2026-01-14

This is D-day for The Complex arts facility in Dublin's north inner city. At midnight, its lease expires and, as it stands, we risk losing what is a key project for our community. This issue has gone on and on for years and the project has been passed from Billy to Jack. Promises of intervention have been made and have amounted to nothing. Central government, Dublin City Council and the Arts Council all have a role play. At this final hour, we need all concerned to get their act together and save this project. Passing the buck needs to stop. This complex has proven to be a valuable resource and its contribution has been widely recognised, including by the Government's Dublin city task force, which acknowledged the central role of The Complex in sustaining artistic and community life in the area. We are simply not prepared to lose it. The arts community and wider community have made their feelings very clear. The Complex must be saved.

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. It is important. I will engage with the relevant Ministers. Dublin City Council has a role and the private sector is also involved. There is an issue to be resolved. From the perspective of the arts community and citizens generally, the role of the centre, which is of benefit to generations and is in the public interest, is one we would like to retain. I will get an update from the relevant Minister on this.

Could the Taoiseach communicate with me on that?

Yes.

I was deeply dismayed by the negative remarks about cyclists made by Judge James O'Donohoe. My colleague Deputy Ciarán Ahern has submitted a formal complaint to the Judicial Council and I note that many judges have expressed criticism. Some judges even cycle, as many of us in the Oireachtas do. Unfortunately, the comments generated a great deal of negativity. We have seen some scapegoating of cyclists in public discourse. It was appalling to see the Irish Road Haulage Association use the opportunity to punch down on cyclists this week. Fourteen cyclists were killed on our roads last year and 45 were killed in the past five years. Cyclists are vulnerable road users. We, as a country, should be encouraging more people to cycle and promoting cycling as a safe option. For all sorts of reasons, including climate action and public health reasons, this would be positive. It would also be positive in tackling traffic congestion and the proliferation of private vehicles on our streets. During the term of the last Government, the Green Party made a commitment to ensure proper investment in cycling. Will the current Government tackle the negative narrative around cycling and invest in cycling infrastructure?

All parties in the last Government invested hugely in cycling. Successive Ministers for public expenditure, in particular, invested very significantly in active travel more generally, and that is to be seen across the country in the form of transformative projects. That is a good thing. I reject any stereotyping or categorisation of cyclists.

I thank the Taoiseach.

I do not want to breach any rule concerning the separation of powers but I am very clear that any general comment that impacts negatively on the perspective on cyclists is wrong. It should not be made. We should be very clear about the importance of cycling and about facilitating cyclists.

Hear, hear.

Also, we should be very careful regarding contested space on our roads to ensure that we protect cyclists. About €1 billion been invested since 2021 in walking and cycling projects across the country. The active travel and sustainable transport programme of the National Transport Authority, NTA, continues to be very significant, with higher amounts being provided again this year.

When the staggering waiting lists for primary care services for young people were first raised by my party leader, Deputy Holly Cairns, in July 2024, the then Taoiseach, Deputy Simon Harris, suggested the crisis was confined to psychology and the Cork–Kerry area. I have looked into this in depth over the past year and it is clear that the crisis is across disciplines and affecting every health region. The longest waiting time for physiotherapy is in Laois–Offaly, at six and a half years. The longest for occupational therapy is in Louth–Meath, at nine years. The longest for psychology is in Dublin city and west, at an incredible 11 years. The longest for speech and language therapy is in Dublin north-west, at almost six years. These are not outliers because HSE senior management is actually removing outliers from parliamentary question responses. Despite the chronic under-resourcing of primary care services by successive Governments, the Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, states the solution is about a single point of access and not staffing thresholds. I support a single point of access but we have to staff services. Thousands of families are being failed. When are we going to establish staffing benchmarks for primary care services based on population size in each health region? When is the Government going to undertake the necessary recruitment?

We have been recruiting. We need to be a little more analytical on this as well. I take the Deputy’s point in that the waiting times are not satisfactory whatsoever. The model needs to be examined. I do not believe it works at all in terms of the referral system and how we are utilising the disciplines. We are recruiting. There have been challenges with recruitment. CORU is improving its performance in respect of those who are qualified who wish to come from the United Kingdom, the EU or elsewhere. A lot of restrictive approaches were being taken to the recruitment of people from overseas, particularly regarding the therapies. More broadly, and standing back, are we deploying the resources we have adequately, effectively and optimally in respect of these issues? I am doubtful about it. I am doubtful about the model that exists within our health service in respect of therapies. We can keep recruiting but the recruits will not have an appreciable impact.

There is a clear commitment in the programme for Government regarding the occupied territories Bill. The Bill was published eight years ago. The International Court of Justice said the Government had an obligation to ban all trade in goods from occupied territories. The Taoiseach admits that in the programme for Government, which I read this morning. There are 160 legal settlements in the West Bank, 69 of which came into force since 2022. In recent weeks, the Israeli Government announced 19 new ones. Palestinian homes, farms and businesses have been bulldozed and destroyed. Some 700,000 Israelis live on illegal settlements, on stolen Palestinian land. Israeli settlers and Israel Defense Forces terrorists have murdered over 700 people in the West Bank in the past two years. When will the Government stop dancing around this and bring the occupied territories Bill through the Oireachtas? The relevant Minister, Deputy McEntee, speaking yesterday in Egypt, said she is not going to rush into something. For God’s sake, we are still waiting for the legislation after eight years. This needs to be prioritised. People are being murdered in Palestine by terrorists. We need to help them.

It is not eight years. It is a little disingenuous to say it is but I understand where the Deputy is coming from. The Government did not introduce a Bill eight years ago. What has been put forward is wholly inadequate in terms of constitutionality, etc. We will not go back over all of that.

We have done all of that, though.

What is going on with the settlements is wrong. It will render non-viable the prospect of a two-state solution, which in our view is the only sustainable way to have peace, including between Palestinians and Israelis, in the Middle East. I decry the continuing expansion of settlements in the West Bank. In our view, we need to move on to phase 2 of the peace process in Gaza, have a sustainable transitional force there, achieve decommissioning and have proper reconstruction of Gaza. We received a legal opinion from the Attorney General recently in respect of the occupied territories Bill. There are significant implementation issues. This will not stop anything in terms of the Israeli policy on the expansion of settlements. We just need to be clear about that as well.

It does not matter if it comes from Russia, though.

Please, Deputy Donnelly. I call Deputy Michael Collins.

I welcome the fact that the Irish Government has, on behalf of its people, voted against the Mercosur trade deal. This deal will open the floodgates to Brazilian beef produced to standards far below what we demand here and contaminated with banned growth hormones and antibiotics, as exposed by the Irish Farmers Journal. Our farmers, who uphold the highest food safety and animal welfare standards, will face devastating losses in the beef and poultry sectors. Rural Ireland cannot be sacrificed for cheap imports that undermine public health and destroy livelihoods. The Government needs to keep sending a clear message that we stand with Irish farmers and for quality. In the next few weeks, each MEP in Europe will have a vote for or against the Mercosur deal. Our Independent Ireland MEP, Ciaran Mullooly, has been in Brussels since Sunday lobbying fellow MEPs from Italy and other countries to vote "No". It is alarming that three MEPs out of 14 in Ireland are saying they are going to vote in favour of the Mercosur deal. Can the Taoiseach tell me today that the Government will apply the whip to MEPs Barry Andrews, Seán Kelly and Regina Doherty to have them vote against the Mercosur deal in the same way that it has?

The Government took its decision last week notwithstanding that significant improvements and safeguards were achieved. Quite a number of MEPs, including Barry Cowen, Billy Kelleher and Cynthia Ní Mhurchú, worked effectively and all tabled amendments that were accepted. That was important in making sure the strongest possible safeguards, including market safeguards, would be in place. Now the threshold has gone from 10% down to 5%, which is a pretty significant improvement regarding any disruption to the market here. Also, in terms of production standards, the EU sanitary and phytosanitary, SPS, safeguards already in place are non-negotiable to protect human, animal and plant health. They are among the highest in the world, and they are non-negotiable. The Commission, as part of the safeguards, has already said it will include a 50% increase in the number of audits carried out on all non-EU countries over the next two years, a 33% increase in audits of the EU border control posts and closer monitoring of non-compliant commodities and countries.

Thank you, Taoiseach. I call Deputy Shane Moynihan.

I asked about the whip on the three MEPs.

I did not have enough time to come back on that.

I noted the Taoiseach's recent comments on e-scooters. I have raised this with him on a number of occasions. I cycle to Leinster House when I can, and I am a big supporter of the active travel agenda. However, I think there is now an emergency with regard to e-scooters that we need to take a very clear view on. We have heard the comments from the national children's health authority and Dr. Irwin Gill about the prevalence of head injuries among those aged under 16 because of the lack of use of helmets on those vehicles. Research from Vienna shows us that head injury rates halve when helmets are made mandatory for users of e-scooters. There are still a number of minors using e-scooters on our roads and streets. That is why we have to go further than just helmet requirements, and also look at registration and insurance requirements. This is to make sure that, first, e-scooter users are held accountable for their behaviour, but also that e-scooters are not being used for criminal purposes, as they are in many places around the country as drug gangs’ supply lines. They are used by vulnerable minors to deliver illegal products for the gangs. This is not something new. It is done in Denmark, Germany and Italy. We need to get ahead of the curve and make sure the regulation matches the technology.

I thank the Deputy for raising a very important issue. I agree with the thrust of what he is saying. We have to grasp the nettle here. By the way, under the 2024 regulations, it is an offence for children under 16 to use e-scooters on public roads. That is an important road safety measure, enforcement of which, of course, is a matter for An Garda Síochána. The wearing of helmets is a no-brainer, given the damage to the head that can happen if you do not have a helmet, and also given the issue of registration and high-vis clothing. The Minister of State, Deputy Seán Canney, is discussing this with his officials. I will come back to the Deputy with the concrete outcomes from those discussions.

The vacant properties refurbishment grant has been extremely successful since it was implemented by the Government, with nearly 15,000 applications up to the end of September. There were 200 in Longford and 300 in Westmeath, and over €200 million has been paid out under the scheme. However, I find that a significant number of individuals and couples are coming to my office who are struggling to secure finance to complete the works in order to create the drawdown. Could we consider stage payments within the grant scheme to allow young couples or individuals to use the scheme more effectively?

I thank the Deputy for raising this. I will discuss it with the Minister, Deputy James Browne, and the Minister of State, Deputy John Cummins, in respect of whether we can improve the cash flow dimension to this.

I suggested stage payments.

Stage payments would mean that people have to claim back afterwards, and so on. I will come back to the Deputy on that.

I do not need to remind the Taoiseach about the massive issues people are having with the platform X, formerly known as Twitter. It is an absolute cesspit. More and more people are leaving the platform. In fact, I would be inclined to leave the platform myself were it not for the fact that I am a commuter who regularly uses the northern commuter line. Irish Rail continues to give its updates only via X, not on its website or on any other platform. There is no dedicated WhatsApp channel or anything like that. As recently as yesterday evening, it confirmed that it has no plans to move off the platform X. I have been contacted by my constituents in quite large numbers to say that they want to leave X but cannot because they simply have to have it to be able to access real-time information about disruptions. There are often disruptions on the northern line. Will the Government offer an alternative to people, please?

The point that the Deputy has raised raises the issue more generally of how one responds to issues that emerged in respect of Grok, for example, and its use and application or manipulation. What is important is the laws we have in place and our enforcement regime. Child pornography is banned in Irish law under the 1998 Act. It is an important point to make. That is across-the-board, whether it is AI-created or in other forms. That is important. We need to focus on the laws we have in place to prevent the type of activity that people are understandably horrified by.

People should have a choice.

We also have laws pertaining to adults. The Attorney General has already given me preliminary advice in relation to this. The issue is that what is a problem on one platform today can be a problem on another platform tomorrow, and on another platform the day after. We will look at it.

Thank you. I call Deputy Michael Murphy.

A dedicated WhatsApp channel would work.

We will look at that.

One hundred and ninety precious lives were lost on Irish roads last year. We have a crisis when it comes to road safety. We also have a crisis when it comes to compliance with existing road traffic legislation. In December alone, there were 26,500 fines for speeding, thousands were fined for not wearing a seatbelt or for using a mobile phone, 765 were convicted of either drink or drug driving, and 3,000 vehicles were seized on the side of the road. That was in December alone. Driver behaviour matters. Enforcement shapes driver behaviour. Does the Taoiseach agree that the number one priority has to be strengthening the roads policing unit? It currently stands at fewer than 650, which is 400 fewer than 15 years ago.

First, I want to pay tribute to An Garda Síochána for the work it did over the Christmas period. It carried out a dedicated road traffic enforcement operation throughout that period, with 10,000 checkpoints, as the Deputy said, statutory and mandatory intoxicant testing and regular high-visibility policing checkpoints. It made 765 arrests, seized nearly 3,000 vehicles for different offences under the Road Traffic Act and detected nearly 26,000 speeding offences. At the moment, as the Deputy said, there are some 638 gardaí assigned to roads policing. Recruitment is continuing apace and is accelerating, so additional garda numbers will become available to be deployed to priority areas. My view is that, over time, we will be in a position to assign more gardaí to roads policing units. Twenty-nine gardaí were assigned to the DMR roads policing unit last year. Last June, 26 gardaí were assigned to roads policing units in the eastern and north-western regions. Diaidh ar ndiaidh, mar a deir muid, beidh na huimhreacha ag méadú. We will increase the numbers.

From 1 January this year, the Department of Social Protection has been sharing information with Revenue in relation to those in receipt of carer’s benefit and carer’s allowance who are on the PAYE income list for last year - they may have been working a few hours per week - to inform them that they are now to be taxed. The tax will be deducted at source. It will apply not just from this year onwards, but retrospectively as well. In other words, Revenue can come back and ask for the arrears of taxation in relation to carer’s benefit and carer’s allowance. Does the Taoiseach think that is fair? Is it possible to exclude carer’s benefit and carer’s allowance as an income? Can we ensure that fair play is applied here? These are carers. They are not earning from it.

That is an issue I will check up on further. I will talk to the Minister for Finance and Revenue in respect of this. The taxation law and framework, as the Deputy knows, covers all income earners and, obviously, you are taxed if your income goes above a certain threshold. There has not been specific tax treatment, to my knowledge, in respect of this area. I will follow up and try to examine what exactly is afoot in respect of this.

I have been in touch with many sports clubs in Dublin 15. It is an area where the population of young people is exploding. There are groups like Corduff FC, Tyrrelstown GAA club, the football club, Plunkett’s, the cricket club and the boxing clubs. I have met with the executives, coaches and mentors of all of these clubs over the last while. They spend countless hours providing facilities and training for young people every week. They all say one thing, which is that there is a lack of facilities, particularly winter training facilities. There has been an explosion in the number of young girls engaging in sport but there is a lack of toilet facilities in parks and other facilities. With the billions of euro we now have in extra taxes, is there an opportunity to provide sports facilities for those young people, not only in Dublin 15 but right across the State? There is a huge issue.

But we are providing huge-----

It is not enough.

If the Deputy will let me finish the point. We are providing huge facilities across the country. There is a problem in Dublin city. The relationship between clubs and Dublin City Council and the other councils, for example, is much different to the relationship between clubs and sporting organisations and other local authorities down the country. There is a huge gap. I have seen it when I have been out canvassing in Dublin. There are too many restrictions on the utilisation of playing facilities and a lack of access for clubs to such playing facilities. There has been a record allocation of funding - there is no question about that – but there does need to be serious examination within Dublin collectively between clubs and councils in particular about freeing up land but also removing restrictions. We tend to do 100-year leases with clubs in Cork. We have done it for decades. That is almost unheard of, it seems to me, in Dublin. I was at clubs last year where they could not use facilities during the winter. It makes no sense to me, as someone who is involved.

As the Taoiseach knows, Clonmel is a significant economic, social and cultural hub with significant employment in industry and services. However, the town centre requires considerable refurbishment having been hit by changing retail trends and the resulting closure of businesses, including long-standing family businesses. Tipperary County Council has a significant town centre upgrading project ready for call 4 of the urban regeneration development fund. Approval for that project is vitally important for the consolidation and future development of the town, particularly as we missed out on the last round of funding. The Clonmel public realm regeneration project is a €21 million project. It is shovel-ready. The part 8 consultation has been completed and the town has an excellent record in the completion of similar-type projects in the past, like the Kickham Plaza and the sports hub, both of which came in on time and under budget. I am asking that capital funding be made available for this project in the call 4 funding.

I thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue. I am very fond of Clonmel. It is a very vibrant town. Senator Goldsboro has been on to me about the same issue as well. I will talk to the Minister involved. It is James Browne in this case or it might be Dara Calleary. I think it is the urban renewal fund that the Deputy is looking at here. I will certainly pursue that in terms of the public realm application.

At yesterday’s justice committee meeting the chief inspector of prisons, Mr. Mark Kelly, gave the most extraordinary testimony in relation to conditions in prisons in Ireland. He described them as an affront to dignity and later said what is happening in our prison system is almost tantamount to torture. I understand when we talk about improving prison conditions it is often not easy. Many people in prison may have done immense harms in communities. We also have recidivism rates in this country of seven out of ten. That is one of the highest in the EU. The Taoiseach might tell me we are going to build more prisons spaces but even if we included the other 940 prison spaces that are being spoken about, that still will not bring capacity below 100%. Has the Taoiseach a plan for improving prison conditions and outcomes? What we are doing at the moment is very clearly not working and, beyond that, it is cruel.

I mentioned earlier the growth in population in this country over the past two decades. It has been a quite dramatic exponential growth in population. I accept the comments by the inspector of prisons. It is a real issue. It has been growing over the past decade, consequential on the increased population and increased crime. We are now undertaking the fastest-ever expansion of prison capacity in Ireland. That has to happen and it is happening. The money has been allocated. However, I acknowledge that even with that there will still be challenges and pressures on capacity in our prison system. It is absolutely correct that we should have proper facilities and that we should expand capacity.

I wish to raise again the carparks that many of our motorways have become as they approach Dublin. Specifically today, I raise the urgent need to provide park and ride and secure park-and-share facilities at strategic points along these motorways. On my way in to Dublin this morning I counted 15 cars parked at the hard shoulder at the Ballitore M9 junction. These motorists are car-pooling and reducing the number of cars on these motorways. The same is happening at the Castledermot junction and, I am told, at other locations along the motorways. What plans does the Government have to provide park-and-ride facilities along these motorways? These cars parking on the hard shoulders are subject to damage and they need secure parking. They are helping with a dire situation on our motorways by reducing the amount of traffic on those roads each day.

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. TII and NTA are examining all these issues on an ongoing basis. Investment in public transport is happening apace. That will be key to reducing pressure on our roads. However, there is no easy solution in the short term. Park and ride does work. We will work and support the agencies and councils in respect of such facilities.

The national vehicle and driver file is the State’s database for driving licences, disqualifications and penalty points. It is relied on by An Garda Síochána and insurance companies yet in 2024 almost 8,000 penalty points were unmatched. That is mainly through the Courts Service. Following questions I raised last year, the Department reviewed the matching process for disqualifications and penalty points but these figures are not providing reassurance. The Department admitted that over 1,500 penalty point offences could have been matched if the system was more effective. Can the Taoiseach encourage clarity on how many disqualifications from drivers accumulating 12 penalty points or seven on a learner permit cannot be fully enforced on our roads because those penalty points are not being recorded on the national vehicle and driver file? Now is a time for difficult and forensic questions about our Vision Zero strategy.

There is a responsibility on the services concerned and on the agencies concerned to do this properly and effectively. The Government cannot run every agency. I will alert the Minister to the issues the Deputy raised here but there is an obligation on the services to do this and enforce and fulfil the law so that the penalties are applied and the consequences which flow from such penalties are given effect to.

I raise an issue which affects both the Taoiseach and me. It is Cork Educate Together Secondary School, which is currently located on Wellington Road in my constituency. When it was first founded in 2016 it was largely due to serve a catchment in the Taoiseach’s constituency, largely in the Douglas area. Since 2016 the school has had a number of homes. It is currently located on Wellington Road, as I said, next to Griffith College. Its lease is due to expire in 2027. Griffith College has intimated to the school management that it will not extend the lease a third time. The school was initially told by the Department that it was due to get its new-build school by September 2027. It cannot get an update from the Department and the school does not know where it will be in 2027. It is due to go in by the Fingerpost roundabout in the Douglas area. Can the Taoiseach get an update from the Department to clarify the situation for the school?

I thank the Deputy for raising this. It is a very pressing issue for Cork educate together. I will engage with the Minister for Education and the Department to get urgently required clarity for the school and the school community and I will get back to the Deputy.

I thank the Taoiseach. We are just about out of time but I will go ahead with Deputy Ó Súilleabháin.

On a similar note, ba mhaith liom uasdátú ar Ghaelscoil an Inbhir Mhóir agus Gaelcholáiste na Mara. I would like an update on the commencement date for Gaelcholáiste na Mara and Ghaelscoil an Inbhir Mhóir. When will there be shovels in the ground for their new campus at Kilbride? I appreciate the Taoiseach might not have the answers now but I ask that he get them for me. Pupils in the schools have been 27 years in prefabs. I visited the school two years ago. I met sixth-year pupils who had been at the sod-turning ceremony when they were in junior infants. Tá sé sin scannalach agus is cúis náire amach is amach é. When will there be shovels in the ground and when will pupils actually start in their new facilities?

Déanfaidh mé teagmháil leis an Aire chun soiléiriú a fháil maidir leis na tograí sin sa Ghaelscoil agus sa Ghaelcholáiste. Más féidir liom freagra a fháil, cuirfidh mé in iúl é.

I want to return to the issue of the €141 million paid by the public to the World Bank in advance of Paschal Donohoe taking up his new job. Yesterday the Taoiseach told me a formal business case was prepared by the Department of Finance and the low option was €141.4 million. I have read the business case. It lists a number of options. It lists option 3, which is the World Bank's envisaged level and what it was asking for - €131.4 million. It describes the €141.4 million as the higher level option, not the low option. Would the Taoiseach like to correct the record of the Dáil? Can he explain why we paid €10 million more than the World Bank asked for?

The figures I gave yesterday and the comments were from the Department of Finance presentation to me. I have asked that the business case be published. There was an FOI in relation to that. There was a suggested contribution from officials of €150 million, if there was a wish to go further. The Minister agreed on the €141 million. I will seek to reconcile the various notes the Deputy has with the notes I have, which I articulated yesterday in the Dáil. We are talking about the 75 poorest countries globally that are supported by this organisation. That was the context.