Cian O'Callaghan
Ceist:10. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the social dialogue co-ordination unit of his Department. [49953/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 21 November 2023
Ceisteanna (10, 11, 12, 13)
Ruairí Ó Murchú
Ceist:11. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the social dialogue co-ordination unit of his Department. [50720/23]
Amharc ar fhreagra
Richard Boyd Barrett
Ceist:12. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the social dialogue co-ordination unit of his Department. [50903/23]
Amharc ar fhreagra
Paul Murphy
Ceist:13. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the social dialogue co-ordination unit of his Department. [50906/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí ó Béal (25 píosaí cainte)
I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 to 13 together.
The social dialogue unit, part of the economic division of the Department, co-ordinates and assists the Government's overall approach to social dialogue. This includes the Labour Employer Economic Forum, LEEF, which engages with representatives of employers and trade unions on economic and employment issues insofar as they affect the labour market, and which are of mutual concern. The most recent meeting of the LEEF took place yesterday, 20 November. This provided an opportunity to look at current challenges, in particular in the area of the cost of living. A range of LEEF subgroups deal with issues such as employment and enterprise, housing, pensions and early years issues.
Social dialogue and engagement also take place through a variety of formats including: the National Civic Forum for dialogue with the community and voluntary sector, the second of which was held last week; the National Economic Dialogue, which was held on 12 June; the National Economic and Social Council; the National Dialogue on Climate Action; the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council; and many other sectoral groups and consultative forums. Another model for broad-based social dialogue are citizens' assemblies. In addition, I and other members of the Government regularly meet bilaterally with representative groups to hear their views on a wide variety of issues. The social dialogue unit will continue to assist me and the Government in these engagements with the social partners in the period ahead.
I want to deal with the issue of the ambulance services. Much fine work is done by many who work in the system but talking on a local or even a State-wide basis, one will hear about the many deficiencies and issues that need to be looked at. It is an issue that I brought up with the HSE. On Friday, 10 November 2023, a 93-year-old woman waited from 5.20 p.m. until 9.05 p.m. for an ambulance to come and help her. Her son told me she fell in her home and was unable to move. She was in a huge level of pain. There were a number of conversations over and back, and I think one ambulance had been rerouted, but the fact is they did not get anybody to her house until 9.05 p.m. They had requested that she be moved but she was unable to move; such was the pain she was in. In fairness, when the paramedics arrived, they were absolutely brilliant and fabulous work was done. I have brought this up with the HSE as regards an investigation. However, it fits into the scenario, whether talking about County Louth, including Drogheda, Dundalk and everywhere in between, or right across this State, that there are huge issues putting a system in place to deliver ambulance services. Whatever issues there may be regarding hospital inadequacies, this is something that is not on in any way. Drastic action needs to be taken.
One of the purposes of social dialogue is to address the question of poverty. I raise the issue, as the social welfare Bill begins its journey to the Dáil, of the fact that the series of one-off payments the Government is giving to help people with the crippling cost-of-living crisis as we head towards the winter will not be extended to people who are on short-term payments. This is grossly unfair. We raised it with the Taoiseach last year and the Government was prompted to make some changes. I am asking him to extend the fuel allowance, and the one-off payments that flow from it, to people who deserve it every bit as much as those who are getting it. Why on earth would people on short-term payments such as, for example, the back to education allowance or illness benefit, not be entitled to the fuel allowance and the one-off payments that flow from it? They are not going to get it. With regard to the back to education allowance, I am dealing with a case of somebody who is going back to education and who previously received the fuel allowance. They are now going back to education, which is a good thing, to try to upskill themselves to contribute to and to work in our economy, but they are effectively being punished because they are not entitled to fuel allowance or the one-off payments. A wide range of people on those short-term payments are not getting these benefits and I ask the Taoiseach to address this in the social welfare Bill so people get these one-off payments and the fuel allowance.
Successive Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil Governments have reduced our health service to a permanent state of crisis through years of underfunding, privatisation and neoliberal mismanagement. Now, the Government is forcing through a recruitment freeze that will make the crisis even worse. I heard the Taoiseach's reply earlier to Deputy Kenny. He seems to be denying the fact that there is a recruitment crisis because there will be 2,000 extra staff in a total workforce of 140,000. It is in black and white in the memo from HSE chief executive officer, Bernard Gloster, that a recruitment freeze is happening. Does the Taoiseach accept this? Heathcare workers are already heroically shouldering workloads that should be shared out among thousands more staff. The Government has a massive surplus that could transform our health service into a proper, single-tier, universal health service with no waiting lists, but instead it is doing the opposite and imposing a recruitment freeze. The INMO has threatened industrial action if the recruitment freeze goes ahead. Medical scientists are preparing for industrial action next month. Will the Taoiseach call off the recruitment freeze and guarantee significant pay increases for all healthcare workers?
I thank the Deputies. Regarding ambulance services, I am genuinely sorry to hear about the bad experience that Deputy Ó Murchú's constituent had. Certainly, nobody would want that to happen to anyone or in any constituency. We have increased investment in ambulance services all the time. We have new paramedics, new vehicles, new basis and systems for call out, but sadly, there will always be occasions where multiple calls happen at the one time. It happens with An Garda Síochána as well. That can result in delays but it is always the most urgent calls that get prioritised, or at least that is what is supposed to happen through the triage system.
On the one-off payments, I know the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys, will examine that. There has to be a cut-off point somewhere but she has made some modifications in the past where one-off payments were extended to some smaller groups who were not covered initially so that is something to which she will give consideration.
Regarding health, all I heard from Deputy Murphy was him quoting ideology and rhetoric but no facts. The health budget is bigger than it has ever been in cash terms. On a per capita basis, we are mid to high on the table in the western world. We have 20,000 more staff than when the Government came to office. The HSE will be able to hire an additional 2,000 staff members on top of that next year. We have pay deals with public servants. We are beginning negotiations on another round of pay increases for our staff in the health sector. We have added more than 1,000 beds since this Government came to office. For the first time since the foundation of the State, the majority of people in the country qualify for free GP care. We have abolished inpatient hospital charges for children. For adults, we have State-funded IVF now. We have made contraception free for a lot of women. We have a major hospital building programme under way. This is not privatisation or cutbacks; this is the reverse of all of that. It is a parallel universe that the Deputy tends to read from.
Has the Taoiseach visited the hospitals? Has he seen the waiting lists? They are getting longer.
I regularly visit the hospitals. The waiting lists are 22% lower than they were from peak levels. They are still too high-----
Does the Taoiseach accept there is a recruitment freeze?
-----but they are not going up.
He does not even accept there is a recruitment freeze.
We have four minutes and 39 seconds. We might as well use it.
The Deputies can have a go-----
On another issue-----
The Deputy has one minute.
I will be quick. It is on social dialogue so it is the same grouping.
I brought up with the Taoiseach, as has Deputy Ó Murchú, on a number of occasions the budget scrutiny committee report on section 481. People before Profit, Sinn Féin and the Labour Party all have tabled amendments to the Finance Bill 2023 on the issue of employment conditions and remuneration for writers, actors, performers, and stage crew in the film industry. So far, the Minister for Finance has not indicated any willingness to accept those amendments but at the very least it would be useful if we could get commitments around the stakeholder forum, which is very much about social dialogue and real engagement between the Government and the multiple Departments, which is part of the problem. There are several Departments actually consulting in a serious way with all stakeholders about what workers in the industry say is them being robbed of the proper rights and remuneration to which they are entitled in an industry that is very substantially funded by the taxpayer.
It is not the first time that the employment conditions within the film industry has been brought up with the Taoiseach. The power differential is huge at times. The stakeholder forum is a means of addressing these issues so the sooner the better. It is absolutely required. As much as we would like to deal with some of these issues through the Finance Bill, this is something that is required across the board, whether we are talking about actors, crew members, directors, or whoever else, and it is about maintaining a sustainable film industry.
Does Deputy Murphy want to contribute?
I endorse what Deputy Boyd Barrett said.
Does the Taoiseach want to respond?
I appreciate that this issue has been raised a number of times in the Chamber. As I said previously, the idea of a stakeholder forum is a good one. I cannot see what harm it would do, and it exists in other industries. I know the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, is giving some consideration to it at the moment.
That concludes that business.
Two precious minutes were wasted there. We will let it go.
Has the Deputy anything to say?
Of course he has something say.
I have loads of say but I will not get it said in two minutes.