Mary Lou McDonald
Question:1. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on the economy and investment will next meet. [6849/23]
View answerWednesday, 22 February 2023
Questions (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
Ruairí Ó Murchú
Question:2. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on the economy and investment will next meet. [8145/23]
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Ivana Bacik
Question:3. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on the economy and investment will next meet. [8205/23]
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Mick Barry
Question:4. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on the economy and investment will next meet. [8632/23]
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Richard Boyd Barrett
Question:5. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on the economy and investment will next meet. [8827/23]
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Paul Murphy
Question:6. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on the economy and investment will next meet. [8830/23]
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Cathal Crowe
Question:7. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on the economy and investment will meet next. [8879/23]
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Cormac Devlin
Question:8. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on the economy and investment will meet next. [8880/23]
View answerOral answers (9 contributions)
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 8, inclusive, together.
The Cabinet committee on the economy and investment was established in January 2023. The first meeting was scheduled for 16 February, but was subsequently postponed. The meeting has not yet been rescheduled. Membership of the committee is comprised of the Taoiseach; the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and for Defence; the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications and for Transport; the Minister for Finance; the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform; the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment; and the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. Other Ministers or Ministers of State will be invited to participate as required.
The Cabinet committee on the economy and investment is responsible for issues relating to the economy and investment. It will oversee the implementation of programme for Government commitments aimed at sustainable economic recovery, investment and job creation, including implementation of the national digital strategy, entitled Harnessing Digital - The Digital Ireland Framework. The committee is chaired by the Tánaiste. As with all policy areas, economic issues are regularly discussed at full Government meetings, where all formal decisions are made.
IBEC's latest housing report states that the availability of affordable housing in Ireland, be it home ownership or rental properties, is becoming a critical barrier to continued growth and development of business investment. Every time we raise the need for the Government to increase public housing targets, Ministers and even the Taoiseach level the false arguments that the Opposition is opposed to home ownership. IBEC has called on the Government to set a more ambitious target for local authorities and approved housing bodies through delivery of social cost-rental and affordable homes with a target of 20,000 units each year before the end of the decade with greater delivery of affordable and cost-rental units.
Both domestic enterprise and international investors agree that there is an urgent need for an accelerated delivery of public homes and affordable homes. Last year, Deputies Ó Laoghaire, Buckley and I were part of a delegation including Government Deputies and Senators. Even the Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath, was there. IBEC in Cork outlined the consequences of the housing crisis. We were told of companies which had been looking to set up and invest in Cork but left because of the housing crisis. Does the Taoiseach agree with IBEC's recommendation that we need to increase the public housing target to 20,000 annually?
There are approximately 20,000 community employment scheme workers in the State. They do valuable work in community centres, in sports grounds, with meals on wheels and much more besides. These men and women work a minimum of 19.5 hours per week and in return they receive basic pay of €247.50, which is less than €30 a week more than the basic dole or an additional €1.50 an hour. The State's community employment scheme workers constitute a little army of low-paid workers providing valuable labour in our communities. Community employment scheme workers can, of course, receive other benefits and there can be poverty traps associated with pay increases. What plans, if any, does the Government have to improve their lot and to invest in this important social capital? When will the State move from its insulting offer of a mere 3% pay increase to community employment supervisors who have not had a pay increase for 15 years?
Pretty much everybody from the right, the left and the centre is now acknowledging that the housing crisis we are facing in this country, the lack of affordable accommodation, is now a very serious threat to the country's economic development. The eviction ban Bill, which thankfully the Government decided not to oppose this morning and which might progress, is a very small piece in that puzzle of trying to stop more people going into the horrendous situation of being homeless, but much more needs to be done.
The problem is that many of the workers we need to make our economy work - nurses, teachers and construction workers - are often not eligible for social housing - even if they are, they will be waiting ten or 15 years - or housing assistance payment, HAP, and have nowhere to live. They cannot afford rents of €2,500 per month. What is the Government going to do about this? I do not agree with HAP, but giving it to people who cannot possibly afford such rents if they are on average industrial earnings is better than them leaving the country or leaving key sectors in which we need workers. Something has to be done to ensure that affordable housing is available to people and we start purchasing properties under the purchase scheme even if people are above the income thresholds for social housing.
Shannon Heritage sites like the iconic Bunratty Castle are major cogs in the economy of the mid-west region. In the summer of 2021, the Cabinet decided it would be best to devolve these sites away from the auspices of the Shannon Airport Group and have them managed by the region's local authorities. Councils like Clare County Council in my constituency are eager to make this a success and to play their role, but they have asked the Government - the Taoiseach is aware of this request - for a subvention in the region of €15 million to do so. Sadly, the sites have been neglected for many years and will need an injection of money to make them a success. An offer in the region of €3 million was made in December, but that was well short of the €15 million sought. The initiative is once again moving in a positive direction and there are further negotiations and new offers on the table. Please, will the Taoiseach give all of us in the mid-west who are eagerly waiting for success on this front some positive indications?
There has been bad news about 240 job losses in Google's Irish workforce, and there have been constant worries about the tech sector. Like many of my constituents in Dundalk, I am worried about PayPal and its proposed 7% worldwide cut. What is our interaction with the tech sector? We are facing into a period of considerable job losses. While the tech sector will undoubtedly continue, I am worried about the future of its workers and I want to ensure that everything is being done to facilitate those who are leaving one workplace for another.
I call Deputy Bacik.
I thank the Acting Chair for his forbearance.
There is a severe lack of competition in parts of the Irish banking sector. While new fintech platforms like Revolut have mounted a challenge to the existing banks, there has been a concentration of power in the hands of fewer big banks in respect of areas like mortgages and business lending. This is a concern. There are also serious concerns about interest rates on mortgages for those whose loans were sold to vulture funds. My colleague, Deputy Nash, has proposed more powers for the Central Bank to regulate these. I ask that the Taoiseach consider them. I also ask that we explore the implementation of a Sparkasse-style public banking system using the remaining local financial services infrastructure. There has been a good deal of interest in the Sparkasse model from many community organisations. Has the Government plans to review the potential introduction of such a model?
I thank the Deputies for their questions. I was asked by Deputy Gould about the IBEC report on the housing crisis. As I have said before, the housing crisis is holding us back as a country in many different ways. Yes, it is about people having to pay very high rents, first-time buyers not being able to become homeowners and rising homelessness, but it is also holding us back economically. IBEC acknowledges this in its report and that it is an issue for employers and would-be investors thinking of creating jobs or employing people in Ireland. Certainly, for the past number of years when I met with employers, foreign direct investment, FDI, companies and major investors, it has been one of the concerns that they raised about Ireland – around infrastructure generally, but particularly around housing. They are also measured about it because they are often companies that have headquarters or big operations in places like London, LA, San Francisco or Lisbon, where they face many of the same issues. They acknowledge that it is far from being a phenomenon that is unique to Ireland.
Regarding targets, we met our main target last year when it came to housing. Almost 3,000 new homes were built in the country, according to the Central Statistics Office, CSO. That did not include student accommodation or derelict properties being brought back into use. We do not have the exact figures for social housing yet, but we think it is going to be in or around 8,000 this year, which would be the highest since 1975. Of course, in addition to that, there are other forms of public housing now being realised for the first time, for example, cost rental. We are going to review the housing targets. We are aware of the work of the Housing Commission in that regard. It may well be the case that we need to increase our housing targets. It is important to bear in mind that the existing housing target is to work upwards towards 40,000 new units per year by the end of the decade. Of course, any housing target that we set has to be realistic. We will probably add about 10,000 units to the public housing stock this year, and hopefully more. Would it not be great if we could get to 20,000? Yes, it would, but getting from 10,000 to 20,000, even with the best will in the world, would take a bit of time. We want to do it in such a way that we do not take the houses away from people who might be building properties for people to buy and become first-time buyers. What we want to do is increase the pie and make sure that more and more homes of all types are built. What we do not want to see is one form of housing increasing and other forms of housing decreasing. That is the challenge. It is right to have ambitious targets, but they also need to be realistic ones. I do not honestly believe, as the Deputy's party would claim, that just by electing it to office it would somehow be able to double the number of public homes built in one year. I do not think that is credible, and I do not believe very many people do.
On community employment, CE, everyone in the House knows from our constituency work and our day-to-day lives how valuable community employment schemes are, not just in terms of the work experience that they give the individual, but also the very valuable work that is done, be it in sports clubs, community centres or social services. However, it is primarily a labour activation measure and the rate at which people are paid is set at the level of jobseeker's plus an additional payment recognising the costs that arise from having to go to work. Certainly, we are open to increasing that allowance further, but that would obviously be a matter for the next budget. I am not directly involved in the talks on a pay increase for CE supervisors, but I hope that can be agreed sooner rather than later.
On the social housing income limits and HAP eligibility, we have increased the income limits, so more people can qualify for social housing and more people can qualify for HAP. We keep them under constant review.
Deputy Cathal Crowe raised the issue of Shannon Heritage. I know it is a matter of interest for Deputy Carey as well. He reminds me of it all the time, including as recently as yesterday. I am not directly involved in those talks, but I think Deputy Crowe is correct to say that they do appear to be moving in the right direction. Hopefully, we can have an agreement quite soon that gives Clare County Council the additional funding it needs to take over those properties and run them well. They are really great heritage assets. Everyone will know that Bunratty and Craggaunowen are some of the best heritage assets in the region and along the Wild Atlantic Way.
On jobs in the tech sector, I just want to sympathise with the workers in Google who are getting bad news today and to wish their representatives the best in negotiating a good redundancy and exit package. I am sure that will happen. I just want to say to them that the Government is here to help. Whether it is advice around job searches and other job opportunities, educational options and training options or help in setting up their own businesses, the Government is here to help. That is what people pay their PRSI for, and they should not be afraid to seek the help of the Government in that regard.
What I think we are seeing in the tech sector is a retrenchment of about 5% to 15%. It is probably closer to 5% in most cases. This still means that there are more people employed in the tech sector now than there were two or three years ago. There are still a lot of tech companies that are hiring, so there are opportunities. I think we will see jobs growth again in the medium term. The future is tech, the future is digital, the future is artificial intelligence, AI, it is robotics, it is virtual reality, VR, it is augmented reality, AR, and all of those things. There are going to be a lot of jobs in that sector. I would encourage young people to take account of the news about job losses that we are hearing now but to be aware that it is still likely that there are going to be lots of jobs in this sector and to consider studying science, technology, engineering and maths.
In the context of the Sparkasse banking model, an examination was done by the Government on that a couple of years ago.
There were two difficulties, one of which was, in my understanding at the time, that there was no barrier to such a model being established in the State but that those involved wanted the State to capitalise it. The State, as the Deputy knows, already owns a number of different financial institutions, so the difficulty was twofold. One, the request was that the State would not just not stand in the way but would capitalise it, which is a financial ask. Second, there was a real concern that rather than providing competition for the main retail banks, what was proposed would provide adverse competition to An Post and the credit unions, which we want to strengthen.