I ask Members to try to stay within the allocated time, given that we are late starting Leaders' Questions.
Leaders' Questions
A nation and a society must hold certain values and qualities, of which one is to nurture and protect its artists, and particularly its musicians. The RTÉ symphony and concert orchestras have been an essential and acclaimed part of our national cultural life over many decades. Founded in 1948, they have become the biggest employers of musicians throughout the country. The orchestras are a key component of our musical ecosystem. Many of our graduates from Ireland's music schools, academies and colleges gain employment in them and others aspire to become members. Standards of excellence in performance are set by the orchestras for others to emulate. Many of their members engage in education, many teach in higher education and many perform across the country. Their reach is far and wide. In the words of Aodán Ó Dubhgaill, the orchestras have a singular place in the Irish musical heritage. They have nurtured through performance and education generations of world-class musicians.
RTÉ has announced a review of its two orchestras amid challenging financial circumstances - that is code for RTÉ being in deep financial trouble. The orchestras are already short of 30 musicians, there have been suggestions that they will be 40 musicians short next year. Some fear that there might be an amalgamation leading to the loss of the entire concert orchestra. Other managers are talking about one fifth of orchestral musicians being lost to the system. There is no sense of future planning or vision for these orchestras.
The Government cannot wash its hands of this and cannot stand idly by. The orchestras are a national treasure. They have developed a tradition of musical excellence that has been built up painstakingly over decades and are a key part of our national cultural life. I ask the Taoiseach to intervene to ensure that the allocation for orchestras be ring fenced and not fall victim to RTÉ's genuine financial difficulties. It cannot become a victim in the ongoing tug of war between RTÉ and the Government regarding the licence fee. The Government, through the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment should intervene and I ask the Taoiseach to ask them to do so and to do what is necessary. If that requires further Exchequer funds in addition to their revenue from the RTÉ licence fee allocation, then so be it, that should be done. The two orchestras could then plan with a degree of certainty and excitement for the future instead of being at the whim of various reviews every year. There was one such review in 2014.
Is it the Taoiseach's intention to intervene to guarantee that ring fenced funding for the two orchestras?
I share the Deputy's sentiments on the orchestras. I would not like to see either being lost, or the two being merged. I read a letter in the newspaper recently - I cannot remember who wrote it - which pointed out that Finland, which is a similar sized country to ours, has many orchestras while we have only two. In the past the Army had bands and orchestras, but it no longer does, and we now have only two orchestras. I would like to see both retained and for both to prosper.
I will ask the two Ministers who have some line responsibility for the matter to come together to examine the issue and see what can be done about it. The two Ministers are Deputy Josepha Madigan, as Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and the Minister, Deputy Denis Naughten, who is currently in Paris, has responsibility for RTÉ through his Department. I will ask them to examine the issues to see if anything can be done to secure the future of the two orchestras. The Deputy has my commitment on that.
However, it is important that orchestras do not get caught up-----
Sorry?
It is important that orchestras do not get caught up or find themselves used as part of any attempt to campaign for an increase in the licence fee. RTÉ receives considerable revenues from the licence fee, from the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection and it also receives commercial revenues. That gives it an income - I cannot give an exact figure but it must be some €200 or €300 million, it is certainly more than €100 million - and I wonder how much of that is dedicated to the orchestra. I would not like to see orchestras or other important cultural assets being caught up in any way in an exercise related to cost saving. I will ask the two Ministers to come together to examine the issues and see what can be done to secure the future of the two orchestras.
The orchestras are being caught up in the RTÉ financial challenges. The allocation to the orchestras from the licence fee revenue is around 7% or 7.5%. I do not want the Taoiseach's analysis, I only want a commitment to intervene on the matter to see if something can be done. Something can be done. Look at the Creative Ireland budget. We have asked several parliamentary questions and put in requests under freedom of information and of the €5 million allocated to Creative Ireland last year, almost a million was allocated to citizen engagement. What is that about?
It involved a full-page spread in the The Irish Times supplement magazine for 12 weeks and two supplements in the Irish Independent, with a weekly and ongoing double spread. In Saturday's edition of the Irish Independent, there was a regional print and media campaign, costing €900,000, and €400,000 was spent on web and digital content, €145,000 on a director, €50,000 on an event co-ordinator and €205,000 on two contract staff. Out of the €5 million, we have already accounted for €1.5 million on what seems to be a very determined effort to keep the media onside by doshing out lots of advertising. I have no problem with supporting the media but it should be done on a stand-alone basis, separate from Government and from its political arms. The orchestra could have done with that €1.5 million. Let us at least support that which has depth, solidity and tradition. The RTÉ orchestras are the jewel in the crown of our cultural life but they are losing positions and those positions are not being replaced, yet we get these fantastic press releases, gatherings and announcements on money being frittered away. That money could have gone to the orchestras or to consolidate what we have in our artistic infrastructure, while keeping it at arm's length from political patronage, which is the wrong way to fund arts and culture.
The Arts Council was set up as an independent arm, separate from politics, to fund the arts. I do not like what is happening and I am principally making a plea for the orchestras because they are going to continue to be the victim of what is going on with RTÉ as a result of the fact that the station is in deep financial trouble. We cannot wash our hands of that either, but it is another day's work. We should not pretend it is all RTÉ's problem - the Government has to intervene to save the orchestras.
The Deputy has my commitment. I will ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Madigan, and the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Denis Naughten, to examine the issues in order to identify what options are available and see if there is a way the Government can assist. It is always important to consider the opportunity cost of not doing things. I would not like to see the Arts Council or Creative Ireland budgets reduced to provide funding for the RTÉ orchestras.
What about Government advertisements? The Government could cut the number of those.
As part of their consideration, they would need to look at how RTÉ is spending its money and see if RTÉ could make savings in other areas. Could it restrict spending in other areas to preserve what the Deputy and I both agree are national assets?
As temperatures fall below freezing this week, the plight of our homeless citizens, particularly those forced to sleep on the streets, takes on an even sharper focus. Today, there is a day-long protest outside the Dáil organised by My Name Is, and I commend all those involved. They are holding this protest because they care and because the Government is refusing to take the necessary actions to end this scourge on our society.
Homelessness in this State is now at emergency levels. It is an alarming reality that over 8,000 of our citizens, including in excess of 3,000 children, are homeless as Christmas approaches. Eight people have died on our streets since August and that is not acceptable by any standard, any measure or statistic or any report - national or international - that the Taoiseach may reference. Imagine being without a home at any time. Níl aon tinteán mar do thinteán féin, mar a deirtear sa Ghaeilge, go háirithe le linn aimsir na Nollag. Imagine not having a home or even a stable at Christmas. There are parts of this State where there are no emergency beds and no facilities that are suitable for some of our citizens who are forced to sleep on the streets.
The Taoiseach often claims that no one in this Dáil has a monopoly on compassion and that is true. There are also complexities to all of this. However, there is nothing as complex as the issues a homeless person faces in the struggles of his or her daily life. Results count, Taoiseach. The Taoiseach leads the Government. A truly compassionate Government would implement compassionate policies that would make a real difference to the lives of homeless citizens.
The Housing Agency has been offered 1,800 vacant, turnkey-condition homes to purchase in the past year by banks, funds and other sources. They could be bought and families could move into them immediately but, of these 1,800 homes, the Government has agreed to buy only 600. I accept that perhaps not all of the homes are suitable but it is hard to believe that 1,200 are unsuitable. I do not believe the Government thinks that there is a housing emergency. If it did believe it, it would not waste any opportunity to house citizens. People are dying on the streets and children are spending their childhoods in emergency accommodation, while families are losing hope on housing waiting lists. Can the Taoiseach explain to the Dáil why the Government is purchasing only 600 of the 1,800 homes on offer? Can he also explain why it has taken so long to purchase and allocate to families the homes it has bought? What is he going to do to ensure that no citizen is forced to sleep on the streets?
I will have to come back to the Deputy on the detailed numbers relating to those homes. I think they were some time ago and, if I recall correctly, a number of them were not in areas where there was a high level of demand for social housing. As a result, they were not all suitable for social housing. I will certainly get the details on that and give the Deputy a detailed answer by correspondence.
The Government cares a lot about homelessness, not just at this time of the year but at all times of the year. As Taoiseach, I care a lot about it too and, as I have said before, I consider homelessness to be a stain on our society. We need to do everything we can to reduce it - and eliminate it if possible - in the months and years ahead. In the past week or two, I visited a family hub to meet some of the homeless families who live there. I also met some rough sleepers to try to understand a bit better their experience and what they face. Among the actions the Government is taking is an €18 million increase in the budget for homelessness services next year, bringing the total up to €118 million. The number of families in bed and breakfast establishments and hotels is down substantially from when it peaked last spring as a result of the development of family hubs, of which there are many more coming on stream. An additional 200 emergency beds for rough sleepers are being put in place in the coming weeks to ensure that there will be a bed available for everyone who needs one - not just at Christmas but into the new year, over the winter period and into spring and summer. A particular effort is being made to encourage people to use these new beds, which are in single and double rooms and not dormitories.
On Sunday night, which was very cold, an analysis was carried out and major efforts were made in the Dublin region by the staff of the Dublin Region Homeless Executive and others to make sure all rough sleepers had the option of emergency beds and ten beds for females were unused, while there was one male bed vacancy. No one was not placed. As recently as Sunday night, there was adequate capacity in the system to provide an emergency bed in Dublin for every man or woman who wanted one.
It is not only a Dublin problem.
We will continue to increase capacity in the next couple of weeks so we can ensure that there will be an emergency bed available for anyone who needs one.
The fact that the Taoiseach is not able to answer my question underlines the case I made, which is that the Government does not believe there is an emergency in the context of homelessness. This is the second week in a row the Taoiseach has not been able to answer a question. Last week, I asked about services for citizens with mental health problems. The figures I gave him are absolutely up to date. In the past year the Government was offered 1,800 homes. Fact. It only took up 600 of them. Fact. I asserted that over 8,000 people are homeless and that 3,194 of them are children. There are 300 more children in emergency accommodation than there were when Deputy Varadkar became Taoiseach. The situation has not got better; it has become worse. Can the Taoiseach explain to the Dáil why the Government is purchasing only 600 of the 1,800 homes on offer? If he cannot do it now, will he make a point of coming back into the House to do so? Can he also explain why it has taken so long for the Government to allocate to families the homes it has bought?
We all know how politics works. If the Deputy genuinely wanted an answer to that question, he could have got it by tabling a parliamentary question to the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government.
He did but the Minister did not answer the question.
That is how one gets an answer to a question of that nature.
If you are going to ask a question without any notice to me on Leaders' Questions then obviously-----
That is the idea. That is what Leaders' Questions is for.
If the purpose of the Deputy's question was actually to get an answer he could either have given me notice of the question or he could have put it down as a written parliamentary question to the line Minister.
That is exactly what Leaders' Questions is for.
That is how one gets an answer to a question if one genuinely wants an answer.
Stop whining and do something about it.
I will give the Deputy the best answer that I can give him-----
Generally the purpose of a question is to get answers to it.
-----and that comes from the Housing Agency, which is purchasing 600 of the homes mentioned. The Minister with responsibility for housing has already committed to Sinn Féin that he will examine the other homes to establish why the Housing Agency did not purchase them. The Housing Agency is the expert body when it comes to this matter and it is its advice that is followed as to whether houses are suitable for social housing or not.
As I say, this matter has been raised with the Minister with responsibility for housing already and 600 of those homes are being purchased.
I told you that, Taoiseach.
We have agreed that we will examine the others to see why they were not suitable for purchase. I point out once again the contradiction in the position that is being put to us here again by Sinn Féin. Only last week and the week before we got criticised for buying homes. We were told it does not count and all that matters is houses that are built directly by local authorities-----
That is simply not true.
-----and they are the only ones that count. If they are not directly built by local authorities they do not matter.
The Taoiseach said that to Deputy Ruth Coppinger last week.
The consistent argument from Sinn Féin for two weeks was that we should not buy houses from developers-----
The Taoiseach's nose is getting bigger there.
-----and only direct builds by local authorities count, and then it turns up the next week wanting to know why we are not buying more houses from private developers. This is a party that is all over the place on everything.
That was not very impressive, Taoiseach.
Seven weeks ago during Leaders' Questions, I raised the shocking treatment of the elderly in this country. Little did I know then the can of worms I would open. John Patrick Harrington, a 90-year-old man, left Bantry for a 1,000 km round trip to Kingsbridge Hospital in Belfast for a cataract operation, which was arranged in three weeks, whereas had he waited in Ireland, he would have had to wait three to four years. Since the story broke we have heard of consultants working 13 hours per week, and of women forced to sell jewellery and personal belongings to have a 20-minute simple cataract procedure. More than 8,000 people are seeking that simple procedure. Next Saturday, a bus full of older people will leave west Cork and Kerry for Belfast for cataract operations under the cross-border directive. The 13 people who will have operations on Sunday morning range in age from 65 to 90 years. Their greatest worry is they will go blind, as many getting the bus have waited for three years and cannot wait any longer. This is the first of many buses organised from Cork and Kerry. The next bus will be in early January and another will follow at the end of January.
I ask the Taoiseach whether this is the right way to treat some of the most vulnerable people in our society, who did get up early in the morning, who paid PRSI all of their lives and who, sadly, now realise it was all for nothing as the State would let them go blind rather than perform a 20-minute procedure. These law-abiding taxpayers, who contributed all of their lives to their community and the tax system, now realise it is a choice of going to Belfast this weekend or going blind.
Recently, a constituent contacted me regarding the situation whereby the person's father has been cared for by the person 24-7 for 11.5 years following a devastating major stroke. The person's father recently transferred to a long-term care facility. It has now come to light that he is 100% blind in one eye and has only 30% sight in the other. This gentleman has lost his speech and ability to walk. Does he now have to face losing his sight also? He worked all of his life, paid PRSI and contributed greatly to his community. He is not well enough to be able to travel to Belfast. He has a medical card and private health insurance but there is nowhere for him to have this simple procedure urgently in County Cork. Does this seem fair to the Taoiseach?
Since my previous contribution on Leaders' Questions, I mentioned Bantry General Hospital and the major concerns the public had regarding the retirement of a surgical consultant. Thanks to raising the issue on the floor of the Chamber, the issue has been resolved. Bantry General Hospital is renowned for the excellent service it provides to the population it serves. Why must a bus leave Bantry at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning when a state-of-the-art theatre, which only recently received a major upgrade, is only partially used? Why can these simple procedures not be carried out in Bantry instead of inflicting this long and hard journey on older people? The theatre capacity available at present could be constructively used to address the backlog of cataract procedures in County Cork and parts of Kerry.
Since I spoke on this issue seven weeks ago, I have met credit union managers all over west Cork to secure loans for those who need them and who are travelling to Belfast. I have also met the Cork University Hospital group managers. These meetings have all helped me to progress this matter. What has the Taoiseach done to help the 8,000 vulnerable Irish people who face the bleak prospect of going blind on his watch? Has he met and engaged with the ophthalmologists who can work towards resolving the situation? Has he spoken to the HSE regarding a funding allocation for other hospitals similar to Bantry General Hospital throughout the country, which could provide theatre time to address the national backlog of cataract procedures?
I thank Deputy Collins. To answer his question, it is not the right way to treat our citizens. Nobody should have to wait for long periods for any procedure and certainly not a cataract procedure which, as the Deputy knows, can save people's sight, allowing them to maintain their independence and, in many cases, avoid further injuries that can occur because of sight loss.
What are we doing about it? We are doing quite a lot when it comes to cataracts. The Deputy mentioned that people are travelling to Northern Ireland and other countries. That is not happening by chance. It is part of the cross-border directive, a European law to which we signed up as a Government whereby we fund people to have their treatment in Belfast, Derry and Enniskillen in the United Kingdom so they can have their treatment done more quickly overseas, even if it means us paying another Government or another health administration to do so. That is something we have signed up to and something we now fund. In addition to this, we have been increasing funding for the National Treatment Purchase Fund. Funding has increased from approximately €20 million this year and will rise to €50 million next year. This is already showing considerable results. The Deputy may have noticed from the figures released on Friday that for four months in row, the number of people waiting for a hospital procedure, operation or scope has decreased. The number of people waiting has fallen from a high of 86,000 earlier this year to 80,595 now, at the end of November. More than 56% of patients are now waiting less than six months for their procedure. That is four months in a row during which the number of people waiting for operations and procedures has fallen and we will continue to resource both the HSE and the National Treatment Purchase Fund in order that we keep seeing the number of people waiting for hips, knees, cataracts and other operations falling. It will not be done like it was in the past. We will not just throw money at it for a few months and knock a bunch of people off the waiting list and then see it rise again.
That is not in the past.
What we are going to see from now on is consistent steady falls in the number of people waiting.
I do not have the exact figures for cataracts. I had them on me last week but I do not have them to hand now. The number of people waiting for cataract procedures has fallen very considerably. I do not know whether it is down by 25% or 50%. That may not be enough for the individuals mentioned by the Deputy but we are making a lot of progress and we are getting there and I hope the Deputy recognises this.
No progress.
I thank the Taoiseach and I appreciate his honesty in saying it is not right. It certainly is not right for people to be travelling in bus loads out of the Republic, and out of places such as west Cork and up to Belfast. It is truly scandalous treatment of our elderly. I ask the Taoiseach to address this serious issue and grave situation regarding 8,000 Irish citizens accessing a cataract procedure. This is such a serious and urgent issue I ask the Taoiseach kindly to address the areas of concern for so many vulnerable people in the country. Do they have to continue to undertake the stressful long journey to Belfast to have this procedure carried out? Can we not find provision in our HSE service delivery plans to factor in addressing the lengthy waiting list for this procedure? This procedure does not block beds and is a simple day procedure that could be carried out in some of the theatres that are available in Ireland where capacity for theatre time exists. This 15 to 20-minute procedure should be made simple to access for those people who require a basic cataract procedure urgently to save them from going blind and being further isolated from society.
We are at a situation now, at long last, when it comes to operations, procedures and scopes - not outpatients admittedly because we are still not making much progress there - where we have seen a fall for four months in a row in the number of people waiting for operations and procedures. We are at a situation now where one third of people wait less than three months and more than half of people wait less than six months. I would like to get to the point where we are a normal country with a normal public health service and we do not have very many people at all waiting more than three months. There will often be people waiting six, eight or 12 weeks, even people with the best and most expensive private health insurance packages, but I would like to get to the point where the number of people waiting more than three months really starts to fall dramatically. That is what we are aiming to achieve.
In terms of resourcing cataracts ophthalmology in particular, a new theatre was opened in July in the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital, which is not far from here. The Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, carried out the opening. I mentioned what we are doing with the National Treatment Purchase Fund and on paying for treatment overseas.
I do not know the details about Bantry. The availability of a theatre is not necessarily a solution in itself as it is necessary to have ophthalmologists and ophthalmic surgeons who can carry out the procedure and nurses and other personnel who are trained in aftercare. The last thing one wants is to have a procedure carried out by somebody who is not qualified and the patient then being nursed by somebody who is not used to recognising when something has gone wrong in somebody's eye. There can be serious issues when one tries to do things like that. However, the Government is focusing on people who have to wait more than three months and six months for operations and procedures. We are starting to see results and we will see more in the coming year.
On 28 November last, while announcing the resignation of the former Tánaiste, the Taoiseach stated:
The events of the past few days have exposed major problems once again within a dysfunctional Department of Justice and Equality, including the way important emails were not found and therefore not sent on to the Charleton tribunal during discovery. I am therefore directing that there will be an external inquiry into that to report before Christmas.
Later that afternoon, the Taoiseach said: "As of today, I am ordering an external inquiry into why the Department of Justice and Equality did not find those emails and why they were not sent on to the tribunal." The Taoiseach suggested that the Secretary General to the Government would carry out that review, but after concerns were raised by me and others he agreed that somebody from outside the Civil Service would be more appropriate. He confirmed that he was in the process of appointing a senior counsel to carry out a review "as a matter of urgency".
I have a number of questions arising from that. First, is it still the Taoiseach's intention that this report would be completed before Christmas? Second, has the senior counsel been appointed and, if so, who is it? Third, have the terms of reference been agreed and will the Taoiseach publish them? The last question is important because there are still many unanswered questions as to how the trawl was carried out. Given that the country spent a week watching the Government and Fianna Fáil tie themselves in knots over what the then Minister knew and when she knew it, obviously the accounts of the then Minister and her advisers should have been examined and searched as part of this trawl. However, it was confirmed to me in a recent email from the current Minister that, inexplicably, those three accounts were not searched. Can the Taoiseach provide an assurance that the failure to search these accounts in the trawl will be examined as part of the senior counsel's review? If so, will he direct the Department to check these accounts for correspondence relevant to the disclosures tribunal?
I ask the Taoiseach to reply to my three direct questions. Also, will he include the failure to search those email accounts?
To follow up briefly on the last Deputy's question, the number of people currently waiting for a cataract operation in Ireland is 8,667. That is down from 10,304 in April, so there has been a 25% reduction already in the number of people waiting for cataract procedures. We anticipate that continuing to fall in the months ahead. The 8,667 people are waiting for any amount of time. In some cases they might be waiting for a long period while some might only be waiting a few weeks.
On the questions put by Deputy Shortall, following our interaction and the Deputy's correspondence to me, I took the decision that it would be more appropriate to have an independent person, a senior counsel, rather than a civil servant carry out the investigation of why certain documents were not discovered and provided to the Charleton tribunal. I am advised by the Minister for Justice and Equality that the senior counsel has been asked to do the work but has not yet confirmed his acceptance of that offer or request. As soon as the person gets back to us and tells us whether he will do it, I will be happy to provide the name to the Deputy.
I do not have the terms of reference with me. Generally, they would be agreed with the senior counsel. It would be appropriate for the person carrying out the investigation to determine why these emails were not discovered and provided to the tribunal, and also to determine if there are any other emails or documents that ought to have been discovered and were not and should now be provided to the tribunal as well.
Can the Taoiseach confirm the timescale he hopes the senior counsel will be working to now? Is it still Christmas or what is the timescale? Also, will the Taoiseach commit to publishing the terms of reference? There has been considerable slippage on this issue and there is much public concern about it.
We know the tribunal made three discovery orders. One of them related to records of the O'Higgins commission of investigation held in the Department of Justice and Equality. We have since learned that two critical pages of that report went missing. Will the disappearance of those two pages be included in the terms of reference? Obviously that was a critical issue when it came to complying with the discovery orders. We also know that the Department made a number of voluntary disclosures. Will the Taoiseach confirm again that those accounts which should have been searched will now be searched, and will he confirm that the reason for not searching them will be included in the terms of reference?
I am told the documents the Deputy referred to have been provided to the tribunal. The Minister for Justice and Equality expects to make the appointment of the senior counsel in the coming days. The original intention was that it would all be done by Christmas but there has been a delay in securing a senior counsel to carry out the work. As a result it will be difficult to get the work done by Christmas. Certainly, the instruction from the Government will be to have it done within a matter of weeks if that is possible. Members will understand that if one commissions somebody to carry out an investigation, it is right and proper to give that person enough time to do it and not set a deadline that might prevent the person from carrying out a thorough and comprehensive job, which must be the priority.
Regarding the terms of reference, it is not possible for me to give a commitment in the House to publish them. I would not have an objection to it but there might be legal or other reasons I am not aware of which would prevent that from happening.