The Order of Business is No. 1, motion of referral to joint committee of a proposal for an agreement between Canada and the European Union on the transfer and processing of passenger name record data, to be taken without debate; No. 2, motion of referral to joint committee of an order relating to the Irish Aviation Authority Act 1993, to be taken without debate at the conclusion of No. 1; No. 3, Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2013 - Report and Final Stages, to be taken at the conclusion of No. 2; and No. 4, earlier signature motion, to be taken at the conclusion of No. 3.
Order of Business
Will the Leader investigate and report to us next week on the situation in respect of the exit from the bailout? There seem to be mixed messages coming from the IMF, on the one hand, and the troika, on the other, in terms of a perceived delay. We could do with having some clarity on that issue.
I propose an amendment to the Order of Business that the Minister for Health come to the House to make a statement on the national children's hospital. It has come to our attention on this side of the House that there seems to be, at a very minimum, a stalling tactic being employed by the HSE and the Department of Health on this issue, and possibly a wish to opt out of the particular site at St. James's Hospital. It seems that at this late stage, instead of engaging teams to assist the board in advancing the project, the Department of Health has intervened to demand a traffic management survey be carried out. It is incredible that before the site was selected in the first place, such a traffic management survey would not have been engaged. It has been suggested to me that due to adjustments to be made to the brownfield site, the overall cost will now be prohibitive to the extent that the Department of Health is looking for an opt-out from this site. In parallel, An Taisce and others are promoting a greenfield site - or at least a much easier site to deal with - adjacent to the maternity hospital at the Coombe. There are serious concerns about whether this project will advance, how quickly it will advance and if we will ever see it. The Minister needs to clarify this position as a matter of the utmost urgency.
I also ask for a debate on the siting of the national children's hospital, although it is unrealistic to expect that debate to take place today. It is unnecessary. I would much prefer us to have a proper debate on that issue when we have had a chance to prepare for it and get briefings in advance. I was involved in the Coombe hospital bid, as a supporter of that bid, as a local resident and somebody who has been involved in various ways with that hospital. I felt at the time that it would have been more appropriate to have had a children's hospital located on the same site as a maternity hospital. I am concerned to see that this issue has been reopened since. As the decision has been taken to site the hospital at St. James's Hospital, it is important that progress be made in order that we can have a national children's hospital in place. I know the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has given assurances that it will go ahead, as has the Minister for Health. When there is a perception of a delay, unfortunately, that allows new issues to arise in respect of the choice of the site. We need to see some clarity on it. While I would welcome such a debate, it is unrealistic to expect that debate to happen today. It is not helpful to have a debate until we have had a chance to prepare for it and to get briefings in advance. I would welcome the opportunity to invite in experts to address us on this issue. Let us hear from An Taisce and others who have raised issues about the site at St. James's Hospital. That would be helpful in advance of a debate and it would make our debate much more meaningful. I would welcome the Minister in a few weeks when we have had that opportunity to prepare.
When is it proposed to take the new human rights and Equality Authority Bill? I think we should expect it before Christmas, but I am not sure of the timing of it. On Monday, I attended the first joint launch of the two authorities' annual reports, namely, the 2012 reports for the existing Equality Authority and Human Rights Commission. They were launched together in the Mansion House with the Minister for Justice and Equality. It is a sign of the work to come when we have a merged authority, but it is very important that we see that merger take place through the legislation as soon as possible. We have done much work at the Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality with the commissioners designate on the merged authority, but we need to see progress on the legislation and I would like to know when it will be brought before the House.
I am concerned once again to see a significant item pass through the House without debate. It relates again to the European Union and calls into question whether we have the capacity in this House to deal with this without significant additional resources. I know it is an agreement about an exchange of information on passenger data with Canada and Canada is generally regarded as friendly country, but so is America and America is-----
On a point of clarification, that item is being referred to the committee and the substantial matter will be debated then. It might come back here and it will be more appropriate to-----
I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach for his elucidation, but what always happens inevitably is that it goes to the committee and then comes back to this House when we rubber-stamp it. I express my concern about this because it would be useful for us to have a debate on the situation regarding the exchange of information and the eavesdropping on millions of telephone conversations. We should be very grateful to the whistleblowers involved. I hope to nominate them for the Nobel prize. As Members of Parliament, we all get the opportunity to nominate people for the Nobel Peace Prize. They have done more for peace than most people.
We hear much about people having difficulty buying schoolbooks because they cannot pass them from one generation to the next, as the schoolbooks change every year and so on. It has gone one stage further now, when many schools are using iPads for teaching purposes. I heard of a parent-teacher meeting at a particular school at which the father of a pupil was confronted by Bank of Ireland officials handing out leaflets offering loans at 14% to buy these iPads. It is rather unfair that parents should be jumped on in this precipitate manner, particularly when credit unions can offer them loans at 4%. There is a responsibility on schools, if they are going to make these demands on parents, at least to help them in the most positive way to get the lowest possible loans.
That all brings me to banks. It is about time we had another debate on banks and the banking system. Nothing has happened. The system and many of the people who were involved are still in place. I have great sympathy for bank staff, but every time I go into a bank there are fewer staff and more machines. That indicates that banks do not want any interpersonal interaction. That is bad for society and bad for banking, and it leads to bad decisions because we do not know the people involved.
I agree with my colleagues who have asked for the Minister for Health to come to this House, but it should not be just to discuss the national children's hospital. I am not at all antagonistic towards the Minister for Health. I think he is a most energetic Minister. I listened with interest to my colleague, Senator John Crown, who should know, saying he was the best Minister for Health in his experience. I am not attacking him personally, but it is certainly very worrying when the CEOs of four major hospitals write to the HSE to state that because of the cutbacks imposed, patient safety is threatened. This is added to by another external influence, which is not party political. It is a mistake to make these things party political issues. The troika has expressed concern about the situation inside the Department of Health. It would be useful for us to have a debate on the issue in this House.
This is the second day in a row that Senator Marc MacSharry has raised the issue of the national children's hospital and has put a question mark over the project. Yesterday he told us that he was reliably informed off the record that the committee involved had been instructed not to spend any more money. I can reliably inform him that yesterday was the first anniversary of the Government's announcement that the new national children's hospital would be located on the St. James's Hospital campus. The Minister for Health issued a detailed statement of progress that has been made to date such as the appointment of the national children's hospital group, the appointment of a national paediatric development board, funding of €200 million for the project, the appointment this month of the CEO of the national children's hospital group, Ms Eilish Hardiman, the approval of the design brief, the start of the site decant at St. James's Hospital, as well as the start of preplanning application discussions.
The Government is also committed, in the environmental impact assessment, to examining the inclusion of a maternity hospital at the site. That will address the concerns of An Taisce. The Government is 100% committed to this major project. This national children's hospital is badly needed to care for sick children from across the country, not just those in Dublin. The raising of red herrings and putting question marks over the project will do it a disservice. I ask all sides of the House to fully commit to developing the project.
This morning we have learned that 3,500 local authority houses are vacant at a time when 98,000 people are on the waiting list. We pay almost €500 million per year to private landlords for providing accommodation to people that the State should provide for. I commend landlords for providing private accommodation, but it is unfortunate that the 3,500 units in the ownership of local authorities have not been allocated to the people who badly need them. The main reason for the delay in allocation is that the local authorities do not have the funds to carry out renovations. I call on the Leader to invite the Minister of State responsible for housing, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, to attend in the next few weeks to debate the matter. It is time that local authorities took a look at the tenants that they allocate houses to and the way houses are maintained by tenants. It is unacceptable to have somebody who has vandalised a house moved to another house without paying some type of compensation to the local authority. The matter must be addressed because quite a few of the housing units have been vandalised by tenants.
I welcome today's announcement by the Minister for Education and Skills that the summer works scheme and the minor works scheme shall be reinstated with an allocation of €70 million. It is a welcome development for the schools who have had to rely on parents to maintain the school buildings since the Government abolished both schemes.
I join Senator David Norris in his call for a debate on banking. At a time when banks should be opening up to their customers and engaging with the general public, they have reduced the number of public kiosks as a way to encourage people to use machines. In the past the local bank manager always knew his or her client, but that scenario has gradually been eroded. Nowadays people must deal with machines located in their local branch rather than speak to the bank's personnel. That is unacceptable.
I support Senator Diarmuid Wilson's call for a discussion on the 3,500 vacant social housing units. I totally share his concern. I am aware that money was made available in previous budgets to turnaround the number of vacant units more quickly. However, I disagree with the Senator on one point. Not all of the units were vandalised by tenants. There are a number of the units where the tenant will have died due to natural causes such as old age, but there is no successor tenant to take over the tenancy. Housing standards have also improved dramatically over the years so many houses must be completely and totally refurbished.
I shall outline another scandal. A brand new kitchen or bathroom installed by a tenant must be removed and the property restored to the standard housing unit provided by a local authority. That is the epitome of nonsense. We must examine the vacant housing unit scenario and how quickly they can be made available. Some local authorities have introduced innovative measures that allows housing units to be turned around more quickly. For example, in the Dublin City Council area tenants can avail of a unit and carry out some of the work themselves.
Senator Diarmuid Wilson mentioned the larger problem of 98,000 people being left on the housing waiting list and practically no construction of local authority social housing. Along with asking the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, what measures can be taken to turn around the empty social housing units more quickly, we need a larger debate on the future of social housing and where it is going.
There has been a very good campaign to promote safe food in recent times. Another food-related issue is food waste. As it is a matter that is in our own hands to a very large extent, I am not sure that we need legislation. We must encourage whomever, perhaps the Department of Health, to convince the public to reduce food wastage. I do not have the figure for food wastage in Ireland but the figures for Britain and the United States are huge. The supermarket industry uses promotions called BOGOF which means "buy one get one free" and acts as a real incentive to people to buy things that they do not need.
Another matter is size. In particular, the size of loaves of bread and sliced pans are so large that between half and two thirds is thrown out. The same applies to salads. In the past people bought a lettuce but now they buy packs of lettuce. Apparently, the amount of packs wasted is very large.
As I said, I am not sure if we need to legislate against food wastage. We did not convince the public to reduce their use of plastic bags until the plastic bag tax was introduced. The measure has worked well and people around the world have been full of admiration for the way Ireland handled the matter. The plastic bag tax has proved useful and I do not understand why other countries have not followed suit. The correct way to deal with food wastage is to convince the public of the wisdom of purchasing differently, particularly when it comes to food. People are starving in the world yet we throw out a very large amount of food. It is not just the supermarkets who waste food, households throw out the most food. The safefood people must make a determined and convincing argument to reduce food waste.
I welcome the decision by drivers at Dublin Bus, represented by SIPTU, not to proceed with industrial action. The decision is in the best interest of the employees, the company and the travelling public. I hope Dublin Bus can be restored to profitability and continues to provide a proper and appropriate service for the travelling public.
I support the call to arrange a discussion on vacant houses with the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan. I appreciate and realise that €15 million has been allocated in this year's budget to repair some of the housing stock. The speed at which local authorities turn houses around is insufficient. I agree with Senator Diarmuid Wilson that there should be a form of penalty when houses are left in an appalling condition and vandalised by tenants. No citizen of this country should walk away with impunity if he or she has vandalised a property of the State that the taxpayer is hard pressed to pay for. The ongoing maintenance of local authority houses is a difficult issue. I want a system to be introduced that would incentive tenants to maintain their houses in an appropriate fashion. I also want a system to deal with minor repairs. Rather than the local authority having to do the work, the tenant could carry out such work and earn a credit that he or she can put towards rent. Local authority housing should be the subject for a very significant debate in the House.
I am very pleased with the announcement by the Minister for Education and Skills of an allocation of €70 million for school improvements.
The reintroduction of the summer works scheme will be greatly welcomed, especially in my county of Galway. During the years that scheme provided for much-needed repairs and significant improvements to schools. In recent years schools were under severe pressure to have repairs carried out to keep going. I urge schools to get their applications in quickly. For primary schools the application process for the small works scheme is pretty straightforward. I look forward to seeing a significant improvement in the school stock in the coming months.
I second the amendment to the Order of Business on the issue of the national children's hospital. It is beyond belief the HSE would only now be commissioning a traffic survey. One would imagine that kind of work would have been done in advance. It just shows the incompetence of the organisation.
Will the Leader to organise a debate on a disturbing story reported today? Will he inquire of the Minister for Justice and Equality and the Minister for Health who in the HSE will be fired given that the HSE did nothing about an abuse victim, whose abuse was identified four years earlier. The HSE was informed about the abuse, yet it continued for four years. The HSE's excuse was that it fell through the cracks. In the name of God, it is unacceptable for a child of four years to continue to be abused, even though the State is made aware of it. It is simply not an excuse to say it fell through the cracks and that we will get it the next time. What is even worse, the HSE's defence was that it happened in light of austerity. This was brought to its attention in July 2007. There was no austerity or cutbacks at that stage and yet it is trying to use a flippant excuse. Somebody in the HSE was responsible for that abuse continuing. That person is as bad as the perpetrator because he or she is continuing to work in the system and is getting paid, but is obviously incompetent.
I call for the Minister for Finance to come to the House to clarify whether politicians, judges and senior civil servants will be exempt from the 70% tax on pensions in excess of €60,000. There seems to be a lack of clarity on this issue and we are told it will be dealt with in the Finance Bill. We know the people dealing with the Finance Bill are the senior civil servants who will be affected by this measure. The establishment and the elite in the Department of Finance being able to exempt themselves, judges and other senior civil servants sounds like the worst form of cronyism and cosy-cartel elitism that one could imagine. Can the Leader clarify whether judges, senior politicians and senior civil servants will be exempt from the 70% tax?
I welcome the restoration of the summer works and minor works schemes announced today by the Department of Education and Skills. The money that will be spent by schools will be well spent and, what is important, it will be spent in the local economy of the area of each school. It will buy local labour and local goods. The money will cycle through the economy and have a double contribution by improving the schools and the economy.
I welcome the Minister for Finance's promised amendment to the one-parent family tax credit. There was considerable lobbying and many people were displeased. He has listened to the suggestions made and will allow the credit to be used by a non-primary carer in cases where the primary carer has no tax liability. That is something we should welcome.
There are young people in the Visitors Gallery, many of whom may benefit from the 44,500 jobs in the ICT sector that Forfás has predicted in the next six years. I hope some of those young people will able to get involved next week in Science Week which celebrates the contribution Irish people have made to science and, more important, highlights the role science, technology, engineering and mathematics have in the careers of young people. I hope these jobs will stay in Ireland and that we will be able to employ Irish people in them.
I hope I am not too late in congratulating Sligo Rovers on their victory last Sunday.
I am concerned, as I am sure is every Member of the House, about a ruling Mr. Justice Henry Abbott made some time ago and which was released last night. He felt it incumbent on him to refer to entirely inappropriate interference, allegedly by another judge and a politician, in a family law case in which he had been involved. That is a serious matter and it has been touched on by those on the benches opposite, although not obviously the case in question. Arising from it, I hope the Attorney General and the Chief Justice will take whatever steps should be taken. It may lead to the expedition of the promised judicial council Bill.
Senator Aideen Hayden referred to 3,500 vacant houses. A debate on that social housing matter would be important. I listened to the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, on radio this morning. Some €422 million was provided towards rented accommodation last year. We are led to believe that is a normal turnaround in regard to houses. I take on board what Senator Diarmuid Wilson said about people vandalising them, which is horrific. In some instances substantial work is required on these houses. We are aware that the Department is pushing local authorities, some of which are lax in this regard, to speed up making these houses available. I believe a debate would be helpful and look forward to hearing the Minister of State if it can be arranged.
Further to my raising this issue in the House, supported by Senator Ivana Bacik, I was very pleased to hear the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, state in the Dáil yesterday that he would amend the section in the Finance Bill dealing with the single parent tax credit. He intends to introduce an amendment on Committee Stage to allow a transfer of the credit to the other parent where the designated principal carer has no taxable income. While this may not go far enough for some in terms of equality, it will be of significant practical benefit to many, mainly separated fathers. It will mean every family, regardless of its make-up, will be entitled to claim one benefit.
Does the Senator have a question for the Leader?
Not all separated fathers are ne'er-do-wells or reprobates. They play a significant role in the care of their children in general, even though they are not the principal carers most of the time. This is a good decision for the family.
We need to recalibrate the role of men in the Constitution as regards the family, in legislation and our attitudes and assumptions to support and vindicate fathers in the family. In that sense, I would welcome it if the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Alan Shatter, came to the House to outline the position. We had a weekend at the Constitutional Convention considering the role of women in the home and public life, rightly so. As a corollary, I would like to hear the views of the Minister for Justice and Equality on the role of men and fathers in the family and the home.
Senator Marc MacSharry raised a question in respect of the national children's hospital, in regard to which Senator Deirdre Clune made some valid points. The decision to build the national children's hospital at St James's Hospital has been made in the best interests of children, with clinical considerations being of paramount importance also. The building of the hospital is a Government priority and capital funding has been set aside for its delivery. No effort will be spared in expediting its completion. The Minister for Health has restructured the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board to enable it to focus on a single core function, the building of the new hospital. In identifying the site the Government carefully considered the report of the Dolphin group, as well as detailed supplementary information on costs, time and planning, which was sought subsequently from those members of the group with the relevant technical expertise. The decision was made in the best interests of children, with clinical considerations being of paramount importance. Co-location and, ultimately, tri-location with a maternity hospital on the St James's Hospital campus will support the provision of excellence in clinical care that children deserve. The new national children's hospital is a key commitment in the programme for Government and the largest project within the current capital plan. The Government regards the building of the hospital as a priority and no effort will be spared in expediting its completion. If it is necessary to bring the Minister for Health to the House to reiterate what I have stated, I will certainly ask him to do so. It is a good news story. It is long before time that we had a commitment to build a national children's hospital and money has been set aside for it. The aim is to proceed at the best possible time to build the hospital, which is what everyone wants. Certainly, I will ask the Minister to come to the House. However, as Senator Ivana Bacik said, it would be unreasonable to ask him to come today since he has several commitments.
Senator Ivana Bacik also raised the matter of the Irish human rights and equality commission Bill. I will find out for her when it will be introduced to the House and notify her.
Senator David Norris raised a procedural item in respect of No. 1. As the Cathaoirleach pointed out, that matter is being referred to a joint committee and, if requested, we will certainly allow a debate on it when it comes back from the committee.
Senators Diarmuid Wilson, Michael Mullins, Aideen Hayden and others referred to local authority houses and the fact that 3,500 local authority houses were vacant, which is an absolute disgrace. Funding has been provided for the renovation of local authority houses. However, a considerable number still need significant renovation. The Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, was in the House only last month to discuss the Residential Tenancies Bill. We will certainly ask her to come to the House again to address the problem.
Senator Diarmuid Wilson, among others, referred to the summer works scheme and the minor works grant scheme announced by the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairí Quinn. Over €28 million is being made available to provide once-off minor works grants for primary schools. The grant will be paid to primary schools in the coming weeks and will enable them to undertake small-scale repair works without the need to interact with the Department. All schools will welcome this. A total of €40 million has been allocated for the purposes of the summer works scheme in schools in 2014. The scheme will be open to primary and post-primary schools in the free education scheme which have permanent recognition and are in non-rented accommodation. The funding will allow schools to carry out small and medium-scale building works such as gas, electrical and mechanical works, roof and window upgrades and structural improvements. These works can be carried out during the summer months or at other times to avoid disrupting the operation of schools. This will be welcomed by everyone involved in the education sector.
Senator Aideen Hayden referred to the turnaround for vacant local authority houses and called for a debate on the future of social housing. I will ask the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, to come to the House to discuss that matter.
Senator Feargal Quinn referred to food waste and made some valid points in that regard. It is something that should be considered by everyone involved, including consumers and retailers. It is disgraceful that we have so much food waste when we have so many people hungry in the world.
I have outlined the position on the schools minor works scheme, a matter raised by Senator Michael Mullins. I note his points on tenants in local authority houses who leave them in a deplorable condition. He reiterated the point made by Senator Diarmuid Wilson, that penalties should be in place for the people concerned.
Senator Mark Daly referred to a child abuse case dating from 2007 and called for accountability within the HSE. We all agree that there should be accountability in every aspect of the State and certainly within the HSE in that instance.
The Senator also raised a question about the exemption of certain individuals from tax on lump sums. It is probably a matter we can discuss under the Finance (No. 2) Bill and the Bill which was before the House yesterday which was taken by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin. We will take Committee Stage of that Bill next week and it may be appropriate for the Senator to put these questions to the Minister at that point.
Senator Susan O'Keeffe referred to the proposals to create 44,000 jobs in the information technology sector and has pointed out that next week is Science Week. I have invited the Minister of State at the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Sean Sherlock, to the House next week to debate the matter of Science Week, something for which Senator Feargal Quinn has asked previously. The Minister of State will be in the House next week to discuss it.
Senator Susan O'Keeffe also scored a last minute goal in congratulating Sligo Rovers.
It was in extra time.
It was not needed.
It certainly was.
I note the comments of Senator Paul Coghlan on an exchange between two judges in a certain family law case covered in the newspapers. Judges are independent in the conduct of any court case, including any ruling, as they are in other matters concerning the exercise of judicial functions, subject only to the Constitution and the law. It is crucial in the functioning of our democracy that each of the vital institutions of State show due respect for the roles played by each other and avoid entering into areas that go beyond constitutional propriety. I have no wish to comment further on that matter.
Senators Jim D'Arcy and Susan O'Keeffe referred to the single parent tax credit and the amendment the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, proposes to make in the Finance Bill which I am sure will be welcomed by many.
Senator Mark MacSharry has proposed an amendment to the Order of Business: "That a debate with the Minister for Health on the situation concerning the national children's hospital be taken today." Is the amendment being pressed?
Amendment put:
The Seanad divided: Tá, 15; Níl, 31.
Tá
- Byrne, Thomas.
- Cullinane, David.
- Daly, Mark.
- Heffernan, James.
- MacSharry, Marc.
- Mooney, Paschal.
- Norris, David.
- Ó Domhnaill, Brian.
- Ó Murchú, Labhrás.
- O'Brien, Darragh.
- O'Sullivan, Ned.
- Quinn, Feargal.
- Reilly, Kathryn.
- White, Mary M.
- Wilson, Diarmuid.
Níl
- Bacik, Ivana.
- Brennan, Terry.
- Burke, Colm.
- Clune, Deirdre.
- Coghlan, Eamonn.
- Coghlan, Paul.
- Comiskey, Michael.
- Conway, Martin.
- Cummins, Maurice.
- D'Arcy, Jim.
- D'Arcy, Michael.
- Gilroy, John.
- Harte, Jimmy.
- Hayden, Aideen.
- Henry, Imelda.
- Higgins, Lorraine.
- Keane, Cáit.
- Kelly, John.
- Landy, Denis.
- Moloney, Marie.
- Moran, Mary.
- Mulcahy, Tony.
- Mullins, Michael.
- Naughton, Hildegarde.
- Noone, Catherine.
- O'Donnell, Marie-Louise.
- O'Keeffe, Susan.
- O'Neill, Pat.
- Sheahan, Tom.
- van Turnhout, Jillian.
- Zappone, Katherine.
Tellers: Tá, Senators Paschal Mooney and Diarmuid Wilson; Níl, Senators Paul Coghlan and Aideen Hayden.
Amendment declared lost.
Question, "That the Order of Business be agreed to," put and declared carried.