Well, Taoiseach, this is it: our last exchange.
Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions
Pray it will be.
Before I put my question to the Taoiseach, which I have no doubt he will answer in full with a fully amplified answer, I wish him and his the very best for the future, whatever that might bring.
There has been major disruption at Dublin Airport over the past couple of days. Flights in and out of the airport have been cancelled or delayed and people's travel plans have been thrown into chaos. Some were booked onto later flights, many had to make alternative arrangements and others faced the prospect of booking expensive accommodation they had not budgeted for. Airport users have told stories of being sent from pillar to post when seeking information following the cancellation of their flights and there has been serious frustration, confusion and a sense of "Here we go again". I appreciate that a spell of extreme cold weather presents challenges, and I also accept there have been some knock-on effects from disruption at other airports. However, we cannot shy away from the fact that once again, there has been a real failure to prepare at Dublin Airport and there has not been a word from the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, or from the Government.
It seems the lessons of the summer have gone unlearned.
We have a right to expect that part of the contingency planning for wintertime at a major European airport would be a plan to keep flights going during a cold snap, yet it seems planning for the de-icing of aircraft and runways was only an afterthought, as management was taken by surprise. Once again, we see authorities scrambling around rather than being prepared for a scenario that was entirely foreseeable, and we have been here before. In the summer, the failure to plan at Dublin Airport brought chaos and the situation, as the Taoiseach will recall, spiralled out of control because the Minister for Transport failed to get to grips with the crisis. Now it seems the Minister is asleep at the wheel again.
Christmas is the busiest time of year at Dublin Airport. Approximately 1 million people will pass through the airport during the holidays. It is a time when people reconnect and when many of our young people who have emigrated will return home to their families and friends, and the only scenes we should see at Dublin Airport at Christmastime are scenes of joy, happiness and reconnection. We cannot have a return to the mayhem that enveloped the airport during the summer. It is the responsibility of the Government, and the Minister in particular, to ensure that all preparations are made. Ours is a small island nation; we rely heavily on our airports to ensure our connectivity with the rest of the world. Along with the personal distress, episodes of significant disruption damage Ireland's international reputation for business and investment. That is the reality. The Minister must wake up and do his job to ensure Dublin Airport runs properly. We cannot afford more chaos.
Tá an cur isteach mór atá ag tarlú ag Aerfort Bhaile Átha Cliath doghlactha. Tá an tAire Iompair, an Teachta Eamon Ryan, ina chodladh arís. Caithfidh sé a chuid oibre a dhéanamh agus a chinntiú nach mbeidh cíorthuathail againn san aerfort i rith na Nollag. The Government must step forward and be proactive. There has to be a plan for this. Has the Taoiseach spoken to the Minister about the current disruption at Dublin Airport? Has he instructed the Minister to intervene immediately in order that we do not have a return to travel chaos at Dublin Airport this Christmas?
First of all, I thank the Deputy for her initial comments and her “this is it” approach. I thought there was an Elvis Presley moment coming on me there, like in his song "I Miss You" or whatever.
(Interruptions).
In the first instance, the national emergency co-ordination group has been meeting in response to the severe weather situation. I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. We are experiencing a period of extremely cold weather. It has settled over Ireland, with severe frost, freezing fog, ice, wintry showers and the fall of snow. The national directorate for fire and emergency management crisis management team has been meeting daily since Friday, 2 December, liaising closely with Met Éireann, and the national emergency co-ordination group was convened and has been meeting daily since Sunday to assess the national and local preparedness in light of the forecast prolonged period of extreme cold weather. The group will continue to meet for the duration of this weather event.
The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, who is sitting here beside me, was at that meeting on Sunday. He is wide awake and was wide awake throughout the weekend in respect of this issue. In particular, he met representatives of the Dublin Airport Authority, DAA. Issues with the DAA that the Deputy raised do need to be followed through with the authority. We need to make sure that capacity exists within the DAA in terms of de-icing and preparing for extreme weather events to make sure that key connectivity through aviation is maintained. State agencies are established by law, they are resourced and people are appointed to senior positions. There is an obligation on the agencies to be prepared and respond to situations such as this. That said, Dublin Airport is not the only airport that has had challenges through this period. Manchester Airport has had challenges and Heathrow Airport has had significant challenges, some of which have spilled over to Dublin Airport.
More broadly across the transport sector, the local authority severe weather assessment teams are monitoring the situation and co-ordinating responses. Winter plans are now in operation. Widespread gritting has happened and will continue. Transport Infrastructure Ireland is also involved. Sufficient salt is available across the country to facilitate work particularly on our more dangerous minor roads. We urge the public to be very careful when travelling on our roads in these dangerous times. Transport Infrastructure Ireland has taken significant measures well in advance to ensure adequate stores of salt for the season - approximately 200,000 tonnes. It has a framework available to deal with anything worse.
On the homelessness situation, local authority outreach teams are continuing to engage with rough sleepers and are encouraging them to avail of indoor shelter. Regarding schools, there has been constant co-ordination between the group and our education system.
I reassure the Deputy that the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, is not asleep at the wheel.
He is asleep a lot of the time.
I know he gets Deputy Healy-Rae excited every now and again for different reasons.
He has the Taoiseach dangling on a string.
As a Cabinet colleague, with the range of legislation, initiatives and strategic plans the Minister has brought through in the last month at least, I can definitely assure the House that he is anything but fast asleep at this juncture.
He would want to be defrosted.
Sorry?
He would want to be de-iced, himself.
Deputy Mattie McGrath has shared with us that he would want to be defrosted.
When people again see scenes of delay and cancellations in Dublin Airport there is a real concern over the ongoing lack of preparedness. I accept that the Dublin Airport Authority and the airlines have a case to answer here, but ultimately public confidence will be built only if there is a sense that the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, actually has a plan. I accept that others have met and made contingency arrangements during a snap of very hard cold weather. This close to Christmas, with so many people coming home, we need public reassurance that the Minister is fully engaged. I ask the Taoiseach to give more detail of that. He said there was a meeting with the Dublin Airport Authority. What was the upshot of that? Dublin Airport is not the only airport on the island, but it is the key hub airport.
For a long time, some local residents have sought a meeting with the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, in respect of a change to flight patterns outside of the planning permission that had been granted. If he is, as the Taoiseach claims, wide awake, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, could he do these residents the good grace of meeting them?
The Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, met the DAA in the context of the meeting on Sunday with the national emergency co-ordination group. They had a discussion in respect of the preparedness of the DAA and the issues that arise because of the very severe weather we are experiencing. Bhuail an tAire, an Teachta Darragh O’Brien, leis an DAA Dé Domhnaigh seo caite. Táim sásta go bhfuil gach aon iarracht á dhéanamh ní amháin ag an DAA ach ag bardais áitiúla ar fud na tíre agus ag an TII chun a bheith réidh agus go mbeidh gach aon áis ann chun cabhair agus tacaíocht a thabhairt do na húdaráis ar fud na tíre agus do mhuintir na tíre. Iarraim ar an bpobal a bheith cúramach agus iad ag taisteal timpeall na tíre le linn na drochaimsire seo.
Cá bhfuil an tAire, an Teachta Eamon Ryan?
Tá an tAire, an Teachta O’Brien, i gceannas-----
I did not ask about an tAire, Deputy O’Brien. We will come to him later. Where is the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan?
-----ar an gcomhoibriú idir na seirbhísí éigeandála. Tá sé ag déileáil leis an Aire, an Teachta Eamon Ryan, chomh maith. Beidh mé ag caint leis an Aire, an Teachta Ryan, agus déarfaidh mé leis go bhfuil an Teachta McDonald á lorg.
At the risk of another Elvis moment, I wish the Taoiseach well in our last engagement on Leaders' Questions. I wish him well in whatever his future role may be.
The Taoiseach may wish to indicate at this point in what role he will be returning to the Dáil in the new year. Suspicious minds - see what I did there? - are suggesting that it will be in a new role as Minister for Foreign Affairs but the Taoiseach may wish to confirm or deny that on the floor of the Chamber. Elvis has left the building now.
On a serious note, the Taoiseach has been assuring us that his Ministers have been wide awake and not asleep at the wheel. It certainly appears that the officials of the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, have been having some sleepless nights rushing through the drafting of the Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill 2022, which will be rushed through this House through all Stages this week. On 1 December, the Labour Party wrote to the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, expressing our concern at the rushed-through nature of this planning law. The Planning and Development and Foreshore (Amendment) Bill is, as we said through our colleague, Senator Moynihan, the latest in a long line of housing, residential and planning Bills that have been sought to be passed into law at the last minute before either a summer or a Christmas recess. While we completely support measures which might see the acceleration of delivery of housing, our concern is that this Bill will not see the delivery of homes, which is so badly needed, and will not deliver the much-needed planning reforms. More importantly, it will not expedite the actual delivery of housing.
Last week I raised the fact that there are 28,000 live planning permissions in the Dublin City Council area alone which have not been activated, which had gone through the planning process, but where we are seeing a delay in delivery. These undeveloped sites are fuelling high rates of homelessness, escalating rents and lengthening housing lists, with more than 11,000 people now on the housing list. We also see the sort of substandard living conditions I have spoken about in my own constituency, where 27 tenants were recently evicted and were living in what was essentially a firetrap of a building.
Will the Taoiseach, the Government and the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, take account of the warnings from its own agency, the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service, that there has been hoarding and speculative behaviour in which developers and investors are acquiring planning permissions to hold as an asset and engaging in what we have seen described as land banking or land hoarding? This is a key issue and obstacle to the actual delivery of homes across cities and towns across this country. We have seen this concern raised not only by the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service but also by the ESRI in a report stating that State intervention is now needed to end land speculation and land hoarding and to see a speeded-up delivery of housing.
In particular, we in the Labour Party introduced a Bill to enact the Kenny report, a report which if enacted - this report will be 50 years old next year - would have done a great deal to ensure an end to land hoarding. Will the Taoiseach speed up and see to the passage of our Kenny report Bill?
I thank the Deputy for her very kind comments in advance. I have good news for the Deputy in that today, at Government, we approved legislation relating to land value sharing, which deals fundamentally with the issue of excessive profits being made following the zoning of land. Given the level of public infrastructure and investment that takes place in the State on any land that is zoned for housing, a portion of that value must accrue to the State. This is very radical legislation and is Kenny-like in respect of the Kenny report of many decades ago. This legislation will be introduced and there is also a zoned land tax, which will be a further feature to deal with hoarding in respect of planning permissions.
If the Deputy combines all of the measures that have been taken, a fairly radical approach is being taken now, both legislatively and policy-wise in respect of the utilisation of land, preventing land speculation and endeavouring over the medium term to get land pricing down, so as to get house prices down.
In parallel with that, we have an unprecedented investment in housing to the tune of €4 billion per annum. The legislation to which the Deputy has referred, which is minor but essential legislation in respect of interim measures for An Bord Pleanála, also has measures to deal with exempting from Part 8 the building of social and affordable homes on publicly owned local authority land to accelerate the planning process. I have heard for quite some months people in this House say that the housing crisis is an emergency and that we need to act urgently. The Minister's amendment is designed to enable us to move quickly, particularly with rapid-build housing on local authority land for social housing.
I do not see why anyone in the House could object to that, given that we need to increase the number of houses we build and build them more rapidly. That is the agenda. The Bill relates to the appointment of an interim chairperson of An Bord Pleanála, which is very important, given what has happened in it.
Across the board, there is now a range of schemes to deal with the housing crisis, including the Croí Cónaithe towns and cities scheme, the help-to-buy scheme and the first homes scheme. This year, there were 16,000 first-time buyers, the highest number since 2008. About 18,000 social homes have been built since 2020, the highest figure in a long time. This year we aim to get to 10,000 social houses, with 8,000 built, which is the highest number in many decades. We are building momentum but we have to go faster and do more. The objective of the legislation is to give us the capacity to go faster and get more houses built more quickly in order that young people who are looking for housing can get it at an affordable level.
We will support any measures that will see the delivery of housing. However, the difficulty for many people is that they are not seeing that outcome. They are hearing the Government listing off plans in progress, preparation being made or issues that will deliver on momentum, but they are not actually seeing the delivery of affordable homes for themselves or their children, friends and families.
This is now eating into many different areas of life. As we know, it is affecting the ability of schools to attract teachers and the ability of hospitals to attract nurses and doctors. It is affecting every small business across the country in its ability to attract staff. We are seeing a failure of Government to deliver on outcomes. That is the key issue in housing. When we put forward constructive measures like the Kenny report Bill a year ago and our renters' rights Bill in October 2021, they are the sorts of measures we are putting forward as constructive ways to achieve the delivery of affordable homes. We ask the Government to take them on board and go with them in order to deliver on those outcomes.
I do not disagree with the need to pursue as wide a range of issues and initiatives as we can. This year, we will exceed our targets in Housing for All. There will be more than 26,000 home completions, the highest number of houses built in any one year since 2008. Measures in Housing for All are having an impact. It is not just about announcing strategies and plans; they are having an impact.
The issue is that we need to build more than 30,000 houses per annum. Prior to 2020, we were at about 20,000. The need to pick up and increase capacity has been there. The good news is that there are now 40,000 more people working in the housing construction sector this year than last, and 20,000 over the 2019 level. The pipeline of apprentices in the construction industry is strong, thanks to the good work of the Minister, Deputy Harris, in terms of the increased numbers coming through to work in construction trades. That is something we need to continue. We are building capacity at all levels for the long haul. We have to build 35,000 houses or more every year as we go through the decade. We have to build up to that.
The Taoiseach is no Elvis; he might be more Daniel O'Donnell. I congratulate the Taoiseach on his term in office. His many years' experience as a parliamentarian have stood to him. He has been courteous and balanced, generally speaking, and has maximised, in an understated way, the art of the political announcement. I doubt there was ever a Taoiseach who was as successful at creating photo opportunities and making announcements. In fact, there were many announcements made by the Government that never got to the next stage, except for when the next stage was the re-announcement of projects, such as the MRI scanner in Wexford, the 96-bed ward for Wexford General Hospital or a new university campus for Wexford. I presume the new Taoiseach will announce all of those projects again when he comes back into office.
In saying that, I do not doubt the Taoiseach's commitment to public service and the office of An Taoiseach, nor do I doubt his sincerity. However, one thing that surprised me about him was his commitment to process rather than the delivery of projects, which is the hallmark of his Government. Many worthwhile projects are caught in political processes, which collapses their delivery.
One other thing that struck me was how the Taoiseach responded to the adverse findings by the Standards in Public Office Commission, SIPO, in respect of a senior public official. Instead of giving teeth to that finding and ensuring accountability, the Taoiseach's Government undermined SIPO by appointing that public servant to a State board, he having had a most damning finding made against him. In light of the revelations today in the European Parliament as regards the scandal of breaches in ethics and standards, and having listened to the response of the European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, does the Taoiseach agree that it is now time for him to do the following? Will he give a commitment when Tánaiste that he will overhaul our standards in public office legislation to enable it to give effect to findings, ensuring he can in future stand over best practice in both standards and ethics in public office and, where they are proven to be breached, ensure rigorous, meaningful accountability? In this area of public administration we need transparency in the process to produce an effective regime, not an internal job developed by people who will be subject to the new ethics regime and who have a vested interest in limiting independent oversight. We need accountability in the public service and the Civil Service, and now is that time.
I thank the Deputy for the introduction earlier, although I am a bit bemused that I have earned the title, apparently, of the most successful at creating photo opportunities. I think many colleagues all over the House will be disturbed that that accolade has been passed on to me. I assure the Deputy that anybody in the Government ranks who knows me knows I am all about delivery, not photo opportunities or process. I am a very impatient politician when it comes to moving from concept to reality and to getting things done.
As for South East Technological University, we now have five such institutions established, four, I think, during the term of this Government. That is putting concept into reality. We have been very active, particularly in respect of South East Technological University, which has been a long-running story but is so important to the economic, social and academic development of the south east more generally. The campus in Wexford is well in hand. I think Deputy Murphy and the Minister, Deputy Harris, know that. I will sound one general note of warning. All of us, politically, should be careful about chasing particular sites or land - I am not saying Deputy Murphy is doing so - because all that does is raise land values generally. The State should go in low-key when it wants to acquire land for education, health or whatever other purpose.
We are onto the third site in Wexford.
Yes, and the Deputy was Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and knows full well what I mean and would endorse everything I have said.
I allocated the money for it six years ago; it is still not bought.
It is Deputy Verona Murphy's time.
Never did the Taoiseach think he would have me to call on to rescue him.
That is called agility on the floor.
As for SIPO, I think Deputy Murphy has raised this issue over some time and I think I have been consistent in saying to her that no public official or CEO of a local authority should ever place conditions on or endeavour to influence the output of a local radio station. That is a very strong view I hold. That is fundamental to democracy. In other words, I am not saying that this happened in any given situation, but one cannot say that the consequence of one's having spent money on advertising and so on is that the station should somehow align with the views of the council or not be critical of the council. There has to be editorial independence at all times. SIPO made a judgment in that case and it fell to the county council to deal with it. We have a devolved system. We delegate to the local authorities. The Government does not have a role in a situation like that. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has engaged in a very comprehensive review of SIPO. He went out to public consultation. He has received numerous submissions. He brought the outcome of that to the Cabinet today. I wonder if there is some mental telepathy going on in the House in terms of Members' understanding of what was passed at the Government's meeting today. That was passed as well at the meeting today and approved by the Government to move now into not updating but fundamentally advancing the legislation underpinning SIPO into the future. That will eventually come to the House as well, and Deputy Murphy's input would be very much appreciated in that regard.
I wish the Taoiseach and his family well. I am sure they are very proud of him, and so they should be.
His departure is more a case of, "Hasta la vista, baby. I'll be back next week as the Tánaiste." He will appreciate that I must be careful about eulogising his time as Taoiseach because, as is the culture in the House, I will probably have to hold him to account next week.
I thank the Deputy.
I begin by wishing the Taoiseach well. We have had no run-ins and we were always constructive. Hopefully, today will be no different and I will try to remain constructive. Some 100 years after the birth of the Irish Free State, this Chamber, which sits at the heart of our democracy, should be a forum in which Members are free to discuss issues which are of grave concern to the people we are here to represent. I would hope that we could do so in a sensitive but robust manner and that our Parliament can avoid becoming a place where there are unspoken rules that discourage certain questions from being asked and where groupthink or complicity in silence becomes the order of the day.
For an increasing number of people, one of the issues that is demanding of more serious and frank levels of open debate is that of immigration, its impact on housing, healthcare and education and the apparent dysfunctionality that surrounds our entire asylum application process. As policy issues, these must be treated like every other area, where a clear assessment of successes and failures can be discussed honestly. They cannot and must not become no-go areas in our political discourse. Unfortunately, that is what appears to be happening.
Every time my Independent colleague in the Seanad, Senator Keogan, tries to speak on these issues, she is shouted down. If I or my Rural Independent Group colleagues try to raise concerns we are accused absurdly and ridiculously of trying to tear apart the fabric of social cohesion. Yet what we are saying has inevitably proved correct.
Like many others, I am deeply concerned about the pressure and the anger that is building up in communities relating to the way in which the State has chosen to house those seeking international protection. I am more than alarmed that despite our obvious capacity deficits and the scale of the emergency, hundreds of applicants were still in tented accommodation until a few days ago, in freezing temperatures. We are at the tipping point of a real and profound social catastrophe. The rate of people entering the country from states and areas designated as safe by the EU is increasing by hundreds of percent in some cases. Our hotels are at maximum capacity. Our emergency accommodation is beyond breaking point. Our own homeless numbers are breaking records. Yet still there seems to be no plan to press the pause button.
The key point here is that we need sustainable solidarity. What we have at present is not sustainable. We need a system that is not burdened to the point of collapse yet that is what we have. We have to adopt a new approach. We have to press pause. It is a painful but obvious truth that we must recognise. Does the Taoiseach agree?
I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I assure her that no issue should be excluded from debate and discussion in this House. It is fundamental to our national Parliament that we would have open and free debate and that the voice of the contrarian is always heard. I do not apply that to the Deputy in this context, but the voice of the contrarian should always be heard. Groupthink is always dangerous and we should not always follow the herd on any issue, be it the economy, education or anything else.
Historically, if you go back 100 years, or go back further than 100 years to 1916, an interesting key ingredient of our revolution was that it was internationalist. It was not a narrow nationalism. It was internationalist from day one.
I am referring to the idea of Ireland taking its place among the nations of the world. Our membership of the League of Nations and the UN has been about adherence and loyalty to multilateral rules-based order. Stemming from this are our obligations as members of the UN and, laterally, the EU. Ireland will soon be celebrating 50 years of EU membership. That means that when the international rules-based order is attacked, we cannot stand alone as an island that is not impacted. The war in Ukraine is a war on the international rules-based order; be in no doubt about it. Putin does not want a thriving democracy on his doorstep. Fundamentally, that is what is at stake. He has raised issues of geopolitical security. They can be dealt with and agreed upon. Leaders of the EU have said to President Putin that they are open to discussions to resolve issues to do with the security architecture of Europe. However, as we speak he is bombing innocent women, children and families. He is also bombing energy infrastructure. He is deliberately, as part of a hybrid form of warfare, creating migration, energy and food crises. I do not believe that, morally, we can stand aside. Sixty-six thousand people have come to this country from Ukraine. I acknowledge it is a huge challenge. The vast majority of Irish people have opened up and said they will do what they can. This is a wartime situation; that is what we are facing. We cannot allow Putin to win by sowing the seeds of division among us because of the pressures and challenges that inevitably arise from migration flows.
With regard to international protection more globally, climate change and more conflict in places such as Ethiopia, in Africa, and the Middle East are all leading to increased migration. It is not only in Ireland but across the world. That is a reality we will have to continue to deal with and we have to stand up to our responsibilities and do the best we can on the issue.
I am very aware of the horrors of war, as we all are from watching what is happening, but I made the point in my speech that there are people coming in from areas designated as safe. The number of such cases is increasing all the time. This needs to be properly monitored and there needs to be a reasonable debate on the issue. We need a proper, functioning immigration policy. I suggested to the Taoiseach that the pause button be pressed. Can a meeting be sought with representatives in the EU so we would have some mechanism to pause what is happening here? People are being failed. If we are bringing in people, we are not giving them a céad míle fáilte if they are in tents or on hotel floors, as I have said previously. It is not right that people who do not need protection are coming in and abusing our system and, indeed, our hospitality. That is not right. There are people coming in from safe areas. It clearly proves our immigration policy is failing. There is no proper, functioning policy. These issues need to be looked at. There needs to be engagement with EU representatives because we have to press pause.
There is a robust migration policy within the State. Yesterday, we had a Cabinet subcommittee meeting involving all the relevant Departments, which I chaired. We consistently monitor the situation concerning those seeking asylum in the country. When people come into the country to seek asylum, there is a process to deal with that. There is no choice but to deal with it once an application comes in. I assure the Deputy that, at the European Council meeting this week, the issue of migration will be on the agenda, although it was not initially. Other countries are raising it because of the general increase in migration across Europe, apart altogether from the situation in Ukraine. To my mind, the fundamental way to address these issues is at source, having regard to the societies people are seeking to leave. Questions need to be asked as to why they are seeking to leave. It may be because of authoritarianism, conflict or war. It may also be because of climate change, which is creating a migration trail as many areas are now experiencing the ravages of drought and various other weather events. Such events are creating real crises in many communities across the world. It is a very challenging situation. We need to be honest with ourselves and people more generally. It is not something you can stop; it is not that simple at all.