Richard Boyd Barrett
Ceist:16. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach to report on the work of the National Economic and Social Council. [3406/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraWednesday, 8 February 2023
Ceisteanna (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
Cian O'Callaghan
Ceist:17. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the National Economic and Social Council. [4446/23]
Amharc ar fhreagra
Ivana Bacik
Ceist:18. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the National Economic and Social Council [4378/23]
Amharc ar fhreagra
Paul Murphy
Ceist:19. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the National Economic and Social Council. [4428/23]
Amharc ar fhreagra
Mary Lou McDonald
Ceist:20. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the National Economic and Social Council. [5644/23]
Amharc ar fhreagra
Peadar Tóibín
Ceist:21. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the National Economic and Social Council. [5797/23]
Amharc ar fhreagra
Brendan Smith
Ceist:22. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the National Economic and Social Council. [5799/23]
Amharc ar fhreagra
Cathal Crowe
Ceist:23. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the National Economic and Social Council. [5873/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí ó Béal (18 píosaí cainte)
I propose to take Questions Nos. 16 to 23, inclusive, together.
The National Economic and Social Council, NESC, advises me on strategic policy issues relating to sustainable economic, social and environmental development in Ireland. The NESC work programme currently includes six main areas, which are as follows.
The first is housing, land and sustainable development. In 2022, the council discussed housing at its June and September meetings. These discussions led to a focused council report on the role of private rental accommodation as part of an effective housing system. This report, Private Rental in Ireland, is with me at the moment and will be submitted to Government in the coming weeks.
The second area is the economy. The council is finalising work that focuses on the nature of the Irish economy, its underlying strengths and areas of vulnerability. It is expected that the final council report will be submitted to the Government in the first quarter of this year.
The third area is climate action, just transition and agriculture. This work is exploring, in practical terms, how climate targets and the transition they entail for Irish agriculture can be achieved in a manner that encompasses social equity and inclusion, environmental resilience and economic well-being. A final council report will be prepared in the second quarter of 2023.
Shared island is the next area. NESC will continue to engage with the shared island unit, and this work will include a focus on social enterprise in 2023. A report will be discussed at the NESC council meeting in March 2023.
In the good jobs area, NESC will engage with relevant stakeholders to help provide a basis for work in essential sectors of the economy in which an emphasis on good jobs could provide a mechanism for improving worker well-being, driving innovation and enhancing productivity.
The final area is inequality and well-being. This work by NESC will deepen the understanding of inequality in Ireland and will consider how Ireland’s well-being framework can help identify inequalities and how it can point towards new means of confronting such inequalities.
The NESC-published reports can be found on its website. As reports are finalised in the relevant areas, they are brought to the Government for discussion and noting in advance of publication.
The Taoiseach stated that NESC was looking into the issues of poverty and inequality. I put it to him that almost everything has changed since some of those reports were done. There needs to be a sort of an emergency response, again, to the shocking levels of poverty that are now becoming apparent.
The Barnardos report published today is really shocking. The number of people accessing food banks has doubled to one in ten of the population. The number that has difficulty putting food on the table for their family is now one in five. This is one of the richest countries in the world. According to a report yesterday, the food inflation rate has gone up to 16% in the 12 weeks until the middle of January. As we speak, people are being driven into poverty.
There has to be some awareness. At the time of the budget, we predicted, I hate to say, that the budget increases in social welfare, wages, pensions and so on would leave people in a worse situation and would leave more people driven into poverty. It is now happening. There has to be a response. We need an emergency budget. We cannot have tens of thousands of people, especially vulnerable people and children, without enough food to eat and turning off the heating because they cannot afford it. We cannot have that.
It is especially nauseating that a few weeks ago, there was a report about the number of people who have more than €4 million in personal wealth having doubled in the country. We have to do something about this inequality. An emergency response is needed. We need an emergency budget and further emergency measures on the cost-of-living crisis.
Is the Taoiseach ashamed to lead a Government in one of the richest countries in the world and yet have a situation where one in ten parents are forced to go to food banks or rely on food donations to be able to feed their children? It is an incredible indictment of what is happening in this country and the policies of the Government. We know that the price of groceries has increased in the course of the past year by more than 16%, obviously far outstripping any meagre wage increases people are getting or meagre increases in social welfare payments. We also know that last year food companies, globally, and the same goes for Ireland, doubled their profits. There is a relationship between those two things. The driving factor behind the very high increases in food prices is incredible profiteering by the food companies.
We clearly need an increase in people's wages. We need an increase in social welfare payments. However, I ask the Taoiseach whether he agrees the Government should use the power it has under consumer protection legislation to introduce price controls on key food items. I draw the attention of the Taoiseach to his sister party in Greece, New Democracy, which is in government. It has introduced a list of 50 basic goods on which supermarkets are expected to freeze prices or scale back future increases. Does the Taoiseach not agree we need price controls in this country?
In response to my last question on paid domestic leave entitlements, the Taoiseach cited the North as a reason for holding entitlements back. I will put on the record that north of the Border, there is an entitlement to ten days of leave on full pay. I reiterate my call to the Taoiseach to go back to the Minister and to ensure that domestic violence leave is at full pay.
I will raise the NESC findings from focus group work undertaken in the north west. Not surprisingly, the region's historically poor transport connectivity loomed large. There is no motorway, direct rail or air route from Dublin to Derry. Bear in mind Derry is the fourth-largest city in Ireland. An air connectivity review is committed to under the New Decade, New Approach agreement, which includes the Dublin-Derry route. Following a meeting with the cross-party delegation of councillors from Donegal, Derry and Strabane last year, the then Taoiseach indicated he was open to Government funding of Derry airport. The Minister of State at the Department of Transport subsequently met the board of management of City of Derry Airport.
Reopening the Dublin-Derry air route would create enormous economic and social opportunities for the north west. When can we expect the Minister for Transport to conclude his consideration of the data provided by Derry airport management? When will the air connectivity review be completed and published?
The GAA has introduced a policy of getting rid of cash at GAA matches throughout the country. This is the wrong decision. It means that many people, especially older people who cannot buy GAA tickets online or use technology are effectively banned from matches. I know of older people who have gone to matches. They have not been able to procure a ticket and they have had to go home.
The GAA is a wonderful organisation. It is the most successful community organisation in the country. That is why it is disappointing to see this policy being introduced. The policy is excluding people. It is hitting the people who have been isolated the most during the Covid crisis. Age NI has come out to publicly pronounce against this policy. AIB was forced to reverse its policy when it started to get rid of cash, especially in rural branches.
Aontú is campaigning, North and South, for the re-introduction of cash in at least one turnstile at each match. Will the Taoiseach join with us and ask the GAA to be more inclusive in terms of access to GAA matches?
Some months ago during Taoiseach's questions, I welcomed the initiative of the shared island unit in the Department of the Taoiseach in having NESC undertake work on its behalf, in the context of the economy and regional development. I hope the Taoiseach can take on board what I suggested at the time, in the context of discussions he said would be taking place in March between the shared island unit and NESC, that a particular work project should be undertaken on the specific challenges faced by the Border region, especially the central Border area of Cavan, Monaghan, Fermanagh, Armagh and Tyrone.
As the Taoiseach knows, that region is very dependent on the agrifood, engineering and construction product sectors. Our key market is Britain. All of the issues with regard to Brexit and the protocol are not yet resolved. We sincerely hope they will be but any disruption to trade has a major impact on businesses in our region, both North and South of the Border.
NESC should devote a particular part of its work to the challenges facing that central Border area because as we all know, the more highly-developed and concentrated areas such as the east coast, Dublin-Belfast axis will weather economic storms. Our region is not as well prepared or well resourced to weather economic storms that can arise through international turbulence or through turbulence between the European Union and Britain. It is very important that we prepare for any eventualities that might impact on the economy in that region, both North and South.
I had hoped to be in earlier. On the inquiry into how the State dealt with Covid, the Taoiseach is talking about it being scoped out. Would it be possible to get a timeline on how long this scoping exercise will take? Can we get the detail as soon as possible about the remit and whether we are talking about individual modules, as well as a timeline on the inquiry? I spoke to the Taoiseach previously about Dealgan House and the 23 people who died there. The fact RCSI Hospitals Group took over there makes it different. The families have been promised by Ministers that a mechanism will be provided to provide answers and closure. We need to ensure this happens.
On the last matter, we are scoping out the Covid inquiry at present. We hope to have it established by the Oireachtas mid-year. It will not just be about the State's response; it will be about the wider response from all society, including the private sector. It is impossible to put a timeframe on it but given the scope and scale, it could take a long time. That is the truth of it. I cannot possibly put a time on it.
With regard to the first matter raised, it is important and was not acknowledged in the questions that poverty had been trending downwards in Ireland for a number of years, as had income inequality. Ireland, as judged by the Gini coefficient, is one of the few countries that has not seen inequality increase in recent years. That should be acknowledged and it is largely down to the policies pursued by Government in recent years.
However, the cost-of-living crisis changes things and it has caused a considerable set-back. I acknowledge that many families are really struggling to make ends meet and to pay for very basic things, whether it is energy, fuel or food.
We are taking a lot of action. There have been wage increases, with the national minimum wage rising by 7.8%. That kicked in in the last few weeks and is in line with inflation. We are now likely to see inflation of less than 7.8% this year. It might not have been in line with inflation last year but if one takes inflation over a three, five or ten-year period, the national minimum wage has increased ahead of the rate of inflation and ahead of the cost of living. We had the public sector pay deal as well and we have increases coming through by way of employment regulation orders and across the private sector pay increases are happening as well. We have pension and welfare increases which just kicked in in the last few weeks, amounting to an extra €12 per week. There have been more targeted measures like the extension of the fuel allowance to tens of thousands more people. There have been income tax reductions, including the rent credit which I know will be welcomed by a lot of renters. We are taking action on the social wage by reducing the cost of public transport, school transport, childcare, college fees, and providing free schoolbooks. All of these things make a big difference.
They are not enough.
There is also the energy credit, with another €200 being knocked off people's bills in March. Research by the ESRI and others has shown that for a lot of people, these measures largely or fully insulate them from the cost-of-living crisis but I absolutely acknowledge that is not the case for everyone. Certainly when it comes to deciding what we do in the March, April and May period, we will have regard to the fact that we need to target those who are suffering the most.
To be very frank, I do not think price controls are a good idea. They have been used in the past in Ireland but they did not work very well. While the Government can cap what retailers can charge for a certain product, it cannot cap what the retailer has to pay to get that product. Where price controls and price caps are introduced, it often leads to shortages. We might find, if we introduced a price cap of 120 cent per litre for petrol or diesel, for example, that we just have no petrol or diesel because there is no margin there for the retailer. That is often one of the problems with price controls. Another problem which we saw play out in the UK when it introduced energy price caps was that the Government just had to keep increasing the caps because the wholesale cost of energy kept going up. I do not think it is the panacea that some Deputies have suggested.
What about Shell and BP? They are making money.
I accept Deputy McDonald's point in relation to domestic violence leave in Northern Ireland but I do not think we can view things in isolation. If one take's sick pay for example, what we offer people in terms of sick pay is more per day than people get per week in Northern Ireland. One has to look at things in the round. The same also applies to the minimum wage, for example.
What about the GAA?
To be honest, I have read a bit about that matter but I am not fully across it. Decisions on ticketing are ultimately a matter for the organisations concerned but there should be some provision for cash. One of the issues that came out of the report on the retail banking sector, led by the former Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, was that while we do want to have electronic payments and make them the norm, and they are the norm now, cash is still legal tender and we should make some provision for the use of cash. That said, I do not understand the practicalities of having one turnstile that accepts cash. I just do not know enough about it to make a judgment on it.
Will the Taoiseach respond to Deputy Brendan Smith's issue?
I asked about the central Border area.
I asked about Derry Airport.
I am sorry but I will have to ask the Minister for Transport to respond to the Deputy on the air connectivity issue. I will have a chat with Deputy Brendan Smith afterwards about the matter he raised because I did not fully catch what he said while I was trying to jot down the other questions.
Is féidir teacht ar Cheisteanna Scríofa ar
www.oireachtas.ie
.
Written Answers are published on the Oireachtas website.