labs. Fee-paying private schools might be able to manage that but DEIS schools that can barely keep the lights on will not. A biology teacher told the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland, ASTI, conference that DEIS schools will be wiped out. Teachers are so worried about how unfair this is going to be that they are willing to go on strike over it. Will the Taoiseach intervene and at the very least impose a 12-month moratorium on this crazy plan so we can keep AI out of the leaving certificate examination?
Central Statistics Office, CSO, data shows that in 2023, AI was used by 8% of Irish enterprises with ten or more employees. The benefits of AI are well-rehearsed and no doubt it will revolutionise the way in which businesses operate in this country and in the global market. It is a very exciting time of innovation but it also carries risks and it has the potential to significantly impact both human rights and equality and the national security of the State. Why, therefore, has the Government not listed the regulation of artificial intelligence Bill as priority legislation? The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment held a public consultation almost a year ago, yet there is still no clarity on who the competent authorities responsible for implementing the regulation and penalties for non-compliance will be. People need to know that their data, privacy and human rights will be protected as we navigate the new digital reality. As our use of AI grows, what is the Government doing to ensure that data centres are not placing further strain on the national grid and contributing to emissions?
Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh: Central Statistics Office, CSO, data shows that in 2023, AI was used by 8% of Irish enterprises with ten or more employees. The benefits of AI are well-re
In February, the Commission for Regulation of Utilities produced guidelines stating that any new development must generate or store as much electricity as it uses but there is no requirement that this energy comes from renewable sources. This could see a multiple of new gas and oil power plants built to run their electricity-hungry operations, placing Ireland's climate targets in jeopardy. This is something we must look at. We can do it properly. We can set the scene so this works for businesses, the economy and society. We need to act.
I welcome the establishment of a joint committee on artificial intelligence and wish the chair, Deputy Malcolm Byrne, well in his role. I am happy to be appointed to the committee by Deputy McDonald.
I am also my party's education and youth spokesperson and attended the teachers' conferences held by the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland, ASTI, and the Teachers Union of Ireland, TUI, last week. I heard first-hand the deep concerns about the potential use of AI. The Taoiseach referenced the digital divide and teachers have concerns that the current approach of the Minister to senior cycle reform, which is rushed and accelerated, will build advantage on advantage and disadvantage on disadvantage. There is an opportunity for the use of AI in additional assessment components and continuous assessment. Those aspects will comprise a minimum of 40%. There is a sense from teachers and educators that it is a ridiculous position to have as standard. I call on the Taoiseach to listen to the concerns of teachers and educators, to pause the senior cycle reform and to engage with educators across the board.
I thank all the Deputies for contributing to this debate. It is important. The debate illustrates the importance of the Oireachtas committee on AI that will be established. I look forward to further detailed, sensible and balanced consideration of the issue. We can already witness a divide that is too extreme. There are those who see AI as totally negative, others who see positives in it and others still who see the need for balance and guidance around the use of AI. One thing for sure is that AI is here and will be a significant revolution. Nobody is drunk on anything. This is just the reality of life in the world. It is not just in Ireland but in the world. We have choices. We can put our heads in the sand, present it as some dastardly plot from the industrial or technological giants of the world and say that we want none of it or we can endeavour to harness it for the benefit of industry, society, the economy and the people. That is going to be the challenge, as it has been with all technological developments since the world began. It is inevitable when there are major breakthroughs in technology. If we look back to the printing press or go back to the 1960s and the development of television, there were naysayers and people who were worried and thought the world was going to collapse and so on. The world adapts and people adapt. We need regulatory frameworks governing everything. We need a balance between regulation and innovation, and we must get that balance right here. It will have profound impacts for energy, for example. We must ascertain how to create the energy resources to underpin the AI revolution that is coming. If we are not a part of the revolution that is taking place in technical terms, there will be economic consequences. It will have profound impacts on how we do things in life and in work, in particular.
The EU does not get any credit at all from a number of people in this House. It is interesting. Deputy Malcolm Byrne gave an interesting and quick summation of where the world is. The EU has an Act that is endeavouring to deal with human rights and the protection of society and individuals. The Deputy instanced Iran, Israel, China and others. There is a divide across the world at the moment between autocracies and authoritarian governments, on the one hand, and democracies and institutions such as the EU on the other. The EU has been the first to develop a modern Act endeavouring to strike a balance between innovation and regulation. Some say it is too heavily on the side of regulation and less so on the side of innovation. This is the basis on which the committee we are about to establish should engage.
The Department of Education, with the support of Oide, the support service for teachers and school leavers, is currently developing guidance on the use of AI in teaching and learning. This guidance will be published and circulated to schools shortly. Currently, information on AI in education for schools can be found on the Oide technology and education website.
I was at the young scientist exhibition at the beginning of January and many of the projects submitted by young people were on the subject of AI. Young people are ahead of this place, as far as I can see so far, in terms of where they see, and how they perceive, AI. They are dealing with it. We have to put the student first in all our considerations of this issue.
On the redevelopment of the senior cycle and the State Examinations Commission, the AI guidance currently being finalised does not apply to assessment for the purpose of certification by the State Examinations Commission in the junior or leaving certificates. Further work is being undertaken by the State Examinations Commission on general and subject-specific documentation.
Departmental Offices
Tom Brabazon
Ceist:21. Deputy Tom Brabazon asked the Taoiseach for an update on the work of the policing reform implementation programme office in his Department. [14726/25]
Ivana Bacik
Ceist:22. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Taoiseach if he will provide an update on the work of the policing reform implementation programme office in his Department. [13745/25]
Mary Lou McDonald
Ceist:23. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach if he will provide an update on the work of the policing reform implementation programme office in his Department. [15989/25]
John Lahart
Ceist:24. Deputy John Lahart asked the Taoiseach if he will provide an update on the work of the policing reform implementation programme office in his Department. [16777/25]
Ruairí Ó Murchú
Ceist:25. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Taoiseach if he will provide an update on the work of the policing reform implementation programme office in his Department. [16859/25]
Richard Boyd Barrett
Ceist:26. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach for an update on the work of the policing reform implementation programme office in his Department. [17097/25]
Paul Murphy
Ceist:27. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Taoiseach for an update on the work of the policing reform implementation programme office in his Department. [17100/25]
Emer Currie
Ceist:28. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Taoiseach if he will provide an update on the work of the policing reform implementation programme office in his Department. [20789/25]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 21 to 28, inclusive, together.
A Policing Service for our Future is the Government's plan to implement the report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland. The implementation of the plan was overseen by a dedicated programme office in the Department of the Taoiseach and an implementation group on policing reform, chaired by an independent person.
This work concluded in 2024 thanks to the achievement of many of the major recommendations outlined in the report of the Commission on the Future of Policing. These achievements were detailed in the publication of the final report of the implementation group. The final report, which can be found on gov.ie, outlines the significant progress, including the roll-out of the operating model for An Garda Síochána, which enables a more visible, responsive and localised policing service to communities nationwide; the conclusion of the three pilot local community safety partnerships in Dublin’s north inner city, Waterford city and Longford, which has informed the national roll-out of these arrangements; the distribution of nearly 15,000 digital communication devices enabling front-line gardaí to perform their duties without returning to stations; the implementation of new human rights structures, strategies and training across the organisation; and the introduction of a three-year Garda health and well-being strategy, which recognises the stresses a garda can face and provides assistance to deal with them. A significant focus of the implementation plan was concerned with strengthening the internal capabilities of An Garda Síochána so that the organisation possesses the capacity to drive future reform.
The new Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024 establishes a Garda board to help this process and is complemented by external agencies, such as the Policing and Community Safety Authority and Fiosrú, the reconstituted police ombudsman. Since the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024 was signed by the President on 7 February 2024, intensive work was undertaken in the Department of Justice with the legislation now commenced from 2 April 2025. This new coherent governance and oversight framework will ensure effective accountability on the part of individuals and An Garda Síochána as a whole and ultimately drive more effective policing. The Department of Justice will continue to drive this work, with political oversight of justice and security issues more generally continuing through the Cabinet committee on justice, migration and social affairs.
I ask the Taoiseach in respect of policing reform whether reducing paperwork for rank and file members of An Garda Síochána is a priority. I know from interaction with local gardaí, particularly in the Coolock district, which is the second busiest station in the country, that they are burdened with increasing levels of paperwork. Fianna Fáil has pushed over many years for the reduction of the paperwork burden on members of An Garda Síochána in stations so we can get them out onto the streets to provide a visible Garda presence, which operates as a deterrent, on one hand, and a comfort to our citizens on the other.
Having listened to gardaí and having listened in to the Garda Representative Association conference last week, I am concerned we have gone backwards. We have slipped back and an increased level of paperwork is required of members of An Garda Síochána.
There is a serious commitment in the programme for Government to ramp up Garda numbers, which will help, but it is no use if they are all tied up with paperwork. We need to make a big effort. While they need somewhere to base themselves, they also need the paperwork burden lifted from them. That is really important.
It is proposed that a new divisional headquarters to replace Coolock Garda station, which has long outlived its usefulness and which needs to be taken out of commission, be built at Northern Cross.
Both the GRA and the AGSI have raised serious questions about the new Garda operating model. Clearly, that model is undermined by the fact there are far too few gardaí to operate it. That is particularly the case with community gardaí. There were only 700 community gardaí at the end of last year compared with over 1,100 at the end of 2011. The Garda has raised serious issues and must be listened to. It is very regrettable therefore that the Minister for Justice boycotted the GRA annual conference this week. Does the Taoiseach accept that this was a mistake on the part of the Minister? Will he ensure that the Government will work with rank-and-file members of An Garda on an operating model that works for them and for the communities they serve?
This is not the first time I have given out about the divisional structure. I have said many times that I am not sure the most sensible solution was combining Louth and Cavan-Monaghan into one area with a single superintendent. We all get the idea of streamlining, but the issue, as Deputy Carthy said, is that the number of gardaí to operate the system is insufficient. There is a major issue with community gardaí - we do not have enough of them - and with specialists units.
We await the arrival of community safety partnerships. There is huge unease about the fact the joint policing committees, JPCs, are not meeting. An absolute requirement we have is that there be engagement. If someone googles Dundalk and north Louth, they will read about recent violent assaults. I hope the victim of one of these assaults is doing well. We have had contact with members of the child's family, but we need anyone with information to come forward. There were also the recent arson attacks in Doolargy in north County Louth. We need a fit-for-purpose structure and we need engagement on the part of elected representatives and other stakeholders in the context of ensuring that we have a fit-for-purpose operation, which is not currently the case. The local authority will speak about the fact that it is not sure how exactly the community safety partnerships are going to get up and running.
Serious allegations were made about the policing of a protest by Mothers Against Genocide. Since then, TDs like me have been accused of not telling the truth. More seriously, women involved in the protest have been made out to be liars by the Garda Commissioner and by the Minister for Justice. I want to clarify the situation. What does the Taoiseach think about this turn in policing? We were told that the Commissioner reviewed footage and was satisfied there was no wrongdoing. He stated, "Searches of individuals are not subject to CCTV coverage but I'm entirely [confident] there's no wrongdoing." In other words, he could not have reviewed footage because there is no footage. At the AGSI conference, the Minister said that there was no wrongdoing and that he had full faith in the Commissioner. At no time did the Minister talk to anyone from Mothers Against Genocide.
As for the idea that women would leave police stations and lie about being strip-searched or cavity searched, does the Taoiseach know how humiliating an experience like that would be for anyone, male or female? Does he think they would lie about it? Believe women when they say they have been strip-searched. They will make their own complaint. They will carry on with that complaint, and they stand over what they said. I would like the Taoiseach to call out his Minister and the Commissioner for not listening to the two sides of the story.
Does the Taoiseach agree it is completely inappropriate for the Minister for Justice to act separately from an independent process and to make a finding about a complaint by members of the public about how they were treated by gardaí at the Mothers Against Genocide protest. It is quite incredible that the Minister came out and said footage shows that allegations made in the Dáil about strip-searching of protestors "were false". The Minister did not even claim to have seen this footage. He based what he said on reports from the Garda Commissioner. As Deputy Coppinger pointed out, the Commissioner has not seen the footage. In fact, there is no such footage. It is simply a question of the Minister for Justice hearing from the Commissioner that the Garda had investigated itself and - do not worry - found it had done nothing wrong. That is absolutely incredible. Does the Taoiseach agree there needs to be an independent process?
We repeated the stories the women told us. We believe the Mothers Against Genocide. We repeated those stories not just in the Dáil, where there is the question of use of Dáil privilege, but also outside. We are fully free, able and willing to continue to do that. Does the Taoiseach agree that there needs to be an independent process and that the Minister should withdraw this incredible attempt to describe these mothers as liars and allow them to proceed with their complaint to Fiosrú before passing judgment?
I wish to ask about the programme for Government commitment to earmark cost-rental units for key local workers like gardaí, teachers and nurses. We heard it at the GRA conference yesterday and at teacher conferences over Easter - housing is a key recruitment and retention issue. They need to be able to secure affordable accommodation that is accessible to the communities they serve. We already have some cost-rental unit projects in Dublin West and they are proving very popular in Hansfield, Churchfields, Mulhuddart and Hollywoodrath. There is an opportunity here involving a development in Ashtown called Rathborne Wharf that is under construction, with 326 social houses and 399 cost-rental homes funded through CALF and CREEL. It is located right beside the train station and near the Navan Road, with public transport connections all over Dublin West. Allocating 150 of those cost-rental homes to essential workers would be hugely positive and beneficial for the entire community. I have been told that a legal and policy framework is being developed by the Department of housing. Will the Taoiseach provide an update on that commitment and on the timings? Will he reiterate the need for progress and support the inclusion of Rathborne Wharf in the initiative. The homes in question will be ready in 2027.
The new policing model is not working. One of the main aims of the model was to increase community policing. In fact, the opposite has happened. One of the main reasons for that is manpower. The regular units have been depleted. In many stations across Mayo, the regular units are half what they were a number of years ago. Internal competitions are pulling from regular units and, because there are no new recruits to An Garda Síochána in Mayo, for example, there is nobody to replace them. Mayo has received just one new recruit in the past three years. As a result of this, regular units are down to three, four or five members. There are major concerns in Castlebar station, where a unit is at risk of going down to three members as a result of an internal competition. This will cause major difficulties. Westport is already covering for Castlebar. Westport covers a region out to Achill Island. If a call happens in Balla or Castlebar and there is no squad car to attend, maybe because a guard is attending court, the Westport squad car will have to leave Achill and go to Balla. This is happening already. It is going to get worse.
The GRA will be discussing issues around morale, manpower and bureaucracy, but the Minister is not there. He is not there to attend for the second year in a row. This is unacceptable. What will the Taoiseach do to address rural policing, beef up regular units and ensure that we have specialist units?
I thank the Deputy and ask him to conclude.
Go raibh maith agat.
We are out of time, but the Taoiseach may want to give a quick response.
I appreciate that.
On the operational issues, those are matters for the Garda Commissioner. I am not in a position to intervene in the operational organisation of An Garda Síochána. The issues have been there for some time. The Minister is in a very difficult position if the Garda Commissioner has not been invited to the conference as well. His predecessor took the same position and I accept that position, by the way. I think the Garda Commissioner should be invited to the conference - that is my view. I think boycotting the Commissioner and not inviting him was a mistake. There should always be engagement. In that sort of circumstance, the Minister would have no difficulty, or that is my understanding, although I have not spoken to the Minister in relation to this. There is an issue and let us not pretend there is not. There is no one boycotting this, although Opposition Deputies have asserted it is a boycott. It is not that. I think people know what is happening here. There is a better way of doing things, I would respectfully suggest.
In respect of the commentary from Deputy Brabazon, I agree 100% that we need to reduce paperwork and create greater flexibility. We are endeavouring to do that with the rollout of technology and facial recognition, which is very important, and also in terms of greater facilities and resources.
Deputy Ó Murchú referenced the divisional structure. It is an operational decision by the Commissioner. I hear the Deputy’s views in that regard and in terms of the need for the community safety partnerships to be rolled out.
Deputies Coppinger and Murphy again used the phrase “liars”. The Minister never used that phrase about anybody and it is wrong to suggest that the Minister called people “a liar”. He did not.
He said it was false.
I would argue that the gardaí have strenuously denied the allegations that were asserted in this House and issued statements to that effect. The Minister took the allegations very seriously. Of course, it is open for complaints to be made to Fiosrú, which is an independent party that can hear any allegations in respect of An Garda Síochána or members of An Garda Síochána. There are women in An Garda Síochána, Deputy Coppinger.
I am aware of that.
Women in An Garda Síochána have every right to be believed as well. I am not making any comment on individuals here but I would just make that point. There was a strong refutation of the allegations that were made in this House in respect of members of An Garda Síochána, who have no right to defend themselves in this House or do not have that facility.
They were not named.
The Deputy asserted that they committed offences, which they would strenuously deny and the context would be strenuously denied. I have to say that. Fiosrú is there to follow that.
The Minister said they were false.
We are out of time. I ask the Taoiseach to conclude as we are moving on to the next business.