11 o’clockPrelude
Leaders’ Questions.
Ceisteanna — Questions.
Departmental Staff.
Data Protection.
Regulatory Reform.
Requests to move Adjournment of Dáil under Standing Order 32.
Order of Business.
Message from Seanad.
Double Taxation Relief Orders 2008: Referral to Select Committee.
Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2008: Order for Second Stage.
Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2008: Second Stage.
Priority Questions.
FÁS Internal Audits.
Job Losses.
Public Sector Reform.
Community Employment Schemes.
Other Questions.
Alternative Dispute Resolution.
Business Regulation.
Employment Rights Authority.
Consumer Codes of Conduct.
Private Notice Questions.
Cancer Screening Programme.
Adjournment Debate Matters.
Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2008: Second Stage (Resumed).
Irish Economy: Motion.
Adjournment Debate.
Hospital Services.
Departmental Agencies.
County Kerry Bogslide.
Farm Waste Management.
Written Answers.
Job Losses.
Consumer Protection.
Departmental Staff.
Decentralisation Programme.
Industrial Relations.
Departmental Reviews.
Energy Costs.
FÁS Training Programmes.
Company Law Review.
Consumer Protection.
FÁS Training Programmes.
Telecommunications Services.
Internal Audits.
Workplace Accidents.
Labour Inspectorate.
Job Creation.
Proposed Legislation.
EU Directives.
Statutory Redundancies.
World Trade Negotiations.
Employment Rights.
Consumer Protection.
Departmental Staff.
Job Creation.
Product Price Display.
Departmental Agencies.
Labour Inspectorate.
Community Employment Schemes.
Departmental Staff.
Consumer Protection.
Departmental Staff.
Departmental Agencies.
Import Regulations.
Decentralisation Programme.
Social Partnership Agreements.
Employment Regulation Orders.
FÁS Training Programmes.
Grocery Industry.
Construction Sector.
Task Force on Active Citizenship.
Procurement Procedures.
Ministerial Travel.
Northern Ireland Issues.
Construction Materials.
Census of Population.
Departmental Agencies.
Consultancy Contracts.
Departmental Transport.
Consultancy Contracts.
Departmental Staff.
Data Protection.
Pension Provisions.
Departmental Advertising.
Departmental Agencies.
Departmental Staff.
Health and Safety Regulations.
Job Creation.
Community Employment Schemes.
Departmental Transport.
County Enterprise Boards.
Consultancy Contracts.
Community Employment Schemes.
Health and Safety Authority.
Departmental Staff.
FÁS Training Programmes.
Medical Education.
Data Protection.
Work Permits.
Decentralisation Programme.
Job Losses.
National Training Fund.
Departmental Advertising.
FÁS Training Programmes.
Departmental Agencies.
Departmental Staff.
Unfair Dismissals.
Community Employment Schemes.
Industrial Development.
Employment Levels.
Industrial Development.
Company Closures.
FÁS Training Programmes.
Departmental Staff.
Job Creation.
Work Permits.
Departmental Agencies.
Industrial Development.
State Property.
Community Employment Schemes.
Services and Manufacturing Sectors.
FÁS Training Programmes.
Job Losses.
Consultancy Contracts.
National Development Plan.
Flood Relief.
Garda Stations.
Architectural Heritage.
Tax Code.
Decentralisation Programme.
Flood Relief.
Departmental Transport.
Tax Code.
Betting Industry.
Flood Relief.
Consultancy Contracts.
Tax Code.
Architectural Heritage.
Tax Code.
Departmental Staff.
Tax Code.
Budget Submissions.
Tax Code.
Data Protection.
Decentralisation Programme.
Tax Yield.
Public Sector Pay.
Tax Yield.
Decentralisation Programme.
Tax Code.
Pension Provisions.
Tax Code.
Flood Relief.
Architectural Heritage.
Departmental Advertising.
Tax Code.
Departmental Staff.
Tax Code.
Telecommunications Services.
Departmental Staff.
National Development Plan.
Tax Yield.
Budget Submissions.
Road Signage.
Tax Code.
Income Statistics.
Tax Code.
Tax Collection.
Departmental Agencies.
Departmental Staff.
Tax Code.
Social Insurance.
Departmental Expenditure.
Tax Yield.
Tax Code.
Contraband Seizures.
Tax Code.
Flood Relief.
Tax Code.
Tax Yield.
Flood Relief.
Tax Yield.
Tax Code.
Departmental Staff.
Tax Code.
Consultancy Contracts.
Departmental Agencies.
Budget Submissions.
Tax Code.
Flood Relief.
Budget Submissions.
Departmental Expenditure.
Disabled Drivers.
Tax Code.
Departmental Programmes.
National Development Plan.
Alcohol Advertising.
Child Care Services.
Dormant Accounts Fund.
Hospitals Building Programme.
Adoption Services.
Child Care Services.
Asylum Support Services.
Hospitals Building Programme.
Health Care Funding.
Health Services.
Health Care Funding.
Pharmacy Regulations.
Nursing Home Subventions.
Cancer Incidence.
Ambulance Service.
Infectious Diseases.
Hospital Services.
Hospital Accommodation.
Hospital Staff.
Health Services.
Community Care.
Hospitals Building Programme.
Hospital Waiting Lists.
Departmental Transport.
Medical Cards.
Medical Inquiries.
Hospital Services.
Hospital Charges.
Health Services.
Food Supplements.
Hospitals Building Programme.
Health Services.
Hospital Services.
Health Services.
Hospital Services.
Medical Aids and Appliances.
Health Services.
Medical Aids and Appliances.
Health Services.
Medical Aids and Appliances.
Health Service Staff.
Consultancy Contracts.
Nursing Home Subventions.
Health Services.
Health Care Funding.
Health Services.
Health Service Allowances.
Health Services.
Nursing Homes Repayment Scheme.
Medicinal Products.
Health Services.
Medical Aids and Appliances.
Health Services.
Medical Cards.
Hospital Services.
Health Service Allowances.
Services for People with Disabilities.
Cancer Screening Programme.
Health Services.
Services for People with Disabilities.
Hospital Services.
Services for People with Disabilities.
Vaccination Programme.
Health Services.
Hospital Sites.
Departmental Staff.
Nursing Home Subventions.
Proposed Legislation.
Health Services.
Health Service Properties.
Budget Submissions.
Health Service Allowances.
Health Service Properties.
Hospital Services.
Health Service Allowances.
Health Services.
Pharmacy Regulations.
Hospital Waiting Lists.
Services for People with Disabilities.
Hospital Services.
Data Protection.
Child Care Services.
Hospital Services.
Nursing Home Subventions.
Nursing Homes Repayment Scheme.
Suicide Prevention.
Health Services.
Health Reports.
Services for People with Disabilities.
Hospital Services.
Health Service Staff.
Accident and Emergency Services.
Health Services.
Special Educational Needs.
National Treatment Purchase Fund.
Health Services.
Health Service Allowances.
Hospital Services.
Medical Inquiries.
Hospital Services.
Health Services.
Medical Cards.
Proposed Legislation.
Nursing Homes Repayment Scheme.
Hospital Staff.
Health Services.
Departmental Advertising.
Cancer Screening Programme.
Nursing Homes Repayment Scheme.
Hospital Services.
Nursing Homes Repayment Scheme.
Health Services.
Health Service Staff.
Nursing Homes Repayment Scheme.
Hospital Services.
Ambulance Service.
Health Services.
Housing Aid for the Elderly.
Hospital Staff.
Children in Care.
Nursing Homes Repayment Scheme.
Hospital Services.
Hospital Waiting Lists.
Departmental Agencies.
Departmental Staff.
Health Services.
Nursing Homes Repayment Scheme.
Hospital Services.
Nursing Homes Repayment Scheme.
Health Services.
Health Care Provision.
Nursing Homes Repayment Scheme.
Health Services.
Medical Cards.
Health Service Staff.
Hospitals Building Programme.
Nursing Homes Repayment Scheme.
Services for People with Disabilities.
Child Protection.
Health Services.
Services for People with Disabilities.
Health Service Staff.
Medical Cards.
Health Services.
Hospital Waiting Lists.
Care of the Elderly.
Nursing Home Subventions.
Care of the Elderly.
Child Care Services.
English Language Tests.
Nursing Homes Repayment Scheme.
Hospitals Building Programme.
Health Services.
National Treatment Purchase Fund.
Nursing Homes Repayment Scheme.
Nursing Home Subventions.
Health Services.
Seirbhísí Tacaíochta.
Hospital Services.
Departmental Reports.
Child Care Services.
Hospital Services.
Health Services.
National Lottery Funding.
Hospital Services.
Health Services.
Nursing Homes Repayment Scheme.
Hospitals Building Programme.
Health Services.
Health Service Staff.
Health Services.
Cancer Screening Programme.
Health Services.
Services for People with Disabilities.
Child Care Services.
Mental Health Services.
Infectious Diseases.
Health Services.
Services for People with Disabilities.
Consultancy Contracts.
Recreational Facilities.
Health Services.
Children in Care.
Health Services.
Infectious Diseases.
Health Services.
Hospitals Building Programme.
Hospital Charges.
Hospital Waiting Lists.
Nursing Homes Repayment Scheme.
Nursing Home Subventions.
Hospital Services.
Health Services.
Nursing Homes Repayment Scheme.
Health Services.
Hospitals Building Programme.
Nursing Home Subventions.
Departmental Expenditure.
Health Services.
Nursing Homes Repayment Scheme.
Hospital Services.
Services for People with Disabilities.
Child Care Services.
Hospital Services.
Departmental Agencies.
State Airports.
Regional Airports.
Tourism Industry.
Noise Pollution.
Road Safety.
Parking Regulations.
Noise Pollution.
Road Network.
Departmental Transport.
Transport Policy.
Pension Provisions.
Public Transport.
Departmental Staff.
Road Traffic Offences.
Driving Tests.
Road Network.
Public Transport.
Pension Provisions.
Aviation Regulations.
Driving Tests.
Electric Transport Vehicles.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions.
Light Rail Project.
Motor Fuels.
Harbours Bill 2008.
Light Rail Project.
Public Transport.
Dublin Port.
Rail Network.
Data Protection.
Public Transport.
Parking Regulations.
Harbours and Piers.
Tax Code.
Light Rail Project.
Harbours and Piers.
Departmental Advertising.
Railway Stations.
State Airports.
Rail Services.
Departmental Agencies.
Departmental Staff.
Public Transport.
Light Rail Project.
Public Transport.
Departmental Staff.
Road Network.
Rail Network.
Consultancy Contracts.
Taxi Regulations.
Road Safety.
Consultancy Contracts.
Light Rail Project.
State Airports.
Transport Services.
Graffiti Reduction Programme.
Residency Permits.
Citizenship Applications.
Residency Permits.
Data Protection.
International Agreements.
Road Safety.
Departmental Revenue.
Visa Applications.
Residency Permits.
Asylum Applications.
Visa Applications.
Garda Deployment.
Assaults on Gardaí.
Garda Deployment.
Assaults on Gardaí.
Liquor Licensing Laws.
Public Order Offences.
Garda Deployment.
Garda Stations.
Noise Pollution.
Residency Permits.
Road Traffic Offences.
Garda Investigations.
Garda Operations.
Witness Statements.
Garda Investigations.
Departmental Transport.
Restorative Justice.
Garda Vetting Services.
Departmental Agencies.
Citizenship Applications.
Residency Permits.
Asylum Support Services.
Sentencing Policy.
Crime Statistics.
Asylum Support Services.
Asylum Applications.
Criminal Assets Bureau.
Bench Warrants.
Crime Statistics.
Community Policing.
Consultancy Contracts.
Garda Recruitment.
Liquor Licensing Laws.
Prisoner Transfers.
Residency Permits.
Asylum Applications.
Residency Permits.
Asylum Applications.
Citizenship Applications.
Deportation Orders.
Asylum Applications.
Refugee Status.
Asylum Applications.
Residency Permits.
Asylum Applications.
Residency Permits.
Asylum Applications.
Citizenship Applications.
Residency Permits.
Asylum Applications.
Citizenship Applications.
Asylum Applications.
Residency Permits.
Asylum Applications.
Citizenship Applications.
Residency Permits.
Citizenship Applications.
Asylum Applications.
Residency Permits.
Deportation Orders.
Asylum Applications.
Citizenship Applications.
Residency Permits.
Asylum Applications.
Residency Permits.
Asylum Applications.
Residency Permits.
Asylum Applications.
Residency Permits.
Asylum Support Services.
Asylum Applications.
Residency Permits.
Visa Applications.
Residency Permits.
Citizenship Applications.
Asylum Applications.
Citizenship Applications.
Asylum Applications.
Citizenship Applications.
Prison Staff.
Coroners Service.
Departmental Staff.
Citizenship Applications.
Departmental Expenditure.
Voluntary Repatriation Scheme.
Proposed Legislation.
Asylum Applications.
Citizenship Applications.
Data Protection.
Garda Stations.
Departmental Bodies.
Anti Racism Measures.
Proposed Legislation.
Garda Strength.
Joint Policing Committees.
Departmental Correspondence.
Garda Deployment.
Crime Levels.
Garda Strength.
Citizenship Applications.
Crime Levels.
Citizenship Applications.
Asylum Applications.
Citizenship Applications.
Asylum Applications.
Citizenship Applications.
Residency Permits.
Citizenship Applications.
Garda Strength.
Departmental Advertising.
Visa Applications.
Citizenship Applications.
Residency Permits.
Citizenship Applications.
Residency Permits.
Gaming Regulation.
Citizenship Applications.
Garda Operations.
Garda Equipment.
Departmental Agencies.
Departmental Staff.
Asylum Applications.
Residency Permits.
Citizenship Applications.
Asylum Applications.
Residency Permits.
Citizenship Applications.
Residency Permits.
Asylum Applications.
Citizenship Applications.
Residency Permits.
Asylum Applications.
Residency Permits.
Asylum Applications.
Residency Permits.
Deportation Orders.
Citizenship Applications.
Refugee Status.
Citizenship Applications.
Residency Permits.
Garda Operations.
Integration Strategy.
Garda Recruitment.
Illegal Immigrants.
Garda Operations.
Residency Permits.
Asylum Applications.
Asylum Support Services.
Garda Operations.
Probation and Welfare Service.
Paramilitary Activity.
Central Mental Hospital.
Departmental Staff.
Garda Reserve.
Public Order Offences.
Tribunals of Inquiry.
Visa Applications.
Crime Levels.
National Disability Strategy.
Sexual Offences.
Residency Permits.
Citizenship Applications.
Residency Permits.
Citizenship Applications.
Residency Permits.
Citizenship Applications.
Residency Permits.
Citizenship Applications.
Residency Permits.
Asylum Applications.
Residency Permits.
Citizenship Applications.
Residency Permits.
Citizenship Applications.
Residency Permits.
Asylum Applications.
Consultancy Contracts.
Irish Territorial Waters.
EU Directives.
Overseas Development Aid.
Departmental Transport.
Departmental Agencies.
Reconciliation Fund.
Consultancy Contracts.
International Agreements.
Departmental Staff.
Human Rights Issues.
Data Protection.
Departmental Expenditure.
Departmental Advertising.
Human Rights Issues.
Departmental Agencies.
Departmental Staff.
International Agreements.
Consular Services.
Diplomatic Representation.
Departmental Staff.
Departmental Expenditure.
Overseas Development Aid.
Departmental Programmes.
Consultancy Contracts.
Departmental Expenditure.
Arts Funding.
Sports Capital Programme.
Tourism Promotion.
Sport and Recreational Development.
Arts Plan.
Sports Funding.
Departmental Transport.
Sports Funding.
Departmental Contracts.
Sports Funding.
Departmental Staff.
Data Protection.
Sports Funding.
Sports Capital Programme.
Departmental Advertising.
Swimming Pool Projects.
Sports Funding.
Sports Capital Programme.
Sports Funding.
Departmental Agencies.
Sport and Recreational Development.
Departmental Staff.
Hare Coursing.
Departmental Staff.
Swimming Pool Projects.
Consultancy Contracts.
Leader Programmes.
Decentralisation Programme.
Community Development.
Departmental Offices.
Departmental Transport.
Departmental Agencies.
Leader Programmes.
Consultancy Contracts.
Grant Payments.
Foclóir na Nua-Ghaeilge.
Departmental Staff.
Data Protection.
Departmental Programmes.
Departmental Advertising.
Community Development.
Dormant Accounts Fund.
Departmental Agencies.
Departmental Staff.
Leader Programmes.
Acht na dTeangacha Oifigiúla 2003.
Consultancy Contracts.
Social Welfare Benefits.
Pension Provisions.
National Carers Strategy.
Social Welfare Benefits.
Departmental Transport.
Departmental Staff.
Social Insurance.
Pension Provisions.
Social Welfare Benefits.
Data Protection.
Consultancy Contracts.
Departmental Agencies.
Social Welfare Benefits.
Departmental Staff.
Social Welfare Benefits.
Data Protection.
Social Insurance.
Pension Provisions.
Social Welfare Benefits.
Departmental Offices.
Social Welfare Benefits.
Departmental Advertising.
Decentralisation Programme.
Social Welfare Benefits.
Social Welfare Code.
Data Protection.
Social Welfare Benefits.
Social Welfare Appeals.
Social Welfare Benefits.
Social Welfare Appeals.
Departmental Funding.
Pension Provisions.
Social Welfare Benefits.
Pension Provisions.
Social Welfare Appeals.
Social Welfare Benefits.
Social Welfare Code.
Social Welfare Benefits.
Departmental Agencies.
Departmental Staff.
Social Welfare Benefits.
Registration of Births.
Social Welfare Benefits.
Departmental Offices.
Social Welfare Benefits.
Family Support Services.
Social Welfare Benefits.
Family Support Services.
Social Welfare Benefits.
Consultancy Contracts.
Commemorative Events.
Defence Forces Reserve.
Departmental Transport.
Departmental Agencies.
Consultancy Contracts.
Departmental Staff.
Data Protection.
Decentralisation Programme.
Health and Safety Regulations.
Departmental Advertising.
Air Corps Operations.
Departmental Agencies.
Departmental Staff.
Defence Forces Equipment.
Departmental Staff.
Departmental Agencies.
Naval Service Operations.
Consultancy Contracts.
Motor Taxation.
Housing Aid for the Elderly.
Legal Costs.
Social and Affordable Housing.
Private Rented Accommodation.
Planning Issues.
Road Safety.
Planning Issues.
Water and Sewerage Schemes.
Homeless Persons.
Local Authority Housing.
Water and Sewerage Schemes.
Planning Issues.
Private Rented Accommodation.
Social and Affordable Housing.
Hare Coursing.
Social and Affordable Housing.
Local Authority Funding.
Water and Sewerage Schemes.
Housing Aid for the Elderly.
Water and Sewerage Schemes.
Social and Affordable Housing.
Conservation Schemes.
Social and Affordable Housing.
Water and Sewerage Schemes.
Housing Aid for the Elderly.
Planning Issues.
Departmental Transport.
Water and Sewerage Schemes.
Decentralisation Programme.
Turbary Rights.
Natural Heritage Areas.
Turbary Rights.
Consultancy Contracts.
Turbary Rights.
Local Authority Housing.
Planning Issues.
Animal Welfare.
Homelessness Strategy.
Housing Applications.
Departmental Staff.
Turbary Rights.
Waste Management.
Water and Sewerage Schemes.
Data Protection.
Waste Disposal.
Local Authority Housing.
Special Areas of Conservation.
Housing Grants.
Architectural Heritage.
EU Directives.
Planning Issues.
Fire Service.
Housing Grants.
Grant Payments.
Waste Disposal.
Local Authority Funding.
Turbary Rights.
Departmental Advertising.
Housing Grants.
Special Areas of Conservation.
Waste Disposal.
Grant Payments.
Local Electoral Areas.
Housing Grants.
Departmental Agencies.
Departmental Staff.
Water and Sewerage Schemes.
Social and Affordable Housing.
Natural Heritage Areas.
Social and Affordable Housing.
Local Authority Funding.
Departmental Staff.
Water and Sewerage Schemes.
Social and Affordable Housing.
Waste Disposal.
Grant Payments.
Water and Sewerage Schemes.
Local Authority Staff.
Planning Issues.
Waste Management.
Local Authority Funding.
Waste Disposal.
Consultancy Contracts.
Energy Resources.
Television Licence Fee.
Planning Issues.
Electricity Generation.
Alternative Energy Projects.
Telecommunications Services.
Alternative Energy Projects.
Postal Services.
Departmental Transport.
Alternative Energy Projects.
Prospecting Licences.
Consultancy Contracts.
Departmental Staff.
Data Protection.
Alternative Energy Projects.
Decentralisation Programme.
Departmental Advertising.
Energy Resources.
Departmental Agencies.
Departmental Staff.
Telecommunications Services.
Consultancy Contracts.
Harbours and Piers.
Foreshore Licences.
Harbours and Piers.
Grant Payments.
Departmental Transport.
National Reserve.
Consultancy Contracts.
Aquaculture Licences.
Fishing Industry.
Fish Exports.
Fishing Industry.
Cattle Identification Scheme.
Grant Payments.
Farm Waste Management.
Grant Payments.
Fish Imports.
Grant Payments.
Milk Quota.
Grant Payments.
Food Industry.
Fisheries Protection.
Alternative Energy Projects.
Fishing Industry Development.
Decentralisation Programme.
Sheep Tagging.
Grant Payments.
Pigmeat Sector.
Farm Waste Management.
Animal Diseases.
Proposed Legislation.
Grant Payments.
Farm Waste Management.
Departmental Expenditure.
Grant Payments.
Departmental Records.
Farm Inspections.
Fisheries Protection.
Grant Payments.
Common Fisheries Policy.
Departmental Advertising.
Rural Environment Protection Scheme.
Planning Issues.
Grant Payments.
Special Areas of Conservation.
Afforestation Programme.
Food Industry.
Farm Waste Management.
Registration of Title.
Veterinary Inspection Service.
Departmental Agencies.
Departmental Staff.
Grant Payments.
Farm Debt.
Alternative Energy Projects.
Grant Payments.
Poultry Industry.
Rural Environment Protection Scheme.
Farm Waste Management.
Transfer of Entitlements.
Rural Environment Protection Scheme.
Fishing Fleet Modernisation.
Coastal Zone Management.
Tax Reliefs.
Fishing Fleet Protection.
Tax Reliefs.
Aquaculture Development.
Grant Payments.
Fish Quotas.
Farm Waste Management.
Departmental Staff.
Food Labelling.
Departmental Bodies.
Poultry Industry.
Bovine Disease Controls.
Cattle Identification Scheme.
Grant Payments.
Consultancy Contracts.
Grant Payments.
Fishing Industry Development.
Schools Building Projects.
School Curriculum.
Special Educational Needs.
Research Funding.
Schools Building Projects.
Millennium Partnership Fund.
Schools Building Projects.
Special Educational Needs.
School Curriculum.
Teachers’ Remuneration.
Special Educational Needs.
Schools Recognition.
School Accommodation.
Third Level Funding.
Departmental Transport.
Special Educational Needs.
Teachers’ Remuneration.
Site Acquisitions.
Schools Building Projects.
Site Acquisitions.
Schools Building Projects.
Site Acquisitions.
School Staffing.
Educational Projects.
Schools Recognition.
School Accommodation.
School Transport.
School Enrolments.
School Transport.
Consultancy Contracts.
School Accommodation.
School Transport.
School Accommodation.
School Transport.
Higher Education Grants.
Child Abuse.
Site Acquisitions.
Special Educational Needs.
Third Level Scholarship Schemes.
School Placement.
Home Tuition.
Site Acquisitions.
School Uniforms.
Special Educational Needs.
Early School Leavers.
Third Level Fees.
Special Educational Needs.
School Placement.
School Books.
Departmental Staff.
School Transport.
Music Education.
Site Acquisitions.
School Transport.
Schools Building Projects.
School Accommodation.
School Transport.
Special Educational Needs.
Higher Education Grants.
Data Protection.
Schools Building Projects.
Higher Education Grants.
Schools Refurbishment.
Schools Building Projects.
Special Educational Needs.
Decentralisation Programme.
Schools Refurbishment.
Schools Building Projects.
Schools Refurbishment.
School Transport.
Pupil-Teacher Ratio.
Schools Refurbishment.
Schools Building Projects.
Special Educational Needs.
Information and Communications Technology.
Higher Education Grants.
School Staffing.
Vocational Education Committees.
Schools Building Projects.
Home-School Liaison Scheme.
Schools Building Projects.
Departmental Expenditure.
Special Educational Needs.
Schools Building Projects.
School Staffing.
Schools Building Projects.
Higher Education Grants.
School Transport.
Higher Education Grants.
School Accommodation.
Departmental Correspondence.
School Transport.
Educational Projects.
Schools Building Projects.
Bogus Universities.
Educational Projects.
Departmental Expenditure.
Departmental Staff.
Special Educational Needs.
Education Welfare Service.
Special Educational Needs.
Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme.
Physical Education Facilities.
Schools Refurbishment.
Higher Education Grants.
Psychological Service.
School Transport.
School Accommodation.
Site Acquisitions.
State Examinations.
Schools Refurbishment.
Capitation Grants.
Schools Recognition.
School Placement.
Site Acquisitions.
Educational Disadvantage.
Third Level Fees.
Special Educational Needs.
Schools Building Projects.
Site Acquisitions.
Schools Building Projects.
School Accommodation.
Departmental Agencies.
School Placement.
Schools Building Projects.
Institutes of Technology.
Schools Building Projects.
Site Acquisitions.
Schools Building Projects.
Pupil-Teacher Ratio.
Schools Building Projects.
Psychological Service.
Special Educational Needs.
Schools Building Projects.
School Staffing.
Infectious Diseases.
Higher Education Grants.
Schools Building Projects.
Teachers’ Remuneration.
Consultancy Contracts.
Literacy Levels.
School Services Staff.
Disruptive Students.
Irish Language.
Teaching Qualifications.
Schools Building Projects.
Schools Refurbishment.
School Transport.
Site Acquisitions.
Schools Building Projects.
Capitation Grants.
Departmental Properties.
Schools Refurbishment.
Schools Building Projects.
Pupil-Teacher Ratio.
Higher Education Grants.
School Staffing.
School Transport.
Psychological Service.
Schools Building Projects.
Millennium Partnership Scheme.
Third Level Fees.
Special Educational Needs.
School Accommodation.
Schools Building Projects.
Chuaigh an Ceann Comhairle i gceannas ar 10.30 a.m. Paidir.Deputy Enda Kenny: Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghlacadh leis an Taoiseach as ucht teacht anseo inniu. In the three months since we last met circumstances in the country have changed utterly. There have been thousands of job losses. Unemployment has increased by 42% to more than 300,000. Jobs are not being protected and are being outsourced to other countries. The tax shortfall has increased from €3 billion in July to more than €5 billion in September. The stock market is down by 45%. The property market has collapsed. A major pension problem is about to surface. In our health services we are now faced with an undetermined number of other misdiagnoses in cancer cases from Cork to Donegal. A report states that the Dublin Port tunnel is not safe. There is potential lead poisoning in water pipes in some areas in Galway city. The cost of living has risen by 50%.
Do these matters not concern the Taoiseach to the point where he should agree that on the first day this House meets after its summer break it should discuss the economy and the circumstances that now affect every person in the country? Does he accept the premise outlined by the Minister for Finance two weeks ago when he said that the people collectively chose this course of action? Does he agree that his Government now blames the people for the circumstances in which we find ourselves? Does he blame the people for the musings of Ministers, where one wants to increase the top rate of income tax, another wants to introduce domestic water charges and another wants to introduce third level college fees? The reasons are that the Government failed to heed the warning signs outlined by this party and others in making [2]arrangements to deal with the situation that applies. While it is not to blame for the international financial crisis, it is to blame for the wastage of hundreds of millions of euro of taxpayers’ money. Is the Taoiseach prepared to allow a proper debate over two days in the House or does he accept the premise outlined by the Minister for Finance that the people collectively chose this course of action?
The Taoiseach: The Government is acting on this matter by bringing forward the date of the budget to 14 October, which is the most important decision that has been made. It is an indication of the seriousness of the intent of Government to take whatever decisions are necessary to meet, as Deputy Kenny has said, the new economic situation we now face. While I do not intend getting involved in a debate during Leaders’ Questions this morning on the record of the Government, which we can defend, it is a question of facing up to the situation with which we are confronted. That is exactly what the Government is doing. I wish to make it clear that on budget day on 14 October we will have an opportunity to put forward a balanced and coherent plan which sets out the priorities for Government in the context of the new situation we face. We believe that is the responsible, right, appropriate and proper thing to do in the context of the challenges confronting us, quite apart from the international financial situation we face.
Deputy Enda Kenny: It is an act of gross political cowardice on behalf of the Government to refuse to debate the circumstances that apply in the economy of the country on the first day the House meets after its summer recess.
Deputy Enda Kenny: The Taoiseach said the Government is facing up to the situation in which we find ourselves and that on budget day on 14 October it will have a balanced and coherent plan. The Government produced a balanced and coherent plan, or so he said, in July when its projections for the deficit were €3 billion and it projected a 3% reduction in payroll across every Department.
I saw the Taoiseach yesterday in Cuffesgrange but I did not get a chance to speak with him because he was busy. I was amused to hear him say that we have to buckle down and cut out waste of public money. The reason I was amused to hear the Taoiseach say that is because the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report points to dysfunctional budgeting in the HSE, for the Minister for Health and Children, a situation where 200 new Garda cars were held in storage for 15 months because they could not be used, that the Irish Prison Service entered into 60 contracts worth €18 million without seeking competitive quotes and payments were made in respect of Border allowances for troops ten years after the peace process concluded. Who was the Minister for Finance who presided over all this waste?
Deputy Enda Kenny: The Taoiseach has said the Government is facing up to the situation, yet he was the Minister for Finance who presided over this gross waste of public money. He had the temerity in Cuffesgrange yesterday to say we have to stop all this wastage of public money, bring in efficiencies and face up to the situation. In the first 120 days or so of his time as Taoiseach, can he name three actions he has taken to ensure his successor, who said he had the misfortune to be in the Department of Finance at this time, will not fall into the same financial slurry pit with further reports from the Committee of Public Accounts and the Comptroller and Auditor General of gross wastage of public money? Will he name three [3]actions he has instructed as Taoiseach, that he was not able to do as Minister for Finance, to protect taxpayers’ money and ensure they get value for what they pay?
The Taoiseach: To answer the Deputy’s question in regard of the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report, to which he referred, and what I had to say about it yesterday, I made the point that the constitutional responsibility of every Comptroller and Auditor General under any Government is to point out where he feels there has been less than effective value for money or disposal of funds. It is in the context between raising revenue of €50 billion and expending over €50 billion, the total expenditure and tax raising powers of the Government is almost €100 billion. Any €1 million or €100,000 spent unwisely or not to best effect is obviously €1 million or €100,000 too much but the context in which we are discussing this is that level of expenditure and of tax raised.
Deputy Bernard Allen: That is gross incompetence.
The Taoiseach: That is just to make that point. In no way does it take from the merit or demerits of any aspect of any Comptroller and Auditor General’s report under any Government and that will continue in the years ahead. Any lessons to be learned from it have to be learned. That is the simple point I was making. Deputy Kenny continually contends that the record of this Government is something that did not exist at all and that suddenly we now have the real situation.
Deputy Bernard Allen: Complacency.
The Taoiseach: The fact is that all forecasts made coming into this financial year were around the same as those made by the Department of Finance. We are in an unprecedented situation, much different from that envisaged by forecasters at the tail end of last year because of what has been happening, primarily in international markets. That is a fact.
Deputy Seymour Crawford: That is rubbish.
Deputy Ruairí Quinn: The Taoiseach is a slow learner.
Deputy Brian Hayes: What did the Taoiseach do?
The Taoiseach: The downturn is taking place in every economy. What we must do and are intent on doing is to bring to the Dáil within three weeks a budget proposal that will set out clearly what the expenditure issues must be. With less revenue coming in it is clear economies must be made. What we must contend with are what our priorities will be as they relate to the capital programme and what the issues will be regarding the protection of tax breaks. That work is ongoing within Government now and has been for the past number of weeks. The issue will crystallise on that day. In the meantime, if Deputy Kenny wishes to engage in a three-hour debate on the economy, today and tomorrow, which he is entitled to request and is his prerogative, we will engage with him in such a debate.
Deputy Paul Connaughton: The Taoiseach is great.
The Taoiseach: We have no problem in engaging with Deputy Kenny in that debate but the Government has a job to do.
The Taoiseach: The job of Government now is to prepare for the budget which we will bring forward on 14 October.
[4]Deputy Eamon Gilmore: Since Deputy Cowen became Taoiseach, some 140 days ago, 45,628 people have lost their jobs in this country. That is, on average, approximately 300 a day. We are told that people are now losing their jobs so fast that the Department of Social and Family Affairs cannot keep up with applications for social welfare payments. More than 30,000 people who have lost their jobs are still waiting for their payments to be processed. What has the Taoiseach done since this House last met to find employment for those 45,000 people? Can he tell the House what new initiatives he and his Government have taken to put back to work those who have lost their jobs since he became Taoiseach? What measures have been taken to protect those who are at further risk of losing their jobs?
The Taoiseach: What we are doing, obviously, is using the training agencies to provide whatever opportunities they can to provide upskilling and reskilling of those who, unfortunately, have lost their jobs.
Deputy Róisín Shortall: It is not doing too much.
The Taoiseach: FÁS is the training agency to which people go and of whose services they avail. Regarding the overall situation, if there is an international downturn it affects a small local economy such as ours. This is happening elsewhere and we are not immune from such developments. The downturn is having an impact.
It is also fair to say that there have been indications of investment from foreign direct investors during the period Deputy Gilmore mentioned. More than €1 billion has been received so far this year which is very welcome and this situation must continue. Part of our strategy is to ensure confirmation that Ireland remains open for business and that the country is aggressively seeking those opportunities from foreign direct investors.
We must also help those who are in work by ensuring that we run the finances of the State in such a way that the economy is more sustainable than would be the case if we operated on a no policy change basis. We will not have such a policy in the coming 12 months and beyond and must take account of the changed circumstances. Luckily we are working off a lower unemployment rate than was the case when we faced challenges such as this in the past. The economy is in a stronger position. I know that is no comfort for anyone who has lost his or her job, at any time, during good times or bad. The issue for us is to continue to work with the State agencies and to have an overall responsible budgetary position that will uphold confidence in the economy and ensure that those who are at work have the prospect of continuing in their jobs, with people trying to obtain more market share.
Deputy Eamon Gilmore: I asked what the Taoiseach has done, in the ten or 11 weeks since this Dáil last met, to find jobs for the 45,000 people who have lost their employment. What new initiatives has the Government taken in that period? I received a long answer that suggested the Government will carry on with FÁS and with its approach to the public finances. A case of “as you were”. It is clear from the Taoiseach’s reply that the answer to my question is that the Government has not taken a single new initiative, in the ten or 11 weeks since the Dáil rose, to address the problem of people losing their jobs. Some 45,000 people have lost jobs in places such as Cappoquin, Tipperary, Tullamore, Cork and all over the country. People are losing jobs and in the ten or 11 weeks since this Dáil last met the Taoiseach and Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment have not taken a single new initiative. I have not heard the public announcement by the Government of a new initiative anywhere to help people who have lost their employment find new jobs. I asked the Taoiseach a simple, straightforward question this morning. Did I miss the announcement of something in the newspapers in the [5]past ten or 11 weeks? Has there been a new initiative? Has a new mandate been given to the IDA or the job creation agencies? Has a new initiative been taken by the Government to find employment for the 45,000 people who have lost their jobs since the Taoiseach took office? The clear answer is that the Government has not done a single thing to find employment for people who have lost their jobs.
The Taoiseach: That is not the situation. The Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment will answer parliamentary questions today on what FÁS is doing to react to the increase in unemployment.
Deputy Bernard Allen: There will be more FÁS courses and more money wasted.
The Taoiseach: If the Deputy has no confidence in what FÁS has done to help reskill workers and provide unemployed people with opportunities and pathways to employment then I am afraid he does FÁS a disservice.
Deputy Joan Burton: Apprenticeships are being closed.
The Taoiseach: FÁS has had success in this area and I think it is only fair to say this.
Deputy Willie Penrose: Why was €37 million taken from the budget for apprenticeships? The Taoiseach is trying to cod us.
The Taoiseach: There may be other issues relating to audit matters, but they are being dealt with and this has been welcomed by the chairman and chief executive of FÁS, in the interest of maintaining confidence in the agency. I am glad that this is the approach they are taking to the issue. If the Deputy is suggesting FÁS is not helping people in any way he is doing the agency a disservice.
Deputy Emmet Stagg: What is the Taoiseach doing?
Deputy Bernard Allen: What is the Taoiseach doing?
The Taoiseach: In answer to Deputy Gilmore, the Government will continue to work with job creation agencies like Enterprise Ireland and the IDA. These agencies have had successes, although I notice Deputy Gilmore has not mentioned them and instead has mentioned only those people who, unfortunately, have lost jobs and who I acknowledge.
Deputy Bernard Allen: This is an insult to the unemployed.
The Taoiseach: The picture painted by Deputy Gilmore is unbalanced. It is a serious situation, which we intend to confront, but I do not expect any input from the Opposition other than the sort of political point scoring we have heard this morning.
Deputy Bernard Allen: The only answer is to send people to FÁS.
1. Deputy Enda Kenny asked the Taoiseach the number of staff vacancies in his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17139/08]
[6]2. Deputy Eamon Gilmore asked the Taoiseach the number of staff vacancies in his Department broken down by grade; the steps being taken to fill these; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19445/08]
3. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Taoiseach the number of staff vacancies in his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20935/08]
4. Deputy Eamon Gilmore asked the Taoiseach the way in which he intends to achieve the reduction of 3% in payroll costs for his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29627/08]
The Taoiseach: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 4, inclusive, together.
Vacancies arise in my Department from time to time for a variety of reasons, including staff transferring to other Departments, retirements, career breaks and resignations.
In accordance with the business needs of the Department and the relevant Civil Service rules and procedures, it has been the practice to fill vacancies through the appropriate deployment of existing staff within the Department, promotion competitions, lateral transfers or external recruitment through the Public Appointments Service.
At present, there are three vacancies in the Department and it is anticipated that three more staff will leave the Department in the coming months. The grades involved are cleaner, service officer, clerical officer, administrative officer, higher executive officer and assistant principal.
Further to the Government’s recent decision to achieve a 3% saving in payroll costs, the senior management team has decided that the staffing needs of the Department will be managed from within the existing staff complement, having regard to the budgetary constraints and the overall priorities of the Department.
Deputy Enda Kenny: I refer to comments made in July by the Government making a commitment to reduce the public service bill by 3% by the end of 2009. I note the Taoiseach has employed a non-Civil Service economic adviser in his own Department at an obvious cost to the taxpayer. May I take it that the 3% reduction in payroll will apply to both Civil Service and non-Civil Service staff?
The Taoiseach: It applies to the Department’s full payroll.
Deputy Damien English: Will it apply to both civil servants and non-civil servants?
The Taoiseach: The figure of 3% applies to the full payroll. The Department has been given an opportunity to reduce the payroll by 3% by the end of 2009 in respect of all employees, regardless of their status.
Deputy Enda Kenny: If this is to apply across the board, how will the decision be made between civil servants and non-civil servants? Who is to point the finger of redundancy, moving on or whatever within the Department of the Taoiseach?
The Taoiseach: The reduction in payroll is envisaged on the basis of taking 3% off the payroll costs. One achieves this by examining whether to recruit people as a result of vacancies arising, the position regarding overtime and a range of issues. Such flexibility must be given to management to achieve the payroll cut. I am simply saying the payroll cut applies to the full payroll costs of the Department, regardless of the status of those who work there.
[7]Deputy Eamon Gilmore: Have any appointments been made in the Department of the Taoiseach since the announcement was made regarding the 3% cut in payroll costs? How does the Taoiseach propose to achieve the 3% cut in payroll costs in his Department?
The Taoiseach: The decision to manage staff resources within existing staff resources in effect means that staff vacancies arising will, in general, not be filled by means of external recruitment, which will result in a permanent reduction in the authorised staff complement for the Department. This will necessitate reviews of how staff are deployed within the Department to ensure that key areas of departmental activity are staffed adequately. The Department will endeavour to redeploy staff according to key business needs and levels of activity, to restructure workloads as appropriate and to achieve greater productivity through exploiting new technologies and availing of shared services arrangements. That is how it will work.
It is difficult to predict the numbers affected at this time as the budgetary effect will depend on the timing and grade of any vacancies that may arise due to staff leaving the Department, whether as a result of retirement, external promotion or any other reason. It is estimated, based on averages, that approximately ten posts will be affected.
Deputy Eamon Gilmore: I thank the Taoiseach for reading out that section of his brief and ask him to answer the two questions I asked of him. Have any appointments been made in the Department of the Taoiseach since the 3% payroll cut was announced in July? How will he achieve the 3% payroll cut in his Department?
The Taoiseach: The answer to the first question is not to my knowledge. Second, I have just explained how the payroll cut will be achieved in the Department.
An Ceann Comhairle: I will come back to Deputy Gilmore. I call Deputy Ó Caoláin.
Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: In the context of staff vacancies, can the Taoiseach advise what is the employment policy regarding people with disabilities within the Department of the Taoiseach? Does that Department have a policy of affirmative action to ensure people with disabilities have a fair opportunity to compete and access vacancies as they present? I expect the Taoiseach will confirm his acknowledgement that people with disabilities are under-represented within the Civil Service and his acceptance that the Civil Service itself is in a unique position to take affirmative action measures to try to address such under-representation.
While I am open to correction as there was a lot of background noise at the time, in his initial reply did the Taoiseach indicate there are three vacancies within his Department at present? What are the prospects of any of those positions within the Department of the Taoiseach being taken up by someone with a disability? Can the Taoiseach advise the House what affirmative action measures are currently in place within his Department and what further steps does he propose to take to address this extremely important and pressing imbalance?
The Taoiseach: A census of staff serving in my Department as of 31 December 2007 was conducted in February of this year. Some 5% of the 79% who responded to the survey voluntarily disclosed a disability. My Department is an equal opportunities employer and staff are recruited solely on the basis of ability to fulfil specific roles. My Department exceeds the legislative requirement of employing a 3% level of people with disabilities in the public service and as I have stated, 5% of Department staff voluntarily disclosed disability.
Staff are recruited through the Public Appointments Service on the basis that they meet the requirements of the positions they are to fill. The issue of disability does not affect assignment to my Department and no exceptions are made in that regard. Recruitment, promotion, training [8]and other benefits or opportunities are decided on objective criteria, including the qualifications and suitability of the applicant.
Our recruitment principles follow the Department of Finance code of practice for the employment of people with disabilities in the Civil Service and the Commission for Public Service Appointments code of practice for employment of persons with disabilities to positions in the Civil Service and certain public bodies.
Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: The Taoiseach’s reply invites a further question. He indicated that members of staff in the Taoiseach’s Department voluntarily disclosed a disability of one sort or another. My understanding — the Taoiseach may correct me if I am wrong — is there is a requirement on Departments across the board to meet the 3% level in terms of recruiting people with disabilities. If the disclosures were voluntary, was this factor relating to disability taken into account with regard to access to employment in the first place?
This is a very important point which needs clarification as quotas are to be reached. These are currently inadequate and understate the present need. They should be increased to a 5% level — an argument I have made here before with the support of other voices currently in government.
Will the Taoiseach outline the current vacancies in his Department as I may not have picked him up correctly in his initial reply because of noise in the Chamber? I understand three vacancies were signalled but if this is not the case will the Taoiseach please let us know? Is there any prospect with regard to current affirmative action measures that the positions will be filled by someone with a clear disability if there are any vacancies in the Department?
We are talking about staff in the Taoiseach’s Department and the Civil Service across the board. What is the Taoiseach’s position on the contribution by the Minister of State, Deputy John McGuinness, in which he stated that the Civil Service is “a reactionary, inert mass at the centre of our economy” with too many square pegs in round holes throughout? The Taoiseach has not clarified to my satisfaction how he stands on that view, which must be a reflection on his Department also. Will the Taoiseach put on record how he stands on Deputy McGuinness’s utterances and convey his view of the standard of people employed within our Civil Service?
The Taoiseach: I explained the various codes of practice employed within my Department and I have also indicated that based on a survey, we know approximately 5% of our employees meet the definition regarding disability. With regard to the specific query raised outside the ambit of this question on comments by the Minister of State, Deputy McGuinness, those were personal and do not reflect Government policy.
Deputy Enda Kenny: I will ask two further questions. The website of the Department of the Taoiseach shows the progress report, phase 3, of the public service modernisation programme, which was published in April 2007, or 18 months ago. In fairness, the first three reports were published within six months of each other. This modernisation programme, as the Taoiseach knows, details staff numbers and points out priorities for the Departments. Nothing further has been posted in the past 18 months so when can we expect the next progress report on public service modernisation in so far as it affects the Taoiseach’s Department?
My second question — we have been around this mill a few times — relates to the communications unit established in the Department of the Taoiseach by the Taoiseach’s predecessor for the purpose of providing news updates, transcripts and so forth. Recently, when the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O’Keeffe, was musing about the return of third level [9]fees, I noted he stated that his Department had built up a file of clippings to present to him in order that he could form a judgment on the issue.
Deputy Joan Burton: I thought it was a pile of beer mats.
Deputy Enda Kenny: This obviously means the Government Information Service is duplicating at a cost of €340,000 per annum what is being done in the Departments. In the context of the reduction in the public service pay bill, does this mean that either the units in the Departments or the communications unit will be the subject of some rationalisation?
The Taoiseach: I will have to check with the Deputy regarding the report on modernisation about which he inquires. I will get back to him on the issue which is outside the ambit of the questions in front of me.
On the communications unit, I have explained the situation regarding how it is envisaged that payroll costs would be cut in the Departments. It is not specific to individual units or members of staff. It is about how or whether one fills vacancies when they arise, where external promotions will be held, how one increases productivity and where one introduces information technology to assist productivity rather than increasing personnel. These issues form part of the management function to be managed in the course of the coming year to enable Departments to discharge their core function, while at the same time meeting the policy objective of reducing payroll costs.
Deputy Eamon Gilmore: I will return to the 3% reduction in payroll costs and the comments made by the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy John McGuinness. I do not accept the line that his comments were personal. This was not a——
An Ceann Comhairle: As the Deputy is well aware, the issue is not relevant to the questions, which relate to the number of staff in the Taoiseach’s Department.
Deputy Eamon Gilmore: I will explain the reason the issue is relevant. The Minister of State proposed a way by which payroll reductions could be achieved and said a vast programme of redundancies should be implemented immediately across the Civil Service and State sector. He identified where these redundancies would take place and stated that there are too many people in the Civil Service who have no function or do not know what their function is.
Deputy Pádraic McCormack: The same applies to the Government.
Deputy Eamon Gilmore: There were, he said, featherless but still plump State hens in the Civil Service and unhappy square pegs in round holes.
An Ceann Comhairle: Whatever about hens or ducks, the questions refer to staff vacancies in the Taoiseach’s Department.
Deputy Eamon Gilmore: Are there any featherless but plump State hens in the Taoiseach’s Department or square pegs in round holes who he believes should be made redundant? Is there anybody in his Department with no function who he may make redundant?
The Taoiseach: Having explained three times how the payroll costs are to be handled, I do not wish to repeat the explanation again. On the question of Civil Service and public service modernisation or public sector reform, as it has been described, I expect the task force, which I set up on obtaining the OECD report on the matter, will report to us very shortly. The task force will set out in a coherent and schematic way how to approach dealing with the [10]recommendations in the OECD report, which refer to the fact that while overall we have a very good public service, there are clearly areas where we can try to improve. It is our objective to put in place the means by which we can achieve this based on the task force’s recommendations. That is the most comprehensive and coherent way to approach these matters.
Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: I have no assurance from the responses given so far by the Taoiseach that there is within his Department a policy of affirmative action in relation to people with disability. Does he accept that a statement of voluntary disclosure, which happens to show a level above the quotient applying with regard to the employment of people with disabilities, in no way assuages the fears of this Deputy or other people that there is not a proactive approach to facilitating people with disabilities accessing employment in Departments, specifically the Taoiseach’s Department, and the broader Civil Service? I will not engage in a heated exchange with the Taoiseach on this matter. However, I invite him to put the record straight. Is there such a programme in place and, if so, does he project that people with disabilities will be considered for vacancies arising in his Department?
There must be certainty about this matter. It cannot be a case of adopting a hit and miss approach and inquiring after the fact, by means of voluntary disclosure, whether a person has a disability. There is a requirement on all Departments to ensure that a certain percentage of their staff have specified disabilities.
I welcome the Taoiseach’s response, on the record, to the effect that remarks made by the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy McGuinness, were personal in nature and do not represent the views of the Government. When the Minister of State made his remarks, I was of the opinion that they reflected the usual confusion among members of Fianna Fáil who see the Civil Service as an appendage of their party. The Minister of State was clearly only referring to Fianna Fáil.
The Taoiseach: I cannot fathom the meaning of the second part of the Deputy’s contribution.
Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: I was referring to square pegs in round holes.
Deputy Pádraic McCormack: The Taoiseach is not that slow.
The Taoiseach: The survey to which I referred is evidence that a policy exists, that this policy is monitored, that the targets set down are being exceeded and that there is adherence to the codes of practice. The Deputy’s contention seems to be that a survey was carried out, that people disclosed their views and that there is not a policy, but the position is quite the contrary.
Deputy Eamon Gilmore: The Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy McGuinness, is one of a number of new junior Ministers appointed by the Government. He is one of four Ministers of State serving in that Department.
Deputy Joan Burton: They will need a big table.
Deputy Eamon Gilmore: When I asked the Taoiseach whether the Government had done anything to find jobs for people since the Dáil last met, he was not in a position to indicate a single action taken by the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment or any of her four Ministers of State in the past ten weeks in that regard. To quote the Minister of State, Deputy McGuinness——
An Ceann Comhairle: The Deputy knows as well as I do that quotations are not allowed on Question Time.
[11]Deputy Pádraic McCormack: Yes, but they are good.
An Ceann Comhairle: They are not. It is not my fault they are not allowed; those are the rules of the House. In any event, and as Deputy Gilmore is probably well aware, the Minister for Finance has overall responsibility for the Civil Service. We must remain within the parameters of the original questions.
Deputy Eamon Gilmore: The question tabled in my name relates to the Government’s objective to achieve a 3% reduction in payroll costs. Is the Taoiseach of the view that the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, which has four Ministers of State, is somewhat over-staffed?
Deputy Bernard Allen: A few of them are square pegs.
Deputy Fergus O’Dowd: Or clucking hens.
Deputy Eamon Gilmore: Does he believe there might be scope for achieving a reduction in the payroll of that Department?
The Taoiseach: The Ministers of State in question have cross-cutting responsibilities which range beyond their work in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. They are doing their jobs. The reduction in payroll costs relates to staff. I have already outlined, on approximately six occasions since I began answering questions on this matter, how that reduction is to be made.
Deputy Fergus O’Dowd: Does the Taoiseach intend to introduce, if necessary, a voluntary redundancy scheme to bring about the cuts he proposes? Is such a scheme under consideration in any Department of State?
The Taoiseach: No decision has been made in respect of those matters. All we have done is outline how the 3% payroll cuts are to be achieved.
Deputy Fergus O’Dowd: Is such a scheme being considered?
The Taoiseach: We should await the outcome of the task force report and the OECD report before considering any of those matters.
Deputy Joan Burton: The Taoiseach referred to the OECD report. Is it true that senior civil servants felt inhibited in putting forward their views on areas of the Civil Service and Departments where an over-deployment of staff — possibly as many as 8,000 — occurred? Is it also true the Government nobbled or interfered with the OECD report to make it less trenchant in the context of being an honest and open evaluation?
Very detailed reports were carried in the Irish Independent around the time of the summer recess. The Taoiseach’s Department is responsible for that report, so could he say what interaction there was? Was there discussion about overdeployment in some areas, particularly arising from the mess caused to Departments by decentralisation, the general uncertainty about where people were going and from where they were coming and the duplication of offices arising from decentralisation? A number of senior civil servants were very disturbed and conveyed this quietly.
Is it true that in the Department of Social and Family Affairs, there was an open discussion at a management meeting that there was excessive deployment and confusion about what [12]people were doing in the context of all the moves in the Civil Service again arising from decentralisation?
An Ceann Comhairle: The Taoiseach can only answer for his Department. That is what the questions are about.
The Taoiseach: I am not aware of the identity of the civil servants who made those comments, if they exist at all. The OECD people stand over their report. I recall reading that article. I am not aware of those who felt so strongly or if they made themselves known.
5. Deputy Enda Kenny asked the Taoiseach the procedures in place in his Department for the protection of personal data held by electronic means; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18732/08]
6. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Taoiseach the procedures in his Department for protection of personal data retained electronically; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20936/08]
7. Deputy Eamon Gilmore asked the Taoiseach if any computers, disks, laptops or memory storage devices containing personal information about members of the public have been lost or stolen from his Department; if any of these contained personal information; the frequency with which an audit of such equipment is done; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21762/08]
8. Deputy Eamon Gilmore asked the Taoiseach the procedures in place within his Department to ensure the security of data held by electronic means; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21763/08]
The Taoiseach: I propose to take Questions Nos. 5 to 8, inclusive, together.
My Department applies best practice and uses industry standard information security protection devices and software to protect all data within its systems. The Department regularly reviews and updates these security procedures and products as a matter of course.
No computers, disks, laptops or memory storage devices containing personal information about members of the public have been lost or stolen from my Department. Although sensitive information belonging to members of the public is not generally collected by, or stored, in the Department’s electronic systems, a number of specific measures are in place in my Department to protect all data which is held electronically.
Access to personal information held on databases within my Department is controlled by application security and confined to relevant authorised personnel only. Access by users to these systems is granted on a “needs only” basis. The Department’s computer networks themselves are secured against cyber attacks through the use of security products such as multiple firewalls, anti-virus software and e-mail security tools. Staff supplied with mobile equipment are issued with guidance to ensure devices are secured properly. The hard drives of all laptops are encrypted and do not store departmental data physically on them. Strong authentication methods, in addition to username and password, are in place to prevent unauthorised access to the Department’s network from mobile devices.
My Department also evaluates and reviews advanced information security products and technologies as they come to market and implements them where appropriate. The Depart[13]ment’s IT assets are audited by the IT unit on an annual basis. The IT unit is currently carrying out an asset audit. Audits are also carried out on an ad hoc basis by the Department’s internal audit unit. My Department is also subject to annual audit inspections by the Comptroller and Auditor General.
Deputy Enda Kenny: I thank the Taoiseach for that reply. If I understood him correctly, he clarified that no laptops, as far as is known, have been stolen from his Department.
The Taoiseach will be aware that personal information on 380,000 people on the social welfare register went missing in April 2007. It took until August 2008 — 16 months — before the Minister for Social and Family Affairs was made aware of the extent of the loss. I understand that the data was only password protected instead of being encryption protected. Am I correct that sensitive data in the Taoiseach’s Department are encryption protected and not only password protected?
The Taoiseach will be aware that personal data on 580,000 people has been lost in the past 18 months and that the reporting of that seems to be inadequate. As he is aware, there are procedures in place but there are no specific legal obligations on a body which loses personal data to notify a person that private information on him or her has been lost. Also, there is no legal obligation on a body to notify the Data Protection Commissioner of any such loss. Does the Taoiseach agree that it is only right and proper that if a person’s information is lost, he or she should be notified and there should be a legal requirement in that regard? Does he also agree that if a body loses similar relevant information, it should be obliged to inform the Data Protection Commissioner? The Taoiseach is aware that the reports of the Data Protection Commissioner are only made public if the body being investigated agrees to their publication. The Irish Blood Transfusion Board agreed to publication, but the Bank of Ireland did not.
An Ceann Comhairle: The Taoiseach can only comment on his Department.
Deputy Enda Kenny: The question is in respect of his Department, but I have given examples from others.
The Taoiseach: With regard to the Department of Social and Family Affairs, I understand there is no evidence to suggest the information was used. The Minister provided a full and frank disclosure upon being notified of what had happened so the people concerned could take whatever precautions they wished to ensure their personal information would not be used by anybody in an unauthorised way. It is regrettable that theft happened, but I am sure whatever lessons are to be learned in terms of encryption arrangements will be learned.
On the issue of data protection legislation and the Data Protection Commission, perhaps a question directed to the Minister concerned would elicit the accurate information. One must balance the need to let people know of any infringement of their rights or privacy with the efficacy of being able to do so in terms of the number of people who may be affected. One may need to use other means to bring the matter to their attention so they can take whatever proactive steps they wish to ensure they are unaffected. This may provide the more practical means of assessing any damage or otherwise that arises as a result of these events happening.
Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: In light of the recent series of laptop theft, will the Taoiseach indicate what steps are being taken within his Department and across all Departments to assess the security of personal data on citizens? Does the Taoiseach accept the theft of a laptop with the social welfare records of some 380,000 citizens and significant other material on their personal circumstances, including details of marriages, births etc., is very distressing? There is an undoubted confidence deficit in the public arena that must be addressed. Does the Taoiseach [14]accept the call of the Data Protection Commissioner for all major holders of information on clients or citizens, be it in the public or private sector, to employ every care to ensure that information is not put at risk?
Does the Taoiseach accept that, in most instances, it appears the laptops stolen were not in an office environment at the time of the theft? They were stolen in transit between home and work or from public transport. The need for the removal of sensitive data transported in that manner must be examined. Will the Taoiseach assure us there is a review under way and that steps are being employed to ensure the security of information held on citizens by all Departments?
An Ceann Comhairle: The Taoiseach can only answer for his Department.
The Taoiseach: It is important that the person responsible for equipment lost or stolen notifies authorities as quickly as possible, and immediately if possible. The procedures in place to deal with equipment reported as lost or stolen in my Department is that, where a device is reported missing or stolen, the user account associated with that device is immediately disabled. BlackBerries are centrally disabled from the server, a procedure which also wipes the memory of the machine. The network provider is notified so that the SIM card can be disabled, which renders the device inaccessible to unauthorised users. The Department’s asset register is updated and, in the case of theft, the user is asked to report the matter to the Garda. Where personal or sensitive data are compromised, the Data Protection Commissioner is also informed.
These procedures satisfy us that best practice is followed to ensure Departments’ databases are safe from hackers, for example. Industry standard information security protection devices and software are used to protect all data within systems. These procedures, products and devices are regularly reviewed and, in the case of a breach of security, would have to be reviewed and updated to ensure they are capable of providing the best security appropriate to a Department’s needs at all times.
In regard to whether any incidents have occurred whereby personal data held by the Department of the Taoiseach or its agencies were compromised in any way, no personal data held electronically by my Department has been compromised in any way.
Obviously, every Department has to be vigilant in this area and employ good people in the relevant units so that they have the most up-to-date means of ensuring data are not accessible by other than authorised users and, immediately upon notification of theft, the ability to disable that information and render it useless to anyone else. Wiping the information held on a server or whatever is also an important part of the process of protection.
Deputy Eamon Gilmore: With regard to the laptops which were already stolen and the information they contained, including the social welfare information which affected 380,000 people and the blood bank details of 170,000 people, is there any evidence to suggest this information has been accessed?
An Ceann Comhairle: We have a problem because the Taoiseach can only address questions for his own Department. Questions for the Department of Social and Family Affairs would have to be addressed to that Department’s Minister.
Deputy Eamon Gilmore: The matter that has to be addressed is the public’s concern about personal and sensitive information being accessed by somebody who should not have it. We now have a situation whereby certain medical tests in hospitals have been outsourced. There [15]are clearly concerns about where that information might end up and it would help to reassure people if information could be provided as to whether material contained on laptops which have already been stolen has been accessed in any way.
An Ceann Comhairle: The Taoiseach is not responsible for that.
The Taoiseach: The answer to that is not in my knowledge. I have not been notified of any adverse subsequent development beyond the fact that the events took place. The Ministers concerned have brought the events to public notice and have indicated what the people who may have been affected would need to do to reassure themselves that their information was not improperly accessed or used in a way that was adverse to their interests. I have not heard anything since then.
Deputy Fergus O’Dowd: I ask the Taoiseach to investigate Departments and agencies, including his own, which publish on their websites personal information pertaining to inquiries they conduct. I refer specifically to the Private Residential Tenancies Board when it holds hearings into disputes over tenancies or whether a tenant is causing serious social problems in an area. The law requires that such hearings are held in public but, if members of the press do not attend and if nobody is present other than those involved in the hearing, the PRTB puts the name, address and all the details of the complaints and the responses to them on its public website. This compromises the people concerned in respect of their neighbours, so this issue needs to be addressed. The Data Protection Commissioner is trying to resolve the issue by having the town in which Mr. X or Ms. Y lives posted rather than his or her personal details. This is an important issue because it leads to the continuation of serious social problems.
An Ceann Comhairle: The Taoiseach can only answer for his own Department.
The Taoiseach: This is a matter for the line Minister concerned. I can only observe that, unlike family law proceedings, these are not held in camera. There is not a requirement for privacy, so the question arises of how one can transparently communicate the outcome of these arrangements.
Deputy Fergus O’Dowd: That is fine, but the detail is the issue with which I am concerned.
The Taoiseach: The question of the level of personal information and the extent to which this infringes privacy issues is a matter that can be taken up by the competent authorities and resolved in a practical manner.
An Ceann Comhairle: There is very little time for the next question.
9. Deputy Enda Kenny asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the implementation of the OECD report on regulatory reform; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19680/08]
10. Deputy Leo Varadkar asked the Taoiseach the achievements to date of the better regulation project; if he will keep control of the project within his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20599/08]
11. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Taoiseach the practical or beneficial outcome for citizens from the OECD report on regulatory reform; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20938/08]
[16]12. Deputy Eamon Gilmore asked the Taoiseach the progress made to date with regard to implementation of the OECD report on regulatory reform; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21764/08]
13. Deputy Enda Kenny asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the implementation of the recommendations of the OECD report on regulatory reform; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29469/08]
The Taoiseach: I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 to 13, inclusive, together.
Since the publication of the OECD report, Regulatory Reform in Ireland in 2001, significant progress has been made in the area of regulatory reform. In 2004, the Government published the White Paper, Regulating Better, in response to the OECD’s report. The White Paper provides the basis for work on the better regulation agenda. Some of the key areas outlined in the White Paper relate to specific sectoral issues on which the responsible Ministers report directly to the House.
The better regulation unit in my Department is tasked with the overall promotion of the better regulation agenda across the Government system. Clearly, individual Ministers and their Departments and Offices are responsible for implementing the various elements of this agenda within their own Departments and agencies under their aegis. There are no plans to alter these arrangements. In the context of the ongoing work of the better regulation unit, I would like to outline briefly for the House progress, in particular, in the three areas of regulatory impact analysis, modernisation of the Statute Book and reviewing the economic regulatory environment.
Following a Government decision in June 2005, regulatory impact analysis, RIA, must be applied to all proposals for primary legislation, significant statutory instruments, draft EU directives and significant EU regulations. RIA is a tool which is used to assess the likely effects of a proposed new regulation or regulatory change in a structured and transparent way. In line with the terms of Towards 2016, an independent review of the operation of RIA was published in July of this year and is available on the better regulation website. It indicates that, overall, good progress has been made in relation to the implementation of regulatory impact analysis across Departments, with some 74 produced in the period between June 2005 and February 2008. The report also finds that the supports which have been made available to officials conducting RIAs are well regarded. More than 800 officials have been trained in the use of RIA. This training has resulted in a significant increase in analytical skill sets across the Civil Service. These skills help to ensure that all impacts, including unintended ones, are assessed through the RIA process, resulting in better quality legislation. The Government has agreed to implement the recommendations made in the report.
The better regulation unit of my Department has, together with the Office of the Attorney General, steered and focused work in the area of modernisation of the Statute Book. This work is designed to increase the transparency and accessibility of the Statute Book for the citizen. The statute law revision project is helping to clear away thousands of redundant and obsolete Acts so we can see what needs to be repealed and re-enacted in modern, consolidated form. Almost 3,500 obsolete pre-1922 Acts have already been repealed by the Statute Law Revision Acts 2005 and 2007.
The current phase of the statute law revision project is focusing on local, personal and private Acts. The aim is to provide a complete list of pre-1922 primary legislation which remains in force. The heads of a new statute law revision Bill were approved by the Government on 29 April 2008.
[17]In addition, the Law Reform Commission is undertaking a programme of statute law restatement which will make legislation more accessible by providing, in the case of selected Acts, a single, up-to-date text, including all amendments. The Acts to be restated as part of the programme were selected following an extensive consultation process and reflect Government priorities. This process of restatement will also facilitate future consolidation and modernisation of legislation.
The programme for Government includes a commitment to instigate a review of the economic regulatory environment which fits well with elements of the action programme for better regulation contained in the White Paper. An interdepartmental group chaired by my Department has been tasked with advancing work in this area, for which the Economist Intelligence Unit in a partnership with Compecon Limited is undertaking an independent review to compare key economic regulators with their counterparts in the EU and the OECD and thereby address the need for stronger international benchmarks in regard to the comparative efficiency, effectiveness and accountability of regulators. It is expected this review will be completed by the end of the year.
An Ceann Comhairle: There is only time for brief supplementary questions.
Deputy Enda Kenny: That is very exciting stuff from the Taoiseach. I have three brief questions. The Government is committed to a 25% reduction in red tape, which is a very large cost for business. An employer with eight employees recently told me that one of his staff must spend half a day each week filling Government forms. Is it planned to carry out a baseline assessment of the cost of red tape for Irish business that would apply across the board so people would know what the target is on a comparative level?
Second, an independent benchmarking report has been commissioned to address the need for stronger international data and benchmarks to assess the comparative efficiency and effectiveness of key Irish economic regulators. When is that expected to be published? Third, the report on regulatory impact analysis by an independent review was published recently. Some of the stakeholders involved in this were disappointed at the apparent lack of consultation about it. In any event, given the time put into it and its considerable cost of €108,000, when does the Taoiseach expect the review’s recommendations to be implemented? Is there a programme through which that will take place and is there a target date for implementation of the recommendations?
Deputy Leo Varadkar: With regard to the 25% target for reducing the administrative cost of regulation by 2012, which was agreed by the Government in February last, more than six months ago, are there any figures available on how much of that 25% target has been achieved? When does the Taoiseach intend to give some interim update on how much the cost of regulation has been reduced since that target was announced?
The Taoiseach: The 25% target for the reduction of administrative burdens arising from national legislation by 2012 is under the aegis of the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, who has overall responsibility for achieving that target. In this context the Department is leading a cross-departmental project to measure the administrative burdens arising from all national legislation. The approach and methodology to be used are currently being devised and work across Departments will be co-ordinated and reported on annually by the Tánaiste.
Parallel with that, the high level group on business regulation, which consists of business representatives and officials, has been examining ways of reducing unnecessary administrative burdens in five priority areas identified by Irish business as being the most burdensome. These [18]are taxation, health and safety, environment law, statistical returns and employment and company law. That is in line with the commitment in the programme to ensure direct feedback from business on regulatory burdens. The first report of the high level group on business regulation was published in August. A number of individual administrative burdens were measured, identifying over €20 million of savings for business. Furthermore, the group is working to support co-operation between Departments and agencies across Government with a view to simplifying procedures and reducing duplication. That work will continue to result in the reduction of costs for business as well as identifying opportunities for meaningful efficiency improvements in the public sector.
The twin processes outlined above provide for a cross-Government target-driven process while at the same time allowing a forum for specific issues to be tabled and dealt with as they are identified by the business community. The regulatory impact analysis process will be used to measure the cost of any potential administrative burdens arising from future regulations.
Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: The Government’s website page on better regulation states that the State liberalised telecommunications and describes this as a wise move that has placed the communications market on a par with many OECD countries. Does the Taoiseach not accept that the facts belie this claim? The latest European Commission survey on communications shows that Ireland lags far behind other countries. A total of 49% of homes here have an Internet connection but we rely on narrow band technology or dial-up access. This is the only EU state where more households access the Internet by narrow band than by broadband technology. What is the Government doing about this? This is one of the most important areas that must be addressed, particularly now when there are ever-growing difficulties in the employment sector and a straitened economy. There is a need for real investment in opening up opportunities for the future and broadband is one of the areas that has been critically neglected. What steps does the Government propose to take? Will the Taoiseach assure the House that such critical investment will not be set aside as part of the Government’s so-called addressing of the challenging fiscal circumstances that now confront us?
Deputy Joan Burton: With regard to the administrative burden faced by small businesses, many people who run small businesses spend their weekends at their dining room tables filling in the various survey forms that are sent out by Government offices. Not only is this a significant cost, but for many people who are new to the experience of running their own business it is an emotional and stressful burden. The Government has been talking about reducing this for some time and has spoken about putting as many as possible of the forms on-line and allowing them to be filled in on-line. The Taoiseach must be aware, from people in his constituency and the business people he knows, that our level of regulation is very old fashioned in that it still involves a great deal of form filling. We accept it is for the collection of statistical data, but small businesses are receiving a tsunami of paper. Does the Minister propose to lift that burden?
While the Taoiseach is lightening the burden of regulation for small business, what does he propose to do about the banks? During the debate on the Finance Act this year, the Taoiseach, who was then Minister for Finance, said he favoured regulation with a light hand. He spoke philosophically about it for some time. Now that regulation with a light hand has brought the international economy almost to its knees, particularly in the United States, does he intend to revisit his approach to regulation of large institutions such as banks? In particular, does he propose to examine how the Central Bank and the Financial Regulator have been able to respond to the current crisis brought about by delinquent capitalism in the United States banks and, indeed, in some European banks?
[19]An Ceann Comhairle: The Taoiseach can only answer in so far as the questions are related to the main questions.
The Taoiseach: The questions relate to the OECD report on regulatory reform. In response to Deputy Ó Caoláin, there has been a large expansion in broadband usage and more competition in the sector. There has also been a big reduction in the cost of using broadband. The Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, in recent months produced a further paper setting out how he envisages the sector developing in the future, how we can meet the competitive challenge we have set ourselves in terms of trying to devise a knowledge economy and where broadband fits into that in the context of the information and communications technology sector. There has been a great deal of effort in that area. If the suggestion is that rather than having that type of environment we should have a State environment where it would be publicly provided, I doubt that we would have reached the current level of usage given the capital intensive nature of that type of investment. The market and competition in the market have helped to drive down costs and spread usage. Obviously, there is more to be done in that area.
With regard to Deputy Burton’s question, we are working with our EU colleagues on improving regulation generally in the financial services area as a result of what has arisen. There are continuing challenges and these are being monitored and evaluated both nationally and at a European level as far as Ireland is concerned.
An Ceann Comhairle: Anois, iarratas chun tairisceana a dhéanamh an Dáil a chur ar athló faoi Bhuan Ordú 32. We will now deal with requests to move the adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 32.
Deputy Jan O’Sullivan: I seek the adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 32 to discuss a matter of specific and important public interest requiring urgent attention, namely, the need for the Minister for Health and Children to request the Health Information and Quality Authority to carry out a full inquiry into the circumstances of the deaths of Ann Moriarty and Edel Kelly and allegations that there was a failure to diagnose breast cancer particularly in view of the fact that early diagnosis and treatment could have saved the lives of the two women concerned. Given the importance of this matter I hope the Ceann Comhairle will agree to my request.
Deputy Olivia Mitchell: I seek the adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 32 to discuss a matter of urgent importance, namely, the failure of the Minister for Education and Science to provide, as promised at two elections, the urgently required permanent Holy Trinity school in Leopardstown, mindful of the fact that more than €1 million has been already spent on prefabs, that the school has run out of space for further prefabs without encroaching on the building site, and that the school has been deprived of priority Band 1 status despite its entitlement to same as a rapidly expanding area resulting in the unforgivable situation whereby the school is unable to cater for the thousands of children baptised in this area in recent years and now awaiting school places.
Deputy Pat Breen: I seek the adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 32 to discuss a matter of extreme importance, namely, the recent reports of cancer misdiagnosis at Ennis General Hospital and the need for the Minister for Health and Children to immediately order the Health Information and Quality Authority to undertake a full independent investigation in this regard in the interests of the bereaved families and of restoring public confidence to the hospital in Ennis.
[20]Deputy James Reilly: I seek the adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 32 to discuss a matter of urgent and national importance, namely, recent misdisagnoses of breast cancer at Ennis General Hospital and testing at St. James’s Hospital and Limerick Regional Hospital. I call on the Minister for Health and Children to immediately establish an independent inquiry to ensure public confidence in our medical services is restored and to bring transparency and accountability to this issue so we can learn from the mistakes made and put in place systems to avoid further recurrence of these tragedies.
Deputy Arthur Morgan: I seek the adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 32 to discuss the following matter of urgent national importance, namely, the imminent savage cutbacks in health services in the north-east region adding to the chaos already created by the stripping away of services by successive Fianna Fáil-led Governments and the need for a proper health service capable of meeting the needs of those requiring health care.
Deputy Terence Flanagan: I seek the adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 32 to discuss the following matter of local and national importance, namely, the need for the Minister for Education and Science to include urgently Springdale national school, Raheny in his Department’s schools building programme. The Department of Education and Science sanctioned a rebuild of the school in March 2001, some seven years ago. Despite many promises by various Fianna Fáil Ministers and the project having been assessed as a priority no school has been built. The walls are damp, the roof is leaking and there are major health and safety risks with mouse-traps having to be set every evening. I urgently request that the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O’Keeffe, intervene and ensure Springdale national school is rebuilt immediately.
Deputy Michael D. Higgins: I seek the adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 32 to discuss the following specific and important matter of public interest requiring urgent attention, namely, the need for the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to meet with Galway City Council to address issues that have arisen in regard to the safety of the water supply system in certain areas of Galway city and in particular the needs of elderly residents of the 5,000 houses affected. I hope given the urgency of the issue that the Ceann Comhairle will agree to this request.
Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: I seek the adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 32 to discuss the following matter of national importance, namely, the escalating crisis in our public health and personal social services with continuing cutbacks adversely affecting patient care across the State including the disgraceful cutting of home help hours for older people, the removal of services from local hospitals, the undermining of public confidence in cancer services, the unpreparedness and inadequacy of the general medical services scheme to cope with the growing number of unemployed people and their families now entitled to the medical card and the gross inequality in the health care system because of Government policy which results in people on lower incomes suffering a far higher rate of chronic illnesses than the rest of the population as highlighted by the report of the Institute of Public Health published in August 2008.
Deputy Tom Hayes: I seek the adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 32 to raise a matter of urgent and national importance, namely, the need for the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to extend the date of 31 December in respect of the control of farm waste scheme. The projects have been already approved for funding, the money is desperately needed in this sector and farmers were unable to commence building owing to the horrendous weather this summer. It is imperative that the Minister allows many projects at farm level to be com[21]pleted. The control of farm waste scheme is vital for the industry which is currently struggling following a difficult year made worse by the terrible weather. The current deadline is damaging both to the agricultural building sector and agricultural sector. It will be dreadful if funding applied for, approved and desperately needed is not sanctioned. This will have a major impact on our rural environment. I ask that the Minister, as a matter of urgency, extend the deadline as soon as possible so people can get on with work under this essential scheme.
Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh: I seek the adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 32 to discuss the following matter of public interest requiring urgent consideration, namely, the need to debate Government proposals to merge five equality and human rights agencies, the effect of which would be to diminish the ability of these agencies to do the jobs they have being doing so well, to silence important independent watchdogs and to breach this State’s commitment under the British-Irish Agreement and the need for the Government to clearly detail how any significant cost savings would be achieved in this regard given the agencies in question receive only a restrictive total budget of €18 million or less than 4% of the Department’s budget.
Deputy Fergus O’Dowd: I seek the adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 32 to raise the following issue of urgent and national importance, namely, the need to discuss the recent report from Egis consultants which raised serious concerns about safety systems in Dublin Port tunnel.
Deputy James Reilly: Hear, hear.
Deputy Richard Bruton: I seek the adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 32 to discuss the following matter of urgent national importance, namely, the huge acceleration in job losses, the collapse in public finances, the crisis in the financial system with massive write-down in the value of pension funds, the lack of any strategy from Government to tackle the huge economic challenges and the lack of any pre-budget economic statement from the Government to inform the Dáil of the challenges and choices.
Deputy Bernard J. Durkan: Hear, hear.
An Ceann Comhairle: Tar éis breithnithe a dhéanamh ar an nithe ardaithe, níl siad in ord faoi Bhuan Ordú 32. Having considered the matters raised, they are not in order under Standing Order 32.
Deputy Pádraic McCormack: What about getting the lead out?
The Taoiseach: It is proposed to take No. 10, motion re referral to select committee of proposed approval by Dáil Éireann of the Double Taxation Relief Orders 2008, Socialist Republic of Vietnam and Republic of Macedonia and Exchange of Information relating to tax matters, Isle of Man; and No. 3, Electoral Amendment Bill 2008 — Order for Second Stage and Second Stage. It is proposed, notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders, that No. 10 shall be decided without debate, Private Members’ Business shall be No. 43, motion regarding the Irish economy, which shall take place tomorrow after the Order of Business and which shall be brought to a conclusion after 90 minutes.
An Ceann Comhairle: There are two proposals before the House. Is the proposal for dealing with No. 10 agreed?
[22]Deputy Enda Kenny: It is not agreed. The Ceann Comhairle’s decision not to adjourn the House under Standing Order 32 to discuss the financial crisis affecting many of our people is a strange one. I am constrained by the rules of the House in this regard.
In not agreeing to the proposal regarding No. 10, I am putting forward the view that as this is the first Dáil sitting day following the summer recess and given circumstances have changed utterly in this country in the past three months, the Government should have provided for a full scale debate in this regard during the next two days in order to inform Members on all sides of what is happening around the country in respect of the proposed 3% cutbacks prior to the budget. The Taoiseach and quite a number of Ministers have been publicly seeking a bipartisan approach from this party in areas such as health. Here is an opportunity for the Government to state that this is an important matter, that it will not shy away from it, and that it will be debated in the House in the interest of the people. This is what people are talking about, because it affects every one of them in their daily lives. Jobs are being lost or transferred to other countries. The cost of living is increasing. There is no protection for jobs and no training for the 50,000 workers in the construction industry who will be out of work by the end of the year. There has been no initiative from the Government to deal with this. The public finances have deteriorated so that we will have gone from a budgetary surplus to a deficit of €5 billion by the end of the year. It is probably the worst financial crisis that has developed in this country over such a short time. Yet the Government wants to talk about boundary extensions and changes to constituencies, although there is no election coming up that I know of.
Deputy Tom Hayes: One never knows. It is getting shaky.
Deputy Enda Kenny: Perhaps one never knows.
Deputy Tom Hayes: We know it is coming.
Deputy Enda Kenny: The Government may decide to move the writ for the by-election for the late lamented Séamus Brennan.
I suggest to the Taoiseach that we get down to reality. This is not posturing. There is a serious issue facing every single citizen of this country. The Taoiseach is the Leader of the Government. He should be willing to instruct the Whip to change the Order of Business to allow a two-day debate on the economy. We will facilitate the Government where we feel it is appropriate. The Government is seeking a bipartisan approach. Here is its opportunity. I call on the Taoiseach to suspend the business of the House and forget the Second Stage of the Electoral Amendment Bill for today and tomorrow. Let us have a discussion about the economy. Let us hear Deputies from all sides——
Deputy Enda Kenny: ——paint pictures of the stories that are streaming into their offices and clinics on a daily basis, all because the Government has failed to show any kind of competency in saving public money and implementing initiatives that would protect our economy for the future. The Government is not responsible for Lehman Brothers or Merrill Lynch, but it is responsible for wasting hundreds of millions of euro over the last number of years. It continues to preside over this but its members do not want to speak about it in the House. My suggestion to the Taoiseach is that he back up his own words and accept a bipartisan approach. Let us have a debate over the next two days on the economic problems facing the country. We will be happy to return to normal pairing arrangements if that applies.
[23]Deputy Eamon Gilmore: It is the Government’s responsibility to propose the legislative programme for the House. In my time here I have never seen such a pathetic legislative programme as we have for this week’s business. What we have before us for these two days shows us that this Government is now so long in office that it has lost touch with reality and with the people that sent us here. The Cabinet is suffering from a bad dose of burn-out. The Taoiseach cannot be seriously suggesting that we come in here and talk about Dáil constituency boundaries——
Deputy Enda Kenny: After 12 weeks.
Deputy Eamon Gilmore: ——which might have to be changed anyway based on the next census, at a time when the people of the country have many other concerns. The head of the HSE told us yesterday there might be further cases of cancer misdiagnosis. People are losing their jobs. There are people whose homes and businesses were flooded during the month of August in bizarre weather. There is no end to the things the House could and should be debating.
If it is the Government’s view that the House should talk about legislation, where is the nursing homes legislation? There are families out there who are driven demented by the fact that they cannot get subventions and they do not know how they will pay the nursing home bills, yet no nursing home legislation is ordered. People living in apartments are waiting for legislation, promised by the Taoiseach some time ago, to regulate the management companies that govern them. The Civil Partnership Bill was promised but has not appeared. There is the employment regulation legislation that we have asked for so many times. More than a year after the formation of the Government, it is surely not too soon to expect legislation on carbon emissions to be brought before the House for debate. There is no end of legislative initiatives that the House could be debating. The programme for this week is the product of a Government that is burnt out and that has become lazy and incompetent. It has nothing to offer the House and nothing to offer the people of this country.
Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: The Sinn Féin Deputies cannot accept the Order of Business as presented. As a schedule it represents a total lack of realism on the part of the Government. It is not a case of returning here for business as usual, in the way things finished up in the earlier period of the year, at which time the Government was clearly bankrupt in terms of legislative proposals. Yet here we are starting off again. What is the Government offering Members to address on the first day of the second year of the 30th Dáil? It is an absolute disgrace.
It is not business as usual. There is nothing usual about the circumstances in which we find ourselves. The country has been plunged into a sharp economic decline. Tens of thousands of people are being placed on the dole queue. Health cuts are continuing to hurt right across the board, despite all the assurances given by the Minister for Health and Children and Professor Drumm of the HSE. On the ground, these cuts are biting and they are hurting gravely. We need an opportunity to articulate these problems and to bring them to Government notice in this Chamber. That opportunity must be presented by Government.
We must make no mistake about the programme for Government. It was put together by a Taoiseach who is no longer Taoiseach and a party that has almost hung up its cap and coat. There is no programme for Government. What the Government has cobbled together, presumably over the period since last we sat in this Chamber, is a programme for cuts. Its members must come clean before this Chamber. They must outline the reality that they know from [24]within their Departments and their proposals to address the realities facing our citizenry today. As Opposition voices, we need the opportunity to hear clearly the Government’s intentions, to analyse them, give our views, offer what further guidance and opinion we can to try to improve on the Government’s proposals and to point out where they are clearly going to fail. That is our role and responsibility, yet the Government is asking us to proceed on matters such as electoral boundaries. For God’s sake, that is not what the people out there want us to address today. They want us to address the matters that are most affecting their daily lives, that is, the current recession — we should call it what it is and not be afraid to use the R-word — the further contraction of job opportunities in the State, the ongoing cuts that are hurting people in the health services and the failure of Government to provide for the needs of our children through the education system. These are the issues we should address. It is an absolute disgrace that this is the best the Government can present, through the office of the Chief Whip, as a proposal for the work of this House today and tomorrow. It is absolutely not good enough.
The Taoiseach: We will be having a debate, at the prerogative of the Opposition, on the economy. We will have questions to the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, and this legislative proposal will be brought forward for Second Stage today and tomorrow. With regard to the charge that the Government is not prepared to do anything about the economy, we have brought the date of the budget forward to 14 October, which means that in three weeks’ time we can have a full, balanced and comprehensive debate which will go on for some time thereafter.
Deputy Paul Kehoe: It will be guillotined.
The Taoiseach: The important job of Government is to focus on the need to address this issue now and in the next couple of weeks.
Deputy Paul Kehoe: Let us have the debate now — today and tomorrow.
The Taoiseach: The Opposition will put it to the test when it comes forward.
Deputy Alan Shatter: Let us address it in this House.
An Ceann Comhairle: I must put the question.
Deputy Alan Shatter: On a point of order——
An Ceann Comhairle: The question is that the proposal for dealing with No. 10, motion re referral to select committee of proposed approval by Dáil Éireann of the Double Taxation Relief — my apologies, that is the wrong question.
Deputy Alan Shatter: On a point of order——
An Ceann Comhairle: Deputy Shatter is on the wrong track. Nobody can make a contribution other than one spokesperson from each party.
Deputy Alan Shatter: Very well.
An Ceann Comhairle: I will put the question again.
Question put: “That the proposal for dealing with No. 10 be agreed to.”
[25]The Dáil divided: Tá, 78; Níl, 68.
| Tá | |
| Ahern, Dermot. | Ahern, Michael. |
| Ahern, Noel. | Andrews, Chris. |
| Ardagh, Seán. | Aylward, Bobby. |
| Behan, Joe. | Blaney, Niall. |
| Brady, Áine. | Brady, Cyprian. |
| Brady, Johnny. | Browne, John. |
| Byrne, Thomas. | Calleary, Dara. |
| Carey, Pat. | Collins, Niall. |
| Conlon, Margaret. | Connick, Seán. |
| Coughlan, Mary. | Cowen, Brian. |
| Cuffe, Ciarán. | Curran, John. |
| Dempsey, Noel. | Devins, Jimmy. |
| Dooley, Timmy. | Fahey, Frank. |
| Finneran, Michael. | Fitzpatrick, Michael. |
| Fleming, Seán. | Flynn, Beverley. |
| Gallagher, Pat The Cope. | Gogarty, Paul. |
| Gormley, John. | Grealish, Noel. |
| Harney, Mary. | Haughey, Seán. |
| Healy-Rae, Jackie. | Hoctor, Máire. |
| Kelleher, Billy. | Kelly, Peter. |
| Kenneally, Brendan. | Kennedy, Michael. |
| Killeen, Tony. | Kirk, Seamus. |
| Kitt, Michael P. | Kitt, Tom. |
| Lenihan, Brian. | Lowry, Michael. |
| Mansergh, Martin. | McDaid, James. |
| McEllistrim, Thomas. | McGrath, Finian. |
| McGrath, Mattie. | McGrath, Michael. |
| McGuinness, John. | Moloney, John. |
| Mulcahy, Michael. | Nolan, M. J. |
| Ó Cuív, Éamon. | Ó Fearghaíl, Seán. |
| O’Brien, Darragh. | O’Connor, Charlie. |
| O’Dea, Willie. | O’Flynn, Noel. |
| O’Hanlon, Rory. | O’Keeffe, Batt. |
| O’Keeffe, Edward. | O’Rourke, Mary. |
| O’Sullivan, Christy. | Power, Seán. |
| Roche, Dick. | Ryan, Eamon. |
| Sargent, Trevor. | Scanlon, Eamon. |
| Smith, Brendan. | Treacy, Noel. |
| Wallace, Mary. | White, Mary Alexandra. |
| Níl | |
| Allen, Bernard. | Barrett, Seán. |
| Breen, Pat. | Bruton, Richard. |
| Burke, Ulick. | Burton, Joan. |
| Byrne, Catherine. | Clune, Deirdre. |
| Connaughton, Paul. | Costello, Joe. |
| Coveney, Simon. | Crawford, Seymour. |
| Creed, Michael. | Creighton, Lucinda. |
| D’Arcy, Michael. | Deasy, John. |
| Deenihan, Jimmy. | Doyle, Andrew. |
| Durkan, Bernard J. | English, Damien. |
| Enright, Olwyn. | Feighan, Frank. |
| Flanagan, Charles. | Flanagan, Terence. |
| Gilmore, Eamon. | Hayes, Brian. |
| Hayes, Tom. | Higgins, Michael D. |
| Hogan, Phil. | Howlin, Brendan. |
| Kehoe, Paul. | Kenny, Enda. |
| Lynch, Ciarán. | Lynch, Kathleen. |
| McCormack, Pádraic. | McEntee, Shane. |
| McGinley, Dinny. | McHugh, Joe. |
| McManus, Liz. | Mitchell, Olivia. |
| Morgan, Arthur. | Naughten, Denis. |
| Neville, Dan. | Noonan, Michael. |
| Ó Caoláin, Caoimhghín. | Ó Snodaigh, Aengus. |
| O’Donnell, Kieran. | O’Dowd, Fergus. |
| O’Keeffe, Jim. | O’Mahony, John. |
| O’Shea, Brian. | O’Sullivan, Jan. |
| Penrose, Willie. | Perry, John. |
| Quinn, Ruairí. | Rabbitte, Pat. |
| Reilly, James. | Ring, Michael. |
| Shatter, Alan. | Sheahan, Tom. |
| Sherlock, Seán. | Shortall, Róisín. |
| Stagg, Emmet. | Stanton, David. |
| Timmins, Billy. | Tuffy, Joanna. |
| Varadkar, Leo. | Wall, Jack. |
Tellers: Tá, Deputies Pat Carey and John Curran; Níl, Deputies Paul Kehoe and Emmet Stagg.
An Ceann Comhairle: Is the proposal for dealing with Private Members’ business agreed?
Deputy Enda Kenny: I made my protest and the Taoiseach has declined to have a debate on the economy. In the case of No. 2, Private Members’ business, I propose that it be extended by a further three hours to allow for a proper debate on the economy.
Deputy Eamon Gilmore: I support that proposal. As I said earlier, there is something unreal about the fact that the Dáil will spend two days debating constituency boundaries, changes to which may never be made, in circumstances where the public is discussing the state of the economy, the health service and the day to day problems being experienced. If this House is to have any relevance, we need to discuss issues that are relevant to people’s lives and to what is happening in the real world. If the Government is not in a position to bring forward legislative proposals that have meaning outside the walls of this building, it should make Government time available to the Opposition so that we can discuss the issues that affect the people.
Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: I wish to speak not only in relation to not providing legislation but not providing the opportunity to properly discuss the real issues that are important to people today. That is a major failure on the part of Government this morning. Clearly if Government is not prepared to do that, then the Opposition must. I fully support Deputy Kenny’s proposal and I appeal to the Taoiseach that whatever his initial reaction to the proposition, he should give it serious consideration because Deputies in this House, of all opinion, have the right to articulate the difficulties they know first hand are affecting their constituents across the length and breadth of this State today and these need to be aired on the floor of this Chamber.
An Ceann Comhairle: The difficulty, of course, is that the Standing Order provides that Private Members’ business shall be three hours overall. That is a Standing Order of the House and it cannot be amended across the floor of the House in a manner such as this. In those circumstances, I am not in a position to allow——
Deputy Charles Flanagan: Suspend it by agreement.
[27]Deputy Paul Kehoe: On a point of order, the importance of Private Members’ business, with the agreement of both sides of the House——
An Ceann Comhairle: I am sorry Deputy Kehoe, I am calling the Taoiseach because only one speaker from each party is allowed to speak on matters such as this, and it is not a point of order.
Deputy Paul Kehoe: It is a point of order
An Ceann Comhairle: It is not a point of order.
Deputy Paul Kehoe: If the Government agrees, we can extend the time for Private Members’ business, even though it is not provided for in Standing Orders. This is a very important motion and, given that a two-day debate has been disallowed, there is an opportunity to extend Private Members’ business to allow for this very important debate.
An Ceann Comhairle: That is not a point of order.
The Taoiseach: As I said, I am ready to engage with the Opposition in regard to its Private Members’ motion. Given that it has tabled the motion — we have tabled a counter motion, as has the Labour Party — we would like to debate it within the time allocated. Obviously, the Government is getting on with the business of preparing for the budget and Ministers are involved in bilateral meetings this week also.
Deputy Alan Shatter: Were it not for the Opposition there would be no debate on the economy. It is bizarre.
Question put: “That the proposal for dealing with Private Members’ business be agreed to.”
The Dáil divided: Tá, 78; Níl, 68.
| Tá | |
| Ahern, Dermot. | Ahern, Michael. |
| Ahern, Noel. | Andrews, Chris. |
| Ardagh, Seán. | Aylward, Bobby. |
| Behan, Joe. | Blaney, Niall. |
| Brady, Áine. | Brady, Cyprian. |
| Brady, Johnny. | Browne, John. |
| Byrne, Thomas. | Calleary, Dara. |
| Carey, Pat. | Collins, Niall. |
| Conlon, Margaret. | Connick, Seán. |
| Coughlan, Mary. | Cowen, Brian. |
| Cuffe, Ciarán. | Curran, John. |
| Dempsey, Noel. | Devins, Jimmy. |
| Dooley, Timmy. | Fahey, Frank. |
| Finneran, Michael. | Fitzpatrick, Michael. |
| Fleming, Seán. | Flynn, Beverley. |
| Gallagher, Pat The Cope. | Gogarty, Paul. |
| Gormley, John. | Grealish, Noel. |
| Harney, Mary. | Haughey, Seán. |
| Healy-Rae, Jackie. | Hoctor, Máire. |
| Kelleher, Billy. | Kelly, Peter. |
| Kenneally, Brendan. | Kennedy, Michael. |
| Killeen, Tony. | Kirk, Seamus. |
| Kitt, Michael P. | Kitt, Tom. |
| Lenihan, Brian. | Lowry, Michael. |
| Mansergh, Martin. | McDaid, James. |
| McEllistrim, Thomas. | McGrath, Finian. |
| McGrath, Mattie. | McGrath, Michael. |
| McGuinness, John. | Moloney, John. |
| Mulcahy, Michael. | Nolan, M. J. |
| Ó Cuív, Éamon. | Ó Fearghaíl, Seán. |
| O’Brien, Darragh. | O’Connor, Charlie. |
| O’Dea, Willie. | O’Flynn, Noel. |
| O’Hanlon, Rory. | O’Keeffe, Batt. |
| O’Keeffe, Edward. | O’Rourke, Mary. |
| O’Sullivan, Christy. | Power, Seán. |
| Roche, Dick. | Ryan, Eamon. |
| Sargent, Trevor. | Scanlon, Eamon. |
| Smith, Brendan. | Treacy, Noel. |
| Wallace, Mary. | White, Mary Alexandra. |
| Níl | |
| Allen, Bernard. | Barrett, Seán. |
| Breen, Pat. | Bruton, Richard. |
| Burke, Ulick. | Burton, Joan. |
| Byrne, Catherine. | Clune, Deirdre. |
| Connaughton, Paul. | Costello, Joe. |
| Coveney, Simon. | Crawford, Seymour. |
| Creed, Michael. | Creighton, Lucinda. |
| D’Arcy, Michael. | Deasy, John. |
| Deenihan, Jimmy. | Doyle, Andrew. |
| Durkan, Bernard J. | English, Damien. |
| Enright, Olwyn. | Feighan, Frank. |
| Flanagan, Charles. | Flanagan, Terence. |
| Gilmore, Eamon. | Hayes, Brian. |
| Hayes, Tom. | Higgins, Michael D. |
| Hogan, Phil. | Howlin, Brendan. |
| Kehoe, Paul. | Kenny, Enda. |
| Lynch, Ciarán. | Lynch, Kathleen. |
| McCormack, Pádraic. | McEntee, Shane. |
| McGinley, Dinny. | McHugh, Joe. |
| McManus, Liz. | Mitchell, Olivia. |
| Morgan, Arthur. | Naughten, Denis. |
| Neville, Dan. | Noonan, Michael. |
| Ó Caoláin, Caoimhghín. | Ó Snodaigh, Aengus. |
| O’Donnell, Kieran. | O’Dowd, Fergus. |
| O’Keeffe, Jim. | O’Mahony, John. |
| O’Shea, Brian. | O’Sullivan, Jan. |
| Penrose, Willie. | Perry, John. |
| Quinn, Ruairí. | Rabbitte, Pat. |
| Reilly, James. | Ring, Michael. |
| Shatter, Alan. | Sheahan, Tom. |
| Sherlock, Seán. | Shortall, Róisín. |
| Stagg, Emmet. | Stanton, David. |
| Timmins, Billy. | Tuffy, Joanna. |
| Varadkar, Leo. | Wall, Jack. |
Tellers: Tá, Deputies Pat Carey and John Curran; Níl, Deputies Paul Kehoe and Emmet Stagg.
Deputy Enda Kenny: When can we expect to see the legislation dealing with repayments to persons in long-stay institutions?
The Taoiseach: That was the subject of intensive work between the Attorney General’s office and the Department of Health and Children over the summer period. It is not yet finalised but is almost so and it is intended to bring it to the Houses during this session.
An Ceann Comhairle: We must have silence during the Order of Business when Members are on their feet.
[29]Deputy Enda Kenny: Arising from the Taoiseach’s reply, can I take it that whether the nature of the problem was constitutional or otherwise, it has now been sorted out by the Attorney General? Can I assume also that there will be no further delay in having the details of this Bill put together so that it can be published, brought into the House and debated? Will the Taoiseach put a timescale on the matter? Can we have the Bill in three or four weeks?
The Taoiseach: We had this question before. Progress was made over the course of the summer regarding issues that in certain respects were delaying the drafting of the Bill. It is being finalised at present and is expected to come before the House during this session. That is my information.
Deputy Enda Kenny: I suppose it will be after the budget.
Deputy Eamon Gilmore: I wish to raise two matters. First, I understand there will be some changes in employment legislation arising from the conclusion of an agreement between the Government and the social partners. Which pieces of legislation in the Government programme will incorporate the changes in employment legislation agreed with the social partners? Will separate legislation be introduced?
Second, I noted reports during the summer that the Combat Poverty Agency is to be withdrawn back to the Department of Social and Family Affairs. Is it intended to introduce legislation to amend the Combat Poverty Agency Bill of 1986 in order to allow this to happen?
The Taoiseach: There will be separate legislation for some of the new aspects that were agreed in partnership. With regard to the Combat Poverty agency issue, obviously there are no plans to do anything at the moment. The matter is under review.
Deputy Bernard Allen: I know that the Comptroller and Auditor General holds office independently of Government. In the past two months the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O’Keeffe, and the Tánaiste, Deputy Coughlan, have called on the Comptroller and Auditor General to carry out investigations into universities and into FÁS.
Does the Taoiseach propose to bring forward a motion asking this House to direct the Comptroller and Auditor General to carry out these investigations or were these statements to serve merely as crutches because the Ministers did not act within their own Departments on these issues? The Taoiseach could introduce a motion to this end if the Government is serious about the matter.
The Taoiseach: I understand that such a motion is not necessary. The Comptroller and Auditor General has the relevant constitutional responsibility and discharges it very well. Indeed his reports are often referred to and lauded in this House in terms of the issues they raise and the forensic examination they undertake in various aspects of public expenditure. The use of the existing mechanisms one expects to find in the Comptroller and Auditor General’s office for such a purpose should instil public confidence. I do not see why one should question that vehicle.
Deputy Bernard Allen: I believe that the only legal way is to involve the Dáil——
An Ceann Comhairle: Deputy Allen has made his point.
Deputy Róisín Shortall: Further to the Taoiseach’s comments regarding the Combat Poverty Agency and the fact that there are now no proposals to amend the Combat Poverty Agency Act, will he take this opportunity to assure the House that he will maintain the independence of that agency? It is obviously critically important to the work it does.
[30]An Ceann Comhairle: We cannot go into the details of any legislation.
Deputy Ciarán Lynch: I see under the Order of Business that the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill is to come before the House. In section 36 of the Bill the incremental tenant purchase scheme is mentioned. In particular, it is stated that residents of flats and apartments will be prohibited from availing of this scheme. Does this mean also that the long-standing issue of the sale of council flats under the tenant purchase scheme legislative framework is not going to happen? This issue has been before the House and the Minister in whose brief it lies has indicated that the Bill would resolve this matter. However, having read the Bill this morning, it appears this issue will not be dealt with. Can the Taoiseach say whether this option has been ruled out entirely? People outside this House have been waiting for this Bill and felt it would resolve the issue but it now appears that this will not happen.
The Taoiseach: I understand that the issue is still under consideration and whether an amendment may be required on Committee Stage to see whether it can be encompassed.
Deputy Ciarán Lynch: So it is not in the Bill.
The Taoiseach: It is not included in the Bill at present.
Deputy Kathleen Lynch: This is a new Bill and the Taoiseach is already talking about amendments. How ridiculous can one get?
Deputy Bernard Allen: This has been going on for five years.
Deputy Joanna Tuffy: I want to ask the Taoiseach about the Property Services Regulatory Bill. It is listed to be published before the beginning of the next session, which could be up to February 2009. Is there a timescale for this Bill? As of next month the Government will have spent €600,000 on keeping open the offices of the National Property Services Regulatory Authority but the authority has no legal powers. It is doing its best but it cannot do the job it was created to do in terms of, for example, dealing with the problems of young apartment owners who are being sued for exorbitant management fees for poor services.
The Taoiseach: The publication of that Bill is subject to the resolution of certain legal issues that arose during the completion of the drafting process. Every effort is being made to have it published as soon as possible.
Deputy Emmet Stagg: We have heard that answer for the past four years.
Deputy Ruairí Quinn: Just over three weeks ago a cohort of junior infants started school in north County Dublin. The patron of the school has no legal entitlement to act in that capacity, thus unnecessarily exposing the parents, teachers and children to risk. On the Order Paper there is a requirement, under the Department of Education and Science, to bring forward the education (patronage) Bill. I read with some concern that publication of that Bill is expected in 2009. It is a one line amendment Bill. I can give the Taoiseach a copy of one this afternoon, if he so wishes and is so bereft of legislation. It is extraordinary that the Bill is expected in 2009 when it was understood for over a year that the north Dublin County Council VEC would be the patron for the school. Can we bring forward this legislation?
The Taoiseach: The latest information I have is that the heads of the Bill are expected later this year. I will raise with the Minister for Education and Science the matter of whether this issue is as simple as the Deputy indicated.
[31]Deputy Joan Burton: I am disappointed that we could not discuss the tax affairs of the Isle of Man and the island of Ireland on the floor of the House. I think the Taoiseach’s party would have much to tell us about our tax affairs with the Isle of Man.
An Ceann Comhairle: We must discuss matters relevant to the Order of Business.
Deputy Ruairí Quinn: The additional revenue could be very welcome.
Deputy Joan Burton: Absolutely. A lot of money could be raised if we discussed affairs in the Isle of Man and how they could affect our tax revenues.
The Government has indicated that it will not publish a pre-budget outlook or Estimates regarding what it proposes on services. Everything is to announced on budget day. This goes back to the stroke pulled by the former Minister for Finance, Mr. Charlie McCreevy, regarding decentralisation, which was announced on the floor of the House. Last year, the Taoiseach said that the development of pre-budget——
An Ceann Comhairle: This is not in order. There is another way to raise this matter.
Deputy Joan Burton: I am referring to the budget.
An Ceann Comhairle: The Order of Business is not about the budget.
Deputy Joan Burton: Last year, the Government committed to the development and publication of a pre-budget outlook. We have now been told that the Government is to abandon this to do what Charlie McCreevy did with decentralisation — announce it all in the House.
An Ceann Comhairle: I cannot allow this to be raised on the Order of Business, unless the Taoiseach has something to say about publishing a pre-budget outlook.
Deputy Joan Burton: The Taoiseach announced the publication of a pre-budget outlook as a great improvement in transparency in public services. Can he tell us what he proposes to do?
An Ceann Comhairle: The Deputy is not in order. I call Deputy Jan O’Sullivan.
Deputy Joan Burton: My question is perfectly legitimate as the Opposition will have no information in this House on what the Government proposes in the budget.
An Ceann Comhairle: If the Taoiseach wishes to be helpful on this matter that is fine, but he need not because this is not in order.
Deputy Joan Burton: The pre-budget outlook——
An Ceann Comhairle: Deputy Burton, please. I do not want to have to ask you to leave the House.
Deputy Joan Burton: ——is part of the promised framework of the budget.
Deputy Ruairí Quinn: The Taoiseach wants to be helpful.
An Ceann Comhairle: If the Taoiseach wishes to be helpful on the pre-budget outlook that is a matter for him——
The Taoiseach: I was going to respond.
An Ceann Comhairle: ——but it is out of order.
[32]The Taoiseach: The fact that we are bringing forward the budget by six or seven weeks this year means arrangements must be adapted to the circumstances in which we find ourselves. We need to bring forward the budget quickly and provide clarity and certainty regarding the direction of the economy, in light of the situation in which we find ourselves. For this reason, pre-eminence must be given to holding the budget on 14 October. The question of the end of third quarter returns and so on will be provided in due course. It is important to point out that this process allows us to bring forward the budget on 14 October. This is the overriding requirement, quite apart from arrangements that may have prevailed in the past and would have applied to a December budget.
An Ceann Comhairle: I call Deputy O’Sullivan, who hopefully will get us back on track.
Deputy Jan O’Sullivan: My party leader said the Cabinet appears to be burnt out, but if that is the case then the Minister for Health and Children seems to have given herself her redundancy papers. She is washing her hands of what is happening in the realm of health.
An Ceann Comhairle: The Deputy knows this is out of order.
Deputy Jan O’Sullivan: I am raising this in the context of promised legislation. We were told that three pieces of legislation would be published last term and the same three pieces of legislation are in the list for this term. None of them has been dealt with. The Minister introduced no legislation last term, despite three being on the priority list. One, the nursing homes support scheme Bill, has already been raised, while the adoption Bill and the child care Bill are the others. When will these pieces of legislation be introduced?
On the nursing home support scheme Bill, families are being crucified with regard to the means test for subvention and the family home. These people can no longer afford to pay for their relatives and we need a date for this legislation. In the meantime the HSE must be ordered to relax the methods that are being used at the moment in terms of assessing families for subvention.
Deputy James Reilly: On the same issue, the Taoiseach’s response has not clarified whether the legal issues have been resolved regarding the nursing homes support scheme Bill. I know people who have lodged appeals that have not been dealt with and the refund issue has not been addressed.
Deputy Bernard J. Durkan: Hear, hear.
Deputy James Reilly: It seems that KPMG has finished its work. A person who came to me during the week was offered €20,000 but his mother paid out €120,000.
Is this legislation going to come through? We were accused of doublespeak by various Ministers but I will define doublespeak. Doublespeak is being told last Christmas that we would have this Bill by January, being told in January that we would have it before Easter and being told before Easter that we would have it during the summer. We have been told again that we may have it. Can we have a straight answer? Will this Bill come before this Chamber before Christmas? Have the legal issues been resolved?
Regarding the health information Bill, will the Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, be given teeth to censure hospitals that do not meet standards?
Deputy Alan Shatter: On the adoption Bill, families and children across the country have difficulties because of the Government’s failure to reform our adoption legislation. Prior to the summer recess, on the Taoiseach’s final day in this House, a promise was made by him, along [33]with the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children with responsibility for children, that the adoption Bill would be published during the summer. This Bill has been promised for approximately nine and a half years, which I think is a national record. I have lost count of the number of legislative programmes on which we have seen it. Can the Taoiseach tell us whether it will be published this week or next week? What happened to the promise that guaranteed its publication during the summer recess period?
Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: On health issues and the failure to bring forward health legislation——
An Ceann Comhairle: Stick to the legislation and do not go into the issues.
Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: I wish to speak on health legislation and if I am out of order in terms of grouping, I will take the Ceann Comhairle’s guidance.
Regarding the raft of health legislation that has not been brought forward and in the context of the fact that it is estimated some 5,000 people die prematurely in Ireland each year as a result of social deprivation, including health inequality, how is it that a Bill that was on the last legislative programme for publication this year, which first appeared on the Government’s legislative programme in January 2006 for publication that year, has now been deferred once again? I speak of the eligibility for health and personal social services Bill. This is crucial legislation that, once again, now appears next to the message “not possible to indicate”. That was not the case last January and it has not been the position since January 2006. I have gone back through each of the legislative programmes since it first appeared on the Government’s proposals.
An Ceann Comhairle: We cannot go any further. The Deputy has made his point.
Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: Why is it that at a time of ever-growing concern in our society in respect of citizens’ eligibility for health and personal social services——
An Ceann Comhairle: The Taoiseach, on the legislation.
Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: ——the Government is unable to bring forward that legislation——
An Ceann Comhairle: I said previously that we cannot have a debate on legislation. The Taoiseach, on the legislation.
Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: ——at least in this current year?
An Ceann Comhairle: The Taoiseach, on the legislation.
The Taoiseach: On the legislation, as for the adoption Bill, a significant policy issue was raised during the summer months that was brought to a conclusion last week and technical amendments to the Bill are ongoing. One hopes this Bill will be published this term.
I made the point that the nursing homes support scheme Bill is nearly finalised. It is intended to be brought before the Houses in the current Dáil session. As for the child care Bill, during the summer recess work continued on drafting of the Bill to resolve points arising from significant legal and technical issues that had emerged during the drafting and accompanying consultation processes. Further consultation took place to assist that process and, in addition, legal advice on specific complex issues were formulated, sought and obtained. As a result, several significant sets of instructions were sent to the Attorney General’s office and new draft versions [34]of the Bill were produced, resolving many of those issues. It is expected that having resolved some of those issues, the Government will be able to proceed with publication in the next term.
Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: I asked about the eligibility for health and personal social services Bill.
An Ceann Comhairle: I call Deputy Olivia Mitchell.
Deputy Jan O’Sullivan: Members have been getting the same answers on legislation for months.
The Taoiseach: To answer Deputy Ó Caoláin, it is not possible to give a date for that Bill because as I stated, other priorities in health legislation are being spoken about, namely, the adoption Bill, the nursing homes support scheme Bill and the child care Bill, which are substantive Bills.
Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: Is the Taoiseach now telling the House it is not a priority?
An Ceann Comhairle: I call Deputy Olivia Mitchell.
The Taoiseach: I am saying these take priority——
Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: They take priority over one’s eligibility to have health.
The Taoiseach: ——in view of their readiness to come before the House for consideration.
Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: With respect, that does not stand up.
An Ceann Comhairle: The Taoiseach has answered the question. I call Deputy Olivia Mitchell.
Deputy Olivia Mitchell: During the summer, the State took over the assets of certain public sector pensions and consequently also took over the liabilities. While this was carried out as an emergency measure through ministerial order, at the time a Government spokesperson stated it would have to be confirmed by the Dáil. Will such confirmation come by way of legislation? Will there be an opportunity to debate it in the House, given there is a great lack of clarity regarding the extent of the liabilities that have been taken on on behalf of the taxpayer?
The Taoiseach: I must check that with the Minister concerned.
Deputy Olivia Mitchell: I thank the Taoiseach.
An Ceann Comhairle: That is secondary legislation.
Deputy Bernard J. Durkan: I draw the Taoiseach’s attention to section B of the legislative programme, the Bills in respect of which heads have been agreed and texts are being drafted. Very similar Bills were published at the beginning of the life of the present Dáil and the current rate of progress has been painfully slow to date. Incidentally, I note the inclusion of the Curragh of Kildare Bill, which I believe first appeared on the Order Paper when I was first elected to the House. However, the major problem pertains to section C, which consists of 50 Bills in respect of which heads have yet to be approved by the Government. Many of the Bills are important and at the present rate of progress will not have passed through the House by the end of the life of the present Dáil. I ask the Taoiseach whether it is intended to draw up a [35]priority list whereby such urgent legislation can be speeded up and brought through the House at an early stage?
The Taoiseach: The entire purpose of the A, B and C lists was to give an indication to Members, as they requested, as to what priorities were likely to come before the House in the immediate term and so forth. If the purpose of producing the C list is to ask the reason the Bills are not on the A or B list, and the House goes through this seriatim every week, what is the purpose of producing the C list, if the Opposition or individual Members thereof suggest they should be on the B or A list? This goes on in every term.
The Taoiseach: The whole idea of bringing forward these lists in the present form is to indicate from the outset, in fairness to Opposition spokespersons and everyone else who wishes to contribute to the House, what Bills are likely to be brought forward and what ones are not. Questions about policy issues should be tabled before the relevant Ministers during Question Time. However, if the House is to have Orders of Business in which Members spend at least an hour talking about Bills, which the C list already indicates clearly will not be taken this term, and if Members wish to have a debate on the reason they are not being taken in this term and if that is the best use of Members’ time, I will stay here for that.
An Ceann Comhairle: I call Deputy Ó Snodaigh.
Deputy Bernard J. Durkan: I have one related point.
An Ceann Comhairle: The Taoiseach has answered the Deputy.
Deputy Bernard J. Durkan: To where has the pharmacy No. 2 Bill gone since the last session? What happened to it?
An Ceann Comhairle: The Taoiseach, on the pharmacy No. 2 Bill.
The Taoiseach: The purpose of the pharmacy No. 2 Bill was twofold, first to follow on from the Pharmacy Act 2007 and deal with other changes in the regulatory framework for pharmacy and pharmacy services not addressed in that Act and, second, to deal with any remaining recommendations of the pharmacy review group, including matters relating to a new pharmacy contract. Work was progressing on commencing the Pharmacy Act 2007. However, due to the complex nature of the modernisation of the regulatory framework for the sector, including the putting in place of procedures and rules in areas not previously regulated, such as the registration of pharmacy businesses and a fitness to practice regime, the Act is not expected to be fully commenced until some time in 2009.
Until the Act is fully commenced and its provisions are operational, it will not be possible to prepare proposals for any new pharmacy Bill. In addition, work on the remaining issues in the pharmacy review group’s recommendations for the Bill is dependent on progress and developments in the area of pharmacy services and contractual matters. While the Department and the HSE have been engaging with the pharmacy sector on these issues, they are not sufficiently advanced at this time to permit the preparation of proposals that might be included in any new pharmacy Bill. With these considerations in mind, it is considered that the pharmacy No. 2 Bill cannot be progressed for the foreseeable future.
Deputy Bernard J. Durkan: That is my point.
[36]Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh: I refer to a Bill that appears to have disappeared from sight. Given the current climate of trying to save money, effect cost savings and so on, it is interesting that it is gone because its intention was to end imprisonment, where practicable, for inability to pay fines. I refer to the enforcement of fines Bill, which has disappeared, despite having been promised.
An Ceann Comhairle: The Taoiseach, on the enforcement of fines Bill.
The Taoiseach: Work on that Bill is at a preliminary stage of examination. Consultations are ongoing with the Department’s financial management unit, courts policy and the Courts Service. Until that is completed, we cannot deal with it.
Deputy Lucinda Creighton: I wish to raise an issue that is connected to that raised by Deputy Ciarán Lynch, at which time I tried to get in but could not. I refer to the tenant purchase scheme for council flats. Specifically, a policy document was published by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government in February 2007 and it certainly was expounded by the Taoiseach’s party in advance of the general election that provision would be made in legislation during this Dáil term for council flat owners to purchase their flats from local authorities. However, the legislation published during the summer makes no reference to this. Is Government policy still as was set out in February 2007? Does the Government intend to implement some scheme in the future and, if so, how does it propose to so do? Will it be by ministerial order or through further legislation? Why can it not be included in the Bill that is to be brought before the House? That appears to be bizarre.
I wish to make a relevant point. In the late 1980s such a scheme was successfully implemented by Cork City Council. It was discontinued in the early 1990s, in 1992, I believe——
An Ceann Comhairle: We cannot go into that now.
Deputy Lucinda Creighton: ——on the basis that legislation would be introduced.
An Ceann Comhairle: The Taoiseach, on the legislation.
Deputy Lucinda Creighton: Sixteen years later, we are still waiting for it. This is particularly disconcerting for those who are trying to get on the property ladder and to better their circumstances in life——
An Ceann Comhairle: We cannot go into that now. Is legislation promised?
Deputy Lucinda Creighton: The Government is providing them with virtually no hope.
An Ceann Comhairle: Is legislation promised in that area?
The Taoiseach: As I stated in an earlier reply, consideration can be and is being given to that issue in the context of a possible amendment on Committee Stage.
Deputy Terence Flanagan: I refer to No. 16 on the legislative programme, the property services regulatory Bill. While this matter has been raised earlier, will the Taoiseach confirm this legislation definitely will be dealt with during this session? It certainly has gone on for long enough. Many apartment owners are being fleeced. They already face negative equity on their properties, which were massively overpriced.
An Ceann Comhairle: We cannot go into that now. On the legislation——
[37]Deputy Terence Flanagan: Will this legislation and the report of the auctioneering review group include the regulation——
An Ceann Comhairle: On the legislation——
Deputy Terence Flanagan: ——of property management companies or will it only deal with the regulation of auctioneers?
An Ceann Comhairle: We cannot deal with the content, but is legislation promised?
Deputy Leo Varadkar: On the same point——
An Ceann Comhairle: On the same legislation.
Deputy Leo Varadkar: Perhaps it is. Maybe the Ceann Comhairle can clarify that for me. On that legislation, which the legislative programme indicates is to give effect to the recommendations of the auctioneering review group, my understanding is the property services regulation Bill would really only deal with management agents and auctioneers.
An Ceann Comhairle: We cannot deal with the content of the legislation.
Deputy Leo Varadkar: I am asking if it is intended that it will be the Bill to properly govern the management of residential management companies, which has been promised for a long time.
An Ceann Comhairle: We cannot go into the content of the legislation. It would be impossible.
Deputy Leo Varadkar: It is promised in the programme for Government. Is that the Bill intended for that purpose or does a different Bill exist? May I understand from what has been published today that we will not, in this session, see published legislation that will govern the regulation and management of residential management companies?
An Ceann Comhairle: I ask the Taoiseach to deal with the legislation only and not the content. We cannot go into that.
The Taoiseach: On the multi-unit developments, an interdepartmental and inter-ministerial group has been working on this. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform is in discussion with the Law Society with regard to some aspects and contractual issues in preparation for proposed provisions for that aspect of the problem. That meeting is imminent, which I know having spoken to the Minister about it.
What we are trying to do is prepare provisions from various Departments affected by this issue. The Attorney General will then make a decision as to whether we will have an omnibus Bill which would take all those provisions together or if they will be part of enactments of statutes from within Departments which are already on the way or being prepared. The idea is to find the quickest and surest way of doing that, whether by omnibus Bill or to proceed in other various ways.
Legislation is required to empower the Circuit Court to resolve disputes arising with regard to the operation and control of multi-unit developments, including existing developments. There is the property services regulation Bill, which will be published during the autumn to [38]establish that regulatory authority. It will, among other things, regulate property managing agents and set standards for the provision of property management services.
Legislation is also required to specify the obligations of developers to protect the interests of purchasers of units in multi-unit developments and ensure compliance with such obligations. There is also the making of a ministerial order to extend compulsory registration of title to multi-unit developments and the question of legislation to amend the planning and development Acts to require planning authorities to “adhere to” or “substantially comply with” relevant ministerial guidelines, rather than simply having regard to them, for example guidelines concerning the size and quality of design of new multi-unit developments.
There are also statutory requirements to ensure that where property, including units in multi-unit developments, are being sold from plans, scalable drawings and measurements must be given, and the development of appropriate standard covenants for inclusion in the title deeds and conveyances of units in multi-unit developments. I presume that will be one of the issues to be addressed in the meeting to be held between the relevant Minister and the Law Society.
It is a question of pulling all those together. Various Departments are involved, including those dealing with the environment, planning and development, as well as justice and other issues. If the quickest way to do this is to pull this together into an omnibus Bill, it is the way we will proceed.
Deputy Leo Varadkar: Will that omnibus Bill be published in this session?
Deputy Terence Flanagan: That is the question.
The Taoiseach: We will work through the processes I have outlined and have the Attorney General certify and validate what is being proposed as being legally sound. We will make a decision at that stage as to the best way to proceed. That is the up to date position.
Deputy Joe Costello: I will introduce the dreaded “L” word and add to the woes of the Government by mentioning the Lisbon treaty. In three weeks the Taoiseach will attend a plenary session and make a presentation on the way forward to heads of state in Brussels. What steps are being taken at present or what proposals are in train?
An Ceann Comhairle: It is impossible to have a debate on it now, as the Deputy knows well.
Deputy Joe Costello: I am not looking for a debate. I would like those in the Chamber to be informed of what the Government is proposing in terms of any legislation, the formation of any committees or any practical or pragmatic proposals to deal with the matter.
An Ceann Comhairle: Is legislation promised in this area?
The Taoiseach: The Deputy will be aware we have been in discussion with parties of the Opposition about the matter. I understand it is intended to bring forward a motion tomorrow for the establishment of a committee as discussed.
Deputy Dan Neville: Some three weeks ago statistics relating to suicide indicated a 12% increase over last year. There is much concern regarding the underreporting of suicide and that some coroners will not bring in a verdict of suicide. The Coroners Bill is before the Seanad but is it planned to have it enacted before Christmas?
The Taoiseach: We will await its progress in the Seanad in the first instance.
An Ceann Comhairle: Seanad Éireann has passed the Intoxicating Liquor Bill 2008, without amendment.
Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach (Deputy Pat Carey): I move:
Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (Deputy John Gormley): I move: “That Second Stage be taken now.”
Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (Deputy John Gormley): I move: “That the Bill be now read a Second Time.”
The main purpose of this Bill is to implement the recommendations in the report of the independent Constituency Commission published in October 2007 on revisions to Dáil and European Parliament constituencies. In addition, the Bill amends the law relating to the constituency revision process and provides for the introduction of alternative procedures for the nomination of non-party candidates at European Parliament and local elections.
Parts 2 and 3 of the Bill provide for implementation of the recommendations of the Constituency Commission’s report on Dáil and European Parliament constituencies. In considering these parts of the Bill, it might be helpful for Members if I outline the principal constitutional and legal requirements in these matters.
[40]Article 16.2.3° of the Constitution provides that “The ratio between the number of members to be elected at any time for each constituency and the population of each constituency, as ascertained at the last preceding census, shall, so far as it is practicable, be the same throughout the country.” This provision was considered by the courts in two cases in 1961 — the High Court case of John O’Donovan versus the Attorney General, and the Supreme Court reference case relating to the Electoral (Amendment) Bill 1961. It was again considered in a High Court case last year taken by Deputies McGrath and Murphy where it was argued that the constituencies on which the general election was being fought did not comply with the constitutional requirement contained in that Article. In none of these cases did the courts quantify the precise degree of equality of representation required by the Constitution.
Examples of significant disparities in terms of population to seat ratio, which exist at present based on census 2006, include: 21% above the national average in Dublin West; 18% above the national average in Dublin North; 14% above the national average in Meath East; and 10% below the national average in Dún Laoghaire.
Article 16.2.4° of the Constitution provides that “The Oireachtas shall revise the constituencies at least once in every twelve years, with due regard to changes in distribution of the population”. This, in effect, requires that the constituencies be revised whenever population changes, as shown in a census, lead to population to Deputy ratios in individual constituencies that are significantly out of line with the national average. That is the case at present and the Oireachtas must respond accordingly.
Section 5 of the Electoral Act 1997 provides that on publication of the relevant CSO report on a census, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government must set up a commission to report on Dáil and European constituencies. The terms of reference of the commission are specified in the Act, which are, of course, subordinate to the relevant constitutional provisions.
As Deputies will be aware, for more than half a century after the founding of the State, changes in constituencies were formulated and advanced by the Government of the day. The first Constituency Commission was established in 1977 to report on constituencies for the direct elections to the European Parliament in 1979. The first Dáil Constituency Commission was established in 1980 on a non-statutory basis and such commissions continued to report on constituency revisions until the enactment of the Electoral Act 1997. The commission which reported in October 2007 is the third statutory commission established under the Act.
Volume 1 of the 2006 census reports was published in April 2007. This showed an increase in total population from 2002 of more than 322,000, giving a total 2006 population in the State of 4.24 million. In 2006, therefore, each of the 166 Deputies represented an average of 25,541 persons.
As I indicated, the detailed population figures for each constituency showed there were serious variances from the national average population per Deputy in a number of constituencies. Nineteen constituencies had variances from national average representation in excess of 5% and 11 had deviations in excess of 8%. The most under-represented constituencies were Dublin West and Dublin North with variances of +21% and +18% respectively. The most over-represented constituencies were Dún Laoghaire and Cork North-Central with variances of -10% each. Clearly, significant changes have become necessary in some areas to secure equality of representation between constituencies based on the 2006 census.
In accordance with section 5 of the 1997 Act, a Constituency Commission was established in April 2007, chaired by Mr. Justice Iarfhlaith O’Neill. The other members of the commission [41]were Mr. Kieran Coughlan, Clerk of the Dáil, Ms Deirdre Lane, Clerk of the Seanad, Ms Geraldine Tallon, Secretary General of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and Ms Emily O’Reilly, the Ombudsman. I thank the commission members for the conscientious and impartial manner in which they carried out their work.
The main features of the Constituency Commission’s report in relation to Dáil constituencies are as follows. First, there is to be no change in the current level of Dáil membership, that is, 166 seats. Second, the total number of constituencies is to remain at 43 and no change should be made in 19 constituencies. Third, the Louth and Dublin West constituencies are to increase by one seat and changes are to be made in the areas covered by the constituencies. Fourth, the Dún Laoghaire and Limerick East constituencies are to be reduced by one seat, with the latter constituency to be renamed as Limerick City, and there are to be changes in the areas covered by the constituencies. Fifth, the area and name of two constituencies, Kerry North and Limerick West, should be amended to Kerry North-West Limerick and Limerick, respectively. Finally, changes, many of them small, should be made to the area of 18 other constituencies.
The main features of the Constituency Commission’s report in relation to European Parliament constituencies are, in the context of 12 Irish members of the Parliament, a reduction of a seat in the Dublin constituency and the transfer of the population of counties Longford and Westmeath from the East to the North-West constituency.
The Government has accepted the Constituency Commission’s recommendations as a single package of interlinked measures bringing Dáil and European Parliament constituencies into line with prevailing population patterns, in accordance with constitutional imperatives and other legal requirements. We all recognise that it may have been possible for the Constituency Commission to suggest solutions other than those recommended in the report and I appreciate fully the concerns that arise, including those relating to breaches of county boundaries. However, the commission has completed its work in accordance with its statutory terms of reference and its independent determination of the issues should now be respected. By cherry-picking individual recommendations, we would undermine the reasons for establishing an independent commission in the first place. It is the Government’s firm view that the precedent of adhering to the Constituency Commission’s advice should be followed.
Part 4 of the Bill revises the procedures to be followed by Constituency Commissions. In terms of the form of this element of the Bill, I decided that in view of the importance of these procedures, the amendments should be made by way of repeal and re-enactment with amendment of the full part of the Electoral Act 1997 dealing with the constituency revision process. In this way, Members, in considering the Bill and other subsequent Bills, will be able to see in one place the full text of the law relating to a Constituency Commission.
As regards substance, most of the existing law in this area is being retained. The main change is that future commissions will be established on publication by the Central Statistics Office, following a census of population, of the census report setting out the preliminary result of the census in respect of the total population of the State. In addition, a commission will have to report as soon as may be after publication by the CSO of the census report setting out the final result of the census in respect of the total population of the State, in any event not later than three months after such publication. Previously, commissions had to await final results before starting work and then had six months to complete their task.
This change responds fully to the High Court judgment in the Murphy and McGrath case in June 2007 in which the court concluded that, having regard to the constitutional requirements and high quality of CSO preliminary population data, consideration should be given to initiation of constituency revisions on publication of the CSO preliminary report on a census, [42]with the revision work being completed when the final data are available. This is an important new provision and I hope it will be welcomed on all sides.
I am also taking the opportunity to update and improve the consultation processes followed by a Constituency Commission in the course of its work. The Bill requires a commission to allow at least three months for the making of submissions to it. At present, a commission has discretion as to the length of time allowed and this is inevitably influenced by the six months’ time limit on a commission to produce its report. With future commissions commencing work on the basis of preliminary data, greater time can be now made available for consultation with interested organisations and individuals. I have made specific provision for this in the Bill to ensure a fuller opportunity for political and wider public input to the revision process.
The Bill also expressly provides that background information statements prepared by the Constituency Commission are to be made available free of charge. Previous provision that fees had to be paid to obtain copies of submissions made to a commission has been replaced by a requirement that they also are to be made available free of charge. A requirement in the existing law regarding physical inspection of submissions at specified times and places has been revised to allow the commission to decide on the detailed arrangements for making these publicly available. In this way, best use can be made, for example, of the Internet to give people access to submissions.
Taken together, these are significant and worthwhile improvements to the consultation processes followed by Constituency Commissions during the course of their work. However, the essential features of commission procedures which have operated effectively over many years are retained.
This Part also updates both fines provisions in sections 14 and 15 of the 1997 Act and references in the law to specific offices and other legislation which have changed in the decade since the Act came into operation.
The final elements of the Bill, Parts 5 and 6, provide alternative procedures for nomination of non-party candidates at European Parliament and local elections. The need for alternative procedures for nomination of such candidates arises from a judgment of the Supreme Court in November 2006 in the cases of King, Cooney and Riordan v. the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, the Attorney General and others.
The judgment in question deals with the assentor requirements for the nomination of Dáil candidates who are not members of registered political parties. In particular, the court upheld the main requirement for obtaining assentors to help ensure the proper regulation of elections but struck down the provision requiring personal attendance by all assentors at a single location in a constituency on the basis that it can involve excessive demands on the time of such assentors. The court found that the provision is disproportionate to the objective to be achieved, namely, the due authentication of nomination papers, and declared the relevant section of the Electoral Act 1992 to be unconstitutional.
The implications of the Supreme Court judgment were dealt with by the enactment of the Electoral (Amendment) Act 2007. Due, however, to the limited time then available and the urgent need for enactment and implementation before the 2007 general election, the text of the Act provided for alternative nomination procedures — deposits or assents — for non-party candidates at Dáil elections only. Corresponding procedures for European Parliament and local elections are now required in advance of the elections next year and are included in the Bill on that basis. The procedures proposed follow those enacted in 2007 in respect of Dáil elections.
Parts 5 and 6 provide for two alternative mechanisms to regulate the nomination of candidates at European Parliament and local elections who are not in possession of certificates of [43]political affiliation. These are: by way of assents, requiring the completion of statutory declarations — 60 in the case of European Parliament elections and 15 in respect of local elections — by assentors in the constituency or local electoral area, as appropriate, which may be witnessed by a commissioner for oaths, a peace commissioner, a notary public, a garda or a local authority official; or by way of the candidate, or someone on his or her behalf, lodging a deposit with the returning officer —€1,800 for European Parliament elections, €100 in the case of the election of members of a county or city council or €50 in the case of any other local election.
The nomination procedures for candidates not in possession of certificates of political affiliation standing at European Parliament and local elections are being brought into line with the procedures in place for such candidates at Dáil elections. This alignment of the nomination procedure represents a necessary improvement on the previous arrangements and fully meets the relevant constitutional requirements.
Part 6 makes the required amendments to nomination procedures by way of substituting new articles in the local election regulations. Since the publication of the Bill, I have been advised by the Attorney General that, consistent with developments in the law relating to the use of primary and secondary legislation, it is desirable to supplement these proposed regulations with corresponding principles and policies in the parent primary legislation — in this instance, the Local Government Act 2001. I will, therefore, be bringing forward a limited number of amendments on Committee Stage for this purpose. It is important to emphasise that these additions to the Bill will not change the substance of the new nomination procedures at local elections and are designed solely to give fuller legal effect to the proposals already contained in the Bill.
Members will recall that when I made a statement regarding the Constituency Commission report in the House on 28 May last, I stressed the importance of maintaining the long-established practice of implementing the recommendations of constituency commissions in full. The Bill before the House does this. The Government and I believe that this is the correct approach. The Bill also brings forward significant and worthwhile improvements to the processes followed by constituency commissions in their work, as well as putting in place measures to facilitate the holding of the upcoming European and local elections.
I commend the Bill to the House.
Deputy Terence Flanagan: I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate on the Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2008 on behalf of the Fine Gael Party. However, I am somewhat disappointed that we are not engaging in a debate on the economy. I am of the view that it would have been a great deal more appropriate to discuss the state of the economy rather than this Bill.
The Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2008 aims to bring into law the Constituency Commission’s report on how Dáil and European Parliament election constituencies should be drawn for the immediate future. The commission’s report — an 84-page document — was compiled by people who are apolitical and who went about their work in a clearly defined manner set down by the Oireachtas. The commission was led by Mr. Justice O’Neill, a judge of the High Court, and included among its membership the Clerk of the Dáil and his counterpart in the Seanad. These individuals should be commended on going about their work in a professional manner and completing it within the defined guidelines set down for them. The Constituency Commission should always remain independent. Politicians should refrain from making public comments in respect of its report.
We were obliged to wait an unnecessarily long time between the Bill’s publication and the commencement of the debate on it. The Constituency Commission’s report was published in October 2007 but it is only at this late stage that we are debating the Bill. As Deputy Hogan [44]stated on previous occasions, there has been an unjustifiable delay on the part of the Government and the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government — who has direct responsibility for this matter — in giving effect to the recommendations of the commission. The Minister may be in breach of constitutional law and open to challenge as a result of this delay.
The Government ignored the report for almost a year. This is despite a High Court judgment in 2007 to the effect that the Government would be obliged to implement the recommendations of the commission with minimum delay. The latter has not happened and that is not acceptable.
I made representations to the Constituency Commission in respect of my constituency, which, I am delighted to say, remains intact. There were rumours in the media in the run up to the publication of the commission’s report that the Dublin North-East and Dublin North-Central constituencies would be merged but this proved not to be the case. That is a good result for public representatives and their constituents, who desire continuity and who want to enjoy the same level of service to which they have become accustomed.
The constituency of Dublin North-East has been in existence since the foundation of the State and it would have been a shame if it had disappeared. It has, however, been altered, with Edenmore, which, according to the 2006 census, has a population of 2,758 people transferring to the Dublin North-Central constituency. However, the areas of Portmarnock, north and south, and Balgriffin, with a combined population of 9,201, have been transferred to Dublin North-East. I welcome this development, which means that my constituency has enjoyed a net gain of 6,443 people. The Deputies who represent Dublin North-East will be obliged to listen to the concerns of these individuals. The people to whom I refer will expect a first-class service and will want their views to be represented in Dáil Éireann. I will be obliged to face greater challenges because I have a much larger constituency to represent and this will give rise to an increase in the number of queries and issues of concern with which I will be asked to deal.
As a result of the Constituency Commission’s report, Dublin West and Louth will gain seats. That is fair and is in line with the increases in population in both constituencies. However, matters will be more difficult for those Members who represent Limerick East and Dún Laoghaire because each constituency will lose a seat. Members of the public in the latter constituencies will also encounter difficulties because their level of representation will decrease.
Some 20 other constituencies have been revised in this report, with 19 Dáil constituencies remaining unchanged. Eleven five-seat, 15 four-seat and 17 three-seat constituencies are proposed. Of the 20 constituencies that have changed, there is controversy, particularly in respect of County Leitrim which is unable to directly elect a Deputy because the county is divided in two. Of the 300 submissions received by the Constituency Commission, the vast majority of the objections came from individuals in County Leitrim.
There is also controversy in some other constituencies where county boundaries have been breached by the Constituency Commission in its review of constituencies. As the Minister stated, county boundaries have been breached in Kerry-Limerick, Offaly-Tipperary and Louth-Meath. The commission has tried to avoid this but it is inevitable due to population changes. The national average is 25,541 people per Deputy.
In regard to the European Parliament elections, the main change proposed is that the Dublin constituency will lose one seat. That will make next year’s election a lot more competitive. Dublin currently has four seats but that will be reduced to three. A transfer of population from counties Longford and Westmeath from Ireland East to Ireland North-West has been proposed in the report.
[45]Sadly, I was surprised to note that only eight public submissions were made to the Constituency Commission in advance of its report regarding the European Parliament elections. There is a disconnect between the people and what goes on in Europe, and that was demonstrated by the result of the referendum on the Lisbon treaty. Parties on both sides of the House need to address that in advance of next year’s European Parliament elections.
The Electoral (Amendment) Bill also includes the procedures to be followed by future Constituency Commissions. In future, their work will begin once the census data are published, which is very welcome. Currently, it does not happen until a much later stage in the process. In any event, the work of the Constituency Commission must be completed within three months of the publication of the data. This will ensure the commission report is available much sooner and that constituencies are revised on a much more regular basis. I hope that when the next census data are published, the Government will act in a more timely manner than has happened.
The Bill will also revise the procedures that were adopted in the general election in respect of the nomination of non-party candidates in European Parliament and local elections. An independent person who is not a member of a political party needs his or her nomination paper signed by 30 people, excluding the candidate and any proposer, who are registered as Dáil electors in the constituency concerned before going forward as a candidate in the general election. European Parliament elections will now require 60 people to sign the nomination papers while 15 people will be needed to sign the papers in local elections.
In lieu of obtaining assents, a candidate may choose the alternative of making a deposit which will be returned if the person receives in excess of one quarter of the quota, otherwise he or she will have to forfeit his or her deposit.
Fine Gael supports the work of the Constituency Commission. It is an independent group of people which goes about its work in a very professional manner. It has produced this report which should be respected by all Members of Dáil Éireann. Our party will bring forward some amendments on Committee Stage. We were disappointed that the Minister did not act in a much more timely manner and that the Bill was not published almost immediately after the publication of the Constituency Commission report. We commend the Bill to the House and look forward to debating it further on Committee Stage.
Deputy Ciarán Lynch: Having listened to the Minister and Deputy Terence Flanagan speak about this Bill and considering the Dáil has been in recess for a number of months, I wondered what would I expect to hear debated in the Chamber today if I was a visitor in the Visitors Gallery. If I was a school boy leaving the Visitors Gallery today and I asked my teacher what Members were talking about, the response would be that politicians were talking about themselves again.
We are discussing an important issue but given the day that it is in it and what has happened over several months, serious questions must be asked about the priority issues for the Government. This Bill has been doing the rounds for quite a while and the issue does not need to be resolved before Christmas. According to everyone’s calculations, the next general election will not take place for another four years and there may well be another census before then which will make the facts and figures over which we are deliberating today obsolete. A school boy leaving the Visitors Gallery today would be of the impression that most of the time what happens in Leinster House has little connection to what is happening outside it.
Having said that, important points need to be made about this Bill. The Labour Party fully supports the decisions on constituency boundaries made by the commission which my Labour Party colleague, Deputy Brendan Howlin, provided for in the Electoral Act 1997. The Govern[46]ment and the Oireachtas should accept the final report of the commission and enact legislation to provide for the changes recommended. The key aspect of this is the independence of the commission, to which I will refer later.
I have full confidence in the independence and integrity of the members of the commission. However, like the rest of us, they are not infallible, which, unfortunately, some of the recommendations made in the most recent report seem to indicate. We do not know how the commission reaches its conclusions as, quite properly, it conducts its business in private. The current procedure is that the commission is established and given its terms of reference by the Minister. This is based on provisions in section 6 of the Electoral Act 1997. The commission then invites submissions from the public and interested groups and in due course it issues its final report. There is a sequence in place that needs serious examination. The Minister indicated the retiming of the commission in regard to the publication of the register but there are outstanding matters there.
In reviewing the way in which the current system is scheduled, I strongly believe the law should be changed to allow for a two-stage process prior to finalisation of the report. This could be done by the commission, having considered initial submissions, publishing a draft report and inviting further submissions from the public and interested parties. That is not provided for in the Bill.
There is a problem in respect of the sequence in that a fait accompli is being commented on by Members and the public. I am sure the people of North Kerry and Limerick West have opinions on this. However, there is no facility for them to give their views because the process has moved on. If such a provision was in place, it would at least allow people, who believe a particular recommendation is illogical, as the North Kerry-Limerick West case may well be, irrational or inconsistent with the commission’s terms of reference, to make their point.
Sitting suspended at 1.30 p.m. and resumed at 2.30 p.m.
111. Deputy Leo Varadkar asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the action she is taking to respond to financial mismanagement within FÁS as revealed by recent internal audit reports; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31354/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): Regular internal audits are part of the normal governance process of any organisation and I am aware that, of the many internal audits carried out into both FÁS activities and projects funded by FÁS, some have shown up irregularities and possible occasions of fraud. FÁS has referred two cases of possible fraudulent activity to the Garda Síochána. Some internal audits have also indicated areas where management or financial controls could be improved. In my view, the process of internal audit is an important, appropriate and normal activity in any organisation.
[47]The Comptroller and Auditor General in his report on non-commercial semi-State bodies, published in May 2008, reviewed the issues raised in a specific FÁS internal audit report. I discussed this matter with the director general of FÁS and expressed my concerns about the issues raised by both the Comptroller and Auditor General and the internal audit reports and, in particular, the need to secure value for money in public expenditure.
On my instruction, the Secretary General of my Department wrote to FÁS on 30 June 2008 seeking the formal assurance of the director general of FÁS that the practices outlined in the FÁS internal and Comptroller and Auditor General audit reports had ceased; that adequate systems and controls are in place to prevent any recurrence; and requesting details of the remedial actions taken by FÁS in respect of the issues raised by the audit reports, with quarterly progress reports on the implementation of the audit reports’ recommendations. The FÁS director general replied on 1 July 2008 confirming that the unacceptable practices referred to in the audit reports had ceased and that adequate systems and controls are now in place to prevent any recurrence. The next quarterly report is due at the end of September.
In order to address wider continuing concerns about the management and control systems in place in FÁS generally, and following further discussions with the chairman and director general of FÁS, I have also decided that there should be an external investigation into the effectiveness of the agency’s financial management and control systems. This examination is to ensure that appropriate public procurement procedures exist to prevent or detect irregularities or wrongdoing and, in particular, examine and report on the activities of the FÁS corporate affairs area since 2000. The Comptroller and Auditor General has agreed to carry out such an investigation with a view to producing a special report on the matter. The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General will be furnished to me by him and will be presented by me to the Dáil in accordance with standard operating procedures.
Deputy Leo Varadkar: I thank the Minister for her reply. I welcome the fact that this investigation has been requested by her and that it will occur. The response was slow, but a slow response is better than none. At a time of rising unemployment when we have a skills mismatch between the jobs available and those without jobs, it is important we have a functioning training agency. While many employees of FÁS do a good job and much good community work is done through the community employment, CE, schemes, it is clear that FÁS is failing as an organisation and the situation with regard to those at the top of the organisation is unsatisfactory.
I have two crucial questions on the issue. Will the Minister publish the terms of reference of the inquiry and will she assure me that it will not be limited to the corporate affairs section of FÁS? It appears that the irregularities, problems and mismanagement of FÁS go much further than corporate affairs and I would not like to see one department of the organisation hung or scapegoated. Will the Minister ask the Comptroller and Auditor General to look at the in-company training and services to business department of FÁS in particular? Both Deputy Kenny and I warned the Government about the issues in FÁS a year ago, but it did not listen properly at the time. Perhaps the Minister will listen to us now and ensure the Comptroller and Auditor General looks at that area also.
Deputy Mary Coughlan: I have initiated an overall review of FÁS and that process has commenced. This overall project is outside the specific remit I have asked the Comptroller and Auditor General to consider. The Deputy is aware that matter will also be discussed at the beginning of October in the context of public accounts. If the Comptroller and Auditor General is of the view then that there is a need to examine something further, I am sure he will take that into consideration. There are, therefore, two processes taking place currently, one an overall review which had been considered by the previous Minister and is now under way and the other the specific inquiry on the issue mentioned.
[48]No more than all of my colleagues, I am anxious for the betterment of FÁS. As the Deputy said, FÁS will be pivotal in supporting people who need upskilling and new employment opportunities. Therefore, I am anxious to ensure the corporate governance issues are addressed. Equally, I wish to ensure FÁS is given the support it requires to allow it do its work. For that reason, my preferred option is to have a specific investigation by the Comptroller and Auditor General and until we receive the outcome of that inquiry, I prefer not to impose any restrictions on the matter.
Deputy Leo Varadkar: I am disappointed the investigation will be limited to corporate affairs. The Minister can be assured that Fine Gael will continue to pursue the irregularities that are occurring in all departments of FÁS, not just that one.
When we discussed the issue previously at Question Time, the Minister told us she was satisfied with the assurances given to her by the director general of FÁS and by senior management. Is she still satisfied with the assurances she was given by them in June or, in light of her recent announcement, has her view changed? What caused that change of view?
Deputy Mary Coughlan: There is nothing to lead me to believe the situation is otherwise. The overall review of the activities of FÁS is very important and commenced in the summer of this year. I am very anxious that review takes place in the context of deciding what the priorities of such a large organisation should be. Our view is the priorities must be on upskilling and supporting those who have found themselves out of work. However, in the overall context, the review of the workings of FÁS is taking place currently.
On the other issue, it is important that if the Deputy has particular concerns he discusses them with me and I am available in this regard. Neither I nor any of my colleagues will stand over the misappropriation of funds in any organisation and will work to the best of our ability to ensure this does not happen. When issues are raised, they will be investigated thoroughly. I do not want to pre-empt the outcome of the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report, but if there are issues to be addressed, I will wholeheartedly address them. FÁS has indicated it will do the same.
Deputy Leo Varadkar: What are the terms of reference for the inquiry?
Deputy Mary Coughlan: I have not decided on the terms of reference. The Comptroller and Auditor General is anxious to await the discussions in the House. He would like to consider the discussions of the Committee of Public Accounts before we bring the terms of reference to a finality.
112. Deputy Willie Penrose asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the steps she is taking to stem the number of job losses, in view of the fact that the numbers on the live register have increased by more than 70,000 in little more than 12 months; if she will provide new training opportunities for those who have lost their jobs; if she will encourage the creation of new employment opportunities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31094/08]
113. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the steps she is taking to address the challenges within the labour market as highlighted by the quarterly national household survey; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31355/08]
[49]Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Billy Kelleher): I propose to take Questions Nos. 112 and 113 together.
The live register is not designed to measure unemployment. It includes part-time, seasonal and casual workers entitled to unemployment benefit. The total number of people recorded on the live register for August 2008 is 247,384, showing an increase of about 73,000 in the 12-month period.
Employment and unemployment are measured by the quarterly national household survey, QNHS, and published by the Central Statistics Office. In the second quarter of 2008, the most recent quarter for which data is available, employment has increased by 6,900 over 12 months to a current total of 2,108,500. Unemployment increased by 15,200 in the same period to 115,500. The unemployment rate was 5.2%, which compares favourably to the EU 27 members’ average unemployment rate of 6.8%.
While the level of employment growth is disappointing, the fall in employment in the construction sector in the past year is a major factor. The recent easing of employment growth comes after many years of extraordinary growth in the labour force and employment, which could not have lasted indefinitely. Since the second quarter of 2005, employment has grown by 176,900 with unemployment increasing by only 29,000 in the same period. It is generally accepted that the rate of growth in the economy and in employment experienced over the past few years could not continue.
FÁS, as the national training and employment authority, is providing a range of proactive job-related services, supports and programmes, to assist individuals to return to the labour market.
As regards the economic situation and the impact on the labour market, the focus is now on flexibility in the delivery of employment and training programmes so those who are affected by the slowdown and by unemployment can be assisted appropriately and in good time.
FÁS and the Department of Social and Family Affairs are working together to respond quickly to the rising live register numbers. For example, they have agreed that redundant workers will be referred immediately to FÁS rather than wait for three months on the live register as was previously the case. FÁS has also established a training fund to enable a speedy response to identified re-training needs for low skilled and redundant craft workers. Alongside the local employment services provided by area based partnerships, FÁS is currently gearing up its employment services to provide increased capacity for expected increased referrals from the live register. FÁS will be providing a range of certified short, flexible and modular programmes designed to upskill redundant workers so they can enhance their prospects of securing employment. A number of programmes are already in place and the frequency and range of these will be expanded over the coming months. A range of actions is being implemented by FÁS for those affected by the construction slowdown, including a focus on providing retraining opportunities for redundant construction workers in emerging areas within the construction sector. This will include retraining in the following — the installation of sustainable technologies, environmental activity and compliance and regulatory work. FÁS will also assist individuals in any way it can to seek employment in construction in other EU countries. FÁS has held a European construction jobs fair for employers from other EU countries.
Discussions concerning the 2009 budget are ongoing. The budget for FÁS is agreed on the basis of detailed discussions between FÁS, my Department and the Department of Finance in the context of the annual Estimates process and will be announced on budget day. My Department is commencing a review of the labour market programmes, including training programmes, that it funds. The review will examine these programmes in terms of efficiency and effectiveness and will draw conclusions about the adequacy and balance of resources in the [50]context of current and future labour market policy challenges taking into account the recommendations of the national skills strategy.
The enterprise development agencies of my Department, including IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland, are working to ensure that we continue to grow the economy and jobs even in the current more challenging environment. The pipeline of new business for which IDA Ireland is competing is as strong as at any time in recent years. To facilitate this we need to ensure that our competitiveness is sustained into the future.
An Leas-Cheann Comhairle: I ask Members to ensure their mobile telephones are switched off and not simply on silent mode.
Deputy Willie Penrose: I do not know whether I am living on the same planet as the Government and the Minister of State. This Government is imbued with inertia, as illustrated by the response I received today, which can be best described as lethargic and limp. Is the Minister of State trying to tell me that the lists of people who have lost jobs in Waterford, Cappoquin, Tipperary, Tullamore, Cork and Edenderry are figments of my imagination? I am aware that projects are in the pipeline, including one announced by the Minister in Athlone, but these have been under development for the past two years. They did not turn up last night.
The Government is aware that unemployment levels have increased significantly. The HSE is reported to be about to shed 1,800 jobs. Company liquidations rose by 71% during the first half of the year. In August, 247,384 people were on the live register, which represents an increase of 73,178 on the figure for August 2007, 65,935 on the beginning of the year and 45,628 since the election of Deputy Cowen as Taoiseach.
Is the Minister of State aware that the county enterprise boards, which have been an important stimulant for the economy at the micro level, have not had been able to spend one shilling in capital funding since April? Is it not time to expand the remit of the boards to fill the gap between Enterprise Ireland’s activities and what the boards are permitted to do? Let us have some innovation rather than sterility.
If the Government wants to take positive action, why can it not redirect the construction sector it loves so well by bringing forward a major schools building programme? This would give employment to those who lose their jobs in construction, provide much needed accommodation for the 40,000 children currently housed in prefabs and allow the State to offer softer tender prices and better value for money. Why not proceed with a national insulation scheme? The Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Ryan, believes such a scheme is already in place. Talk about living in an ivory tower; the moment he gets off his bicycle he forgets where he is going.
The country’s county councils do not even have a shilling to pay disabled person grants for mobility and housing adaptation. Small construction companies could focus on this type of project, thereby creating employment. These grants also provided important comforts to elderly people by allowing them to stay in their own homes.
Why is the IDA trying to sell lands which it bought in 1973 at the current market value to local authorities which want to develop incubator units that would stimulate the economy?
The Minister of State should get on the road with new ideas and new innovation because that is what we need. The Government is too apathetic and complacent. Anybody can steer a ship on a calm sea but the mark of greatness is steering it through rough waters. The Government has failed that test miserably.
[51]Deputy Billy Kelleher: The Deputy asked a number of questions and I will try to deal with the issues of substance.
Deputy Willie Penrose: They are all substantive. I will take no snide comments from the Government benches. I deal with real people.
Deputy Seán Haughey: The Deputy is a man of substance himself.
Deputy Willie Penrose: I always stood for what I believed in.
Deputy Seán Haughey: So do we.
Deputy Billy Kelleher: I admire that in the Deputy.
Deputy Willie Penrose: I may disagree with that.
Deputy Billy Kelleher: The quarterly national household survey, which is published by the Central Statistics Office, compiles figures for people who are unemployed. The live register by itself is not as accurate because the people reported may seek benefits as casual or seasonal workers.
Deputy Willie Penrose: They are all workers.
Deputy Billy Kelleher: In regard to the IDA and the pipeline, the Deputy should not dismiss the challenges that exist——
Deputy Willie Penrose: I am not dismissing them.
Deputy Billy Kelleher: ——and the competition in the global market for foreign direct investment. We are competitive with other countries in terms of a flexible workforce, low corporation taxes and highly educated third-level graduates and Ireland is actively pursuing direct investment.
For fear that the Deputy takes these matters for granted, it is important that we set out the success of IDA Ireland rather than talk ourselves down. Zimmer Holdings, a global leader in medical devices, is establishing a new €88 million manufacturing operations base in Shannon, County Clare and is expected to create 250 jobs. This is a collaborative effort between IDA Ireland and Shannon Development. Unum is establishing a strategic software centre in Carlow town with the support of IDA Ireland. This investment will create up to 200 high level positions. Citco fund services is to expand its Cork city hedge fund administrative operations, which will create 150 jobs over the next three years. Ely Lilly is to invest up to €400 million in a multi-phase programme to establish a bio-pharmaceutical development and manufacturing facility in Kinsale. This investment will bring up to 200 jobs over the next five years. Genzyme, a leading global biotechnology company, is to invest €130 million at its Irish operations plant in Waterford. This investment will create 170 highly skilled positions and significantly increase the manufacturing capacity of the facility over the next three years. It is important that we outline the success of the IDA in actively encouraging FDI.
When Ministers go abroad, we actively sell Ireland as a place that is open and flexible, with the capacity to receive direct investment.
The Minister of State, Deputy McGuinness, has met representatives of Enterprise Ireland and the county enterprise boards. At present, 56 community enterprise applications are being assessed, which is a substantial number.
[52]Deputy Damien English: How many of them can get money?
Deputy Denis Naughten: I wish to focus on the quarterly national household study to which the Minister of State referred. The study has revealed an increase of 6,900 in employment over the past 12 months. However, if the figures are studied in detail, the number of Irish nationals in employment has dropped by 14,800, while employment of non-Irish nationals has increased by 21,500. Is the Minister aware that, at present, non-nationals are out-competing Irish nationals in the employment sector? In manufacturing, for example, there is a 12.6% differential between Irish and non-Irish employment rates. The figure is 12.4% for the wholesale and retail sector and, amazingly, in the construction sector the differential is 12.8%. Part of this is a result of immigrants improving their language skills and moving up the value chain within employment. That is a positive element in our economy. However, there are underlying concerns that must be addressed.
Does the Government have plans to examine those underlying trends and carry out an investigation into the reason for them? Is it the case, for example, that Irish people are not applying for those jobs or are they not getting the jobs for one reason or other, perhaps because they do not have the appropriate skills? Is it the case that the jobs are being created in parts of the country that do not suit the Irish workforce — the migrant workforce is more flexible in moving around the country — or is it due to the work patterns available? It is critical that this trend is examined. We must ensure that indigenous employees can compete effectively for those jobs. As migrants move up the value chain due to their improving language skills and qualifications, it is important that we ensure Irish workers actively compete for employment.
Deputy Billy Kelleher: Some years ago the Government — the Irish people endorsed the decision subsequently in a general election — opened up our labour market. Is the Deputy implying that we should have a green card system for other EU citizens to work here or vice versa?
Deputy Denis Naughten: I am asking a question.
Deputy Billy Kelleher: In the event of an Irish person wishing to work in another European country, should there be stipulations and regulations on their access to that labour market?
Deputy Denis Naughten: Is the Minister afraid to answer the question?
Deputy Billy Kelleher: This is an integral part of the EU. With regard to immigrants to this country, employers are obliged to comply with employment law. Every employee is entitled to a minimum wage. Where there are employment regulation orders, EROs, or registered employment agreements, REAs, the employer is obliged to pay the rate that is struck and lodged before the Labour Court. If there is exploitation, it is an offence under labour law. We have increased the number of labour inspectors and established the National Employment Rights Authority to ensure that workers, regardless of whether they are Irish or non-nationals, receive the going rates of the labour market as lodged before the Labour Court either in the REAs or EROs. We would be concerned if there was exploitation of any individual.
With regard to students, the Government would obviously be concerned if the primary purpose of students coming to this country was not to learn a language but to work. We are conscious of this issue and examining it very seriously.
Deputy Denis Naughten: Will the Minister carry out an investigation?
Deputy Billy Kelleher: An investigation is not needed; what is needed is action, and there will be plenty of that from this side of the House.
114. Deputy Willie Penrose asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if a speech (details supplied) reflected her views; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31095/08]
Deputy Mary Coughlan: I understand that the remarks to which the Deputy refers are those concerning reform of the public sector contained in the speech delivered by my colleague on 12 September. The Minister of State, Deputy John McGuinness, has made it clear that the remarks as delivered reflected his own personal views. The views expressed are some of many sets of views as to how the public sector should be conducting its business on behalf of the taxpayer in 2008 and beyond.
The Government has listened to views from all sides of public sector reform debate and decided on a course of action that involved asking the OECD to undertake a review of the Irish public sector. The OECD Report on Public Sector Reform, which was launched in April of this year, contains a set of key recommendations that we have committed to implement. We have established a task force, whose membership includes respected figures from the private sector, to drive this agenda and I, together with my colleagues in government, will not be found wanting should difficult decisions on reform be required.
It is my view and experience that there are many excellent people working within the public service, many of whom receive modest salaries in return for a lifetime of service to the public. That said, real problems exist. There is a need for more flexibility in the delivery of services to the public, much greater efficiency and better value for money and for further modernisation of systems and working practices. The OECD’s report reflects my views. It recognises the value of the extensive reform efforts undertaken to date in customer service, e-Government, human resources, financial management and better regulation. Implementation of the quality customer service programme has brought about improvements visible to citizens. The performance management development system, PMDS, has resulted in better functioning individual organisations.
Notwithstanding these improvements and reforms, the OECD clearly identified the challenges that remain. It indicates that if we can better sequence future reforms, we can further improve performance and service delivery and achieve greater efficiencies. Furthermore, many of the reform initiatives we have introduced to date have focused largely on the Civil Service, which represents only one tenth of the public sector, as opposed to the broader public service. The public sector needs continuously to review its systems, processes and procedures to ensure that it is responsive and efficient and that it provides high quality, value for money services. In other words, citizens need to be sure that the public service will deliver the services they expect when, where and as needed.
The OECD’s message is clear, as is mine. We must put the public at the centre of our public services. That is our ambition in government and it is at the core of how we are approaching the process of public sector reform.
Deputy Willie Penrose: It is a shameful and broad-brushed attack on the Civil Service and public service. The majority of public servants are decent, hard working people, some of whom are on pitifully low wages and struggling to survive. Clerical officers are an example. Of course, there is an urgent need for public service reform. Everybody knows that and public and civil servants accept it. However, while this slash and burn approach might garner some kudos for the Minister in the right wing press and among right wing commentators, it contributes nothing to the debate about public sector reform.
[54]Many civil servants are stretched to their limits. Does the Minister realise that the Department of Social and Family Affairs is struggling to cope with the collapse in employment and the growth in the live register to the extent that there are 38,000 applications for unemployment benefit still to be processed? The Department does not have enough personnel. I have some specific questions for the Minister. Will she outline what changes she has made in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment since she took office? Does she agree with the Minister of State’s remarks and do they apply to her Department? Is she satisfied that each of the agencies under her remit are, first, value for money; second, being run effectively and, third, well managed? If so, is the Minister of State, Deputy McGuinness, simply looking for favourable headlines? Has the Minister of State’s speech been discussed at the Department’s internal management meetings?
Is the Minister of State talking about cutting the home help service, families’ front-line nursing services, the national educational psychological service or the number of local authority workers, who have already been slashed with the 3% payroll cuts? A number of those workers will be gone and the public will soon realise it when services will no longer be available. Is the Minister talking about cutting the number of gardaí?
The Minister’s party has been in government since 1997. What tangible changes have been implemented since then? If there have been changes, about what is the Minister of State complaining? If there have not been practical changes, why not?
An Leas-Cheann Comhairle: There are 49 seconds for the Minister to reply.
Deputy Mary Coughlan: That is efficiency. Some of the Deputy’s questions were addressed to me in my role as Tánaiste as opposed to my role as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. It is important that there is balance in this area.
Deputy Willie Penrose: I hope I am the balance.
Deputy Billy Kelleher: The Deputy is the counter-balance.
Deputy Mary Coughlan: My experience in the pay talks categorically shows there is an attitudinal change by employers, unions, politicians and the people who work in the public service. We must deal with productivity and flexibility issues; that is the only way services can be provided. There is an acceptance of that. It is hoped that, on the basis of discussions by the unions and employers, we will have agreement on the pay talks, although I do not wish to pre-empt them.
As regards the agencies and changes within the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, I have met many of the people who work for me and with me. I agree with the Deputy, as I stated in my reply, that the work of many people in the public service goes well beyond the financial retribution they are paid because they are part of the public service. Equated to this is a need to ensure flexibility and change.
There is an old saying that one should never ask somebody to do something one would not do oneself. I will be working with officials in my Department to ensure we are receiving value for money, are flexible and are changing and evolving. Reform is about evolving. The Deputy will be aware that the Taoiseach is, as are all Members, committed to public service reform. It is in the context outlined that my Department and agencies will participate in this reform.
[55]The Deputy will be aware that all agencies and their work are to be reviewed prior to the budget. I have views on the matter and they will be expressed by the Minister for Finance in due course.
An Leas-Cheann Comhairle: I will allow a brief supplementary question from Deputy Penrose.
Deputy Willie Penrose: “Do unto others what you would do unto yourself”— one of the first actions of the Taoiseach was the creation of three new posts of Minister of State.
Deputy Mary Coughlan: No, what I said was that one should never ask somebody to do something one would not do oneself.
Deputy Willie Penrose: Let us deal with that issue here and the cost it imposes.
Deputy John McGuinness: I am providing value for money.
Deputy Willie Penrose: Does the Minister agree with the statement made by the Minister of State, Deputy John McGuinness? If so, what practical actions will she take? If the Minister does not agree with him, she should say so.
I would like to know if it is the position of the leading party in Government that the public service is responsible for the condition of the economy.
An Leas-Cheann Comhairle: A final brief reply from the Minister.
Deputy Mary Coughlan: It is hard to answer that question. At the end of the day, the Deputy knows full well that is not the situation. With all due respect, I do not have the time to get into the complexities of why we are experiencing economic difficulties.
It is important to say that the views expressed are my personal views, some of which have been reflected by people outside and within this House. In my view we need public sector reform. Those within the public sector agree we need that reform and are more than happy to work towards achieving it. Arising from the OECD recommendations, we will be taking action, unpalatable or otherwise.
Deputy Penrose will agree that there are those within the public sector who are wrongly vilified and who do not get the support they need for the work they do. We need to take a balanced approach to this issue. As I stated earlier, it is about taking people along, working with them and showing the political leadership to allow that to happen. That is the format on which this will done.
115. Deputy Damien English asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment her views on introducing a new type of work scheme for skilled workers in receipt of social welfare; if there is a potential for linking in new work schemes with current or planned capital infrastructure projects; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31356/08]
Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Jimmy Devins): FÁS as an agency of my Department operates two employment schemes, community employment and job initiative.
[56]Community employment is an active labour market programme designed to provide eligible long-term unemployed people and other disadvantaged persons with an opportunity to engage in useful work within their communities on a fixed term basis. The programme helps unemployed people to progress to the open labour market by breaking their experience of unemployment through a return to work routine and assists them in enhancing-developing their technical and personal skills.
The job initiative programme provides full-time employment for people who are 35 years of age or over, unemployed for five or more years and in receipt of social welfare payments during that period. The main purpose of the programme is to assist long-term unemployed people to prepare for work opportunities by providing participants with work experience, training and development opportunities.
There are no plans to create another employment programme. However, FÁS is working to quickly respond to the changing employment market. In regard to the construction sector, where we have witnessed a substantial number of redundancies during the past 12 months, the Government will continue to work with all of the relevant stakeholders to ensure timely and satisfactory responses to the adjustments taking place. This will include the continued provision of a range of training opportunities for those who lose their jobs in the construction sector. FÁS will also provide retraining to redundant workers in emerging areas of the construction sector which are experiencing growth such as environmental related activity; compliance and regulatory related work; waste management activity; and sustainable energy systems installation. The Government will also continue to promote access for mobile workers to construction jobs elsewhere in the EU.
As regards planned capital infrastructure projects, I would expect that it would be open to unemployed workers to apply for any vacant positions with the relevant contractors.
Deputy Damien English: I cannot thank the Minister of State for his reply as it is not the reply I wanted to hear. I am shocked that there are no new initiatives in this area. The first part of the reply referred to schemes already in place. I and everybody else knows what schemes are already in place. I am disappointed with the Minister of State’s response to this issue which I have raised at committee level, with FÁS and with other agencies. I am asking that the Minister and Ministers of State use their imagination — this is not rocket science — and come up schemes that will match up across various Departments unemployed, well-skilled people with jobs. How hard can that be? Doing so would be more or less cost neutral given the high cost, social and financial, of unemployment.
There is much work to be done in our communities. Many train stations, bus stations and schools are in disrepair and in need of serious maintenance. There is an endless amount of work that could be done during these bad times. This would ensure those who want to work get work. All I am asking is that people use their imaginations. I hope I will hear within the next month or so that the Department has some new ideas in this regard. I was told by FÁS officials at a committee meeting that they would look into this but they had no answers for me some two months later. More than 70,000 or 80,000 people have joined the dole queues. These people are skilled and available to work. What plans are there to match up these people with jobs? I accept a great deal is being done in respect of training.
I hope that the Minister of State can tell me that he and his colleagues are prepared to work during the next couple of months on some new ideas in respect of unemployment relief schemes. Let us try to match up people with work that needs to be done. There are dark times ahead and we should try to prepare for them.
[57]Deputy Jimmy Devins: I thank the Deputy for his suggestions. It is important to stress again that FÁS, because of the downturn in the construction industry in particular, is actively engaged in meeting people who have been, unfortunately, made redundant and providing them with a personal work programme to assist them in returning to employment. All of the suggestions made must be considered in the context of the forthcoming budget.
The Government is open to new ideas and if Deputy English has any, he should put them forward for consideration.
Deputy Damien English: I have no problem putting forward ideas and I will do so. I have set them out for the Minister of State. Many people are awaiting the commencement of work under the disabled persons and essential repairs grants schemes, schools are awaiting assistance under the summer work schemes and many of our train stations and bus stations are in need of serious repair. I have raised this issue at committee level where we are supposed to do good work on a cross-party basis. Why can we not match up, through the local authorities and FÁS, unemployed people with work in these areas. I accept what is required is a type of voluntary scheme but it must be an attractive one. Surely, it would not be that hard to do this.
I raised this issue with the Department more than a month ago. I will forward detailed plans in this regard if the Minister of State so wishes. I hope the Minister of State can tell me that he and his colleagues have an open mind on this issue. The community employment scheme deals with long-term unemployed people and does not suit everybody. I am asking for a new scheme similar to those in operation in other countries and in Northern Ireland. All I am asking is that we try something.
Deputy Jimmy Devins: I must reiterate that all issues are being considered in the context of the forthcoming budget.
Deputy Damien English: They do not seem to be.
Deputy Jimmy Devins: Deputy English should await the announcement of the budget on 14 October in this regard.
Deputy Damien English: The Minister of State said there are no plans to introduce a new scheme.
Deputy Jimmy Devins: Not at the moment.
116. Deputy Pádraic McCormack asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if she has been in contact with the National Consumer Agency to establish an alternative dispute resolution procedure as a means of resolving disputes arising out of consumer transactions; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31019/08]
Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy John McGuinness): The statutory mandate of the National Consumer Agency as prescribed under the Consumer Protection Act 2007 specifically includes promoting the development of alternative dispute resolution, ADR, procedures as a means of resolving disputes arising out of consumer transactions.
[58]Currently one of the procedures most used by consumers for achieving redress is the Small Claims Court procedure. The Small Claims Court procedure provides an inexpensive, fast and easy way for consumers to resolve disputes without the need to employ a solicitor. Since 2006, the Small Claims Court operates an on-line dispute resolution procedure where claims can be filed on-line. The limit for processing claims in the Small Claims Court was raised to €2,000 with effect from 7 February 2006.
A further development in the small claims area was the adoption last year of an EU regulation establishing a European small claims procedure. The regulation will effectively enable a judgment given in a member state in the European small claims procedure to be recognised and enforced in another member state. I am advised that as part of an overall study in the area of arbitration and redress the National Consumer Agency will later this year, in conjunction with the Courts Service, consider the Small Claims Court and in particular the difficulties consumers can experience in enforcing the judgments of the court.
The agency has also recently developed a code of practice, with the Irish Home Builders Association, to be followed by developers in the development, interim management and sale of multi-unit development properties. The code includes specific provisions for dispute resolution and redress and urges unit owners and developers to use alternative out-of-court mechanisms for resolving disputes.
Europe has been a major catalyst in the development of extra-judicial options for dispute resolution. Much of the work in this area has been focused on ensuring that European citizens have access to cheaper, quicker and more informal dispute resolution mechanisms, thereby enabling them to better reap the benefits of the Single Market. In the specific area of disputes relating to consumer transactions, the European Consumer Centres Network is a network of centres established by the European Commission together with the member states which, among other things, promotes ADR schemes.
Additional information not given on the floor of the House
The European Consumer Centre in Dublin is funded jointly by the National Consumer Agency and the European Commission. Irish consumers who have a dispute with a retailer in another member state, or consumers in other member states who have a dispute with an Irish retailer, can contact the centre, which seeks to resolve such disputes in co-operation with experts in European Consumer Centres across the European Union. If the centre cannot find a remedy through direct intervention it will seek to assist the parties in taking their disputes to an appropriate ADR body.
The European Commission has promulgated a number of recommendations in an effort to provide a common minimum European standard for ADR schemes. The recommendations set out the standards and principles which should apply to bodies involved in out-of-court settlement and consensual resolution of consumer disputes. The Commission maintains a database of the various ADR bodies in the member states which subscribe to these principles. My Department is responsible for notifying bodies in Ireland to the Commission for inclusion in its database and has notified four such bodies to the Commission to date.
In the area of cross-border disputes, a European directive on certain aspects of mediation in civil and commercial matters was promulgated in May this year. This directive is essentially intended to provide a framework to allow parties to a cross-border dispute to attempt to reach an amicable settlement of their dispute with the help of a mediator. The directive must be transposed into Irish law by May 2011. My Department will work closely with the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, which has overall responsibility for its transposition, on [59]those aspects of the directive relating to cross-border consumer disputes. At a national level, the Law Reform Commission launched a consultation paper on ADR on 30 July this year. The consultation paper contains a significant number of proposals for promoting ADR as a means of resolving disputes, including a number of specific proposals with regard to consumer disputes.
The Deputy will see from the foregoing that a considerable number of initiatives are being undertaken at national and European level in promoting ADR as a means of resolving consumer disputes. ADR offers a considerable advantage by providing parties with a ready and relatively inexpensive means of resolving disputes. I am confident that through the work of the National Consumer Agency and the progression of the aforementioned initiatives, ADR will become a more accepted and mainstream means of resolving consumer disputes.
Deputy Leo Varadkar: I thank the Minister for his answer. I was not really asking about cross-border trade and disputes but about the existing section 8(3) of the Consumer Protection Act, which provides a mandate for the National Consumer Agency to promote and even establish alternative means of dispute resolution between consumers and, for example, retailers. There are two things that can be done in this regard. Does the Minister of State agree that the upper limit for a small claim, which is €2,000, should be increased? Almost any significant purchase, such as a suite of furniture or a foreign holiday, will be more than €2,000, and if there is a dispute one must then go to a higher court. Does the Minister of State not agree that this threshold should be increased so that consumers who have been ripped off by slightly more than €2,000 can have recourse to the Small Claims Court?
Will the Minister consider asking the National Consumer Agency to introduce a system of dispute resolution and arbitration for consumers, similar to the Personal Injuries Assessment Board? Thus the consumer agency itself could take on the job of arbitrating disputes between consumers and those against whom they are making complaints. This is provided for in the Act; it just requires a bit of leadership to implement it.
Deputy John McGuinness: It is in the Act. The Law Reform Commission suggested that the limit be increased from €2,000 to €3,000 and the Minister continues to review such suggestions in the context of these claims.
Deputy Leo Varadkar: How long will she review it for?
Deputy John McGuinness: The court has been functioning very well. It is used widely and is becoming more accessible to the public as they can lodge their claims on-line. If we continue with our reviews, we can keep pace with what is required by the consumer. The system is effective. I do not see a role for the agency, as the Deputy suggests. Why create another model when the current one is functioning well? All it requires is to be reviewed from time to time and the Department and the Government are committed to ensuring that occurs. The upper limit of €2,000 can be reviewed again if necessary.
Deputy Leo Varadkar: It seems “review” means “do nothing”.
Deputy John McGuinness: Reviewing does not mean doing nothing. The Deputy has a way of using weasel words and turning things around. It is not doing nothing.
Deputy Leo Varadkar: A government should review a situation, make an assessment and then make a decision, and it may perhaps review things again at another stage one or two years down the line.
[60]Deputy Leo Varadkar: This Government seems to be in a constant process of review which is then used as an excuse not to make decisions.
An Leas-Cheann Comhairle: Does the Deputy have a question?
Deputy Leo Varadkar: I will ask the first part of my question again.
Deputy Mary Coughlan: We get the facts and then we make the decisions, unlike the Deputy.
An Leas-Cheann Comhairle: Please allow the Deputy to put his question.
Deputy Leo Varadkar: Does the Minister not agree that the €2,000 threshold is too low and that it should be increased now and then reviewed at a later date?
Deputy John McGuinness: I will tell the Deputy again, because he obviously was not listening, that it can be increased. It has been suggested that it be increased.
Deputy John McGuinness: It will be increased if the Minister so decides. The review is ongoing.
Deputy Leo Varadkar: Will the Minister decide?
Deputy Damien English: What is the date of the decision?
Deputy John McGuinness: By the way, the Deputy should know that a review must be carried out before we can make a decision. In this way we are unlike the Deputy, with his continual knee-jerk reactions, outside on the plinth and up and down in his seat over there, without any consideration for the topic he is suggesting should be discussed.
117. Deputy Michael Creed asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the progress there has been in reducing business regulation and red tape by 25% in all Departments, in view of her Department’s co-ordinating role; if she is satisfied with the progress to date in reducing business regulation, as highlighted in the first report of the high level group on business regulation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30988/08]
133. Deputy Simon Coveney asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the reduction in the administrative cost of regulation since her Department adopted its 25% target; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30985/08]
135. Deputy Willie Penrose asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment her plans to implement the recommendations of the high level group on business regulation, received by her on 6 August 2008, regarding a reduction in the burden of red tape on business; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30906/08]
197. Deputy Leo Varadkar asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the amount the administrative cost of regulation has been reduced since her Department adopted its target of 25%; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31357/08]
An Leas-Cheann Comhairle: I call on the Tánaiste, or rather an tAire Stáit. It is a formidable ministerial team.
[61]Deputy John McGuinness: It is value for money.
Deputy Willie Penrose: It takes five of them to mark us.
Deputy Jimmy Devins: It is not just quantity, it is quality as well.
Deputy Damien English: The cutbacks start here.
Deputy John McGuinness: I propose to take Questions Nos. 117, 133, 135 and 197 together.
Deputy Jimmy Devins: That will keep the Deputies on their toes.
Deputy Leo Varadkar: We could do with a 50% cut right away.
Deputy John McGuinness: That is efficiency.
The report of the high level group has identified more than €20 million in cost savings to business as a result of simplified administrative procedures of Government. The Government’s commitment is to reduce the administrative burden on Irish business by 25% by 2012 and this demanding target is a key priority. The task of the high level group is to identify areas in which legislation has imposed an administrative burden, or red tape, on business and to recommend ways to reduce that burden without undermining the policy objectives behind the regulation. The work of the group is focused on concrete measures in specific policy areas, including taxation, statistics, environment, health and safety, employment and company law. The first report of the group sets out a number of instances in which procedures have been simplified, making it easier for business to deal with Government; for example, electronic filing of annual returns to the Companies Registration Office, on-line access to tax clearance certificates for Government contracts, increased exemption thresholds for VAT registration, and higher thresholds exempting small businesses from having to conduct statutory audits. In addition, further changes to reduce the burden on business are expected with regard to procedures for waste collection permits, road haulage permits and employment permits.
The work of the high level group is estimated to have saved Irish business €20 million in administrative costs this year through reductions in paperwork, revision of the rules for small businesses and provision for better use of on-line services. The rolling programme of work set out by the group must continue to be ambitious and I look forward to its continued work on the concrete suggestions put forward by the business sector. If the work of the group is to produce optimal benefits, businesses, especially small business, must continue to come forward with practical proposals for areas in which they feel the burden is greatest. Small businesses in particular have a lot to gain from participating in this process and making known areas in which they feel over-burdened by red tape. I encourage the business representatives on the high level group to continue to inform its work.
In addition to the work of the high level group, my Department has put in place a process across all Departments that will measure the administrative cost of red tape on business arising from domestic legislation. As in all other countries that have done this, it will take about a year and a half to complete the measurement process. In line with the recommendation of the Business Regulation Forum, we are adopting a prioritised approach. Initially, all Departments are required to list the information obligations which their regulations impose on business. Based on that listing, Departments will assess, in consultation with business, the most burdensome requirements and will measure their actual cost to business. At that point, the most appropriate approach to achieving the Government target of reducing by 25% the administrative burden of domestic regulation on business by 2012 will be determined. With regard to future regulations, the Government has agreed that all Departments should measure the admin[62]istrative costs of regulations on business and specifically examine the impact on small businesses.
Deputy Leo Varadkar: I am happy that we now have a target of 25% in reducing the administrative cost of regulation. This target does not have to be met until, I assume, the end of 2012. Does the Minister of State not think there is a good case for having an interim target? The Minister could report back early next year and tell us how far we have come in achieving the 25% reduction. In this way we will not have to wait until 2012 for the Government to tell us it has not succeeded.
Deputy Damien English: A review.
Deputy Leo Varadkar: Perhaps an annual review would be appropriate.
How will the baseline calculation for the cost of regulation be assessed? What model will be used? Before something can be reduced by 25% there must be a model to work out what 100% is. How will that assessment be made and when?
Deputy John McGuinness: In answer to the first part of the Deputy’s question, a reduction of 25% by 2012 is a target, but there is nothing to say we cannot meet the target prior to that date. I have carried out the assessment and the analysis. I have met the business organisations and I understand clearly what they are saying. They have made their submissions and in line with these we will consider a cost-effective way of delivering a smaller burden from Government. For example, let us consider the range of forms that must be filled in for the Central Statistics Office. I have met officials from the Central Statistics Office and have reviewed its forms. I have engaged with the SFA and tried in turn to translate that in a different simplified way to determine whether it would assist business. I have invited and have met the business organisations in recent months to determine if we can identify other areas that will assist. In line with what Deputy Penrose said county enterprise boards are significant players in this matter as they engage with the SME sector. I have used them as an information base to ascertain what is causing the difficulty for small businesses in particular. Legislation is often passed by this House and the one size does not fit all. We need to take an overview of that in light of the tight economic circumstances we are experiencing. We need to try to release the SME sector to do more important business in the real world to create the jobs and profitability they desire.
Deputy Willie Penrose: I might have disagreed with the broad thrust of what the Minister of State, Deputy McGuinness, said in his previous statement. However, I am totally ad idem with him on this matter. The Minister of State should slash and burn all the bureaucracy and he will have my full support.
Deputy John McGuinness: I am your man.
Deputy Mary Coughlan: There will be no lawyers left.
Deputy Willie Penrose: That is what we want to do — eliminate them from it altogether. In businesses there is the possibility of 100 different forms ranging from seven or eight pages up to 80 pages. The Minister of State is on the right track, and as he has a business acumen and background I expect him to be able to get it right. He recognises that businesses are significant collectors of taxes, including VAT, PAYE etc. Is it not time for entrepreneurs and proprietors of small businesses to get an allowance similar to the PAYE allowance? There needs to be some collection. Some accountants are there specifically to deal with the forms that exist. There [63]are up to 1,000 different legislative provisions that are complex, some of them in the one Act. They impact on health and safety, company registration offices, the CSO etc. Businesses are compelled to reply to these. I have seen it with our own little shop. We are required to comply or they come back again. I often wonder why it collects information. However, that is neither here nor there.
Deputy Billy Kelleher: They are used in answer to parliamentary questions.
Deputy Willie Penrose: Would the Minister of State consider introducing a red tape index in each Department and across Departments? This would allow for an instant review every three or four months. Some people believe the red tape simply exists and we cannot think outside the box. It is time to think outside the box of bureaucracy. I attended the Westmeath County Enterprise Board presentation last Friday week. The Minister of State is correct about the importance of county and city enterprise boards. While foreign direct investment and the work of IDA Ireland are very important, it is at a micro level that we will get over the hump. I ask the Minister of State to eliminate as much red tape as possible. He should slash and burn. He will be a hero if he does.
Deputy John McGuinness: I do not know about being a hero. However, all great truths begin as blasphemies according to George Bernard Shaw. If the Deputy read my speech he would realise there is not a great difference between any sides in this House — all we want is the best for the country.
Deputy Varadkar asked about a measurement. While it cannot be answered simply as part of the response to this parliamentary question, a measurement exists and I will make the details known to him. However, if a greater efficiency can be achieved in measuring or identifying the red tape, I would gladly support any measure within the Department to drastically reduce red tape particularly in the SME sector which needs to be released. I am a practising businessman and understand the complications arising from the need for transparency, reporting etc. However, it must be simplified. I encourage the Deputy and small businesses that are interested in the matter to engage with the Department. The Tánaiste and all the Ministers of State in the Department are anxious to achieve what is best to allow business to operate in a simpler way so people can get on with performing on the front line rather than coming back late at night to complete forms. Any suggestions will be gratefully received.
Deputy Leo Varadkar: I appreciate the sincerity of the Minister of State in this matter given his background in business. However, I do not believe he answered either of my questions which I will ask again. Would he agree it would be appropriate to have an interim target of, for example, 10% by the end of next year so we can review the progress he is making on an annual basis rather than waiting until the end of 2012 to see if he has achieved anything? The Minister of State said there is a calculation. I do not believe there is. I would be very interested to find out as soon as he can inform us what the monetary calculated cost of the administrative burden of regulation to business is and the model used to assess that. I doubt that is being done, but if it is I would like to hear the figure or even a ballpark figure.
Deputy John McGuinness: A standard cost model exists and there is a model that is also implemented in other countries, for example the Netherlands.
Deputy Leo Varadkar: However, the Government has not used the standard cost model.
Deputy John McGuinness: I will make it available to the Deputy so he can fully understand it and will be able to question me on its specifics without any difficulty. I answered his first question. I told him that the target was 25% by 2012 and that my ambition is to reach that [64]target much sooner than 2012 so the Deputy and other Members of the Opposition can measure it as we go along. To reach that target much earlier than the date we specified requires co-operation with the business sector and all agencies and Departments. We are committed to doing it and I will gladly report back to the Deputy in a year, in two years or in six months. I hope to make it better for business. That is my ambition within the Department.
Deputy Damien English: I like quite a lot of the Minister of State’s speeches so far — although not all of them. Hopefully we will see some action on them. If he is a man of action can he guarantee that from now on every new Bill we pass in this House will be assessed for the impact it has on businesses? We were promised that before, but it did not happen in the last term. Can the Minister of State say that from today it will happen?
Before the Minister of State’s predecessor left he gave a guarantee he would work with the committee to solve the problems of local government regarding business, cost, regulation etc. Does that commitment still stand for the Minister of State and other Ministers to work with the committee to promptly address the problems of business and local government? While I believe the Minister of State does, I want a commitment across the board.
An Leas-Cheann Comhairle: I call an tAire Stáit who, I take it, will speak collectively for the Government.
Deputy John McGuinness: I had better not. Anything I say comes with a health warning.
An Leas-Cheann Comhairle: A Minister speaking is speaking on behalf of the Government at Question Time.
Deputy John McGuinness: A regulatory impact assessment is required for new legislation and it needs to continue.
Deputy Damien English: It is not happening.
Deputy John McGuinness: It is happening.
Deputy Damien English: It did not happen in the last term.
An Leas-Cheann Comhairle: Allow the Minister of State to speak.
Deputy John McGuinness: We can double check that and make sure it does happen. Regarding working with the committee, I have already said to the Chairman that not only would I discuss upcoming legislation, particularly the company law reform Bill, but also I am available to the committee to thrash out any other aspect of business that requires discussion with the committee to get the best possible deal for business. I am also available for private briefings with spokespersons from Fine Gael and Labour or anybody else in the House. My interest is ensuring that they do well because the economy will do well if that is the case.
Deputy Arthur Morgan: It is unfortunate that the economic downturn had to occur before the Government appreciated the need for this reform. However, we appreciate it and it is better late than never. Would the Minister of State agree that a number of ideas could be implemented fairly quickly, for example by having electronic versions of some of these forms available to businesses instead of hard copies? As he knows it is almost all hard copy at present. As I know some shops and other businesses might prefer hard copies, I am not ruling that out. Would the Minister of State accept there is great potential for merging the format of many of [65]the forms businesses need to complete? Currently they all have different formats and are all over the place and surely could be streamlined.
Deputy Willie Penrose: As small businesses need to deal with a number of agencies, CSO, CRO, Revenue, CEB etc., as a long or even medium-term objective, could the Minister of State introduce a standard form that would suit the application to different agencies? Businesses should not be required to fill in the same information on many forms which consumes hours of business time and wastes time. The form should be simplified with four or five pages and not like the form for the carer’s allowance. I filled in that form last night for a woman and it had approximately 20 pages, most of which was raiméis and wasteful.
Deputy John McGuinness: The forms for Revenue and company registration are available on-line. I believe the forms about which the Deputy is complaining are those that generally come from the Central Statistics Office, which take some time to complete.
I have met with the Central Statistics Office to see whether those forms can be simplified or if some of Revenue’s information could be used in regard to the statistics it is trying to collect. We will work with the Central Statistics Office to try to achieve that objective. That would relieve the burden. It is a question of identifying the problem and working directly with the agency concerned and the business that identified the problem to resolve it. Some of those issues can be resolved. Hopefully, in line with what Revenue collects and what the CSO wants, we can reach a resolution. There will always be a number of different forms because the CSO is collecting different information. Those forms need to be simplified. Sometimes in terms of the EU requirement and our own legislation, it is how the legislation is interpreted in the context of those forms. They can be simplified. They just need to be put in layman’s language. We need to understand the requirements of small businesses.
118. Deputy Deirdre Clune asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the reason the National Employment Rights Authority has not been established on a statutory footing; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30978/08]
138. Deputy Brian O’Shea asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment when the National Employment Rights Authority will be established on a statutory basis; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30924/08]
Deputy Billy Kelleher: I propose to take Questions Nos. 118 and 138 together.
The Employment Law Compliance Bill 2008 is designed to give effect to shared commitments in Part 2 of the ten year framework social partnership agreement, Towards 2016, to greatly increase public confidence in the system of employment law compliance. The establishment of a new, statutory office to secure better compliance with employment law through information and enforcement activities, supported by up to 90 labour inspectors with extensive powers, formed one aspect of these commitments.
Significant progress is being made on delivering the commitments agreed in Towards 2016 and, in this regard, the National Employment Rights Authority, NERA, was established on an interim basis in February 2007, pending drafting and enactment of legislation, to undertake greater levels of employment law compliance activities. The Employment Law Compliance Bill was initiated in this House on 13 March 2008. Part 2 of the Bill provides for the establishment of the National Employment Rights Authority, NERA, on a statutory footing.
The Bill is substantial and quite complex legislation, and in its final form will provide for necessary amendments to over 30 separate existing enactments from 1946 onwards. Since publi[66]cation of the Bill, work has been continuing including further drafting of provisions, legal clarification of certain issues and preparation of schedules of amendments to existing employment law. In addition, account will also be taken of the views expressed by the social partners in the course of negotiations which led to the transitional agreement under Towards 2016 which was concluded last week. I take this opportunity to congratulate everybody involved — union representatives, employers and officials — in bringing forward that transitional agreement. Any remaining amendments and draft provisions will be the subject of discussion with the Office of the Attorney General and the intention is to have all outstanding work on the Bill quickly completed so it can be enacted as soon as possible.
The National Employment Rights Authority will be established one month after the Employment Law Compliance Bill 2008 is signed into law.
Deputy Leo Varadkar: If I remember correctly the Minister of State said the Bill was published in March, only six months ago. It appears strange that the Bill, the purpose of which was to establish the agency on a statutory footing, was published six months ago and yet has not been brought before the House for debate. The only explanation that would make sense is that the Bill is essentially a bad one and is flawed and that, among other things, it potentially criminalises employers. In my case, technically as an employer of my personal assistant and administrative assistant, which is the case for all Fine Gael members, I would have to post a notice in my office, on a regular basis, advising them of their rights and their ability to contact NERA etc. That is just one aspect of the Bill.
It appears the Bill, as drafted, was so bad and so objectionable to employers and unions that the Minister of State has not been able to bring it to the House. Will the Bill come before the House before Christmas and, if so, will it be substantially redrafted?
Deputy Billy Kelleher: Part 2 of the Bill provides for the establishing of the National Employment Rights Authority. That was the Part of the Bill that was published and presented to the House on 13 March 2008. It is complex legislation. We live in an era where social partnership is the bedrock within which much of the discussions take place. There were further discussions in that context in the interim agreement agreed last week between the social partners.
We present a Bill to the House. It is discussed not only by the social partners but by all Members. There will be an opportunity to discuss it on Committee Stage. We want to ensure that when the Bill is enacted it reflects what is required in the context of employment law compliance. It is a complex Bill and there are no quick fix solutions. There has been ongoing involvement, due to the discussions and changes in the context of the social partnership talks that took place recently. For that reason the Bill as presented, in certain areas, needs further changes. I am quite sure that when the Bill is presented and goes through the House it will have the support of all sides. I look forward to a fruitful discussion with Deputies opposite, who I know are very supportive of social partnership and what we were trying to achieve in the context of the challenges ahead. Deputy Varadkar is a wholehearted supporter of that process.
Deputy Willie Penrose: I assure the Minister of State the Labour Party is supportive. Let us be clear about that. Why was the Bill published? Why did not the Minister of State await the outcome of the social partnership talks? I appreciate he was under pressure from us all. Every morning the Taoiseach and former Taoiseach got up and replied to questions. Why did the Minister of State rush to the headland when the Bill was nowhere near the finite product? What was the reason for the rush? Given that the Minister of State was aware the social partners disagreed fundamentally with a significant and core element of the Bill, as drafted, at Part 2, why did he present it? Deputy Varadkar said we had better subject this Bill to bureau[67]cratic evaluation as well because it contains many bureaucratic elements. While I support the thrust of the Bill, we need to “red tape” index it. What significant changes will affect Part 2 of the Bill, following the discussions that took place under the social partnership agreement, which was recently concluded successfully?
Deputy Billy Kelleher: The reason the Bill was published was because a commitment was given in Towards 2016 to publish a Bill and to set up the National Employment Rights Authority on a statutory footing. The most important point to be made is that NERA is operating and has almost a complete complement of labour inspectors. It is enforcing employment rights compliance law which is welcome. It has collected substantial arrears for employees. The primary purpose of the National Employment Rights Authority is to ensure compliance with employment law. The Bill has two parts. Part 2 provides for the establishment of the National Employment Rights Authority on a statutory footing. It is up and running on an interim basis.
Over the coming weeks, much work remains to be done. Discussions are taking place with the Attorney General’s office in the context of the most recent agreements arrived at in the social partnership.
Deputy Willie Penrose: When will we have the Bill?
Deputy Billy Kelleher: We will have it quite soon. We are trying to ensure when the Bill is published that it is not rushed with amendments railroaded through the House. We want to have a genuine discussion on it. We are trying to get the Bill right in the first instance, to have broad agreement from the social partners and a good debate in the House. It is very complex but the Government is committed not only under the Towards 2016 agreement but under the interim one arrived at last week.
Deputy Leo Varadkar: To follow up on that and to connect with the comments made by Deputies Penrose and English on regulation, anyone who has read this very complex Bill, as the Minister of State has described it, will see it will have a significant regulatory impact on employers, yet the process being used for regulatory impact analyses decided that after screening, this Bill did not require a full regulatory impact analysis. That shows how uncommitted the Minister of State is to tackling red tape and regulation. The Minister of State would take this massive Bill which is flawed and complex, as he has admitted, and screen it for a regulatory impact analysis and say it had no regulatory cost and, therefore, did not need a full regulatory impact analysis. How can he stand over that? Will he give a guarantee there will be a full regulatory impact analysis with numbers in it?
Deputy Billy Kelleher: The purpose of Part 2 of the Bill, as published, was to provide for the establishment of the National Employment Rights Authority on a statutory footing. The employment law is already in place. Employers must comply with the employment law as it exists. This does not amend the employment law which exists in the context of minimum wage, holiday entitlements, EROs and registered employment agreements. Therefore, employers are compelled to comply with existing law. The issue of inspections does not impose a regulatory burden. When the Bill evolves and is finally completed we will ensure any burden on business is minimised. Fundamentally, this Bill is about employment rights, protecting workers, and ensuring they are entitled to their statutory provisions. NERA is working very effectively and its inspectors have joined up operations with Revenue and the Department of Social and Family Affairs. Even though it has not been established on a statutory footing this organisation is working and is out and about. Deputies have occasionally said to me that it is an over-enthusiastic organisation but at the end of the day it is there to ensure that employers comply with the law. It is important also that it is trying to foster a culture of compliance. This is about [68]educating employers, informing them of their various representative organisations such as IBEC and ISME, etc, so that we may achieve a broad compliance culture. It is not all about inspections but concerns education as well as enforcement.
119. Deputy Joanna Tuffy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the steps being taken to implement the commitment in the programme for Government to ensure that consumer codes of conduct are published by businesses; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30936/08]
Deputy Jimmy Devins: The Consumer Protection Act 2007, which commenced in May last year, empowers the National Consumer Agency to prepare and publish guidelines to traders regarding issues of consumer welfare and protection and matters related to commercial practices. The Act also empowers the agency to review or approve codes of practice submitted to it by traders or by their trade associations where the agency is satisfied that the code of practice protects consumer interests.
The agency is currently giving priority to producing guidelines for business in a number of areas. In early September it published a consultation document on guidelines for the retail sector relating to the advertising of price discounts and other associated matters. The guidelines are intended to facilitate the retail sector in complying with the requirements of the Consumer Protection Act 2007 in respect of a variety of misleading practices. When finalised, the guidelines will help traders to appreciate better their obligations to provide unambiguous information to consumers, to give clarity on certain aspects of the Act and to provide a basis for a fairer and more evenly balanced approach towards advertising throughout the sector. The agency is also close to finalising guidelines for the health and fitness sector, following a consultation exercise with key stakeholders.
The agency has also recently developed a code of practice with the Irish Home Builders Association which is to be followed by developers in their dealings in the development, interim management and sale of multi-unit development properties. The code, which came into effect at the start of this month, sets out a series of actions aimed to enhance the good operation of the multi-unit dwelling sector and thereby help to ensure that developers and consumers share an understanding of their respective roles and responsibilities in relation to multi-unit developments. The code includes specific provisions in respect of dispute resolution and redress and urges unit owners and developers to use alternative out of court mechanisms for resolving disputes.
I welcome the agency’s initiatives in these areas and am confident that the production of guidelines in important sectors of the economy such as the retail and health and fitness sectors will help in the development of a strong consumer culture in those sectors. I support the agency’s strategy of engaging constructively with businesses through initiatives such as agency guidelines and consumer codes of practice which will be of benefit not only to consumers but also to the businesses themselves and the economy as a whole.
Deputy Willie Penrose: Those specific commitments were given in the programme for Government and 15 months later we are still at the stage of evaluation and discussion. This is the fourth time I have raised this question this year — I raised it in February, April, June and now September. When will we actually see this code of conduct? When will the Government treat consumers with the seriousness they deserve? Has there been any discussion with the National Consumer Agency about the content of proposed conduct for the two sectors, retail and health and fitness? For instance, will the code of conduct for the retail sector include a [69]commitment to pass on to consumers savings made by the retailers arising from the variation in currency values? We all know that one of the biggest rip-offs faced by the Irish consumer over the past year has been the failure of major multiples to pass on the benefits of the increase in value of the euro against sterling and the dollar. We all know there are serious concerns about the delays in passing on reductions in the price of oil.
Is the Minister of State aware that many consumers are concerned about gift tokens that are time limited? When a person buys a gift token the store gets the value of the token but the token expires if it is not used within a specific period. Can this issue be accommodated? If a person pays his or her €100 I do not believe a time limit should be imposed and if it is it should certainly be for longer than six months. I hope that matter will be considered in the code of conduct.
Deputy Jimmy Devins: I shall correct the Deputy. It is actually the fifth time he has put a question on the matter.
Deputy Willie Penrose: I am a right pest.
Deputy Jimmy Devins: Regarding the codes of practice, the first one was published on 1 September and relates to developers. There are ongoing discussions at present in respect of the retail sector. We expect the code concering the health and fitness sector to be published shortly.
Deputy Willie Penrose: I welcome that.
Deputy Mary Coughlan: If the Deputy buys me a gift voucher I will not let it expire.
An Leas-Cheann Comhairle: That concludes ordinary questions in the House today. We move to Private Notice Questions that have been allowed by the Ceann Comhairle.
An Ceann Comhairle: Some Deputies have tabled private notice questions for the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Mary Harney, regarding recent misdiagnoses of breast cancer in Ennis General Hospital. I ask them to submit their questions to the Minister in the order in which they provided them to my office.
Deputy Jan O’Sullivan asked the Minister for Health and Children if she will request the Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, to carry out a full inquiry into the circumstances of the deaths of Ann Moriarty and Edel Kelly, and into allegations that there was a failure to diagnose breast cancer, particularly in view of the fact that early diagnosis and treatment might have saved the lives of the two women. Will the Minister make a statement on the matter?
Deputy James Reilly asked the Minister for Health and Children if she will instigate an independent inquiry into the misdiagnoses of breast cancer in Ms Edel Kelly and Ms Ann Moriarty, which in both cases occurred in Ennis General Hospital. Furthermore, such an investigation should include the mammogram which was carried out at St James’s Hospital and the core biopsy that was carried out at Limerick General Hospital. In that way we can reassure the public that our health services are indeed safe and that any lessons we learn from this will [70]result in the implementation of a proper system to ensure that human error does not impact negatively on patient care.
Deputy Pat Breen asked the Minister for Health and Children the position regarding the recent misdiagnoses of breast cancer at Ennis General Hospital, including tests performed at St. James’s Hospital and Limerick Regional Hospital, and the need to establish an independent inquiry.
Deputy Michael Noonan asked the Minister for Health and Children if she will hold an inquiry into the misdiagnoses of breast cancer, including the misreading of smear tests, in the mid-west region, and if she will make a statement on the matter.
Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Health and Children what assurances she can give to other patients attending Ennis General Hospital in view of matters arising from recent cases, and if she might indicate what role HIQA could play in this process.
Minister for Health and Children (Deputy Mary Harney): For the past few days I have been considering how best to address the serious issues that arise from the recent tragic deaths of Ann Moriarty and Edel Kelly following their treatment in Ennis General Hospital. I have met with the husband and the sister of Ann Moriarty and I intend to meet the family of the other woman next week. I wish to extend my sympathy to both families on their sad losses. Ann Moriarty and Edel Kelly were two young women, both mothers.
The expert clinical advice available to me is that a clinical review of other patients treated in Ennis General Hospital would not be warranted. I am also conscious that in the context of future lessons for cancer services, breast cancer services have now been transferred from that hospital to the designated specialist centre for the mid-west and Limerick.
Regarding the treatment of Ann Moriarty in St. James’s Hospital, I am aware that she was diagnosed with breast cancer two years previously and that she continued to attend the follow-up clinic at the hospital. Ms Moriarty’s most recent follow-up was in April 2007 and at that time a mammogram taken was reported as clear. Subsequently the hospital has not been able to locate this mammogram in order to have it reviewed.
Regarding Edel Kelly, both a biopsy taken at Ennis General Hospital in October 2006 and a histopathology report noted that no tumour was identified but read “clinical correlation recommended”. This clinical correlation did not occur nor was there a multidisciplinary meeting to discuss Edel Kelly’s health.
The key factor in Ann Moriarty’s case was the failure of Ennis General Hospital to refer her to a designated cancer centre when it was known that she had a history of cancer. In the case of Edel Kelly, the absence of a multidisciplinary team approach resulted in her cancer not being diagnosed. Since we have now moved breast cancer services from Ennis General Hospital, I feel it is important to have a wider examination of the operation of the hospital that would examine the approach to issues relating to the diagnosis and treatment of patients. This includes arrangements for quality and safety and communications within the hospital and, in particular, with patients. I believe there are many lessons to be learned by Ennis General Hospital and by the wider acute hospital sector.
I am very conscious that the Health Service Executive has worked for some time to reconfigure services in the mid-west region. It has engaged with clinicians and other health professionals in the region to agree a practical, patient-centred plan for reorganising services between Limerick Regional Hospital, Ennis General Hospital, Nenagh Hospital and St. John’s Hospital. Clinicians in the region have worked positively and have shown strong leadership [71]towards this end. I am aware that the HSE has placed a particular emphasis on integrating accident and emergency services, with clear roles for all four hospitals, as part of a well-defined emergency care network. I am also aware that the Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, has reviewed documentation relating to the cases of Ann Moriarty and Edel Kelly. Last week representatives of the authority met Mr. Karl Henry, husband of the late Ann Moriarty, to establish whether a further investigation is necessary.
Notwithstanding this, I am now requesting the Health Information and Quality Authority, under section 9(2) of the Health Act 2007, to review the arrangements for providing services at Ennis General Hospital, with particular reference to the diagnosis and follow-up of patients and the communications systems in place in the hospital for patients and staff. The review, to be completed in three months, will include an explanation of how these arrangements work in the emergency department in particular. It would be particularly helpful if any of the conclusions or recommendations were applicable to the wider acute hospital sector.
The HSE is also putting arrangements in place for those patients who attended hospital breast clinics throughout the country in the past two years and who do not have a diagnosis of cancer but have concerns in light of recent events. A specified referral arrangement for these patients is being put in place and any woman with concerns should contact her general practitioner who will be able to refer her to a specialist breast clinic.
There is every reason to believe that the vast majority of women have received the correct and appropriate assessment but I believe it is important to offer patients the option of a specialised referral service, following discussions with a general practitioner.
An Ceann Comhairle: I will now call on the Deputies to table supplementary questions in the order in which they submitted questions to my office.
Deputy Jan O’Sullivan: I welcome the fact that the Minister has awoken to the need for her to show leadership on this issue. She took a long time to do this but I am happy that she is announcing an inquiry today. However, from listening to the Minister, it appears to me that the inquiry is more about the agenda of downgrading Ennis General Hospital, Nenagh Hospital and St. John’s Hospital than about finding out what happened to these two unfortunate women and their families. Can the Minister clarify whether this investigation will examine what went wrong in the cases of Ann Moriarty and Edel Kelly? Will the inquiry study those cases specifically?
The Minister said that consultation with clinicians in the mid-west is ongoing but when will she engage with patients and the public in the region? When will the Teamwork report be published? This is all going on behind closed doors and the public is not supposed to know about it. We received one leaked document from Nenagh Hospital but we have no idea what is happening in the mid-west. As I said, I welcome the fact that there is to be an inquiry, but why did the Minister wait so long? Why did she not immediately ask HIQA to undertake an examination of what went wrong in the two cases concerned? Can the Minister clarify whether this inquiry will address the concerns of the two stricken families or whether it is about an agenda she holds, along with the HSE, regarding hospitals in the mid-west?
Deputy Mary Harney: My agenda is to ensure that the services we provide are as quality assured as possible. This is why, with regard to the cancer control programme, we are putting in place eight designated centres. Notwithstanding that expert advice from Ireland and overseas recommends this, there is considerable opposition to it in this House and around the country. Only last week I met a group of people from the north west who strongly oppose the service being moved from their local hospital. With regard to breast cancer, all of the evidence from cancer experts in Ireland and elsewhere shows that unless a centre has at least 150 new cases per [72]year, two specialist breast surgeons, two specialist pathologists and two specialist radiologists, a quality-assured service, which improves outcomes for women by up to 25%, cannot be provided. This means that while five out of five women may survive in a specialist centre only four out of five will survive in a non-specialist centre.
We know the facts in the case of Edel Kelly. A clinical correlation was recommended but did not happen and there was no multidisciplinary approach to her case.
Deputy Jan O’Sullivan: We do not know why this did not happen nor whether it applies to other cases.
Deputy Mary Harney: It did not happen because hospitals like Ennis General Hospital do not have the capacity to provide such a service.
Deputy Jan O’Sullivan: Of course they do.
Deputy Mary Harney: We do not have specialist breast surgeons and pathologists specialising in breasts in small hospitals. It would not be possible. Until recently more than 30 hospitals in this country were involved in breast surgery. Between 2005 and 2007 there were 17 breast procedures in Ennis General Hospital. It is not possible to have skilled expertise with volumes as low as that.
Deputy Jan O’Sullivan: They could have dealt with the request for a clinical correlation.
Deputy Mary Harney: Regarding the two cases in question, HIQA is considering whether there is a need to assemble a new set of facts. I told the sister, whom I met last week, and the husband of the late Ann Moriarty, that we will leave no stone unturned to ensure they get the information required in whatever way it can be assembled. A considerable amount of information has already been assembled as there were three different inquiries into that case. Mr. Henry and his family still have questions and they are entitled to answers. HIQA, an independent body, is examining the issues relating to the two specific cases.
There are wider issues relating to Ennis General Hospital that concern me because Ann Moriarty presented as an accident and emergency department case. People present every day at accident and emergency departments and I want to ensure that when we provide hospital services we provide quality-assured, safe services to patients, to the best of our capacity as a country.
This is not about downgrading anything but is about upgrading patient care and safety. The Deputy asked why there is not patient buy-in, but patients look to the clinical community on these issues, as do I. I have taken advice from Professor Arnie Hill, head of the Royal College of Surgeons and one of our leading breast surgeons, who is involved with Professor Tom Keane in implementing the new cancer control programme. I have listened to Professor Keane, a breast radiation oncologist of international repute, and my own medical team at the Department. This is the advice I must listen to as I am not a clinician. Even if I were a clinician, it is important to listen to the advice of experts. I take that advice when it comes to clinical matters.
We cannot have inquiries into every misdiagnosis that occurs. Long before I became Minister for Health and Children, in the 30 years I have been in this House, I dealt with constituents who have experienced misdiagnoses and families that have lost a loved one. This is the reality as even in the best health system in the world errors may occur. We have had a number of inquiries and will continue to have them when necessary. However, we cannot tie up the best clinicians in the country in constant inquiries at the expense of services. This is why so much focus must now be on putting in place the new programme.
[73]By March 2009, breast surgery will take place in the eight designated centres. Nineteen hospitals already have ceased performing breast surgery and at that point, one will be able to state that Ireland is providing the best possible service to breast cancer patients which is on a par with the best that is on offer throughout the world.
Deputy James Reilly: I also welcome the inquiry. However, from the Minister’s remarks, I am unclear whether this inquiry will include the two specific cases mentioned, those of Ms Moriarty and Ms Kelly. From her remarks I understand it will encompass services of a broader nature at Ennis General Hospital. Like my Labour Party colleague, I must say, “better late than never”. However, it is upsetting and disappointing to be obliged to wait for so long and that the leadership took so long to be seen, as well as to move, act and represent the public interest. The families were obliged to go through the trauma of public glare to get what was rightfully theirs, namely, justice and transparency for their loved ones. I refer to the damage done to the credibility of the HSE, as one professional after another was rolled out to pour cold water on the need for an independent inquiry. The Minister mentioned the gentlemen concerned and I would be the first to acknowledge their expertise, which lies in breast cancer and not in public disquiet or in meeting the concerns of the public. Such expertise lies within this House, to which Members were elected to represent the people.
I also am concerned there has been no mention of the disappearance of the mammogram at St. James’s Hospital as being part of this inquiry because I believe it is extremely serious. For instance, is it known whether a digital machine performed this procedure? If so, is there not a record of it on the hard drive and, if not, why not or how not? This must be investigated. I accept the biopsy might have been taken in Ennis General Hospital and examined in Limerick Regional Hospital. As a clinician, clinical correlation to me means asking whether this fits with what one has seen as a clinician. That is all it means and if the biopsy is negative, the ultrasound is clear and the mammogram shows nothing to worry about, one must ask the reason the patient was not brought back to have a further review if the lump was still present in a month’s time or whatever. This must be examined and we must find out what went wrong.
The Minister’s is absolutely correct regarding her further questions on Ennis General Hospital. We must find out the reason blood markers were not followed up, what happened in the accident and emergency unit and the reason, the patient having been there for four days, it occurred to no one this could be a recurrence of cancer. In so doing, we must help and support those who were involved in this case in order that they do not make the same mistakes again and to fix the system that allowed this to obtain. Has this anything to do with the lack of investment in Ennis General Hospital, which my good colleague, Deputy Breen, has informed me has been promised yearly for many years?
The Minister also made a statement which I do not accept, that one cannot investigate every incident throughout Ireland. Had we an identifiable patient safety authority, to which people could go with their concerns without being obliged either to resort to publicity and the associated glare and upset it causes for families or to go to the courts, such matters could be dealt with. Fine Gael has asked for this in the past and while one could be accused of creating another quango, this would not be the case as it could be brought under the remit of the Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, or vice versa. The point is that Irish people are entitled to know they and their loved ones are being looked after properly. I frequently have been on record as stating that while human error always will be with us, a good system will minimise the impact of such human error on the patient. When human error takes place and has a negative impact, people should not be obliged to go through the trauma through which Mr. Henry and Mr. and Mrs. Kelly were obliged to go.
[74]The Minister mentioned the movement to the eight centres. It does not matter what these centres are called, be they centres of excellence, specialist centres or whatever, unless they are funded and resourced appropriately to carry out the job they must do, we will have more of the same. I specifically refer to Waterford Regional Hospital, which originally was due to take all breast cancer cases in the south east by November 2009. Last week, it was informed that the process must be completed by the end of next month. There is no confidence there that it has the theatres, staff or resources to deal with the influx of patients with which it will be obliged to deal. There is a sense there of being set up to fail, rather like Portlaoise hospital, which also was a designated centre.
I would be grateful were the Minister to respond to my concerns. I will finish by again welcoming the independent inquiry. I hope it will be expeditious and does not transpire to be like the inquiry on the north east, on which one still waits, despite it having been promised last July.
Deputy Mary Harney: Many questions have been raised by the Deputy. First, the terms of reference will mandate that the inquiry be concluded within three months because speed is important. It is important for confidence in Ennis General Hospital, for the patients who attend there and for everyone else who is involved. Second, the mammogram in St. James’s Hospital was analogue and not digital. However, I understand it is now digital. The mammogram was taken in the private hospital, which at the time was not part of the PACS system and was of the other breast. Unlike Deputy Reilly, I am not a clinician but the report of the mammogram states it was clear. Doctors have told me it is highly likely that the cancer does not spread to the other breast but to other parts of the body. I understand this was metastatic cancer. However, in the dialogue HIQA has had with Mr. Henry, the issue of the missing mammogram in St. James’s Hospital has been part of their consideration.
As for the issue of expertise, the expertise in respect of whether we have clinical look-backs rests more with people such as Professor Hill and Professor Keane than with anyone in this House. I reject the suggestion, which places a question over their professionalism, that people on their level with reputations such as theirs would be rolled out or used by anyone. Certainly there is no question of me asking anyone, not least someone at that level, to perform a function they do not wish to do. If they are invited by the media to participate in programmes and agree to so do, they give their honest views on matters as they perceive them.
As a general practitioner, the Deputy will acknowledge that the speed of the transformation in breast cancer services in recent months has been incredible. It has happened with incredible speed, which is impressing clinicians. Only last night I spoke to a clinician from Galway who, as a doctor, was really inspired by the speed at which the reforms have been put in place. I welcome this and that is the reason the target date for the completion of the transition of breast services from the smaller hospitals to the eight centres has been brought forward. It is precisely because women themselves wished to attend such centres and did not wish to attend hospitals that were not designated centres.
Professor Keane sought and received resources for the transition last year. He has sought resources for next year for prostate and lung cancer in particular and will receive those resources, notwithstanding the changed economic circumstances. He has made the point that we spend considerable resources in the area of cancer. Successive Ministers for Health and Children, including Deputy Noonan, who is present, invested considerable resources in cancer. However, when such investment is fragmented, the same benefit does not accrue from those resources as would be the case were the resources and expertise brought together. This is what is taking place and much of the additional resources involves transferring the resource from [75]the local hospital to the centre. For example, Mr. Barry in Mayo will move to Galway from Castlebar hospital for two days a week to perform breast surgery. The same also will apply to other breast surgeons. I understand one already has moved from Kilkenny to Waterford and so on.
As for the two individual cases and what other facts must emerge, we know a lot about what went wrong in both cases. Although Ann Moriarty should have been referred back to St. James’s Hospital, where she had been treated for breast cancer, that did not happen. As for Edel Kelly, while the Deputy knows more about this than do I, the HIQA report in respect of Rebecca O’Malley made recommendations about fine needle biopsies. As I understand it, one does not simply go in with a needle, take a sample and send it for a biopsy. Instead, I understand one also uses ultrasound to guide one as to which tissue to remove. I understand that did not happen. Therefore, I presume the tissue that was subject to the pathology examination in Limerick Regional Hospital probably was fine. I understand the issue is whether the appropriate tissue was examined.
HIQA is a patient safety authority. Its job is to set and enforce standards in the health care system. Such standards are set and enforced with a view to improving services for patients. We have had the report of the patient safety commission and, among others things, we must introduce a licensing or accreditation system. The reality is that we do not have particular standards of care and criteria for the opening and functioning of hospitals. That, in particular, is very unsatisfactory from a patient safety perspective. I will bring the recommendations of the commission to Cabinet very shortly with a recommendation for their implementation.
With regard to the comments about me not acting speedily, I met Mr. Henry last week. I became aware of the Edel Kelly case late last week. I am always interested in meeting patients and I meet a number every week. Many cases never get into the public domain and many patients are satisfied with how their complaint has been resolved at a local level. The Deputy would know that. Many people feel they are listened to and supported while others feel their complaint was not taken seriously or dealt with as sensitively or speedily as they would have wished.
I met Mr. Henry and the late Ann Moriarty’s sister. I will meet the Kelly family next week. I emphasise that every time we have a misdiagnosis or error — we have them every day and even when we have the eight centres of excellence I am advised by experts there will be an approximate 1% error rate — we cannot continue to have inquiries which tie up the best experts we have in the country. As there has been a second case in addition to that of Edel Kelly, it is important for the hospital that people can have confidence in the services. The cancer services have closed but other services continue to be provided. I understand many telephone calls have been made to the hospital and others in the region, with people worried not just about cancer, but about other services in the hospital.
We owe it to the hospital, patients and staff to ensure we clinically review what is happening there with a view to ensuring that anything which needs to be put right is done as quickly as possible.
Deputy Pat Breen: I welcome that the Minister has called HIQA in to look at the services in Ennis General Hospital, as we have a serious situation in County Clare.
I take the Minister back to last May, when she said she acted speedily. I do not believe this. At that time, the Minister told the Oireachtas Members from Clare, three of whom are present today, along with the mayors of Clare, that she would be down in Clare within two weeks to compliment staff on the way they treated the C. difficile crisis that emerged in the hospital at [76]that time. She stated she would probably include Ennis in the capital programme for 2008, which was what we all expected. We did not see the Minister then and still have not seen her.
A very serious issue has emerged with those two cases. When the Minister responded to the recommendations of the Portlaoise and Barrington cases reports, she said patients’ interests come first. This has not been the case regarding what the Minister has said this afternoon, that an investigation cannot take place with everybody. Every case is important.
I visited the Kelly family yesterday morning. They were on local radio and the girls in my office cried upon hearing what they said. I was touched by these people, who just want answers and not publicity. We need to know what happened and why. In the case of Ann Moriarty, we must know why the suspect blood was put on the shelf and why the X-ray was not read properly. X-rays are taken every day outside of cancer services in Ennis General Hospital and blood samples are also taken daily. We must know why the problem happened and if it was a resource or staffing problem. We need answers quickly.
The Minister’s announcement this afternoon of an investigation by HIQA will help but there are other issues. I want to know why the Minister has not put funding for the development plan in place. She promised she would visit the area.
The issue of mammograms is related to what we are talking about. Why is it that a patient with a family history of cancer but without symptoms is not being given a mammogram currently? Why has BreastCheck not been rolled out in the mid-west region? Women are extremely worried about themselves following the incidents in Ennis General Hospital. When will the roll-out happen? It is an important action but only people with symptoms are being referred for mammograms currently. There are many worried women in County Clare now, particularly public patients, who cannot go for mammograms as a result.
I have two other questions. A CAT scanner was announced by the Minister at the May meeting but I have never heard of a CAT scanner working for just five days a week, which is the Minister’s proposal. People do not get sick only between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. but rather on a 24 hours a day basis. Car accidents can happen at any time. A CAT scanner is a necessary piece of equipment in a hospital but the Minister is only putting it in place for five days a week. What is stopping a technician being appointed, with the film being sent to the Limerick centre of excellence for a report?
Is the Minister aware of any other cases of misdiagnosis in Ennis General Hospital aside from the third case we know of from last night? Are there other cases and has the Minister been in touch with the HSE in this regard? We must know this information.
When will the Minister come to the hospital to give assurances to the Clare people and the staff, whose morale is very low? She should assure these people that investment is going into the hospital as we cannot put it on the long finger any more. The Minister does not act speedily but rather very slowly.
Deputy Mary Harney: I regret some of the comments made by the Deputy as I have met him on many occasions with regard to Clare matters. I stated that I was planning a private visit to Clare and would call into the hospital. I did not make the private visit, as it happened — I was going to attend a private family event and circumstances dictated I could not attend. I would be more than happy if in Clare to visit Ennis General Hospital but I am not into PR stunts.
Deputy Pat Breen: We do not want PR stunts; we want action.
[77]Deputy Mary Harney: I do not make a significant number of hospital visits because I am quite busy working in the office as much as I can. I meet people from Ennis and I have met with the Deputy on many occasions, as he knows.
Deputy Pat Breen: The Minister is not delivering.
Deputy Mary Harney: With regard to capital investment, I gave a commitment that provision will be made in the 2008 capital plan for capital works at Ennis. That is a fact and there are parliamentary questions down today where I have answered that issue. The capital works must be compatible with the developments taking place at the hospital. As I stated in my earlier reply, significant work has been under way between the four hospitals in the region, all of which have accident and emergency departments.
Many Members may have heard Professor Drumm say this morning something he has said on many occasions, that we have many hospitals in the country where we have four times more doctors employed than admissions per day. Deputies do not need me to tell them that in such an environment, quality care is not possible. It is not a good use of resources.
The whole reform effort aims to get clinical buy-in to the change and listen to the clinical experts on the ground and nationally. For 30 years this country has sought to reform its health service but has always fallen down because of a failure to achieve clinical buy-in, which is the key to success. This is particularly true of the cancer programme, where there is significant buy-in from the clinical community in Ireland to what we are doing.
With regard to mammograms, BreastCheck has been rolled out to the mid-west, although it has not yet been rolled out in Clare. There are approximately five or six counties left to roll out BreastCheck, which is happening as we speak.
Deputy Jan O’Sullivan: It is not happening.
Deputy Mary Harney: One of the issues arising for BreastCheck is the recruitment of specialist radiographers. As a result of difficulties in seeking to recruit these specialist radiographers, arrangements have been put in place with the NHS in Britain and it may be possible to second radiographers for a short period to BreastCheck in order to facilitate the roll-out to those counties where this has not happened.
Deputy Pat Breen: When does the Minister expect it to happen in County Clare?
Deputy Mary Harney: I cannot give a precise date and have never done so. I do not know. We have provided the resources for the roll-out nationally and the centres have been constructed and are operational in Cork and Galway. The mobile units are in place in many counties around the country. It is regrettable that take-up in some areas, for example, County Mayo, is disappointing. We all need to apply our collective efforts to encouraging women to come forward for a mammogram because we know early detection is essential.
The Deputy asked about two specific cases. HIQA, which is examining the facts of the cases as it knows them, may conclude a review of the cases, over and beyond the information we have, is warranted. Mr. Henry wants other questions answered, particularly on clinical care and contact made between a clinician and Mr. Henry’s family concerning how the complaint was handled. I hope these outstanding issues can be addressed to his satisfaction. We have a considerable amount of information about what went wrong in the cases of Ms Edel Kelly and from the three reports into the death of Ann Moriarty.
Deputy Michael Noonan: I wish to sympathise with the bereaved families. The loss of a wife and mother is very difficult for a family, even more so when the events which caused the death [78]could have been avoided, as appears to be the case here. I welcome the inquiry. In my question I asked the Minister to include in its remit the issue of misreading of smear tests. However, she failed to answer that part of the question. I made this request because I have not yet received replies to a letter I wrote several weeks ago to both the Minister and Professor Drumm in which I provided documentary evidence showing there had been a misreading of several smear tests and that two false negatives had been issued from a laboratory in Galway, as was proven to be the case when archival samples were retested.
The woman involved in the case in question is now very seriously ill. I did not want to raise the case publicly because the woman and her family want to maintain their anonymity. However, I have forced into a position in which I must raise the issue because I am unable to obtain a reply from the Minister or Professor Drumm. Although the former acknowledged the correspondence, I expected I would have received a substantive reply by now given that I wrote to her almost three weeks ago. When I wrote to Professor Drumm I received the usual, ludicrous answer with which Deputies are familiar, namely, that the matter was being referred to the parliamentary affairs section of the Health Service Executive. For the HSE to refer to its parliamentary affairs section a letter about a person who is seriously ill with cancer following the misreading of a smear test as if it were a routine inquiry by a Deputy makes one wonder what is going on in that organisation. While I presume the matter has been brought to the Minister’s attention, failing that I ask her to seek out the information.
A woman whom I know quite well is extremely ill with cancer. The circumstances of the case are that a general practitioner took a smear test for cervical cancer in 2006. The test was sent to Galway and the result was negative. However, when inquiries took place earlier in the summer, it was found that a smear test had also been sent for analysis in 2001. When the 2006 archival sample was retested, it showed clearly that the indicators of cancer were present in the sample. The 2001 sample, taken five years previously, also showed that pre-cancerous cells were present. At a minimum, precautions should have been taken at that stage and the woman in question made the subject of observation.
Did the Minister’s officials show her my correspondence? I did not make an allegation or send a routine letter but provided her with the results of the archival laboratory tests to show that the family who raised the matter with me are speaking the absolute and simple truth and are supported by their clinicians. Did the Minister have a conversation with Professor Drumm? It seemed from something he said this morning that he may have been made aware of the case last night because he referred to a third case. I am not certain he was referring to the woman in question.
I am constrained by the fact that the family in question do not want publicity about the case and while I will not name names today, I regard this as an extremely serious issue which has been very badly handled. There may be reasons for this. Perhaps matters are being inquired into in the Department or a substantive reply is on its way to me. However, in view of the gravity of the case and the serious condition in which the woman in question finds herself, I would have expected to have been contacted by the Department and Professor Drumm.
Deputy Mary Harney: The focus of the questions is Ennis General Hospital and the tragic deaths of two individuals. I am, however, familiar with the Deputy’s correspondence which was received in my Department on 28 or 29 August. He also tabled a parliamentary question which I cleared last night. In my reply to the question, I indicated that the matters raised are being fully examined, that I have asked the Health Service Executive for a report and that I will communicate with the Deputy by the end of this week as the report is almost complete.
[79]Deputy Michael Noonan: I included in this question a request to inquire into this matter. Will the Minister agree to do so?
Deputy Mary Harney: I have done so already. My office brought the matter to my attention and the Department is aware of the Deputy’s correspondence. All patient safety issues are now referred to the chief medical officer in the Department. A new medical officer who will be appointed some time in October — a recruitment campaign is under way — will head up a new patient safety division in the Department for the first time. Obviously, we must get the facts before we can respond. However, the Department sent the Deputy an acknowledgement.
Earlier this month, when we were rolling out the new cervical screening programme, our main priority when sourcing cytology was to ensure it was quality assured. Without quality assured cytology services, a screening programme is not of great value. Considerable controversy arose about this issue.
Deputy James Reilly: One cannot do without kits.
Deputy Mary Harney: Errors also occur in a quality assured service. I regret very much the circumstances and state of health of the woman to whom the Deputy referred. I hope to have all the facts of the case and to be in a position to communicate with the Deputy by Friday. If the facts, as suggested by the Deputy, are borne out, we will have had a cytology failing in one of our hospitals. I would regret that very much.
Deputy Michael Noonan: Did it not occur to anyone in the Department to telephone me to inform me the information had been received and would be dealt with confidentially, as I wished?
Deputy Mary Harney: That happens all the time.
Deputy James Reilly: It clearly did not happen in this case.
Deputy Mary Harney: The Deputy could have telephoned me.
Deputy Timmy Dooley: I thank the Minister for the frank manner in which she has dealt with this matter which is a serious issue both for the two families concerned and all those who are worried at this time. I also welcome the review she announced, which will help to restore confidence in Ennis General Hospital and assist patients who have an ongoing relationship with the hospital. Having met both the families in question, I am hopeful the review will go a long way in addressing their individual concerns. As the Minister noted, however, it may not fully address the concerns of one of the families, although I hope the involvement of HIQA will help to do so.
When does the Minister expect the specialised referral service to be up and running? This service will be critical to restoring confidence among patients of the hospital, particularly those who had dealings with its breast-related cancer services before they were transferred to the centre in Limerick.
I compliment the Minister on the manner in which she has dealt with the families in question. I am aware she has met the family of one patient and intends to meet others. Her approach shows that she cares and helps to build confidence in the health service and political system.
On the terms of reference of the review, will it be possible to examine the culture of dealing with mistakes, specifically the possibility of introducing a process or protocol for communicating with patients or, in the case of patients who are deceased, with their families when mistakes are identified? I am aware there is always a difficulty in the context of accepting [80]liability and responsibility but such an acceptance is important to families and those affected by matters of this nature. Will the Minister indicate whether it might be possible to put in place a process of arbitration or mediation which would allow those who are seriously ill or their families to avoid the necessity of seeking redress through the courts? Anything that would prevent people from being obliged to take the legal route would be of assistance. Perhaps the review might extend to providing some guidance in respect of future cases of this nature.
Deputy Mary Harney: I thank the Deputy for his comments. A process relating to referrals for women who have concerns is, in effect, up and running. I understand the HSE is in contact with general practitioners in order to make available to them information relating to the precise referral arrangements in each region. This matter relates to hospitals other than that in Ennis. The idea is that there will be a person in each region whom general practitioners can contact. Referral appointments can be made after women have contacted their GPs.
There is a culture of denial, embarrassment and, perhaps, guilt that takes hold when mistakes occur. The medical community here is probably no different than those in other countries. I have attended many patient safety seminars in Ireland and elsewhere since I became Minister for Health and Children and the pattern often appears to be the same. One would hope, particularly in light of enterprise liability, it would be somewhat easier to come to terms with errors. We have a great deal to do in the context of changing the culture relating to how we respond to patients or their loved ones when an error has occurred. It will take some time to achieve this because changing a culture is one of the most difficult things to do in any walk of life, not least in the area of medicine.
We recently appointed a new medical council, the majority of the members of which are lay persons. The purpose of that was to bring a wider dimension to the regulation, training and education of medics in this country. Some doctors who are on the council and who were reluctant for a majority of its members to be lay persons are of the view, even after only a few meetings, that this is a worthwhile development.
I am strongly of the view that when it is clear that an error has occurred, people should not be forced to have recourse to the courts in order — I do not know if this is the appropriate language to use — that they might be compensated. An arbitration system is far more compassionate and responsive. I have already spoken to the HSE in respect of this matter, not only in respect of these cases but also regarding others where errors occurred. Too often in the past we forced people to litigate and they were obliged to cope with all of the trauma associated therewith. One mother who lost her son ten or 12 years ago informed me that the need to pursue litigation compounded the trauma of the original error and that in many ways it made matters worse.
As already stated, there is much to do in the context of changing the culture. A huge effort is under way in the HSE in this regard. The Director of Consumer Affairs, Mary Culleton, her staff and many other people are extremely sensitive to the need to respond to patients. Many of the letters etc., I receive come from people who have good things to say regarding how complaints were dealt with. Equally, however, I receive communications which indicate the reverse. Particular individuals respond differently. However, one would hope that, over time, the response would be appropriate in every set of circumstances.
Deputy Jan O’Sullivan: If a woman in County Clare has concerns, what procedure should she follow? If she had a test carried out during the period in question and is worried that the results may not have been accurate, should she contact her GP in order to obtain a referral?
[81]The second matter I wish to raise relates to a question posed by Deputy Breen to which a reply was not given. I refer to the announcement by Professor Keane that routine mammograms would not be carried out at centres of excellence and that women would have to be referred by their GPs when it was established that symptoms were present. There are families in which there is a history of breast cancer. In the region in which I live, women cannot access mammography services of any kind unless symptoms are present. That is causing a great deal of distress in areas — I refer her to Clare and five or six other counties — where BreastCheck is not in operation.
Will the Minister request that the position in this regard be reviewed? I am aware of cases where three or four sisters in particular families died as a result of breast cancer and where a surviving sister who does not have symptoms wants to have a mammogram carried out in order that she might be reassured. It is cruel that such women cannot avail of routine mammograms. Even if one manages to scrape the money together, I understand that, since the closure of the Barrington’s service, one cannot avail of a mammogram in the mid-west region.
Deputy Pat Breen: That is true.
Deputy Jan O’Sullivan: Even if they are in a position to pay, women in the region must travel to Galway or Kerry to have mammograms. The position must be re-examined.
Deputy Mary Harney: Women in Clare or anywhere else who are concerned should go to their general practitioners who will be able to refer them to one of the eight centres of excellence. The idea is that the centres deal with those suffering from symptomatic cancer. However, they also deal with families that are in the high-risk category. Earlier this week I was visited in my office by a group from another part of the country. One of the women present was diagnosed with breast cancer as part of a routine follow up which resulted from her mother being diagnosed with the disease. There must be a misunderstanding regarding the matter to which the Deputy refers. It would not be the intention to prevent members of families in which there is a history of cancer to attend specialist clinics. If there is a particular issue in the mid-west region, I would like to speak to Professor Keane about it.
Deputy Jan O’Sullivan: That is the impression that was given.
Deputy Mary Harney: There are family history clinics at a number of locations, including the Mater Hospital, Drogheda and elsewhere. If there is an issue regarding the mid-west region, I will communicate with Professor Keane in respect of it.
Deputy James Reilly: It is not my intention to digress but the Minister referred to cervical screening, which commenced at the beginning of the month. I made a number of telephone calls last night and discovered that only one practice in north Dublin had received a kit. I made my feelings on that matter known in the past and was castigated for doing so. However, there is no point in announcing a service when it is not available. Prematurity only undermines the position.
I referred earlier to Waterford but the Minister did not respond. In what way will resources be provided in order to allow the authorities there to achieve in a month what was supposed to take one year? Will the Minister address the concerns of the people who work there?
Despite the fact that matter has been the subject of media reports for two to three weeks, I received a telephone message from a journalist earlier this afternoon to the effect that there is no advice on the HSE’s website for people who were misdiagnosed. A telephone number has [82]not been provided and there is no indication of what they should do. Perhaps the Minister will check the position and ensure this matter is resolved.
The Minister referred to the Commission on Patient Safety, which recommended in its report that a patient safety authority be established. She also referred to HIQA enforcing standards. How can HIQA do so when it is not in a position to censure hospitals? It can set standards and impose them on hospitals but when its officials return 12 months later, they will be informed by the powers that be that they did not get around to implementing them. Nothing can be done in such circumstances. In the case of a private facility, HIQA may be in a position to revoke the licence. In terms of enforcement, the authority lacks teeth.
As usual, the Minister engaged in one of her favourite tricks, namely, reframing the comments I made in respect of Professor Keane and others. I stated that public representatives are the best people to judge public concerns and that experts should be left to their areas of expertise. Their expert opinion in respect of a look-back goes a step further. I stated that HIQA should carry out an independent inquiry and that if, as a result of the latter, a full review is required, it should be carried out expeditiously. I am glad the Minister has taken my view on board in that regard.
Deputy Breen inquired if the Minister is aware of any further cases but she did not provide a reply. Will she indicate whether the biopsy from Limerick was reviewed?
Deputy Mary Harney: I understand that the biopsy relating to Edel Kelly has been reviewed.
Deputy James Reilly: Was it clear?
Deputy Mary Harney: Yes, I believe that to be the case. As the Deputy is aware, there is a recommendation in the Rebecca O’Malley report regarding which tissue should be the subject of a fine needle aspiration. I understand that doctors should be guided by ultrasound scans in order to identify which tissue to take.
Professor Drumm stated that another case is being investigated. That is not the cytology case to which Deputy Noonan referred and I apologise for not responding to his earlier question. I do not believe any information has been assembled as to whether there was a possible delayed diagnosis. The case in question does not involve a death but there may have been someone whose diagnosis was delayed. The case relates to Ennis and not any of the other hospitals.
In regard to Waterford, the breast surgeon from Clonmel has gone there. Professor Keane does not transfer services from a hospital until he is certain the resources are in place. Interviews took place recently and ten cancer doctors are being recruited, one for each centre. Some of them are surgeons and many are specialist radiologists. I understand there was a high level of interest from many excellent doctors. Further interviews are to take place to recruit other specialists for the eight centres.
In regard to licensing and so on, we do not have a licensing regime here for the public or the private sector. That is a deficiency we must act on as quickly as possible. It requires legislation which will be drafted and forthcoming as quickly as possible. Until we have a licensing regime, it is not possible to establish an organisation to close things down if we allow people to open without any permit or authorisation. We must ensure that in the way we fund hospitals, we only fund those places which operate to the standards we deem necessary.
For example, in regard to breast cancer, I spoke to the insurers to ensure they do not fund through insurance activities in places which do not live up to the new national standards. I [83]have got that assurance from the VHI and I believe it will be forthcoming from the other insurers as well.
Deputy James Reilly: I welcome that because I spoke to the Minister about it last year.
Deputy Pat Breen: We spoke about two cases and possibly a third case of which the Minister said she is aware. Are there other cases? We spoke about misdiagnoses but much good work is done in the hospital. People must work in very difficult circumstances. Most days the accident and emergency department in Ennis is crowded. It is small and cramped and there are not enough beds. There are not even rooms in the hospital to give people privacy in the event of a loved one being seriously ill.
The Minister did not answer my question about the CAT scan. I urge her to put the development plan in place as soon as possible. We need to restore confidence in the hospital. As I said, staff are hardworking and I do not want the HSE to use these misdiagnoses as a means to downgrade the hospital. We want the hospital, particularly for the people of west Clare who must travel long distances.
Deputy Mary Harney: The only other case in regard to Ennis of which I am aware is the one to which I referred. I understand the HSE is investigating whether a breast cancer diagnosis was delayed. However, as Minister and a representative for Dublin Mid-West, I am aware of many cases around the country where there were misdiagnoses.
To put this in context and to be fair, because it is not often understood by the public, errors are made in even the best hospitals in the world, including the most resourced, the best equipped and a hospital I visited last year, M. D. Anderson in Texas, that deals with 78,000 cancers per year, which is nearly four times more cancers than we have in this country. In the developed world where research has taken place, it is estimated that in approximately 10% of hospital experiences are adverse and that 1% of them can result in a fatality. What we are trying to do in the reorganisation of our services is not to eliminate error because, as everybody acknowledges, that is impossible but to minimise the capacity for error making.
In regard to the scanner and any other equipment put in place, there are 37 hospitals in this country with accident and emergency departments for a population of 4.3 million. People do not need me to tell them that one cannot resource to the standards which might be expected in 37 hospitals with all the modern equipment necessary. It is not financially sustainable or possible, nor is it possible to get the kind of clinical expertise with that type of dispersion. It is very difficult to get top doctors to work in an environment with small volumes. That is the case in many of our hospitals and that is why we are trying to work to bring a network of hospitals together so that they complement each other and the clinicians work as part of a team in the region, such as the mid-west region where there are four hospitals. That is the ideal scenario.
The hospital is only of use to the patients in its catchment area if it can provide high quality services. I have no doubt that is what patients want and that is what we will have in Ennis. That is why the review I have asked HIQA to do will ensure that can be guaranteed in the future.
Deputy Michael Noonan: Are there plans to appoint additional consultant oncologists in the mid-west region?
Deputy Mary Harney: I understand one of the ten appointments now being made is a radiologist for Limerick. Limerick will have a minimum of two full-time breast surgeons, two radiologists with a specialist interest in breasts, two pathologists and additional medical oncologists. The recruitment process is under way and ten appointments have been made, or certainly [84]people have been offered appointments. Further appointments will be made in the coming months.
Written Answers follow Adjournment Debate.
An Ceann Comhairle: I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 21 and the name of the Member in each case: (1) Deputy Alan Shatter — the provision of a permanent school building for Holy Trinity national school, Glencairn, Leopardstown, Dublin 18; (2) Deputy Jan O’Sullivan — the need to inquire into the circumstances surrounding the deaths of Ann Moriarty and Edel Kelly; (3) Deputy Dan Neville — the flooding of Newcastle West and surrounding areas on 1 August 2008; (4) Deputies James Reilly and Pat Breen — the urgent need to establish an independent inquiry into the misdiagnoses of breast cancer at Ennis General Hospital, including testing at St. James’s Hospital and Limerick General Hospital and the need for the Minister to institute an independent inquiry; (5) Deputy John O’Mahony — the need to extend the farm waste management scheme; (6) Deputies Seymour Crawford and Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin — the preservation of services at Monaghan General Hospital; (7) Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin — the need for the Minister for Health and Children to intervene immediately to reverse the decision of the Health Service Executive to transfer all acute medical services from Monaghan General Hospital to Cavan General Hospital, placing thousands of people in County Monaghan in grave danger and placing an intolerable burden of additional work on staff in Cavan General Hospital where not a single additional bed is to be provided; (8) Deputy Jimmy Deenihan — the need to undertake an investigation into the recent bog slide at Macca, Lyreacrompane, County Kerry; (9) Deputy Fergus O’Dowd — the need to discuss the recent report from EGIS consultants which raised very serious concerns about safety systems in Dublin Port tunnel; (10) Deputy Simon Coveney — the need for the Minister for Transport to outline in detail his approach to ongoing concerns at Cork airport in relation to debt and the need to appoint a new chairperson to the board of Cork airport and to outline timeframe of when he intends to enable an independent and functional Cork airport; (11) Deputy Timmy Dooley — the need for the Minister of Health and Children to put in place measures to restore confidence for cancer patients at Ennis General Hospital; (12) Deputy Joe Costello — the need for the Minister for Health and Children to fund adequately the Irish Family Planning Association so that it is able to provide a full range of services; (13) Deputy Michael D. Higgins — the need for the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to indicate the measures he has taken to address the lead contamination issues that have arisen in certain housing areas in Galway and if such an issue was examined in previous examinations of the water supply, and to indicate what steps he proposes to take; (14) Deputy Róisín Shortall — the need to maintain the independence of the Combat Poverty Agency; (15) Deputy Lucinda Creighton — the sudden decision of the Department of Defence to evict the residents of a block in the Defence Forces married quarters of Cathal Brugha Barracks by means of a letter dated 11 September 2008, demanding that the residences be vacated by 30 October 2008, and to afford the Minister for Defence the opportunity to remedy his failure to honour agreements entered into in the early 1990s to dispose of the properties to the occupants in line with the provisions of the old local authority tenant purchase scheme; and (16) Deputy David Stanton — the need for the Minister to debate the closure of Swissco Limited at Little Island in Cork with a loss of up to 150 jobs and to outline what action, if any, the Government and State agencies have taken or will take to try to avert the closure.
[85]The matters raised by Deputies Seymour Crawford and Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin, Róisín Shortall, Jimmy Deenihan and John O’Mahony have been selected for discussion.
Question again proposed: “That the Bill be now read a Second Time.”
Deputy Ciarán Lynch: I will summarise the point I made earlier, given the gravity of the debate which has concluded. One must ask about today’s Order of Business. Why is the House discussing the Electoral (Amendment) Bill when people outside it are talking about the economy, job losses, the health service and other important matters? If a child in the Visitors Gallery heard the debate which just took place, he or she would be aware of the importance of this House but if he or she had heard only the earlier debate on the Electoral (Amendment) Bill, he or she would be of the view that politicians were talking about themselves at a time when everybody else wanted the House to talk about what is happening in the country.
As I said earlier, the Labour Party accepts the report of the commission and values the work it does. However, how it goes about its business needs to be examined as the terms of reference of the commission are set up by the Minister. The Labour Party believes the process, as currently sequenced, needs very serious examination. Currently, when the commission reports, the report comes to the House as a fait accompli. We would like an interim report to be sent to the stakeholders and those with an interest so that decisions made by the commission can be examined.
I welcome the fact that the Bill provides that within three months of a census report being published, the commission will begin to engage in its work again. However, there is a year between when the preliminary reports come out and when the census reports are fully published. The commission could begin to do its work even at the preliminary stage. There is no doubt that if boundaries had been reviewed in advance of the most recent election and they had reflected the changes in population experienced since 2002, the outcome of a number of constituencies would have been very different. However, nobody can say whether this would have changed the overall outcome of the election. Nevertheless, the structure of the most recent general election should have been examined in terms of how the constituencies were set out.
The terms of reference for the commission set out in the 1997 Act should be amended to protect our system of proportional representation and this should be the key reference for any work of the future commission. This is not just my view or that of a political party; it should be a constitutional requirement on the commission. Given the position of the stipulated voting system within the Constitution, this is not just a point of debate, but a constitutional fact.
In practical terms, this means if there are two or more possible configurations for constituencies in a particular locality, with due regard having been given to all relevant factors, the commission’s leaning should be for one that provides for a smaller number of constituencies returning a greater number of Members, rather than a multiplicity of three-seat constituencies. Unfortunately, this is the practice developing from one commission report to another.
It is, therefore, necessary to set out the basic mathematics that show the purpose of proportional representation and a single transferable vote election is most successfully achieved in constituencies that return more than one Member. In the submission made last year by the Labour Party, we argued that a fundamental requirement of the commission was to protect the element of proportionality to ensure the closest possible correlation between the share of votes a party gets to the number of seats it secures. Statistics we provided to the commission clearly demonstrated that larger constituencies provide the greater degree of proportionality.
[86]Unfortunately, the commission took little account of this, leaving the proportion of three, four and five-seat constituencies largely the same. More than one third of all constituencies are now three-seaters, the configuration that produces the least proportional outcome. For example, because the Ceann Comhairle is automatically returned, Kerry South will actually become a two-seater, which comes close to rendering the constitutional right of the people of Kerry South to proportional representation null and void. This situation will recur in any three-seater constituency with a sitting Ceann Comhairle.
The people have voted in referenda on two occasions to retain proportional representation. We should ensure that the value of this system is not undermined by inadequate terms of reference for the commission. I suggest the 1997 Act should be amended through the insertion of the following new paragraph in the commission’s terms of reference:
This would provide a more democratic outcome in a proportional representation system and I urge the Minister to take this on board.
The terms of reference should also be changed to allow for the creation of six-seater constituencies. We do not have any of these currently, but this should have been considered in the Kerry scenario and would have been appropriate and more favourable than our current two three-seat constituencies. These changes would result in a more open and transparent system for reviewing the constituencies, while preserving the principle of an independent process. They would provide results in which the public would have greater confidence and provide a bulwark against the further erosion of our system proportional representation. The commission itself should be looked at in the overall context of institutional reform. The role of the commission is not something that operates in isolation from other parts of the electoral process. This examination should result in a number of significant changes to the manner in which elections are organised and conducted in the State.
In order to achieve this goal, I intend to bring before the House an electoral commission Bill that would establish a new electoral and public offices commission to take over the powers of the existing Standards in Public Office Commission and the Referendum and Constituency Commission. The new body would also take over responsibility from local authorities for the electoral register and from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government for the running of elections. Currently there is much talk about the convergence of State agencies to bring about greater efficiency. This area is a very obvious area for convergence. Not only would it provide more efficient elections, but we would also get an independent structure that would ensure the basic principles of the election process, particularly of proportional representation, are protected.
The Bill also provides for major changes in the process by which the constituencies are revised. In redrawing the constituencies, the commission will be required, so far as practicable, to recommend an arrangement of constituency sizes and boundaries that is best calculated to produce an overall proportionate result. To achieve this result, it will be able to recommend [87]constituencies returning three, four, five or six Members. Currently, the maximum number is five.
The commission would also be able to commence work on redrawing the constituencies on the basis of the preliminary census figures, which would be more effective than the current system. However, I welcome the tidying up of this area to some extent within the three-month schedule, but by doing this at preliminary result stage, the job would be far easier to manage and provide for a better timeframe. If, for example, a census is envisaged within the lifetime of the current Government, we could find ourselves in a position where we are in the middle of a commission going into the next general election. I do not think that should be the case or that we should have commissions immediately after elections. Commissions should have their work completed well in advance, from 18 months to two years, before any general election.
The publication of a preliminary or draft report would address one of the major shortcomings of the current system, whereby once the commission produces its report, it cannot be asked to review the decision, no matter how illogical, irrational or inconsistent with its own terms of reference it may be. This situation was reflected in the Kerry-Limerick situation, where two local authorities, operating in two different counties and incorporating two different areas, have converged. This is probably a situation that will be redrawn and revised when the error of this approach becomes apparent. Some of the recommendations made in the most recent report, such as the transfer of 14,000 County Limerick voters to the Kerry North constituency would fall into this category. I am sure other Members are aware of similar cases in other constituencies.
The other major area of reform relates to the compilation of the electoral register. Despite some belated efforts made prior to the most recent election to update the register, anyone involved in active politics will be aware just how inaccurate the register remains. Before the most recent election, some €6 million was spent by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government in an attempt to tidy up the register of electors, but this attempt failed spectacularly. In some parts of Ireland the register figures exceeded the census figures by 105%. There is something radically wrong when we have a situation where there are more registered voters for a constituency than are registered as living in it. Northern Ireland has a smaller population than us, but it can manage an almost perfectly accurate register of electors on a budget of €2.5 million a year. We threw €6 million at our system, on top of the existing budget, but still got it wrong.
My Bill also proposes to transfer to the commission the functions of local authorities for preparing and publishing the register of electors. The commission must seek to achieve the comprehensive, accurate and timely registration of persons entitled to be registered as electors in an efficient and economical manner. Currently we have 34 local authorities using 34 different systems with 34 varying levels of priority. Some local authorities take the management of the electoral system seriously, but others do not and deal with it in the basement of the city, county or town hall. It does not have equal priority and, therefore, a disparity exists in the register of electors figures across the country. I propose that a new commission would be entitled to access information from statutory bodies and utility companies in order to accurately record the names and addresses of electors. Such a commission would be able to use public service identity numbers to ensure the accuracy of the register, which is the case in Northern Ireland.
While many aspects of this Bill are positive, a number of opportunities have been lost. The most obvious of these is the opportunity to fundamentally reform the overall structure, not by tinkering with boundaries and constituencies but by creating a commission that governs the [88]process of elections in this country on an independent basis. That would result in a more efficient, effective and measurable means of running elections in this country.
We are repeating the former system in regard to electoral reform. Where 12 five seat constituencies existed, we now have 11. The number of four seat constituencies has increased from 13 to 15, while three seat constituencies have decreased from 18 to 17. The overall trend is a drift away from five seat constituencies. However, an examination of the proportional representation shows that the larger the seat ratio per constituency, the better the proportional representation and the greater the democratic outcome. Most important of all, we have more assurance that the public will have the type of representation they seek. Unfortunately, that has been eroded by the commission’s report and this Bill.
The electoral process is the cornerstone of our democratic system. It is essential that the public have full confidence in the reliability of the electoral register and the way in which constituency boundaries are determined. We need to examine this issue as a totality in terms of the systems of elections as well as the structures within which they are held. There is a need for reform in both areas. Structural reforms are needed in respect of expanding the remit of the commission and there is a need to tidy up the systems which currently exist. One obvious means of achieving these ends is the draft report which has been brought before us. However, if we are to be truthful to ourselves, we should admit that our current debate holds little prospect of for this outcome. I ask for changes to the process so that a democratic input is facilitated because the public needs to have confidence in the system.
The most glaring omission in this Bill is its missed opportunity to introduce spending limits on local elections. An anomaly exists in that while expenditure limits are imposed on general election candidates, there is no ceiling on local election spending, despite smaller voter bases and geographical areas. The only requirement is that records of expenditure must be supplied. We could be debating boundaries once again in three or four years time but the most immediate issue before us is the local elections. I question the Minister’s position on this matter, given his earlier comments on it. It appears that his involvement in Government has diluted his opinion.
Deputy Michael Kennedy: Tááthas orm seans a fháil labhairt ar an mBille tábhachtach seo. I appreciate the opportunity to speak on this issue once again and am relieved that the proposals contained in the constituency boundary report are at last being taken seriously. When I was last afforded the opportunity to speak on the Constituency Commission’s proposals, it was merely to make a statement on them. I expressed disappointment at the time that members would not have an opportunity to vote on the issue and that it would be treated as an interim report. Such was the level of respectful objection among many of the speakers that the Minister, Deputy Gormley, agreed to bring the issue back to the House in the form of the Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2008.
Although I am disappointed that the Bill adopts the same recommendations as those of the Constituency Commission’s report, I now have the opportunity, with other Deputies who suggested a re-examination of the recommendations, to appeal for real change. I hope we will have some leverage to compel the relevant committee to include our suggestions on Committee Stage.
When I previously spoke on this subject last May, I made clear my objections to some of the Constituency Commission’s proposals. In particular, I remain convinced that the plan to rejig parts of north Dublin into the Dublin West constituency is ludicrous. Many other areas will also be affected. Limerick West is to be incorporated into Kerry North, parts of east County Meath are to be included in Louth, parts of south County Offaly will move to North Tipperary and Leitrim remains divided into two Dáil constituencies.
[89]I acknowledge the reasons for this proposal and I am in no way criticising the commission itself as I know it is acting independently and has no agenda. However, I believe it to be short-sighted in some of its recommendations. In a bid to address the balance among the constituencies, the commission has commenced this slash and burn plan. It is arbitrarily hacking apart constituencies and adding a portion of one constituency to another. This slapdash approach will undoubtedly satisfy the representation ratio of 30,000 per Deputy but it is ripping apart communities and disenfranchising thousands of people.
The situation in my constituency of Dublin North and neighbouring Dublin West is a case in point. Both constituencies have too many people and too few public representatives. It is proposed to make up the shortfall in the hugely under represented Dublin West by chopping an area containing 13,000 people out of the town of Swords. This allows for the creation of one more seat in Dublin West. By shifting the boundary, the population of Dublin North is also reduced to such a degree that the ratio of seats to population is more closely satisfied.
Swords is the largest town in my constituency. It has a population of 33,000 and is growing rapidly. Fingal County Council estimates that the population of Swords will grow to upwards of 100,000 people in the next 20 years and is taking this prediction so seriously that members recently passed a plan, Your Swords, an Emerging City, to cater for the growth. Swords is already the tenth largest town in Ireland and is larger than Navan and Kilkenny. It is geographically isolated from Dublin West by virtue of 11 miles of agricultural land, while the M50 and the airport prevent it from sprawling into the more urban centres of Santry and Ballymun and the M1 means it will never grow as far as Malahide. Swords is one of the single most identifiable stand-alone towns in north County Dublin, so to split it between two constituencies seems madness. The proposals in the Constituency Commission’s report, and now the Electoral (Amendment) Bill, definitely serve a purpose, but the same result could have been achieved through detailed consideration of all the constituencies. Proper consideration is necessary to prevent towns being split across different constituencies just to make up the numbers.
The proposal for Swords is preposterous. It is planned to split Swords down the Main Street, with everyone to the west of the street voting in Dublin West and everyone else voting in Dublin North. Consider the case of the River Valley area of Swords. This is a large housing estate which generates an enormous number of queries for me every year. The people are politically active and well aware of their public representatives. If somebody living in the Boroimhe Estate in Swords, for example, whose children go to school in Swords village, has a problem with that school, who will they consult? Will it be me as the representative for Dublin North or my colleague, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Brian Lenihan, because they will now vote in Dublin West? What was a close-knit, politically active community will be bewildered as to who represents them on these issues. I predict their disillusionment with politics.
The same confusion will exist for local councillors as they prepare to work with the Deputies from two different constituencies to deal with the same issues. This is just one example of the jurisdictional problems that will arise from the proposal to split Swords and the River Valley-Forest Road area. The housing estates of Boroimhe, Ridgewood, Forest Road, Knocksedan and Highfields are all destined to join Castleknock, Blanchardstown, Porterstown, Clonsilla and Mulhuddart in Dublin West. All of these areas will have a weakened electoral power.
The hundreds of residents who contacted me after the commission issued its report live in fear of disenfranchisement. At the next election they believe they will be considered the last outpost before the boundary with Dublin North, and their views will not be canvassed. They are aware they will make up just 12% of the population of Dublin West and their opinions and needs will be secondary to those of the larger urban areas of Castleknock and Blanchardstown. Even more galling is the likelihood that when the population expands in both constituencies, [90]which is certain, Swords will once again be reunified with Dublin North, making this exercise entirely pointless. If Swords grows to 100,000 people, as predicted, and similar growth is experienced in Dublin West it is likely that both populations will support additional seats in their own right.
Another ludicrous suggestion is the proposal to move the airport into the Dublin West constituency. If one asked anybody where the airport is located, Dublin West would not be the obvious answer. The airport is an ideological symbol of Dublin North. It is incredibly important to the population of Dublin North, whom I represent. To move it into the constituency of another group of Deputies is, at best, unwise and, at worst, ridiculous.
In addition, areas of Portmarnock are being moved from Dublin North to Dublin North-East. In fact, their removal is further proof of the slapdash approach the commission employed in making its recommendations. Deputy Terence Flanagan spoke on the Bill earlier. In the map used by the commission, two estates will remain in Dublin North while the rest of Portmarnock will be moved into Dublin North-East. This shows how ridiculous these proposals are. A small group of people living in Portmarnock, ten metres from their neighbours, will be represented by Deputies for Dublin North, and I will be happy to represent them, but the rest of the people will be represented by Deputies for Dublin North-East. These proposals are short-sighted and ridiculous.
I mentioned earlier that Swords is seen as a stand-alone town. It also identifies itself primarily as a north Dublin town. The residents of Swords have issues that are very specific to north County Dublin and they align themselves historically with the nearby towns of Balbriggan, Skerries, Donabate, Rush, Lusk, Malahide and Portmarnock. I have been contacted by hundreds of people from Swords on this issue. Never have I seen a proposal so violently opposed by such large numbers. Such is the level of opposition that the community has formed a non-partisan, non-political group called the Swords Electoral Boundary Action Group. I suggest that the Minister and the members of the Joint Committee on the Environment, Heritage and Local Government examine the group’s excellent submission document and take on board its recommendations.
The Swords Electoral Boundary Action Group raises the issue of contiguous areas and how the 1997 Electoral Act states that each constituency “shall be composed of contiguous areas” and that “there shall be regard for geographical considerations including significant physical features and the extent and the density of population in each constituency”. This means we are legally obliged to take account of the natural geographical boundaries. I believe the 11 km of farm land and the N2 lying between Swords and Blanchardstown should be considered the boundaries.
The commission and the Minister have been at pains to explain the motivation for moving a proportion of Swords into Dublin West. Again, it comes back to the issue of re-addressing boundaries and both would argue that the constitutional obligation to provide a balanced constituency far outweighs the legal ramifications of not obeying geographical boundaries. However, in weighing up the issue of equality of representation versus adherence to natural townland boundaries, the Supreme Court, as outlined in the Constituency Commission’s report, deferred to Deputies and local representatives to identify the problems arising out of redrawing boundaries. In the section of the report relating to equality of representation, the commission quotes the Supreme Court judgment on the matter of Article 26 of the Constitution and in the matter of the Electoral Amendment Bill 1961: “The problem of what is practicable is primarily one for the Oireachtas, whose members have knowledge of the problems and difficulties to be solved, which this court cannot have.”
[91]These reports should be interim reports. The Members of this House are better aware of the issues involved than a small group of people who are not as familiar with the areas. The commission’s report goes so far as to suggest that where the boundaries of counties, townlands and electoral divisions are to be disrupted by proposed changes, there can be a departure from the constitutional requirements relating to equality of representation. It appears out of kilter, therefore, for the Commission to recommend the removal of 13,000 voters from Swords and to transfer them to the Dublin West constituency.
As I have said previously, and I will continue to say it until somebody listens, the proposal to split Swords between two constituencies is madness. It is a nightmare for the people of the area, the public representatives and the infrastructural services provided in the area. The local election boundary report did not recommend that Swords be split. The committee was recommended to follow Dáil constituency boundaries and it agreed that Swords should remain a single area. I am extremely disappointed the Minister has not taken the opportunity with this Bill to listen to the many Deputies throughout the House who can point out these deficiencies. I hope our proposals will be listened to on Committee Stage. That would be in the best interests of democracy.
Deputy Kieran O’Donnell: I wish to share time with Deputy Jimmy Deenihan. I echo the sentiments of previous speakers. We are debating something today that should have been debated long ago. It is not a priority. The commission’s report was published last October but we are only seeing the Bill a year later. At the same time, the health service is malfunctioning. Women are worrying about their lives, people are dying and the economy is on its knees yet we have set aside at least an hour or two to debate this Bill. We should be debating issues of relevance to the daily lives of people in terms of health and jobs. However, that is not what we are doing. We should not be discussing today a Bill that should have been dealt with months ago.
While recognising the independence of the commission and its findings, in particular in regard to the Limerick East constituency which I represent, it appears unusual that the people of Limerick are to be divided between three constituencies rather than two. The current constituencies are Limerick East and Limerick West and it is proposed to divide Limerick into three constituencies, namely, Limerick city, Limerick and Kerry North-West Limerick.
Our job is to represent the people who elect us. More than 17,000 voters in the Limerick West constituency are to be transferred to the constituency of Limerick. People are upset they will no longer be represented by the representatives of Limerick East with whom they have dealt for decades. I and, I have no doubt, other representatives from the Limerick East constituency, will continue to represent these people although they will not be in a position to vote for us at the next election.
The Limerick West constituency will be known as the constituency of Limerick. More than 13,000 of the population of Limerick West will be transferred to the constituency of Kerry North-West Limerick. These people also feel disenfranchised. What has happened is that Kerry, in terms of population, could not sustain two three-seater constituencies. The commission was directed in its terms of reference to ensure, where practicable, constituencies were retained within county boundaries. Transferring a population of 13,000 from one constituency to a constituency in another county does not make sense.
Deputy Ciarán Lynch stated earlier that the constituency of Limerick West will fall between two local authority areas, Kerry and Limerick, which will cause difficulties in operational terms. People are anxious. Areas such as Kilteely, Cappamore, Doon, Pallasgreen, Oolagh, Moroe, Herbertstown, Hospital and Caherconlish currently part of Limerick East will be part of a new constituency. Clearly, Limerick was sacrificed to ensure the retention of the two three-seater [92]constituencies in Kerry. I mean no disrespect to the people of Kerry who are great neighbours. However, given it is stated in the terms of reference that constituencies should be retained in county boundaries, one must question this decision.
In summary, we should not be debating this issue today. There are far more important things happening at the moment. One such issue was raised earlier by way of private notice question. Issues of concern are those relating to health and people’s worries about the economy going forward in terms of employment. I will continue to represent the people of Limerick East who will be part of the new constituency of Limerick. They gave me a mandate to represent them and I will continue to do so.
I regret that this issue is being debated in the House today. There are far more important issues we could be debating. It is difficult for the people of the eastern part of Limerick to accept what is happening. However, we accept the independence of the commission.
Deputy Jimmy Deenihan: Obviously, I am affected to a large extent by this Bill. As previous speakers including Deputy Kieran O’Donnell have said, the county of Limerick is to be divided into three different constituencies, Limerick, Limerick city and Kerry North-West Limerick. This will create a great deal of confusion for people in this region and may result in representatives from boundary areas being closer to them than those who represent them.
I would like if the Minister could give us some assurance that these will be the boundaries going into the next election. If not, there will be considerable pressure on representatives in terms of the level of service they provide to their constituents. This would be unfair to representatives and the communities they represent. It would make little sense if we were to have another review and another formation of constituencies. I appeal to any future commission to ensure it puts in place what is being proposed here today.
More than 5,098 of the population of north Kerry will be transferred to the Kerry South constituency. Obviously, I will miss that part of my constituency because I had built up a strong connection with a large number of the electorate there. Many of the communities involved are disappointed that I and other representatives with whom they are familiar will no longer be representing them. However, being transferred to the constituency of Kerry South may not affect them as much as will the transfer of more than 13,000 people from Limerick West to the constituency of Kerry North, given that transfer will take them over a county boundary. I hope the new constituency will be recognised as the constituency of Limerick West and Kerry North. It is important to impress upon the communities of Limerick West that this will be the case and that they will not be isolated. It is not the case that they are being plucked and put into the constituency of Kerry North. Politicians representing that area will be representing a different geographical area and should represent it accordingly.
I have examined precedent in this regard. Coincidentally, during the second and third Dála, Kerry and Limerick West were part of the same constituency. It was an eight-seater at that time and the constituency of Limerick city and Limerick East was a four-seater. In the third Dáil, which was in June 1922 — the first Dáil was in May 1921 — Kerry and Limerick West were one constituency. Thus, there is a precedent for a connection between Kerry and Limerick West. In 1923, Kerry became a seven-seater and Limerick a seven-seater. In a way, it is history repeating itself.
West Limerick has a close affinity with north Kerry, especially in border communities such as Athea and Moyvane. Over the years there has been much to-ing and fro-ing across the border. They have great cultural links through music and dance. West Limerick has a strong literary tradition and poets such as DáibhíÓ Bruadair and Michael Hartnett had strong connections with north Kerry. In agriculture, both north Kerry and west Limerick are strong dairying [93]areas. Now most of the milk suppliers provide milk to the Kerry group because of the amalgamation of Golden Vale and Kerry. There are bonds among the agricultural community as well.
With regard to infrastructure, the N69 is an important road for both west Limerick and north Kerry. This certainly represents a connection between the two parts of the constituency. The Shannon Estuary also represents a strong bond between the two areas, knitting together both sides of the constituency. Now, with exciting things happening in the Shannon Estuary, including a natural gas project, the new arrangement may provide more focus on this area and on the important land bank in Tarbert and Ballylongford. This will benefit communities in both north Kerry and west Limerick, and will give a new focus to the Shannon Estuary and new hope to Tarbert Island now that the power station is being privatised and taken over by a Spanish company. Certainly, it will lead to a new dynamic within those parts of Kerry and Limerick. For that reason, the new constituency may have many advantages for both communities.
I ask the Minister to refer to the status of the change. Is there certainty that these constituencies will be in place going into the next election? It is important that the position is clarified. Will the commission sit again, with the result that new constituencies will be formed going into the next election? I ask the Minister to reassure us on that point.
Deputy Johnny Brady: I wish to share my time with Deputy Joe Behan.
Acting Chairman (Deputy Jan O’Sullivan): Is that agreed? Agreed.
Deputy Johnny Brady: I am pleased to have the opportunity to contribute to this debate, the subject of which will have a severe impact on me and the area I represent in Dáil Éireann in the future.
The report of the Constituency Commission recommends further partitioning of the area I represent in the House. It recommends transferring a further 6,776 people, the electorate of the areas of Kells town, Kells rural district and Stahalmog, from the constituency of Meath West to Meath East. County town and parish boundaries have been disregarded and, under the proposals, Kells town and its natural hinterland are to be in separate constituencies. Kells is a rural town with close links to the surrounding villages and smaller towns of north Meath. The future economic well-being of the greater Kells area would be best served by keeping the entire area in one Dáil constituency.
The greater north Meath area has been subjected to serious territorial change over the years. In 1973, part of it was transferred into the constituency of Cavan. The population of the area then helped elect the late and great John P. Wilson, a former Minister and Tánaiste, to this House. Another part of north Meath was transferred to the constituency of Monaghan, where its electorate helped elect the great former Minister and Ceann Comhairle, Deputy Rory O’Hanlon. In later years, however, both areas were returned to the Meath constituency. Indeed, my great friend and colleague with whom I have served for more than 34 years, Michael Lynch, who was elected to this House on two occasions and to Seanad Éireann, is from this area.
Prior to the 2007 election, County Meath was divided again when the constituencies of Meath West and Meath East were established. Unfortunately, I lost a large part of my constituency, in Slane, Navan and, in the case of Kells, an area extending from Moynalty to Meath Hill, to my colleague and great friend Deputy Thomas Byrne. This included areas such as Carlanstown, Newcastle, Tierworker, Kilmainham Wood, Kilbeg, Nobber and Drumcondra, which were part of the Kells electoral area. Unfortunately, this area is now being changed again. The previous changes affected parish boundaries and the new proposals in the latest review will transfer three quarters of my parish of Kells to Meath East. Parts of the parishes of Carlanstown and [94]Carnaross were transferred to Meath East under the previous boundary changes. It is unfair to split parishes in two. I take the opportunity to thank the people of Kells and Stahalmog for giving me over 60% of the vote in that area in previous elections. As a public representative, first as a county councillor and now as a TD, I have represented the town of Kells and its rural hinterland for more than 34 years. The electorate of the area do not want to lose a representative who has served them for such a long time. The Kells area has been affected most by the decision to divide the county into two constituencies.
I note in respect of the Meath and Louth constituencies that the commission recommends extending the Louth constituency by moving the Meath East environs of Drogheda into the electoral constituency of Louth. The report also highlights the need for a transfer of population from Meath West to Meath East. I note the Constituency Commission does not make a recommendation in this regard but instead proposes the transfer of a population of 6,776 in the Ceanannas Mór area from Meath West to Meath East. If the rapid population growth in Meath West and Meath East continues at the rates indicated in the latest census, further changes will be required in the next constituency review. In consideration of this and based on the difference in the words used, the commission’s proposal, as opposed to recommendation, to move Kells from Meath West to Meath East does not require implementation.
The recommendations of the report are inconsistent, confusing and unprecedented, and do not take into account the preservation of natural communities. While I fully recognise that the Constituency Commission is an independent body, its independence does not confer on it the status of infallibility. Recommendations made from a mathematical perspective with no consideration for the democratic rights of local communities are wrong. The fragmentation of closely knit communities across north Meath threatens the co-ordination of future growth in the area. The Electoral Act 1997 states that “each constituency shall be composed of contiguous areas” and that “there shall be regard to geographic considerations including significant physical features and the extent of and the density of population in each constituency”. Surely people in north Meath should not be disenfranchised because of the density of population in towns such as Ratoath, Dunboyne and Ashbourne. I do not understand why the Constituency Commission chose not to consider moving those areas to Dublin constituencies such as Dublin West and Dublin North with which they are more aligned, rather than depriving people in parts of north Meath of a Deputy who has served them for 34 years. It is very unfair. I cannot understand why they never looked at those areas.
In the previous change, I was lucky that part of Westmeath — the Coole electoral area — came into the Meath West constituency.
I ask the Acting Chairman to tell me when my time is up.
Acting Chairman: The Deputy has two and a half minutes.
Deputy Michael Ring: His time could be up after the next general election.
Deputy Johnny Brady: Unfortunately this time I am getting no extra ground which is very unfair. In the new European constituencies, most of Meath West is in the Ireland East constituency and part of the Meath West constituency — the Coole area of Westmeath — will be in the Ireland North-West constituency, which is also very unfair to the people of that area.
Section 6(2)(f) also states: “subject to the provisions of this section, the Commission shall endeavour to maintain continuity in relation to the arrangement of constituencies”. The Electoral Act 1997 also recommends that “the breaching of county boundaries shall be avoided as far as practicable”. On behalf of the people I have represented in this House for the past 11 [95]years I ask why north Meath should be subjected to such divisive and unfair decisions for electoral purposes.
Deputy Joe Behan: At the outset I take the opportunity to thank the staff of the Oireachtas Library and research service whose work is vital to the quality of debate in the Dáil and Seanad Chambers. I have used the special debate packs on a number of occasions to date and I have found them to be an excellent aid to preparation and research prior to making a contribution to a debate such as this. I have read all of the debate pack regarding this vital legislation and I have yet again found it to contain all the essential background material necessary to achieve a broad understanding of the Bill as well as being informative as to the views of interested parties within and outside the House.
I will of course be supporting the passage of the Electoral (Amendment) Bill through this Chamber as it reflects the decision of the Government to implement the recommendations of the Constituency Commission report of 2007 as well as including other legislative amendments reflecting court decisions regarding electoral law. However, I will also be taking up the invitation of the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government as quoted by the Irish Examiner on 24 October 2007 when he said: “Deputies from all sides of the House will no doubt have views on specific recommendations and they will have the opportunity to raise them during debate on the legislation.”
I welcome the provision in the Bill to comply with the High Court judgment of June 2007 allowing for the establishment of future constituency commissions on publication by the CSO of preliminary census results and allowing for the finalisation of the commission’s work after the CSO final report is published. I note this allows much work to be done in a timely manner while ensuring final decisions are made on the final figures.
I also welcome the relaxation of the onerous assent requirements on non-party candidates in future local and European Parliament elections. I also welcome the reasonable deposit rates set out for local and European Parliament candidates in lieu of obtaining assents. I believe passionately that democracy is a precious gift bequeathed to us by our forefathers and it is essential the barriers to any citizen of this State wishing to stand for election should be so small as to be invisible. I would quibble with the provision to withhold the deposit from candidates who receive less than 25% of a quota, but I still believe the basic deposit required is achievable for all who wish to stand.
Those are elements of the Bill which I praise. I turn to some elements of the proposed legislation with which I have some difficulty or to put it more accurately with the Constituency Commission report and its implications for democracy. I cannot understand why the commission did not increase the total number of Members of Dáil Éireann from the present total of 166 to the number to which it could have statutorily agreed which is 168. The number of 166 has been set since 1980 — 28 years ago. Our population as measured at that time was 3,368,217. Our population according to the 2006 census was 4,239,848, an increase of more than 25%. It is unbelievable that the commission did not see fit to decide that the people were entitled to the maximum allowable number of Dáil Deputies given such an increase in population. What is even more astounding is the lack of comment on this failure across the political spectrum. I do not know whether this is because of political correctness or whether it is because the media are constantly critical of Members of this House right across party lines and it might have been seen as an attempt to increase the number of these “useless” Deputies. It is amazing that we as a body did not respond more vigorously to what I regard as a very basic failure of the commission to allow two additional Deputies when we have a 25% increase in the population. This failure is one of the most significant of all in this commission report and I remain completely unconvinced by the weak justification offered for this failure.
[96]I agree with many Members of this House, some of whom have already spoken, in my exasperation at the continuing trampling by the Constituency Commission across county boundaries. The people of more and more counties must acclimatise to electoral boundaries which make absolutely no geographical or administrative sense. Given that the county has been the administrative unit of our country since the foundation of the State I cannot understand how this tradition can be ignored so fundamentally every time a new Constituency Commission report is prepared. It is high time that we, as elected Members of this body, take this matter extremely seriously.
I will shortly personalise the matter to my constituency. However, Members should first consider the much-quoted example of County Leitrim. It would be easy for natives of County Leitrim to believe that this Constituency Commission is out to get them because not alone has the county been split in two but the division in population decided by the commission is such that it is impossible for Leitrim to elect a Deputy of its own. This state of affairs is completely unacceptable. I have nothing to gain from any change regarding Leitrim but it is not right and should be addressed as a matter of urgency. It is important to note that the largest number of submissions on any issue received by the commission was made on behalf of people living in Leitrim who wanted to include all of County Leitrim in one constituency. However, the commission stated it was not possible to find a solution that met the concerns in the submissions and had no undesirable impact on the configuration of other constituencies. So the message the people of Leitrim can take from that is that it is acceptable to have decisions undesirable to Leitrim people but not to anyone else. The people of Leitrim are being classed by this commission as second-class citizens which is wrong. It is unacceptable to me and it should be unacceptable to all of us as democrats. My constituency suffers from this geographically nonsensical approach by the Constituency Commission. Happy and willing as I am to serve the needs of my constituents from east Carlow — Rathvilly, Hacketstown and Clonmore — they are not well served where their local county administration is in County Carlow but their TDs are in County Wicklow. It is madness and it must change.
I pay tribute to the Taoiseach who, before the summer, floated an idea in the Chamber that perhaps members of all parties could get together to discuss the implications of this report to see if the lack of respect for county boundaries could be addressed. It is regrettable that the idea was seized on as an effort to interfere with the impartial and independent process set up by the commission. What happened was that the Government said it would allow the report to go through to the Dáil Members. We, as Members, have a responsibility to try to address this issue and, if necessary, change the law and the Constitution to ensure that all future constituencies, whether single or double county, are coterminous with county boundaries. The people who live in disenfranchised counties, such as Leitrim, deserve no less. Furthermore, if this matter was to put to a vote of the people it would be resoundingly supported.
Deputy Deirdre Clune: I wish to share time with Deputies Ring and McGinley.
Acting Chairman: Is that agreed? Agreed.
Deputy Deirdre Clune: Despite the fact that the report was published last October, we are only discussing the Bill now, almost 12 months later. There has been much delay and uncertainty as to whether the Government would introduce the report as it was or, as the Taoiseach suggested, discuss the division of counties. He was particularly vulnerable on that point because the proposals in the commission’s report affect his own constituency. Nevertheless, we are discussing it now. Given that the report implements the CSO figures prior to the 2007 general election, the delay is considerable. I am pleased that one part of the Bill stipulates that in [97]future once the CSO figures are produced that will kick start such a report and it will be able to use the preliminary figures rather than the final report. That is a positive development, given the time delay in getting to this point. The Bill still has to go through Committee and Remaining Stages. If that is the case, we expect the next CSO publication in 2011, following which there should be a report in 2012. Some speakers have said they hope there will be no further change before the next general election. Nobody knows. According to the figures I have given, the chances are there will be a new review before the next general election if the Government goes full term. I hope we do not get to that because we had difficulties prior to the 2007 general election where the constitutionality of the boundaries in place at that time was challenged. As a result of that judicial review there is a provision in the Bill which provides that once the CSO publishes its figures that will kick start a boundary review.
My constituency is not affected. However, the adjacent constituency, Cork North-Central, will go from four seats to five. In the previous review, Cork City and county had 18 seats but will now have 19. Also in this review it is proposed that there will be a seat loss in the Limerick-Kerry area, the Acting-Chairman’s area. This is a stark reminder of how these seats have gone to the east of the country and it underlines the population drift. That is for another debate, and one that should take place, in regard to where we are going in terms of decentralisation and investing in the regions to ensure there is not over-population of the east. What is happening is that everything is drifting to the east. Looking to the future, we need to invest in the regions to ensure a vibrant population in those areas. That seats are drifting to the east in this review underlines that fact.
While my constituency has not been affected, I agree that county boundaries should not be divided. Leitrim is a point in case. It is probably impossible to elect a representative from the Leitrim area now. Kerry North-Limerick East is a new constituency. There are people in that area who will have representation from a different county. That is not the ideal way forward. That same applies in Tipperary North and Offaly. There will be different local authorities in those areas. There will be a Dáil constituency but yet two local authorities will be responsible for that constituency. That is difficult and not an ideal situation.
The recent local authority boundary review tried as far as possible to stick with the Dáil constituency boundaries. That is welcome. Under this review, five counties are affected, including Leitrim. I hope this trend does not continue because the people living in those areas are not be happy, and certainly their representatives are not happy. It will lead to difficulties and confusion in regard to local authority areas. I would like to see that issue addressed.
I am concerned that the number of five seat constituencies has been reduced as they contributed much to our democracy. They gave smaller parties an opportunity to gain representation which would not happen if there was a dearth of three seat constituencies. It is important to maintain them because when one looks back at previous elections and the way in which proportional representation delivered seats for the smaller parties, it happened generally in the five seat constituencies.
I am pleased the programme for Government proposed that an electoral commission be established to look at constituency boundaries, maintain the electoral register and act as a watchdog for political funding. It is an interesting proposal. Professor Richard Sinnott has been engaged by the Minister to look at the proposal. I will be interested to see his findings.
Much work needs to be done on the electoral register. We have had many negative reports, although it varies across local authority areas. It was good in my area but there are areas which had a population of 105%. Obviously there is a great deal of movement in the population with people renting homes and apartments and the register is not up to speed. I look forward to the report on that issue.
[98]It is a shame there has been such a long delay in getting to this point. I hope the provision in the Bill that will kick start a review, once the CSO figures are produced will help us to avoid such a long delay in the future. Following a two and a half month break from the House, I am disappointed that in a Bill such this, which has been kicking around for a long time, that is all the Government has to put on the table today.
I look forward to the debate later this evening on the economy. It will be an opportunity for people to share their views. Certainly my party has some positive proposals in that area. However, we would have preferred if the Government had devoted its time to such a debate today.
Deputy Michael Ring: I wish to share time with Deputy Dinny McGinley. Like Deputy Clune I thought there would be much more important business in the Dáil today. That is not to say that this matter is not important but the thinking of the Government must be that it will not last long. I suppose it wants to get its act together and deal with this business.
I listened recently to proposals by the Green Party, made by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Gormley. What he mentioned was new, namely, funding between elections and the amount of money councillors can spend. The latest thing is that the Minister does not want posters and therefore we cannot have posters up on poles or outside polling booths. Now that Deputy Gormley is in government he will be like all the others and will never wish to leave it. The sad thing, and one cannot know what may happen, is that he might bring in a Bill putting an end to further elections and might stay in power forever.
The Minister must watch himself. One time there was a party known as the PDs. Its Deputies used to sit over with Fianna Fáil. They are not there anymore. I can assure the House that the Green Party will go the same way after the next elections. It will no longer sit where it used to and it will not be on this side of the House either. The Minister ought not to rush to get rid of posters and elections.
I have a few observations to make in respect of this particular Bill. One concerns the European election. I heard Deputy Brady express concerns and he is right. A huge constituency will be created in the north west, to include Mayo, Galway, Roscommon, Donegal, Westmeath, extending to Longford. For a three-seater constituency this is an enormous area. I wish to assure the Deputy that if I am still in the field and am elected, I will look after Meath for him. He need not worry. The people of Meath will not be forgotten as long as I am there.
Deputy Charlie O’Connor: Is that an announcement?
Deputy Michael Ring: It is not an announcement, just a fair observation in case I am selected and elected, and if I go.
Deputy Dinny McGinley: It is a straw in the wind.
Deputy Michael Ring: In respect of this Bill there is an issue I would have preferred the Minister to discuss when he was talking about boundary changes in both the European and the Dáil elections. I cannot understand why there is such resistance to appointing people to deal with the registers. There is no doubt that local authorities have failed. We saw this happen before the last election and, in all fairness to the Minister, he had to put funding in place to allow local authorities put people on the register. What is nobody’s business is everybody’s business. The time has come for the Minister to give that responsibility to somebody. At present the updating of the register is not even given out as a summer job scheme for students. They [99]might earn some euro going out and knocking on doors, at apartments and flats, trying to get people onto the register. Nothing is more annoying at election time than to have people who genuinely want to vote being prevented from doing so.
What has happened in my own consitutuency is that certain people who were on the register have been knocked off it, for one reason or another, when it was reprinted. There is also the situation of people who have been dead for years but whose cards come through the door during every election period causing upset to their families. Their loved ones may have been dead for up to seven years without the matter having been sorted out.
I say to the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and to the Government that there are enough people in Departments now who might be able to think up a scheme or do something about this electoral issue. It should be taken away from local authorities, which are not prepared to deal with it, and should be given to somebody although not to an agency. We have enough quangos in this country. The undertaking could be given to schools during the summer. A certain number of people in each county might be employed in a summer job scheme. They would earn a few euro to get into college and they would be given some responsibility. In that way, the register would be updated every year. It is a simple suggestion and would not cost a fortune.
Local authorities take people on for the summer. In this case why not have, for instance, 40 people employed in each local authority? Their job would be to update the register of electors and they would be paid for the summer months. I see nothing wrong with the suggestion and it should be taken on board by the Minister and the Government. That would stop the situation whereby, in every election I have fought, from town council to county council to the Dáil, there has always been criticism of the register. I cannot understand why we, as practising politicians, do not put such a scheme in place. The suggestion I have offered the Minister is not a big idea and it is one that the Government might consider.
I shall finish on this note. I am in a five-seat constituency which at one time was two three-seaters. I have spoken about this before and now I put it on the record once again. It is unfair when boundaries are extended beyond natural areas, counties and actual borders. Mayo is one of the largest counties in the country and it is impossible to travel from one part of the constituency to the other. I say the following against myself, as I have done previously. I see nothing wrong with having even a three-seater and a two-seater but to have a five-seater in such a large county is ridiculous. It is not good for the health of Deputies to travel all over the county. I leave my home on a Saturday and go to north Mayo and am 70 miles away, doing clinics. If I have to go to Ballina the situation is the same. At a public meeting the other night I was 35 miles from my home.
It is all very well for the media to say that such work is not part of my job. I say to the Dublin 4 brigade that it may not be the job but if a Deputy does not keep in touch with the people and does not go to public meetings the people will soon put him or her out of this House. It is a pity that the Dublin 4 media can help to put a Deputy out but they cannot help put one in. If a Deputy does not keep in contact with the people, those same people will soon lose contact with him or her.
Deputy Dinny McGinley: Tá lúcháir orm deis a bheith agam cúpla focal a rá ar an mBille seo. Is páirt riachtanach den phróiseas daonlathach agus den phróiseas parlaiminte go gcaithfidh muid Billí mar seo a thabhairt isteach agus a phlé sa Dáil. Cuirim fáilte roimhe mar go bhfuil sé riachtanach. Is iontach an rud é go bhfuil muid ag plé an Bhille seo inniu, an chéad lá dúinn bheith ar ais sa Dáil, cé gur chuir an coimisiún an tuairisc ar fáil beagnach bliain ó shin, Deireadh Fómhair 2007. Inniu táimid ag plé tuairiscí an choimisiúin bliain iomlán i ndiaidh sin. Cé aige atá a fhios an mbeidh ceann eile le plé againn sula mbeidh an chéad toghchán eile [100]againn? Beidh an chéad toghchán eile sa bhliain 2012 agus an daonáireamh againn sa bhliain 2011. Níl a fhios agam an iad seo na teorainn a bhéas againn don chéad toghchán eile agus is fiú cuimhne a bheith againn ar sin. Is cinnte, áfach, gur seo na teorainn a bhéas againn le haghaidh toghchán na hEorpa.
Ba mhaith liom tagairt don mhéad a bhí le rá ag an Teachta Joe Behan. Rinne sé tagairt do Chontae Liatroma agus dúirt gur mór an trua é go bhfuil an contae sin fágtha as an áireamh agus nach bhfuil sé ar a gcumas Teachta Dála dá gcuid féin a thoghadh. Maidir le mo chontae féin, Tír Chonaill, roinnt blianta ó shin bhí mo dháilceantar féin, Tír Chonaill Thiar-Theas, istigh le tuaisceart Liatroma. Chinntigh sin go raibh Teachta Dála ag Contae Liatroma san am sin, cé go raibh sé ina dhá leath. Níl a fhios agam conas is féidir an fhadhb sin a réiteach. Go dtí go mbeidh Teachta Dála dá gcuid féin acu, is cinnte go mbeidh cúis ghearáin acu.
Is maith an rud é go bhfuil coimisiún neamhspleách againn. Ba mhaith liom tréaslú leis na daoine atá ar an gcoimisiún, Cléireach an Tí seo, Ciarán Ó Cochláin; Cléireach an tSeanaid; Deirdre Lane, Rúnaí Ginearálta na Roinne, Geraldine Tallon; agus an Ombudsman, Emily O’Reilly, a shuí i nGailearaí na Nuachtóirí sa Teach seo go mion agus go minic sna blianta atá thart. Bhí an gcoimisiún faoi chathaoirleachas an Bhreithimh Iarfhlaith O’Neill. Téann an bpróiseas sin siar go dtí 1980. Is cuimhin liom go raibh ar an Rialtas na teorainneacha a réiteach roimhe sin. Go minic, bhí ar an Aire é sin a dhéanamh. I 1969, cheap an tAire, Kevin Boland — go ndéanfaidh Dia trócaire air — go raibh na teorainneacha socraithe i gceart aige. Tá sé deacair an dallamullóg a chur ar na daoine, áfach. Bhí athrú Rialtais sa tír seo i 1973, d’ainneoin an aistriú a bhí déanta ar na teorainneacha. Rinne an Rialtas a bhí ann idir 1973 agus 1977 an botún céanna. D’athraigh an tAire Rialtais Áitiúil a bhí ann ag an am, Jim Tully, na dáilcheantair arís. Nuair a tháinig an toghchán i 1977, ní raibh puinn tionchar ag na hathruithe ar thoradh an thoghcháin. Ní féidir an dallamullóg a chur ar na daoine — déanfaidh na daoine an rud is mian leo. Tá dul chun cinn mór déanta ó shin i leith. Tá coimisiún neamhspleách againn ón am sin.
We appreciate that there is an independent commission, though it has been a year since its report, which was a year late. I wonder if what we are discussing today and what is embodied in this Bill will be relevant in 2012 as there will be another census in 2011. This remains to be seen.
There are two constituencies in my county and Donegal South-West seems to always gain territory on Donegal North-East. As far as I am concerned, we in Donegal South-West have now gained Lifford, Raphoe, Ballindrait and down as far as St. Johnston to near Manorcunningham. I welcome these areas to Donegal South-West as the changes indicate that the population of Letterkenny has exploded and that my constituency must get more territory to balance this.
I assure people in these places that I will give them the same service and attention that I have given to the rest of south Donegal in the past 27 years.
Deputy Charlie O’Connor: Hear, hear.
Deputy Michael Ring: He is going again, fair play to him.
Deputy Charlie O’Connor: I appreciate the opportunity to say a few words on the Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2008. I am glad I was in the House to hear the profound statements of Deputies Ring and McGinley, both of whom seem to be dealing with their future political prospects. I hope Deputy Flanagan will convey my good wishes to them in that regard.
[101]The Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2008 provides for the revision of Dáil and European Parliament constituencies in accordance with the recommendations of the report of the Constituency Commission which was presented to the Ceann Comhairle in October 2007. It is appropriate to remind ourselves that the Bill also provides for the establishment of future constituency commissions, on publication by the Central Statistics Office, CSO, of its preliminary results in respect of a census of population and for the work of a commission to be completed following the publication of final population data relating to the relevant census.
I have been listening carefully to the debate thus far and it is interesting to hear the different perspectives of colleagues from all sides of the House. This is an important Bill. Opposition colleagues are entitled to make the points they have about the kind of day we are having and the kind of business we should deal with but many of their speeches have been so impressive and pertinent that I wonder why they suggested we should not have this debate. This is a good debate and there will be time for other issues to be raised on other occasions, including this evening.
I had a long discussion today with my colleague, Deputy Michael Mulcahy, who represents Crumlin, where I come from, in Dublin South-Central. We discussed Dáil constituency boundaries. It is right that they form part of this debate but we should also discuss boundaries for the forthcoming local and European elections and the effect they will have. I will take a leaf from Deputy Michael Ring’s book and clarify that I will not seek a Fianna Fáil nomination for the European elections next year. I look forward to supporting my Dublin colleague, Eoin Ryan.
The European elections will be very interesting because section 8 of the Bill says it will provide for European Parliament constituencies and the number of members to be elected from Ireland by substituting a new third schedule to the European Parliament Elections Act 1997. In the context of 12 representatives from this country in the European Parliament, this provides for the reduction of one seat in the Dublin constituency and the transfer of the population of counties Longford and Westmeath from the east to the north-west constituency. Deputy Michael Ring referred to this matter so I will not dwell on it.
However, I am interested in Dublin and there is a great deal of disappointment there regarding this matter. Europe is very important to the whole country and I do not want to make a speech that focuses solely on Dublin. Nonetheless, Dublin is the capital city and it is important that it be strongly represented. It is a pity Dublin is to lose a seat but this will make for a competitive election — it is only a little over 250 days away. I wish all of the sitting MEPs in Dublin well, particularly Eoin Ryan. There is a debate to be had on the level of representation and the reduction in seats will be of concern to people. I find that as I go about my business in Dublin people are beginning to talk about the European and local elections. This debate will become more relevant as the elections approach. We should, therefore, look at it in the context of this Bill.
I was a little older than some when I was first elected to the local authority in Dublin in 1991. The local authority was subsequently divided and South Dublin County Council was founded in 1994. I remained a member of the local authority until after a Dáil election, when I stood down in favour of a colleague. I have been lucky in my Dáil career because my constituency is fairly well formed. Deputy Ring spoke of having to travel 70 or 80 miles and I know many colleagues, including those in the House at the moment, share that difficulty. However, I find that, as a Dublin-based TD who lives only eight miles from the city centre, I experience other challenges. My challenges are different from those facing colleagues who must travel 70 or 80 miles to attend meetings but sometimes it can be just as difficult getting around a densely populated urban setting such as Dublin South-West. I do not want to seem like a martyr; I am [102]merely saying that there are other challenges that face urban-based Deputies. There are still problems but I have been lucky in how my constituency has been formed.
I listened carefully to Deputy Joe Behan as he spoke from a Wicklow perspective. I reminded him that when I first moved to Tallaght with an employer in 1969 it was part of the Dublin South constituency. I inform my Opposition colleagues that in those days there were three Fine Gael TDs there, including a good man, Richard Burke. I mention him because he was very good to me and was a fine EU Commissioner and Minister for Education. When I first attended the Dáil as a Deputy in 2002 he happened to be here, greeted me and brought me for lunch. I always remember him and the courtesy he extended me when I did not even know my way around the building.
In 1977 the new mid-county constituency was founded and the three Deputies elected were Seán Walsh and Síle de Valera for Fianna Fáil and Larry McMahon for Fine Gael. In those days the constituency stretched from Rathfarnham, through parts of Templeogue, into Tallaght and out to Blessington. Quite a few people who were originally from my constituency have moved to Blessington and any Deputies for Dublin South-West will attest that we still receive calls from Blessington. I do not say this to upset my Wicklow colleagues. To put things in perspective, places like Blessington are closer to Tallaght than to Bray. I do not mean to put pressure on my Wicklow colleagues but this illustrates that Constituency Commission reports do not always reach conclusions that everyone can understand. The people I meet at front doors certainly do not understand the decisions in this regard.
When I was first elected in 2002 parts of Firhouse had been taken from Dublin South and joined Tallaght, Templeogue and parts of Terenure in Dublin South-West. It is interesting that the subsequent Constituency Commission report referred to these boundaries, particularly on the M50 side. It observed that the M50 would act as a natural boundary for Dublin South-West. However, the commission did not follow through on this nor does the latest report. Many Members travel in that direction on their way home, to the south in particular, and Dublin South-West stretches from Walkinstown, through parts of Terenure and Templeogue, on to Firhouse and into Bohernabreena. It extends across the mountain into parts of Brittas and back down into Tallaght and the Naas Road acts as a boundary.
While it is for other people to make decisions on this issue, I often drive out of Tallaght heading for Brittas or County Wicklow and pass houses that are located in the Dublin Mid-West constituency, which forms part of Lucan. Brittas itself is divided, as parts of it lie within Dublin South-West while the remainder is represented by my colleagues in Dublin Mid-West. One wonders how such decisions about the boundaries are taken.
I put this in the context of listening to colleagues discussing the changes within counties Kerry or Limerick or, as did Deputy Michael Kennedy, about north Dublin. Clearly, the Constituency Commission has thrown up different kinds of problems for them than it has for me. However, although my country-based colleagues may not greatly appreciate it, this throws up challenges for parts of my constituency. It throws up confusion for some constituents who are unsure exactly where is the boundary or what constituency they are in. This presents a challenge for all Members and it is right to say this during a debate on the Constituency Commission’s report. I repeat that I consider my Dáil boundary to be reasonable. However, given population changes and with further development, certainly in west Tallaght, Ballycullen and elsewhere, future boundary commissions, perhaps even the next one, may make some decisions in that regard, as well as making some significant changes.
I also wish to speak about significant changes in the context of the forthcoming local elections, which are due to be held next June and which will be challenging in political terms. I [103]already have made the point that I was proud to be a member of the local authority from 1991. When I was first selected, I represented Tallaght-Rathcoole. When I was re-elected in 1999, I represented Tallaght Central. Those Members who are familiar with Tallaght know that at present, there are ten seats in two electoral areas in Tallaght, namely, Tallaght South and Tallaght Central. The proposals from the Constituency Commission on the local elections will change them into two separate new constituencies, called Tallaght South and Tallaght Central, which are five-seaters and six-seaters, respectively.
Tallaght Central stretches almost from the County Kildare border at Old Kingswood on the Naas Road, through the Tallaght west estates, on into Springfield where I live, down through parts of Tallaght towards what is understood at present to be the Terenure electoral area. As Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh will understand, it then continues down Wainsfort Road into Fortfield and people who are represented by Deputy Ó Snodaigh and other colleagues. When knocking on doors in such areas, Deputy Ó Snodaigh will be telling people they are in Tallaght Central. The Constituency Commission has thrown up the kind of challenge that has nothing to do with community development because local authority boundaries, like any boundary, should have some meaning. While I do not wish to be controversial by talking about parts of Dublin South-Central, colleagues from all parties will be obliged to stretch themselves in that fashion.
I have been surprised there has not been a reaction thus far from the communities to calling such a huge electoral area Tallaght Central. It will cause problems for colleagues and while I will not predict the outcome of the elections, it is a six-seater and it will be interesting to learn how it will work out. Such a constituency will give rise to challenges about how many seats will be won at one end of it, in this case Tallaght, and the other. As it breaches Dáil constituency boundaries, it will make for quite a challenge and debate. I have been surprised there has not been more community reaction. As someone who came from a strong community background and who strongly believes in representing local people on local issues, the work should be about ensuring proper community development and cohesion. Everyone has difficulties and problems when representing different communities. This certainly is the case in my constituency. However, I believe the new Tallaght Central electoral area that has been thrown up by the Constituency Commission will be particularly difficult and it will be interesting to learn how it works out.
While people may think politicians do not look forward to elections, they always are interesting and demanding. Many of my colleagues already are counting off the 250-odd days to the election and are looking forward to them.
Deputy Kathleen Lynch: They have nothing else to do.
Deputy Charlie O’Connor: While it had been my intention to speak on this issue before it was raised by Deputy Ring, he made an important point regarding the work of local authorities in respect of future elections. There have been great debates previously on the register of electors and the manner in which it is dealt with. In common with all Members, not a day passes in which I do not receive a call to the effect that I have written to someone who has moved on or, unfortunately, has died. It happens to all Members and always is upsetting. However, for all those who work from the registers and try to make sense of them while simultaneously trying to interpret them from a perspective of local knowledge, there always are times when people will be upset because one has written to them, called on them or whatever. My father, who was living in Kilnamanagh, Tallaght at the time of his death, has been dead for 12 years and my sister still receives occasional letters addressed to him for all sorts of reasons, although he has been off the register for a considerable time.
[104]Although this happens, I believe the register of electors still is seriously flawed. This does not simply pertain to Tallaght, Dublin South-West or south County Dublin because I listen to colleagues on all sides who make exactly the same point. I am sure the Ministers of State who are present, Deputies Máire Hoctor and Tony Killeen, understand the same issues. It is important to establish that something must be done in this regard. In recent years, the issue has come up on a regular basis and it certainly arises when elections approach. Although Members hold debates and discuss how the registers will be organised, problems remain. I glanced at the Dublin South-West register over the weekend and even with my limited knowledge, found people who no longer are at the addresses provided and who, for one reason or other, no longer seek their vote there. Together with other colleagues, I would be interested to know the extent of the problem and what will be done about it.
While I apologise for mentioning Deputy Ring so frequently, he referred to one solution to deal with this issue. While I always have taken the view the local authority should be in the best position to deal with the issues because it is on the ground, to an extent this does not work. Last time, many attempts were made nationwide to tidy up the register and to create a situation whereby people who did not inform the local authority somehow found themselves off the register. People, not simply in my community, who had been on the register for all their lives suddenly found themselves going to the polling station only to discover they were not on the register.
While I do not wish to say too much about this case, during the vote on the Lisbon treaty I spoke to a local bishop who did not get a vote. As a local bishop, he is well known. However, he went to his polling station, produced his identification and was not given his ballot. I cannot understand how this can happen. It emphasises the point made by me and by Members on all sides that the register of electors needs attention. Members keep talking about it and demanding action. As day follows night, next June and July colleagues will be here making the point that constituents went to a polling station but could not vote. It is relevant to this business at a time when we are talking strongly about promoting voting in all areas. Parts of my constituency of Dublin South-West have particular challenges with regard to getting people out to vote and I spend much time, as other colleagues do, trying to get the message across to groups such as secondary school pupils about the importance of voting.
I have always taken the view that citizenship is the more important issue. If one is to look for votes, they will certainly not come about if people are not registered or not coming out to vote. We all have a role to play in that regard and we must keep to getting that message across. To be parochial, we have a local organisation in Tallaght with An Cosán, of which I am sure many Deputies have heard. It engaged with the four local Deputies — Deputies Conor Lenihan, Brian Hayes, Pat Rabbitte and myself — at the last election and we helped promote a project to get people registered and interested in voting. It is important we do so.
I know other colleagues have different views about the kind of day we have had in the Dáil. I am very happy we are back. My young granddaughter, Heather, told me this morning that she had heard adults saying I was back in work. I had to gently correct her and say all Deputies had been working away throughout the summer, apart from a short break. Whatever the kind of agenda we have today, the business before us is important and I look forward to the passage of this Bill. I wish the Minister well as he goes about his business and thank the Acting Chairman for his courtesy.
Deputy Kathleen Lynch: I wish to share time with Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh.
Acting Chairman (Deputy Jack Wall): Is that agreed? Agreed.
[105]Deputy Kathleen Lynch: This Bill will pass, as the previous speaker has stated, but I am not certain at this stage that it should. We all believe the establishment of an independent commission to consider boundary revisions because of shifts in population, such as increases or decreases, was a very good idea. We all have an interest in the democratic process but those of us with a specific personal interest should never be part of the boundary process. Everyone would agree that the independence of the commission is vital.
Being independent does not make it infallible, although some of the lads behind me might not think that true. I know two of the people on this commission. Despite the fact that the people are very eminent, well read and versed in politics, what they have done in redrawing in this case makes no sense in many areas.
I will speak about my own constituency as that is the place we all know best. When it was last redrawn, Cork North-Central went down to four seats for all sorts of reasons. I take the view in life that one takes the hand that is dealt. It went to four seats because a five-seater constituency could not be sustained due to population shift.
This shift is explained away very easily as the type of infrastructural development which took place on the south side of Cork city was not matched by the same type of infrastructure and development on the north side. On the south side there are ring roads, colleges, university hospitals, CITs etc., and with regard to the north side, it would not take me too long to list what we do not have. As a result of the uneven development of the city, the population made a clear shift and the extra seat could not be sustained.
The general election before last, we were dealing with people out as far as St. Finbarr’s Hospital. Anybody who knows Cork city would realise that was an unnatural division. We were so deep into Cork South-Central in order to take chunks of population to shore up the five-seater as to be unreasonable. People rightly asked why we were out there as we could not possibly represent them. It was too far away.
We got a new commission and the least we can expect from a commission sitting to redraw boundaries is that it has a knowledge of the country’s geography. Cork North-Central now runs from the north channel of the Lee to the River Blackwater, with Dripsey on the one hand and Mallow on the other. It came home to me very forcibly at that stage. The people are all lovely and have welcomed us with open arms. They are glad to have people representing them and they are the same as people everywhere in the world who want representation. That is not the difficulty.
The difficulty is that at 11.10 p.m one night I found myself leaving Mallow to drive to Cork city. It is not a two hour drive by any stretch of the imagination but takes approximately half an hour. The notion that a constituency would be redrawn in this way clearly comes from people who did not know the area. Some 14,000 people in Limerick now find themselves in Kerry, so there is clearly no understanding of the area or geography involved. At the same time, people in the constituency of the Ceann Comhairle find that because he will be automatically elected next time, their constituency essentially becomes a two-seater.
There are all sorts of issues that we must deal with. It is incredible the way constituencies have been redrawn. Towns have been split down the middle. I wonder how it was done. Did these people sit down with maps and a biro, taking sections and splitting the country up as best they could? It looks like this in some cases. We cannot say that because we must come in and state the independent commission is a sacred cow that cannot be touched. Being independent does not make it infallible.
As a party we suggest that the commission publish a preliminary review, which would be put to public consultation in order that people with an interest could make submissions. Obvious issues, such as 14,000 people from Limerick going to Kerry, could be stopped. We are serious [106]about proportional representation because the people of this country twice voted for it in referenda, so we must take a very serious look at increasing the sizes of constituencies. Proportional representation is not served by a two-seat constituency. All figures show that the bigger a constituency and the more seats involved, the more true a reflection of proportional representation one gets. That is what we should be looking at.
The terms of reference given to the commission did not help so we must alter them. The idea that we can continue to draw a line on a map just because it fits the population size is wrong. There are natural boundaries in this country which are not just geographical. They deal with population and the type of area, as well as everything else. The commission must begin considering them.
Why must we wait for the definitive census and what is stopping the commission from sitting as soon as preliminary figures are published? There is little between the two figures, barring the people who realise they are not on the register and who register themselves. This would give the commission time to publish preliminary findings and allow people to comment. The commission does not have to alter its findings because people disagree but the obvious issues could be altered. The people sitting on the commission are sensible and will recognise when things are not right.
There is so much in this Bill and yet a full and frank debate is very difficult because politicians are having it but are not supposed to interfere. Clearly, some parts need to be changed. While it is right to have an independent Constituency Commission, we must also correct wrongs where they occur.
Deputy O’Connor is correct that the voting register is a mess. We have not invested sufficient money in gathering the necessary information. Irrespective of our political views or the party to which we belong, it is essential that those who wish to vote are able to do so when they go to a polling station. It is vital, therefore, that we gather the information needed to make democracy work. When this information is collated, either by census or other means, and given to others to complete a task on our behalf, those individuals or bodies should not be above criticism.
The Bill includes blatant anomalies but it will be passed because people — correctly — do not want to interfere with the independence of the Constituency Commission. It has been argued that constituency boundaries will be redrawn again before the next general election because a census is due before the election. In that case, surely we should take our time and modify the terms of reference of the Constituency Commission to enable it to conduct its business properly.
Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh: On Deputy Kathleen Lynch’s final point, even at this late stage we have an opportunity to ensure the next Constituency Commission has different terms of reference. We need to amend the Electoral Act 1997 to ensure the commission has greater scope when examining constituency boundaries. The recommendations of the Constituency Commission breach the terms of reference set out in the 1997 Act.
I recall the decision to move my area of Ballyfermot from Dublin West to the Dublin Central constituency, despite the fact that the district was separated from the constituency by a geographical boundary — the River Liffey — which should not have been breached. This Constituency Commission has also proposed major changes which are contrary to section 6(2)(c) of the Electoral Act 1997, which states, “the breaching of county boundaries shall be avoided as far as practicable”. The commission did not properly consider this requirement as its proposals for some constituencies are illogical.
[107]It is possible that the tendency of previous boundary commissions to increase the number of three and four-seat constituencies drove the deliberations of this Constituency Commission, which chose not to increase the number of five-seat constituencies. The provision in the Electoral Act precluding the establishment of six, seven, eight or nine-seat constituencies should be examined on Committee Stage.
The PR system of the single transferable vote, which was used in the election to the first Dáil, has been used for the past 90 years. General elections held after the Civil War included constituencies with six, seven and eight Deputies and resulted in a wide variety of views being represented in the House. In one of the two general elections held in 1927, candidates from seven different parties were returned to the House, including Jim Larkin of the Irish Workers League and 12 Independent Deputies. The latter differed from the current body of Independent Deputies in that they were Unionists or former members of the old Irish Party. This was good for democracy, particularly given that the purpose of the PR system is to reflect diverse views.
If we continue to move towards three-seat constituencies or a first past the post system, as the Fianna Fáil Party sought in the past but was prevented from doing by the people in a vote, it will be bad for democracy. We are trying to encourage people to participate in the electoral process but continually changing constituency boundaries causes confusion and undermines voters’ identification and affinity with their constituency.
The changes to the Kerry North and Limerick West constituencies and to counties Tipperary, Offaly, Louth, Meath and Leitrim could have been avoided if the Constituency Commission had greater scope to act. It chose to cannibalise County Limerick by merging part of west Limerick, from where my mother comes, with Kerry North, despite there being no affinity between Abbeyfeale and Tralee. In the case of County Leitrim, a small county has been cannibalised when it would not be a major task to produce a realistic solution which did not divide the county between constituencies. If we had one, two or three counties in one constituency, it would be possible to maintain county identities which have developed over centuries, as we saw last weekend in Croke Park. Who would the constituents of the new Kerry-Limerick constituency cheer for if both counties ended up in an all-Ireland final?
It is still possible to resolve these problems. While I accept the independence of the Constituency Commission and I am aware of the practice in the House of putting through its recommendations unchanged or on the nod, as it were, there is nothing to prevent the House from asking the commission to review its findings. If, having done so, it decides the recommendations should proceed, it would be possible to change its terms of reference.
The transfer of Deelis, Kilgobban, Knockglass and certain Castleisland districts to Kerry South distorts the traditional integrity of the Kerry North constituency and patterns of local representation. Other Deputies will be in a better position to detail the history of the area but having lived for some time in Corca Duibhne, where I spent a number of months on several occasions, there is no logic in having the area in the Kerry South constituency. Corca Duibhne has always been regarded by local people and visitors to the area as part of north Kerry. If boundary changes are to be made, it would be logical to include Corca Duibhne with its natural hinterland and the central town of Tralee.
On the recommendations to break up counties, the question must be posed as to whether the people of County Leitrim or the part of County Limerick included in the revised Kerry North constituency will ever have a chance to elect a representative from their county to the Dáil. Given the small number of electors from west Limerick in the proposed new constituency, I foresee that the area will not be represented by a local person unless an all-for-one candidate manages to garner 100% of local votes. It may be that the constituency will be discriminated against or will prove to be an afterthought. I hope that will not be the case. I intend no slight [108]on people who will put themselves forward as candidates in the constituency in the future or on those who are incumbent there at present.
To return to the break up of the counties, the views I have already outlined also apply in respect of the transfer of south Offaly into Tipperary North, the position regarding north Meath and the division and transfer of the Leitrim constituency into two new constituencies, Sligo-North Leitrim and Roscommon-South Leitrim. Anyone who lives outside County Leitrim might be of the view that this is a trivial matter. However, that is not the opinion of those who reside there. There are those of the view that this will further disadvantage what is already one of the most disadvantaged regions in the country.
We need to bring about change. As is the case with all legislation that comes before the House, Members have an opportunity to instigate such change in the context of this Bill. We have been presented with the opportunity to call a halt to something that is wrong. The Bill should be changed and the commission should be given greater scope to ensure that additional seats will be created in various constituencies in the future. We must ensure that what we do in respect of this matter reflects the original idea behind the PR-STV system that was introduced to great effect some 90 years ago. That would be the best way to commemorate or celebrate what was envisaged by an chéad Dáil as the correct electoral system for Ireland. We must ensure that there is better representation for the public in order to break down the disconnect that exists between the people and what happens in this Chamber. The more local people that are elected, the greater will be the understanding of what happens here.
Deputy Cyprian Brady: I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate on the Bill, which, in its own way, is controversial. Anyone who has ever stood for election is aware of the fragile nature of people’s votes and how difficult it is to encourage people to vote. Anything that interferes with people’s ability, right or privilege to vote must be treated warily.
I have considered the detail of the Bill, the purpose of which is to revise constituencies, provide for the number of members to be elected for those constituencies and revise the procedures to be followed by future constituency commissions and also those relating to the nomination of non-party candidates. The Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2008 aims to modernise an electoral law which is extremely complicated and update it in light of changes in population demographics. Parts 2 and 3 deal with the revision of Dáil and European Parliament constituencies following the implementation of the recommendations contained in the Constituency Commission’s report on such constituencies in 2007.
The commission was established to report on the constituencies in light of issues relating to representation that were illustrated in the 2006 census. The information collated in a census is extremely important when it comes to deciding how our democracy will operate into the future.
Part 4 of the Bill outlines procedures to be followed by the Constituency Commission. The main consequence of the provisions it contains will be that future commissions will be established on the publication by the Central Statistics Office of its interim findings. Prior to the most recent general election, we debated whether the commission would be capable of reporting on such preliminary findings. Collating and assimilating the level of information garnered in a census is a complicated business. The changes being introduced in the Bill will enable the existing commission and those that will succeed it — if they are put in place — to deal with the complicated issue of deciding upon constituency boundaries and the number of seats in each constituency.
The Bill also provides two alternative procedures for the nomination of non-party candidates at European Parliament and local elections. These procedures will be in line with those put in [109]place in respect of Dáil elections in the Electoral (Amendment) Act 2007. The provisions in this regard are outlined in Parts 5 and 6 of the Bill.
The dual system being introduced in the Bill, whereby people may obtain assents or put forward deposits, is the fairest and most equitable method of dealing with this issue. Under the Bill, 60 assentors will be required in respect of a European Parliament election and 15 will be needed for a local election. The level of deposit required —€1,800 for a European Parliament election and €100 for other elections — is reasonable. I am glad this system is being put in place.
Under the Bill, total Dáil membership will remain at 166 across 43 constituencies. A major debate took place in the past on whether there should be an increase in the number of Members of this House. In my opinion, the decision that has been taken in this regard is correct. As previous speakers stated, the division, etc., of constituencies has had a negative effect on long-serving public representatives. The sad aspect of this is that it affects the people those individuals represent. Confusion can arise in respect of changes to boundaries, particularly when these cross county or parish lines, and can lead to a lack of representation, which proved to be the case in some recent instances.
The purpose of the changes is to ensure, across the State, equality of representation in the Dáil and at the European Parliament. The 2006 census illustrated the disproportionality in certain constituencies. As a result of recent changes in population, some constituencies are either over-represented or under-represented. While my constituency, Dublin Central, has remained unchanged, I acknowledge that changes in other constituencies have given rise to problems. Previous speakers referred to the constituencies that have been affected. The most obvious is Leitrim, a small county that is under-represented. Despite receiving almost 200 submissions on the issue, the commission has almost guaranteed that there will be no Deputy from Leitrim in the House. Dublin North, which is adjacent to my constituency, is massively under-represented but has remained as a four-seater. These issues must be considered and addressed in due course.
Although my constituency has not changed on this occasion, I am aware of the implications of changes such as those to which I refer. Prior to the 1997 general election, my constituency, Dublin Central, was altered such that it spanned what is probably the most natural boundary in the country, namely, the River Liffey, and took in areas of the southside of the city that had no relevance to or connection with those on the northside. The commission appointed before the 2002 election decided to correct the mistake made by its predecessor, which gave rise to serious consequences and a great deal of confusion among constituents regarding by whom they were represented. It is difficult enough to encourage people to vote in the first instance. If confusion such as that to which I refer is created prior to and during an election campaign, it gives rise to extreme difficulties. As a result, people lose out and the level of representation they enjoy can deteriorate.
Deputy Richard Bruton: I move:
in light of the deteriorating economic outlook, calls on the Government to start recovery in the Irish economy through a programme of reform and a budget that:
I wish to share time with Deputies Kieran O’Donnell, Olivia Mitchell, Michael Ring and Simon Coveney.
An Ceann Comhairle: Is that agreed? Agreed.
Deputy Richard Bruton: The Fine Gael motion condemns the Government for its reckless economic policies over the past five years that have undermined the stability and competitiveness of the Irish economy and that are now sabotaging our country’s ability to withstand tougher economic times. The motion sets out the changes we believe are now necessary to address the difficulties we face.
We have a problem that has spread fear throughout every corner of this country. There are already 75,000 additional people on the dole, who have never been on the dole before. By Christmas, the figure will be at least 100,000. Strong businesses are being forced to close their doors and say to dedicated workers that the game is over. We have seen young people pay huge prices for houses, the value of which will perhaps never again approach what they paid for them.
This is the crisis that has occurred yet there is an air of unreality in the House today with the Government debating changes in electoral boundaries. There is a huge and yawning gulf between the crisis in the country and the craving in the country for leadership and what we are being offered on the first day back after the recess. It is for that reason that we have set this as a critical time.
The Dáil should now debate the crisis affecting every business and family in the country. Together we should be working out what we need to do, what are the true figures we face, what are the options we have, what are the challenges we face and what are the things to avoid. That is the debate which should be occurring but it is not happening.
[111]I refer to the impact of the recession on Ireland. We hear people talk about international factors. Let us be very blunt about it — the impact on Ireland is grossly magnified compared to other countries. Taking our nearest neighbour, there is a sense of crisis in the United Kingdom but there is at least a sense that somebody is beginning to show leadership. The deterioration in our growth is four times that which has occurred in the United Kingdom. The deterioration in our public debt is six times that which has occurred in the United Kingdom and the deterioration in our unemployment figures is 12 times that which has happened in the United Kingdom. There are international factors but this Government has exposed our people to pressures and threats to which people in other countries are not exposed.
It is alarming that after so many months, the Government has still not put a strategy in place to address this. People are beginning to despair that the Government has the capacity to offer any leadership in this situation. It is difficult to believe that the people who destroyed the economic fundamentals which underpinned the Celtic tiger are the ones who will suddenly come up with the answer to those problems.
Let us make no mistake about it — this Government has destroyed the economic model which was the core strength of our economy for so many years. That model was built on strong export competitiveness, on building up market share, on very prudent use of public money, on nimble Government capable of adapting to changing circumstances and on cost competitiveness. Every one of those has been destroyed by a Government which decided that its priority was the pursuit of electoral politics.
It ran budgets which expanded each year under the Taoiseach, Deputy Brian Cowen, when the need was not there. It acted as cheerleader for a property boom which was plainly unsustainable. It made huge public spending commitments on the back revenues coming from property which are now gone. It has caused the worst deterioration in our public finances in the history of this State. In 2006, we were in surplus to the tune of €2 billion but at the end of this year, we will be in deficit to the tune of €11 billion. We will be way outside our commitments under the Stability and Growth Pact.
That has happened because the Government has not paid attention to the basic lessons one must learn if one is to manage a small, open economy successfully. One must be prudent in one’s use of public money, one must spend in a way that is sustainable, one must hunt down waste and inefficiency and one must ensure that cost competitiveness is at the heart of one’s strategy. All those habits, which were learned the hard way in the 1980s and 1990s and which created a dynamic economy, were destroyed in a very short period of time by this dangerous flirtation with the property boom and the friends in the property sector and which has brought this country to its knees.
Ireland is the most exposed country to these threats coming from the international crisis simply because the Government sabotaged our capacity to do what a government should do in times like this. The Government should now have the resources to look at accelerating our infrastructural investment and not at slowing it down and to look at new opportunities to create employment and not talk about cutting services left, right and centre.
We should look at what other countries have done. There is a salutary lesson. Our Government refused to recognise the gathering storm clouds. Last year’s budget was wholly inappropriate and at the time I described it as a hit and hope budget. It was a hit and hope budget hoping that we would have the so-called “soft landing” when the soft landing was clearly not going to happen. Those who warned that would not happen were treated with disdain. Their warnings fell on deaf and arrogant ears.
The Government persisted in denial right through the budget formation to the middle of the year when it was brought to its senses by the collapse of tax revenue. A feeble response came [112]in July. It was the sort of response one would expect from a child. Far from looking at the business of Ireland Inc., looking for the successful parts of public sending and deciding on the priorities to survive, it said let us cut 3% off the payroll everywhere so the most successful elements of our public service were put under the same pressure as the ones which should have been abandoned. Instead of doing a forensic search for waste and ensuring we made decisions which would value the things that would be important in difficult times, there was this mindless cutting everything a little bit, but it came unstuck.
We are back here two months later and all the talk about this being a temporary little adjustment, that the fundamentals are strong and that we would be back on the horse’s back in no time has been abandoned. Where is the strategy? All we have had from the Government is an upgrading of the storm to force four. We all know that, as do people who are losing their jobs, people who are struggling to pay for their houses and people who are folding their businesses. It is only the Government, which has been in this bubble, that did not realise what was happening. We need a government capable of leadership but that has not come forward.
We should contrast that with what happened to the Spanish Government. It was faced with a similar situation. It did not go off on holidays and put up a “do not disturb” sign because it was too busy. The Prime Minister of Spain called back his Ministers from holidays. He told them they should be at their desks with their computers powered up and that they should look at what was necessary to get Spain through the recession. That is what they did. They brought forward new infrastructural packages, they said top earners in the public sector would have to take a pay cut and they said there would have to be a tax stimulus to get things going. Now commentators believe Spain will get through these difficulties without a recession. That is not the situation in Ireland.
Our Government sat on its hands, went off on holidays and appointed a few task forces and decided to wait to see what they came up with when it came back. That is not leadership or what this country craves at this time. Many measures could be taken now and not in three weeks at budget time. Measures could be taken now to open up sectors which have been protected for too long so that we could have vibrant competition and start to bring down costs and create new opportunities in renewable energy and bus transport if Government would only move on some of the things it said it would do for years. We need to reinvent our economy and to look at the opportunities and build for them now. We must make solid investments in areas that will reap returns, such as interconnectors, broadband and areas that can create a knowledge economy. However, the Government is ignorant of all of this. Its strategy for e-Government collapsed on its face. Under the Government’s strategy for the knowledge economy, we dropped from being the leading country in Europe in terms of e-Government to 17th on the list. That happened under a strategy of change.
We failed dismally under the Government strategy to address climate change. That strategy was launched in 2000, but after eight years it has had a zero impact on our emissions. The penny must drop for Ministers that when strategies go wrong when there is plenty of money available, mismanagement is going on. The trouble with the Government is that it will not wake up to reality and does not show any understanding of the mistakes it has made that have put us in this hole and made us the most exposed country in Europe.
Until the Government wakes up and realises that it is its mistakes, its reckless expansion of spending on unsustainable revenues, its acting as cheerleader for an unsustainable property boom and its destruction of our exporting sector by the high-cost environment it created, we can have no confidence that it has the diagnosis to get us out of this hole. If it had, we would already see the signs of leadership and see investment in training for people who are being displaced so that they will not be long-term unemployed. We would see the prioritising of [113]investments and see the publishing of cost-benefit analyses that showed which investments were priorities and should be protected at all costs. We would see a Government in control and taking leadership.
Even in the case of the financial crisis, the Government is dragged kicking and screaming to respond. It is only at the last minute that it comes up with something to protect depositors, although it was clear 11 months ago when Northern Rock went down that Irish savers were exposed, with less protection for their savings than was the case for savers in the United Kingdom. It was obvious we should move, but the Government would not move alone and felt it had to wait for some committee in Europe to decide.
The Government must take leadership on issues that matter to Ireland. It is Irish people who are losing their jobs, Irish businesses that are on the line and the Irish nation that needs leadership from the Government. The tragedy is that there is a growing sense that the Government does not know what it takes to change Ireland, to reinvent the economic model we have destroyed and to reform public services in a radical way where it is performance that matters. Failure to perform has consequences and Ministers and public servants must take responsibility for what happens. Choice must be generated within the public sector so we have alternatives and variety that will allow the best options to be developed.
We have not had that change; instead, tragically, we have seen time and again the Government take the soft option. Benchmarking was a unique vehicle capable of driving a massive reform package within our public service, but what did the Government do about it? It sat on its hands and refused to put a reform package on the table and decided to dish out the money anyhow through the ATM machines. We have paid in spades for that, not only the €1.3 billion it cost, but by not getting the reform.
Even more seriously, we needed the talents of our public servants focused on delivering real change to the way we deliver services, so that we could, with the significant moneys spent, ensure that young people who were suicidal and elderly people in accident and emergency departments got help. That did not happen and instead of driving our public service to deliver at the front line, their energies were wasted and they were demoralised through a decentralisation programme that was dreamt up on the back of a betting slip. This has sabotaged our public service and demoralised compassionate and committed people who should and could be driving serious reform. That has not happened over the past number of years because the energy and talents of many public servants have been wasted in fruitless moving around and the destruction of skill bases built up over years.
This has been a Government that has not understood the importance of reform, change and the building of a strong, competitive and nimble economy with a public service to match that would meet the ambitions of the people generating the revenues to fund it. That is the fatal error and the reason we are in such a hole. It is the reason we need strong leadership, which, sadly, is not forthcoming from the Government.
Deputy Kieran O’Donnell: I strongly support the motion. I see only one Government representative here as I look around the Chamber.
Deputy Bernard Allen: A rookie junior.
Deputy Kieran O’Donnell: That demonstrates how the Government regards what is happening with our economy. This is not good enough. The Government benches should be full as we are here to discuss the most important situation facing the country. We have had the worst deterioration in the public finances ever and moved from having a healthy surplus to a deficit.
[114]I am glad to note the number of Government Members has doubled to two, but that is still insufficient.
Deputy Bernard Allen: There is no senior Minister present for such a serious debate.
Deputy Kieran O’Donnell: That is not good enough. They should be here.
Deputy Alan Shatter: The Minister for Finance should be here. It is a discourtesy to the House that he is not. He is treating the House with contempt.
Deputy Kieran O’Donnell: Fine Gael brought forward this motion as a result of its concern. We brought it forward in good faith and expected the Government to respond in good faith. We sought a debate on the issue, but the Government would not provide time for it. We have spent much of the day discussing an electoral Bill that has been around for a year without discussion.
I will comment on the Government’s reckless economic policies and competitiveness. The Government allowed the property boom to get out of control. When the Taoiseach, Deputy Cowen, took up the position of Minister for Finance, we saw a rapid decline in our exports and a rapid increase in construction. There was over reliance on the construction sector and, as a result, we now have negative equity. The Government has been somewhat disingenuous in this regard. It has floated the notion that it will help first-time buyers buy houses. People know houses are overpriced. The only people who will benefit from such a move are the Government and builders. Hard-pressed first-time buyers could now end up in a situation where the houses they buy will leave them in negative equity within a short period. Fine Gael feels strongly on this issue. The Government should be truthful with the electorate, but it is not.
The Government has failed to respond quickly when necessary. Last December, the situation was clear. The credit crunch was in full swing, unemployment was rising and, through successive budgets, Deputy Bruton called for proper public sector reform. The Comptroller and Auditor General’s report for 2007 makes specific reference to the HSE. With regard to value for money, in the past ten years the number of people employed in the HSE has increased by 71% to 47,000. Many of those are in bureaucratic positions and are not accountable. Furthermore, the health budget has increased fivefold. The question is, do we have a better health service today? We had Private Notice Questions today on the state of the health service. We are not getting value for money.
The Comptroller and Auditor General’s report made specific reference to the HSE’s failure to respond swiftly. It stated that a dysfunctional consequence of delaying action was that savings must be targeted across the board at units operating within budget as well as those that are not. The Government has made a 3% cut in the HSE’s payroll. We know people are being let go throughout the public sector, but that is not proper public sector reform. That is just sleight of hand.
What should have been done should have happened last December. However, the Government only decided to do something in June, when there were 50,000 extra on the live register and a €3 billion tax shortfall projected by the end of the year. All the Government did was make vague utterances on moving things around. Its three-page document did not even add up because it was €14 million short and a further 20,000 people were forced onto the live register before any action was taken.
The Government must now take control of the public finances and protect essential frontline services. The incremental system of budgeting is outdated and other models should be con[115]sidered. New Zealand has a system whereby a 1% saving is sought across all government departments. Advance notice is given, which allows for proper public sector reform rather than our laissez faire attitude of overnight cuts. Departments here lack the time to adjust to cuts which affect frontline services.
The Government has failed to put in place a proper anti-inflationary policy. When we joined the eurozone, we lost control over our exchange and interest rates and the only area over which we retained control was inflation. Everyone knows that if interest rates are low, inflation should be low, but inflation was allowed to spin out of control. The European Central Bank has an inflation target of zero to 2%. The Government should have set out a target for inflation prior to the national pay talks so people could have a sense of where the country is going. We have become uncompetitive and have lost export market share over the past five years. Since 2000, our prices have risen 50 times faster than the EU average and 45% of non-mortgage inflation is Government fuelled. Health care is three times the EU average and education for hard pressed parents of children, housing, water and energy are twice the EU average.
In its ludicrous reply, the Government claims its stewardship of the economy and public finances allows Ireland to meet the current economic situation from a position of strength. Given that nothing is left in the kitty, there is no strength, unlike Spain which built up a reserve to allow its economy to be pumped. Several months ago, the Taoiseach proposed a cyclical stimulus budget which would allow him to pump the economy but he is not mentioning that now. The kitty is empty because of mismanagement on the part of the Government.
The adoption of sensible measures would have created the right economic and fiscal conditions. How can we regard the claims made by the Taoiseach in 2005 and 2006 that the fundamentals of the economy were fine and that we should continue to build? This was a foolhardy and unsustainable policy. Exports continued to fall. This is a small open economy and we need to return to basics. The Government claims that many of the factors currently impacting on the economy are external in origin. While that may be the case, it failed to exercise its control over internal factors to implement the deposit protection scheme earlier or control inflation. The hallmark of this Government is procrastination. It is either acting on the basis of arrogance or because it does not know what is going on. I am not certain which is worse but both are absolutely unacceptable.
The budget for 2009 is supposed to provide clarity and confidence but the Government is failing to provide either. The only reason the budget is being brought forward is because the preliminary income tax figures for 2008 will fall far short of projections when they are produced on 14 November. The people were mislead on the budget, which was based on a projection of 55,000 housing completions. Everyone knew at the time that the maximum figure for completions was 30,000, with a €1 billion shortfall in tax take for every 10,000 houses. I had to table a parliamentary question to find out the number of housing completions used as a basis for the budget. Budget expenditure was reliant on the construction sector.
I commend this motion to the House and hope the Minister for Finance and other Government Deputies will attend this well-informed debate on putting the economy back on the road to recovery.
Deputy Olivia Mitchell: In an attempt to have us forget about Government inaction over the past several years, the Taoiseach said this morning that he had to deal with the situation that confronts him now. The reality is that it did not arrive out of nowhere to confront him over the past few days because he helped to create it. I acknowledge that a crisis has arisen internationally to which we are not immune but it is undeniable and unforgivable that its impact on us is already greater than elsewhere and will probably be more long lasting. My colleagues have already referred to the rapidness of the collapse in our growth and employment rates. [116] We are the worst on any scale. Our inflation rate over the past ten years has been twice the EU average. It is no wonder that we are the most expensive country in Europe. Regardless of the picture which the Taoiseach and his Cabinet colleagues try to paint, these factors did not arise by accident. They are specific to Ireland and were under our control but the Government did nothing about them.
That we have to face them now is entirely due to a feckless Government which spent with abandon over many years. During the Taoiseach’s tenure as Minister for Finance, he increased spending at twice the rate of economic growth. Even a child knows that if pocket money increases by €1 per week, he or she cannot spend €2. Spending was based on unsustainable property taxes, despite the warnings of every expert. Indeed, any child could have told the Government about this.
While all this heady spending continued, long-term thinking was forgotten. Preparation for a rainy day was put off and there was no search for value for money, reform of public services or regulations and no drive for competitiveness. There was no sense of urgency about broadband services, energy or transport. God knows what our very well resourced training body, which was supposed to give us a cutting edge labour force, was doing. After ten years of continuous growth, we should have been in a better position than other countries to face a global recession but, with more expensive goods and services than any other country, we are in the worst possible position. At the same time, our coffers are bare and we have no reserves.
Our Government has made no response to these issues. It was in complete denial and ignored all the warning signs. It held parties for the incoming and outgoing taoisigh but did nothing about the gathering storm clouds for which the rest of the world was preparing. In July, it briefly acknowledged that a problem existed but then allowed it to drift throughout the summer, emerging only briefly to announce it would do something in October. Weeks of unease about the security of our banking system were completely ignored. People were withdrawing money and putting it under their mattresses. Joe Duffy was blamed for this, even though he was merely reflecting what the people in the streets had been discussing for months.
The Government’s first response to these problems was to announce that it was giving us all a pay rise. There is something surreal about concluding a pay deal in the very month in which we announced the highest ever increase in unemployment. At the same time, there was almost a run on the banks. This is nonsense. At a time of such uncertainty, I do not know how we, as part of the public sector, can promise to pay ourselves more. Private sector workers are being asked to work harder and longer to produce more and pay more taxes at a time when they do not know whether they will have jobs, much less pensions. What else did the Government do? When the directors of Aer Lingus were trying to put together a business plan to save the airline the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Coughlan, told them she was not happy with it. To the best of my knowledge the reason the Government privatised Aer Lingus was to give it freedom of operation. I recall a specific promise from the Government that, despite holding a considerable shareholding of the company, it would not interfere in the running of the airline as this would impact negatively on the share price. However, that is exactly what the Minister did, at a time when there were as many airlines as banks going to the wall.
The final straw was an increase of 8% yesterday in taxi fares. This shows how out of touch the Government is with the realities of the market at present. Taxis are largely a discretionary spend for people, so this increase will result in a reduction in taxi usage. It is completely bizarre and damaging not just to the economy, but also to the tourism industry. The Government must realise that the days of easy money are over. It cannot spend its way out of every problem now. There is a new world order and the Government will have to start making its own luck. [117] It will have to husband resources, target investment priorities, reform public services and upskill the workforce. There is no sign that the Government has any idea of the challenge it is facing, how it will deal with it or, indeed, that it even realises there is a challenge.
Deputy Michael Ring: I am glad the Minister for Finance has attended this debate because I was going to have a go at him if he did not. He would have shown total disrespect for the House if he had not attended. Deputy Bruton has put down a good motion that the Government was not prepared to debate in Government time. We did not want half Ministers; there are too many half Ministers. In fact, if I were Taoiseach——
Deputy Brian Lenihan: This is the Minister of State.
Deputy Michael Ring: ——I would get rid of six of them, for a start. I would get rid of half the programme managers and advisers and all the waste in public offices. The Minister was also late last week. Everybody in the country was talking about what was happening in the economy. The Minister might recall the film “Mary Poppins”. In that film the young child went into the bank but would not lodge his two pence. As a result, there was a run on the bank for the first time in 100 years. The same thing happened in this country last week but the Minister did not make a move until Saturday. He nearly left it too late.
People were ringing me and every other Deputy to ask if their money was safe. What we need now is leadership — a strong Government, Taoiseach and Minister for Finance. What did we have last week? We could not get a Minister to speak. The Minister spoke on Friday and said he would not interfere with the market or the banks. However, at lunchtime on Saturday he had to tell people that the Government would underwrite deposits of up to €100,000. That was correct but if the Minister had spoken sooner it would not have been necessary. However, the Minister and the Government were gone all week. They took their eyes off the ball.
In the past few months, since the previous Minister for Finance, Deputy Cowen, became Taoiseach, 45,000 jobs have been lost in this country. Where was the Government for the summer? When every other government in Europe was trying to figure out how to save their economies, this Government was gone, travelling all over the world. It should have been here. A special Cabinet meeting should have been held in August to show the people that the Government was doing something about the economy, that it was in charge and would not let the country go down the drain. However, there was no Minister or Taoiseach to be found throughout the summer.
This is serious business. There are 45,000 people who will not have a job this Christmas. Other people are wondering whether their jobs will be safe tomorrow, next week, next month or next year. We need to hear from the Minister for Finance. He should not take the soft options when he introduces the budget in two weeks. He must not attack the social insurance fund again. That is the working people’s fund; the money that has been put away for the rainy day and for pensions. The Minister must not raid it. The former Minister, Charlie McCreevy, raided it in good times but this Minister had better not raid it in bad times. That fund is for people’s pensions and for the future.
If the Minister wished to show leadership, he would tackle the oil companies. The price of diesel and petrol goes up and down but the price at the pump does not. That is a simple job and the Tánaiste should deal with it. She should speak to representatives of the oil companies and ask them why this is happening. I travelled from the west to the east of this country last night. There was a different price for petrol and diesel at the pumps in every village and town. That should not happen. If the Government was doing its job, it would tackle the people who are ripping us off. We are being ripped off by all sides.
[118]The Minister for Finance has a job to do and he must take it seriously. He must ensure the economy does not go down the drain. For the past ten years the Government spent, spent and spent. What would happen to a householder who did the same? People have always put a few pounds or euro away for the rainy day but this Government did not. The Government thought the boom was never going to end. When it did, who did it blame? It blamed Fine Gael and Deputy Richard Bruton, accusing us of talking down the economy. Where were the advisers and the people in the Department of Finance? Did they not know that taxation revenue was not coming in? Did they not see a downturn over the past two years? No, like the Government they were telling people about all the taxes that were being paid and what would be done to spend those taxes.
Deputy Simon Coveney: I wish to express my frustration that I will have less than five minutes to speak on this motion. It is truly extraordinary that we will not get an opportunity to debate in depth the concerns every household in the country is discussing at present. Many colleagues in Fine Gael and in the Labour Party wished to make a proper, lengthy contribution to a detailed debate on the challenges we currently face, but we have not been given that opportunity.
This House went into recess for nearly three months. In that period, 23,000 people lost their jobs in Ireland. That is a total of 300 per day. People are worried about their future, their jobs and their financial commitments such as mortgages and loans. They expect leadership from the Government. They expect the people they elect to run the country to give leadership when it is needed. What did they get in response? This is the first sitting of the Dáil for three months, following a meltdown in international money markets and a series of uncertainties that affect the economy and people’s pensions and jobs. The Government’s response is a refusal to even facilitate a two-day debate on the issue. This was requested last week; it is not as if the Government was taken by surprise by the request.
Instead, the Government is content to discuss the Electoral (Amendment) Bill, which is irrelevant in the context of the challenges the country faces at present. A discussion on boundary changes for three and a half year hence is what it considers a priority for discussion in the Dáil this week. Is it any wonder that people view this House and many of its Members as irrelevant to their lives and the challenges they face? If Fine Gael had not forced a debate on the economy during Private Members’ business this evening, there would have been no opportunity to discuss the issue, apart from during Leaders’ Questions. We are accused of playing political games for trying to hold an arrogant and lazy Government to account, a Government that does not have the political courage to face a proper debate on the economy.
To put recent job losses in context, in the last month in Cork 180 people lost their jobs in Pfizer, 280 jobs were lost in Howley Civil Engineering in Carrigtwohill and yesterday there were 150 job losses in Swiss Co. in Little Island. Today we have been told there will probably be an announcement tomorrow of 200 job losses in Tyco Sensormatic on the Model Farm Road. People are talking about that, not the boundaries of Dáil constituencies in the next general election. We should be reflecting people’s concerns. They want answers from us about what direction the country is taking and what challenges and hardships they can expect. People know that is the reality they face for the next year or 18 months, or whatever the time frame will be. Eleven of the top 88 worst unemployment blackspots are in Cork. Last week a dole queue in Cork city stretched for almost half a mile, and crossed one of the bridges in the city. This picture was on the front page of the Evening Echo in Cork last week, a sight many people of my age have never seen. People are worried about this and want a response from people like the Minister who they see as offering new leadership in Ireland.
[119]Deputy Olivia Mitchell: I am glad they do.
An Ceann Comhairle: The Deputy’s time has expired.
Deputy Simon Coveney: We have a new Government and a new Minister for Finance. Let us focus on the future and take on the challenges in a brave way. Let us not avoid debate in this House where this discussion should be opened up.
An Ceann Comhairle: I call on the Minister whom I understand wishes to share time.
Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan): I propose to share time with Deputies unknown. No doubt they will disclose themselves in the next few minutes.
Deputy Olivia Mitchell: We can help the Minister out.
Deputy Simon Coveney: The Minister can take his time.
Deputy Richard Bruton: We can help out the Minister with his economic policies too if he wishes.
Deputy Alan Shatter: We might have a real debate if the Minister actually listens to what we have to say.
Deputy Michael Ring: One can see how bad things are when the Government is running away.
An Ceann Comhairle: The Minister must first move the amendment to the motion.
Deputy Brian Lenihan: I move amendment No. 1:
[120]Deputy Alan Shatter: On a point of order, is there a Deputy in the House called A.N. Other for whom we need to leave an open slot should he or she arrive? Is this a precedent for this House?
Deputy Brian Lenihan: The Deputy concerned is Deputy M. J. Nolan.
Deputy Alan Shatter: Deputy Nolan is welcome. I assumed there was a bevy of other Deputies who might honour us with an appearance.
An Ceann Comhairle: I understand the Minister wishes to share his time with Deputies Brady, Byrne, Nolan and McGuinness.
Deputy Olivia Mitchell: Well done a Cheann Comhairle.
An Ceann Comhairle: Is that agreed? Agreed.
Deputy Alan Shatter: Anyone who took the economic situation seriously would be in the House.
Deputy Brian Lenihan: We are in the middle of an acute global financial and economic storm and this country is not immune from its impact. However, let us not lose perspective.
During the past five years, we have had an average growth rate of 5.5%, among the highest in the EU. Our Government debt in 2007 fell from 32% to 23% of GNP. We have put more than €15 billion into the National Pension Reserve Fund since we took the prudent step of establishing that fund in 2001. It now stands at €19.5 billion. Also, we have invested more than €30 billion in the biggest public infrastructure investment programme per capita in the EU.
This is the record that has been dismissed as “reckless budgetary policies” in the motion tabled by the Deputies opposite. By all means, let us have debate about the economy but let us not engage in the kind of dishonesty and misrepresentation that does no service to this House or to our economic achievement in recent years, achievements not alone by Government but by the people. Our record is there for all to see. Based on that record, we will take the necessary action to ensure we safeguard and protect the substantial gains that have been made during the past 15 years.
The continuing turmoil in the global financial markets is having a detrimental effect on economies right across the developed world. Growth forecasts in all of our trading partners have been revised downwards. As a small open economy, Ireland was never going to be insulated from this international downturn and these developments combined with the appreciation of the euro exchange rate have created a difficult trading environment for our exporting sector.
In addition to this unprecedented conjunction of unfavourable international factors, we are experiencing a very sharp correction in the house building sector which has been exacerbated by the global liquidity crisis.
Deputy Bernard J. Durkan: And the national crisis.
Deputy Olivia Mitchell: It just happened out of nowhere.
Deputy Brian Lenihan: I have no doubt that over time, housing output will return to more sustainable levels but there is a process of adjustment and it is important that it be allowed to take place. We must remind ourselves that the beneficiaries of falling property prices will be first-time buyers who have found it so difficult to get on the property ladder in recent years.
[121]Deputy Bernard J. Durkan: They could not get on the property ladder at all.
Deputy Brian Lenihan: I would like to address some criticism that has been levelled at the Government about its actions in this area. It is the height of hypocrisy for the Opposition to blame the Government for allegedly over heating the property market when it was Fine Gael that did its damnedest to destabilise that market through its half-baked, ill-conceived proposals to reform stamp duty.
Deputy Alan Shatter: The first person to mention it was former Deputy Michael McDowell when Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform.
Deputy Michael Ring: Hear, hear.
Deputy Alan Shatter: Former Deputy Michael McDowell was a Minister of the former Government which told the nation it did not need any money from stamp duty.
Deputy Brian Lenihan: Members may not like the medicine but they should at least listen to what I have to say. That particular plan which was rejected by the people would have pushed prices far higher and resulted in an even greater crash.
Deputy Bernard J. Durkan: Because the Government withheld the information.
Deputy Brian Lenihan: The Government’s changes to the stamp duty regime were measured and they were only introduced when it was clear the market was already correcting and when it was safe to do so. Our concern has always been the long-term stability and sustainability of the housing market.
Deputy Simon Coveney: This is not what the public want to hear.
Deputy Alan Shatter: No one believes any of that.
Deputy Brian Lenihan: The rapid deterioration in our economy and the speed with which international factors outside of our control have impacted on us has taken everybody by surprise.
Deputy Bernard J. Durkan: Not only international factors.
Deputy Brian Lenihan: When we brought forward our savings initiative last July, my Department forecast a revenue shortfall of €3 billion for this year. At the time, I said the savings of €440 million to be achieved this year was the very minimum we had to do and that additional savings would have to be made in the event of a further deterioration in our fiscal position.
We monitored the position throughout July and August and when in August returns confirmed there had been a further significant weakening of the tax take, we decided to bring forward the budget to 14 October. Following analysis of the end-September tax revenues, my Department will set out its assessment in the normal manner at the end-quarter press conference. In advance of knowing the exact details I do not propose to say anymore on the size of the shortfall.
Deputy Kieran O’Donnell: I am sure the Minister does not want to say anymore.
Deputy Brian Lenihan: I assure Deputy Richard Bruton that he will be briefed subsequent to the end-September forecast. I will do everything in my power to ensure he is properly briefed in what I appreciate is a tight budgetary cycle in time terms. It is clear the scale of the economic and fiscal challenges require us as a Government to take immediate steps to ensure Ireland is [122]fiscally sustainable in the years ahead. Bringing the budget forward allows us to present a balanced and coherent plan to address the difficulties we now face. It also focuses everyone’s mind on the absolute necessity to take corrective measures now so as to boost confidence in the economy among investors, business people, workers and those on welfare.
I am not going to get into the details of the budget this evening, but I can say it will set out steps to stabilise and restore balance to the public finances by prioritising current and capital public expenditure to reflect the changed realities.
We face very difficult choices. We will have ample time for serious economic discussion in this House on budget day and in the weeks subsequent to it. We will, of course, seek to protect the most vulnerable and to protect the productive sector which must generate the income we need to provide the public services in education and in health that our people deserve.
The House can be assured the Government will leave no stone unturned to protect the gains that have been made and they are substantial. We now have more than 2 million people at work. Since 1997, under successive Fianna Fáil-led Governments, more than 700,000 jobs have been created, a startling achievement.
We have a highly educated and young workforce and, by international standards, a very low tax environment for workers and business and this has been an important driver of economic growth. This transformation has been achieved by the hard work and enterprise of our citizens underpinned by the sound economic policies of this Government. It has placed us in a better position than most to weather this downturn. As long as we take the tough decisions now, we will be well positioned to take advantage of the upturn when it comes.
We in this House will have to face real choices. The Opposition cannot take refuge in rhetoric as we make these choices. It will have to come forward with alternatives if it is not prepared to accept the policies brought forward by Government.
Deputy Bernard J. Durkan: What about the Government; what will it do?
Deputy Olivia Mitchell: It is all up to us.
Deputy Brian Lenihan: In previous economic downturns, we have made the mistake of cutting back on capital investment.
Deputy Simon Coveney: What is the Government waiting for?
Deputy Brian Lenihan: It is easy to cut capital investment. The challenge now is to ensure that in the changed economic circumstances we produce more with less money. That is possible given the competitive environment that now exists for tendering.
Deputy Olivia Mitchell: It certainly is possible.
Deputy Brian Lenihan: Of course, the delivery of Transport 21 and the national development plan is affected by the level of economic growth and the resources available to the Government in the medium term. It is clear that we will have to prioritise and extend the period within which it can be implemented, but the plan stands.
Last year alone, we spent €8 billion of Exchequer funds on capital projects. By 2010, we will have completed the motorway network connecting Dublin to Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Galway and Belfast. Work will also begin on the Atlantic road corridor. The second terminal in Dublin Airport will be open for business in 2010. There will be significant development of public transport in the greater Dublin area. We have an ongoing programme of investment in [123]our environmental services infrastructure and we will provide increased energy security through the North-South and East-West interconnector projects.
The plan stands and as we have indicated, despite expenditure pressures which have arisen this year, capital expenditure will remain a top priority. As part of the Estimates process, we are reviewing all capital projects for 2009 to 2011 to ensure scarce resources are targeted at investment in core economic infrastructure that will add to our productive capacity, improve our competitiveness and ensure we are in an advantageous position when the present economic downturn abates.
The rapidity of deterioration in our economy has, as I stated, surprised all not alone at home but around the world. We have known for some time that growth was going to slow. That is why in his budget last year, the Taoiseach, who was then Minister for Finance, introduced an efficiency review with the objective of getting better value for the money we spend on public services. When he became Taoiseach, Deputy Brian Cowen reiterated our commitment as a Government to public sector reform. As Members know, a task force will report shortly on the implementation of the OECD report on this subject.
In the meantime, the savings initiative we introduced last July is being implemented and the efficiencies it will yield in terms of administrative budgets and the rationalisation of State agencies will be of continuing benefit to our economy when prevailing circumstances improve. There will be a redundancy programme for administrative staff in the HSE and I would like to see such a programme applied in the wider public service as well. The Government is determined to secure maximum value for money in our public services. By targeting better payroll management, seeking savings in the services we buy and prioritising productive capital projects, we will enhance the delivery and effectiveness of public services and maximise the return from capital investment.
As in many other countries, the pick-up in Irish inflation in the past year or so has been driven primarily by the global rise in food and oil prices. In Ireland, increases in interest rates have also had a direct impact on inflation. Recent inflation trends have been more positive. The annual rate of CPI inflation eased to 4.3% in August from 5% two months earlier. On an EU harmonised basis, annual inflation in August was 3.2%, significantly below the 3.8% increase recorded in the euro area. My Department expects to see an easing in the average rate of inflation in the later part of this year and into next year.
These are indeed challenging times. However, we should not lose sight of the fact that the level of economic activity remains very high, as does the level of employment and income per capita. The underlying health of our economy remains robust. The Government will bring forward initiatives that will promote additional economic activity and provide firm support for those parts of our economy that are continuing to perform well. However, effective management of the public finances and sensible fiscal policies are fundamental to our economic recovery. There is no easy way out if we are to protect the extraordinary progress we have made in the past two decades.
It is the job of the Opposition to hold the Government to account. I understand that the largest Opposition party, in particular, will want to make political hay out of the current difficulties.
Deputy Olivia Mitchell: That is completely wrong.
Deputy Brian Lenihan: However, I appeal to Deputy Bruton to rein in the worst excesses of those in his party who, in their pursuit of political advantage——
[124]Deputy Richard Bruton: If the Taoiseach had reined in his Ministers we would not have a shortage of hospital beds.
Deputy Michael Ring: It was Joe Duffy last week and it is Fine Gael this week.
Deputy Simon Coveney: If the Government had told people the truth a year ago——
Deputy Brian Lenihan: In pursuit of political damage, they are undermining confidence in our economy. I advise Deputy Ring that careless talk cost lives in the last war and careless talk can cost banks as well.
Deputy Alan Shatter: Maybe we should just close down all discussion.
Deputy Richard Bruton: Bad policies destroy economies, not idle talk.
Deputy M. J. Nolan: I welcome the opportunity to speak on this issue. The extent and speed of the downturn in our economy has caught everybody by surprise.
Deputy Michael Ring: We will have more tuppences before this is over. It is “Mary Poppins”.
Deputy M. J. Nolan: Even the learned gentlemen across the way did not have a monopoly on that. I welcome the Minister’s statement and the fact that he is facing up to the difficulties faced by the economy. In the short time I have I will highlight one or two issues that concern me. In the context of the budget being introduced by the Minister on 14 October, I ask that areas such as education, which has been the bedrock of the Irish economy in the past 20 years and the reason it has been so successful, do not see serious cuts. As a result of our education system and our young, well educated workforce we have succeeded in attracting more foreign direct investment than any other European country. Any changes or savings that have to be made should be made outside that Department.
In addition, State agencies, particularly FÁS, must put in place or alter their courses to suit the current economic climate, in which an increasing number of young people are coming onto the live register. I heard reports recently that individuals who went to FÁS seeking particular courses were advised that no such courses were available. We cannot wait six months or a year for FÁS to get its act together and put on courses that are urgently needed.
The current downturn in the economy will have a serious effect on the resources that Ministers will have to run their Departments. However, I was glad to hear the Minister state that unlike in previous downturns, in which capital budgets were severely cut as a result of fall-offs in revenue, he intends to prioritise spending in the capital area and that programmes such as the inter-city road network will be completed by 2010. I would also like to see continuous investment in public transport, particularly the rail network, which has benefited significantly in the past ten years.
Nobody in this House could have anticipated the speed of the decline. Indeed, most of it is outside our control and we are to a large extent at the mercy of international financial markets. I wish the Minister well in his task, which will not be an easy one. However, the fundamentals, as he continues to tell us, are sound, and based on that I believe we are healthy enough to ride out the recession.
Deputy Cyprian Brady: I too welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. Nobody on this side of the House denies that we are facing into a difficult period for this economy. Our GNP has been steadily decreasing and our economic growth is declining. However, the entire developed world is also facing a period of economic turbulence. Rising fuel and food prices and the fallout from the ever-worrying credit crunch are having a negative impact on [125]growth throughout the world. However, as the Minister pointed out, we are in a much better position to weather the storm now than we were in the 1980s. Irish exports remain strong. Exports of business services and software grew by an incredible 25% in 2007 and now earn as much as pharmaceutical exports. The inflow of foreign direct investment remains strong and FDI will be the key to driving the Irish economy towards recovery in 2009. IDA Ireland continues to win projects and create employment here. In my constituency, for example, the success of the Irish Financial Services Centre has been remarkable and it continues to create employment and attract new business, with major financial institutions continuing to establish a presence in the IFSC.
The Government has successfully managed the boom and is well equipped to ensure we manage our way through the tough times that are before us. The fact that the budget is being brought forward to 14 October illustrates the commitment of the Government. I also welcome the Minister’s efforts with regard to guarantees on bank deposits. This is an issue that affects many people. People were confused about their entitlements and the fact that the issue was clarified in such a speedy way is to be welcomed.
I must express my concern at the lending practices and lack of prudence of some banks. There have been cases in which 100% mortgages have been given to individuals who cannot afford the repayments. A number of these were given on an interest-free basis for five years. After those five years the borrowers must repay the full principal and interest, and many are facing negative equity. In a number of cases, the borrower cannot afford the full amount that will be charged. Representatives of the banks attended a meeting of the Joint Committee on Finance and the Public Service a few weeks ago and reassurances were given. For example, there was a reassurance that Bank of Ireland would retain its dividend. However, this has now been slashed by 50% due to more challenging trading conditions. While Irish banks do not seem to be exposed to the sub-prime mortgage crisis, they are being hit far more badly than most banks in Europe. This is worrying.
We can overcome this current period of slowing growth. We are still attracting foreign direct investment and we must continue to do so. Our construction industry has contracted, but we are creating employment in other areas such as financial services, pharmaceuticals, IT and the service sector as a whole. I express my concern, however, at some of the practices of a number of our banks and I would like to see more transparency in this area.
Deputy Thomas Byrne: I commend the Government on its stewardship of the economy in the past ten years. What is the first advice a financial adviser would give to any family when paying down a mortgage when it comes into more money or achieves a higher income than previously? He would recommend paying off the mortgage, which is what the Government has done in the past ten years.
Deputy Kieran O’Donnell: It has made the private sector take out mortgages.
An Leas-Cheann Comhairle: Allow Deputy Byrne to speak without interruption.
Deputy Thomas Byrne: The debt to national wealth ratio is now down to 23% from a high of 96% in the early 1990s, which is an outstanding achievement by any set of standards. While it is given no credit by any member of the Opposition, the people at home understand that. If we consider other countries with national debts, in Japan it is 180% of its wealth. The USA has added $1 trillion to national debt in recent weeks with the rescue of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae and the general bail-out of the banks. In the UK the ratio is approximately 40%. Ours is 23% which is an outstanding achievement that allows the Government in tougher economic times to borrow as necessary to maintain the services and keep us in a good position [126]for when the global situation recovers. That outstanding achievement of the Government needs to be recognised.
Unfortunately the Opposition does not recognise that we are a small island economy totally dependent on international investment and on our exports to other countries. That has been put into clear focus by the pairing issue the Opposition has introduced whereby it is refusing to allow possibly even the Taoiseach to attend an important meeting in New York and the Tánaiste and the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to attend meetings in Europe. It is an absolute disgrace and shows no knowledge of the situation Ireland faces and the reality that our Ministers need to be abroad promoting the country as they have been doing for the past ten years and attracting foreign direct investment, which despite what the Opposition might claim is still coming in at very good rates. While we need to keep it up, the Opposition has shown no understanding of that.
Deputy Bruton will come into the Chamber and criticise the Government for spending too much money, yet tomorrow morning on local radio we will hear a litany of requests for more money for all sorts of projects.
Deputy Richard Bruton: What we want is delivery.
Deputy Thomas Byrne: I will be on local radio tomorrow telling them that Deputy Bruton recommends spending less money.
Deputy Richard Bruton: The Government said it would end hospital waiting lists, reduce school classes to 20——
An Leas-Cheann Comhairle: Allow Deputy Byrne to speak without interruption.
Deputy Thomas Byrne: The Fine Gael Deputies and councillors cannot have it both ways. They cannot say they want more money spent when their finance spokesperson and deputy leader criticises us in the Dáil for spending too much money over the years. The people know the tricks they are playing.
The Government has done a fantastic job. It established the National Pensions Reserve Fund despite some criticism for doing so. We now have the scope to borrow and maintain our position. The Government has responsibility for managing the public services and creating the environment in which people can work. Low taxes have been a feature of that environment for individuals and businesses and they allow people to get on with what they want to do. We could not be in a better position to get through the unprecedented global economic downturn. We can afford to borrow a certain amount of money to get us over the slight difficulty in which we find ourselves. We will either swim or sink with international exports and foreign direct investment, which is very important. We need to put our best foot forward at home and abroad, which is what Ministers and IDA Ireland with other agencies have been doing with great success in recent years. Fine Gael is trying to diminish this effort with what it has done regarding pairing.
The national pay agreement has been criticised in various quarters. However, it gives people confidence that Irish industrial relations are peaceful and that people can invest in Ireland without the threat of industrial relations bringing everything to a halt.
Regardless of the economic reality that house prices may fall, homeowners in my constituency would be surprised by Fine Gael calling for house prices to fall, as its motion does. It calls for house prices to return to fair values. While we know it is an economic reality, making that political call is unprecedented. People who suffer from negative equity will look for more than [127]a call for house prices to be reduced. We do not yet have a large number of repossessions, which may well come. Action would need to be taken if that becomes a serious problem. While I know of some in my constituency, they are not yet at the crisis level that would affect a broad range of people, as they are in some parts of the United States.
We need to put our best foot forward despite the Opposition. We need to continue these policies. While we need to cut back, we do not need to slam on the brakes. We need to keep rolling along, borrow as much as we need and set the country up right for when things turn internationally, as they will. I believe the people will thank us for it when the turnaround comes.
Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy John McGuinness): I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate and reflect on some of the comments of members of the Opposition, who suggest we should have this debate without any commentary on what is happening elsewhere in the world. This debate is taking place one day after the chairman of the US Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, and US Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Paulson, introduced a package to save the banks and the economy in the United States. I would never have thought we would have seen the US Government take over Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae and that there would be problems with Merrill Lynch and AIG. There has been such a movement in the world finances that those organisations are now in crisis. The Opposition must acknowledge that.
Deputy Kieran O’Donnell: We have done so.
Deputy John McGuinness: It diminishes confidence in Irish business and business throughout the world that that would happen. It is up to governments to address the problem as best they can. Ireland, with a population of 4 million, 2 million of whom are working, needs to do things in terms of business, which I respect. People look to the Government for leadership. Leadership was shown by what the Minister for Finance, Deputy Brian Lenihan, did in July. On the basis of the figures available then he introduced certain cutbacks, redefined policy and reprioritised projects.
Deputy Kieran O’Donnell: It is too late.
Deputy John McGuinness: It is not too late because no one could gauge. It was something that happened. Some of the biggest fund managers in the world lost billions overnight because they could not gauge it. They were the ones central to whole financial activity because no one knew what was in those toxic loans——
Deputy Kieran O’Donnell: There was excessive reliance on the construction sector.
Deputy John McGuinness: ——or the packages that were passed around like parcels until the music stopped when each bank in a row fell. Let us place it where it is. We now need to recognise the positive aspects. The financial sector employs 10,000 people. Some of the biggest and best recognised companies have a presence in this country. If we are to look positively to the future we first need to separate the rhetoric and take the best advice, as the Minister for Finance did when he took those initiatives in July. We are now faced with answering the question as to whether we have the bottle as parliamentarians to stand up and give leadership to the rest of the country in the context of them doing business for Ireland. That is what we should be focused on. I lead trade missions abroad with some of the best companies in the country, including some fledgling companies that are trying to make an impact on world markets. They are showing the bottle and are taking the risk. They are not speaking like the Opposition. They are in markets doing business, as we should recognise.
[128]Deputy Kieran O’Donnell: I wrote to the Taoiseach asking him to meet multinational companies but received no reply.
Deputy John McGuinness: Every negative word that comes from this House damages our economic prospects. It damages the efforts being made by those business people. It is not just about profit for them. They are sustaining jobs and need every support they can get.
Deputy Richard Bruton: What about the people talking about the public sector?
Deputy John McGuinness: I spoke about the public sector, as did the Deputy. There is not a great distance between his position and mine, with one exception.
Deputy Richard Bruton: The Minister of State’s party has been in government for 11 years and has done nothing about it.
Deputy John McGuinness: The Deputy did not have the bottle to stand up and say it. His colleagues who sit behind him are telling me that I was right in what I said.
Deputy Richard Bruton: The Minister of State was right, but he did not have a record of delivery behind him. His party has been in government for 11 years and has done nothing about it.
An Leas-Cheann Comhairle: Allow the Minister of State to conclude.
Deputy John McGuinness: It is interesting just how right I was because Deputy Bruton cannot stand up and tell business people they need to tighten their belts and get out there if we in the public sector are not prepared to do so ourselves.
Deputy Kieran O’Donnell: The business people are doing it.
Deputy John McGuinness: In doing that we need to look to the SME sector, which I represent in the context of the work I do with Enterprise Ireland and the county and city enterprise boards. They need every encouragement to ensure they grow, continue the employment levels they have and are given the opportunity to trade abroad. In recognising the positives in the economy we should focus on a system to do likewise, to expand and create employment. They are doing it because they are doing something different. We are pouring out a load of rhetoric here, a load of rubbish sometimes, listening to what Opposition Deputies are saying.
Deputy Kieran O’Donnell: The Minister of State is waffling.
Deputy John McGuinness: The people who need to put their money in their pockets are the people making the real decisions. The Opposition is not prepared to support them.
Deputy Kieran O’Donnell: The Minister of State is waffling.
Deputy John McGuinness: I am not waffling.
Deputy Kieran O’Donnell: The business sector has been letting people go for the past year because people in that sector know what is going on.
An Leas-Cheann Comhairle: Allow the Minister of State to conclude.
Deputy John McGuinness: I work with the county and city enterprise boards and Enterprise Ireland which are the real performers in this economy and should be supported.
[129]Deputy Kieran O’Donnell: They are, but the Government is not supporting them.
Deputy John McGuinness: In the context of what the Minister for Finance is doing I believe they will get the support and leadership which is needed now more than ever. As a House representing those people we should be united in our efforts to support them.
Deputy Kieran O’Donnell: What is the Government doing?
Deputy John McGuinness: The Deputy should wait for the budget. In terms of Enterprise Ireland and the county and city enterprise boards we are not just waiting to do it, we are doing it every day and the funding exists to do it.
Deputy Kieran O’Donnell: How will the Government make us competitive internationally again?
Deputy John McGuinness: The competence and confidence exists in that sector to do business for Ireland, which the Opposition should recognise.
Deputy Joan Burton: I wish to share time with Deputies Higgins and Morgan.
An Leas-Cheann Comhairle: Is that agreed? Agreed.
Deputy Joan Burton: We all know the international financial system is in chaos and that Ireland’s economic woes are mounting — even Fianna Fáil is gradually conceding that. The Taoiseach and Minister for Finance surely must be refreshed, relaxed and ready to roll up their sleeves now that summer has been and gone. If they do not start to get real about our economy, there is a danger that the autumn Dáil session will be a bridge between the Government’s summer slumber and a winter of discontent.
The number one difficulty facing the economy is rising unemployment. Young men losing jobs on building sites are particularly affected. As we are in the distinguished presence of two men who have become Ministers of State since the new Government was formed, I remind them that since then 46,000 people have lost their jobs. That is a record for the 140 days they have been in office. The Government must make unemployment public enemy number one.
All our reluctant Minister for Finance seems to be able to muster is whinge after whinge after whinge. There is not an ounce of sympathy there. In fact, whingeing has been the most notable feature of Deputy Brian Lenihan’s tenure as Minister for Finance to date. He said, before the summer, that businesses and consumers should stop whingeing about rising fuel prices. This showed just how out of touch he is with ordinary people. More recently, the Minister for whinge had the gall to blame the public for the housing bubble; his rationale was that “you get what you voted for”. Let us not forget the Minister’s most recent whinge last week when he blamed Joe Duffy for undermining the Irish banks when it is their own lax lending which has them in a bind as well as the failure of the Government to raise the deposit guarantee scheme as I and the Labour Party have requested for well over a year. Perhaps the Minister for Finance realises that Government oversight of the banking sector has been dysfunctional and he wanted to divert the spotlight.
Finally, the Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance have been consistent in their whingeing about international factors; they refuse to face up to the fact that our economic downturn is largely home-grown and the fault of this Fianna Fáil Government. Whingeing, passing the buck and laying off blame will not get our economy back on the right track.
Bringing the budget forward was a cynical attempt at media manipulation. The Minister has bought a six-week window during which he can brief the press that at least the Government is [130]doing something. His refusal to release either budget estimates or a pre-budget outlook is wrong. He and his officials, unless they are from the same school of arithmetic that the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O’Keeffe, patronises, has to know the estimates and the likely outlook for next year. If not, they do not deserve to be put in charge of beer mat economics, from which the Minister for Education and Science’s estimates seem to come.
The Minister for Finance’s refusal to release the pre-budget outlook is consistent with the stunt former Minister Charlie McCreevy pulled on decentralisation. It leaves the element of surprise for the Minister on budget day when he can pull rabbits out of hats and leave little ability to analyse what becomes a done deal. Decentralisation backfired not so much on the Government because it won Fianna Fáil votes, but massively on the public finances where it has cost us untold billions of euro over and above what a normal ordinary quality programme of negotiated decentralisation would have done.
We are in a serious economic situation and now is not the time for such theatrics. The Minister should put the economy ahead of his own vanity. He should release realistic estimates for 2009 spending in advance of the budget as happens every other year. In the information vacuum that appears to be developing, it is difficult to see how the best decisions can be made in the interests of families in Ireland.
With financial markets facing their deepest crisis since the great depression, there is a growing consensus that the deregulation agenda of the past two decades has done more harm than good and must be reversed. We do not need to ban financial innovation — we need to regulate it so that it does not put the financial system itself in jeopardy. Part of the answer to the current financial crisis is the innovative regulation of derivative financial products.
Just this week the European Parliament adopted a bipartisan resolution on financial service regulation. There is agreement across the European political spectrum that the time for re-regulation is now. In the face of this common sense consensus, European bankers are fighting a strong rearguard action, aided and abetted, unfortunately, by pliant Governments, including our own. We should not take regulation from bankers. It ought to be parliaments who decide what is in the best interest of investment, depositor, saver and lender. The banks prioritise their own profit. They say regulation undermines competitiveness. What they actually mean is that regulation undermines their ability to make mega-profits by taking on mega-risks with other peoples’ money. We need sensible regulation to restore financial stability.
Just as we have safety standards governing the food we eat, the cars we drive and the medicines we take, we need safety standards for financial products to protect the stability of the financial system. International financial regulators must be empowered to ensure that financial innovation never again gets so out of hand that it threatens the entire economy. We have not yet seen the impact on European banks of the results of what has happened in America because we do not know how much of the derivative products, much of which are financial rubbish, is in their balance sheets.
On the international scene we need a redesign of the financial regulatory architecture to ensure that any newly devised or existing financial products pass a consumer health check. Banking executives’ bonus schemes should not incentivise excessive risk-taking, the masters of the universe, whether down in the IFSC, Wall Street or in the City of London. Bonuses and annual payments of €4 million, €10 million or €40 million are paid to them to gamble excessively with other people’s money. We need an early warning system to ward off asset bubbles and an alignment of interests between mortgage lenders and mortgage investors.
The crisis of delinquent capitalism has already claimed high profile victims on Wall Street. The worry is that the financial crisis will spill over to claim its victims on the high street and [131]main street of every Irish town and village. People up and down the country are facing real problems in the real economy and they need a Government that is the real deal.
Economic growth in Ireland is at its lowest level since 1988, unemployment has topped 6% and over 2,000 people are losing their jobs every week. The cost of living is increasing at 4.3% and is three times the rate the Government inherited in 1997. Consumer confidence is weakening and retail sales are falling for the first time since 2004. The CSO construction employment index is down by 16% in the past 12 months. Entrepreneurs with solid business plans cannot access finance and the Government has allowed for a deficit the public finances. I notice the Minister’s careful words where he acknowledges a deficit of €5 billion, but we could be heading for €7 billion by the end of 2008.
The Labour Party rejects the conservative consensus that the public finances are the root cause of the problems in the economy, rather than a symptom of them. International factors are making a recovery more difficult, but the root of our problems is the home-grown housing bubble. There the Taoiseach led the field. He stoked this in the budget of 2006-07 in order to win the election. In the budget last year when Fianna Fáil was back in power, he stoked it again in order to win his party’s leadership.
This is Deputy Brian Cowen’s recession. When we come to write the history of the financial times of this period in Ireland I hope historians will describe it in those terms.
Deputy Arthur Morgan: I thank the Labour Party for sharing time. I appreciate this and I also appreciate that Fine Gael moved this motion in its Private Members’ time. It should not have been necessary, of course. The Government should have afforded at least one full day, preferably two, to debating this most important matter.
The economic challenges this State faces in the coming period are substantial but with well thought out and responsible policies they are not insurmountable. Without doubt, some of what we face today can be attributed to the international credit crunch and a global downturn. Major investment banks, such as Lehman Brothers, collapsed, sending shockwaves throughout the financial world and causive massive liquidity problems.
However, as much as we are exposed to outside factors, the Government can no longer hide from the fact that it is Government policy and mismanagement that has brought us to this point in the Irish economy. Irish banks were not exposed in any comparable way to the sub-prime catastrophe that has hit the world’s financial institutions. However, because of years when domestic credit was made freely available to developers and speculators, our economy was allowed to develop on the back of an unsustainable and unstable property market.
The false bubble referred to by the previous speaker, with whose comments I agree, was not capitalised upon by Government. It was used to give absolute tax breaks to those doing very well out of the economy and was also used to bolster election chances.
The Government presided over many investment failures in respect of value for money. No major infrastructural projects came in on time. Strategic investment was not made in providing broadband nationally, in revitalising rural Ireland, in public transport or in renewable energy. The Government relied instead on property-based tax reliefs, leaving us with many hotels, car parks and shopping centres instead of social housing, buses and wind farms.
The Government also failed to invest in measures to combat poverty. As a consequence, almost 300,000 people live in consistent poverty and will remain there if this Government has its way. It continues to boast that the fundamentals of the economy are sound when it is clear that economic growth in this State was driven by unreliable domestic consumption rather than by robust export policy and sustainable industry.
[132]Government policy produced a high-cost base for business, poor competitiveness, poor public services and huge private debt. Its strategy of high indirect taxes means that, as consumer spending falls, the Government will lose still further revenue, thereby putting even greater pressure on the economy.
Over the summer months, however, the Government all but disappeared. It took no action until it was dragged back into the House in late September. The bringing forward of the budget is simply for the optics. The Government must take charge. It is time its members accept that the buck stops with them when it comes to running the economy. The Minister for Finance, Deputy Brian Lenihan, faces into his Budget Statement 2009 with a shortfall in tax receipts projected to exceed €5 billion by the end of the year, and an Exchequer deficit which, by the end of August, had reached €8.4 billion. Nobody who has managed to make such a considerable miscalculation of the State’s finances has any right to act smugly about the condition of the economy.
A Government response to the current situation that seeks to address the shortfall in public finances by resorting to cutbacks in public services is not acceptable. Our public services are already characterised by a lack of capacity and quality. Of all the countries of Europe, only Estonia and Lithuania have lower public spending than we do. There is a need to look at how and where the Government has wasted public money in recent years. Opposition parties are correct to blame Government mismanagement for our present predicament but those of us in opposition also have a responsibility to propose solutions and outline what we would do, if in power. It is not enough to say that Government must keep taxes low and must protect public services solely by seeking value for money in those services. The present motion proposes as much. That said, my party supports the motion.
Our public spending is the third lowest in Europe. Waste and duplication must be eradicated but let us not fool ourselves about the so-called black hole in public spending. It does not exist. Government spending is nowhere near the level it needs to be at in order to reverse the deficits that were allowed to build up in our social and physical infrastructure. It is irresponsible of any of us in opposition to try to sell that line to the public. Some members of the Opposition would quite happily stand over cuts in public services proposed by the Government rather than use innovative thinking to stimulate the economy and build the revenue that is needed to fund our public services appropriately. We must offer responsible solutions as to how the Government might dig itself out of this mess in the short and medium term, while protecting the most vulnerable who have so often in the past proved a target for budgetary cuts.
Sinn Féin urges the Government to use the budget for 2009 in a number of ways in order to stimulate the economy. We want job creation to be prioritised. In particular, we want an immediate re-training programme for construction workers to get them into areas such as renewable energy, retro-fitting and other industries. We want the Government to address underperforming export markets. Approximately 90% of our exports in 2006 came from foreign owned companies based here, rather than from indigenous industry. That is a shocking statistic. A well-known American economist has commented that what we had was not so much a Celtic tiger but rather an American tiger trapped in a Celtic zoo.
We want national development plan commitments in social and affordable housing and school buildings to be frontloaded. This will re-employ construction workers and will help contribute revenue as well as keep those people out of dole queues. We also want the Government to take action to reduce the cost of living pressure on low-income families and those dependent on social welfare, by establishing an anti-inflation package and awarding social welfare increases. It is also imperative that the Government brings forward a set of proposals [133]to reduce cost pressures on small businesses. This should include the fast-tracking of company law legislation in order to reduce regulatory burdens while protecting the rights of workers.
There must be a fundamental reform of the tax system to ensure that we have both a low and a fair tax regime. In the interim, however, the Government must use the tax system to assist those on low incomes. Tax breaks and loopholes used by the super rich to avoid paying tax must be removed and those at the higher end of the scale must pay their fair share in order that sufficient revenue is generated for current and longer-term spending demands.
Over the coming two years Sinn Féin wants to see the following — national development plan investment prioritised and directed towards projects that address our infrastructual deficits; the development of a public sector reform plan, in partnership with the trade unions, that will combine increased investment in frontline services, with improved effectiveness; and the delivery of a national action plan for social inclusion to redress the inequalities in our society.
In the longer term we must turn our economy around. We need an economic model based on principles of high quality employment, environmental sustainability, tax justice and world class public services. These matters are what both Government and Opposition parties must discuss. Of course we do not have enough time to tease out these issues in the time afforded by the Fine Gael Private Members’ motion. Again, I acknowledge this motion and I appreciate its introduction. Unfortunately, there are many other issues, such as the prioritisation of job creation and dealing with how we must work ourselves out of the mess the Government currently finds itself in, of its own creation. I look forward to the opportunity to have a more lengthy debate in the future.
Deputy Seymour Crawford: I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this important issue, along with my constituency colleague, Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin.
Monaghan General Hospital must be allowed remain on call and retain its accident and emergency and high care units. According to senior personnel in the HSE, it is under order to wind down the service at Monaghan General Hospital as quickly as possible and specifically to take the hospital off call, leaving only a day service available in the accident and emergency area. This is to be done in spite of the fact there is clearly no alternative available either now or in the foreseeable future. A similar order was in place for Roscommon County Hospital, but this has now been removed by the Minister, allowing the HSE to retain the services there. I beg the Minister to do the same in Monaghan and I urge my constituency colleagues in the Government party to ensure this happens. The HSE recently gave my council and town council colleagues the same message, which is that they are only doing what they are under order to do by the Government.
In the past ten days I have come across two cases of people who were sent home from Cavan General Hospital. One man, who was 90 years of age, was sent home by ambulance at 1.30 a.m. The other was a lady who was sent home and passed away a few hours later. It is absolutely clear that Cavan General Hospital is not in a position to cope with its own patients, never mind the additional load from Monaghan.
[134]We have an excellent cardiac unit with an extremely strong independent report to state its records of success are at the highest level. Our accident and emergency unit, named by the HSE as a treatment room, is of the highest calibre and we have the most modern bed units. Nothing can justify the Minister’s orders to wind down such a unit. The people of Monaghan need this service more than ever. Existing industries and potential new industries depend on such a hospital service.
There is no doubt the actions of the Minister and this Government are nothing short of an introduction of euthanasia through the backdoor. Home help and home care are not available, subvention for nursing homes has never been sorted out and now patients are being pushed by the Minister into areas where there is no service to cope.
I realise the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney, has never felt the need in her heart to visit either Cavan General Hospital or Monaghan General Hospital, but if lives are to be saved she must either change the order that she and her Government have given to wind down our Monaghan General Hospital or take the only honourable alternative and step down from her position.
Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: I note again, with some vexation, that the Minister has not seen fit to take this Adjournment debate. Perhaps it is past her bedtime, or does she continue to have little or no interest in hospital services in the north east?
The Health Service Executive confirmed in a letter to me two weeks ago its plans to remove all acute care from Monaghan General Hospital and to downgrade it, essentially, to a minor injuries unit. The HSE has confirmed the death sentence for Monaghan General Hospital and in reply to my Dáil question today the Minister also confirmed that sentence. The Minister and the HSE confirm the ongoing implementation of the so-called transformation report, which I revealed in April. The HSE is denuding Monaghan of services and working towards a deadline that, if adhered to, will mean that by Christmas 2008 Monaghan General Hospital, as we have known it for some years, will no longer be a hospital.
When read carefully the HSE letter, entitled “Developments in Cavan & Monaghan Hospital Group Services” and dated 3 September 2008, reveals a number of inconsistencies, raising huge concern about future patient care. It speaks of having specific measures “in place and bedded down prior to or in parallel with the transfer of acute care to Cavan” by the end of November. I note that those words are repeated in the Minister’s reply to my parliamentary question today. What does “in parallel with” actually mean?
The HSE says it is committed to the enhancement of ambulance services, including an additional 24 hour emergency ambulance at Monaghan ambulance station, bringing the number of ambulances from two to three. Will we be faced with a situation where acute care is removed from Monaghan before the extra ambulance is provided? How long would such a gap in services be allowed to continue? We have seen in the past where the HSE commits in principle to provide new services but we wait months or years to see them delivered.
There are currently 3,000 acute medical admissions to Monaghan General Hospital per annum. By the end of November this service will have to be provided by Cavan General Hospital, which already has to cater for 5,000 acute medical admissions per annum and has 160% bed occupancy. This is to be done under this plan without a single extra bed being provided in Cavan. How can this be achieved?
[135]The plan for the destruction of Monaghan General Hospital must be opposed in the strongest possible manner by the entire community and every elected representative. I welcome Deputy Rory O’Hanlon who is here to view the debate this evening because I believe it must include the Fianna Fáil TDs for the Cavan-Monaghan constituency. Like all Opposition Members, they too must be called to account on this matter.
Surely what is good for Roscommon is also good for Monaghan. How is it that we have not been able to prevent the loss of services at Monaghan General Hospital through the years, yet, with apparently little effort, such a situation can be put on hold, checked or reversed with regard to a hospital elsewhere in the State? We want equality of access to health services for all citizens.
Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children (Deputy Máire Hoctor): I am taking the adjournment on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Mary Harney.
The Teamwork report, prepared for the Health Service Executive, clearly indicated that the service configuration in the north-east region was unsustainable. It recommended a reconfiguration of hospital services across the existing five hospital sites to ensure the highest level of patient safety. The report also identified a significant future role for all five hospital sites in the provision of acute hospital services.
The report has helped to inform the approach being adopted by the HSE to the implementation of its transformation programme. The programme involves widespread and fundamental change and is designed to build a health system that is in line with the model of care emerging internationally. The overriding aim, which the Minister fully supports, is the improvement of safety and standards of care for patients in the region.
Deputy Seymour Crawford: It is not doing that.
Deputy Máire Hoctor: As part of the reconfiguration of acute hospital services in the north east the HSE previously indicated that it plans to transfer acute inpatient services from Monaghan to Cavan and to develop services at Monaghan. The transfer is scheduled to take place later this year. The HSE is working to ensure the necessary capacity is in place prior to or in parallel with the planned transfer date to ensure a smooth and safe transition.
Deputy Seymour Crawford: It is not doing that.
Deputy Máire Hoctor: The necessary capacity is to be generated in a number of ways. For example, a medical assessment unit is to be established at Cavan to help manage the anticipated increase in activity. Beyond that measures are needed to ensure a more efficient use of available capacity and this has been highlighted in the national bed utilisation capacity report prepared for the HSE. The average length of stay for inpatients needs to be reduced in line with best practice. The discharge planning process also needs to be improved. Alternatives to acute inpatient care are required through the provision of additional packages of care in the Cavan-Monaghan community care area.
Deputy Seymour Crawford: Where are they? They are not there.
Deputy Máire Hoctor: The capacity at Monaghan is to be increased through, for example, the development of additional respite and rehabilitation services. Enhancements in pre-hospital care in the Cavan-Monaghan area are also required.
[136]Deputy Crawford referred to the position at Roscommon County Hospital. In the past, Roscommon County Hospital and Portiuncula Hospital, Ballinasloe, have operated independently, with two consultant general surgeons in each hospital. The difficulties faced by Roscommon and Portiuncula in maintaining surgical services independently, and the need for closer co-operation between them, were highlighted by the former Comhairle na nOspidéal in March 2006. Advances in clinical care and ever-increasing levels of specialisation mean the present model of care faces important practical difficulties, which must be addressed.
In the light of these factors, the best way of retaining and developing services in Roscommon and Portiuncula hospitals is for these hospitals to work closely together. The HSE has indicated it is proceeding with the proposal for a joint department of surgery and anaesthesia at Roscommon County Hospital and Portiuncula Hospital, Ballinasloe. The establishment of a joint department of surgery already is in place in the Cavan-Monaghan hospital group and is operating very successfully. A joint department of emergency medicine is also in place and is operating across both hospitals.
Deputy Róisín Shortall: I asked for this Adjournment debate because of continuing press reports that the abolition of the Combat Poverty Agency is imminent. A review steering committee has, since June 2007, been examining the workings, value and role of the agency and in recent weeks has made recommendations to the Government. Various reports suggest the agency may be merged with either the office for social inclusion or the National Economic and Social Development office or may simply be abolished altogether.
The Labour Party strongly believes that undermining the independence of the Combat Poverty Agency would be a retrograde step. It would completely destroy the objectivity of the only statutory organisation with a specific and all-encompassing role in the eradication of poverty. It would represent nothing less than the silencing of criticism of the Government, however objective and constructive that criticism may be. The Combat Poverty Agency was established in 1986 with a specific remit to help the Government to eradicate poverty. It now appears the Government is about to tell us that while poverty always will be with us, the Combat Poverty Agency may not.
Of all Government agencies, it is incredible that this is the one which the Government targets first. Poverty and social exclusion are still alive and well in Ireland. One in nine children under 14 has substandard living conditions and the number signing on the live register has increased by 93,000 since the Government took office. This week, for example, the Dublin Simon Community claimed it had been obliged to hand out three times as many sleeping bags in the first six months of this year than in the same period last year. Unless one understands such problems, one has no hope of fixing them and understanding poverty constitutes precisely the value of the Combat Poverty Agency.
The Combat Poverty Agency has played a vital role in the past 22 years. Without the agency, we would not have the facts about the chronic rate of poverty among children of low income families and the extent of poverty among lone parent households. Without the agency, increases for old age pensioners may never have been secured because the hard data on the extent of pensioner poverty would not have been available. It also was the Combat Poverty Agency that first proposed the establishment of the money advice and budgeting service, which has proved to be so successful. It promoted, secured and developed the first national anti-poverty strategy and pioneered community development programmes throughout the country.
[137]One wonders what exactly the Government is trying to achieve. The Exchequer grant to the agency this year is €4.6 million. In a Department that will spend €17 billion this year, for the service provided, the sum of €4.6 million is relatively small. The same Department recently wrote off €82 million in overpaid benefits and last year handed back €64 million in unspent funding. Why is the Minister targeting the Combat Poverty Agency when clearly, there are savings to be made elsewhere?
It is my understanding that the review offers no figure for overall savings in costs or staff numbers, identifies no value for money issues and pinpoints very few areas in which the work of the Combat Poverty Agency is duplicated in another organisation or Department. It appears that the only saving the Government is seeking to make is the embarrassment of an independent body telling it that it has 300,000 people living in consistent poverty after ten years of bulging Government coffers. The point is that if this proposal is not being driven by savings, it must simply be by politics.
For more than 20 years, the Combat Poverty Agency has provided an important service by identifying and analysing the causes of poverty and by providing a framework in which to address such problems. It also has offered an important independent critique of the record of successive Governments. Subsuming the agency into the Department of Social and Family Affairs would completely neuter the agency and rob it of its independence. Rather than providing an independent assessment of Government policy on poverty, it simply would become another mouthpiece for the Minister. The most vulnerable in our society deserve much more than that. The Minister must reject these recommendations and give this House an assurance that the independence of the Combat Poverty Agency will be preserved. I look forward to such an assurance this evening.
Deputy Máire Hoctor: I will take this matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Deputy Mary Hanafin.
The Government decided in June 2007 that a review of the Combat Poverty Agency should be undertaken by the Department of Social and Family Affairs in association with other relevant Departments. The review forms part of the Department’s value for money and policy review initiative programme for 2006-08. The review, which commenced in December 2007, was overseen by a steering committee which was chaired by Mr. Niall Callan, former Secretary General of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and comprised senior officials from relevant Departments and the Combat Poverty Agency.
The review’s terms of reference were threefold. First, it was to examine the role of the agency in the light of the emergence since 1986 of comprehensive strategies and programmes for social inclusion and extensive new institutional developments in support of social inclusion. Second, it was to consider the operations of the agency in the context of efficiency and value for money. Third, it was to identify the extent to which newer developments or arrangements may duplicate, overlap or complement the agency’s role, report on the ongoing validity of its remit, bring forward proposals as appropriate for enhancement or rationalisation, or both, and make recommendations to the Minister for Social and Family Affairs.
The review was presented to the Minister on 12 September 2008. The Minister, Deputy Hanafin, is considering its findings and recommendations and intends to bring forward proposals to the Government on the future of the agency in the near future. The Combat Poverty Agency has forwarded its views to the Minister and she will take them into account while formulating her proposals.
Deputy Jimmy Deenihan: On the evening of Friday, 22 August 2008, a number of local people, who were working in the Maghanknockane area of the Stacks Mountains, felt trembling on the bog. They found this to be highly unusual as it had never happened previously in the area. Bog movement became more visible the following morning. It gained momentum throughout the afternoon and by evening, a bogslide close to 50 m wide and 12 ft. deep simply flowed down the hillside, following a path of approximately 3 km, along the valley of the Glashareag River. It moved into an area known locally as Scanlon’s Bridge. En route to Scanlon’s Bridge, the bogslide engulfed the bridge leading to the house of Denis Harris. He was cut off for a number of days and was lucky not to have been on the bridge at the time of the slide. His wife Maureen and son Padraig were unable to return home that Saturday and were obliged to stay with family and friends for a number of days. Thanks to Kerry County Council, the bridge was put back into operation after a week or so.
The Scanlon family, including Eamon Scanlon’s 94 year old mother, were lucky not to be engulfed in the bogslide. Initially, they were able to remain in their home. However, following further movement of the bog, which came perilously close to their home, they subsequently were moved by Kerry County Council to a house in Tralee. Unfortunately, over the past weekend, their vacated home was burgled, which was a heinous act.
Kerry County Council’s workers and engineering staff now have both bridges back in operation and the main through road through Macca is functioning at present. The county council also has constructed a dam 4 km from the source of the slide, which serves as a siltation lagoon that prevents peat silt from moving downstream.
A fish kill occurred in both the Glashoreag River and the upper Smearlagh River during this period. It is estimated that approximately 5,000 fish perished, most of which were juvenile salmon and sea trout and which constitute the next generation for the Feale and Smearlagh rivers. A fish survey is under way at present to determine the impact on the habitat and the extent of the fish kill. This report is expected shortly. It will no doubt take years for these very important and valuable spawning grounds to fully recover.
Shannon Regional Fisheries Board has worked with Kerry County Council to advise on the construction of the two settlement ponds and jointly engaged BMA consultants to assess the present status of the landslide and its possible origins. I hope this report will be completed and available shortly.
Kerry County Council is continuing to remove peat from the upper sections of the Glashoreag river. The company building a windfarm in the area has erected a dam to prevent a further large movement of peat. The company has also commissioned Carlow-based geotechnical consultants AGEC to undertake a study into the cause of the landslide. I hope both of these reports will be available in the near future as it is very important at this stage to allay the fears of the local people, make known the cause of the bogslide and take corrective action.
I ask the Minister to consider helping those people affected by the bogslide, as both the Harris and Scanlon families surely deserve some compensation for the inconvenience caused. A number of people have now been deprived of their fuel for winter because the area of bog they had turf harvested on was removed. Some bags of turf for the winter were also lost. The Minister, through Kerry County Council, should look favourably at helping these people.
I understand there has been another bogslide today in the west of Ireland. These are becoming all too prevalent. It is time we have some national action to prevent these bogslides. Whatever the reason behind them, surely it is possible to take such action. The last landslide in the [139]Lyreacrompane area was more than 100 years ago and although I realise we had much rain this summer, there must be some reason for such a bogslide. It does not happen by accident.
I appeal to the Minister of State to give a very positive response and outline proposed actions to prevent a reoccurrence of this incident.
Deputy Máire Hoctor: I will take this matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy John Gormley.
I sympathise very much with the people whose livelihoods have been affected by this bogslide. I understand Kerry County Council is carrying out an investigation into its cause. Unfortunately, the bogslide also resulted in serious damage to habitats and species. The investigation should address whether and to what extent the works associated with a windfarm development in the area contributed to the bogslide.
I will briefly mention the planning history of this case. The planning application, accompanied by an EIA, was lodged with Kerry County Council in December 2002; the council subsequently granted permission for the development in October 2003, subject to 15 conditions. In considering the case on appeal, I understand that An Bord Pleanála sought from the planning applicant a report from a qualified hydrogeologist or other suitable expert regarding the stability of the peat and soil cover on the site and the potential risk of landslides arising from the construction of the proposed development. The applicant submitted a report on site stability in January 2004.
I also understand that in March 2004 the board requested an additional report from the hydrogeologist assessing the impact of the potential construction works on soil stability with particular reference to construction methods and design and construction of turbine foundations. This was supplied in April 2004 and following its consideration the board granted planning permission for this development on 16 June 2004, subject to 15 conditions.
Separate bog slides on 23 August and 3 September 2008 caused damage to two designated European conservation sites — one special area of conservation and one special protection area. The special protection area was designated particularly for the hen harrier, and an area of suitable foraging habitat for this species has been lost. The special area of conservation was designated for salmon and otter habitat. Spawning beds and feeding habitat have been extensively damaged for these species.
The Feale river is recognised as one of the most important salmon rivers in the Shannon catchment. For that reason, the lower River Shannon special area of conservation was extended to include a considerable stretch of the river, including its tributary, the Smearlagh. Several kilometres of the Glashoreag river, which is a tributary of the Smearlagh, were also included in the extended special area of conservation, as they contained good stretches of salmonid spawning beds and nursery areas.
It is estimated that 4 km to 5 km of fish spawning grounds have been destroyed and now lie under a metre or more of silt. Fisheries officers have estimated that it may take ten years for the spawning grounds to recover. There are now no fish in the affected parts of these rivers, and it is feared that silt will travel downstream and cause further damage. The effects on biodiversity may also be significant, as otters in the area, which depend on fish, have lost their food source.
The otter is strictly protected under the European Communities (Natural Habitats) Regulations, 1997 to 2005, and it is an offence to damage or destroy the breeding site or resting place of this species.
[140]The council is working closely with Shannon Regional Fisheries Board as well as the national parks and wildlife service of the Department. Any restoration plan or measure would have to be screened by NPWS in the interests of necessary compliance with the natural habitats regulations.
Deputy John O’Mahony: I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this very important issue with the Minister for Agriculture and Food. I am disappointed the Minister is not here in person as I know thousands of farmers affected by this would have loved for him to answer this question once and for all.
I will highlight two problems relating to the farm waste management scheme introduced two years ago to much fanfare in the Department that are causing panic in the farming community around the country, including my constituency of Mayo. More than 20,000 farmers countrywide who have been approved for funding under the scheme face the impossible task of trying to complete the approved work before the expiration of the approved deadline, which has been set by the Department as 31 December 2008.
I will briefly outline some of the history of the issue. The fault for this impossible task lies firmly with the Government because it put in place a system which was clearly unable to cope with the significant demand that could have been expected in 2006. Despite asking for and receiving an extended deadline, the Government failed to speed up the application process and granting of funds for buildings under this scheme. This has greatly curtailed the time available for farmers to complete the approved works. In doing so, this has left Irish farmers at a distinct disadvantage to EU counterparts.
The progress of such works over the summer months has been confounded by certain unforeseen circumstances, most notably the inclement weather that has seen us having our wettest summer for over 70 years. The Government’s misjudgment, inaction and mismanagement of the scheme in this way has seriously affected farmers, as is evidenced by the many queries received by my office and clinics in Mayo and the experience of all Deputies from rural constituencies from all sides of the House to whom I have spoken.
I have also been informed by my MEP colleague, Mr. Jim Higgins, that the Minister has informed him there are no plans to seek a further extension of the scheme. This problem has wider implications than those for the farming community. If no extension is granted to the impossible deadline, thousands more people will be laid off from building industries in January 2009. As well as supporting the farming community, will the Minister remove the risk to these construction jobs at a time when the housing crisis has already caused havoc in the sector? He can do so by going to Europe to seek a deadline extension.
The second issue relating to the farm waste management scheme is the delay in payment by the Department to farmers who have already completed their projects. I have been inundated with queries from farmers put under severe pressure by banks and lending institutions for money they rightly assumed they should get once the approved work was inspected and complete.
On contacting the relevant section in the Department, officials admitted they had been waiting for months for cheques to be signed off. We have all heard rumours to the effect that all funding for the scheme has been drawn down and no one will be paid between now and [141]December. I call on the Minister to urgently clarify the position. Will he confirm that the farmers in question will be paid immediately?
I attended a meeting in Crossmolina, County Mayo, last night attended by 400 angry farmers who have taken many hits over the years. The issue last night was the closure of the Teagasc office in the town and its transfer to the urban setting of Ballina. The issue is on the Minister’s desk. The 400 farmers who attended last night’s meeting are an example of members of a rural community who have given their lives to farming and need our support now more than ever. The Minister is not paying them what they are due and he is depriving them of the opportunity to meet the deadlines for the farm waste management scheme. Now he is closing the Teagasc office in Crossmolina. I urge him, once and for all, to stand up and be counted on these major issues.
Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Deputy Tony Killeen): The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Deputy Brendan Smith, is unable to attend the debate because he was detained longer than he had anticipated fulfilling engagements in Kilkenny as a result of the decision by the Fine Gael Party to refuse a pair today to allow him to undertake important work at the national ploughing championships.
I am pleased to have this opportunity to clarify the current position regarding the end of 2008 deadline for completion of work under the revised farm waste management scheme. The revised scheme was introduced by the Department in March 2006 to assist farmers to meet the additional requirements of the nitrates directive. The amendments to the scheme included, in particular, an increase in the standard grant rate from the previous 40% to 60%, with 70% being available in the four zone C counties of Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim and Monaghan. In addition, the new scheme provided for an increase in the maximum eligible investment ceiling from €75,000 to €120,000 and removed any minimum income requirements from farming from the scheme in order that all small farmers could participate in the scheme.
The immense success of the farm waste management scheme is demonstrated by the 48,580 applications received from farmers by the closing date of the end of December 2006, of which more than 30,000 were received during the final month. More than 42,200 approvals to commence work have issued to date to farmers under the scheme, with the remaining applications either having been withdrawn, refused planning permission or explained by the receipt of multiple applications from a single farmer.
The financial commitment of the Government to the farm waste management scheme is substantial, particularly during these challenging economic times. This is demonstrated by the fact that to date in 2008, €181.8 million has been paid out to farmers under the scheme compared to €21 million in 2006 and €114 million in 2007. The Department is continuing to process payments under the scheme and I hardly need to confirm again that all farmers who complete investment works in accordance with the terms and conditions of the scheme will be paid their full entitlements.
There is no doubt the farm waste management scheme has dramatically transformed the Irish farming infrastructure through this major injection of capital and will leave the sector well positioned to meet the highest international environmental standards required of Irish farming, as well as changing market requirements. It will also continue to strengthen the competitiveness of Irish agriculture.
The deadline of 31 December 2008 for completion of investment works under the scheme is a condition of the EU state aid approval governing the scheme and the European Commission has recently reaffirmed that it expects Ireland to respect this deadline strictly. It should be noted that the farm waste management scheme has been in place since March 2006.
[142]The terms and conditions of the scheme make it clear that payment of grant aid is conditional on the time limit being respected and the Department has consistently held this position since the commencement of the scheme. The Department is issuing its second written reminder to all farmers approved to commence work under the scheme to ensure all work is completed and a payment claim submitted to the Department by the end of this year. No farmer can therefore be unaware of the importance of meeting this deadline.
I thank the Deputy again for giving me an opportunity to clarify the current position on this matter.
The Dáil adjourned at 9.05 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 25 September 2008.
———————— The following are questions tabled by Members for written response and the ministerial replies as received on the day from the Departments [unrevised]. ————————Questions Nos. 1 to 13, inclusive, answered orally.
Questions Nos. 14 to 110, inclusive, resubmitted.
Questions Nos. 111 to 119, inclusive, answered orally.
120. Deputy John O’Mahony asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the contact that she has had with major computer manufacturers over potential closures; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31039/08]
144. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the contact that she has had with representatives of companies (details supplied) in view of speculation that jobs could be lost with those firms here. [30840/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): I propose to take Questions Nos. 120 and 144 together.
The fact that Dell is undertaking a fundamental review of its manufacturing operations and global business model has been in the public domain for some time. More recently, Hewlitt Packard announced plans to implement a restructuring programme for one of its business groups. It is standard IDA practice, where any of its client companies is undertaking restructuring of this type, to engage with the company with a view to mitigating the impact on the company’s Irish operations. I can confirm that IDA has been engaged in extensive discussions with the companies concerned at the highest level.
I have been fully briefed on these discussions as they have occurred. I need hardly say that such contacts always proceed on a confidential basis and it is vitally important, if the best possible outcome for the Irish plants is to be secured, that such confidentiality is respected.
The ICT sector has played a hugely significant role in the development of Ireland as the location of choice for foreign direct investment. Specifically, it:
Directly employs 70,000 people
[144]Has enabled the development of sophisticated management and leadership capability in the economy
Contributes circ. €30 billion to the Irish economy on an annual basis in wages & salaries, services and corporate tax
Represents 43% of exports, estimated at €46 billion
Has led the innovation agenda in new technologies and business models
Has assisted the national science & innovation agenda and
Has spawned much of the indigenous ICT portfolio development.
The transformation of the Irish economy has been greatly influenced by the scale and quality of ICT related multinational investments over the last number of years. Many companies, both large and small, commenced operations in Ireland with single mandate manufacturing or a services function. They transformed over time to take on new responsibilities in other areas such as complex high end manufacturing and higher value services including Research and Development, and technical support functions.
IDA’s ICT portfolio now spans the entire ICT industry from semiconductor design and advanced manufacturing, to telecommunications software to IT Services from many of the world’s leading companies and thought-leaders.
Since 2006, IDA has seen significant wins across the sector with no fewer than 43 different projects approved. The projects were spread across the country and with overall investment volumes doubled from 2006 to 2007 yielding an employment potential of 3688 jobs. The capital investment over this period was in the region of circa €700 million while RD&I investments was in excess of €217 million.
The quality of new investments from global companies in Ireland reflects the continuous transformation of the industry and the development of the operating environment in Ireland. Ireland is now an advanced economy with a cost base and living standards comparable to some of the wealthiest nations in the world. We must compete against these developed economies as well as many emerging economies as a location of choice for FDI.
In a time of relative economic turbulence overall cost competitiveness will place some operations in Ireland under pressure as they are benchmarked against sister sites. Lower level or less complex manufacturing operations as well as low end service activities such as call centres are under increasing pressure from lower cost locations such as Eastern Europe and Asia. We can anticipate a churn in the region of 15-20% as the industry transforms and more cost sensitive operations move to alternative locations. IDA expects most of the associated job losses to be offset and replaced by higher level activities.
The risks, however, are not confined to the obvious categories outlined above as Ireland adjusts to the changing economic realities brought about by globalisation of markets and the ever-faster pace of technological change. Rapid industry transformation will lead to earlier product obsolescence and faster replacement needs. The consequence of this is that higher end manufacturing and services operations will not be immune from rationalisation. Ireland must adjust to the changing economic realities brought about by globalisation of markets and the ever-faster pace of technological change. IDA success in developing the ICT sector will hinge on our ability to differentiate ourselves in a meaningful way from our competitors. Given their [145]remarkable record in meeting similar challenges in the past, I am satisfied that the strategy being pursued by IDA will secure the continued success of this vital sector in the future.
121. Deputy P. J. Sheehan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment her views on whether European law prohibits the banning of credit card surcharges; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31051/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): I have previously advised the House of legal advice received from the Attorney General that specific provisions of the Consumer Protection Act 2007, namely Sections 48 and 49, were not compatible with EU law. In this regard it is important to point out that Sections 48 and 49 prohibit traders from imposing additional charges solely by reason of customers choosing to make payment by one relevant payment method over another and are more comprehensive in their effect than a simple prohibition on credit card surcharges. Accordingly, any interpretation of Sections 48 and 49 as being limited to a prohibition on credit card surcharges would not be correct.
In so far as credit card surcharges are concerned, the Deputy may be aware of the recently promulgated Payment Services Directive, which is concerned with the manner in which payment services are provided throughout the EU. The Directive, whose transposition is the responsibility of my colleague the Minister for Finance, contains particular provisions in relation to payment method charges. Specifically the Directive — whilst stipulating that payment service providers, such as credit card companies, may not prevent retailers from imposing charges for the use of payment instruments, such as a credit card — does give Member States a discretion to prohibit such charges taking into account the need to encourage competition and promote the use of efficient methods of payment. The question as to whether Ireland should exercise this discretion is a matter for the Minister for Finance.
122. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if it is intended to effect any reduction in staffing levels in the private or constituency offices of herself or her Ministers of State arising from the requirement to achieve a reduction of 3% in payroll costs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30909/08]
123. Deputy Damien English asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment her views on whether her Department is overstaffed; if she will take action to reduce staff levels; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30999/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): I propose to take Questions Nos. 122 and 123 together.
Staffing levels in my Department including the requirements of my office and those of my Ministers of State are continually kept under review. Any savings to be made in my Department’s Vote for 2009, including those required to achieve the 3% reduction in payroll costs will be determined in the context of the 2009 Budget which will be announced by the Minister for Finance on 14th October. It would be premature for me to comment on the matter further in advance of the Budget being presented to the Dáil.
124. Deputy Joanna Tuffy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and [146]Employment the progress made regarding the implementation of the programme of decentralisation in respect of her Department and State bodies under the aegis of her Department; if it is intended to proceed with the programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30937/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): The Government decided on 8th July last that no further expenditure on the acquisition of accommodation for decentralisation should be sanctioned pending detailed consideration by the Government of two reports: one from the Decentralisation Implementation Group on the feasibility of phased moves by the State Agencies; and one from the Implementation Group of Secretaries General on the governmental and cross-Departmental issues arising from the need to provide facilities for Minister, Ministers of State and officials while in Dublin on business.
I expect that the Minister for Finance will present these to Government over the coming weeks.
The following is a summary of the progress that has taken place, to date, with regard to the programme of decentralisation in relation to my Department and Agencies.
My Department, the Health & Safety Authority and FÁS have interim decentralised offices in place in Carlow, Kilkenny and Birr respectively. A total of 150 persons are involved in these advance moves.
With regards to the permanent decentralised offices for these bodies, sites have been identified and relevant legal and planning issues are being progressed.
With regards to NSAI and Enterprise Ireland, there has been no progress regarding the identification of sites for their permanent decentralised offices. In addition there is a very low interest in relocation amongst staff in those agencies.
Regarding the National Consumer Agency, which was formally established on 1st May 2007, decentralisation plans are currently being progressed.
Finally, IAASA has fully decentralised to Naas, Co. Kildare.
125. Deputy Joe Costello asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the legislative or other measures she will take to uphold the right to collective bargaining and in particular the right of a trade union to represent its members; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30912/08]
Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Billy Kelleher): Trade unions who hold a negotiating licence are free to engage in collective bargaining on wages and conditions of employment. Ireland’s system of industrial relations is based on a voluntary approach with terms and conditions of employment being determined in the main by a process of voluntary collective bargaining between the parties, without the intervention of the State. The collective bargaining process can cover the entire range of issues arising from the employment relationship.
The State has sought to facilitate the bargaining process through establishing, by legislation, a number of agencies to assist in the resolution of disputes. These agencies are: the Labour Relations Commission, the Labour Court and the Rights Commissioner Service. There are also statutory provisions designed to back up the voluntary process in areas where collective bargaining does not operate effectively. The most important provisions are those concerning Joint Labour Committees and Registered Employment Agreements. In addition, the 2004 Enhanced [147]Code of Practice on Voluntary Dispute Resolution and the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2001, as amended by the Industrial Relations (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2004, provide mechanisms for the resolution of disputes in situations where collective bargaining does not occur and the internal dispute resolution procedures normally used fail to resolve the dispute.
The issue of employee representation was considered in the context of the recent Social Partnership talks. In that context, the draft Agreement provides for the establishment of a review process which will consider the legal and other steps which are required to enable the mechanisms which were established under previous Agreements to operate as they had been intended. The review is to be completed by the end of March 2009 with a view to enactment of the necessary legislation in June 2009.
In the meantime, the Social Partners have agreed a number of measures to prohibit victimisation and incentivisation (i.e. financial or other incentives to encourage persons not to join trade unions), and to provide effective protection and means of redress to employees when engaged in the exercise of their constitutional right to trade union membership or activity on behalf of a Trade Union or non-membership.
126. Deputy Jimmy Deenihan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the progress that has been made on the review of competition law; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30996/08]
143. Deputy Mary Upton asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment when the review of the Competition Act 2002 is expected to be completed; the person by whom the review is being carried out; the terms of reference of the review; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30938/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): I propose to take Questions Nos. 126 and 143 together.
The Competition Act, 2002 was introduced on foot of the Report of the Competition and Mergers Review Group which made a number of recommendations in relation to national competition and merger law. In addition to implementing many of those recommendations, the Act consolidated the previous competition and mergers legislation into one statute.
As the majority of the provisions in the Act have been in force for more than five years, it was considered time to review how the legislation is operating in practice. In October, 2007, my Department published advertisements in national newspapers seeking submissions on the operation and implementation of the Act.
A number of submissions have been received from a variety of interested parties, including legal practitioners, trade unions, representative bodies and the Competition Authority. These submissions cover a range of issues, many of a technical nature, which are currently being considered by my officials.
I expect to have a report from my officials by the end of the year.
127. Deputy Olivia Mitchell asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if she has communicated concern to other Departments regarding the effect high energy prices are having on Irish businesses and Irish economic competitiveness; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31027/08]
[148]Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): The Government is well aware of the importance of secure, competitive and sustainable energy supplies for the business sector and economic competitiveness. The Cabinet Committee on Climate Change and Energy Security compliment regular Cabinet deliberations on competitiveness issues, including energy costs.
My colleague, the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, has responsibility for energy policy and the Commission for Energy Regulation has direct responsibility for setting electricity and gas prices for business users in Ireland. My Department works closely with the CER through a Competitiveness Forum, established in 2007, to ensure that competitiveness concerns are taken into account in the decision-making process.
Oil and gas prices are, of course, decided internationally. Ireland is a price-taker in this regard. We have witnessed remarkable fluctuation in energy prices in recent times, with price increases for gas and oil of 130% and 85% respectively in the twelve months to July 2008.
Though Ireland cannot influence world energy prices, we can maximise value for money by increasing competition in the Irish energy market. The Government is already committed to increasing competition in the electricity generation sector, with the target of reducing ESB’s market share to below 40% by 2010. The all-island Single Electricity Market, live since November 2007, is designed to create a more attractive electricity market for international investment. The recent sale of two generating facilities and two sites with electricity grid connections to the Spanish electricity company, Endesa, is a significant step to improving competition, giving Endesa approximately a 16% share of the Irish market.
Competition is also being enhanced by the expansion of electricity interconnector capacity. Significant progress has already been made on the East-West interconnector, which will be owned and operated by EirGrid, under the regulatory oversight of the CER. EirGrid is also exploring the possibility of constructing an additional North-South interconnector. Proposals for a 400kv power line between Cavan and Tyrone are currently at the pre-planning consulting stage.
Irish businesses are encouraged to engage with Sustainable Energy Ireland. Last week, SEI launched a major awareness campaign highlighting the possibility of businesses reducing their energy bills by 20% or more through availing of the SEI Energy Assessment service. I understand that five hundred Irish SMEs have already availed of this service, identifying potential energy savings of over €25 million.
My Department continues to engage on these issues in the interests of enterprises. Keeping costs down for businesses in Ireland is essential to maintaining competitiveness in this challenging economic environment.
128. Deputy Kathleen Lynch asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the reason for her decision to cut the FÁS apprenticeship budget by €36 million over the next 18 months, particularly at a time when there is a need to retrain and upskill workers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30921/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): The budget for FÁS is agreed on the basis of detailed discussions between FÁS, my Department and the Department of Finance in the context of the annual Estimates process. The combined Exchequer and National Training Funds originally allocated to apprenticeship training by FÁS for 2008 amounted to approximately €134m. This figure was based on an estimated demand level for training. This figure was subsequently revised downwards by €5.6m to take account [149]of the 40% fall in new apprenticeship registrations for the eight months of 2008 compared with the same period last year.
Discussions concerning the 2009 budget are still ongoing. Funding will be provided for apprenticeship training on the basis of anticipated demand and the demand level will be closely monitored during the year so that any necessary adjustments can be made.
129. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment her plans to update the partnership law; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30588/08]
Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy John McGuinness): The Company Law Review Group (CLRG) was asked, as part of its Work Programme for 2007, to examine the issue of ‘Limited Liability Partnerships’ (LLPs). This follows from concerns, particularly of the legal and auditing professions, about the consequences of unlimited liability on partners in a firm.
The Report of the CLRG on its 2007 Work Programme has been presented to me and laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas.
In its Report, the CLRG outlines the problems which current partnership law is perceived to cause for certain types of business organisation in Ireland and concludes that the problems are real and substantial. The CLRG explores how the introduction of LLP legislation could address these problems and the types of safeguards which might need to be put in place to protect clients, customers and third parties generally, in their dealings with LLPs. The CLRG also considers whether the problems raised by current partnership law can be resolved by other means, without the need to amend the law of partnership.
The CLRG came to the conclusion that a final decision on whether legislation on LLPs should be introduced, and on the shape and form which LLP legislation should take, can only be reached after a full consultation process involving all of those affected by the issues arising. Such consultation should also include consideration of whether the general statutory limitation on twenty members should be maintained. The consultation process will take place during the coming months as part of the CLRG’s 2008-2009 Work Programme. The Group will then reconsider the matter based on the responses received.
I await the CLRG’s further examination of the issue.
In addition to the foregoing, the CLRG examined the concerns of the accounting/auditing profession regarding auditors’ liability and made separate recommendations in this regard. My Department is considering these recommendations.
130. Deputy Tom Hayes asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of meetings she has had with the National Consumer Agency since 21 May 2008; the number of legislative or policy proposals she has received from the agency in relation to Government legislation or proposals; if she is satisfied that the National Consumer Agency is doing everything in its power to protect consumers from rip off prices and unscrupulous practices; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31010/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): I would advise the Deputy that I have met the Chief Executive of the National Consumer Agency on two separate occasions since my initial meeting on 21st May 2008. In addition my officials [150]liaise with the Agency on almost a daily basis. A range of issues were discussed in the course of these meetings including the issue of prices, grocery prices and the pricing of UK goods in Ireland. In particular, I discussed with the Chief Executive the initiatives being undertaken by the Agency through its price comparison surveys to raise consumers’ awareness of prices, highlighting the value to be found by consumers making strategic decisions in relation to their grocery shopping and as a result encouraging increased competition between retailers.
I very much welcome the fact that the available evidence indicates that the Agency’s efforts in raising price awareness among consumers is having a material effect and that more people are changing their shopping habits, spreading their grocery shopping and are now prioritising price considerations when making their decisions on where to shop. Recent research commissioned by the Agency showed that 56% of grocery shoppers are shopping in a particular store based on price and that convenience is no longer the primary reason for choosing a particular grocery store. This significant shift in consumer attitude is reflected in the fact that the price of food, as measured by the Consumer Price Index published by the Central Statistics Office, continues to fall. The CSO’s returns show that food prices have fallen for the past three months in a row.
In addition to its initiatives in the area of food prices, the Deputy may also be aware that I recently requested the Agency to undertake a survey into the underlying reasons as to why pump prices for petrol and diesel have not fallen in line with the drop in the wholesale price of oil. Given the impact that transport costs can have on the average household budget, it is incumbent on fuel retailers to explain why the pump price of their products have not reduced proportionately to the reductions in the wholesale price of oil.
Aside from its price awareness initiatives, the Agency has also been active in advocating a fair deal for consumers in a range of other areas. In this regard, the Agency successfully negotiated on behalf of 2,500 concert-goers with the promoter of a concert for varying levels of compensation arising out of difficulties experienced at that concert. The Agency also successfully intervened to advocate on behalf of consumers who had booked flights to the USA at a particular price which the airline was not prepared to honour. In addition the Agency advocated on behalf of broadband users and in co-operation with the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland and the Communications Regulator put in place measures to address difficulties in relation to the manner in which broadband services are advertised, particularly in the areas of service delivery and performance. Another advocacy initiative undertaken by the Agency was the establishment of its Stakeholder Forum on Multi-Unit Developments. The aim of the Forum is, through the involvement of the various stakeholders, to try to address some of the problems being experienced by dwellers of Multi-Unit Developments. As a result of the work of the Forum, the Agency has published specific Guidance and Educational material to assist Multi-Unit Development dwellers.
The mandate given to the National Consumer Agency under the Consumer Protection Act 2007 was specifically framed to enable the Agency to act as a powerful voice for the consumer including raising awareness of consumer welfare and advocating the consumer’s case against unscrupulous practices. I welcome the manner in which the Agency is embracing its mandate and I fully support it in its efforts to ensure that consumers do not suffer from unnecessary price increases and unfair commercial practices.
131. Deputy Brian Hayes asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the strategy she has for the restructuring of State financed training programmes to make [151]them more responsive to changing economic conditions; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31009/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): Several of the agencies for which my Department has responsibility provide training to those in employment or those seeking employment. However the bulk of such training is provided by FÁS, the Training and Employment Authority. The current FÁS Strategy Statement outlines the vision and direction for FÁS for the period 2006 to 2009. The Strategy is reviewed on a regular basis to ensure that the mix of training and employment programmes available respond to the changing needs of the economy, including those of the trainees.
The process of developing the next strategy statement to cover the period 2010 to 2013 has already commenced. This process will involve close collaboration with my Department and include a comprehensive internal and external consultation process involving all relevant stakeholders.
In addition to the FÁS funded and FÁS provided programmes, the Skillnets model provides an effective response to the dramatic economic changes underway. As economic changes impact upon Skillnets networks, programmes are revised to match the priorities of member companies. This process reflects the essential strength of the Skillnets model. The model ensures each network has the flexibility to adapt quickly to change and keep their offering relevant to the needs of Irish industry.
My Department is currently commencing a review into labour market programmes, including training programmes. This review will examine these programmes in terms of efficiency and effectiveness and draw conclusions about the adequacy and balance of resources in the context of current and future labour market policy challenges taking into account the recommendations of the National Skills Strategy.
132. Deputy Fergus O’Dowd asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment her views on whether the lack of next generation broadband infrastructure will inhibit our economic competitiveness; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31037/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): Broadband infrastructure and telecommunications policy is the primary responsibility of my colleague the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural resources.
This Government is fully aware of the importance of communications infrastructure for our economic competitiveness. The Government is committed to improving our broadband infrastructure and I would like to make the point that substantial progress has been made. There has been significant changes in the Irish market in recent times, including enhanced enforcement powers for ComReg, progress in local loop unbundling, and increased competition in the Irish broadband market.
With a view to our future needs in the domain of telecommunications, the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources released a consultation Paper on Broadband and NGNs on July 3rd 2008. The Paper sets out an ambitious objective to have ubiquitous access to broadband by next year and that by 2012, speeds equivalent to or higher than those in comparator EU regions will be available over a variety of platforms.
As set out in the Consultation Paper the proposed approach of Government is at two levels. Firstly, Next Generation Broadband will be primarily delivered by private investment. The role [152]of Government is to encourage and facilitate this investment across a range of competing technology platforms. To support the necessary investment the Government will ensure a robust regulatory environment is in place. Secondly, Government will invest in infrastructure in a targeted way in specific cases of market failure. It will do so to facilitate public policy goals in key areas, of public service delivery e.g. to make sure we do not see a regional or social Digital Divide develop in our country.
I very much welcome this Consultation Paper and I look forward to the conclusion of the consultation process.
Question No. 133 answered with Question No. 117.
134. Deputy Kathleen Lynch asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the position regarding the inquiry being carried out into allegations of financial irregularities in FÁS; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30920/08]
206. Deputy Leo Varadkar asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment further to Parliamentary Question No. 331 of 10 July 2008 the actions she has taken to seek assurances from the Director General of FÁS that the practices referred to in recent reports have ceased; the response received; if reports from the Director General regarding the implementation of new systems and controls have been received; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29985/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): I propose to take Questions Nos. 134 and 206 together.
Regular Internal Audits are part of the normal governance process of any organisation and I am aware that of the many Internal Audits carried out into both FÁS activities and projects funded by FÁS, some have shown up irregularities and possible occasions of fraud. FÁS has referred two cases of possible fraudulent activity to the Garda Síochána. Some Internal Audits have also indicated areas where management or financial controls could be improved. In my view the process of internal audit is an important, appropriate and normal activity in any organisation.
The Comptroller and Auditor General in his report on non-commercial Semi-State bodies, published in May 2008, reviewed the issues raised in one specific FÁS internal audit report.
I discussed this matter with the Director General of FÁS and expressed my concerns about the issues raised by both the Comptroller and Auditor General and the Internal Audit reports, and in particular, the need to secure value for money in public expenditure.
On my instruction, the Secretary General of my Department wrote to FÁS on 30th June 2008 seeking the formal assurance of the Director General of FÁS that:
the practices outlined in the FÁS Internal and Comptroller and Auditor General Audit Reports had ceased;
that adequate systems and controls are in place to prevent any recurrence; and
requesting details of the remedial actions taken by FÁS in respect of the issues raised by the audit reports, with quarterly progress reports on the implementation of the Audit Reports recommendations.
[153]The FÁS Director General replied on 1st July 2008 confirming that the unacceptable practices referred to in the Audit Reports had ceased and that adequate systems and controls are now in place to prevent any recurrence. The next quarterly report is due at the end of September.
In order to address wider continuing concerns about the management and control systems in place in FÁS generally, and following further discussions with the Chairman and Director General of FÁS, I have also now decided that there should be an external investigation into the effectiveness of the agency’s financial management and control systems.
This examination is to ensure that appropriate public procurement procedures exist to prevent or detect irregularities or wrongdoing and, in particular, to examine and report on the activities of the FÁS Corporate Affairs area since 2000. The Comptroller and Auditor General has agreed to carry out such an investigation with a view to producing a special report on the matter.
The Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General will be furnished to me by the Comptroller and Auditor General and will be presented by me to the Dáil in accordance with standard operating procedures.
Question No. 135 answered with Question No. 117.
136. Deputy Brian O’Shea asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment her views on the 34% increase in the number of deaths recorded in workplace accidents during 2007; the proposals she has to ensure a reduction in the number of workplace accidents and deaths; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30925/08]
141. Deputy Ruairí Quinn asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of workplace accidents and workplace fatalities recorded to date in 2008; the way this compares with the same period in each year from 2002; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30927/08]
159. Deputy Ruairí Quinn asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment her views on the significant increase in the number of deaths recorded in workplace accidents in the construction sector during 2007; the proposals she has to ensure a reduction in the number of construction accidents and deaths; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30926/08]
Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Billy Kelleher): I propose to take Questions Nos. 136, 141 and 159 together.
The number of deaths recorded in workplace accidents during 2007 was 67 compared to 51 in 2006 with a considerable amount of this increase being accounted for by a number of fishing accidents.
Of the 2007 total, 18 occurred in the construction sector. This was an increase of 5 fatal accidents on the 2006 figure. The construction sector ranked third in relation to fatality rates, at 5 per 100,000 workers, in 2007. This figure is higher than the rate of 4.3 fatalities per 100,000 workers in 2006 (the lowest recorded rate for the sector) but maintains the general downward trend in the fatality rate seen since 2002.
There have been 46 workplace deaths reported to the Authority so far in 2008 (22.09.08). For the first eight months, there were 43 workplace deaths. For the first eight months of the previous years, the figures are: 47 in 2007; 42 in 2006; 60 in 2005; 35 in 2004; 45 in 2003; and 40 in 2002.
[154]Construction and agriculture are consistently the highest risk sectors in which to work, based on the number of fatalities.
Non-fatal accidents, resulting in absence of more than three days from normal work following the accident, are required to be reported to the Authority. There were 7,757 non-fatal work related accidents reported to the Health and Safety Authority in 2007. The most up-to-date comparative figures that are available to the Authority at the moment refer to the first six months of those years. For the first six months of 2008, there were 4,821 non-fatal accidents reported to the Authority. This compares to 3,865 non-fatal accidents reported in the first six months of 2007, 4,001 for the same period in 2006, 3,841 for 2005, 3,419 for 2004, 2,096 for 2003, and 1,823 for 2002.
Safe workplaces can only truly be delivered by those who work in them. Responsibility for safety at work rests ultimately on the shoulders of employers and employees.
However, I am on record as having voiced the Government’s concerns at the increase in fatalities both generally and in the construction sector. The Health and Safety Authority is an independent Agency charged with the statutory responsibility for promoting an awareness of health and safety in the workplace and enforcing health and safety legislation.
Based on its own risk assessment, the Authority is prioritising in 2008, the high-risk sectors of agriculture, construction, transportation and storage as well as mines and quarries. It continues to work with employer and employee organisations to make safety and health an integral part of doing business in every workplace.
In relation to the construction sector, I am informed that the Authority has plans to carry out 7,000 construction-site inspections in 2008. Also, it will continue to implement the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Construction) Regulations 2006 and the Safe System of Work Plan (SSWP).
I formally launched the Construction Safety Partnership Plan 2008-2010 on Tuesday, 17th June 2008. The Construction Safety Partnership (CSP) includes representatives of the Construction Industry Federation (CIF), Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), Health and Safety Authority (HSA) and other relevant Agencies and Government Departments and its overall aim is to achieve the highest possible standard of safety, health and welfare in Irish construction.
137. Deputy Seán Sherlock asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of workplace inspections carried out by the Labour Inspectorate to date in 2008; the way this compares with the same period in 2007; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30930/08]
Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Billy Kelleher): The number of employment rights inspections/visits/calls undertaken by the Inspection Services of the National Employment Rights Authority in 2008 to date is 21,711. During the same period in 2007 some 7,189 inspections/visits/calls were undertaken.
Of the 21,711 inspections/visits/calls to date in 2008, breaches were detected in 3,502 cases. In the same period in 2007 breaches were detected in 1,349 cases.
To date in 2008, €1.66 million in underpayments of wages due to employees has been recovered by NERA Inspection Services compared to €1.8 million for the corresponding period in 2007.
[155]The outputs and outcomes to date in 2008 reflect both the more focussed and targeted activities being undertaken by NERA in relation to employment rights promotion and compliance and the increased number of NERA Inspectors.
Question No. 138 answered with Question No. 118.
139. Deputy Charlie O’Connor asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment her views on the need for job creation initiatives in Tallaght, which is the third largest population centre here; the actions being taken in the matter; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30589/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): The purpose of the strategies and policies being pursued by the Industrial Development agencies in Tallaght is to support enterprise development and provide employment opportunities in the area. The agencies work closely with each other and with local interests thereby using an integrated approach in order to increase the flow of potential investors and promote job creation in Tallaght and south Co. Dublin. A special conference took place on 10 July last. This involved all the key players. A Strategic Plan is now being prepared for the area to address the problems arising from the current economic situation.
The area has a number of attractions including a Third Level Institute and excellent infrastructural facilities at Citywest and Grangecastle. The development of the Grangecastle Business Park and the City West Business Park ensures that the area remains an attractive location for investment. Planning Permission has been approved for an Advance Integrated Circuit Manufacturing and Research facility at Grangecastle — this is the largest planning application to date in the State. This will be an invaluable tool for the future marketing of Grangecastle as a potential source of high quality and large-scale employment for the overall area.
Only last year, Microsoft Corporation selected Grangecastle as the location for its new European data centre involving a $500 million investment and 75 jobs. This reflects very well on our standing internationally as a global knowledge based economy. It also demonstrates our commitment to growing next generation business in south west Dublin and it shows the suitability of the area for world-class investments. Furthermore, Wyeth Biopharma has established the world’s largest biopharma campus facility at Grangecastle and it is investing in dedicated research and development facilities. In June this year, Business Objects announced that it is to invest €29 million in establishing a research and development centre in Citywest. This significant new development will create a research and development team of 100 people over a four-year period.
I am satisfied that the strategies and policies being pursued by the State agencies in the area will continue to be successful in terms of investment and job creation.
140. Deputy Joe Carey asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment her Department’s estimates for job creation in each of the years 2008, 2009 and 2010; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30976/08]
150. Deputy Michael D. Higgins asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of jobs she expects to be created during 2008 in regard to manufacturing and other sectors; the way these compare to figures each year going back to 2002; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30917/08]
[156]Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): I propose to take Questions Nos. 140 and 150 together.
Forecasting employment figures is a difficult business and subject to a variety of unforeseen, often extraneous, variables influencing estimates of that nature. However, I still expect employment growth — being the excess of jobs created over jobs lost — to continue in 2008 and beyond, albeit at a slower pace than in previous years. The latest available employment data from CSO indicates that at Quarter 2 2008 there were almost 7,000 additional people in employment compared with the corresponding period in 2007. This is a testament to the resilience of our economy at a time of great uncertainty in global economic conditions, the continued strength of the euro and the dramatic downturn in the construction sector.
The Irish economy is undergoing a certain amount of adjustment and while the rate of employment growth is expected to slow it must be viewed in the context of historically unprecedented numbers of people in work. Since 1997, over half a million new jobs have been created in Ireland and the number in employment exceeds 2.1 million. In the period 2002-2007 the Enterprise Development Agencies created over 156,000 new full time jobs across all sectors — note the table below.
The recently launched “Report of the High Level Group on Manufacturing” contains 26 recommendations directed at key areas of innovation and productivity leading to transformational change, reskilling and management development for the innovative firm, increasing awareness and take up of existing supports. The implementation of the recommendations set out in this report will help to ensure that manufacturing will remain an integral component of our economy providing high value sustainable employment.
In tandem with our focus on adding value to the manufacturing sector, over the last two decades we have developed a very significant Services Sector which now employs two out of every three Irish workers. We are one of the world’s leading service exporting countries and currently ranked the 10th highest exporter of services in the world. Earlier this month, I launched the report of the Services Strategy Group, “Catching the Wave: A Services Strategy for Ireland”. The report sets out new policy proposals on how we can ensure the continued development and growth of Ireland’s services sector. I believe that the implementation of these recommendations will enable Irish service companies to exploit new and exciting opportunities, such as eLearning, business and financial services, professional and consultancy services and others which will lead to significant employment opportunities for our workforce.
Competition for foreign direct investment (FDI) is relentless but Ireland continues to punch above its weight when it comes to attracting overseas investment. The pipeline of new business for which IDA Ireland is competing is strong, as evidenced by a number of high profile recent announcements. Already this year 28 new IDA investments have been announced with the potential to create 2,100 jobs over the coming years.
Looking to the future, neither the Government nor my Department are complacent regarding the varied challenges facing the country’s economy. One of our main tasks is to ensure that Ireland remains an attractive place to do business and to support the development of economic competencies higher up the value chain. In that regard, we continue to work to maintain and enhance our framework competitive conditions, and promote new areas of competitive advantage by developing our R&D, base, investing in critical physical and communications infrastructures, and promoting tertiary education and lifelong learning.
We will continue to pursue policies to promote lifelong learning and up-skilling to improve labour market flexibility and, where necessary, ensure that appropriate training supports are provided for workers in sectors that are no longer competitive should they need to find alternative employment. Our priority remains the creation of high quality, sustainable employment, [157]driven by companies with higher profitability, that are more technologically advanced and prove a better fit with the competitive characteristics of our economy.
Question No. 141 answered with Question No. 136.
142. Deputy Arthur Morgan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment her plans to introduce legislation regarding collective bargaining and agency workers. [30833/08]
161. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the progress made with regard to the implementation of the Temporary Agency Workers Directive, agreed at the Council of Ministers meeting on 23 May 2008; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30911/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): I propose to take Questions Nos. 142 and 161 together.
The issue of employee representation was considered in the context of the recent Social Partnership talks. In that context, the draft Agreement provides for the establishment of a review process which will consider the legal and other steps which are required to enable the mechanisms which were established under previous agreements to operate as they had been intended. The review is to be completed by the end of March 2009 with a view to enactment of the necessary legislation in June 2009.
The Employment Agency Regulation Bill will repeal and replace the Employment Agency Act 1971. The purpose of the Bill is to provide for updated regulation of the employment agency sector including licensing of employment agencies. Adherence to a code of practice setting out standards for the sector will be a condition of qualifying for a licence. The Bill will also provide for the establishment of a Monitoring and Advisory Committee, which will include representatives of the Social Partners, and which will have the task of drawing up the code of practice.
I intend to publish the Bill before the end of 2008.
Ministers of twenty-seven EU Member States reached political agreement at the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council on 9/10 June 2008, on the long-standing issue of the Temporary Agency Work Directive. The Council Common Position on this Directive will now be submitted to the European Parliament, as foreseen by the co-decision procedure.
As the Directive is at present at draft stage, action in relation to its transposition into Irish law can only commence after its adoption and in this connection the draft Directive provides for its transposition into national legislation within a period of three years of its adoption.
Question No. 143 answered with Question No. 126.
[158]Question No. 144 answered with Question No. 120.
145. Deputy Pat Rabbitte asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of EU Directives for which her Department has responsibility that remain to be implemented; the Directives that are overdue; the number of reasoned opinions received from the EU Commission since 2002 regarding delays or non-implementation of such directives; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30928/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): There are currently a total of nine Directives due to be transposed by my Department up to 2012. Three of these Directives are currently overdue. The first of these, Directive 2006/42/EC on machinery health and safety requirements, is expected to be transposed by 3 October 2008. It is intended to transpose the second and third overdue Directives, Directive 2006/46/EC on company reporting and Directive 2006/43/EC on statutory audits of annual and consolidated accounts, by 28 November 2008 and 31 December, respectively.
Full details of all current and recent EU Directives are maintained on the Departmental website, www.entemp.ie.
My Department has received 24 Reasoned Opinions from the European Commission relating to Directives since 2002. The outstanding issues concerning all of these Reasoned Opinions have been resolved satisfactorily.
146. Deputy Joe Costello asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of redundancies notified to her Department during 2007; the number notified to date in 2008; the way this compares with the same period in each year from 2002 to 2007; her views on the rapid increase in the number of redundancies; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30913/08]
Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Billy Kelleher): The table of figures below shows the actual number of employees who were paid statutory redundancy lump sums on a year by year basis from January 2002 to end August 2008. This does not reflect those who lost their jobs having less than two years service in an employment as this does not qualify for payment under the Redundancy Acts.
My Department carried out an analysis last year in which the average annual level of redundancies for the period 2002-2006 was compared with the level of redundancies in the period 1995-2001. It was found that the level of redundancy had almost doubled and the cause may be attributed to two factors:
Firstly, there were more people at work in the more recent period; this accounted for 20% of the increase in the level of redundancies.
Secondly, the risk of redundancy increased significantly in the second period and this accounted for 80% of the increase in the level of redundancy.
| Year | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Actual | 24,432 | 25,769 | 25,041 | 23,156 | 23,684 | 25,459 | 23,545 |
147. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the Government’s response to the collapse in the World Trade Talks in July 2008; her views on having the talks re-opened; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30933/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): Government policy on the Doha Development Round of trade talks at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) is to secure a comprehensive, ambitious and balanced trade agreement. Such an outcome would have been an important fillip to the world economy. It would have delivered tangible gains to Irish exporters, consumers and of course developing countries, especially the least developed countries. This latter point is important because the Doha Round was launched as a development round to provide better economic and trade opportunities for developing countries. Consequently, it is a disappointment that the Ministerial meeting at the WTO last July did not manage to agree the main elements of an agreement, and so pave the way to a final wide ranging trade consensus.
The scope of the negotiations is very wide and covers many areas where Ireland would benefit, for example, in the reduction of tariffs for our manufacturing exports and the removal of barriers for our service providers who trade internationally. In that regard, there were some positive signs at the Geneva Ministerial Meeting. Although the main focus of the Ministerial meeting was to agree a framework for reducing tariffs and domestic support in agriculture and non-agricultural market access (NAMA), it was emerging that the package under discussion could be worth in excess of half a billion euro to Irish exporters of goods and services, to consumers in terms of lower import tariffs and from broader economic benefits. These possible opportunities have to be set against an agreement that would also pose some very serious challenges for us, most notably in regarding proposals on agriculture. Whenever a final outcome to the negotiations is to be assessed the extent of these challenges will be an essential feature in our consideration.
It is difficult to predict what may happen now in the negotiations. Talks are continuing at senior official level in Geneva to see if there is a possibility to move closer to agreement sooner rather than later. However, there are many complex issues still to be ironed out before any package can be presented to Ministers and it seems unlikely that this stage can be achieved in the short term.
The Government remains committed to a balanced outcome to this WTO trade round and we will continue to firmly press our concerns in every Doha related forum. The importance of these, particularly concerning our agriculture sector, will continue to be at the forefront of our negotiating position whenever the talks recommence in a more substantive manner.
148. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the average industrial wage earned by a male worker and female worker respectively; the average male earnings and average female earnings; if she plans additional measures to help bridge the earnings gap between males and females; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30932/08]
Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Billy Kelleher): Data from the CSO quarterly industrial survey shows that average industrial earnings per hour for male industrial workers on adult rates in June 2007 was €16.62. For female industrial workers the average rate was €12.73.
[160]From the CSO National Employment Survey for October 2006, average hourly earnings were €20.50 for males and €17.67 for females. These latter figures cover the entire economy in October 2006 (excluding employees in agriculture, forestry and fishing).
The gender pay gap has fallen consistently and is now below the EU average of 15%. The most recent official figures from Eurostat (2005) put the Irish gender pay gap at 9%, placing us fourth lowest among the EU27. This compares with a rate of 14% in 2003, showing a drop of 5% in two years. However, Eurostat acknowledges that these data are provisional and not wholly comparable between Member States.
Addressing the factors behind the gender pay gap is a multifaceted task involving a number of Government Departments and agencies as outlined in the National Women’s Strategy, 2007-2016 launched last year by An Taoiseach. Overall coordination of the National Women’s Strategy is led by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.
The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is responsible for a number of actions which are thought to impact upon the gender pay gap.
As Minister for Labour Affairs, I am responsible for the National Minimum Wage legislation. The national minimum wage was introduced in Ireland in April 2000. Since its introduction there have been six increases to the minimum rate. The most recent increase saw the minimum wage increase to €8.65 per hour, which is the second highest in the EU. The introduction of the national minimum wage in 2000 has had a positive impact on women who previously were more likely to have received very low wages in sectors which were predominantly female. Prior to the introduction of the minimum wage, the gender pay gap was at 22%.
My Department is responsible for chairing and providing the secretariat for the National Framework Committee on Work/life Balance Policies. This Committee, which was established under the social partnership process, comprises representatives from IBEC, ICTU, the Equality Authority and a number of Government Departments. The Committee has undertaken and continues to undertake a range of activities to raise awareness and encourage the provision of work/life balance at the level of the enterprise and these can help to encourage greater female participation in the workforce, including at senior levels which in turn can help narrow the earnings gap.
Similarly, “Expanding the Workforce”, which is run by FÁS, is aimed at proactively encouraging women to return to work. The initiative facilitates women returnees by ensuring that training is provided in a flexible manner and is tailored to meet business requirements and skills needs of employers.
149. Deputy Emmet Stagg asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of on-the-spot fines for breaches of consumer law imposed under the terms of the Consumer Protection (Fixed Payment Notice) Regulations 2007; the type of breaches in each case; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30935/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): The Consumer Protection (Fixed Payment Notice) Regulations 2007 (S.I. No. 689 of 2007) came into effect on 13 October 2007. Responsibility for enforcement of these Regulations is a matter for the National Consumer Agency and I have no direct function in the matter.
I am informed that to date, twenty-nine notices have been served by Authorised Officers of the National Consumer Agency. Twenty-eight of these notices were issued in respect of alleged [161]offences under the European Communities (Requirements to Indicate Product Prices) Regulations 2002 (S.I. No. 639 of 2002) and one was issued in respect of an alleged offence under the Retail Price (Beverages in Licensed Premises) Display Order 1999 (S.I. No. 263 of 1999).
Payment was made in accordance with the terms of the fixed payment notice in twenty-eight cases. One trader failed to pay the fixed payment and has been successfully prosecuted by the Agency.
Question No. 150 answered with Question No. 140.
151. Deputy Arthur Morgan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the cuts she plans to make in her Department in 2009 to deal with the public finance shortfall. [30834/08]
157. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the way it is intended to achieve the reduction of 3% in payroll costs for her Department as announced by the Minister for Finance in July 2008; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30908/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): I propose to take Questions Nos. 151 and 157 together.
Any savings to be made in my Department’s Vote for 2009, including reductions in payroll costs, will be determined in the context of the 2009 Budget which will be announced by the Minister for Finance on 14th October. It would be premature for me to comment on the matter in advance of the Budget being presented to the Dáil.
152. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment her plans to improve competitiveness in respect of manufacturing and service industries with particular reference to the need to encourage ongoing inward investment and job creation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31053/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): Ireland has transformed as an economy over recent years, and we are well positioned to continue this transformation over coming years. We will rely increasingly on the performance of the enterprise base, particularly the traded sectors to restore the economy to a growth path. Our competitive advantages which served us well in the past such as our skilled and flexible workforce, favourable regulatory environment and pro-enterprise policies will be preserved, developed and exploited to the full. We will also work on developing new sources of competitive advantage in areas such as our knowledge and skills base. We will ensure that our education and training systems are flexible and adaptive and are producing a talented workforce with the right balance of skills to meet the requirements of the changing structure of the economy into the medium to long term.
We will continue to nurture the strong enterprise spirit in the economy and we will shortly bring forward a policy statement on entrepreneurship that will further improve the range and delivery of the extensive support services available to entrepreneurs.
Enterprise policy has traditionally recognised the importance of services exports and I welcome the report of the Services Strategy Group, “Catching the Wave: A Services Strategy for Ireland”, which was published on 12th September 2008. This Report sets out to broaden our [162]thinking on how services can contribute to our success and identifies strategic aims for future services policy in Ireland. This report will guide the development of our services strategy into the future to exploit the opportunities which this sector presents.
Our manufacturing sector is in transition but is well positioned to meet future challenges. Ireland’s manufacturing future depends on a manufacturing sector that is capital intensive, knowledge intensive and skills intensive, focused on developing innovative products, services and solutions and meeting the needs of markets and customers. The report of the High Level Group on Manufacturing identifies the focused actions needed by employers, employees and Government to respond to challenges and take advantage of opportunities to further develop the sector in Ireland. The Government is committed to ensuring the recommendations of this Group receive a high level of priority to ensure that the manufacturing sector continues to evolve and to provide high value added and high quality employment for the future. The Group’s report is currently being considered by the Social Partnership Forum as part of the ongoing review of “Towards 2016”.
Ireland maintains an open and attractive environment for overseas investment. The IDA continually adjusts its strategy to ensure that its offering to investors matches the changing requirements of the multinational companies it is targeting. Ireland continues to be capable of winning advanced, high value and high skill investments. In the first half of 2008, IDA announced 22 investments with a capital investment of €916m and a potential to create c.1600 jobs.
153. Deputy Emmet Stagg asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the action being taken to implement the commitment in the Programme for Government that steps would be taken to ensure that prices of goods are labelled and transparent in order that the consumer is well informed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30934/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): Price display law is covered by Orders made under the Prices Acts 1958 to 1972 and under the European Communities (Requirements to Indicate Product Prices) Regulations 2002, Statutory Instrument No. 639 of 2002. The various Price Display Orders made under the Prices Acts 1958 to 1972 cover Drinks Display in Licensed Premises, Hairdressing Services, Petrol and Diesel and Restaurants. The European Communities (Requirements to Indicate Product Prices) Regulations 2002 require retailers to display the selling and, where appropriate, the unit price (the price per litre or kilo) for all products covered by the scope of the Regulations. The Commission will be reviewing the Directive upon which these Regulations are based and I will support measures to enhance the information to be made available to consumers. This review is part of the general review of the Consumer Acquis.
The National Consumer Agency whose function it is to enforce consumer laws, regularly undertakes surveillance with a view to securing voluntary compliance on the part of traders.
154. Deputy Willie Penrose asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the semi-State bodies, boards or agencies for which her Department has responsibility which it is intended to abolish or merge; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30907/08]
[163]166. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the plans she has to merge State enterprise bodies. [30836/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): I propose to take Questions Nos. 154 and 166 together.
In July this year, the Minister for Finance announced that he had asked for a review of State agencies to be carried out to examine whether they could share services, whether it would be appropriate to absorb some of their functions back into their parent Departments, or whether some agencies should be amalgamated or abolished. The Minister stated that the outcome of this review would be considered by the Government in the Autumn.
The review has not yet been completed and has not been considered by the Government. In the circumstances, it would not be appropriate for me to comment on the matter.
155. Deputy Pat Rabbitte asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of labour inspectors employed by the National Employment Rights Authority; the number of labour inspectors available for assignment on normal duties; the number of labour inspectors in training following recruitment; the status of the recruitment campaign to increase the Labour Inspectorate to 90 inspectors; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30929/08]
Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Billy Kelleher): In accordance with commitments given under Towards 2016, the Social Partnership Agreement, the number of Inspectors was scheduled to increase from 31 to 90. Competitions were held in 2007 for the recruitment of the additional fifty-nine Inspectors and, fifty-nine inspectors have been assigned to NERA from these competitions.
All new inspectors have completed the NERA Inspection Services Introductory Training Programme and are currently undertaking further training, including on-the-job training with experienced inspectors. This involves working with experienced Inspectors in carrying out inspections and other associated enquiries at places of work with a view to determining compliance with certain employment rights legislation.
Nine Inspectors have left NERA over the past year as a result of promotion or internal and external Departmental transfers and re-assignments. As a result, the total number of NERA Inspectors currently stands at eighty-one.
The panels established in 2007 as a result of the recruitment competitions have now been exhausted. When new panels are established, NERA would be hoping to renew its intake of Inspectors.
156. Deputy Seán Sherlock asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of inspections carried out in 2006, 2007 and to date in 2008 by the Labour Inspectorate to ensure that the minimum wage was being paid; the number of breaches detected; the number of prosecutions initiated; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30931/08]
Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Billy Kelleher): The number of calls/visits/inspections carried out in relation to the National Minimum Wage Act, 2000 during which breaches of the Act were detected and the number of prosecutions initiated is as follows:
[164]in 2006: 2,002 calls/visits/inspections were undertaken; in 104 cases breaches were detected and in one case a prosecution was initiated.
in 2007: 1,942 calls/visits/inspections were undertaken; in 192 cases breaches were detected and no prosecutions were initiated.
in 2008: 2,532 calls/visits/inspections have been undertaken; in 205 cases breaches have been detected and in one case a prosecution was initiated.
NERA undertook a targeted campaign, which focused on compliance with the National Minimum Wage Act 2000, during the period 14 April to 11 May 2008. Such campaigns, accompanied by awareness and promotional activities, are a significant feature of the National Employment Rights Authority’s employment rights compliance and information strategy.
The primary role of the National Employment Rights Authority in the case of breaches of employment rights legislation, is to seek compliance and rectification of any breaches identified, including redress for the employees concerned and payment of any arrears due to those employees.
It should be noted that in the majority of cases employers rectify breaches of employment law and pay underpayments of wages due to employees without prosecution. However, the National Employment Rights Authority reserves the right to initiate prosecutions in respect of breaches of certain employment legislation.
The Deputy should be aware that Rights Commissioners of the Labour Relations Commission also hear complaints concerning breaches of the National Minimum Wage Act 2000.
Question No. 157 answered with Question No. 151.
158. Deputy Jack Wall asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if she will discuss with FÁS the possibility of changing the eligibility criteria for participation on community employment schemes in order to permit persons to spend longer periods on such schemes; if in particular the time stipulation set out in September 2006 will be significantly extended; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30939/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): Community Employment (CE) is an active labour market programme designed to provide eligible long term unemployed people and other disadvantaged persons (including those with a disability) with an opportunity to engage in useful work within their communities on a fixed term basis. CE helps unemployed people to re-enter the active workforce by breaking their experience of unemployment through a return to a work routine and to assist them to enhance/develop both their technical and personal skills.
The aim of CE still remains as an active labour market programme with the emphasis on progression into employment. The programme is managed within this context, with consideration to the availability of resources and the needs of participants and the community. FÁS makes every effort to ensure that differing levels of demand between neighbouring schemes are equalised. FÁS also operates the programme flexibly as far as possible to ensure the continuation of community projects.
In conclusion then, I would say that this Government will continue to support the positive role of CE in meeting the needs of long-term unemployed persons while at the same time [165]providing essential services to communities. I have no plans to amend the eligibility criteria for participation on Community Employment Schemes, however, the operation of the Scheme is kept under constant review.
Question No. 159 answered with Question No. 136.
160. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of staff employed in respect of the constituency office and the private office of herself and each Minister of State within her Department, broken down by grade; the costs of each office in terms of salaries and expenses for 2007 and the projected costs for 2008; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30910/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): The tables below outline the number of staff by grade in my private and constituency office and in those of each Minister of State within my Department. The cost for 2007 of each such office in terms of salary, overtime and expenses are included together with the projected costs for 2008 to date.
| Civil Servants | Political Appointees |
|---|---|
| 1 Private Secretary | 1 Personal Assistant |
| 1 Executive Officer | 1 Personal Secretary |
| 3 Clerical Officers | 2 Civilian Drivers |
There are also two additional Ministers of State who have responsibility in this Department however; they do not have offices in the Department. The Ministers concerned are:
Minister for Lifelong Learning at the Department of Education and Science.
Minister for Equality, Disability and Mental Health at the Department of Health and Children.
Question No. 161 answered with Question No. 142.
162. Deputy Eamon Gilmore asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if she will make a statement on her visit to the Dublin offices of the National Consumer Agency on 7 August 2008; if she is satisfied that the agency has sufficient powers and resources to provide adequate protection for consumers; the specific steps she will take to deliver on her commitment made during the visit to ensure that Irish consumers get a fair deal [167]on price, on choice and on quality in their weekly shopping basket; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30914/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): I would advise the Deputy that following my meeting with the Chief Executive of the National Consumer Agency on 7th August, I did issue a public statement reaffirming the Government’s determination to ensure that Irish consumers get a fair deal on price, on choice and on quality in their weekly shopping basket. In the course of that statement, I also reaffirmed the Government’s strong belief that arming consumers with all the necessary facts and figures to make informed choices in relation to the goods and services that they buy is the best way to ensure that consumers can achieve a fair deal. In this regard I took the opportunity to discuss with the Chief Executive the Agency’s initiatives in the area of Price Comparison Surveys.
Since the meeting, the Deputy will be aware that the Agency published its most recent Grocery Price Comparison Survey on the 11th September. The survey found that there has been a significant decrease in the prices of own brand goods across all the retailers in the grocery sector unlike the position in relation to branded products where the price differential between retailers seems to be narrowing.
Research commissioned by the Agency shows that price is becoming more and more of a priority to consumers when making their decisions where to shop. The research showed that 56% of grocery shoppers are shopping in a particular store based on price and that convenience is no longer the primary reason for choosing a particular grocery store. This significant shift in consumer attitude is reflected in the fact that the price of food, as measured by the Consumer Price Index published by the Central Statistics Office, continues to fall. The CSO’s returns show that food prices fell by 0.3% in August, the third month in a row that the food price index has fallen. These welcome price decreases are concrete endorsements that the Agency’s efforts in raising price awareness among consumers is having a material effect and that more people are changing their shopping habits.
Notwithstanding these developments and other indications of the catalytic effect that consumer behaviour is having by way of enhancing competition among retailers in the grocery sector, there is, as I remarked in my public statement, some way to go particularly in relation to the price differentials in the branded goods area. It also remains a matter of concern that the differential between the price of groceries in Ireland and the price of groceries in Northern Ireland or in the UK remains relatively high given the appreciation in value of the Euro against sterling. In this regard I have requested Forfás to carry out an assessment of the relative cost of doing business in a number of selected locations, including locations in this jurisdiction, Northern Ireland and the UK. I intend to continue to engage with the retail sector on this issue once the results of Forfás’ assessment are available.
I welcome the initiatives undertaken by the National Consumer Agency to ensure that Irish consumers have the necessary information to make informed choices in relation to the goods and services that they buy. In conjunction with the Agency, I am determined that progress continues to be made to ensure that consumers get a fair deal and do not suffer from unjustified price increases.
163. Deputy Liz McManus asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of staff employed by the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement; if she has an outstanding request for additional staff or resources for the office; if these requests will be met; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30922/08]
[168]Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): Last year my Department responded to the Director’s request for additional staffing resources by increasing the approved Departmental staff complement from 30 to 38. Approved Garda staff numbers were also increased by one in 2007 bringing the total approved staffing complement of the ODCE to 46 posts.
Four of these extra staff were provided to the ODCE in 2007 and the remaining four staff were provided earlier this year.
The Director indicated to my Department in late 2007 that having integrated these additional staff, he would review his request for further extra staff at the end of the 2008 and advise my Department at that stage of the results of that review.
164. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the last time the State’s enterprise bodies underwent a review of their operations and spending by her Department. [30835/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): My Department engages with the State enterprise bodies on both operational and policy matters on an ongoing basis, and their expenditure and operations are monitored closely throughout the year. There are strict uniform financial procedures in place to ensure proper governance with regard to the funds that are being drawn down. The annual Estimate process also, involves my Department examining agency expenditure in detail.
In addition, there is a formal liaison structure in place between my Department and the Agencies. As part of that structure, senior officials from my Department meet regularly with senior officials from the Agencies to discuss not just budgetary issues but all matters pertaining to their operation. The ongoing nature of this contact ensures close scrutiny of agency expenditure and activities and provides my officials with an overview on the progress of all the various work programmes.
Specific reviews targeted at the particular modus operandi of individual agencies and taking account of their different roles have been undertaken periodically. An expenditure review of Forfás, conducted by my Department in 2002, made a number of recommendations in order to formalise the agency’s interactions with my Department, tighten its focus and increase efficiency and transparency. All recommendations arising from this review have been implemented.
In the case of the IDA, an expenditure Review of their Property Programme was carried out by my Department in 2004. This review concluded that the property programme was being managed efficiently and effectively by the Agency and approved of the Agency’s policy of disposing of property no longer needed while, at the same time, recognizing the Agency’s need to have a set of property solutions available for marketing at any one time.
Enterprise Ireland is engaged in a review process through a series of ongoing reviews of budgetary, programme and corporate procedures. This includes, inter alia, assessment of progress against EI targets associated with agreed agency Strategy and review of specific EI funding schemes/programmes. More specifically, an expenditure review, led by my Department, was completed on Enterprise Ireland’s Overseas Office Network in 2004, which made a number of recommendations that have since been adopted.
A Value for Money review of Science Foundation Ireland programmes was recently completed on behalf of my Department, as part of the Government’s Value for Money and Policy [169]Review Initiative. The report, which was published in July of this year, examined the Foundation’s funding programmes over the first years of operation. My Department and I are firmly of the opinion that the review will assist in securing value for money and maximising the economic impact from SFI investments.
Performance reviews are, and will continue to be, an integral component, for my Department, in monitoring the activities of the Agencies. A suite of indicators comprising input, output and impact indicators, for the Management Information Framework of my Department is in place and the availability of this information enables managers to measure efficiencies within their own areas. I am satisfied that there exists a vigorous system — both formal and informal — for the ongoing monitoring and review of all aspects of operations and expenditure of the Enterprise Agencies.
165. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the limits that are placed on Ireland with regard to imports into Ireland. [30839/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): Ireland has an open policy when it comes to international trade. My Department encourages free trade and applies limited restrictions or limitations on imports. Any limitations that are applied are implemented to enable Ireland meet its EU or other international obligations, such as may be agreed by the United Nations. Under the EU Treaty, the Common Commercial Policy (which regulates the EU international trade policy) generally gives the Commission authority to negotiate international trade arrangements with countries outside the Union, based on a mandate from Member States.
Import limitations will normally take the form of either import quotas, sanctions / prohibitions, or licences through which the level of imports of specific goods is monitored. Import limitations may also be applied for certain products such as agricultural produce, firearms/weapons, fireworks/explosives etc., the arrangements for which would be under the remit of other Departments such as the Departments of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and Justice, Equality and Law Reform.
The Licensing Unit of my Department issues import licences in conjunction with the EU Commission. The following are the principle areas affecting trade in which import limitations/restrictions apply together with details of the applicable EU regulations under which the limitations are applied.
EU trade policy restricts the importation of certain textiles and textile garments originating in specified third countries into the EU. These goods may not be imported into the EU without an import licence. The following are the main countries involved.
The importation into the EU of certain categories of textiles originating in the Peoples Republic of China and Uzbekistan are subject to double surveillance measures and require an import licence under Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1217/2007 which amended Annex III to Council Regulation (EEC) No. 3030/93 on common rules for imports of certain textile products from third countries.
The importation into the EU of certain categories textiles originating in Belarus and North Korea is subject to quantitative quotas under Commission Regulations (EC) No. 1402/2007 and 517/94 and require an import licence.
The importation into the EU of certain iron and steel products originating in countries outside the EU are subject to either quantitative restrictions, double surveillance or prior surveillance measures (as contained in Commission Decisions No. 2136/97/ECSC, 1401/97/ECSC and 2744/1999/ECSC) and require an import licence.
The importation into the EU of potassium chloride originating in Belarus is subject to anti-dumping measures and requires an import licence under Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1050/2006.
Trade sanctions are increasingly used by the international Community as a means of exerting influence on various issues of international concern. Ireland fully subscribes to its international obligations in this regard. My Department plays a central role in co-ordinating the implementation of the various United Nations and EC measures which have been adopted concerning trade. The impact of these measures on trade is, however insignificant, in the context of our well established international trading alliances. Where financial sanctions are in place, these are managed by the Department of Finance.
Question No. 166 answered with Question No. 154.
167. Deputy Eamon Gilmore asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if it is intended to proceed with the planned decentralisation of the National Consumer Agency to Cork; if her attention has been drawn to the concerns expressed by the agency that it may lose up to 90% of its staff if the move goes ahead; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30915/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): As the Deputy will be aware, the Government announced in July last that no further expenditure on the acquisition of accommodation for decentralisation should be sanctioned pending detailed consideration by the Government of reports from the Decentralisation Implementation Group and the Implementation Group of Secretaries General.
Without prejudice to the above announcement, my Department is currently in discussions with the Agency in relation to a staff transitional plan to ensure a gradual, phased and managed transition of staff. This plan will ensure the Agency’s activities will not be unduly disrupted.
168. Deputy Jack Wall asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the legislative measures she plans to introduce arising from the new social partnership [171]agreement; the proposed timetable for each such piece of legislation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30952/08]
Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Billy Kelleher): I welcome the draft Transitional Agreement reached between Government and the Social Partners on a successor to the first module of Towards 2016. The draft Agreement will now be considered by the parties with a view to ratification and it is my hope that the Agreement will be ratified by all sides.
The draft Agreement provides for a number of commitments, including through legislation proposals, aimed at strengthening protections for employment standards, while also ensuring that Ireland continues to provide an excellent environment for business and job creation. These commitments are being examined within my Department to determine the optimum legislative approach and timeframe for delivery of the policy objectives in the draft Agreement.
For my part, and without seeking to pre-empt in any way the ratification process, I look forward to working with the Social Partners and my Ministerial colleagues in making speedy progress on the commitments entered into under this Agreement, including those requiring legislative enactment. It is difficult to be specific about timetables for legislation as this is primarily a matter for the House and for the Seanad. However, the Deputy may be assured that no effort will be spared to meet the commitments in the Transitional Agreement.
169. Deputy Liz McManus asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the implications for the operation of the Joint Labour Committees of the decision of the High Court to quash an order made by the Joint Committee for the Hotel Industry that fixed minimum wage levels for workers in that sector; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30923/08]
Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Billy Kelleher): In quashing the Employment Regulation Order made by the Labour Court relating to minimum remuneration of workers in the Hotels Sector on 7 February last, the High Court ordered that the matter be remitted to the Hotels Joint Labour Committee. As the Deputy may be aware, the Hotels Joint Labour Committee met in March 2008 and a new Employment Regulation Order was subsequently made for the sector by the Labour Court with effect from 23 May 2008.
The implications of the issues raised during the course of the High Court were considered in the recent Social Partnership talks. The Social Partners have now agreed to the implementation of a number of measures, including the introduction of legislation, to renew and enhance the system for the making of both Employment Regulation Orders and Registered Employment Agreements and to provide for their continued effective operation.
It is my intention to being forward legislative proposals on the matter at an early date.
170. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the extent to which she will provide extra resources in the coming year for retraining and upskilling the workforce with particular reference to addressing the requirements arising from job losses over the past number of years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31052/08]
[172]171. Deputy Ciarán Lynch asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if she is satisfied that all appropriate retraining opportunities are available for workers who lose their jobs, especially in the construction sector; if she has plans to provide additional training opportunities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30918/08]
172. Deputy Ciarán Lynch asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the latest estimates available to her Department from FÁS regarding the potential number of job losses in the construction sector up to the end of 2009; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30919/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): I propose to take Questions Nos. 170 to 172, inclusive, together.
Various labour market projections are available. For example, FÁS, in its latest Quarterly Labour Market Commentary, for Quarter 2 2008 has forecast that construction employment will fall by -6.9% (-19,000) this year and by a further -9.2% (-24,000) in 2009.
This estimated drop in construction employment of around 43,000 would bring it back to 2004 levels. The recent easing of employment growth generally and construction employment in particular comes after many years of extraordinary growth, which could not have lasted indefinitely. For example since 2004, total employment has grown by 273,900 with employment in the construction sector increasing by 50,300.
FÁS and the Department of Social and Family Affairs are working together so they can respond quickly to the increase in unemployment, for example:
FÁS and the Department of Social and Family Affairs have agreed that redundant workers will be referred immediately to FÁS rather than wait for three months on the Live Register as was the case before. FÁS has also established a training fund to enable a speedy response to identified re-training needs for low skilled and redundant craft workers.
FÁS is, with the Local Employment Services provided by Area-Based Partnerships, currently gearing up its Employment Services further to provide increased capacity for expected increased referrals from the Live Register.
FÁS will be providing a range of certified, short, flexible, modular programmes designed to upskill redundant workers so that they can enhance their prospect of securing employment. A number of programmes are already in place and the frequency and range of these will be expanded over the coming months.
A range of actions are being implemented by FÁS for those affected by the construction slowdown, including:
FÁS will focus on providing retraining opportunities for:
FÁS will also assist individuals in anyway they can in seeking employment abroad in construction in other EU countries. FÁS have held European construction jobs fairs for employers from other EU countries.
[173]Discussions concerning the 2009 budget are still ongoing. The budget for FÁS is agreed on the basis of detailed discussions between FÁS, my Department and the Department of Finance in the context of the annual Estimates process and will be announced on Budget Day.
173. Deputy Michael D. Higgins asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if she has received a report from the Competition Authority following its request to the authority to monitor the operation of the grocery trade on an ongoing basis; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30916/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): Following the repeal of the Restrictive Practices (Groceries) Order 1987 in March 2006, the then Minister requested the Competition Authority to review and monitor developments in the grocery sector in light of the new regulatory environment.
In March this year, the Authority presented to me two reports as part of the Grocery Monitor Project. The first report, A Description of the Structure and Operation of Grocery Retailing and Wholesaling in Ireland: 2001 to 2006 provides a description of the market structure at the wholesale and retail levels of the Irish grocery sector.
The second report is entitled Price Trends in the Irish Retail Grocery Sector: A Description of the Evolution of Retail Grocery Prices between 2001 and 2007. In this report, the Competition Authority has considered the impact of the removal of the Groceries Order by examining the evolution of the aggregate retail grocery price trends since 2001 by analysis of price data published by the CSO.
These reports were noted by Government in April and were published by the Authority shortly thereafter.
At that stage, the Authority indicated its intention to publish a third Report examining the retail planning system as it applies to the retail grocery sector. Following the submission of that Report to me, I brought it to Government in July and this third Report, ‘Retail Planning System as applied to the Grocery Sector 2001-2007’, was published by the Authority on 10th September 2008. This report identifies a number of features of the retail planning system that affect competition in the grocery sector. It contains seven recommendations aimed at promoting competition in grocery retailing in Ireland.
I would like to advise the Deputy that the three Reports are available on the Authority’s website www.tca.ie.
174. Deputy Arthur Morgan asked the Taoiseach the percentage and number of those who have lost their jobs in the construction sector in the past 12 months who are under 25 years of age; and the number of these who do not have a leaving certificate qualification. [30114/08]
Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach (Deputy Pat Carey): The exact information requested by the Deputy is not available. The Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) provides estimates of the number of persons employed in the construction sector on a quarterly basis but does not directly measure job losses per se. Changes in these estimated numbers from one period to another reflect the net change in the stock of persons employed in the sector.
The estimated number of persons under 25 years of age employed in the construction sector in the second quarter of 2007 was 58,100. In the second quarter of 2008 this had fallen to 44,600 [174]a reduction of 13,500 over the year. This represents 50.3% of the total reduction in employment in the construction sector during this period.
The estimated number of persons under 25 years of age employed in the construction sector who stated they did not have a leaving certificate or equivalent in the second quarter of 2007 was 15,200. In the second quarter of 2008 this had fallen to 10,200, a reduction of 5,000 over the period.
175. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Taoiseach the amount of funding allocated in 2008 to implement the recommendations made by the Task Force on Active Citizenship; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29263/08]
176. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Taoiseach the number of personnel in his Department employed on the implementation of the Taskforce on Active Citizenship; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29264/08]
Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach (Deputy Pat Carey): I propose to take Questions Nos. 175 and 176 together.
An allocation of €200,000 has been set aside for 2008 under Subhead K of the Vote of the Taoiseach’s Department to cover administration costs relating to the work of the Active Citizenship Office in co-ordinating the implementation of the recommendations of the Taskforce on Active Citizenship. The Active Citizenship Office has been established under the direction of Government Chief Whip, Mr. Pat Carey, T.D, who has special responsibility for the active citizenship initiative. The Department has assigned 4 staff to the Office.
A substantial number of the recommendations of the Taskforce relate to a number of Departments and funding for activities supporting the recommendations will be carried in the Votes of these Departments. The role of the Office is essentially a steering and co-ordinating role between public sector, community and voluntary sector, business, educational interests and it does not have a role as a grant giving body.
177. Deputy Leo Varadkar asked the Taoiseach his views on whether the agencies and bodies under the responsibility of his Department comply with the Department of Finance procurement guidelines for goods and services; if he has sought assurances from the agencies and bodies that this is the case in each of the years 2000 to 2007 and to date in 2008; if he has expressed concern to an agency or body that it might be acting inappropriately during that period; if so, the agency or body; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29265/08]
The Taoiseach: I am confident that all agencies and bodies under my Department’s responsibility comply fully with the Department of Finance guidelines for goods and services.
The Internal Audit report on the National Forum on Europe, dated December 2006, concluded that the appropriate Department of Finance procurement procedures are being employed for the tendering of services. The Forum Secretariat is currently undertaking a review of all contracts with suppliers to ensure that compliance with the guidelines is on-going.
The CSO operates under its own internal procurement policy. This internal procurement policy was developed to reflect all obligations which CSO purchasers of goods and services must comply with, in accordance with all national and EU guidelines.
The CSO does not have a full-time procurement unit. However, the CSO Procurement Officer, and Corporate Support staff, conduct regular information sessions to ensure that CSO [175]staff are aware of the relevant rules and regulations, and ‘Value for money’ requirements, with regard to the spending of public monies. The internal Corporate Support Unit also maintains an updated Procurement Information Homepage to reflect any changes in the limits or obligations.
In addition, an internal audit was carried out on the National Economic and Social Development Office (NESDO) earlier this year. The report concluded, inter alia, that “all appropriate procedures for financial reporting and procurement have been followed with two exceptions”. The two exceptions related to relatively minor breaches of public procurement procedures relating to the form of procurement adopted and these were remedied.
178. Deputy Liz McManus asked the Taoiseach the cost and frequency of travel per month by Ministers and Ministers of State since the appointment of the new Government by means of bus transport, rail transport or air transport, by Department and by Minister involved in the travel; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29266/08]
The Taoiseach: The following tables detail all travel for official purposes which has been undertaken by myself and the Ministers of State assigned to my Department, since the establishment of the current Government in May 2008 to the end of August 2008.
To date, there have been no costs incurred in respect of commercial flights. Any costs in relation to the Ministerial Air Transport Service are borne by the Department of Defence.
| Date | Frequency | Details |
|---|---|---|
| NIL | NIL | NIL |
179. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Taoiseach the plans he has to progress measures, apart from the Good Friday Agreement Committee, for the representation in the Houses of the Oireachtas for citizens from the Six Counties; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29267/08]
The Taoiseach: The Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, which was established in October 2007, provides a valuable forum to members of both Houses of the Oireachtas to discuss the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement and related matters with Members of the Westminster Parliament elected for constituencies in Northern Ireland. In its relatively short time in existence, it has already done very valuable work.
The establishment of a North/South Joint Parliamentary Forum to bring together representatives of the Oireachtas and of the Northern Ireland Assembly which was proposed in the Good Friday Agreement is the next priority for the Government in this area.
It would make a major contribution to dialogue and mutual understanding between North and South. This was discussed at the Sixth Plenary meeting of the North South Ministerial Council last February and progress will be reported at its next meeting scheduled for 3 October next.
The Government also supports ongoing engagement with the unionist parties in Northern Ireland with a view to their future participation in the East/West parliamentary forum.
180. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Taoiseach the cost of steel for use in agricultural buildings; the cost in January 2007 and January 2008; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29268/08]
Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach (Deputy Pat Carey): The exact information requested by the deputy is not available as the Central Statistics Office (CSO) does not publish data on the cost of steel for use in agricultural buildings specifically. However, the CSO publishes wholesale price indices, which reflect price changes for a range of building and construction materials across all sectors. These include price indices for “Structural Steel and Reinforcing Metal” and a further breakdown for the individual components, “Structural Steel” and “Reinforcing Metal” separately. No breakdown by sector of use is available.
The percentage price change between January 2007 and January 2008 is provided in the Table below.
| Materials | Annual % Change January 2008 |
|---|---|
| Structural Steel and Reinforcing Metal | + 3.1 |
| Structural Steel | +2.8 |
| Reinforcing Metal | +3.7 |
181. Deputy Ruairí Quinn asked the Taoiseach if he has been requested to introduce legislative changes in order to enable the 1926 Census returns to be made open to the public to facilitate historical and sociological research; if he will request the National Archives of Ireland to make the 1926 Census returns available on the internet; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29269/08]
[177]182. Deputy Ruairí Quinn asked the Taoiseach if he will reduce, from 100 years to 50 years, the period of time after which census returns can be made available to the public; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29270/08]
Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach (Deputy Pat Carey): I propose to take Questions Nos. 181 and 182 together.
I am aware of the views of the Council of Irish Genealogical Organisations regarding access to the 1926 Census returns.
The position is that the confidentiality of all statistical returns from individuals, households and business is guaranteed by law, and this guarantee is the cornerstone of all CSO surveys, not least Censuses of Population.
The Censuses of Population between 1926 and 1991 were carried out under the 1926 Statistics Act which did not permit any access to Census records, at any time. However, the 1993 Statistics Act repealed the 1926 and 1946 Statistics Acts and provided for the release of census forms for these Censuses 100 years after the date of the relevant Census.
When this provision was debated in the Seanad at the time, the view was expressed that the proposed 100 years period should be reduced to 75, or even 50 years. However, while the retrospective introduction of the 100 years exemption was seen by some as undermining the original guarantee given to householders, it was generally accepted that 100 years was a reasonable compromise in all the circumstances, including having regard to life expectancy considerations.
I am satisfied, therefore, that the 100 years period provided for in the 1993 Act strikes the right balance in facilitating legitimate historical and sociological research on the one hand, while protecting the confidentiality of Census data and the integrity of CSO procedures on the other.
183. Deputy Leo Varadkar asked the Taoiseach the pay and emoluments granted to the chief executive officer or equivalents, of all of the agencies under the control of his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29271/08]
The Taoiseach: The pay and emoluments granted to the Directors of the National Economic and Social Development Office (NESDO) which encompasses the National Economic and Social Forum (NESC), the National Economic and Social Forum (NESF) and the National Centre for Partnership and Performance (NCPP) is as follows:
| Title of Agency | Director |
|---|---|
| € | |
| Chief Officer of NESDO and Director of NESC | 150,712 |
| Director of NESF | 114,366 |
| Director of NCPP | 114,366 |
The Director of the National Forum on Europe, who is on secondment from the Department of Foreign Affairs, is paid at Principal Officer level. The post carries an allowance of €13,515.
The Director of the Ireland Newfoundland Partnership was paid €75,000 for 2007.
[178]The pay and conditions attached to the Director General of the Central Statistics Office is directly linked to those of the Civil Service general grade of Secretary General. From 1 September, 2008, the annual salary for the post is €221,929.
184. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Taoiseach the expenditure by his Department on consultants for each of the past six calendar years including to date in 2008; if he will provide a breakdown of these figures in order to show the amount and proportion of expenditure on consultants which relates to expenditure on public relations, marketing or advertising consultants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29272/08]
196. Deputy Arthur Morgan asked the Taoiseach the amount that was spent by his Department on consultants in 2007 and to date in 2008. [31652/08]
The Taoiseach: I propose to take Questions Nos. 184 and 196 together.
The table below outlines expenditure from my Department’s Vote on consultants and the proportions that relate to public relations from 2002 to the end of August 2008. There has been no spend by my Department on consultants relating to marketing and advertising during this period.
Of the total expenditure on Public Relations for this period, 91% related to the National Forum on Europe and 4% to the Taskforce on Active Citizenship.
The figures also include consultancy spend recouped from the Change Management Fund in the Department of Finance in relation to central initiatives in support of public service modernisation under the aegis of my Department.
185. Deputy Fergus O’Dowd asked the Taoiseach the number, type, the purchasing and leasing cost and the CO2 emissions of vehicles acquired by his Department for each of the past three years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29558/08]
The Taoiseach: My Department does not provide any official vehicles.
186. Deputy Leo Varadkar asked the Taoiseach if a company (details supplied) has been awarded contracts by his Department, or any of its agencies, since 2000; the value of the [179]contracts and the length of contract signed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29717/08]
The Taoiseach: Neither my Department nor any of its agencies have awarded contracts to the company in question since 2000.
Poster Plan Ltd. was engaged by the National Forum on Europe for an ad mobile in May this year at a cost of €6,950 plus VAT. The Forum also used Poster Plan Ltd’s services in January 2008 in the production of a Forum Information Film on the Treaty of Lisbon at a cost of €1,400 plus VAT. No formal contract was awarded and the Forum has no further expenditure of this nature planned.
187. Deputy Leo Varadkar asked the Taoiseach the number of staff sent from his Department and its agencies to a conference (details supplied); the cost of sending staff to the conference; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29999/08]
The Taoiseach: The Assistant Secretary with responsibility for Economic and Social Policy in my Department chaired the 4th Annual Irish Public Private Partnerships Policy Forum on 19 June, 2008, and was the only member of staff from my Department involved in this event. There were no costs to the Department arising from her participation.
188. Deputy John O’Mahony asked the Taoiseach the procedures in place to ensure that personal data stored by his Department is secure. [30136/08]
The Taoiseach: Sensitive information belonging to members of the public is not generally collected by, or stored, in the Department’s electronic systems. A number of specific measures are in place in my Department to protect all data which is held electronically:- Access to personal information held on databases within my Department is controlled by application security and confined to relevant authorised personnel only. Access by users to these systems is granted on an ‘as needs only’ basis; The Department’s computer networks themselves are secured against cyber attacks through the use of security products such as multiple firewalls, anti-virus software and email security tools; Staff supplied with mobile equipment are issued with guidance to ensure devices are secured properly; The hard drives of all laptops are encrypted and do not store Departmental data physically on them; and Strong authentication methods, in addition to username and password, are in place to prevent unauthorised access to the Department’s network from mobile devices.
My Department also evaluates and reviews advanced information security products and technologies as they come to market and implements them where appropriate.
189. Deputy John O’Mahony asked the Taoiseach the number of laptop computers, data storage devices and USB memory sticks that have been stolen or lost from his Department in 2007 and to date in 2008; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30151/08]
The Taoiseach: No laptop computers, data storage devices or USB memory sticks have been stolen or lost from my Department in 2007 and to date in 2008.
190. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Taoiseach if the Central Statistics Office has determined the way the proposed transfer of funds from pension funds of certain non-commercial [180]State sponsored bodies to the Exchequer would be treated in the Government accounts in that the move adds both liabilities and assets to the Exchequers position; and if the EU have been asked to comment on the impact on the general Government deficit. [30333/08]
Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach (Deputy Pat Carey): The CSO has not to date been formally asked to determine the treatment in the Government Accounts of the transfer of the assets of funded pension schemes of Non-Commercial State-Sponsored Bodies (NCSSBs) to the State in return for the Government assuming responsibility for future pension payments to beneficiaries on a pay-as-you-go basis.
The Government Accounts and General Government Balance (GGB) are calculated according to the accounting rules of the European System of Accounts (ESA95), as supplemented by the Eurostat Manual on Government Deficit and Debt (MGDD). The rules in this system for recording pension fund transfers are complex, but in general the transfer of the pension fund’s assets to the State may be recorded as a receipt in the Government Accounts if: a) the transferring agency is classified outside of the General Government sector (i.e. if it is not controlled by Government or if it covers more than 50% of its costs from its own resources — according to these criteria, most NCSSBs are classified within General Government but some non-profit institutions, including universities, are classified outside), OR b) the transferring agency is classified within the General Government sector, but the pension scheme is established as a trust, legally separate from the agency.
The accounting rules do not recognise an up-front liability for the obligations accrued in the case of pay-as-you-go pension schemes, so no counterpart is recorded to this revenue and the initial up-front GGB impact is positive.
This initial revenue would be offset in the future by the payment of the pension benefits, which would be recorded as Government expenditure at the time of payment. In the longer term the impact on the GGB would therefore be expected to be neutral, provided the scheme is fully funded.
Given the complexity, the CSO would have to determine the treatment of any pension fund transfers on a case by case basis. Generally, Eurostat would only be consulted if a particular scheme was very complex and the accounting treatment was not fully clear. The Government Accounts and the calculation of the GGB are, of course, subject to Eurostat approval so any accounting treatments adopted could subsequently be subjected to Eurostat examination.
191. Deputy John Deasy asked the Taoiseach the expenditure on advertising in the Irish language by his Department and by agencies under the aegis of his Department since the enactment of the Official Languages Act 2003; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30399/08]
The Taoiseach: Since the enactment of the Official Languages Act in 2003, my Department and agencies have spent €2,969.64 on advertisements in Irish alone and €385,681.25 on advertisements in both Irish and English. Assuming that something less than half of the latter cost relates to the content in Irish, the total amount requested by the Deputy is less than €195,810.27.
These costs relate in the main to public notices for events such as the National Day of Commemoration and the 1916 Commemoration, and to public consultation processes such as the recent OECD Review. It has long been the practice of my Department to publish such notices in both of the official languages. This practice pre-dates the enactment of the Official [181]Languages Act and demonstrates my Department’s ongoing commitment to providing a high standard of service in both languages to our customers.
192. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Taoiseach the total payroll and the total financial package including basic salary, performance, other bonuses and pension entitlements of the chief executive officer of every public agency or quango under the aegis of his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30618/08]
195. Deputy Leo Varadkar asked the Taoiseach the bonuses, merit awards and other payments above the basic salary that have been approved for the heads of State agencies, boards and other quangos for 2005, 2006, 2007 and to date in 2008; the basis on which they made the decision to approve such awards; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31199/08]
The Taoiseach: I propose to take Questions Nos. 192 and 195 together.
The Director General of the Central Statistics Office (CSO) receives no bonuses or merit awards above the basic salary of his post. As an established civil servant, the current Director General will be entitled to a pension/lump sum under current Civil Service pension entitlements on his retirement.
The Chairperson of the National Statistics Board (NSB) receives a set stipend in accordance with Department of Finance scales. No additional payments were made in 2005, 2006, 2007 or 2008.
The position in relation to the NESC, NESF and NCPP is as follows: Pay and Emoluments granted to Directors of NESC, NESF and NCPP:
| Director | |
|---|---|
| € | |
| NESC | 150,712 |
| NESF | 114,366 |
| NCPP | 114,366 |
None of the Directors is in receipt of any bonuses, performance or otherwise.
The position in relation to pension is as follows:
The Chair of the NESDO and NESC receives no pay, bonuses or pension entitlements in respect of his position as either Chair of NESDO or Chair of NESC;
the terms and conditions of employment, including pension details of the Chair of NESF are under consideration at the moment;
the Chair of the NCPP has no pension entitlement with NESDO at present;
[182]the Chief Officer of NESDO, who is also the Director of NESC, receives no additional salary, bonus or pension entitlement for his role as Chief Officer. As Director of NESC, he is entitled to an allowance of 16.66% of salary in lieu of pension;
the Director of NESF is on secondment from the Department of the Taoiseach and is a member of the Civil Service Pension Scheme; and
the Director of NCPP is on secondment from the Department of Education and Science and is a member of the Civil Service Pension Scheme.
193. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Taoiseach the number of staff broken down by grade, the number of such staff who are full time civil servants, the number of such staff who are political appointees, the cost for 2007 of each such office in terms of salary, overtime and expenses and the projected cost for 2008 of each such office in terms of salary, overtime and expenses in respect of the private and the constituency office of him and each Minister of State within his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30633/08]
194. Deputy Lucinda Creighton asked the Taoiseach the number of civil service staff dealing with constituency matters in his office; the number of civil service staff dealing with constituency matters in the offices of Junior Ministers within his Department; and the cost of salaries for these staff per annum. [31135/08]
The Taoiseach: I propose to take Questions Nos. 193 and 194 together.
The number of Staff in my Private and Constituency office and in the Offices of my Ministers of State and their costs to the Exchequer are detailed in the tables below:
[185]The total costs also includes costing for staff under the previous Taoiseach.
Question No. 195 answered with Question No. 192.
Question No. 196 answered with Question No. 184.
Question No. 197 answered with Question No. 117.
198. Deputy Bernard Allen asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of inspections carried out by the Health and Safety Authority at the Haulbowline site in the past two years; if the works come under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Construction Regulations 2006; and, if so, whether all the duty holders complied with the relevant statutory provisions. [30279/08]
Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Billy Kelleher): I understand that in the last 2 years the Health and Safety Authority has inspected the Haulbowline site on 4 occasions and that construction work at the site came within the ambit of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Construction) Regulations, 2006.
I understand that the Authority advised Cork County Council and its appointed consultants on the nature of monitoring to be conducted at the site and also regarding certain necessary remedial works under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Construction) Regulations, 2006. The site was revisited on several occasions to monitor progress and compliance.
In so far as compliance with the relevant statutory provisions is concerned, I understand that the Authority has, within the period concerned, had no grounds to take enforcement action.
199. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the progress to date on obtaining alternative employment at the factory (details supplied) in County Roscommon; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30807/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): I understand from Enterprise Ireland that a new owner who will operate a food production activity at the facility is being sought if possible. All of the Industrial Development agencies are assisting in this process at the request of the company in question. Dialogue regarding prospects for the sale of the site is also taking place.
Two companies from Enterprise Ireland’s high potential start up portfolio indicated initial interest in utilizing the facility. A detailed site and facility appraisal was prepared and forwarded to the two companies. The resources of the agency are at the disposal of these enterprises and any other potential employer that may be identified.
200. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the secondary welfare benefits to which participants in community employment schemes are entitled; if she has plans to change the scheme as promised by the Government; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30830/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): Community Employment (CE) is an active labour market programme designed to provide eligible long-term unemployed people and other disadvantaged persons with an opportunity to [186]engage in useful work within their communities on a fixed term basis. CE helps unemployed people to re-enter the active workforce by breaking their experience of unemployment through a return to a work routine and to assist them to enhance/develop both their technical and personal skills.
I am informed by my colleague, the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, that depending on their circumstances, people who are participating on Community Employment Schemes may be entitled to the following additional payments (known as secondary benefits) which are provided by a number of different agencies:
the national and smokeless fuel schemes, rent and mortgage supplements under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, back to school clothing and footwear allowance from the Department of Social and Family Affairs);
the medical card (from the Health Services Executive); and
the local authority differential rent scheme (from the local authorities).
In conclusion then, I would say that this Government will continue to support the positive role of CE in meeting the needs of long-term unemployed persons while at the same time providing essential services to communities. In this regard, we are keeping the operation of the Scheme under constant review.
201. Deputy Fergus O’Dowd asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number, type and purchasing and leasing cost and CO2 emissions of vehicles acquired by her Department for each of the past three years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29551/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): My Department only requires the use of one motor vehicle for Departmental purposes. In July 2005 the Department purchased a Renault Kangoo van for €13,450. That vehicle was replaced in July 2008 by another Renault Kangoo van which cost €8,800 net on the trade in of the other van. The technical specifications of the Renault Kangoo van model states that on average the vehicle emits 141 grams of CO2 per kilometre. The two vehicles purchased by my Department in the past three years have together clocked up approximately 36,416 kilometres, which would give a CO2 emission figure of 5.13475 metric tonnes for both of the vehicles.
202. Deputy Brian Hayes asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the reason enterprise boards here do not have a standard approach to the payment of grants or loans in respect of the financial support offered by way of employment assistance to start up businesses; her views on the fact that an entrepreneur who lives in Dublin City can receive a €4,000 non-repayable grant, whereas an entrepreneur who lives in south Dublin may obtain up to €8,000 in terms of a low interest loan, all of which must be repaid to the relevant enterprise board; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29608/08]
Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy John McGuinness): The role of the County and City Enterprise Boards (CEBs) is to provide support for micro-enterprise in the start-up and expansion phases, to promote and develop indigenous micro-enterprise potential, and to stimulate economic activity and entrepreneurship at local [187]level. The Boards can support individuals, firms and community groups provided that the proposed projects have the capacity to achieve commercial viability.
The Boards can offer both financial and non-financial assistance to a project promoter. The forms of financial intervention, which are available subject to certain restrictions, include Capital Grants, Employment Grants, and Feasibility Study Grants. Boards are required to ensure that a proportion of their grants are issued in a refundable form. Boards may also take preference shares in companies. The criteria under which financial intervention is available is based primarily on factors such as the sector of the economy in which an enterprise is operating or intends to operate and the size, or proposed size, of the enterprise. The enterprise must be in the commercial sphere, must demonstrate a market for the proposed product/service, must have a capacity for growth and new job creation and must not employ more than 10 people. Boards give priority to enterprises in the manufacturing or internationally traded services sector and they must always give consideration to any potential for deadweight and displacement arising from a proposed enterprise. All Boards operate the above criteria in respect of the financial assistance which they can provide to eligible projects and they are also subject to the same upper limitation levels in relation to the amount of finance which they can provide i.e.
Capital Grants up to a maximum of 50% of the cost of capital and other investment or €75,000, whichever is the lesser; a portion of the grant in excess of 40% (in the BMW Region) or 35% (in the S&E Region) to be in refundable form;
Employment grants in exceptional circumstances, a grant of up €7,500 per new job, to a maximum of 10 new jobs.
Feasibility study grants up to a maximum of 60% (in the BMW Region) or 50% (in the S&E Region) of the cost of a feasibility study and business plan, subject to an overall limit of €6,350 (in the BMW Region) or €5,100 (in the S&E Region).
However, while the Boards work off an identical suite of financial interventions, there are certain differences between Boards as to how they apply these interventions e.g. the individual level of a grant or the refundability level applying to a grant payment may vary. I am of the view that it is appropriate and feasible to allow individual Boards a level of discretion and flexibility in the way in which they provide financial assistance to enable them to take account of the economic conditions and sectoral demands particular to their area of responsibility and the overall budget available to them in any given year.
203. Deputy Leo Varadkar asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if a company (details supplied) has been awarded contracts by her Department, or any of its agencies, since 2000; the value of the contracts and the length of contract signed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29710/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): My Department and the Offices of my Department have not awarded any contracts to the company involved and consequently the information requested by the Deputy is not relevant in so far as my Department and its Offices are concerned.
The awarding of contracts by the State Agencies that come under the aegis of my Department is an operational matter for the State Agencies concerned and, consequently, I am not in a position to provide the Deputy with the information requested insofar as my Department’s State Agencies are concerned.
204. Deputy Pat Breen asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment her plans to extend the age extension for participants in community employment schemes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29926/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): Community Employment (CE) is an active labour market programme designed to provide eligible long term unemployed people and other disadvantaged persons (including those with a disability) with an opportunity to engage in useful work within their communities on a fixed term basis.
Participation on Community Employment has an upper age limit of 65 years of age, i.e. a CE participant/Supervisor can remain on CE until the day before their 66th birthday, provided they meet all other eligibility requirements. FÁS cannot make funding available to a Sponsor for any participant or Supervisor aged 66 years or over. To do so would mean that the state would effectively be double-funding both the CE place and the participant’s state pension simultaneously.
The aim of CE still remains as an active labour market programme with the emphasis on progression into employment. The programme is managed within this context, with consideration to the availability of resources and the needs of participants and the community. FÁS makes every effort to ensure that differing levels of demand between neighbouring schemes are equalised. FÁS also operates the programme flexibly as far as possible to ensure the continuation of community projects.
In conclusion then, I would say that this Government will continue to support the positive role of CE in meeting the needs of long-term unemployed persons while at the same time providing essential services to communities. In this regard, we are keeping the operation of the Scheme under constant review.
205. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the plans she has to review the legislative basis of the Health and Safety Authority; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29969/08]
Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Billy Kelleher): I wish to inform the Deputy that I have no such plans at this time.
Question No. 206 answered with Question No. 134.
207. Deputy Leo Varadkar asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of staff sent from her Department and its agencies to a conference (details supplied); the cost of sending staff to the conference; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29992/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): I can confirm that no staff from my Department attended the conference in question — the 4th Irish Public Private Partnership Policy Forum held in the Gresham Hotel on the 19th June 2008.
As attendance at conferences by staff of the agencies under the aegis of my Department is a day to day matter for the agency concerned, I have no function in this area.
208. Deputy Joe Costello asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of people participating on FÁS courses at present; the cutbacks proposed for the coming year; the reduction in the number of places proposed for Dublin; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30017/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): As at the end of August, the number of people participating on FÁS courses was 40,504. It is not possible to accurately predict the number of participants for 2009 since discussions concerning the 2009 budget are still ongoing.
209. Deputy Leo Varadkar asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if EEA nationals must be given preference over non-EEA nationals when competing for positions as medical or surgical interns in the health service; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30037/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): The recruitment of interns is governed by European Community Preference rules and priority must therefore be granted to applicants who are nationals of the EEA Member States ahead of applicants who are nationals of third countries. I am advised by my colleague, the Minister for Health and Children, that this requirement is being implemented by the Health Service Executive and the employing hospitals concerned.
210. Deputy John O’Mahony asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the procedures in place to ensure that personal data stored by her Department is secure. [30129/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): My Department is very conscious of its obligations under the Data Protection Acts, and adopts a proactive approach to ensuring that personal data stored by it is kept secure. Physical safeguards, a secure ICT infrastructure and staff awareness programmes play a key role in supporting data protection in my Department. Regarding ICT this is a continuous process, involving a combination of appropriately skilled people and the implementation of best-practice processes and technologies. Last year, my Department conducted a comprehensive review of ICT security across the Department and its Offices. The findings of the report now form a significant part of my Department’s new ICT Strategy (2008-2010) and a programme of work is currently being undertaken which is designed to deliver ongoing improvements in the security of the Department’s ICT systems, thereby minimising the risk of compromising data and/or security breaches. This includes a programme of data protection and security awareness workshops, two of which have already taken place.
There are a total of fourteen Data Controllers who are responsible for all aspects of personal information held in my Department. These appointments are reviewed annually to ensure that all existing and new areas of work within my Department are registered with the Data Protection Commissioner. All induction courses for new staff members include a segment on data protection. In September 2007 all staff in my Department were issued with a Human Resources Management Handbook in hard copy format, which includes a dedicated section concerning the provisions of data protection legislation, and highlighting the obligations and responsibilities for [190]staff in this area. These obligations were reiterated to all staff by way of an Office Notice in November 2007, and data protection awareness continues to be actively promoted on an ongoing basis in my Department.
211. Deputy John O’Mahony asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of laptop computers, data storage devices and USB memory sticks that have been stolen or lost from her Department in 2007 and to date in 2008; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30144/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): My Department’s records indicate the following:
2007 — One BlackBerry device reported stolen.
2008 to date — One laptop reported stolen, one laptop reported missing, one BlackBerry device reported stolen.
There have been no USB flash drives reported lost or stolen.
My Department invoked the facility to automatically wipe all data from the BlackBerry devices as soon as they were reported missing and immediately cancelled the subscription with the service provider. The two laptops were reported not to contain any sensitive data at the time of their loss.
In a recent case where a laptop containing personal data relevant to my Department was stolen from an official of the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General, the data in question had been supplied to that Office in encrypted format. However, it was not possible for my Department to retain control over the data once it had been delivered to that Office. The loss has been reported to the Data Protection Commissioner.
212. Deputy Fergus O’Dowd asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the position regarding an application for an employment permit by a person (details supplied) in County Meath; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30165/08]
Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Billy Kelleher): The Employment Permits Section of my Department has informed me that they have requested some additional information from the employer in this case. On receipt of that information this application will be considered further.
213. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment further to Parliamentary Question No. 232 of 9 July 2008, the position regarding the situation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30190/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): The Government decided on 8th July last that no further expenditure on the acquisition of accommodation for decentralisation should be sanctioned pending detailed consideration by the Government of two reports: one from the Decentralisation Implementation Group on the feasibility of phased moves by the State Agencies; and one from the Implementation Group of Secretaries General on the governmental and cross-Departmental issues arising from the need to provide facilities for Minister, Ministers of State and officials while in Dublin on business.
[191]I expect that the Minister for Finance will present these to Government over the coming weeks.
In the meantime, FÁS has leased a floor of a building within the Birr Technology Centre to accommodate staff in the decentralised location. Currently there are 23 Head Office staff based in these premises, which has capacity for approximately 40 staff.
214. Deputy Andrew Doyle asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment further to Parliamentary Question No. 148 of 9 April 2008, the services in place to support persons in Arklow being made redundant by a company (details supplied). [30235/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): IDA Ireland is actively working with Arklow Chamber of Commerce and Wicklow County Council and the management of Allergan to promote Arklow as a location for a replacement industry or alternative project. IDA has met the management of the company to begin the process of seeking a replacement industry by requesting a profile of the workforce and conducting a detailed audit of the facilities. IDA has also met with the Arklow Chamber of Commerce and Wicklow County Council to profile the strengths and attractions of the location and to put a value proposition in place to allow the agency to effectively market the location abroad.
With regard to Arklow and County Wicklow in general, IDA Ireland continues to promote the area for new business and is currently in negotiation with investors seeking to relocate and expand at the IDA business park in Arklow.
The role of FÁS, the State training agency, is particularly important in assisting those who are being made redundant. FÁS has already been in contact with the company and is providing advice and training opportunities for the employees being made redundant. FÁS is making its full range of services available to the workers, which includes:
Top level agreement with the company on responsibilities and actions;
Intensive interviews, individually and/or in groups, with affected workers that will outline the range of supports and services available;
Preparation of a ‘Skills Analysis Report’ by FÁS based on identified workers’ needs and local opportunities;
Referral by FÁS of affected workers to jobs, training courses or other options;
Establishment by FÁS of special or customised training courses where necessary; and
On-going support and action to keep redundant workers ‘in touch with the labour market’.
FÁS is presently conducting a skills analysis of all members of the Allergen workforce. Following completion of this exercise, Enterprise Ireland, along with Wicklow CEB, will assess the skills base and meet with the employees to discuss their options outlining how EI and the CEB can best serve their needs.
Enterprise Ireland has supported indigenous industry in Arklow and has given substantial financial support ( €782,000) to the Arklow Enterprise Centre.
A significant number of Enterprise Ireland supported companies in Co. Wicklow are actively growing their businesses and creating employment. In 2006 and 2007 EI approved financial [192]funding of €4.8m and €3.9m respectively to Wicklow-based firms that are committed to increasing their sales exports and employment.
I am confident that the strategies and policies being pursued by the State Development agencies and other interested parties together with the ongoing commitment of Government to regional development will continue to bear fruit in terms of investment and employment for Co. Wicklow in general and Arklow in particular.
215. Deputy Arthur Morgan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the training which was funded by way of the National Training Fund in 2007 and to date in 2008. [30362/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): The National Training Fund supports a range of training schemes administered by organisations such as FÁS, Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, SFADCo and Skillnets.
FÁS delivers training programmes to assist the long-term unemployed, early school leavers, people with disabilities and the socially excluded gain access to the Labour Market. FÁS also delivers apprenticeship training and training for those in employment through its “One Step Up” programme.
Skillnets is an enterprise-led support body dedicated to the promotion and facilitation of learning as a key element in sustaining Ireland’s national competitiveness. Skillnets supports networks of enterprises to engage in training under the Learning Networks Programme. These Learning Networks are led and managed by the enterprises themselves and have created and delivered training programmes across a broad range of industry and service sectors nationwide.
NTF funding for Enterprise Ireland helps to fund a broad spectrum of training initiatives for Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Programmes supported under this initiative include both in-company training as well as a broad range of tailored industry sector programmes. Training Grants provided by the IDA are focused on assisting training programmes that will constitute a significant upgrading of the skills base of existing client companies and which will make a substantial contribution to the Irish companies long term competitiveness.
The table below sets out the funding received in respect of training from the National Training Fund in 2007 and to date in 2008.
216. Deputy John Deasy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the amount spent on advertising in the Irish language by her Department and by agencies under the aegis of her Department since the enactment of the Official Languages Act 2003; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30392/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): The amounts spent on advertising in the Irish language since the enactment of the Official Languages Act 2003 by my Department and the Offices of my Department are as follows:
| Year | Amount Spent |
|---|---|
| € | |
| 2003 | 9,271.75 |
| 2004 | 28,407.20 |
| 2005 | 42,164.69 |
| 2006 | 67,002.08 |
| 2007 | 54,678.00 |
| 2008 (To Date) | 45,523.93 |
| Total | 247,047.65 |
I am not in a position to supply the information requested by the Deputy in relation to the Agencies that come under the aegis of my Department as any such advertising costs would be operational matters for the Agencies concerned, where I have no function.
My Department is fully committed to the implementation of the Official Languages Act 2003 and is already fulfilling many of its requirements even though the Department has not yet been formally notified by the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs to draw up a Statutory Scheme outlining the Department’s plans for compliance with the Act.
217. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the plans she has to allow persons with disabilities to remain on FÁS schemes for unlimited periods; her further plans to facilitate persons with disabilities to remain on the schemes indefinitely in view of the fact that many of these people find it almost impossible to secure employment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30460/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): Community Employment (CE) is an active labour market programme designed to provide eligible long-term unemployed people and other disadvantaged persons (including those with a disability) with an opportunity to engage in useful work within their communities on a fixed term basis. CE helps unemployed people to re-enter the active workforce by breaking their experience of unemployment through a return to a work routine and to assist them to enhance/develop both their technical and personal skills.
In July 2006 my Department published its Sectoral Plan under the Disability Act, 2005. One of the key highlights of this Plan was the increased participation rates of people with disabilities on CE over the period of the Plan and the raised CE participation limits for people with disabilities in order to provide additional training to assist progression to employment:
[194]For people with disabilities under 55 years of age, the participation limit was raised by one year from 3 to 4 years; and
For people with disabilities over 55 years of age, the participation limit was also raised by one year from 6 to 7 years.
The aim of CE still remains as an active labour market programme with the emphasis on progression into employment. The programme is managed within this context, with consideration to the availability of resources and the needs of participants and the community. FÁS makes every effort to ensure that differing levels of demand between neighbouring schemes are equalised. FÁS also operates the programme flexibly as far as possible to ensure the continuation of community projects.
In conclusion then, I would say that this Government will continue to support the positive role of CE in meeting the needs of long-term unemployed persons while at the same time providing essential services to communities. In this regard, we are keeping the operation of the Scheme under constant review.
218. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment her plans to establish a FÁS scheme for persons with disabilities; the long term schemes available for persons with disabilities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30463/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): As part of Government policy on mainstreaming all FÁS Services are open to people with disabilities. In this regard the services and programmes in place may be summarised as follows:
Main Services provided by FÁS:
FÁS operates training and employment programmes; provides a recruitment service to jobseekers and employers; an advisory service for industry; and supports community based enterprises. Services for people with disabilities are mainstreamed within this context. Programmes for people with disabilities are ‘demand–led’ in that take up of same is voluntary, and there is no element of penalty involved for those who do not wish to engage, for whatever reason.
People with disabilities may call into a FÁS Employment Services Office or Local Employment Service Office to meet with an Employment Services Officer or Mediator who will provide them with full information, advice and guidance in relation to training and employment. People with disabilities, who meet the entry criteria, are able to participate in the full range of FÁS programmes and services, including mainline training provision. For example, there are currently 5,942 participants, or 28 % of total participants, with disabilities on Community Employment. FÁS also provides a range of positive action measures to assist the entry into employment of people with disabilities. These include:
FÁS contracts with 20 specialist training providers, such as the National Learning Network, in 55 centres to deliver vocational training to people with disabilities who require more intensive support than would be available in the mainline options. This training is provided exclusively to people with disabilities within a segregated setting. A budget of €54.95m is being provided to specialist training provision in 2008.
[195]Supported Employment Programme
The Supported Employment Programme is an open labour market initiative providing people with disabilities, who are ‘job-ready’, with supports to help them access the open labour market. It is implemented by sponsor organisations, on behalf of FÁS, which employ Job Coaches to provide a range of supports tailored to the individual needs of a jobseeker. A review of the programme has recently been carried out and a FÁS Action Plan on foot of reforms recommended in the review is nearing completion. A budget of €8.8m is being provided to the programme in 2008.
The Wage Subsidy Scheme provides financial incentives to employers, outside the public sector, to employ people with disabilities who work more than 20 hours per week. The scheme provides payment of a wage subsidy to the employer to compensate for the reduced productivity of the disabled worker. The scheme is designed to provide incentive to employers to look more closely at the potential of people with disabilities to meet their labour force requirements. A review of this scheme has also been carried out and a response to the review recommendations is currently under consideration. For 2008, a budget of €10.5m is being provided to the scheme.
Employee Retention Grant Scheme
The Employee Retention Grant Scheme is available to private sector employers when an employee acquires a disability whether occupational or not. It provides funding to identify accommodation or training to enable the employee to remain in their current position, or to re-train them to take up another position within the organisation.
Workplace Equipment Adaptation Grant
The Workplace Equipment Adaptation Grant is available to employers in the private sector who need to adapt equipment or the workplace to accommodate people with disabilities. The maximum grant provided is €6,350 and covers minor building modifications such as ramps or accessible toilets; assistive technology; amplifiers for telephones, etc.
Job Interview/Induction Interpreter Grant
The Job Interview/Induction Interpreter Grant is available to cover the costs of an interpreter up to a maximum of €106.68 for a three-hour period for interview and induction purposes, where an interviewee or new staff member is deaf, hard of hearing, or has a speech impediment.
The Personal Reader Grant is available for the blind or visually impaired who require assistance with job-related reading, this is a grant to permit the employment of a personal reader. FÁS will pay a fee per hour for this service, in line with the national minimum wage for a maximum of 640 hours per annum.
Disability Awareness Training Support Scheme
The Disability Awareness Training Support Scheme assists the integration of people with disabilities into the workplace and helps to eliminate mistaken perceptions about them. It is available to all companies in the private sector who are interested in employing, retaining or [196]relating to people with disabilities. Funding of up to 90% of training costs is available in the first year, and up to 80% of costs in subsequent years, with an annual limit of €20,000 payable to an organisation. To avail of this funding training must be carried out by a FÁS approved training organisation or trainer.
The combined budget in 2008 for the Employee Retention Grant Scheme, Workplace Equipment Adaptation Grant, Job Interview Interpreter Grant, Personal Reader Grant and Disability Awareness Training Support Scheme amounts to €2.1 million. This gives a total budget of € 76.350 million for disability-specific programmes.
FÁS schemes and programmes are monitored and kept under regular review as part of overall employment and training policy for people with disabilities under the Sectoral Plan of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
219. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the total payroll and the total financial package including basic salary, performance, other bonuses and pension entitlements of the chief executive officer of every public agency or quango under the aegis of her Department; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30611/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): The basic salary and emoluments granted to the chief executive officer of all of the public agencies under the aegis of my Department are sanctioned by the Department of Finance, in line with recommendations of the Review Body on Higher Remuneration in the Public Sector, Reports No. 42 and 43.
In addition to the above, the CEO of Science Foundation Ireland is paid an allowance in the nature of pay on a personal basis (as approved by the Department of Finance) in recognition of his international research experience and expertise.
CEOs of all agencies are eligible to apply for a performance related bonus award of up to 20% of annual salary in line with guidelines set down by the Department of Finance.
CEOs of the following agencies under the aegis of my Department have the use of a car for official business:
Shannon Free Airport Development Co.
Each CEO is a member of the superannuation scheme of their respective agency.
220. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of staff broken down by grade, the number of such staff who are full time civil servants, the number of such staff who are political appointees, the cost for 2007 of each [197]such office in terms of salary, overtime and expenses and the projected cost for 2008 of each such office in terms of salary, overtime and expenses in respect of the private and the constituency office of her and each Minister of State within her Department; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30626/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): The tables below outline the number of staff by grade in my private and constituency office and in those of each Minister of State within my Department. The cost for 2007 of each such office in terms of salary, overtime and expenses are included together with the projected costs for 2008 to date.
| Civil Servants | Political Appointees |
|---|---|
| 1 Private Secretary | 1 Personal Assistant |
| 1 Executive Officer | 1 Personal Secretary |
| 3 Clerical Officers | 2 Civilian Drivers |
There are also two additional Ministers of State who have responsibility in this Department however; they do not have offices in the Department. The Ministers concerned are:
Minister for Lifelong Learning at the Department of Education and Science.
Minister for Equality, Disability and Mental Health at the Department of Health and Children.
221. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if a person (details supplied) in County Kildare whose employment was terminated recently has entitlements under unfair dismissal legislation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30640/08]
Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Billy Kelleher): The Unfair Dismissals Acts, 1977 to 2007 protect employees from being unfairly dismissed from their jobs by laying down criteria by which dismissals are to be judged unfair and by providing an adjudication system and redress for an employee whose dismissal has been found to be unfair.
To qualify under the Unfair Dismissals Acts, an employee is normally expected to have at least one year’s continuous service with the employer. A claim for redress under the Acts may be submitted initially to either of the adjudicative bodies specified in the Acts i.e. a Rights Commissioner or the Employment Appeals Tribunal within 6 months of the date of dismissal (this can be extended to 12 months in exceptional circumstances). Either party may appeal a [199]determination of the Employment Appeals Tribunal to the Circuit Court. Redress may take the form of either financial compensation, re-instatement or re-engagement, whichever the relevant adjudicative body considers appropriate having regard to all the circumstances.
Alternatively, it is always open to individuals to seek professional legal advice on the remedies available under the common law in relation to dismissal. However, an individual is not entitled to recover both damages at common law for “wrongful dismissal” and redress under the Unfair Dismissals Acts for “unfair dismissal”.
If the reason for dismissal was related to any of the nine grounds of discrimination under the Employment Equality Acts 1998 to 2008, the employee may wish to consider making a complaint of discrimination under those Acts to the Equality Tribunal. The Employment Equality Acts are administered by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform through the Equality Authority. However it is important to note that redress is not available under more than one of the above-mentioned pieces of legislation.
An explanatory booklet on the Unfair Dismissals Acts is available on the National Employment Rights Authority’s website at www.employmentrights.ie or by contacting the Employment Rights Information Unit of the Authority at (059) 9178990 or on Lo-call 1890 80 80 90.
222. Deputy Bernard Allen asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if a participant in a community employment scheme, on reaching the age of 64, can have their period of employment extended until they reach old age pension age. [30688/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): Community Employment (CE) is an active labour market programme designed to provide eligible long-term unemployed people and other disadvantaged persons (including those with a disability) with an opportunity to engage in useful work within their communities on a fixed term basis. CE helps unemployed people to re-enter the active workforce by breaking their experience of unemployment through a return to a work routine and to assist them to enhance/develop both their technical and personal skills.
Participation on Community Employment has an upper age limit of 65 years of age, i.e. a CE participant/Supervisor can remain on CE until the day before their 66th birthday, provided they meet all other eligibility requirements. FÁS cannot make funding available to a Sponsor for any participant or Supervisor aged 66 years or over.
The aim of CE still remains as an active labour market programme with the emphasis on progression into employment. The programme is managed within this context, with consideration to the availability of resources and the needs of participants and the community. FÁS makes every effort to ensure that differing levels of demand between neighbouring schemes are equalised. FÁS also operates the programme flexibly as far as possible to ensure the continuation of community projects.
In conclusion then, I would say that this Government will continue to support the positive role of CE in meeting the needs of long-term unemployed persons while at the same time providing essential services to communities. In this regard, we are keeping the operation of the Scheme under constant review.
223. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and [200]Employment the number of site visits (details supplied) to County Mayo conducted by the Industrial Development Authority to date in 2008. [30712/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): IDA Ireland is the agency with statutory responsibility for the attraction of foreign direct investment to Ireland and its regions. The marketing of individual areas, for new or expansion FDI investments and jobs is a day-to-day operational matter for the Agency.
I have been informed by the Agency that to date in 2008 there have been three first time site visits to Mayo. For reasons of confidentiality and commercial sensitivity, details of prospective clients are not disclosed.
While IDA Ireland can and does encourage clients to visit particular locations, the final decision on where to visit or locate is taken in all cases by the clients.
224. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of people employed in companies supported by the Industrial Development Authority at a location (details supplied) with comparison figures for each of the past five years. [30713/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): The Forfás Annual Employment Survey reports on job gains and losses in companies that are supported by the industrial development agencies. Data is compiled on an annualised basis and is aggregated at county level. Figures for 2008 will not be available until early 2009.
The numbers employed in IDA supported companies in Co Mayo in each year of the 5 year period 2003-2007 are shown in the following tabular statement.
| YEAR | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Numbers in employment | 3,468 | 3,213 | 3,058 | 2,973 | 3,004 |
225. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if she will ascertain from the Industrial Development Authority the position regarding a project (details supplied) in County Mayo; the number of units available in total at that location; the number that have been occupied; if there is active interest in the location by investors; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30714/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): The management of IDA Ireland’s industrial property portfolio is a day-to-day operational matter for the Agency, as part of the statutory responsibility assigned to it by the Oireachtas and it is not a matter in which the Minister of the day has any involvement.
I have been informed by IDA Ireland that the Agency acquired 37 acres of land at Westport for development into a flagship Business & Technology Park. The Agency has invested a total of €3.5m on site development and a landscaping programme for the Park.
226. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the steps she has taken to ensure that a plant (details supplied) in County Tipperary remains open in view of the fact that the plant is economically viable and that forty four jobs are directly at stake; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30832/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): The company in question is a client of Enterprise Ireland. The agency has been working with the company particularly over the last three years. However, in the middle of August this year, the company informed its staff and then publicly announced that it intended to close as of 31 October 2008.
Enterprise Ireland will continue to work with the company to assist in whatever way possible. I am aware that opportunities for alternative work for the staff are already being explored within the parent company.
227. Deputy Olwyn Enright asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the steps that she and FÁS have taken to ensure that apprentices who are made redundant can complete their remaining phases and achieve a craft certificate; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30889/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): Given the significant reduction in construction related activity and the subsequent increase in the numbers of construction workers who have been made redundant, I am very conscious of the need to try and accommodate apprentices in the completion of their apprenticeships.
To achieve this, both my Department and FÁS have been actively examining this issue and have put in place a series of actions to facilitate redundant apprentices in completing their studies. These include the following:
Through their Employment Services Division, FÁS are focusing on assisting redundant apprentices to source employment, in order that they can complete their apprenticeship by receiving the appropriate on-the-job training and undertaking the associated competence-based assessments.
As an interim measure, FÁS now allows apprentices who are made redundant to progress to their next off-the-job training phase of their apprenticeship, without having to do the next on-the-job phase first.
FÁS have put into place a register of Redundant Apprentices by Trade in order to identify these people at the earliest possible point in time and FÁS have prioritised the need to locate an employer to sponsor the completion of the Apprentices “off-the-job” training.
FÁS will not allow employers who make an apprentice redundant to subsequently recruit another apprentice in the same trade before the apprenticeship period of the redundant apprentice has expired.
FÁS has met with the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) to discuss the impact of the slowdown in the Construction Industry on the Apprenticeship Programme. The CIF agreed to consult with members and to report back to FÁS with their views and proposals.
[202]FÁS have opened discussions with relevant bodies and authorities regarding the accreditation of on-the-job work experience and competency based assessments where the apprentice has obtained employment abroad.
FÁS will explore the feasibility of creating new apprenticeships in those highly skilled occupations, which have become extensively required in the Construction Industry (e.g. glazing, insulation).
My Department and FÁS will continue to monitor the trends and activities in the industry and will work with all of the relevant stakeholders to ensure timely and satisfactory responses to assist redundant apprentices to complete their apprenticeships.
228. Deputy Lucinda Creighton asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of civil service staff dealing with constituency matters in her office; the number of Civil Service staff dealing with constituency matters in the offices of Junior Ministers within her Department; and the cost in salaries for these staff per annum. [31128/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): The table below outlines the number of Civil Servants in my Constituency Office and those of my Junior Ministers within the Department. The table also sets out the salary pay scale for each staff member:
229. Deputy Dinny McGinley asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the efforts being made to bring industrial employment to Donegal; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31146/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): Donegal is a target location for the IDA with the County now competing for a different type of business to labour intensive manufacturing, which had been the key target over the past four decades. Overseas investors are now seeking locations for more advanced manufacturing or office based solutions, to a great extent depending on high skill and high value work. While this has required a significant change of strategy by the IDA, progress has been made in securing new high value investments from Pacificare, Pramerica, SITA and Abbott Diabetes, with some 1,200 new jobs being added in the County by overseas firms over the last five years. These companies continue to recruit and are actively seeking new staff.
[203]As regards Enterprise Ireland, which serves the indigenous sector, it provides a wide range of supports for high potential start up companies including financial supports, business and marketing advice, mentoring, product development etc. As part of its infrastructural support for start-up companies, Enterprise Ireland has approved some €3.5m in recent years for developments at Letterkenny Institute of Technology, which is an important aspect of supporting and attracting business to the region.
Enterprise Ireland’s results for jobs created in client companies in County Donegal for 2007 show a net gain for the third year in a row with a net increase of over 440 jobs. A growth of 15% over the last three years reflects the investment Donegal companies are making in competing successfully both at home and abroad. During the 3 year period to December 2007, Enterprise Ireland approved over €14m to companies in County Donegal to support the development of new sales, exports and jobs.
Enterprise Ireland has also been very active in supporting the development of community enterprise centres in the North West Region, which are critical to continued enterprise development in rural areas and to the development of an entrepreneurial culture. Nine Community Enterprise Centres in County Donegal have received funding of approx. €2m under the Community Enterprise Centre Scheme to date.
The role of the Donegal County Enterprise Board, is to provide support to micro-enterprises in the start-up and expansion phases, to promote and develop indigenous micro-enterprise potential and to stimulate economic activity and entrepreneurship at local level. Through the provision of both financial and non-financial support, the Board supports individuals, firms and community groups, provided that the proposed projects have the capacity to achieve commercial viability. Financial support is available in the form of Capital Grants, Employment Grants and Feasibility Study grants. In relation to non-financial support, Donegal CEB engages in a range of activities to stimulate enterprise and to support small businesses.
Despite past difficulties in County Donegal, due to the demise of traditional industries such as agriculture, fishing and textiles, there is clear evidence that the county is successfully engaged in a transition to the new economy. Most recently, with the support of Údarás na Gaeltachta, Forward Emphasis International is set to expand its workforce by 100 at a new facility in the Gaoth Dobhair Business Park with Euro Iompú Teo also set to expand its workforce by 100 in Gaoth Dobhair. A major investment by Randox Laboratories, in Dungloe, will lead to the creation of a further 135 jobs.
I can assure the Deputy that funding support and initiatives for enterprises in County Donegal is, and will remain, a priority for the State development agencies under the auspices of my Department.
230. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment when a decision will be made on an appeal for an employment permit by a person (details supplied) in County Mayo. [31173/08]
Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Billy Kelleher): It is current Government policy to issue new employment permits for highly skilled, highly paid positions or to non-EEA nationals already legally resident in the State on existing valid employment permits. There are some exception categories under this policy, including ethnic restaurants, where a limited number of applications for fully trained head chefs are being considered. However, it is considered in this instance that a suitable employee from the [204]enlarged EU can fill the position this employer seeks to fill. Having examined the appeal, the Appeals Officer has upheld the original decision in this case.
231. Deputy Leo Varadkar asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the bonuses, merit awards and other payments above the basic salary they have approved for the heads of State agencies, boards and other quangos for 2005, 2006, 2007 and to date in 2008; the basis on which they made the decision to approve such awards; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31192/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): Bonuses, merit awards and other payments above basic salary for the heads of State Agencies and Boards under the aegis of my Department, are not approved directly by me.
However, the Secretary General of my Department recommends for approval and onward transmission to the Department of Finance, performance related awards for certain senior Office holders in the following bodies:
The Labour Relations Commission
The Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement
The National Employment Rights Authority
The National Consumer Agency (prior to the appointment of the Board in 2007)
In Agencies where there is a Board in place, performance related awards of up to 20% of annual salary are agreed and approved for the CEO of the respective Board in line with agreed guidelines.
232. Deputy Seán Sherlock asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of site visits by the Industrial Development Authority to Mallow, County Cork; the initiatives being undertaken to attract new enterprises to Mallow; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31215/08]
233. Deputy Seán Sherlock asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of site visits by the Industrial Development Authority to Mitchelstown, County Cork; the initiatives being undertaken to attract new enterprises to Mitchelstown; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31216/08]
237. Deputy Seán Sherlock asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of site visits by the Industrial Development Authority to Fermoy, County Cork; the initiatives being undertaken to attract new enterprises to Fermoy; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31220/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): I propose to take Questions Nos. 232, 233 and 237 together.
[205]IDA Ireland is the agency with statutory responsibility for the attraction of foreign direct investment (FDI) to Ireland and its regions. The marketing of individual areas for new or expansion FDI investments and jobs is a day-to-day operational matter for the Agency. While I may give general policy directives to the Agency, I am precluded under the Industrial Development Acts from giving directives regarding individual undertakings or from giving preference to one area over others.
I have been informed by the Agency that to date in 2008, there have been no site visits by potential investors to either Mallow, Michelstown or Fermoy. While IDA Ireland can and does encourage clients to visit particular locations, the final decision on where to visit or locate is taken in all cases by the clients.
In line with the National Spatial Strategy, IDA Ireland is focused on delivering investments to all of the Gateway and Hub locations. Mallow is a hub town. Through its network of overseas offices, the Agency is marketing the North Cork region which includes the towns of Mallow, Kanturk, Charleville, Newmarket, Millstreet, Fermoy and Mitchelstown to prospective investors across the full range of IDA targeted sectors, such as Pharmaceuticals, Medical Technologies, Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) and Internationally Traded Services.
In June 2007 Sanmina-SCI, a leading electronics contract manufacturer, announced it is to undertake a €30 million investment for the transformation of its Fermoy facility into a manufacturing and design Centre-of-Excellence for the medical industry. Up to 50 highly skilled engineering and other professional positions will be created as a result. It will also consolidate the existing employment in Fermoy, further enhance the facility’s position within the parent company and will make it a flagship operation within Sanmina-SCI.
In addition to attracting new foreign direct investment, IDA continues to work closely with its existing clients in North Cork to encourage them to expand their operations.
234. Deputy Seán Sherlock asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of site visits by the Industrial Development Authority to Youghal, County Cork; the initiatives being undertaken to attract new enterprises to Youghal; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31217/08]
235. Deputy Seán Sherlock asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of site visits by the Industrial Development Authority to Cobh, County Cork; the initiatives being undertaken to attract new enterprises to Cobh; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31218/08]
236. Deputy Seán Sherlock asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of site visits by the Industrial Development Authority to Midleton, County Cork; the initiatives being undertaken to attract new enterprises to Midleton; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31219/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): I propose to take Questions Nos. 234 to 236, inclusive, together.
IDA Ireland is the agency with statutory responsibility for the attraction of foreign direct investment (FDI) to Ireland and its regions. The marketing of individual areas for new or expansion FDI investments and jobs is a day-to-day operational matter for the Agency. While I may give general policy directives to the Agency, I am precluded under the Industrial Development Acts from giving directives regarding individual undertakings or from giving preference to one area over others.
[206]IDA Ireland has informed me that so far this year there has been one site visit to Cobh but none to either Youghal or Midleton. While IDA Ireland can and does encourage clients to visit particular locations, the final decision on where to visit or locate is taken in all cases by the clients. In this connection, I would like to add that in the same period 37 visits have been made by new and existing companies looking at setting up new or additional functions in the greater Cork area including Little Island, Carrigtwohill and Ringaskiddy.
IDA Ireland is actively promoting the greater East Cork region (which also includes locations such as Little Island, Carrigtwohill, Midleton, Youghal, Carrigaline & Ringaskiddy) to prospective investors across the full range of IDA targeted sectors, such as Pharmaceuticals, Medical Technologies, Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) and Internationally Traded Services via its network of overseas offices and project divisions.
Question No. 237 answered with Question No. 232.
238. Deputy Jack Wall asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the original cost to the Exchequer of the Industrial Development Authority lands in Monasterevin, County Kildare; if the lands were offered to Kildare County Council; if so, the price they were offered at; the reason the sale did not proceed; the plans the IDA has for the lands in view of the fact that there has been no visit by an IDA itinerary delegation to the site for the past five years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31275/08]
239. Deputy Jack Wall asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the original cost to the Exchequer of the Industrial Development Authority lands at Athy, County Kildare; if the lands were offered for sale to Kildare County Council; if so, the price they were offered at; the reason the sale did not proceed; the plans the IDA has for the lands in view of the fact that no itinerary delegation has visited the site for the past five years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31276/08]
240. Deputy Jack Wall asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the original cost to the Exchequer of the Industrial Development Authority lands at Kildare Town, County Kildare; if the lands were offered to Kildare County Council; the price they were offered at; the reason the sale was not completed; the plans the IDA has for the lands in view of the fact that no itinerary delegation has visited the site in a number of years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31277/08]
241. Deputy Jack Wall asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the original cost to the Exchequer of the Industrial Development Authority lands purchased in Castledermot, County Kildare; if these lands were offered for sale to Kildare County Council; if so, the price the lands were offered for; the reason for the sale not proceeding; the plans the IDA has for the lands in view of the fact that there has been no itinerary visits to the site in the past five years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31278/08]
242. Deputy Jack Wall asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if she or her Department has had meetings with the Industrial Development Authority or the local authority of Kildare County Council to discuss proposals to develop the unused IDA lands within the county where there has been no itinerary visits or no proposals for the use of such unused lands for at least the past five years; if she or her Department discussed with the IDA or the local authority a partnership agreement for the provision of incubation [207]units for small and medium enterprises on these sites; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31279/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): I propose to take Questions Nos. 238 to 242, inclusive, together.
The management of IDA Ireland’s industrial property portfolio is a day-to-day operational matter for the Agency, as part of the statutory responsibility assigned to it by the Oireachtas and it is not a matter in which the Minister of the day has any involvement.
I am informed by IDA Ireland that, at present, the Agency has approximately 2.27 hectares remaining available in Monasterevin, approximately 1.77 hectares remaining available in Athy, (Woodstock), and approximately 1.53 hectares remaining available in Castledermot. The Agency has no lands in Kildare town.
I understand that the Board of IDA approved the sale of all these lands to Kildare County Council at its Board meeting on April 9th 2003. However, this transaction was never finalised due to a failure in negotiations.
IDA informs me that it is currently reviewing the future use of the lands. As part of this review, the Agency has written to Kildare County Council in recent weeks to determine the Council’s interest in the acquisition of these lands.
For reasons of confidentiality and commercial sensitivity the cost of acquiring land by IDA are not divulged. In addition, I would like to add that IDA Ireland is regularly in communication with Kildare County Council on a variety of issues.
IDA Ireland is an active participant on the Kildare County Development Board, at which all local development issues are discussed.
243. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the extent to which she expects to increase funding for community employment schemes in 2009; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31508/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): Community Employment (CE) is an active labour market programme designed to provide eligible long term unemployed people and other disadvantaged persons with an opportunity to engage in useful work within their communities on a fixed term basis. CE aims to facilitate unemployed people to re-enter the active workforce by breaking their experience of unemployment through a return to a work routine and to assist them to enhance/develop both their technical and personal skills.
The aim of CE still remains as an active labour market programme with the emphasis on progression into employment. The programme is managed in a flexible way within this context, with consideration to the availability of resources and the needs of participants and the community. Funding for Community Employment Schemes for 2009 will be dealt with in the context of the forthcoming Budget.
244. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the extent to which policy has become more reliant on exports from the services sector; if studies have been carried out to identify the expected impact of higher costs in respect of exports in the service area; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31509/08]
[208]246. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the extent to which the manufacturing sector has contributed to exports in each of the past five years; if the actions are being taken to address issues currently or likely to negatively impact on this sector in the future; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31511/08]
247. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the trend established in respect of export growth in each of the past five years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31512/08]
Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy John McGuinness): I propose to take Questions Nos. 244, 246 and 247 together.
In the period 2003-2007, annual growth in total Irish exports has averaged 6.7%. In relation to Merchandise exports, the growth has averaged 2%, while Services exports grew at an average of 15.3% during this period. Services exports have risen steadily from 31% of total exports in 2003 to 43% in 2007. Of total exports of €154.4bn in 2007, our trade surplus was an extremely healthy €23.3 bn, the biggest surplus in any of those 5 years. This very positive trend was achieved despite poor economic growth in many of our trading partners and also against the backdrop of adverse exchange rate trends in our two biggest export markets, the United States and the United Kingdom, due to the rise of the Euro against both the US Dollar and Sterling.
In relation to manufacturing, this sector is in transition but is well positioned to meet future challenges. Ireland’s manufacturing future depends on a manufacturing sector that is capital intensive, knowledge intensive and skills intensive, focused on developing innovative products, services and solutions and meeting the needs of markets and customers. The report of the High Level Group on Manufacturing, which was launched by Minister Micheál Martin, in April last, identifies the focused actions needed by employers, employees and Government to respond to challenges and take advantage of opportunities to further develop the sector in Ireland.
That report contains 26 recommendations, directed at the key areas of:
Innovation and productivity, leading to transformational change.
Reskilling and management development for the innovative firm.
Increasing awareness and take-up of existing supports.
The restoration of cost competitiveness, which is of critical importance.
The establishment of a Manufacturing Forum to progress the implementation of the recommendations outlined in the report and to act as a strong advocate and champion for the manufacturing sector.
The Government is committed to ensuring that the recommendations of this Group receive a high level of priority to ensure that the manufacturing sector continues to evolve and to provide high value added and high quality employment for the future. The report is currently being considered by the Social Partnership Forum, as part of the ongoing review of “Towards 2016”.
In relation to Services, almost two thirds of the Irish workforce is currently employed in services and Ireland is now the 10th highest exporter of services in the world. The future performance in services activities will therefore be increasingly important to overall growth in the economy.
The Services Strategy Group, which was set up last year by Forfas and my Department, published its report —“Catching the Wave: A Services Strategy for Ireland”, earlier this [209]month. The report sets out new policy proposals on how the State can ensure the continued development and growth of Ireland’s services sector. It deals with the following issues:
The impact of services on the national economy
Developing a Strategic Framework for Services
Exploiting opportunities for services to optimise impact on the national economy
Putting in place a support framework
Implementing a Services Strategy.
The recommendations in this report will guide the development of our services strategy into the future, to exploit the opportunities that this sector presents.
245. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the extent to which her policy is focused less on manufacturing; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31510/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): While the Services Sector is clearly an important and growing source of employment and exports, the Manufacturing Sector is and will continue to be an integral component of the Irish economy. The sector continues to be a significant employer — the latest available data on manufacturing employment compiled by the Central Statistics Office (Earnings and Labour Costs Release) published in May 2008 indicates that at Quarter 4 2007, there were over 225,000 persons directly employed in manufacturing which equates to 11% of total employment. In addition the sector sustains an additional 165,000 through secondary employment in associated services. In 2006 the sector was accountable for approx 23% of total economic output. Our manufacturing sector continues to perform strongly and 2007 represented a very good year with production growing by 7.5 per cent, the highest annual change since 2002.
Not only does manufacturing contribute directly to employment, economic output and exports but it is also a key driver of innovation and technological advance. It increases opportunities for attracting and embedding research and development activities, collaboration with the higher education sector and stimulating networks. Ireland’s management capability, high quality outputs, productivity growth and project management skills have evolved as a result of our success in attracting high quality foreign direct investment in manufacturing and in stimulating the growth of indigenous firms with a focus on exports.
The manufacturing sector in Ireland has evolved noticeably since 2000, in terms of the composition of industry and the nature of activities, and is likely to continue to do so. The model of manufacturing in developed economies has changed and Irish enterprises are adapting to those changes and engaging in higher value added activities in order to compete in the global marketplace. In order to sustain and grow the sector, the Irish based manufacturing enterprises will have to continue the progression to high value added sectors and activities, and continue to increase productivity through investments in human capital, technology and innovation. Innovation and the productivity gains that flow from it are the new foundations for competitiveness. Irish manufacturers who engage in specialised, sophisticated, high technology and value added activities can continue to compete successfully on international markets.
The recently launched Report of the High-Level Manufacturing Group contains some 26 recommendations directed at key areas of innovation and productivity leading to transformational change, reskilling and management development for the innovative firm, increasing awareness and take up of existing supports. In addition the group recommends the establishment of a Manufacturing Forum to take responsibility to progress the implementation of the [210]recommendations outlined in the report and to act as a strong advocate and champion for the manufacturing sector to ensure that manufacturing remains central to current and future industrial policy.
The Social Partners agreed, as part of the recently concluded review of Towards 2016. that a manufacturing Forum should be established in line with the recommendation of the High Level Group. This matter will be progressed by my department in consultation with the Department of An Taoiseach and the Social Partners.
Questions Nos. 246 and 247 answered with Question No. 244.
248. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of courses available for retraining or upskilling of the workforce in each of the past five years; the extent to which such places have been taken up in each year; her plans to provide extra resources in this respect; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31513/08]
250. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of extra re-training or upskilling places expected to be provided the coming year; the extent to which this is expected to address job losses in the past five years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31515/08]
251. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the resources available for the retraining of the workforce in view of recent job losses; the number of training or upskilling places available; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31516/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): I propose to take Questions Nos. 248, 250 and 251 together.
Over the past five years my Department’s two key training providers FÁS and Skillnets provided upskilling and retraining to the following numbers of people:
| Year | FÁS* | Skillnets | Total Trainees |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 55,577 | 4,875 | 60,452 |
| 2004 | 47,543 | 4,875 | 52,418 |
| 2005 | 51,636 | 4,875 | 56,511 |
| 2006 | 48,947 | 23,058 | 72,005 |
| 2007 | 88,161 | 48,719 | 136,880 |
It should be noted that the training provided by FÁS is split between their Training Services Division, which focuses on the provision of training to help people secure employment and their Services to Business Division, which focuses on the provision of training to people in employment. It should also be noted that training figures for the FÁS Service to Business Division are only currently available for 2007.
In 2008 the funding channelled through my Department for upskilling both those in employment and those seeking employment is expected to provide training to approximately 136,000 people. As can be seen from the above figures a substantial increase in the provision of training has occurred since 2004. My Department’s budget for the provision of training those in employ[211]ment has increased more than tenfold from approximately €7 million in 2004 to an expected €77 million this year.
It is not possible at this present time to accurately predict the number of available training places for 2009. Details of funding for next year will become available following the publication of the Budget for 2009.
FÁS, acting in conjunction with other relevant state agencies, has in place an early response team to implement procedures to deal with retraining of redundant workers. This allows FÁS to provide a range of proactive job-related services, supports and programmes, to assist individuals to return to the labour market. FÁS have already initiated the provision of a range of certified, short, flexible, modular programmes designed to upskill redundant workers so that they can enhance their prospect of securing employment.
A particular focus is being placed on providing support and retraining opportunities to construction workers who have been made redundant. A range of actions are being implemented by FÁS for those affected by the construction slowdown, including:
Focusing on providing retraining opportunities for redundant construction workers in emerging areas within the construction sector. This will include retraining in the following:
FÁS will also assist individuals in anyway they can in seeking employment aboard in construction in other EU countries. FÁS have held a European construction jobs fairs for employers from other EU countries.
Ensuring continuity in the apprenticeship system by assisting apprentices who have been made redundant complete their training.
249. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the extent of job losses in the past five years; the number of replacement jobs created during the same period; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31514/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): The table below sets out the numbers in employment/unemployment and the number of redundancies in the years 2004 to 2008.
Questions Nos. 250 and 251 answered with Question No. 248.
[212]252. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the efforts that have been made to identity areas seriously affected by job losses in recent years; her plans to put in place measures to address the accruing economic issues; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31517/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): Employment and unemployment are measured by the Quarterly National Household Survey and published by the Central Statistics Office. While an increase in unemployment (22,600) is recorded throughout the country in the last two years, this is more than exceeded by the increase in employment (87,500) in all regions in the same period bar a slight decrease in the Mid-West region.
FÁS and the Department of Social and Family Affairs are working together so they can respond quickly to the increase in unemployment, for example:
FÁS and the Department of Social and Family Affairs have agreed that redundant workers will be referred immediately to FÁS rather than wait for three months on the Live Register as was the case before. FÁS has also established a training fund to enable a speedy response to identified re-training needs for low skilled and redundant craft workers.
FÁS is, with the Local Employment Services provided by Area-Based Partnerships, currently gearing up its Employment Services further to provide increased capacity for expected increased referrals from the Live Register.
FÁS will be providing a range of certified, short, flexible, modular programmes designed to upskill redundant workers so that they can enhance their prospect of securing employment. A number of programmes are already in place and the frequency and range of these will be expanded over the coming months.
A range of actions are being implemented by FÁS for those affected by the construction slowdown, including –
FÁS will focus on providing retraining opportunities for redundant construction workers in emerging areas within the construction sector, such as:
FÁS will also assist individuals in anyway they can in seeking employment aboard in construction in other EU countries. FÁS have held European construction jobs fairs for employers from other EU countries.
Strong, balanced regional development and a thriving culture of entrepreneurship in all parts of Ireland are key strategic objectives for the Department and the development agencies under its remit. The Agencies are working to ensure that the economy and jobs continue to grow even in the current more challenging environment and have had some notable successes already to report this year. The pipeline of new business for which IDA Ireland is competing is as strong as at any time in recent years.
In respect of IDA Ireland, winning FDI requires focused co-operation and collaboration between all key stakeholders including Institutes of Technology, Universities, Research [213]Institutes, Local Authorities, Government Departments, Employers/Industry Organisations, Chambers of Commerce, Utility Providers (e.g. Eirgrid / Bord Gáis etc.), Infrastructure Providers (e.g. NRA), Service Providers, Construction Industry, and Sister Agencies such as SFI, Enterprise Ireland, Forfás and FÁS. IDA has a close working relationship with its sister agencies.
IDA Ireland, as part of a renewed focus on securing FDI, has targeted new sources of FDI in Mumbai, Shanghai, Boston, and Sth California. It has also increased its resources in our London and Atlanta offices.
In addition, IDA Ireland has an active programme of client engagement to support the existing clients and secure additional investments. In this respect it pays particular attention to clients in vulnerable sectors in regional locations and works with them to continue to secure their investment in Ireland.
253. Deputy Arthur Morgan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the amount that was spent by her Department on consultants in 2007 and to date in 2008. [31646/08]
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Mary Coughlan): €2,426,857 was spent by my Department on consultants in 2007 and €781,465 was expended on consultants in the first 6 months of 2008.
These figures relate to consultancies as defined in the Department of Finance December 2006 “Guidelines for the Engagement of Consultants and Other External Support by the Civil Service”.
254. Deputy Joe Costello asked the Minister for Finance the sections of the national development plan that he proposes to retain; the sections he proposes to defer; the reduction in capital spending on the NDP expected in 2008; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29430/08]
Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan): In response to the deteriorating position of the public finances, the Government decided on 8th July 2008 to introduce a range of cost-saving measures in 2008 and 2009 including some capital savings. As I indicated to the Dáil in July 2008, the capital savings in 2008 and 2009 are as set out in the table below:
[214]Other issues relating to capital investment under the NDP are now being considered in the context of the Budget.
255. Deputy Joe Costello asked the Minister for Finance his plans for dealing with the threat of flooding on the northside of Dublin; if the anti-flooding measures for the final stretch of the River Tolka at Distillery Road will be put in place; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29683/08]
257. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Finance his plans to introduce national anti-flooding measures in view of the recent floods in Riverside Estate, Dublin 17 and in Kinsealy and Balgriffin in Fingal County and across the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30081/08]
361. Deputy Joe Costello asked the Minister for Finance his proposals to assist the people and the areas affected by the recent flooding in Dublin. [29682/08]
Minister of State at the Department of Finance (Deputy Martin Mansergh): I propose to take Questions Nos. 255, 257 and 361 together.
The Office of Public Works is advancing a programme of Flood Risk Management measures in co-operation with other relevant Departments and the Local Authorities.
OPW has a programme of works at various stages of design and execution to deal with localised flood risk from rivers. These are being undertaken in partnership with the responsible Local Authorities. OPW also maintains rivers and channels, which are part of Arterial Drainage Schemes constructed since 1945. Local Authorities have responsibility for the maintenance of certain rivers, where drainage works were completed prior to 1945.
OPW is also undertaking a number of measures in furtherance of the Government policy of preventing the creation of future risk where possible. These include the preparation, in partnership with the Department of Environment, Heritage, and Local Government, of Guidance on the Management of Flood Risk in Planning and Development and the preparation of Catchment Flood Risk Management Plans, which will include predictive flood hazard and flood risk maps. The Commissioners have published historic flood risk maps at www.floodmaps.ie as well as information for people who may be at risk of flooding, on how to plan and prepare to protect their property and mitigate loss at www.flooding.ie, and have assisted the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government in drafting best practice procedure guidelines for Local Authorities for the management of emergency response to flood events.
The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, deals with coastal flood risk and is developing flood risk maps in respect of coastal areas. It also deals with coastal erosion, which is sometimes associated with flooding.
The recent flooding in August and September which occurred in several areas including some on the Northside of Dublin, was mainly due to the inability of the urban drainage systems in the various areas to convey the exceptional volumes of water resulting from the concentrated heavy downpours, where in some cases almost a month’s rainfall fell in a period of 4-6 hours, rather than from rivers for which the Office of Public Works (OPW) has direct responsibility. OPW officials are, however, examining the matter and any measures considered necessary will be discussed with the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government, which together with Local Authorities has responsibility for urban drainage systems.
[215]OPW, together with Dublin City Council, is confident that the measures undertaken since the completion of the River Tolka Flooding Report in 2003 have brought the level of protection in the Distillery Road area up to the accepted standard of protection, i.e. protection against a flood with a 1% probability of occurring in any given year. All of the recommendations contained in the Report for that area have now been implemented.
Local residents from the Tolka Road area asked Dublin City Council in 2006 to have the wall replaced on the right bank downstream of Distillery Bridge to Luke Kelly Bridge. The Council had the existing wall assessed as a result, and the assessment confirmed that the wall was in good condition. In the circumstances, therefore, the replacement of the wall could not be undertaken as a flood relief measure by the OPW under the Flood Relief Programme.
256. Deputy Phil Hogan asked the Minister for Finance the actions he will take in respect of the recent flooding in Carlow; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29873/08]
Minister of State at the Department of Finance (Deputy Martin Mansergh): The Office of Public Works has prepared a flood relief scheme for Carlow which is broken into three stand alone phases. As the works in Phase A (consisting of works on the east bank of the Barrow River, North of its confluence with the Burrin River, and also works along the North bank of the Burrin River) are in the same area of the town as elements of the proposed Main Drainage Scheme, it was agreed that the Phase A flood relief works be incorporated into the main drainage works, with funding provided by OPW. The tender assessment process for these works is not yet completed, but the appointment of a contractor is imminent, and flooding which occurred recently in the Centaur Street / Kennedy Street / John Street area of Carlow will be addressed by these works.
In relation to the recent flooding at Graiguecullen (which is on the left bank of the Barrow River and is scheduled for inclusion in Phase B of the proposed Flood Relief Scheme), Carlow County Council is currently in the process of identifying certain intermediary works which might be carried out in order to address flooding in this area.
Question No. 257 answered with Question No. 255.
258. Deputy Jack Wall asked the Minister for Finance the funding available to persons who suffered property and personal losses due to the recent floods; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30495/08]
259. Deputy Jack Wall asked the Minister for Finance his plans to compensate families who suffered property as well as personal losses due to the recent floods; if so, the mechanism available to families to apply for such funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30501/08]
317. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Finance his views on a request by Dublin City Council and other local authorities for humanitarian aid in respect of those affected by flooding in August 2008; the amounts so far allocated by local authorities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30551/08]
342. Deputy Joanna Tuffy asked the Minister for Finance if there is State aid being provided to people effected by the recent flooding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30961/08]
Minister of State at the Department of Finance (Deputy Martin Mansergh): I propose to take Questions Nos. 258, 259, 317 and 342 together.
[216]The Department of Social and Family Affairs are providing assistance to people, arising from the recent flooding emergencies through the Community Welfare Officer Network. I do not have any information on the amount, if any of humanitarian aid allocated by Local Authorities.
260. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Finance if funding was allocated for an area (details supplied) in County Mayo to relieve flooding; if so, the amount disbursed; and if not, the reason therefor. [30506/08]
261. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Finance if funding was allocated for an area (details supplied) in County Mayo to relieve flooding; if so, the amount disbursed; and if not, the reason therefore. [30507/08]
Minister of State at the Department of Finance (Deputy Martin Mansergh): I propose to take Questions Nos. 260 and 261 together.
A request for funding based on a Consultant’s report has been received. OPW is not satisfied, on the basis of the information currently available, that there is a sustainable case to provide funding for the works proposed. A meeting is being arranged with Council Officials to discuss the matter.
262. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Finance the position regarding projects (details supplied) in County Limerick. [30892/08]
Minister of State at the Department of Finance (Deputy Martin Mansergh): Commencement of these projects will depend on the availability of resources and the priority accorded to the project by the Garda Síochána and the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.
263. Deputy Jimmy Deenihan asked the Minister for Finance if a contractor has been appointed to commence work on Castleisland Garda Station; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31139/08]
Minister of State at the Department of Finance (Deputy Martin Mansergh): Tenders for the construction of a new Garda Station at Castleisland, Co. Kerry are under consideration at present.
Commencement of this project will depend on the availability of resources and the priority accorded to the project by the Garda Síochána and the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.
264. Deputy Emmet Stagg asked the Minister for Finance, further to his response to Parliamentary Question No. 907 of 10 July of 2008, if the completion of the phase two restoration works to Maynooth Castle will enhance visitor numbers thereby requiring the acquisition of land adjoining the castle for facilities for visitors; and his views on whether both of these are interrelated to the successful operation of the castle as a tourist and heritage site. [31255/08]
Minister of State at the Department of Finance (Deputy Martin Mansergh): There are no specific plans at present to provide additional facilities at Maynooth Castle having regard to visitor numbers and funding priorities generally.
265. Deputy Eamon Gilmore asked the Minister for Finance if he will confirm that a sporting body which avails of the exemption to stamp duty under section 105 of the Finance Act 2007 is also subject to the provisions of section 54 of the same Act, in cases when a transaction falls on or after the dates specified by the Act; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29284/08]
Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan): Section 105 Finance Act 2007 provides for a stamp duty exemption, subject to conditions, on the conveyance, transfer or lease of lands to an approved sports body. An approved sports body is an “approved body of persons” within the meaning of section 235(1) Taxes Consolidation Act 1997.
Section 54 of the Finance Act 2007 made changes to Schedule 15 Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 which lists bodies that are exempt from Capital Gains Tax. Paragraph 37 provides that an approved body (within the meaning of section 235(1)) is exempt from Capital Gains Tax to the extent that the proceeds of the disposal giving rise to the gain or, if greater, the consideration for the disposal under the Act have been or will be applied to the sole purpose of promoting athletic or amateur games or sports. As such, a sporting body can avail of both reliefs if it satisfies the conditions in relation to each provision.
266. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Finance if a person who is importing a second hand vehicle from the United Kingdom for personal use can present themselves and the vehicle for inspection and payment of the relevant taxes to any vehicle registration office of the Office of the Revenue Commissioners or if they have to do so at the office located nearest to their place of residence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29297/08]
Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan): I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that a vehicle imported from the United Kingdom can be declared for registration at any Vehicle Registration Office irrespective of where the individual or purchaser is living or located.
267. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Finance the status of the decentralisation by the Office of the Revenue Commissioners to Newcastle West in County Limerick; the staff that will be assigned and posted to Newcastle West; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29298/08]
Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan): I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that they currently have forty-eight (48) staff located in temporary accommodation in Limerick, ready to decentralise to Newcastle West. This team will relocate to NewcastleWest as soon as the building is available for occupation. It is currently expected the building will be completed in late 2008. Revenue do not anticipate any difficulty in filling the full quota of fifty (50) staff required for Newcastle West.
268. Deputy Tom Sheahan asked the Minister for Finance if he will ensure that the Office of Public Works carry out remedial works to the boundary wall of a person (details supplied) in County Kerry as soon as possible; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29303/08]
[218]Minister of State at the Department of Finance (Deputy Martin Mansergh): The Office of Public Works does not have a maintenance responsibility in relation to the Kealnagower River and does not propose to undertake works to the wall in question.
269. Deputy Fergus O’Dowd asked the Minister for Finance the number, type and purchasing and leasing cost and CO2 emissions of vehicles acquired by his Department for each of the past three years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29553/08]
Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan): My Department does not purchase or lease vehicles.
I have been informed by the Office of the Revenue Commissioners that they purchased the following vehicles in the years 2005 to 2007.
No vehicles were purchased by the Revenue Commissioners in 2007.
[219]The Office of Public Works have informed me that they are currently collating the information in respect of purchases made by them in the years 2005 to 2007 and as soon as this information is available they will forward it directly to the Deputy.
270. Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Finance the measures he has put in place to replace the excise duty refund which amounts to 34.5 cent per litre of diesel for public transport services (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29605/08]
271. Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Finance his views on a proposed alternative to the fuel excise refund which is non-tax based and should therefore comply with the EU state aid legislation as operated in the UK to support public transport services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29606/08]
280. Deputy Fergus O’Dowd asked the Minister for Finance his plans to introduce a replacement fuel rebate scheme for school transport operators; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30008/08]
Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan): I propose to take Questions Nos. 270, 271 and 280 together.
The 2003 EU Energy Tax Directive contained special derogations that allowed specific excise duty reliefs to be applied in a number of Member States. In Ireland’s case, these derogations allowed for reduced rates of excise duty for fuel used for public transport services, including school transport services. These derogations expired on 31 December 2006. Ireland, along with other Member States, sought retention of its derogations beyond that date, but the European Commission, who is the deciding authority, refused such requests.
Consequently, the Finance Act 2008 made the legislative changes to withdraw the relief in respect of fuel used for public passenger transport vehicles. The relief will be withdrawn with effect from 1 November 2008 and the appropriate full excise rates will apply from that date.
The Department of Transport and other relevant line Departments, in conjunction with my Department, have examined the implications of this. They have explored alternative mechanisms that might be used to direct Exchequer resources toward such services from that date, subject of course to compatibility with competition and EU State Aid requirements. Any such expenditure decision on this matter will be made in the context of the Estimates process now underway.
272. Deputy Joe Costello asked the Minister for Finance the number of licences issued to bookmakers in each of the past ten years; the criteria governing the issuing of such licences; the tax to date from bookmakers in each of the past ten years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29642/08]
Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan): I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that the number of licences issued to bookmakers and the betting tax paid by bookmakers in each of the past 10 years for which figures are currently available is set out in the following table:
To obtain a bookmaker’s licence a person must first obtain a Certificate of Personal Fitness from the Superintendent of An Garda Síochána for the area in which the person resides.
A person who has obtained a Certificate of Personal Fitness must make application, within 21 days of the issue of the certificate, to the Revenue Commissioners under Section 7 of the Betting Acts, 1931 and 1994. The application must be accompanied by:
The relevant Certificate of Personal Fitness.
A tax clearance certificate issued under Section 242 of the Finance Act 1992 as amended.
A remittance of the appropriate licence fee, currently €250.
A photograph of the applicant.
273. Deputy Pat Breen asked the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Question No. 84 of 8 May 2008 if the feasibility study has been completed by the Office of Public Works; the action he will take in an area (details supplied) in County Clare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29675/08]
Minister of State at the Department of Finance (Deputy Martin Mansergh): The feasibility study has now been completed and the report is currently being finalised. The study found that the cost of the works required to the embankments would outweigh the benefits that would accrue.
In view of this finding, and the fact that no dwellings are protected by the structures, the carrying out of the works by the Commissioners of Public Works cannot be justified having regard to existing commitments for priority flood relief works elsewhere.
274. Deputy Leo Varadkar asked the Minister for Finance if a company (details supplied) has been awarded contracts by his Department, or any of its agencies, since 2000; the value of the contracts and the length of contract signed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29712/08]
[221]Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan): Since 2000, no contracts have been awarded to the company in question by my Department or by the following bodies:
The Special EU Programmes Body
Office of Revenue Commissioners
Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Office of the Appeals Commissioners
Office of the Commission for Public Service Appointments
Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General
My responsibility for other bodies does not include the daily operational activities of theses bodies.
I have also been informed that the following bodies did not award such contracts to the company in question in the period since 2000.
Office of the Information Commissioner
Office of the Commissioner for Environmental Information
Standards in Public Office Commission.
275. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Finance the circumstances in which VAT can be refunded to persons doing small home improvements or one-off building; if a more generous regime of VAT rebate applies in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29761/08]
Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan): The position is that the VAT regime generally and the rate of tax applying to the supply of goods and services are subject to the requirements of EU VAT law with which Irish VAT law must comply.
I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that the rate at which Irish VAT is charged on the supply of buildings and on the service of carrying out home improvements is generally the reduced rate of 13.5%, while the VAT rate on the supply of materials used in buildings and in home improvements is normally the standard rate of 21%. When VAT is charged to persons who are registered for VAT, those persons are entitled to reclaim that VAT subject to the normal rules. However, when VAT is charged to persons acting in a private and personal capacity, those persons are not entitled to reclaim it.
[222]Accordingly, VAT cannot be refunded to private persons constructing one-off buildings or doing home improvements. An exception is made, however, in the case of certain goods supplied to disabled persons. The Value-Added (Refund of Tax) Order 1981, SI No. 428 of 1981, enables VAT on qualifying goods to be refunded where the goods are purchased for the exclusive use of disabled persons suffering a specified degree of disablement. Building constructed or adapted exclusively for use by disabled persons may qualify for a VAT refund. Refunds are dealt with on a case by case basis by the Revenue Commissioners depending on the circumstances of the goods and the disability of the person concerned.
I would also point out that a scheme of disabled persons grants is operated by local authorities with capital provision from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. These grants are designed to meet the needs of persons who are either physically handicapped or are suffering from severe mental illness. Where a new dwelling is being bought or built a maximum grant of €12,700 is payable. In the case of adaptation of an existing dwelling, 95% of the approved cost of the works is available up to an effective maximum grant of €30,000. Full details of the scheme and the conditions applicable are available from the local authority in whose area the dwelling is situated.
In so far as a comparison with the position in Northern Ireland is concerned, the position is that in Northern Ireland and in the UK generally the rate at which VAT is charged on the supply of a building designed as a dwelling is the rate of 0%, while the VAT rate on the renovation or alteration of qualifying residential premises is generally the UK reduced VAT rate, which is 5%. Furthermore, when certain building services are supplied to disabled persons VAT can be charged at the rate of 0%.
Under the EU VAT Directive a Member State may retain a 0% rate and a reduced rate of VAT on supplies of goods and services where those rates applied on 1 January 1991. However, Member States cannot now extend a 0% rate to supplies of other goods and services, and can only extend the reduced rate to supplies of goods and services where this is specifically allowed for in the VAT Directive. Accordingly, I am not in a position to extend the 0% rate of VAT to the ‘one-off building’ of homes or on small home improvements.
276. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Finance the circumstances under which a PAYE taxpayer may qualify for tax relief or credits on expenditure on childcare; the amount of tax expenditures that have been paid by the Exchequer to employees and employers in each of the past three years for which figures are available on childcare costs; the number of employees and employers who benefited in each of these years with a breakdown, in respect of employees, of total amounts claimed by salary brackets; the upper ceilings that apply on the total amounts that can be claimed; the circumstances in which employees may qualify for tax relief or credits if their employer does not provide a childcare service and the employee pays a private childcare provider; and the steps he is taking to address this inequity in the tax system vis-a-vis small and large employers and their employees. [29767/08]
Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan): The existing legislation does not provide for any circumstances in which any taxpayer may qualify for tax relief or credits for expenditure incurred on childcare. However, I assume the Deputy’s question refers to the benefit-in-kind exemption where employers provide free or subsidised childcare for their employees. This exemption applies where an employer provides such childcare facilities “in-house” or in other premises made available by the employer. The exemption also applies if an employer provides childcare facilities jointly with other employers. The exemption also covers situations where an [223]employer makes a contribution to the capital costs of an independent supplier of childcare facilities.
I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that as taxpayers are not required to provide details of the receipt of this benefit-in-kind in their tax returns, there is no basis on which an estimate of the cost to the Exchequer of this tax exemption, or of the numbers availing of it, can be provided.
In the case of employers, the expense of providing or subsidising childcare facilities for employees is allowable as a deduction in arriving at profits for tax purposes. However, the employer’s tax return of income does not contain an entry in respect of this item and the employer’s profit and loss account does not normally distinguish between this particular expense and other employment-related expenses. In these circumstances, there is also no basis on which a reliable estimate of numbers involved can be provided.
There is no upper ceiling on the tax exempt amount of the benefit-in-kind that employers can provide through the provision of childcare facilities.
While a small enterprise might not be able to provide childcare facilities on its own, the legislation allows such an enterprise to join with other employers to provide co-located facilities, contributing proportionately to costs, and jointly providing the childcare service. In this way, smaller enterprises can collectively address the differences of scale in the provision of facilities. This reduces the potential for any inequity in the system as between small and large firms and their employees.
277. Deputy Phil Hogan asked the Minister for Finance when finance will be approved to repair the tower at Grangefertagh, Johnstown, County Kilkenny; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29894/08]
Minister of State at the Department of Finance (Deputy Martin Mansergh): Significant repair works were carried out at the Round Tower at Grangefertagh in 2003. Apart from ongoing maintenance, there are no plans for further repair works in the immediate future.
278. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Finance if he will extend the tax exemption that applies to pensioners on low income who earn deposit interest in order that an exemption will also apply to exit taxes which are levied on the maturity of certain savings bonds and other savings products; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29929/08]
308. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Finance the plans he has to address the anomaly that exists between the way savings and saving bonds are dealt with in respect of State pension holders; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30445/08]
Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan): I propose to take Questions Nos. 278 and 308 together.
I assume that the questions refer to the exemption from Deposit Interest Retention Tax (DIRT) in certain circumstances and the application of exit taxes under the “gross roll up” regime.
Since the enactment of the Finance Act 2007, individuals are exempt from Deposit Interest Retention Tax (DIRT) on their savings income provided they or their spouse are aged 65 or over, or permanently incapacitated, and their total income in a year (including the savings [224]income) is below the annual exemption limit — currently €20,000 in the case of a single person and €40,000 in the case of a married couple. In any case where DIRT was deducted and the individual would otherwise qualify for the exemption, he or she is entitled to claim a refund of that tax directly from the Revenue Commissioners after the end of the tax year.
In the case of investment products which are linked to life assurance policies or to collective investment funds in which an individual has invested, the “gross roll up” regime applies under which the investor’s funds may accumulate tax free while invested in the policy or fund. However, an exit tax at 23 per cent applies on the sale or redemption, or at the end of the 8 year period following the acquisition of the investment. This 23 per cent tax is the only tax paid on the income and gains accumulated in the policy or the fund over this period. There is no provision for exemption or refund of this tax other than to non-resident investors or to permanently incapacitated persons.
The Deputies will be aware that it is customary for a Minister for Finance not to comment on possible tax changes in advance of the Budget which is due to be delivered on 14 October 2008.
279. Deputy Leo Varadkar asked the Minister for Finance the number of staff sent from his Department and its agencies to a conference (details supplied); the cost of sending staff to the conference; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29994/08]
Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan): Four officials from the Department of Finance attended the 4th Annual Public Private Partnership Forum, held on Thursday the 19th June 2008. As they were all due to speak at the forum no charge was incurred by the Department in respect of their attendance. One officer of the Revenue Commissioners attended the forum at a cost of €592.90.
In addition, two members of staff of the National Development Finance Agency attended the forum. One of these was a speaker at the conference and consequently did not pay an attendance fee. In respect of the second member of staff who attended the forum, a reduced fee of €470.09 was paid as the NDFA had a speaker at the conference. There were no other costs incurred by the NDFA in relation to this forum.
Question No. 280 answered with Question No. 270.
281. Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Finance if changes to penalties imposed on the personal representatives and estate of a deceased non-compliant taxpayer, which were incorporated into Irish Law in response to the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights Act 2003 and have been implemented here since 18 March 2008, will be backdated with the result that Revenue will not seek recovery of any penalty element for a deceased person’s personal representatives and will discontinue proceedings for recovery of such penalties if they have been initiated since that date but penalties already agreed do not appear to be subject to refund or full recognition in view of the fact that imposing penalties on deceased taxpayer’ estates is contrary to Article 6 of the European Convention of Human Rights; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30014/08]
Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan): I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that they have reviewed their procedures in relation to the imposition of penalties in relation [225]to tax settlements for deceased persons. Arising from this review, revised procedures apply with effect from 18 March 2008 (the date of publication of the new procedures). In accordance with these new arrangements, where the taxpayer dies before a settlement has been agreed with Revenue, Revenue will not seek recovery of any penalty element from the deceased’s personal representatives (and will discontinue proceedings for recovery of such penalty if they have been initiated).
I should point out that where a settlement that includes a penalty element has been agreed between Revenue and a deceased taxpayer prior to his/her death (or where a penalty has been awarded in proceedings finalised prior to the taxpayer’s death), and that penalty remains unpaid or not fully paid as at the date of death, Revenue will continue to proceed against the personal representatives of the deceased for the recovery of that unpaid penalty. There is no change to existing Revenue practice in these particular circumstances.
I am also advised by the Revenue Commissioners that settlements finalised before 18 March 2008 will not be reopened. These negotiated settlements, made in good faith by both parties, will generally have involved unreserved letters of offer and acceptance and are considered to be binding.
282. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Finance if he has received pre-budget submissions from a society (details supplied); his views on this application; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30056/08]
Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan): I have received a pre-Budget submission from the Irish Deaf Society. Its contents will be considered in the context of the forthcoming Budget and Finance Bill. As Deputies are aware it would not be appropriate for me to comment in advance of the Budget on possible Budget decisions.
283. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Finance the tax reliefs available to homeowners under the shared ownership scheme in respect of the 25% to 60% proportion of their home which is owned by their local authority and rented to them. [30104/08]
Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan): In accordance with the provisions of Section 473 of the Taxes Consolidated Act 1997, tax relief is available to an individual in respect of rent paid on a ‘residential premises’ that, during the period in respect of which the rent is paid, is his or her main residence. However, relief is expressly not available under this provision in respect of rent paid to a local authority. Accordingly, there are no tax reliefs available to homeowners in respect of the rent relating to the proportion of their home that is rented to them by their local authority under the shared ownership scheme.
284. Deputy Jack Wall asked the Minister for Finance if he will arrange to have a P21 furnished to a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30111/08]
Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan): I have been advised by the Revenue Commissioners that they have issued a request to the taxpayer for the necessary information to enable a review of liability to be carried out. A P21 will issue on receipt of the required information.
[226]285. Deputy Jack Wall asked the Minister for Finance if a person (details supplied) in County Kildare is due a tax rebate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30112/08]
Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan): I have been advised by the Revenue Commissioners that they have issued a request to the taxpayer for the necessary information to enable a review of liability to be carried out. Any tax overpaid will be refunded when the review is completed.
286. Deputy John O’Mahony asked the Minister for Finance the procedures in place to ensure that personal data stored by his Department is secure. [30131/08]
Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan): My Department complies with the Data Protection Act and is registered as a data controller with the Data Protection Commissioner under Section 16 of the Data Protection Acts, 1988 and 2003. My Department has a limited number of disclosees to whom data may be disclosed and the Department consults with the Office of the Data Commissioner on these matters.
All of my Department’s databases and systems that hold data utilise controls which limit access solely to those authorised to carry out certain prescribed functions. In relation to paper files stored in my Department, appropriate levels of security are applied to ensure confidentiality.
287. Deputy John O’Mahony asked the Minister for Finance the number of laptop computers, data storage devices and USB memory sticks that have been stolen or lost from his Department in 2007 and to date in 2008; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30146/08]
Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan): My Department has had one memory stick reported lost in 2007 and one memory stick reported stolen in 2008. No departmental data was on the devices at the time. No laptop computers or data storage devices have been reported lost or stolen.
288. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Finance, further to Parliamentary Question No. 213 of 24 April 2008, the position regarding this matter; when he expects construction to begin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30186/08]
Minister of State at the Department of Finance (Deputy Martin Mansergh): The Decentralisation Implementation Group has recently provided Government with a report on the current status of the decentralisation programme. Policy in regard to the programme will be clarified when Government has completed its examination of this report and other information currently being compiled. I will be in a better position at that stage to advise in relation to the Roscommon project.
The Preferred Tenderer submitted an application for planning permission to Roscommon County Council on 11 July 2008.
289. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Question No. 102 of 9 July 2008, when the project will go to tender; the time-line for the construction of the permanent accommodation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30187/08]
[227]Minister of State at the Department of Finance (Deputy Martin Mansergh): The Decentralisation Implementation Group has recently provided Government with a report on the current status of the decentralisation programme. Policy in regard to the programme will be clarified when Government has completed its examination of this report and other information currently being compiled. I will be in a better position at that stage to advise in relation to the Claremorris project.
290. Deputy Michael Noonan asked the Minister for Finance the estimated yield in 2009 from a 1% increase in both the higher rate and the standard rate of income tax; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30221/08]
Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan): Using the data in the Pre-Budget 2009 income tax ready reckoner, a 1% increase in both the higher rate and the standard rate of income tax would yield about €920 million in a full year.
The yield quoted is provisional, subject to revision and estimated to the nearest €5 million. The ready reckoner is available on my Department’s website, at www.finance.gov.ie.
291. Deputy Michael Noonan asked the Minister for Finance the estimated yield in 2009 from a 1% increase in each rate of VAT; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30222/08]
Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan): I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that, based on data currently available, the estimated yield in a full year arising from a 1% increase in the 13.5% and 21% VAT rates is €315 million and €454 million respectively.
292. Deputy Michael Noonan asked the Minister for Finance the percentage increase in the public sector pay bill in 2009 from the payment of full increments to all public servants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30223/08]
Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan): No increased provision will be made in the paybill for increments.
Year-to-year increases in allocations would not normally be granted to allow for increments. In the normal way, the overall cost of increments for some staff on incremental scales should be offset by reductions in cost arising from retirements or other movements by staff on higher incremental points and their replacement by staff on lower points.
293. Deputy Michael Noonan asked the Minister for Finance the estimated yield in 2009 from a one cent increase per litre of petrol and other fossil fuels, a one cent increase in the relevant alcohol measure for spirits, beer and wine and a one cent increase on a 20 package of cigarettes and other tobacco products; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30224/08]
Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan): I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that, based on data currently available, the estimated yields in 2009 from a one cent increase in excise (VAT inclusive) on the products referred to are as follows:
294. Deputy Jack Wall asked the Minister for Finance the position of the decentralisation of the Office of the Revenue Commissioners to Athy, County Kildare; the number of staff employed in Athy; the progress in obtaining a permanent building in Athy; the time scale involved in the further roll out of his staff to the town; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30244/08]
Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan): The Government decided on 8th July last that no further expenditure on the acquisition of accommodation for decentralisation should be sanctioned pending detailed consideration by the Government of two reports: one from the Decentralisation Implementation Group’s report on the feasibility of phased moves by the State Agencies; and one from the Implementation Group of Secretaries General on the governmental and cross-Departmental issues arising from the need to provide facilities for Ministers, Ministers of State and officials while in Dublin on business.
I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that prior to the Government decision temporary office space had been acquired in Athy, under a 7-year lease. The lease commenced on 1 November 2007 and the office was officially opened on 1 February 2008.
Seventy three (73) staff have taken up duty in Athy. Further offers will be made through the Central Applications Facility (CAF) to make use of all the available accommodation.
295. Deputy Jack Wall asked the Minister for Finance the cost of the transfer of the Office of the Revenue Commissioners to Athy, County Kildare; the final cost of the proposed move; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30245/08]
Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan): I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that the total cost to date of the move to Athy is €1,175,584. This figure is made up of property costs borne by the OPW of €1,052,010 and non-property costs borne by Revenue of €123,574. Revenue are not in a position at this stage to give final cost figures for this move.
296. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Finance the Capital Gains Tax or other tax liability accruing to the estate of a deceased person (details supplied) in County [229]Limerick, who died on 11 February 2005; the reason for the accrual of interest on outstanding taxes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30309/08]
Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan): I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that following the death of the person named, it was disclosed to the Revenue Commissioners that three sites had been sold by the deceased without the payment of Capital Gains Tax.
Computations of tax and interest due were submitted by agents of the estate on 18 April 2008 on site disposals in the tax years 1996/1997, 1999/2000 and 2004.
Section 1080 TCA 1997 provides that any tax charged will carry interest from the due date until payment. Section 1047 TCA 1997 provides that the executors are responsible for any liability arising in respect of the deceased. The tax plus statutory interest as agreed with the agent for the estate was paid on 12 May 2008.
297. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Finance when a tax refund will issue in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30315/08]
Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan): I have been advised by the Revenue Commissioners that they do not have sufficient information to deal with the taxpayer’s claim at this time. The taxpayer can contact Mr Vincent Murphy, Kildare Revenue District at (059) 8643214 in relation to the matter.
298. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Finance the pension schemes for which a full guarantee on pension payments will be offered in return for acquiring the accumulated assets in the funds; the total value of these funds; and the purposes to which these acquired funds will be devoted. [30316/08]
Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan): Discussions are in train with the trustees/administrators of the funded pension schemes of the five older universities and certain non-commercial semi-State bodies (SSBs), which have funded pension schemes, with a view to providing consistency and clarity for the future in terms of meeting the liabilities of the schemes.
This follows consideration some time ago of the pension difficulties facing those universities by a working group under the Higher Education Authority, which recommended such discussions. The background to this is that all funded schemes must now meet minimum funding standards under EU law unless they are covered by the State. This has presented problems for the universities and non-commercial SSBs with funded pension schemes where the State ultimately carries the liability but where this is not clear enough to warrant exemption under EU law. In that context, and provided all the schemes concerned agree, it is proposed that the assets of those schemes would be transferred to the State along with the liabilities which would then be met, effectively, by the State on a pay as you go basis in the future. The terms and conditions of the schemes would be no better nor worse than the members would be entitled to anyway. If agreement is reached, legislation to give effect to all this would be required.
I am informed that the estimated value of the assets of the funds in question at end-2007 was in the region of 2.3 billion euro, but this will have changed in the interim and is subject to market fluctuations.
299. Deputy Michael D. Higgins asked the Minister for Finance the registered name and the International Maritime Organisation registered number of each commercial vessel that is currently registered as a qualifying ship by an Irish Shipowner in order to avail of what is popularly known as tonnage tax under the provisions of the Finance Act 2002 and subsequent amendments thereto. [30330/08]
333. Deputy Brian O’Shea asked the Minister for Finance if he will identify by registered name or the International Maritime Organisation registered number of each commercial vessel that is registered as a qualifying ship by an Irish ship owner in order to avail of tonnage tanks under the provision of the Finance Act 2002 and subsequent amendments thereto; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30686/08]
Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan): I propose to take Questions Nos. 299 and 333 together.
Tonnage tax provides an alternative method for calculating the shipping related profits of a company for Corporation Tax purposes. The profits are calculated by reference to the tonnage of the ships used in a company’s shipping trade and once calculated, using the tonnage tax method, are subject to the 12.5 per cent Corporation Tax rate.
Companies availing of the tonnage tax regime are required to complete a supplementary form to the CT1 tax return form made annually to the Revenue Commissioners. They are obliged to provide details on the supplementary form of all ships qualifying for the tonnage tax regime.
I have been informed by the Revenue Commissioners, that under the Revenue Customer Service Charter, information provided by its customers must be treated in strictest confidence. Unfortunately the information sought by the Deputy cannot, therefore, be provided by the Revenue Commissioners. However, I can confirm that at present 20 companies (and approximately 100 qualifying ships) are included in the Irish tonnage tax scheme.
300. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Finance if Agri-Environmental Science, which is a level eight degree within the UCD Department of Agricultural Science, is a course which makes graduates eligible for stamp duty relief for young farmers; and if not, if he will take steps to add it to the list of qualifying courses. [30332/08]
302. Deputy Brian Hayes asked the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the fact that certain qualifications within the degree in agriculture at National University of Ireland are not recognised by the Revenue Commissioners in the young trained farmers scheme for the purposes of granting stamp duty relief on the transfer of land; the reason that this is the case; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30360/08]
360. Deputy Seán Sherlock asked the Minister for Finance if he will review the list of agricultural science courses which qualify for stamp relief to recognise the level eight degree in agricultural science at UCD as fulfilling the requirements for stamp duty relief in Budget 2009; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31530/08]
363. Deputy Brian Hayes asked the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the fact that some National University of Ireland University College Dublin agriculture degrees are not recognised by other State agencies, such as the Revenue Commissioners for the purposes of stamp duty relief for young farmers; if he could get clarification on this matter (details supplied) from the NUI and HEA; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30361/08]
[231]365. Deputy Michael Creed asked the Minister for Finance if he will review the list of courses qualifying for stamp duty relief for young farmers and installation aid and thereby ensure that the level eight degree in agri environmental science at University College Dublin qualifies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31687/08]
Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan): I propose to take Questions Nos. 300, 302, 360, 363 and 365 together.
The Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999, as amended, provides for a Stamp Duty Exemption on the purchase of farm land by Young Trained Farmers. To qualify for the relief, an individual must, on the date of execution of the instrument of transfer, be under 35 years of age and hold a relevant qualification.
The relevant qualifications are set out in Schedules to the Act. A degree in Agri-Environmental Science awarded by University College Dublin is not a specified qualification for the purposes of the relief. However, the legislation provides that the Revenue Commissioners will treat another qualification as a relevant qualification where Teagasc certifies that:
a. the other qualification corresponds to a relevant qualification, and
b. the other qualification is deemed by the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland to be at least at a level equivalent to the specified relevant qualifications.
Teagasc has examined the Agri-Environmental Sciences Degree and has taken the view that it does not have sufficient production agriculture and farm business management content in the core modules to meet the stamp duty relief and installation aid requirement as “young trained farmers”. However, it is recognised that some students may have chosen production agriculture and farm business management as their options/electives in the degree programme. Teagasc and UCD have agreed on a list of options/electives, when achieved as components of, or additions to the Agri-Environmental Sciences Degree that will enable Teagasc to issue letters of equivalence for stamp duty relief and installation aid.
I would suggest that any individual with concerns about this Degree contacts UCD to determine, firstly, if the options/electives he has completed meet the above requirements and, secondly, what additional option/electives he must undertake in order to meet the qualification requirements for stamp duty relief and installation aid. Otherwise the general position is that an Agri-Environmental Sciences degree holder is treated as holding a non-agricultural award and may be required to complete the new FETAC Level 6 Advanced Certificate in Agriculture course programme with Teagasc in order to meet the qualification requirements.
301. Deputy Willie Penrose asked the Minister for Finance the position regarding a flood relief scheme for the catchment area of the Mornington River; when he will give approval in order to allow these very necessary works to proceed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30342/08]
Minister of State at the Department of Finance (Deputy Martin Mansergh): A scheme has been prepared by the Commissioners of Public Works.
Mornington is one of a number of schemes which the Commissioners are planning. Progress with these schemes will depend on the availability of funds for Flood Risk Management measures, and will be decided in the light of the budget provisions.
Question No. 302 answered with Question No. 300.
303. Deputy Olwyn Enright asked the Minister for Finance the position regarding the work done on a site (details supplied) in County Offaly since its purchase by the State in 2003; the amount spent on the property each year since that date; the plans and timescale for the future development of the property; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30369/08]
Minister of State at the Department of Finance (Deputy Martin Mansergh): Durrow Abbey House and lands were purchased in 2003. The amount of money spent on the property each year since that date is as follows:
| Year | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 to date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amount | €148,367 | €565,481 | €358,660 | €547,614 | €156,374 |
Works to date include the renovation of the Church, the relocation of the High Cross, the commissioning and launching of the Durrow Conservation Plan, archaeological excavations, fencing, security, and site clearance by the Gate Lodge. Ongoing conservation works continue at the site.
It is hoped in the future to provide visitor facilities which would incorporate the restoration of the Gate Lodge, and plans for this are well advanced.
304. Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Finance the amount spent on advertising in the Irish language by his Department and by agencies under the aegis of his Department since the enactment of the Official Languages Act 2003; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30394/08]
Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan): The following table sets out the details of expenditure on advertising by my Department and the Offices under its aegis in the Irish language in the period to which the Deputy refers.
305. Deputy Jack Wall asked the Minister for Finance if a person (details supplied) will be furnished with a P21 for 2007; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30407/08]
[233]Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan): I have been advised by the Revenue Commissioners that a PAYE balancing statement form P21 for the year 2007 will issue shortly to the taxpayer.
306. Deputy Jack Wall asked the Minister for Finance if a person (details supplied) will be furnished with a P21 for 2007; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30408/08]
Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan): I have been advised by the Revenue Commissioners that a PAYE balancing statement form P21 for the year 2007 will issue shortly to the taxpayer.
307. Deputy Pat Breen asked the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Question No. 129 of 24 June 2008, if a permanent operator will be in place as and from 1 October 2008 to operate the Civil Service crèche (details supplied) in County Clare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30417/08]
Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan): The current position regarding the Ennis Civil Service Crèche was set out in my reply to your Parliamentary Question on 18 June 2008. I can confirm that the Board of the Civil Service Childcare Initiative is currently finalising details with a new operator with a view to them reopening the Ennis Crèche early in October 2008. Once the opening date is finalised the new operator will be advertising locally giving all contact details for the crèche.
Question No. 308 answered with Question No. 278.
309. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Finance if tax relief will be extended to cover the cost of park and ride car parking expenses used to facilitate people switching from their private car to public transport; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30488/08]
310. Deputy Jack Wall asked the Minister for Finance his plans to allow tax concessions for persons that can verify annually the use of park and ride facilities in relation to their employment in view of their efforts to improve the carbon footprint; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30498/08]
Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan): I propose to take Questions Nos. 309 and 310 together.
As the Deputies know, the policy objective underlying the existing tax exemption for employees, in respect of a monthly / annual bus or train pass provided by their employers, is to encourage taxpayers to use public transport when travelling to and from work and, thus, contribute to the easing of traffic congestion and to the improvement of the environment.
Regarding the proposition that the scheme should be expanded to include the cost of parking facilities at train stations, the extension of the scheme in this manner would involve additional loss of tax revenue and it is not clear that it would contribute significantly to a reduction in traffic congestion.
311. Deputy Tom Sheahan asked the Minister for Finance his views on whether a telephone [234]is a luxury or a necessity; and his further views on whether internet access is a luxury or a necessity. [30517/08]
Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan): I am not clear on the context in which the Deputy is asking the question. If it relates to communications policy, it is a matter for the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources.
312. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Finance if there is a cross-Border secondment process in place for civil servants; the plans he has to review this situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30528/08]
Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan): Under the UK-Irish exchange programme scheme, civil servants from Ireland may be temporarily transferred to the UK civil service (including the Northern civil service) for six months and vice versa.
Civil servants may also avail of secondment arrangements subject to certain conditions. Secondment is normally at the discretion of the relevant Department/Office. I have no plans to review the current arrangements with regard to cross-border secondments.
313. Deputy Arthur Morgan asked the Minister for Finance the concerns the European Commission has raised regarding the State’s failure to conduct a strategic environment assessment on the national development plan; and the elements of the NDP that will be suspended if the Commission complaint is upheld. [30539/08]
Minister for Finance (Deputy Brian Lenihan): The question of undertaking a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) was considered during the preparation of the National Development Plan 2007-2013 (NDP). The outcome of this consideration, which included taking legal advice, was that an SEA was not required because the new plan is:
primarily a strategic document setting out levels of financia
