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Cabinet Committees

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 16 September 2020

Wednesday, 16 September 2020

Ceisteanna (1)

Mary Lou McDonald

Ceist:

1. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach the working groups or initiatives he has established or plans to establish within his Department. [23701/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí ó Béal (12 píosaí cainte)

On its formation the Government established the following Cabinet committees: the Cabinet committee on Covid-19; the Cabinet committee on economic recovery and investment; the Cabinet committee on Brexit and Northern Ireland; the Cabinet committee on environment and climate change; the Cabinet committee on housing; the Cabinet committee on health; the Cabinet committee on social affairs and equality; the Cabinet committee on education; the Cabinet committee on Europe; and the Cabinet committee on Government co-ordination.

Each of these Cabinet committees will work to advance Government priorities as set out in the programme for Government, particularly where cross-Government collaboration is critical. Cabinet committees, where appropriate, will be supported by a corresponding senior officials' group, which generally is chaired by an assistant secretary general in my Department, and with membership drawn from the relevant Government Departments.

As in previous administrations, supporting Cabinet committees is a core function of the relevant policy division in my Department and is undertaken in addition to other responsibilities of the staff involved.

As set out in the programme for Government, a new shared island unit has been established within the Department of An Taoiseach to support a renewed push to use the potential of the Good Friday Agreement to deliver sustained progress for all communities. This unit will work towards a consensus on a shared island and will examine the political, social, economic and cultural considerations underpinning a future in which all traditions are mutually respected. Staffing and further development of the work programme for the unit is well under way, and information on this will be provided over the coming weeks.

A social dialogue unit has also been established as part of the economic division in the Department of An Taoiseach, and this will look to build on existing work and structures already in place to support social dialogue such as the Labour Employer Economic Forum.

I thank the Taoiseach for that response. When the Taoiseach gets to his feet to respond to me, will he clarify what Electric Ireland said to him when he contacted it? He confirmed that he had been in contact with the company and I ask him to set out its response in respect of energy costs.

I asked the Taoiseach in advance of the summer recess about the north inner city initiative, which had been sponsored by a predecessor of his as Taoiseach. I also asked him about community participation in the national drug and alcohol strategy, and in fairness to him, he responded to me fairly comprehensively, so I thank him for that. In his response to me, the Taoiseach states that the HSE and the Department of Health provide funding to support development and facilitate the involvement of communities in the local structures for implementing the national drug and alcohol strategy. This view is very welcome but unfortunately it does not accurately reflect the position of the HSE when these matters have been raised with senior management. The HSE holds the view that while the national drugs strategy makes reference to community participation, which it does, it believes there is no mandate for the HSE or drug and alcohol task forces to fund it. This is a fundamental problem that needs to be corrected. The Taoiseach also notes that the Department of Health is currently reviewing how best to support and promote community participation, and I would ask that the divergence of views between the HSE and the Department on the funding of community participation be fully addressed during this process.

I am disappointed that the Taoiseach has taken a kind of half-in, half-out position on the formal adoption of the north-west inner city into the initiative that I spoke of because that is a missed opportunity. I also asked about a review of the initiative, and I am disappointed that the Taoiseach has decided against that process. Reference is made to a spending review of the initiative and a value assessment. As someone who understands the value of digging into policymaking and of community participation, I am very surprised that the Taoiseach has not even considered a community-based review, which is far more important and would prove far more valuable.

Apologies if I missed it but which Cabinet committee or group, if any, is dealing with arts and culture? I would hate to think that this area has been overlooked, particularly given the really dire plight of performers, musicians, arts workers, crews and events people. The latter group are out protesting because, as with other groups, their incomes and livelihoods have been hammered by the current crisis. Very little support has been forthcoming, especially for the events sector. Are any of the Taoiseach's committees looking at this area because it is urgent?

Does the Taoiseach really think it is a good idea to have a new oversight committee chaired by Mr. Martin Fraser to finesse the public health advice received from NPHET? Is this really the way to deal with the huge inconsistencies and confusion around public health advice? We now have the expert advisory group, NPHET, this new committee and the Government involved. The roadmap says that people should not leave Dublin, the Minister for Health said that they can leave, the Taoiseach said last night that he was not sure and then the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe said this morning that they should not leave the city. Do we really need even further layers of confusion piled on top of that?

On the issue of committees, I seek some clarity. The Taoiseach said that there is now a Government co-ordination committee. Is that correct?

Does that deal with communications?

May I say that given the last few weeks, months, days, hours and minutes, the Taoiseach should probably include it to bring some clarity. The Taoiseach was very strong in opposition on the unit that was set up by the previous Government, and I shared a lot of his concerns in that regard, to be fair, but there needs to be co-ordination of communications. The work that some of the media did yesterday in helping the Government out by informing people about the roadmap should really have been done by the Government and should have been done more quickly. The Taoiseach can take this or leave it. I have already asked him during Leaders' Questions to deal with this before the weekend and I urge him to do so.

How will the new committee that has been set up to oversee the workings with NPHET interact with the Cabinet? Will it be like a buffer? The Taoiseach said that it will ensure understanding across Government and gave a couple of examples. How is that going to interact with the Cabinet committees on health and on Covid-19?

I must ask for everyone's co-operation with regard to time because we ran over time leading into Leaders' Questions.

We started seven or eight minutes late.

I know, but that was because everybody spoke over time this morning. I am trying to be fair to everybody.

On the national alcohol and drugs strategy and the issue of community participation, I will discuss the matter again with the HSE. On the ground, the HSE clearly has a view and the Deputy is saying that there is a divergence of opinion between the executive and the Department of Health. My own view is that programmes work best when they have strong engagement with the community on the ground and there is significant community buy-in and participation. Again, I will seek to ascertain from the HSE its policy position on this. I sent a comprehensive reply to the Deputy and my position on the north-west inner city is a reasonable one to adopt at this stage. Again, I have no issue with a review of the community participation issue and will tell my officials to do so and arrive at an outcome in that regard.

In response to Deputy Boyd Barrett, there is not a specific Cabinet committee on arts and culture. Indeed, there is not a Cabinet committee for every Department. There are some key areas, including housing, health and climate change, Covid-19, Europe, social affairs and education, as I have outlined.

The issue of the events sector and financial and economic support for different sectors comes under the remit of the Cabinet committee on economic recovery and investment. That committee approved the wage subsidy scheme and the pandemic unemployment payment, as well as the extension of the latter and its opening up to new entrants. It has also considered the issue of sectors that do not fall readily within the scope of those particular interventions. The restart grant came through that committee, as did the commercial rates relief that was offered to a whole range of businesses. The credit loan guarantee scheme and the microfinancing initiatives also came through that particular committee. It will also be considering what is possible in terms of supporting companies and self-employed individuals in particular sectors, including the arts, events, the taxi industry and others.

The Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, is engaging with the arts sector on an ongoing basis in regard to dealing with the impact of Covid on their situation.

The principal focus of the Cabinet Committee on Government Co-ordination is preparation for Cabinet itself in terms of issues that might arise at Cabinet, various initiatives to make sure everything is agreed and so forth. It performs a very useful function, given it is a three-party coalition, in making sure there is agreement on the issues that go to Cabinet, and that all of those particular amendments have been thought through in all respects.

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