Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 8 May 2024

I propose to take Questions Nos. 17 to 28, inclusive, together.

The child poverty and well-being programme office was established in the Department of the Taoiseach in 2023 in order to make sure we prioritise children, particularly vulnerable children, and to make sure they get a real chance to realise their own potential. "From Poverty to Potential: A Programme Plan for Child Well-being 2023-2025" was published last year. It is the initial programme plan for the child poverty and well-being programme office in the Department of the Taoiseach. The programme plan takes a focused approach on six key areas which have the potential to bring about significant change for children and their families. These are income supports and joblessness; early learning and childcare; reducing the cost of education; family homelessness; consolidating and integrating public health, family and parental assistance, and well-being services; and enhancing participation in culture, arts and sport for children and young people affected by poverty. The programme is intended to be a living and dynamic document. If we need to, we will revisit our priorities to make sure we are focusing on those things that will really make a difference.

The role of the Department of the Taoiseach is to co-ordinate and focus Government action. To help facilitate this, the programme office has established a cross-Government network on child poverty and well-being. Three network meetings have taken place so far. The office will also host an inaugural child poverty and well-being summit on 23 May 2024 in Dublin Castle. As well as focusing on implementation of Government commitments across the six key areas, the office is undertaking a small number of strategic initiatives aimed at enhancing the efficiency and efficacy of cross-Government responses. The first of these was a commitment to focusing on children and their families who are experiencing poverty in budget 2024. The programme office applied a cross-Government approach that culminated in the development of the report "Breaking the Cycle: New Measures in Budget 2024 to Reduce Child Poverty and Promote Well-being". This was published last November. The programme office is building on this work and will seek to support and deepen the focus on child poverty and well-being in budget 2025.

I believe we absolutely can transform the lives of children and families, and that we must give every child the best possible start in life. Achieving this is not only the right thing to do for children, but it is also essential for protecting social cohesion, empowering vibrant communities and for securing our long-term economic future.

There are 5,631 single parents in this country currently relying on the working family payment and the one parent family payment. These single parents are entitled to claim both payments if they meet both sets of qualifying criteria. As the Taoiseach is aware, single parents are already at a much higher risk of poverty. These payments are vital to allow families clothe and feed their children and pay for all the day-to-day expenses that come with children. However, when the youngest child in these families reaches the age of seven, these 5,631 families risk falling off a financial cliff. When their youngest reaches this age, a single parent will lose their one parent family payment. Most people who no longer qualify for a one parent family payment will then transfer to the jobseeker's transitional payment. However, working family payment is not payable with jobseeker's transitional payment, leading to a substantial cut in income for these families. As the research tells us, these families are already vulnerable to increases in the cost of living, the cost of eating, the cost of just keeping the show on the road. What does the Taoiseach propose to do to support these families?

I have already brought up the issue of the chaotic circumstances we find in respect of the context this question refers to, the specific issues we have to deal with and the supports that are not there if we are talking about the council, Tusla or the Garda in dealing with these matters. I heard the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, talk about a plan to run over the next several years, but we need more detail on targeted family supports so we can get in early and deal with these issues rather than needing the nuclear options, unfortunately, when this does not happen.

I had also hoped to bring up under SET allocations in a previous question the matter of Bay Estate, my local school, and the lost hours and that of Scoil Naomh Lorcan in Omeath. The principal has written to me. There is an appeal process but my fear is everyone will be in such an appeal process. If complex needs are not being taken into account, this will be another issue in itself.

I would like to raise the issue of childcare again. I have spoken about this issue here for the past two years, specifically problems with ECCE-only providers, especially in smaller or more rural communities, and how providers who provide only this service are particularly vulnerable under funding models and so on. My specific issue today concerns baby rooms. Living in Glanmire, which is a large suburb where many people have come in from far and wide to work in pharma, the hospitals and so on, there is an acute shortage of baby rooms for children under 18 months. This is not just the case in Glanmire but right across the board. The regulation in this regard and the number of children who can be fitted into the one room mean it is difficult and onerous for many providers to provide this service. This is something I would like to flag here. I think a particular focus needs to be placed on these providers in the coming months.

I raise the issue of school places, especially for ASD units, and parents paying to get their children assessed. Several people have come into my clinic who cannot get their children assessed. These people are borrowing from credit unions and their own parents. The cost of getting assessments has gone so high that they are really under pressure. The CSO indicators show that 15.2% of children live at risk of poverty, and with 190,000 children, a child in one in every seven households experiences poverty. We now have a situation where it is just not possible to get children assessed because there is no one there to assess them. Families are trying to get children assessed privately.

Another issue I wish to contribute on concerns the new childminding regulations and the concerns in this regard. I have spoken to several childminders in recent weeks. There was a 12-week consultation. I did ask the Minister, Roderic O'Gorman, for extra time, but the consultation closed on 2 May and he did not extend it. The regulations in this regard do not reflect the reality of childminding and how it works. More than 300 childminders registered and yet there was no consultation, as such, and no information provided. Childminders are not happy. We must really look at this matter.

Here is a human story of how policy failure forces children into homelessness. Amy and her husband both work. She works in a supermarket and he works for Dublin Bus. They have three children, one of whom has special needs and has, incidentally, been waiting for an assessment for months and months. They are about to be evicted on 24 June through no fault of their own because the property is being sold, the tenant in situ scheme is not an option, and they are currently living in a HAP tenancy. If they go into emergency accommodation, they will no longer get HAP because they will be over the threshold. People in HAP tenancies are allowed to go over the threshold, just like those in social housing are allowed to go over the threshold. If people end up homeless, though, it is not possible to get HAP and they are trapped. Amy is saying now that she is going to have to give up her job. Our policy failures are literally driving people and their children into homelessness. I have raised this matter with the Taoiseach before. For Amy, it is very urgent. These anomalies must be addressed. Will the Taoiseach do so as a matter of urgency?

The link between child well-being and young people being active and playing sports is extremely well established. For young people to be able to play sports, though, we need sports facilities in local communities. We do not currently have the facilities we should have right across the country. I will give one example from the area where I live in Kingswood. It is a place where about 4,000 people live. There are about 16 or more local sports clubs. Most of them, though, have to go outside the area to train. There are four tennis courts in the middle of the estate but these have fallen into disrepair and have not been used for years. The community has come together in a very active campaign to have a sports facility hub in place of the tennis courts that are unused and in disrepair. A detailed plan has been devised. The sports clubs, the residents association and the community centre have all come together behind this plan and agreed to do all the related work. There is a specific local objective for it in the local development plan.

I am stepping in to ask this question on behalf of Deputy Bríd Smith. I need the Taoiseach to clarify a point for me. More than 150 children lost out when the Before 5 childcare facility in Churchfield on the northside of Cork city closed suddenly last August. Before 5 had served the surrounding communities for 50 years. Three months ago, the organisation chosen to restart a not-for-profit facility at the site wrote to the Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath, and the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, among others, identifying the need for fresh funding, including €350,000 for capital works to allow a reopening. Some 15 minutes ago, the Taoiseach said the Minister is bringing forward that capital funding. When he says this, is he saying that the Minister is bringing forward the full amount that will allow the reopening? I ask the Taoiseach to clarify this point.

In terms of the well-being of children, I wish to ask the Taoiseach about Gaelcholáiste Reachrann in Donaghmede. It has highly committed staff who do an excellent job. It was founded in 2001, and 23 years later the students are still being taught in prefabs. This is in stark contrast to many other schools that have opened since and for which permanent school buildings have been provided. Planning permission for new buildings was granted originally in 2017, but seven years later permanent school buildings are still being awaited. When will the students of Gaelcholáiste Reachrann get the permanent school facilities they need?

I wish to tell the Taoiseach about a 14-year-old boy from my constituency. This young man had braces fitted in the orthodontic clinic in Louth County Hospital last October. In December, however, his family were told this young man's dentist had resigned and there would be a lengthy waiting period for his next appointment. He had his braces tightened but was then informed he was no longer attached to an orthodontist and would therefore not be given any further appointments. In fact, his mother was told only last week that he is not even on a waiting list. He has, essentially, been left mid-treatment without an orthodontist. His parents are deeply concerned. The young lad now has a large gap in his teeth. Normally, he was a confident and outgoing young fella but now he is very self-conscious. He covers his mouth when he is speaking and has become withdrawn and reluctant to get involved in activities he used to love. This is not the only child in this situation. In fact, I am told there are 100 other children and young people in the same position. Will the Taoiseach engage with the Minister for Health and ensure this issue is addressed urgently for these children?

To Deputy Tully, regarding the point she made about the working family payment and the one-parent family and the challenges she outlined that present when the youngest child reaches the age of seven, these are matters we consider in the context of the budget. We have taken several measures to help remove poverty traps and cliff edges. We have also tried to take a number of measures, including cost-of-living measures, specifically targeted at families most in need, including double payments, lump-sum payments, etc. I will raise the specific issue the Deputy mentioned, however, with the Minister for Social Protection for consideration by her in the context of the upcoming Estimates.

In reply to Deputy Ó Murchú, on the special education teaching allocations he raised for the schools in County Louth, I will ask the Minister for Education to look at them and come back to him. There is, as the Deputy said, an appeals process, but I take the point about the stress and worry that can cause for people. I agree with his broader point around the need for targeted interventions. I heard him speak about this in the House before in terms of community interventions that can make a real difference to people before situations become more challenging.

To Deputy O'Sullivan, I will speak directly to the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, about the baby room shortages in Glanmire, the specific challenges faced by ECCE-only providers in rural communities and the need to consider that in the context of the funding model.

To Deputy Murnane O'Connor, I know the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, received money in the budget that she worked very hard for in terms of trying to support families who have to pay for assessments. I have discussed this with the Minister of State recently. I would hope we could see clarity shortly on how that scheme would work, because there are families depending on it, including the Deputy's constituents.

On the new childminding regulations, we have to remind ourselves what we are trying to do here. We are trying to get subsidies to parents who are using childminding, just as a person whose child is in a crèche gets them. It is unfair that subsidies are available in respect of children in crèches but not for those with childminders. That is the policy objective. To advance that policy objective, we need to have a degree of regulation to enable State funding. However, I also agree we cannot turn people's homes into crèches or measure sitting rooms in odd peculiar ways. We have to be flexible on this. The Minister gets the importance of this, so the draft regulations are indeed a draft. I assure the Deputy the concerns will be addressed, or I certainly hope they will be addressed, before we see final regulations.

In reply to Deputy Boyd Barrett who has given me some correspondence, we have spoken about the case of Amy and I will revert to him in that regard.

In reply to Deputy Murphy, that sounds like a very good project in Kingswood. The answer I would give is that the sports capital funding should be an avenue with the local authority. We will be making sports capital allocations, probably around October and certainly in the autumn of this year. Sports capital funding is largely annual now. There is a great deal of money in it - hundreds of millions of euro. I advise that that might be a route forward.

In response to Deputy Barry on childminding, the point I was making from my note was that €90 million has been allocated to the Department from 2023 to 2026 in regard to capital investment to increase capacity. In 2024, €18 million was made available to support existing services to increase their capacity. However, a further capital funding scheme will be launched later this year focused on larger extension projects for services also in place for one- to three-year-olds. I am happy to take a look at the specific case in Cork and to ask the Minister to engage directly with Deputy Barry.

In response to Deputy O'Callaghan in regard to Gaelcholáiste Reachrann in Donaghmede and the long time classes have spent in prefabs, we allocated quite a lot of additional capital to the Minister for Education. I will ask her what that means for Gaelcholáiste Reachrann and ask her to write to the Deputy.

In response to Deputy Carthy, specifically that very difficult situation for the young person he referenced and others, I will engage, as he asked me to, with the Minister for Health.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 29 to 38, inclusive, together.

On 10 April I spoke by phone to the British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak. We each acknowledged the depth and the breadth of the British-Irish relationship and the value we attach to it. We discussed the positive leadership which the First Minister and deputy First Minister have shown since their appointment in February. We also discussed Ukraine and the urgency of the situation in Gaza. I look forward to meeting with Prime Minister Sunak at the European political community meeting he will host in July.

Later that day, I also spoke by phone to the First Minister and the deputy First Minister. That day, 10 April, marked the anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. I underlined the importance I attach to the role of the two Governments as co-guarantors of the agreement. I signalled my commitment to fulfilling my co-guarantor role in a positive spirit and to the full. We also discussed the meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council which had taken place in County Armagh two days earlier and the opportunity now, with the restoration of the Executive and the assembly, to intensify North-South co-operation in areas such as healthcare, tourism, infrastructure and innovation.

I was also pleased to visit Belfast last Friday, 3 May. I had a very constructive meeting with the First Minister and deputy First Minister in Stormont Castle, and I thank them for their time. We discussed a range of topics, including their budget, migration, opportunities for North-South co-operation, student mobility and existing shared island funding commitments, including for the A5 and the Ulster University Magee campus.

Following that meeting I was welcomed to Parliament Buildings in Stormont by Speaker, Edwin Poots, where I also had meetings with each of the other party leaders: Naomi Long, Doug Beattie and Colum Eastwood. These meetings were useful and productive, covering the Northern Ireland budget, legacy and the shared island youth forum.

On 15 April I was also very pleased to address the 66th plenary meeting of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly, which took place in my home county of Wicklow on the theme of tourism. In my remarks to the assembly, I noted how, across our islands, we are fortunate to enjoy a strong tourism offering which is a major driver of growth, employment and regional development. I also more generally reaffirmed the Government's commitment to working to see relationships throughout these islands prosper further.

I thank the Taoiseach for his reply.

I was pleased the Taoiseach accepted my invitation to address the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly. His attendance, both on Sunday evening and Monday morning, was much appreciated by all the participants from all the different legislatures. As the Taoiseach said, the focus of our particular plenary was on tourism. We were dealing with the opportunities there are for further development of our tourism product on an all-Ireland basis and throughout these islands. I was glad we had a specific presentation from the cross-Border UNESCO global geopark, which is based in the Cuilcagh Mountains on the Cavan-Fermanagh border. It was the first UNESCO global cross-Border geopark in the world and it has been a resounding success. Indeed, additional Government investment is going into that particular area which will be hugely beneficial for the south of Ulster and indeed the north-west region of our country. Our British colleagues were delighted to see that cross-Border work. Actually, thanks to the work of Arlene Foster as Minister for Tourism and me as a member of the Government back in 2008, we were able to get that project moved on and approved at the time with significant investment in the meantime.

Our Good Friday committee had a meeting with the Northern Ireland affairs committee of the House of Commons. One issue I again put to the British members was that thankfully, over the years successive taoisigh and Ministers for Foreign Affairs on our side have addressed our plenary meetings when they are held in Ireland. We do not have the same level of participation by senior British Ministers. We emphasised the need for the Prime Minister and senior Ministers in Britain to participate in the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference and in the British-Irish Council. Successive Governments of ours have participated very willingly in all those discussions.

In regard to the funding that has been made available for developments in Northern Ireland, I am particularly interested in the A5 and the N2, which is important as part of my own constituency in County Monaghan, to our neighbours in Tyrone and to those in Donegal.

We are approaching the 50th anniversary of the terrible atrocities that were committed on our island on 17 May 1974. We have continually emphasised on every forum available to us the responsibility on the British Government to respond meaningfully to the unanimous request of this House in 2008, 2011 and 2016 to give access to an independent international eminent legal person to the relevant files and papers pertaining to the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. It is deplorable that the British Government has not responded to the request of our sovereign Parliament, iterated in this House and in the Seanad in 2008, 2011 and 2016. I want those issues pushed as strongly as possible.

As of last week the British Government's so-called legacy Bill became law. The British intention is that inquests and investigations will remain unconcluded and that families will go without the answers or the justice they rightly deserve. This cynical and callous Bill is an affront to the victim-centred approach agreed as part of the Stormont House Agreement. The singular purpose it serves is to close the door on families ever getting truth and justice. It stands as a flagrant violation of international human rights law and breaches multiple international agreements to which the Irish Government is a co-guarantor. It has united victims and families, human rights experts and organisations, as well as every political party on this island in opposition to its cruel approach. Having witnessed the determination, strength and resolve of families campaigning for truth and justice over many decades, I have no doubt the British Government will fail in its objectives. However, the Irish Government has a role to play and an obligation to victims and their families to support their campaigns for truth and justice while opposing British attempts to erect a permanent veil of secrecy. Will the Taoiseach update the House in respect of the inter-state case the Government has initiated against the British Government in regard to this Bill in the European Court of Human Rights? Will the Taoiseach also outline the actions he has taken to ensure a victim-centred approach to progressing legacy matters and the full implementation of the Stormont House Agreement?

The meeting with the First Minister and deputy First Minister sounded positive. It dealt with the issue of budgets. I imagine the issue of British Government underfunding was top of that agenda. The Taoiseach said he spoke about migration. It is welcome that conversation happens across the island.

This is not a devolved power, however, and obviously relates to the British Government. We know about the particular spat that is happening at the minute. The Taoiseach also stated that, as much as this needs to be rectified, he believes it is actions that need to be taken in this State that can deal with that issue. A handle needs to be got on it so that we have something that is fair, efficient and enforced. The Taoiseach might give an update in that regard.

We all welcome any moves regarding the shared island funding, particularly the A5, the Narrow Water Bridge and anything from an educational point of view. With regard to that wider idea of constitutional change, there is a need for the Government to do its preparatory bits, even in the case of the questions we may be asking in the future and the possibility of a referendum.

It goes without saying that the legacy Bill is an absolute disgrace. I also ask for that update regarding what Deputy Tully asked. Has the Taoiseach made contact with Rishi Sunak and his Government following this to deal with some of these issues? Has he any update rather than the stuff that is in the public domain?

I thank the Deputies very much. I acknowledge Deputy Brendan Smith's leadership of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly but also his leadership more broadly on North-South issues over a sustained period. I was delighted to attend the BIPA meeting. I was even more delighted that it was held in my constituency. The Deputy could not have known I was going to be Taoiseach at that time, so it worked out very well for everybody. It was great to be there and see the deep bonds of friendship. As all of us in this House know, the best way to embed peace is through interpersonal relationships. The role Deputy Smith has played in that regard should be commended, as should the cross-Border projects he referenced on which he worked with Ms Arlene Foster and others. I am pleased that representatives from the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee from the House of Commons are here. I take that point about the importance of senior British engagement at BIPA plenary sessions. I will certainly engage with counterparts in the UK on that in the appropriate way.

I am very pleased the shared island funding is making a real impact with regard to the A5. I am conscious that, only last week, we saw another very sad loss of life on that road. There is a process going on in the North that Minister O'Dowd and others need to follow, which I do not want to cut across. For our part, however, the very substantial funding we have provided will make a difference.

I take seriously the points the Deputy made about the 50th anniversary of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. I am happy to continue to engage with him and appropriately with the British Government in that regard.

To Deputies Tully and Ó Murchú, the view of Government is very clear regarding legacy issues. It has been led by my colleague, the Tánaiste, as Minister for Foreign Affairs. We did not wish to find ourselves in this place. We exhausted all other avenues. On 17 January, the Government did file an interstate case against the United Kingdom with the European Court of Human Rights. The application makes clear our Government's strong concerns that victims and family members who spent decades fighting for an effective investigation into their case are having all existing avenues to truth and justice shut down. That case is now with the European Court of Human Rights at admissibility stage. That is where the current update stands.

With regard to migration, as Deputy Ó Murchú said, it is not a function for the Northern Ireland Executive but a function for the British Government. The First Minister, deputy First Minister and I did have useful conversations about the importance of sharing information and data between our various officials, the importance of continued official engagement and acknowledging the good and important collaboration that happens very regularly between the PSNI and An Garda Síochána on many issues of mutual concern, including protection and security on the island of Ireland.