2025-12-17

Before calling Deputy McDonald, I welcome to the Gallery the following guests of Deputy Richard O'Donoghue: Marianne, Pat, Clare, Daniel and Jack Tierney from Mountrath, County Laois; Rachel and Ciara Coughlan from Cloyne, County Cork; and Mary Angela Downes and Brigid O'Sullivan from Knockaderry, County Limerick.

As this is the last time I will take to my feet this year, I extend to everyone a very happy and peaceful Christmas. Nollaig shona daoibh go léir. At the start of this year, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael formed the Government on the back of a grubby deal with Michael Lowry and his group of so-called Independents - a grubby deal that was all about keeping power, not about what is good for ordinary people. It was a deal that saw the Government appoint a record number of super-junior Ministers to Cabinet. Of course, the courts will have their say on that matter on Friday. Eleven months on, at the end of the year, we have a do-nothing Government. It is a Government whose first year has been defined by failure, scandal and broken promises. Its failure in housing persists, with devastating consequences for people desperate to put an affordable roof over their head. When it comes to passing legislation, the Government is at nothing. It has passed the fewest number of laws in the first year of any government this century. In 25 years, over six governments, this Government is the worst. It is a go-slow coalition that cannot even get the basics of governance done. Then there is the cost of living. People are hammered with price increases and rip-off bills but the Government refuses to help. It refused to bring forward a cost-of-living package. It delivered a budget of €9.4 billion that, astonishingly, left working people worse off. It hiked up the price of petrol, diesel, home heating oil, road tolls and the local property tax. The Government allows big energy companies and large supermarket chains to price-gouge and fleece people. It does nothing to stop it. Worse than that, over the past week, we have seen the most mean-spirited, lousy approach in respect of blister packages, which is putting pressure on low-income people, including the elderly. Again, this was done without costing the Government a thought. Then there is the Government's waste of public money. Millions of euro have been wasted on bike sheds, security huts and empty offices. There is also, of course, a raft of broken election promises, of which there are many. The Government promised to cut student fees but hiked them up. It promised action to get bills and prices down; they go up and up. It promised to give workers a break on their income tax but instead gave those tax breaks to developers, landlords and banks. As soon as the Government got back into power, its promises disappeared like snow off a ditch. The most damning failure of this do-nothing Government is its failure of the children who are denied assessments of needs and school places, children living in poverty and children living with scoliosis and spina bifida. This will be Gillian and Stephen Morrison Sherratt's first Christmas without Harvey. The unimaginable pain of losing Harvey has been compounded by the fact he was deliberately removed from a waiting list by Children's Health Ireland. That was done without the knowledge or consent of Harvey's parents. Children with scoliosis and spina bifida were promised they would wait no longer than four months for their surgeries. Does the Taoiseach remember that promise? Harvey was just one of the children for whom that promise was broken time and again. Today, 233 children wait for their operations. Every day they wait, the Government fails them, just as it failed Harvey. Tá faic déanta ag an Rialtas. Le linn na chéad bhliana in oifig, bhí sé gafa i scannal, teipeanna agus gealltanais bhriste. There we have it - the Taoiseach's do-nothing Government's year of failure laid bare. Those failures have big consequences for so many people. Does the Taoiseach accept his Government is the worst-performing government this century?

Ní aontaím in aon chor leis an Teachta. Before I start, I express my gratitude to the Ceann Comhairle and her team and all the staff in the Oireachtas who help us elected representatives to do our job, day in and day out.

Hear, hear.

I refer to the clerks, security staff, cleaners, catering staff and all who quietly go about their business and create what is essentially the community that underpins our nation's democracy. I also thank all the TDs in the House. We may differ on matters - we do not agree on everything - but I believe we are all here for the right reason, which is to advance the interests of the people of this country. I wish everybody a well-earned break with their family and loved ones. I thank my own team and the officials in my Department and wish them a happy and peaceful Christmas. Nollaig shona agus athbhliain faoi mhaise daoibh go léir. I wish a happy Christmas to Deputy McDonald as well. I hope she has a very good rest and break. In relation to the first year of the Government, I would take an opposite view to Deputy McDonald. I generally think she takes the soundbite approach as opposed to dealing with the issues of real substance. The Government came into office at a time of huge geopolitical turbulence, with tariffs, etc. We have navigated the tariff situation skilfully, effectively and with impact. We have reduced the threats to this country significantly as a result of our work within Europe and bilaterally with the US and by influencing the European approach to the discussions with America. That was a significant threat, if the Deputy recalls, at the beginning of the Government's term. We worked with industry, including the medical devices, pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical and life sciences sectors, to make sure we were on the ball in terms of dealing with the core issues in a very difficult situation. It was likewise in terms of the security situation facing Europe, with a war in Europe for the first time since the Second World War. We have navigated that. We have worked with principle in terms of dealing with those issues. We also took a principled stance in relation to the shocking genocide in Gaza. Economically, we are heading to be the fastest growing among the world's most advanced economies this year. We will have 2.8 million people at work. That is 550,000 additional people at work in the Irish economy between 2020 and 2025. We have 2.825 million people at work. It is a record in the labour market. That creates its own challenges but it is a positive. I can remember other decades when people in this country could not get work. We should never take that for granted. I know the Deputy does take it for granted, dismisses it all and keeps coming up with ideas and proposals that would undermine the enterprise economy that is critical. One of the core Government deliveries this year was infrastructure and proper investment in the productive capacity of our economy and society into the future. Investments in water infrastructure, the energy grid and housing have all been announced in the context of the national development plan. Big projects like MetroLink have been green-lighted and are on their way. The planning has come through. Projects like the Shannon eastern and midlands water plan are big projects. No doubt Deputy McDonald will come at us objecting to some of them but these are very big projects for the future of this country. In research investment, we have the INSPIRE programme. I have never heard Deputy McDonald mention the word "research" in five or six years. She has never raised it with me, yet research is critical to the future of this country in terms of the jobs of the future, products of the future and ideas for the future. That is what matters ultimately in terms of a measurement of a government, not the quantum of legislation passed. We passed 32 Bills in 2020. Why? Eleven of them were to do with the emergency arising from the pandemic. I do not accept the analysis Deputy McDonald has put forward. We have a lot of law and regulation in this country. Some would argue we have too much regulation, which has stopped us getting the roads, bridges and railways built. Let us have balance and perspective here.

I thank the Taoiseach.

As for judging any government, there is a whole range of issues and I will get back to some in the supplementary response.

I thank the Taoiseach.

We are doing more for children now in terms of our investments.

I call Deputy McDonald.

Deputy McDonald did not want us to do targeted measures for child poverty in the budget, but we did it.

The Taoiseach should please forgive me, as I did omit the issue of infrastructural failures from my list. I thank him for jogging my memory. In fact, the mythical metro of which he speaks has gone on for decades. It is a bit like the children's hospital. It is one of these things that is spoken of in hushed tones, billions are allocated and maybe one day we will wake up and it will be a reality, or maybe not - certainly not on the Taoiseach's watch. I would not have any great hope. It is the Taoiseach who engages in spin and soundbites when he is called out about the reality of people's lives on the ground and the fact that people are struggling with their bills. He refuses to help. In fact, he takes action to make matters worse. The fact is that he has spectacularly failed our children, in particular those I have listed who are awaiting assessments of need, looking for school places or living with scoliosis and spina bifida. He has no answer to that because his is a government of failure, legislatively and-----

I thank Deputy McDonald. I call on the Taoiseach to respond.

----- on a day-to-day basis in very practical ways, in making people's lives easier.

I call on the Taoiseach to respond.

In fact, it seems to me that his ambition is to make people's lives more difficult. How is that for a Christmas bonus for people?

That is a bit silly. The bottom line is that we are prioritising children and we want to do that. It is accepted that there are issues facing children in this country, but we provided for a major 20% increase in investment in disability services. As the Deputy knows, we are now developing a new education therapy service, which will be transformative. It will start in special schools early in the new year. It will be expanded into all special schools in the school year beginning in September of next year. Then we will expand it into the mainstream classes. That will have multidisciplinary teams in schools for children with disabilities. In parallel with that, we are investing in disability services. We are amending the assessment of need to make sure we prioritise the provision of therapists to children, as opposed to them being behind desks doing all sorts of assessments that are not the optimum use of their time. We need therapists to work with children on the ground. We have 400 new special classes this year, and we also have 300 new special school places sanctioned for the 2025-26 school year.

I thank the Taoiseach.

A total of €3 billion has now been invested in special education, and rightly so. It will continue.

I call Deputy Lawlor.

Again last night there was traffic chaos across Dublin after the M50 was closed due to a fire near the bridge. This rippled across the city and the counties surrounding Dublin. For those relying on public transport, there is more and more evidence of a system falling apart or not functioning: ghost buses, cancelled trains, and a Luas that shuts down due to a storm. Commuters are tearing their hair out and the roll-back of remote working arrangements is putting more workers on the road from places like my constituency of Wexford. My colleague, Deputy Wall, has raised the need for a new Operation Freeflow, a real right to remote work and better roads policing. Every TD in this House can recount to the Taoiseach problems with public transport in their constituencies but he has abandoned the 2:1 ratio of investment in much-needed buses, trains and trams. Those travelling to work in this House every day know the chaos that driving or commuting to Dublin now involves. With increased congestion, we are also seeing driver behaviour deteriorating. Those who follow the rules of the road can only sit and watch those reckless drivers breaking the rules, acting with impunity. It is a vicious cycle. The road safety campaign group, PARC, has highlighted the decline in the number of motoring fines in recent years. This summer we saw the publication of the Crowe report on roads policing. That should have been a wake-up call on the need for stronger action. Sadly, the rise in dangerous driving and issues with roads policing is reflected in the rise in deaths on our roads. Already this year, 180 people have been killed on our roads, eight more than last year. In recent weeks, there has been a shocking number of horrific accidents. Each death is a tragedy for the families of those killed that will be deeply felt next week as they gather for the Christmas the Taoiseach has just spoken about. If current trends continue, the overall figure will surpass the 184 killed in 2023, which was the highest number in almost a decade. It is not clear what strategy the Government has to address this distressing increase. The official goal is to halve road deaths by 2030. Instead, Ireland is one of the few European countries where road deaths are increasing. The road safety strategy is failing. We learn from The Journal today that the Government has abandoned the plan agreed last year to reform the Road Safety Authority by splitting it into two separate bodies – one that is responsible for road safety and another for operational activities like the NCT and driver testing. This was recommended following an independent external review of the Road Safety Authority. What is the Government's plan to reduce road deaths as we enter the most dangerous period of the year for road users? Why has the Government abandoned the plan to reform the Road Safety Authority? Will there be an increased level of roads policing and enforcement over the next two weeks?

The Deputy has identified a number of issues, ranging from public transport and the M50 to road safety. For me, the latter is the most significant issue. There is very significant traffic congestion on the M50. It is a vital piece of national infrastructure. Growth in our economy and in our population has added significantly to the traffic. Overall levels on the M50 have grown by 11% since 2019. There is huge investment going into public transport. I do not agree with the 2:1 ratio. It is too crude a mechanism. A lot depends on when a project comes to completion, as it draws down an awful lot more money than at the beginning. The 2:1 ratio is not a sensible framework on a year-to-year basis to judge investment in public transport versus investment in roads. In regard to investment in roads, the Macroom bypass, for example, was huge for safety. It was better for safety, air pollution and the quality of life of the people living in all the towns – Macroom, Baile Bhuirne and others - along the way, yet people would say it is anti-climate or whatever to build a bypass like that. I have never accepted the ideological orthodoxy of some people on that side of the fence. At the same time, we need to invest hugely in public transport. That is what we are doing with BusConnects, MetroLink and DART+. We now have about 1 million public transport journeys a day. Last year alone we had over 343 million public transport journeys. That is increasing but we need more on that front. Historically, the establishment of the Road Safety Authority was the most significant measure taken in respect of dealing substantially with road deaths. As I have previously done in the House, I pay a lot of tribute to the former Minister, Noel Dempsey, who really took on this issue with the late Gay Byrne. They transformed it. They were very unpopular in this House because they took measures that many parliamentarians opposed on drink driving and all sorts of penalties, but they did it and it is a lesson to everybody. Every now and again we need a bit of backbone in politics to do the right thing and get over the short-term opposition and knee-jerk reactions. Our roads did become much safer after that and we significantly reduced road deaths and injuries. We need to do the same now. There is a serious increase - not back to the levels of the 1970s or 1980s - that is causing untold trauma to families and young people. We have had some horrific accidents in recent times that horrify us in terms of the trauma that has been visited on so many parents and families. I favour the retention of the Road Safety Authority as the pre-eminent authority to deal with road safety. It will have the resources to do that.

I thank the Taoiseach and call on Deputy Lawlor to respond.

I am glad to hear the Taoiseach's commitment to public transport. However, in the strategic rail review, the Rosslare to Waterford rail line has been abandoned yet again. There is no investment in the Rosslare Europort to Dublin line, despite the massive investment that is going to happen in Rosslare Europort. Despite the talk, there are known road safety blackspots in every constituency. In my constituency, the absolutely dreadful conditions of rural roads in particular are appalling. It is mainly due to the massive and continuing underfunding of Wexford County Council. Despite the fact that local authorities are doing their best, every TD could say the same about councils across the country. Who is responsible for identifying the structural failures on our roads and ensuring best practice is implemented? Budgets are committed to deliver safer roads and stakeholders are held accountable for failings. Overhauling the Road Safety Authority was the Government's chance to deliver an agency with the powers to make our roads safer, not just to spend on PR campaigns. What will the Government do now to reduce road deaths? What new action will the Taoiseach undertake?

An Garda Síochána will be very active over Christmas in particular. It is conducting a dedicated road traffic enforcement operation throughout the Christmas period, which began on Monday, 1 December and will continue until Monday, 5 January. The Deputy is correct. Investing in better and safer roads, continued enforcement of the law and increasing the allocation of gardaí to front-line duties are all part of the measures that we are going to be taking on an ongoing basis. We are going to implement the road safety strategy 2021 to 2030. We are going to do everything possible through our enforcement. The Garda Commissioner is taking this very seriously. The Minister for justice has been speaking to the Garda Commissioner in respect of this. I accept the Deputy's fundamental point. Every road fatality that occurs on our roads is a profound tragedy for a family somewhere in our country. Collectively, if we are all agreed, I am willing to work with the Opposition in terms of any measures that people think are meritorious in terms of reducing accidents on our roads.

On behalf of the Social Democrats, I thank all of the staff in the Houses and wish them all and Members a very happy Christmas. The most shameful legacy of this Government is its failure to get to grips with homelessness. Every month, the homeless figures are announced and new records are set. There are now 16,766 people living in emergency accommodation - a staggering amount. Included in this figure are 5,274 children. That is 5,274 children who will spend Christmas in cramped hotel rooms or hubs, 5,274 children who will not get to sit down at their own kitchen table to eat Christmas dinner and 5,274 children whose parents are heartbroken. For many of these children, it will be their second or even third year spending Christmas in emergency accommodation. When Fianna Fáil first entered Government with Fine Gael in 2020, there were 2,653 children living in emergency accommodation. Under the Taoiseach's watch, in just five years the number of children who are homeless has nearly doubled. That is this Government's record. Every month, that record gets worse and worse. The damage this is doing to thousands of children is immense. One study found that homeless children were more likely to be bullied and twice as likely to require hospitalisation. One clinic treating children in emergency accommodation found that in nearly 30% of cases the child had developmental delays. Increasing numbers of children in emergency accommodation are also presenting with problems associated with malnutrition, including problems like rickets, anaemia, faltering growth, extreme tooth decay and skin conditions. It is even harder for children with additional needs who experience huge trauma from having to live in noisy and cramped conditions. When the homeless crisis is discussed in this Chamber, the Government adopts the position of a kind of concerned commentator, as if it is helplessly watching this human tragedy unfold. The Government is not some kind of hapless bystander powerless to act. It has the full might of the State at its disposal, it just chooses not to do enough about it. It is the Government's housing policies that have put these children and their families in emergency accommodation and those same housing policies will ensure that more children and families join them. The figures speak for themselves - a 99% increase in homelessness in five years. The Taoiseach mentioned the need for backbone in politics at times. If this is not the time, when is? Will he introduce a temporary no-fault eviction ban to prevent more children ending up homeless over Christmas?

From the Deputy's perspective, that is the short-term popular answer, is it not? All that would do would depress supply. The fundamental answer to homelessness is supply. The Deputy's party has never got that. All its proposals, in my view, would actually depress supply and reduce it. That is the fundamental difference between us. I am not going for the short-term popular thing, to ban this and all of that. It sounds great, but it would be damaging to getting more supply into the market. That is the bottom line. Homelessness is a huge issue facing the country. It is a complex issue, far more complex than the manner in which she has presented it. It is not all at the door of the Government. We had a good presentation at the housing Cabinet subcommittee meeting earlier this week, which illustrated the complex factors behind homelessness and different categories of people becoming homeless for different reasons, requiring a different response. It contained a whole range of issues outside of the control of some people which need attention. I have to be careful in how I say this, but there are pressures coming from the increase in the population and migratory pressures do factor into the homeless issue. In Dublin, if you look at it, the figures are very clear. I will be talking to the Dublin regional executive about this and what we can do to help. That is why the issue is increasing. People coming out of direct provision, for example, and family reunification are creating challenges. It is the right thing to do. Our challenge is to provide housing solutions. Let us not pretend it is all just because of wanton neglect or that someone does not care. Since this Government and the last Government came in, 50,000 social homes have been added to the social housing stock - over 50,500. That is way ahead of anything in three or four decades. You would have to go back to the 1970s to get as many social houses delivered by any Government. We are going to continue that in the new housing plan because social housing is key to dealing with the homeless issue. The level of investment is continuing to increase and will continue to increase to deal with that issue. The Minister, to be fair, is developing further approaches, particularly to child homelessness. He received in the budget a further €100 million additionally to focus exclusively on children and families with children to get them out of emergency accommodation as quickly as possible. In the last two to three years, the numbers that we are getting out in a more timely way out of emergency accommodation has increased. Obviously, the objective is to prevent people going into emergency accommodation, but once they are in there, we then must move to get people out as quickly as possible. We have said to the local authorities that they must prioritise families with children who are in emergency accommodation. You will begin to see the impacts from the initiatives that the Minister has taken, particularly because of the additional budget he has received. That is the way to try to address the issue.

There was a time when homelessness reaching 10,000 people would have been considered a resigning matter for this Government - for any Government - and rightly so, but somehow this Government has succeeded in normalising it. That is extremely dangerous. There is nothing normal about it. A total of 16,766 people are homeless, including 5,274 children. These are not just figures; they are people who are suffering. The Taoiseach stands up week after week and blames the Opposition, the planning laws and EU red tape. The latest fall guy today is immigrants.

Hear, hear.

We know that the biggest cause of families entering homelessness is eviction. We know that. It is clear that this Government does not even believe in itself when it comes to addressing the housing crisis, doubling down on failure with the same policies that we know do not work, dusting off old policy measures that have already demonstrably failed. Where is the emergency response? Where is the change in approach? Where is the acknowledgement that your approach does not work?

They are great old slogans. Dusting down the old policies: it is all just rhetoric and jargon.

Reducing apartment standards is dusting off an old policy.

Sorry, Deputy, it is not a back and forth.

It will not suffice.

The Deputy has had her opportunity.

The Deputy is saying we keep doing the same thing. We have built over 50,000 social homes, or delivered over 50,000. The new plan will deliver 72,000. That is substance.

Why is the Taoiseach not doing an emergency eviction ban?

Sorry, Deputy.

That is building houses. You are not leader yet, Deputy.

Stop changing the subject.

That is real substance. We are building houses. We need to build more and build them as fast as we possibly can.

Where is the emergency response to more than 5,000 homeless children?

That is our approach. It is something I initiated back in 2020. We have resurrected social house building in this country through the local authorities and approved housing bodies. We have also leased and acquired housing for the social housing portfolio.

At least acknowledge the Government's failure.

Please, Deputy.

We need to develop affordable housing as well. We all know we need to get to 50,000 per annum overall in terms of house building and 60,000 if we can. That is the answer to it.

The Government can stop families from being homeless now.

We are intervening and have been intervening all of the time. Local authorities are intervening all of the time-----

It is a disaster.

----- and exiting families from emergency accommodation.

It has doubled in five years.

The N24 national primary road is a vital economic and social corridor across south Tipperary. It is also of strategic regional importance, running as it does from Limerick to south Tipperary and on to Kilkenny, Waterford and the port of Rosslare. An upgrade to motorway status is essential and urgent. Tipperary town, Clonmel and Carrick-on-Suir are choked with traffic and are crying out for bypasses along this route. This road project is in two sections, consisting of a western section from Cahir to Limerick Junction-Oola and an eastern section from Cahir to Waterford. My first meeting with the Ministers and officials on the Tipperary town bypass and the eastern route was over 20 years ago in the offices of Tipperary Urban District Council at Dan Breen House. Thankfully, this section has progressed, with design commencing eventually in 2019. Phase 3 of that development - final design and evaluation - is due for completion early next year. Tipperary County Council, the lead authority on this section, needs funding in 2026 to take this project to oral hearing and adjudication with a view to commencing construction in late 2027. Unfortunately, the eastern section from Cahir from Waterford has not progressed. It is crucial for the two Tipperary towns of Clonmel and Carrick-on-Suir. The Clonmel inner relief road, or the Frank Drohan Road as it is known, is effectively a car park for large parts of the day, forcing huge volumes of traffic to use an ad hoc southern route through the hugely built-up area of the old bridge. Carrick-on-Suir is choked with thousands of vehicles, including all HGVs and vans passing along the Clonmel Road and O'Mahony Avenue and on to the Waterford road, all of which are built-up areas. This project has been suspended twice and is currently stalled due to a lack of funding. The road is essential for road safety reasons as well. It represents about 1% of the road network but 24% of deaths. I ask that funding be continued for the N24 Cahir to Limerick Junction-Oola section in 2026 and that funding be provided in 2026 to resume the design of the N24 Cahir to Waterford project.

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I know that a number of Deputies in his constituency, including Deputies Ryan O'Meara and Michael Murphy, have also been focused on this. This is a project we have been endeavouring to progress. I know the last Minister for Transport was probably not as enthusiastic about road construction as others, and the idea was possibly bypasses and so on. I will talk to the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien. The Deputy is correct in saying that better roads make for better road safety. That is certainly the case. There is a lot of congestion on that road. We will see what we can do. There is a huge investment programme. Only a number of weeks ago, the Minister announced a sectoral plan for transport under the national development plan. The list of projects is enormous, with huge investment. Obviously, those projects will be staggered and sequenced. The Deputy is asking for funding for the Cahir to Limerick Junction section to be continued in 2026. I would anticipate that that should not be a challenge. Has the Deputy heard to the contrary that it will not be continued? To be fair to the outgoing Minister, work on it was begun. I will go to the Minister and see whether we can see what the story is and whether we can accelerate it. The Deputy also wants design to start with regard to the Cahir to Waterford section. Again, I will have to go back to the Minister to see where we are in terms of the prioritisation of this project. There is a whole range of projects. Construction inflation has eaten into some of the budgets and that has been a significant factor. Nonetheless, hugely increased allocations are going to road transport and public transport more generally. I would like to think that we should be in a position to spare funding for this road, which is a very important artery, to enable in particular the continuation of the work on the Cahir to Limerick Junction section. I will ask the Minister to come back to me about the Cahir to Waterford section.

In fairness, the Minister has indicated that he hopes to be in a position to continue the funding for the Cahir to Limerick Junction-Oola section in 2026 but he was not able to give the same indication about the Cahir to Waterford section. Funding for the Cahir to Waterford section is crucial for economic, social and road safety reasons. This section is costing about three lives per year. The project has been suspended twice, costing the Exchequer about €10 million. There is significant public frustration with serious traffic congestion in Clonmel and Carrick-on-Suir, and 2,500 land holdings have been sterilised. We understand that motorways cannot be built overnight but we do need sufficient funds in 2026 for this stretch of the road to recommence design and, hopefully, commence construction by about 2030.

I again thank the Deputy for raising this important issue and confirming that the Minister is relatively positive and optimistic about the continuation of funding for the section from Cahir to Limerick Junction. The Deputy made an important point, which sometimes gets overlooked when it comes to road construction, about the road safety dimension. That is critical. My understanding is that Tipperary County Council is progressing the Cahir to Limerick Junction section in partnership with Limerick County Council. It is being managed by the mid-west national road design office. I understand the Minister has engaged with public representatives about the Cahir to Waterford section. I will talk to the Minister about that. I appreciate the reasons the Deputy raised this matter.