Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 21 Mar 2024

Vol. 1051 No. 4

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions

Deputy Pearse Doherty

Is é toradh pholasaí Fhine Gael ar an ngéarchéim tithíochta an leibhéal is airde easpa dídine ar taifead, na praghsanna tithíochta agus cíosanna is airde a bhí againn riamh, an leibhéal úinéireachta tí is ísle le 50 bliain agus seirbhísí sláinte i ngéarchéim. Is toradh pholasaí Fhine Gael é sin. Ní anois an t-am don tríú Taoiseach ó bhí an t-olltoghchán agus ní anois an t-am le leanúint ar aghaidh le polasaithe an Rialtais, atá tar éis teipeadh. Tá sé in am d'athrú agus d'olltoghchán.

The Tánaiste and his party have been facilitating the election of Fine Gael taoisigh since 2016, and the legacy of Fine Gael in office and of Fianna Fáil's time propping it up is the housing crisis. The State, to its shame, has the highest ever level of homelessness. It has seen the highest house prices ever, the highest rents we have ever seen and the lowest levels of homeownership in 50 years. That is Leo's legacy, but it is also the Tánaiste's legacy and his Government's legacy. No matter who becomes Taoiseach from within this Government, it is the policies and the approach that are wrong. No matter who leads Fine Gael, that will not change.

I am not surprised, and I can understand why, many in the Tánaiste's party are questioning its purpose when Fianna Fáil is set to facilitate the election of a Fine Gael Taoiseach for the fourth time since 2016. We are told the front-runner for the highest office in the land is Simon Harris. Let us remember that this is a Minister whose record in the Department of Health was so bad that it precipitated the last general election, a man who made false promises to children with scoliosis and their families about when they would get their treatment. Most importantly, this is a man who has backed Government policies to the hilt, who has been instrumental in successive Government failures in health, housing and mental health services. If he is the best this Government can muster, it is clear this is a Government that is out of touch, out of time and out of ideas.

We are, since yesterday, in uncharted territory. We are set to have had three taoisigh in a single Government term. Two taoisigh will have come from a party that came third in a general election. Yesterday, the Taoiseach, Deputy Leo Varadkar, threw in the towel, acknowledging he was not up for the job, but it is our view that no one in the Government is up for the job. On the key issues and challenges this State faces, in housing and the provision of healthcare, this Government has not only failed but failed miserably. The next Taoiseach should have a mandate directly from the people, not from the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party only to be rubber-stamped by the Green Party and Fianna Fáil.

It is time for a general election because this is a defining moment. People right across this State are crying out for change. Fine Gael, we all know, have been in government for far too long, and changing its leader will change nothing. What we need is a change of approach. We need a change of approach in housing, healthcare and the support for workers and families in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. If the Tánaiste is confident of his record, why does he not put it to the people and let the people decide? What is he afraid of? Why does he not call for a general election now? Let us go toe to toe and see who comes out the better end.

The Tánaiste

Ní aontaím in aon chor leis an Teachta. Níl aon amhras orm ach go bhfuil muintir na tíre ag cur béime ar ghnáthchúrsaí an tsaoil. Níl muintir na tíre ag lorg olltoghcháin ag an bpointe seo. Tá siad ag lorg dul chun cinn ó thaobh cúrsaí tithíochta agus sláinte. Ní labhróimid faoin ngéarchéim aeráide agus a lán nithe eile.

The people of this country do not want a general election. I have been very committed since the last general election to a full, five-year term of government. That has always been my position. I believe that when a Dáil is elected, as the result of a general election, it should go full term. I recall the 1980s, when I was a young student, that there were three elections in 18 months. I recall a general election in 1987, which I contested, although I did not get elected, in 1989, two years later, and in 1992, three years after that. It led to short-term thinking, short-term political decisions and short-term legislation. It did not work. That is why I actually believe in the five-year term. This is a coalition of parties, not personalities. Ours was the most comprehensive programme for Government ever negotiated and it is the programme for Government, the policy, the substance that matters. Sinn Féin does not have that. It does not have a single policy anybody could credibly critique because it does not have one. It has no substance behind any of its initiatives.

A record 2.7 million people are at work in this economy. A total of 90,000 jobs have been added over the past year and 550,000 since this Government took office. Unemployment is at 4.2%. Inflation is down already by nearly two thirds. The proposal for the future Ireland fund, which is very significant legislation, was passed through Cabinet yesterday. We have work to do. We have to get that future fund Bill passed in this House, along with the infrastructure and climate fund Bill, which is part of it. We have to also get the planning Bill completed in this House. This is the bread-and-butter stuff that matters to people out there in the economy and in society. They do not want politicians endlessly speculating about elections. The Deputy has been calling for a general election since this Oireachtas started. He wants an election every year. I am more focused on the bread-and-butter issues that matter to people.

The Deputy talked about housing. A total of 32,000 new homes were built last year. The momentum has changed in respect of house building and it is our objective to keep that momentum going. Today, figures will be published by the Department of housing that will show there were more than 3,600 new commencements in February alone. That is 85% above the same time last year, when approximately 2,000 were commenced. That is progress. We need to do more than that and we will, but what we have seen in the past two years is very significant progress on house building. The Deputy will not acknowledge it because he is in opposition and cannot acknowledge any progress from the Government on anything. That is very significant, and we have other measures to take in the next month or two to keep the momentum going on housing. People in the construction industry need certainty, continuity and stability on fundamental issues of policy related to housing, and we are going to provide that.

The Deputy mentioned health. A total of 60% of the population are entitled to free GP care. Inpatient hospital charges have been abolished. There is free contraception for women, there are lower costs of medicines and annual spending is up 51%, or €8 billion, since the Government took office. There are 8,000 more nurses and midwives and 4,000 more health and social care professionals and the cost of childcare is half what it was. There are free schoolbooks for every student in primary and special schools and for students in the junior cycle. There are reduced costs of school transport, thousands more special education teachers and SNAs, and 1,300 new special classes and seven new special schools. That is a record that is significant and represents real progress, and my task and obligation, with the parties with which we signed up to the programme for Government, is to continue that to the end of term.

Deputy Pearse Doherty

If the Tánaiste believes in that record, he should put it to the test and let the people decide, because I have nothing to fear from letting the people decide which vision they want - the leadership on this side of the House by Deputy Mary Lou McDonald or the leadership the Tánaiste he is offering, a leadership that ignored my points. He wants to continue the momentum on housing. We have the highest house prices, the highest rents, the highest levels of homelessness and the lowest levels of homeownership in the history of this State. He talks about progress on healthcare. As he is taking to his feet, countless people in accident and emergency services who have been admitted to our hospitals cannot get to access to hospitals. That is the reality.

The Tánaiste is running scared, just as he did the last time he was in government. In 2010 - does he remember that? - I had to take the Government to the High Court, which found it guilty of breaching the constitutional rights of the people of Donegal by not having an election. The Tánaiste is running scared from the people. This Government's time is up. The Taoiseach has thrown in the towel. He has said he is not up for the job. No one in the Government is up for the job. The public need change; they do not need a rearranging of the deckchairs in this Government, a Government that is spectacularly failing. If the Tánaiste believes in everything he said, let the people decide, because we will go toe to toe with him in the morning.

The Tánaiste

The people will decide when the time for the election comes. We have up until March of next year; that is the programme of this Government. I have fought far more general elections than the Deputy has. I have never been afraid of an election. I have contested many of them, so the Deputy should not talk to me and lecture me about elections, please. I am interested in government and in the basic policy issues people want us to address. The people want us to address issues and deliver on them, which we are doing. Just last week, the Deputy's party acknowledged and thanked the Government for the shared island initiative and the huge funding in Northern Ireland. I thought the very partisan comments of Sinn Féin's First Minister yesterday in respect of the Taoiseach, Deputy Leo Varadkar, left a lot to be desired, given the glowing response a month ago to the Government's shared island initiative.

We have done more with respect to cross-border development and investment in Northern Ireland than many a government for many a year. That was something Sinn Féín opposed initially, as a party. It jumped on the bandwagon quickly afterwards, which is normally what it does. The party is not ready for a general election.

Deputy Pearse Doherty

We are.

The Tánaiste

No, it is not. It needs policies and it needs substance.

Deputy Pearse Doherty

Bring it on.

The Tánaiste

Sinn Féín does not have substance and it does not have detail. It has bluster, bluster and bluster.

Deputy Pearse Doherty

Bring it on.

Deputy Ivana Bacik

The Taoiseach announced yesterday that he is to resign. I reiterate my good wishes to him for the future. I wished him the best personally yesterday acknowledged his years of public service. As he said, all politicians are human, and I acknowledge that he has endured some awful abuse personally in his office as Taoiseach. We are all aware of that. We are also aware that it has become harder to enter politics, and to stay in it due to the levels of toxicity in public debate. I acknowledge the Ceann Comhairle's role in trying to challenge that. We all have to address that together.

However, this should not deter us from criticising what is clearly a bad political decision from Government to continue in office, despite the Taoiseach's announcement yesterday. This Government is out of ideas and lacking in focus, commitment, ambition and energy. It appears the decision of the Tánaiste and the Minister, Deputy Ryan, is to effectively preserve the current Government above all else and to preserve its term, as the Tánaiste has said, right to the end next March. That decision puts the longevity of a Fine Gael-led Government above the public interest, and it will be the second time Fianna Fáil has done this. In the previous Dáil term, Brexit was the excuse they gave. This time around it is an appeal for stability. However, the late in the day swapping of leadership is deeply destabilising when it is the leadership of the country. The Tánaiste may wish that was not so, but it is the case. After two rotating taoisigh in four years, and with less than a year to go until the next general election must be held, by this day next year, Fine Gael is proposing that its members should choose a new Taoiseach, not the people. In our view that is wrong. It is against the democratic imperative. The Constitution may permit this act of political self-preservation, but it is absurd to say this is in keeping with a democratic imperative.

So much has happened since 2020. We have endured the pandemic. We have seen rents, house prices, and child homelessness at record highs. More than 4,000 children are now in homelessness. Horrific wars have broken out in the past four years due to the brutal, murderous policies of Vladimir Putin and Benjamin Netanyahu. So much has happened and there are political solutions available to us, but the Government is now lacking the focus and energy to implement those solutions. It is clearly distracted, even more so now. Fine Gael is grappling with an exodus, and Fianna Fáil and the Greens will apparently cling to a sinking ship no matter what, following yesterday. It is having a serious effect on our policies and governance at a time people need politics to work. The Tánaiste has spoken about the planning Bill, but the Government is rushing that important legislation through.

Deputy Michael McGrath

It is not being rushed. It is taking weeks.

Deputy Ivana Bacik

It is delaying important decisions. That is patently the case. It is failing to make, and delaying, important decisions such as the introduction of State-owned accommodation for refugees. It is putting stays on Opposition legislation to avoid having to deal with them – stays that will last just beyond the term of the Government. Only this month, it allowed a Labour motion on housing to pass without saying anything about implementing it.

If the Tánaiste is setting his face against a general election, what is he going to do to change his Government's policies and focus over the next year, which is all that is left? Will he just allow a temporary Taoiseach to stand in and allow this political stagnation continue?

The Tánaiste

I appreciate the Deputy's kind comments in respect of the outgoing Taoiseach and the comments she has made about abuse in politics and toxicity in public discourse as regards politics. I agree with her 100% on that, and we collectively have to address that issue because the most fundamental thing we should all agree on in this House is freedom of expression, freedom of association and freedom of mobility around our streets. Even yesterday, in the environs of Leinster House, people were trying to encroach on and disrupt public service broadcasting as a major news event was being announced in neighbouring jurisdictions. These are serious issues for us in terms of freedom of debate.

The Deputy mentioned sinking ships. She should be careful about referencing sinking ships in the context of politics. Her own party would want to rise a bit more before she lectures others about sinking ships.

Deputy Ivana Bacik

Perhaps we all will.

Deputy Niall Collins

Have a look in the mirror.

The Tánaiste

The planning Bill should be completed. Huge work has gone into its preparation. It has gone through pre-legislative scrutiny and so on. That is an important piece of work. I recently saw a judicial review of a bus stop in connection with BusConnects. We need to streamline things and make sure we have a planning system fit for purpose because we have enormous projects to deliver in offshore wind energy, housing and infrastructure more generally. On housing, the first-time buyer situation has improved significantly under this Government. The future Ireland fund Bill is very important because, if passed, it will provide 0.8% of GDP for future-proofing pensions, healthcare costs and infrastructure. We will be putting money aside every year to create a fund that gets invested, and the return from that will fund the major challenges we will face in society in the future. I cannot think of a more substantive or important Bill or initiative as this in many a decade. Huge work has gone into the preparation of that. It went through Cabinet yesterday. That needs to get through this House. This is not about shoring up or clinging to anything. This is about a proactive approach to getting policy done, getting initiatives and infrastructure delivered and getting on with the normal business of government, which I and every other Minister is doing and will continue to do right through the lifetime of this Government. I think that is what the people want. People are not that impressed with politicians who keep on speculating about the next election. They are far more interested in delivery on matters of substance. We have made a lot of progress on housing; we have more to do. We have made a lot of progress on healthcare. Some 60% of the population now has ccess to a GP card, which is significant compared to where we were before this Government came into office. I could go on and on about a range of initiatives.

Deputy Ivana Bacik

The Tánaiste has not answered my question. The Taoiseach said yesterday that there is a need to refocus policies. I agree that it is about delivery, but when are we going to see a refocusing of policies and delivery? If he has set his face against a general election, and if he and the Minister, Deputy Ryan, are determined to keep the ship afloat until this time next year, what are they going to offer people to change things? As one constituent said to me last night, the Taoiseach's decision yesterday was effectively the ultimate vote of no confidence in the Government. What is the Tánaiste going to do to give people confidence in it? How will it change things? Will it end cynical tactics currently in place in this Parliament and instead work with the Opposition to pass constructive legislation such as our Bill on pregnancy loss? Will the Government focus on rebuilding homes? Will it introduce new policies to see delivery of more homes? Will it end no-fault evictions? Will it end hospital emergency department chaos? What the Tánaiste said on health rings hollow for those in the emergency department in Limerick. What will change for people who are now struggling without a home, who cannot pay their rent or mortgage costs, who see overcrowded trolleys in hospital emergency departments and who cannot access childcare or care for their elderly parents? What is the Government offering them and what will change over the next year if there is to be no general election?

The Tánaiste

I said earlier that in February alone, commencements are dramatically up.

Deputy Ivana Bacik

But what will change?

The Tánaiste

That is change. That is added progress to progress already made. There were 33,000 houses built last year. I understand that commencements are up by 85% in February this year, compared with last year. That is progress.

The Constitution is clear. The Dáil elects the Taoiseach of the day. There has been an attempt, not by Deputy Bacik but by others, to suggest that there should be a general election. A general election elects parties and Deputies. A majority of those Deputies elects the Taoiseach of the day once the Dáil assembles. We have a proportional representation, multi-seat constituency system. That is an important point to make, because our Constitution governs all of this. I believe, and have always believed, in particular since earlier periods of instability, that governments should go as close to full term as possible. I have served in Governments that have gone full term. The result is better long-term policies and legislation gets done. I have outlined the serious work we have under way. We want that planning Bill done, and we want the future fund Bill done as well.

Deputy Michael Lowry

Farming across every sector is struggling. Bureaucracy is smothering farmers. Farmers have become so bogged down in adhering to a myriad of directives and tackling mountains of paperwork that the actual pleasure and satisfaction of farming is slipping from their grasp.

Farmers throughout Ireland are facing changes and challenges unlike anything ever witnessed. Reduced sale prices, rising costs, heavy regulation, serious debt, climate change demands and cheap imports are threatening the livelihood of farmers in my constituency of Tipperary North-Kilkenny. Farmers are not against change and advancement. They are pro-progress and pro-improvement. However, the imposition of ever-changing rules, regulations, restrictions, inspection regimes and red tape is grinding them down. Farmers, young and old, are questioning viability and survival prospects. Our oldest and largest indigenous sector is in danger of being squeezed out of existence.

I have been meeting and talking to farmers for many years and I have never before witnessed such exasperation and vexation. The imposition of negative measures is leading to frustration, aggravation and, in many cases, despair. The desire of young farmers to take over family-run farms has almost evaporated. Looming in the backs of the minds of our future farmers is the Mercosur deal, which remains a massive threat to the beef sector, and the transformation of CAP away from supporting food production towards reducing farm output. Another matter of grave concern is the reductions to the nitrates derogation imposed by the European Commission with absolutely no flexibility offered and the Commission's threat to remove the derogation entirely in 2026.

The economic viability of the tillage sector is in an extremely precarious position. The level of rainfall has made it impossible to move livestock out into fields. Planting and sowing of tillage crops is way behind and bills are mounting as farmers struggle to keep on top of their work. I support the IFA's call for a tillage expansion and sustainability scheme to be urgently introduced to financially support farmers.

The issue of VAT rebates remains a big issue for farmers who have carried out essential works on their farms. Issues have arisen with the Revenue Commissioners' interpretation where some investment items farmers had previously received refunds on are no longer eligible. This is unfair and counterproductive.

The struggle to remain in farming is growing more challenging. Worry and stress replace incentive and planning. Strategies for growth have changed to prayers for survival. What is the Government's response to farmers at this critical juncture?

The Tánaiste

I thank the Deputy for raising a variety of important issues.

In terms of regulation and so forth, the Department of agriculture makes every effort to keep the various schemes and the implementation of schemes as simple as possible. The Department engages closely with farmers on all scheme delivery issues. There is the Department's farmers' charter, which provides for regular engagement. There are formal stakeholder engagement structures and ongoing bilateral contacts. The Department also provides a range of practical supports to assist farmers, such as farmer information meetings, ongoing direct support through its network of offices, and extensive training for farmers and advisers. The introduction of a new range of schemes has involved extensive work from an administrative perspective, including the building of new IT systems, and work continues on resolving many outstanding issues in that respect.

Overall, the Minister negotiated a comprehensive CAP agreement at European Union level that has resulted in very significant supports for farming in this country. The Government is supportive of farming and of agriculture. The food production system in this country is vital and one of the big challenges we have is reconciling the absolute need and imperative of food security with climate security.

We have all witnessed the very significant rain we have had in the past number of months, and the water tables are very high. I acknowledge that on the tillage front, farmers had a difficult year last year. That is why the Government provided more direct support for tillage farmers than at any other time in the history of the State. The Minister, Deputy McConalogue, established a tillage stakeholder group to examine the issues. He is awaiting its final report. Direct supports for protein aid have been more than doubled from €3 million to €7 million under the CAP strategic plan and that was topped up by a further €3 million to bring the total last year to €10 million. We will continue to work with the tillage sector.

On nitrates, I have met with many farmers in respect of the nitrates derogation and what has happened. It is essential that the industry works with Government to make sure we get a renewal of the derogation in 2026. It has to be a collective national effort to make sure we achieve that target. The water quality group has been established involving stakeholders and delivering on our dual objectives of delivering improvement in water quality and securing a derogation from 2026 onwards. The Ministers, Deputies McConalogue and Darragh O'Brien, recently launched the €60 million scheme to support farmers to improve water quality.

On the Mercosur agreement, we have consistently at EU level raised our concerns about the impact of any EU-Mercosur deal on the agricultural sector, and particularly on the beef market, as well as the environmental provisions within that agreement. The Minister, Deputy McConalogue, has been very clear "that there needs to be equivalence of standards and there needs to be expectations on countries that are importing into the EU as we expect of our own farmers and food producers". That has been a clear line we have taken on the Mercosur agreement. We have insisted an additional instrument, comprehensive in its scope, currently being negotiated by the EU includes binding commitments on climate change, biodiversity, combating deforestation, labour rights.

Deputy Michael Lowry

Another issue is the shambolic management of Ireland's forestry policy, which has led to farmers losing complete confidence in the forestry sector. That is compounded by the refusal of the Department to provide appropriate recompense for farmers impacted by ash dieback.

The total amount of land planted for forestry in 2023 was 1,650 ha. That corresponds with the lowest volume in the history of the State. The last time we planted as low as that was in 1946. Somebody needs to take control of that Department and sort out the mess that exists there.

The residential zoned land tax continues to be a serious issue for the farmers affected by it. The implementation of this tax is completely unfair and places a penal charge on farmers with land on the outskirts of towns and villages that is unlikely to be ever used for housing projects. All genuinely farmed land should be exempt from this tax. Many of the farmers adversely affected in Tipperary North-Kilkenny have gone through the process of requesting dezoning and-or an exemption to this tax to the local authority and An Bord Pleanála. In the majority of instances, these requests have been refused. This will result in the imposition of an unaffordable and inequitable tax on farmers.

The Tánaiste

I referenced the CAP earlier. Approximately €10 billion, between EU and Exchequer funding, will support 130,000 farm families under the new CAP.

On forestry, there is a new €1.3 billion forestry programme, which is open for applications. New licences are issuing every week. We believe this will be a significant departure from previous years where the industry was in difficulty. It will see an increase in forestry premiums of between 46% and 66% and farmers will receive 20 years of premium payments compared to 15 years for non-farmers. A farmer planting, for example, 1 ha of native broadleaf trees will receive €1,103 per year for 20 years tax free. That is approximately €22,000 for planting 1 ha of land. Farmers can plant a hectare of native woodland without the need for a licence. There are certainly improvements in forestry but delivery will be key in that respect.

On the residential zoned land tax, that has been deferred. There is a remapping under way which, I think, is coming close to completion. I understand the points the Deputy has made. We are endeavouring to make sure that those who are in production and who want to continue farming are not taxed unfairly. That is a fair objective to try to achieve.

Deputy Mattie McGrath

It is beyond shocking that no time has been set aside this week to discuss the recent referendum results. I and the Rural Independent Group called for a full debate on the topic. However, it seems that the political establishment, which includes all Opposition parties apart from Aontú, wants to conveniently forget about the result. The reality is that the referendum results mark the largest "No" vote in referendum history, with figures of 73% in the referendum on care and 67% in the referendum on the family. The Government parties and the legions of supporting NGOs could only convince an average of 13% of the eligible voters to vote "Yes", dropping to 7% in Donegal, despite all the parties' efforts. These figures underscore the detachment of Ireland's political establishment from the political realities faced by ordinary people. There is a glaring political disconnect, which is a colossal issue. People saw that and continue to see it. The hypocrisy of those who advocated a "Yes" vote but are now distancing themselves from it is pointed out by examples such as Senator Lisa Chambers from Fianna Fáil. This is astonishing. Two Fine Gael Senators did not vote at all, despite campaigning for a "Yes" vote. Do they take the people for complete fools?

I am demanding dedicated Dáil time for an in-depth analysis of how the Government and political parties have become so out of touch in this country. The Dáil must discuss the implications of this vote, the message from the people and the ramifications for governance. The House must reflect on the nationwide concerns and place emphasis on the real question. Will the well-funded political parties repay €23 million to the taxpayers for the referendums? No one requested these referendums apart from the Government's fancy assemblies. Serious questions have been raised as to why Ministers and Government spokespersons constantly misled the Dáil. That includes the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin. Spokespersons misled the Dáil and the Irish people.

An Ceann Comhairle

Please do not accuse the Minister of misleading the Dáil.

Deputy Mattie McGrath

It is a fact. She did.

An Ceann Comhairle

That is not in order.

Deputy Mattie McGrath

It is a fact; it is well known. The advice from the Attorney General and others was withheld. These questions must be discussed. For example, shocking files obtained from the Department of Finance under freedom of information suggest that the wording of the amendment on care was deliberately chosen by the Government to avoid a concrete and mandatory obligation on the State. Imagine that the Government would do that to the most vulnerable people and their carers and treat them in such a fashion, by trying to undermine and sabotage them by putting such a wording in. These same people were then forced by the Government to canvass for a "Yes" vote. This made Family Carers Ireland seem ridiculous.

Even now, after the referendum is over, the Government is avoiding accountability in this House by avoiding the opportunity for debate. However, if the result had gone the other way, the Government would be dancing around Dublin Castle. None of the political leaders had the manners or respect to stay in Dublin Castle or any other count centre for the final result. The Government has got a lashing from the people. The Taoiseach has taken his accountability and run for the hills. I would appreciate it if the Tánaiste ran after him.

The Tánaiste

I am in no doubt about that, Deputy.

Deputy McGrath has called for a Dáil debate. The people are superior to the Dáil and Seanad on constitutional matters. That is the great thing about De Valera's Constitution of 1937. He gave the power of amendment to the people and he did so in an era of fascism. Many people never want to give credit to the Constitution of 1937. When the rest of Europe was going fascist, a genuinely republican constitution was enacted, with the power of amendment resting with the people. Of course, there is also judicial interpretation, which means it is a live document. The Judiciary has interpreted the Constitution in the decades since.

The people have decided in this case. I am comfortable with the fact that the people have decided. I respect their decision. It is open to political parties, the Government and the Oireachtas. It is this Oireachtas that put the question to the public. We can go right back to 1993 when we had the report of the Second Commission on the Status of Women. Then there was the Constitutional Review Group report of 1996; the all-party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution tenth progress report of 2006; the second report of the Constitutional Convention of 2013; the Department of Justice and Equality's task force of 2016; the Oireachtas justice committee report of 2018; the report of the Citizens' Assembly on Gender Equality of 2021; and the report of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Gender Equality of 2022. All of those, going right back to 1993, with successive Members of Oireachtas across all parties, agreed on proposing the deletion of those articles from the Constitution. This was the first Government that put the question. People may argue about the precise formula that was used to put the question to the people but we were acting on a succession of reports that had broad consensus. Now it seems that the public has taken a decision. People appear to be not as exercised about those specific articles as Members of successive Oireachtais might have thought. I accept the decision of the people.

With respect, it is not fair for the Deputy to suggest that people were misled in this House or that Ministers misled anyone. The legal advice we received is extensive and covers far more than the one letter that was published on the eve of the referendum. Without question, all amendments to the Constitution will be subject to judicial interpretation. That is obvious and was said during the course of the debate.

Regarding the issue of prioritisation of allocations, the Oireachtas should allocate resources, not the courts. In our constitutional framework, it is the Oireachtas that should allocate and prioritise resources, whether to education, health or wherever else, in the public expenditure realm. That has always been the way.

Deputy Mattie McGrath

The Tánaiste said the people have spoken. Of course we know that, but he still refuses to have a debate on the matter here. How can the Government and every party in this House be so detached and out of touch? They talked about durable. We hear a phony Opposition talk about different issues letting on to be different. Everyone is on the one page. We cannot have a debate on immigration because everyone is the same. Anybody with another narrative is put down. The Government got its answer from the people. They are wiser than what the Government thought. The Government deliberately misled them. It would not give the Attorney General's advice and published it after the event. Imagine that. Imagine trying to put that to the people, that this advice was kept secret. However the advice did come out. The Government deliberately got a wording for the amendment on care that would damage carers and would not give any kind of commitment. The word "strive" was deliberately used to ensure that funding would not have to be provided and that the Government would not have responsibility. The Taoiseach made other damning remarks about carers and who should be caring. The Government deliberately put that wording in. The Tánaiste talks about respecting the Constitution, the Oireachtas and the people. The Government is not respecting the people and the people have completely lost respect for the Government. The sooner the Government realises this and tries to get back in touch with the people by calling an election, the better. The Government has lost its way and is confused. The deliberate misleading and deception are disgraceful and not acceptable.

The Tánaiste

The wording would not have damaged carers. I am not going to rekindle the debate but I contest very strongly the Deputy's assertion. The Government continues to spend on special needs, carers and disability more generally. Thousands of special education teachers and special needs assistants have been appointed since this Government took office and continue to be appointed. Approximately 25% of the education budget is now allocated to special needs education. This is the highest ever, even in percentage terms, of the overall education budget. Some 1,300 new special classes and seven new special schools have been put in place. Regarding health and so on, a range of measures have been taken. Ultimately, resources get allocated through the Oireachtas and budgets every year. If it is allowed to be the exclusive remit of the courts, there is a danger that we would not get a targeted, focused or strategic approach to dealing with the issues of society. This is why people elect parliamentarians. They elect them to pass annual budgets and to prioritise the allocation of resources. That is the key issue in terms of how much is put into a constitution and how much is reserved for the democratically elected representatives of the people.