The Order of Business is No. 1, motion regarding arrangements for the sitting of the House on Tuesday, 24 March, to be taken without debate at the conclusion of the Order of Business; No. 2, report of Committee on Procedure and Privileges on the adoption of new Standing Order 103O, to be taken without debate at the conclusion of No. 1; No. 2a, Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Bill 2015, all Stages, to be taken at the conclusion of No. 2, with the contributions of group spokespersons on Second Stage not to exceed six minutes and those of all other Senators not to exceed four minutes, and Committee and Remaining Stages to be taken immediately thereafter; No. 2b, motion for earlier signature of the Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Bill 2015, to be taken without debate at the conclusion of No. 2a; No. 3, Ráitis maidir le Seachtain na Gaeilge, to be taken at 1.30 p.m. and to conclude not later 2.45 p.m., with the contributions of group spokespersons not to exceed eight minutes, those of all other Senators not to exceed five minutes and the Minister to be called on to reply not later than 2.40 p.m.; No. 4, Redress for Women Resident in Certain Institutions Bill 2014 - Report and Final Stages, to be taken at 2.45 p.m. and adjourned not later than 4 p.m., if not previously concluded; and No. 5, Succession (Amendment) Bill 2015 - Second Stage, to be taken at 4 p.m., with the time allocated for this debate not to exceed two hours.
Order of Business
I draw attention to a comment made last week by the esteemed leader of the country who expressed sadness about the impact emigration had had on people's lives. He said:
We also want people to be able to come home. Emigration has a devastating impact on our economy as we lose the input of people of talent and energy. We need these people at home and we will welcome them. I want to see them playing their part in the rebuilding of our economy, bringing home their experience to take up some of the jobs that are now being created.
That was the Taoiseach spelling out the devastating effects of emigration. The most up-to-date scientific figures published by the CSO indicate that last year 1,600 people were emigrating every week - 800 young Irish people and 800 non-Irish people. The sad fact is that very few of them are coming back. The Taoiseach is saying we will welcome them back to fill the jobs being created, but we have to ask the question: why do they not want to come back to Ireland? This question has to be addressed by each and every person in this Chamber. What is wrong that the young people to whom I refer do not want to come back?
I draw attention to the most recent ESRI research bulletin entitled, Impact of the Great Recession on Unemployed Youth and NEET Individuals. NEET stands for not in education, employment or training.
The bulletin states:
One of the first questions addressed by the research was to examine how the profile of unemployed and NEET youths changed pre and post the recession. Before the downturn, young females were more likely to be unemployed; however, post recession the risk was higher for young males. Non-Irish national youths have a higher likelihood of becoming unemployed since the economic downturn as well. The importance of having a Leaving Certificate or higher level of education in reducing the risk of a young person becoming either unemployed or NEET has become stronger since the economic crisis. Apart from their age profile, the characteristics associated with being a NEET youth pre and post recession was similar to unemployed youths: NEET individuals were more likely to be aged 20-24, whereas unemployed youths were aged 15-19.
As I have said before, we are inundated with public relation statements by this Government on a daily basis which camouflage and massage the figures. I accept that the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation is doing his best to reduce unemployment but 22% of young people are still unemployed. As far as I am concerned, having 22% youth unemployment is a crisis. I ask the Leader to arrange an urgent debate on the ESRI's latest study on the impact of the great recession on the unemployed. I also call for a discussion on what we can do to alleviate the 22% youth unemployment figure. People say it is great that the unemployment figure has been reduced to 10.6% but there has not been a word about 22% youth unemployment.
The Senator has made her point.
As usual, the details are in the statistics and not just in public relation statements.
Recent developments regarding the welfare Bill in Northern Ireland are deeply disappointing. It would be a great shame if the gains of the Stormont House Agreement were compromised or whittled down as a result of this apparent impasse.
We know that the First Minister, Peter Robinson and the Deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness, have travelled or are travelling to the United States. I hope they will avail of that opportunity to resolve matters. We hope that Sinn Féin and the DUP, in the wider context, will avail of the time and space now to get to grips with this matter and resolve it quickly. We had understood that these matters were all encompassed by the Stormont House Agreement and that matters were agreed. We do not want to think about what could happen, the damaging impact or the wider implications if this matter is not resolved. The Government here wants to do everything possible to support efforts in good faith but it is up to the parties in Northern Ireland to resolve the matter. We do not want to think of what could happen if it is not resolved. Nobody wants to see a breakdown in the agreement.
Hear, hear.
Nobody wants peace to go back one inch or one iota. We wish the parties well in resolving the matter pretty quickly.
Last week, a documentary called "India's Daughter" was aired by the BBC which dealt with the brutal gang rape and killing of a young female medical student called Jyoti Singh in Delhi in December 2010. The documentary made for harrowing viewing but shone a spotlight on the treatment of women in Indian society. One of the defence attorneys who represents the rapists has said that if his own daughter had relations outside of marriage he would have no trouble in bringing her to his village and, in front of his family, he would douse her in petrol and set her on fire.
Ms Singh's rape and killing was an appalling crime which shook India. I am sure everyone is well aware that the documentary has since been banned. A Member of the other House, from my constituency, has commented that Irish Aid should be cut to developing countries. Last year I took a personal trip to India to see for myself where Irish Aid money goes. I was assisted by the diplomatic corps in the Irish Embassy in Delhi who kindly brought me to a programme taking place in one of the slums of Delhi. What I saw there would support even more money being spent on Irish Aid programmes. I say that because I saw how Irish money is spent in the slums of Delhi. It was spent on programmes to empower women, to help them become leaders in their communities and to teach them to be first responders for any medical emergencies. Young women were also educated up as far as a third level qualification in order for them to come back and educate other young women in their communities. The programmes provided a good positive cycle of improvements. Also, TB has been eradicated and there has not been a cholera outbreak there in decades. A proper sewerage system has also been installed in these slums but they remain terrible places to live.
The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs is scheduled to visit Delhi as part of the St. Patrick Day's celebrations. I ask the Leader to request the Minister to visit the areas in Delhi where Irish Aid money is spent in order to see the work that is done there. If the Minister does so then he will return here with the message that the money has not been wasted but has been spent on excellent and well managed programmes.
I ask the Leader to request the Indian Government to end its censorship of the documentary entitled "India's Daughter" and to broadcast the programme to the Indian public. It is important that the Irish Government shows that we are strong when it comes to equality and equal rights.
I wish to follow on from the issues raised by Senator White. It is important that when people return to this country they not only look for jobs but at issues such as housing and taxation. The reason we have such high taxation here at this stage is because we must pay for mistakes made when Fianna Fáil was in power for 14 years. The Opposition should not forget that fact. Also, the current housing crisis is due to a lot of bad decisions taken during those 14 years.
Fine Gael never objected to the planning decisions that were made.
We must now be positive about bringing about change.
Hurry on.
We have brought stability to the country and created jobs. The only way forward is to create jobs. One of the things about young people coming back and seeking jobs, is that we must remember Ireland is a small economy of 4.6 million people. When people go abroad they have a wider choice of jobs and places to go. Ireland now competes on the world market in a whole lot of areas.
In terms of bringing people back home, one of the things that worries me greatly is the way some registration authorities behave. There have been delays in registering people. Young trained nurses wishing to return to Ireland must wait between three to four months to be registered with An Bord Altranais. That situation does not entice people to return home. I know of some people who returned early last December who lodged their applications with the board. They still have not been registered even though they have jobs waiting for them. Likewise, with the young doctors who want to return home. They have experienced huge delays in registering here. I know of two Irish doctors who were educated and trained here that went to New Zealand but were registered there within two weeks. They came back here to work and discovered they were still unregistered after eight weeks.
Bureaucracy is running the show.
I have outlined the issues that we need to start tackling. If we want people to come back then we must fast-track registration procedures so that they can return to take up available jobs. That is a hugely important issue. I ask the Leader to raise the issue with the relevant Ministers because registration delays affect all professions. We must make sure that the registration authorities that deal with applications give them priority and fast-track them.
It is timely that we will debate the Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Bill 2015 later today. It is an emergency because of the effects the head shops were having.
I commend the former Ministers, Ms Mary Harney and Mr. Dermot Ahern, both of whom moved very quickly at the time. It certainly put paid to the 100 head shops that were booming and blooming throughout Ireland at the time and were causing enormous difficulties and mental health problems. I know the House will pass the Bill today and it will be signed by the President very shortly.
However, it puts a question mark over statutory instruments and ministerial orders. The Attorney General should look at the situation in light of the court's ruling. Far too many European directives are transferred into orders and statutory instruments without going through a proper legislative format. This will give rise to problems in the future because far too much legislation is being drafted by the Government without going through the Oireachtas, as has been highlighted in this case.
I ask the Deputy Leader to invite the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, to come to the House to consider concerns that have been expressed by local councillors, Paschal Fitzmaurice and Orla Leyden, over the future of the long-term mental health services at Áras Naomh Chaoláin in Castlerea. There is a question mark over the future of this service in Castlerea. The service was provided following the closure of St. Patrick's psychiatric hospital, which is now Castlerea Prison.
We have seen many changes in mental health services, but not for the betterment of the patients themselves. It is more to do with cutbacks in the health services. When will the Oireachtas Members in Roscommon shout, "Stop" to the closures in County Roscommon of Garda stations, courthouses and community services? There is constant erosion.
When I was in government - as a Minister of State and a Deputy - we used to fight for issues. We did not allow the Government to walk on the people. The Government and Opposition Oireachtas Members, representing what is now Roscommon-East Galway, are not shouting "Stop" to the Government, the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, and the HSE in removing services from Roscommon, Castlerea and throughout the county. The county is under siege at the moment. As Senator White said, bureaucracy is absolutely strangling the system and the Government is doing nothing about it.
The Government is not strong enough.
Ba mhaith liom mo chomhbhrón a chur in iúl do mhuintir agus clann Phóil Mhic an Draoi, Paul Drury, a bhásaigh le cúpla lá anuas. B'fhéidir nach raibh an pholaitíocht chéanna ná an tuairimíocht chéanna agam féin agus ag Pól, ach aon uair a casadh orm é ba léir gur duine uasal ab ea é. Bhí an-spraoi ag baint leis. Bhí sé an-tiomanta ó thaobh na Gaeilge de. Bhíodh sé ag úsáid na Gaeilge ina chuid oibre go rialta. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.
Bhí cur i láthair an-mhaith sa seomra AV inné maidir leis an tuairisc "Our Voice Our Rights", atá curtha le chéile ag FLAC. Baineann sé seo leis an gCúnant Idirnáisiúnta ar Chearta Eacnamaíocha, Sóisialta agus Cultúrtha. Tá an tuairisc curtha i dtoll a chéile ag FLAC ar son os cionn scór eagraíocht dheonach agus pobail ar fud na hÉireann. Tarraingíonn sé aird ar na háiteanna ina bhfuil cearta daoine á sárú, dar leo, maidir leis an gcúnant idirnáisiúnta seo. Chuala muid píosaí inné maidir le daoine le míchumas, cúrsaí tithíochta, an Lucht Siúil, agus daoine eile nach iad. Bhí sé thar a bheith suimiúil go raibh píosa ann chomh maith céanna maidir leis an nGaeilge. Dúradh go gcaithfear acmhainní cuí a chur ar fáil d'Oifig an Choimisinéara Teanga agus gur cheart do Ghaeilgeoirí deis a bheith acu a gcearta bunreachtúla agus reachtúla agus seirbhísí trí mheán na Gaeilge a fháil. Sílim gur tuairisc iontach maith é agus gurb fhiú dúinn díospóireacht a bheith againn sa Teach seo ar an méid atá molta agus ráite ann. Is cás linn ar fad iad cearta daoine, go háirithe anseo in Éirinn. Sílim go bhfuil cuid mhaith ceisteanna tráthúla agus tábhachtacha anseo maidir leis an seasamh idirnáisiúnta atá againn agus an dualgas atá orainn go hidirnáisiúnta seasamh suas ar son cearta ár saoránach.
I think that is probably one of the shortest Orders of Business we have had.
That is down to the Deputy Leader's efficiency.
I like to think so.
Senator White raised the very important issue of emigration. Unfortunately it is not a new phenomenon for us and it has had a devastating impact on Irish society not to mention the economy over many decades. I think everyone would agree on that. It is obviously a priority for the Government to tackle it. The Senator should look at the annual report on the programme for Government for 2015 which was published yesterday. It lists and documents fairly enough the measures that are being put in place to tackle, in particular the issue of youth unemployment, which the Senator rightly linked with emigration, in order to ensure that more young people can come home. The two issues are closely linked and I know the Senator has done considerable work on them. The issue of education and training for young people is also inextricably linked because of course that significantly enhances people's job prospects.
As I think the Senator acknowledged, the Government's record on job creation is really strong. As yesterday's report sets out, 90,000 new jobs have been created since 2012. Unemployment is now down to 10.1% from a crisis peak of over 15%. We are all aware of those figures, but behind them are human stories of people who are now in jobs and were not two or three years ago. That is highly significant. Youth unemployment is still too high, but it has been reduced by 30% in the four years of the Government. In this coming academic year 23,000 jobseekers will be supported on back-to-education programmes and 28,000 places will be provided under the new Youth Guarantee scheme. I was a huge advocate, as the Senator was, of the European Youth Guarantee project, which was a big highlight of the European Parliament elections last year. I think we will see the benefit of that in terms of young people.
In addition we have, of course, significant funding for the regional action plan to bring jobs recovery to every region to ensure it is not just confined to urban areas. A great deal of work is being done on the specific issues the Senator raised. Undoubtedly we should have a debate on the issue and I am very happy to seek that debate as she has requested.
Senator Paul Coghlan raised concerns about what is going on with the welfare Bill in Northern Ireland and with welfare reform. He expressed concern, which we all share, that a compromising of the Stormont House Agreement may result. Of course, none of us wants any going back to the days before the peace process. We all join the Senator in wishing the parties involved in the negotiations well in ensuring there is a resolution of the issues and that the Stormont House Agreement is not compromised. That is very important.
Senator Heffernan raised a very important issue that is close to my heart about the documentary programme "India's Daughter" which deals with the notorious and barbaric incident where a medical student was gang-raped and died as a result in 2012. It was an appalling incident. I absolutely agree with the Senator that in India that case in particular has highlighted the really appalling levels of sex crime against women and a patriarchal culture that appears to facilitate or enable and certainly does not do anything to bring perpetrators to justice. That is a real concern, obviously for Indian society, but also for us.
The Senator also mentioned Irish Aid programmes in India and commented on how excellent and well managed they are, which is good to hear. I am happy to request that the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Reilly, on his visit to India next week in addition to witnessing the Irish Aid projects - I am sure he will be doing that as part of his visit - would also request the Indian Government to ensure the documentary is not censored in India. I absolutely agree with the Senator that is a very important request we can make. It is important for Ireland and other countries to put pressure on the Indian Government to ensure that documentary is not censored.
Senator Colm Burke raised the economy and the achievements of Government in tackling unemployment. I think I have dealt with that. He also dealt with the very specific issue of delays in professional registration for emigrants returning from abroad. The Senator is right; this is a very serious issue. We need to fast-track professional registration to facilitate people returning. I have certainly heard of delays in professional registration for individuals who are not necessarily Irish and were qualified abroad, and are coming to take up work here to provide much-needed skills and expertise to our society. This is a big issue and the Senator is right to raise it. We might consider having a debate in the House on the issue.
Senator Leyden raised the issue of the drugs Bill that we will be debating after the Order of Business. He rightly pointed out that there might be a need for the Attorney General to review the impact of this week's judgment by Mr. Justice Hogan in other areas. I am sure that is already being done. All parties commented favourably last night on the speed with which the Government moved to address this lacuna.
Clearly, it was anticipated that the judgment might go this way, and there was legislation ready. We will have a full debate on that. There is a prospect of a Supreme Court appeal by the State in the case, so this may not be the end of the story.
The Senator asked that the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, come to the House to discuss an issue concerning Castlerea. I suggest that he raise this as a Commencement matter and invite the Minister of State to address it very specifically.
Senator Ó Clochartaigh spoke as Gaeilge so I hope I respond accurately. He offered his condolences on the very sad death of Paul Drury. We all join him in that regard. Mr. Drury was a very fine journalist. The Senator also spoke about his briefing in the AV room with the Free Legal Advice Centres on the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. It is a very important issue, which, as the Senator knows, was considered by the Constitutional Convention. A recommendation was made for the inclusion of recognition of economic, social and cultural rights in the Constitution. However, the report of the convention recommended that some more work be done on determining the best way to ensure constitutional recognition. The Labour Party and I support the recognition of the rights in the Constitution, but determining how best that can be done without undermining unduly the doctrine of the separation of powers is legally complex. We teased this out at length at the Constitutional Convention and it was of great interest. It is a matter on which we can continue to work. We might have a debate in this House on the convention's report. Perhaps that would be the best way to address the matter.
I am sure the Senator will be raising the Irish language in the debate on Seachtain na Gaeilge, which will be taking place at 1.30 p.m. today.