Micheál Martin

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 14, inclusive, together. The National Economic and Social Council advises me on strategic policy issues relating to sustainable economic, social and environmental development in Ireland. NESC is currently working in four main areas. With regard to Ireland’s future power system and economic resilience, this work investigates the impact of renewable energy targ…

Quite a number of questions were asked about the NESC report. I certainly will revert back to NESC on Deputy Brendan Smith's consistent seeking of a particular study on the challenges facing the central Border area. A number of reports have been done by NESC on North-South development but Deputy Smith wants something a bit more specific on the central Border area and the challenges in respect of t…

-----to take on the might of Dublin and the big cities. In any event, we will work on that. In response to Deputy Murphy, I believe that local authorities should be far more active in the pursuit of CPOs on derelict sites. There is the Derelict Sites Act. Some complain that it is not strong enough. I have never bought into that. I have always sensed that in a lot of local authorities there is a d…

In response to Deputy Geoghegan, I met with David McRedmond recently. We are making progress. The interdepartmental group will, I hope, bring proposals soon and I will bring that to the House in due course before the recess.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 15 to 25, inclusive, together. The Cabinet Committee on Northern Ireland was created on 18 February 2025 to oversee implementation of relevant programme for Government commitments and ongoing developments in relation to Northern Ireland, Irish-British relations and the shared island initiative. As well as considering issues relevant to the Government’s position a…

I thank all of the Deputies for raising their various issues. On the work of the shared island unit, Deputy McGreehan mentioned Greenore Port. The first port of call - excuse the pun - should be to the Department of Transport. The shared island unit is not there to replace existing funding streams or strategies but to develop connectivity at structural levels, community levels, between local autho…

Let me finish, please.

Regarding the legacy Act in general, if we could be, and if we in the Republic were, satisfied that there would be reciprocity in terms of information and so forth on both sides - people are seeking information from the Republic and the Government in the Republic in respect of a number of cases, including the Kingsmill case, and we co-operated on the Kingsmill inquiry, and we now have a memorandum…

Let us discuss it. Maybe half of it does not suit and, therefore, there were no calls from the Opposition for a debate on Kenova. We do need totality on legacy if we can. I go back to the Eames Bradley report. There has never been a successful approach that enjoys everybody's participation-----

-----in respect of legacy. There are aspects of the legacy Act that we do not agree with and are seeking to change. There is ongoing engagement between the Northern Ireland Office and our Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The Cabinet sub-committee has discussed this and the prospects of whether we can get a joint approach in respect of legacy that would be endorsed by both Governments. This…

Shared literature and poetry on the curriculum, North and South, is also something we should do. There are cross-Border benefits with taxation. Deputy Ó Murchú asked about this. The inter-sectoral ministerial meetings are dealing with those issues. The Minister for Finance, with his counterpart in the Northern Ireland Executive, have had discussions. Taxation is a challenging and complex issue, a…

Ar dtús báire, aontaím go bhfuil sé seo an-phráinneach agus gur ábhar buartha é. Is olc an scéal é an rud atá ráite ag an Teachta McDonald. Is é an príomhrud ná go mbeidh an audit cuimsitheach agus go mbeidh sé againn chomh luath agus is féidir. At the outset, this situation is extremely serious and has necessitated an external audit. That is the first point. For any child to go through surgery is…

I hope it will be sooner rather than later to help deal with the concerns and anxieties, but also to deal with the issue itself.

It is regrettable the Deputy would seek to politicise the issue, as she is attempting to do. The first people who should always be contacted in a situation like this are the families who are affected. That is why correspondence goes from the authorities - in this case, the hospital authorities, that is, CHI - to the families. That is as it should be. They should not be hearing about it in a piecem…

Second, the Deputy must know in her heart it would be unacceptable to try to release piecemeal and case by case in this case. The sensible thing to do is wait. It is frustrating that people have to wait, but we have to wait for the full audit. I know the Deputy is well aware of all this, but it does not suit in terms of the politics of it.

The bottom line is that a draft report gets sent to all who have been involved.

The feedback has come back.

The audit will have all of that information available for everybody.

That is the proper way to do this.

I disagree fundamentally with Deputy Bacik's analysis in terms of housing policy more generally. Fianna Fáil and the previous Government did not double down on the policy of the last number of decades. The bottom line is, in 2023, for example, we saw the highest level of delivery of new build social housing since 1975. That is not doubling down on previous policies. It represents a step change in …

You did.

In the past three or four years, the then Government, and the Fianna Fáil Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, gave power and resources to the Land Development Agency. Its work is under way.

The Land Development Agency will get more equity and support to build more houses. That will happen but that is not the full story. We have to do much more. The bottom line is we have made a step change in the past three years. From approximately 20,000 houses built in 2019, we are now building approximately 30,000 plus. Housing for All targets were exceeded but everybody said they were not high e…

Now, we need to get to 50,000, which the ESRI said. The real challenge for the Opposition and the Government is how to go from 30,000 to 50,000. We will not get there with the populist, popular soundbites I hear every week we come into Dáil Éireann. That will not build 50,000 houses. We need real solutions that can deliver. The Government will do everything it can across all aspects to get solutio…

-----that passes in here for housing debate all the time. I am interested in getting real solutions and getting to the 50,000 per annum we need.