I am very conscious of the cold weather in the past number of days and the fact that a cold weather alert issued from Met Éireann in the past hour or so but I want people at home - I want to speak specifically to people at home - to know that unlike the assertions made by Deputy Doherty, this Government is intervening and taking real actions to help people with fuel poverty this winter and in the here and now. We have done a number of things to help. In the budget only a few weeks ago, we took the decision to increase the fuel allowance. The fuel allowance is now worth over €1,000 per year for that fuel allowance period we are now in. More people, families and households than ever before are getting access to direct assistance with their fuel bills from the Government. This is an action we took. I would encourage everybody to look at the broadened criteria and put in their application for the fuel allowance. Second, not only have we increased the fuel allowance, we also expanded it to those receiving the working family payment. The Deputy talks a lot about working people and working families in this Dáil. This is why we have decided to make sure that people who are in receipt of the working family payment are able for the first time to receive the fuel allowance. This means that over 450,000 households or roughly one quarter of all homes in this jurisdiction will qualify for the payment. We are supporting over 500,000 households, many of them pensioners, with an allowance of €420 towards their gas or electricity bills. Under the household benefits package, 532,000 homes are receiving support, another practical measure being funded by this Government. We took the decision in the budget only a few weeks ago to freeze VAT at the lower 9% rate on gas and electricity bills for the next five years to provide that reduced VAT rate not just in the here and now but for the lifetime of the mandate of this Government. We have reduced the PSO levy to directly help people save money on their bills. The Minister, Deputy O'Brien, has met the four largest energy companies and they have confirmed they each have hardship funds in place and are working to support vulnerable customers. I want to be very clear that this winter, nobody should be afraid to turn on their heat during the cold weather. I hope everyone will help us amplify the message that any person under serious financial pressure can seek an additional needs payment, in addition to what I outlined already, for heating costs through their community welfare officer. On top of these direct financial supports, we are also investing record funding in retrofitting to help people upgrade their homes, make them more energy efficient and make sure people's homes are warmer. The budget for the warmer homes scheme has increased to €280 million, which is an elevenfold increase since 2020. I want to specifically address the issue of disconnections. A disconnection moratorium is in place for registered vulnerable customers from the start of this month until 31 March, and indeed for all customers for the winter period in a few short weeks' time. Yes, there is always more to do, yes, the cost of energy is a real cost and, yes, we need to look at how we can drive down the cost of energy, move more quickly to renewable energy and how we can do even more to support people, but please do not mislead people, particularly people who might be tuning in to this debate, in terms of the fact that there are supports available to them. There are decisions we have taken that are available to people in the here and now. I would encourage people to know that, to not be cold this winter and to seek the supports and assistance that are in place.
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They are real people.
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I am sure Deputy Doherty accepts that in those numbers - those large numbers - are many people who are benefiting, and will benefit, directly from the financial assistance from this Government towards energy costs that I have just outlined, but he never makes those points. His party has a partitionist approach when it comes to energy policy.
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Sinn Féin does not think it is enough for somebody in County Louth to have €1,000 in fuel allowance but thinks someone up the road in Armagh should get by on just £100.
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Deputy Doherty's party leads the Executive. The First Minister of Northern Ireland is from Sinn Féin. The finance Minister in Northern Ireland-----
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Sinn Féin Deputies get upset when I bring this up.
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The finance Minister in Northern Ireland is from Sinn Féin.
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The economy Minister in Northern Ireland is from Sinn Féin. The Executive is headed up by Sinn Féin. It is the largest party in the Assembly.
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It has not brought forward a cost-of-living package. The fuel allowance is a paltry £100 to £300 compared with €1,000 here.
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To the people at home this winter, access our supports but do not fall for Sinn Féin's hypocrisy.
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Where is the Sinn Féin plan?
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Where is Michelle O'Neill's energy plan?
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Cold in Armagh. No plan for Armagh. Sinn Féin wants more for Louth.
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I thank Deputy Wall very much for raising this issue. The N7-M7 corridor is, of course, a critical part of Ireland’s national road and motorway network. I will get to some of the challenges, but there has been significant investment in recent decades, most recently the completion of a major upgrade to the motorway between Naas and Newbridge in 2021, which also included a bypass for Sallins. The Deputy is also right that since 2019, traffic levels on the M50 have grown by at least 11%, which equates to about an extra 50,000 trips per day. We are seeing the impact of that congestion on our road and motorway network. The Deputy was also right to highlight the fact there are real-life impacts from this. He gave the very harrowing reality of a cancer patient stuck in traffic trying to get to a crucial hospital appointment. I can think of the impact for people trying to get to an from childcare providers and meet school collection times. That is stress, as well as, of course, the environmental impact of being stuck in congestion and the impact that can have on air quality. We are very much aware of the congestion. I am aware of the regular accidents on the route and the safety issues as well. We intend, through our national development plan, to invest a huge amount in transport via upgrades to the road network but also to address the points Deputy Wall made on making public transport work more effectively for more people who wish to use it, once it works for them. The Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, will shortly outline the sectoral investment plan, which is basically the outworking of the new national development plan funding in terms of the advancement of projects. I will ask the Minister to take on board the comments Deputy Wall has made here today and the constructive suggestion he has made in relation to TII and what more it might be able to do. The Deputy has rather cleverly and appropriately linked this to the debate and discussion on the development of policy with regard to remote working. As he will remember, we gave a commitment that there would be full public consultation in relation to the policy on remote working. A lot of good work has been done in this area. I am informed that there are now more than 400 connected hubs. Indeed, I opened a remote working hub in my own hometown very recently. The roll-out of our national broadband plan, which was opposed by many but which has worked and been delivered on time and on budget, has made a real difference in giving people that crucial infrastructure to work remotely. Only on Tuesday of this week, my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Dillon, launched a public consultation as part of a legislative review of the right to request remote working. I inquired as to how that review was going the other day and was told that over 2,000 people had already made submissions. That is quite incredible. Roughly 1,600 of those 2,000 responses came from workers while around 400 came from employers. I encourage the Deputy and everybody else to make their views known. We will consider what legislative steps to take, what to review and what amendments to make to legislation on the back of that public consultation.
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I will certainly ask the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, to take on board all of those sensible suggestions. I will ask him to come back directly to the Deputy and to engage with TII and the NTA with regard to Operation Freeflow, signage, gardaí and the frequency of the trains. I join with Deputy Wall in encouraging people to make their views known on the consultation on remote working. We should remind ourselves that remote working at scale in Ireland arose very quickly during the Covid-19 pandemic. The pace at which people, employers, public services and, to some degree, education changed their work practices was huge. However, if we are honest, it was also somewhat unplanned. There was a global pandemic and people were trying to keep the show on the road. We then legislated for the right to request remote working arrangements. That came into force for all employees on 6 March 2024. This was a big step forward in terms of entitlements and having a legislative framework for the first time. It is right and proper that we now consider it. If we get remote working right, it will result in huge opportunities, including the opportunity to expand access to the labour force and to address issues of congestion. However, we must also get it right as regards supporting our economy and making sure our public services work in the way our constituents expect. This consultation is an opportunity for everyone to have their say.
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I thank Deputy Coppinger for raising this really important issue. I also thank those in the Gallery for being here today. Domestic, sexual and gender-based violence is a global epidemic and it is an epidemic in Ireland. We should call it out for that. We should acknowledge the advocacy and bravery of those who come forward and seek to bring about much-needed change in this area. It should not be seen as an issue to be addressed by women alone. It involves leadership from all of us in all political parties right across this Dáil, across these Houses and across society. I do not mean to be argumentative but the Deputy said there are no debates in this House. I beg to differ. Perhaps there is an argument that we could have more debates in the House, and we should, but I certainly welcome the fact that there is now much more discussion on legislation, in Oireachtas committees and in Cabinet committees with regard to issues of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. I will also inform the House that it was agreed at the North-South Ministerial Council that we will work on this on a North-South basis. I thank the First Minister and deputy First Minister in Northern Ireland for their engagement with us on this. That is an indication of how seriously this issue is being taken, as it should and must be, across the island of Ireland. I will not use all of my time to let people know what we are doing in this area.
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We are doing things. We have established Cuan, the national agency. We have a zero-tolerance strategy. We are seeing funding for additional safe spaces. The Minister for justice is taking this matter extraordinarily seriously. He has secured Government approval to progress the criminal law (sexual violence, domestic violence and international instruments) Bill 2025, which includes measures to allow perpetrators of domestic violence to be included on a new register run by the courts and to strengthen the law further in relation to sexual consent, which is a very important step to take. I will not comment on the work of the DPP for fear of challenge in respect of the separation of powers but I take the Deputy's point on our criminal justice system and legal system needing to take this extraordinarily seriously. Instinctively, I agree with what the Deputy has said about counselling notes. Cases should be heard on the evidence before them. When somebody goes to seek counselling or therapy, that confidentiality, privacy and sensitivity matters. I will not say something in this House that turns out to be legally wrong but the Government will try to get as close to what the Deputy suggests as is possible. We will take very seriously the recommendations of the justice committee and the recommendations and work of the likes of the Rape Crisis Centre, which has a very significant degree of expertise. I will commit the Government to working collaboratively and closely across the House on this matter and will specifically engage with the Minister for justice on the issues the Deputy has raised.
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Nikita Hand is an incredible woman who I have had the honour of speaking to. I think our media need to reflect on the amount of coverage they give to some people who represent the very worst of us - vile individuals - versus the attention and focus they give to courageous, incredible people like Nikita Hand. How these issues are framed in the media should also be considered. I am not disagreeing with the Deputy on this. I do not think anybody in this House, regardless of party politics, will disagree with the idea that counselling notes should not be part of a criminal trial. I accept fully the logic of the point about the chilling effect of the possibility of notes being used. I agree with the Deputy on that point. I accept her challenge in terms of understanding the legal advice available to the Minister as to why the Bill as currently drafted is the way it is, and seeing if there is the possibility of making further changes. I do not want to make a commitment on the floor of the House that I cannot deliver on, but I am committed to having that conversation with Government colleagues and coming back to the Deputy directly.
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I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. There are probably two parts to the question. The first part relates to the ten-year limit after which the licence expires. My understanding is that because our Irish driving licence operates within a framework of EU law, the driving licence legislation is EU legislation which all member states must comply with. I always get nervous saying that as though we are blaming the EU. We are part of the EU so we can always explore these issues with partners. However, the standards for testing drivers are set at an EU level. The benefit for all of us is that opting into this EU system enables us to have a driver's licence that works across the European Union. Rather than it being an impediment to an Irish citizen, it is a great gift with the primary benefit of allowing a universal EU licence. That is of huge benefit to people from Ireland and across the 27 member states. I understand an Irish driving licence can be renewed in Ireland up to ten years after the date of expiry; after this time, the licence cannot be renewed and the person is no longer considered a qualified driver. On foot of the Deputy raising this today, I will explore this further but that is the best information available to me. The second point relates to our diaspora. I have to acknowledge this comes up a lot. In my past posting, when I met Irish people abroad who were considering coming home, the issue of the driving licence came up time and again. The Deputy is right to highlight it. Our colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, is leading for the Government on this in the context of the new diaspora strategy. I was going to say that we are working through this and trying to reach agreement on it with a number of US states, but the Deputy has expressed concerns about the speed of that. I will ask the Minister of State to come back to him directly on that. He is doing some very good, focused work with our embassy and consular network in the US. They have started with states where there is a high number of Irish people, which makes sense. I will also ask the Minister of State to reflect on what the Deputy said about learning from other EU countries which, he perceives, do this in a more efficient or effective way. He mentioned Belgium and a number of others. The way we do it at the moment is this: Ireland may make bilateral licence exchange agreements with non-EU jurisdictions. It is a technical and independent process. Reaching agreement is therefore not just a matter of political will; it has at its core competency around road safety, which is something we all take very seriously. I am told that on average the technical independent assessment process takes approximately two years. On foot of the Deputy raising this matter today, and given that we will have a new diaspora strategy next year, which the Minister of State is currently finalising and will bring to the Government next year, I will ask that he specifically reflect on the issue of reciprocal arrangements in relation to driving licences.
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Without being argumentative, I am not sure he can, based on the information available to me on the importance of anything we do in Ireland being in line, in relation to that ten years, with European legislation, but let me check on foot of the Deputy raising it here today. I will talk to the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, and the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond. What we certainly can do, though, is look at how we can get those reciprocal arrangements in place. We are determined, not only at a political level but from the Irish ambassador to the United States down in terms of our diplomatic network there, that there is real work going on in terms of trying to reach those agreements. The Deputy is right to identify the issue, as the programme for Government does, because we want Irish people back in this country. We want their ingenuity. We want their contribution. We want to bring people home. Often we need their skills as well. Their families want them back. This is something that comes up as a barrier in the long list of things people are trying to work through when planning on relocating to Ireland, perhaps with a family and the likes, and if there are hurdles we can remove here, we certainly should. I will speak to the relevant Ministers on foot of the Deputy raising this and in the background of our new national diaspora strategy.
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