I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 14, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on infrastructure last met on Thursday, 17 July and is scheduled to next meet on 3 November. The Cabinet committee works to drive infrastructure delivery and the implementation of the revised national development plan. We are prioritising the delivery of critical, growth-enhancing infrastructure, as outlined in the programme for Government. We have a responsibility to invest in the future and delivery of modern, sustainable and resilient infrastructure is vital for our national competitiveness, fostering regional development, delivering housing and meeting social needs. The recently published review of the national development plan sets out the largest capital investment in the history of the State to unlock housing, upgrade water and energy infrastructure, deliver more roads and provide better public transport. In budget 2026 we announced €19.1 billion in Exchequer capital investment, an increase of €2 billion on 2025. This represents the highest annual spend to date in this country. Reform of delivery is also key to our approach. The new dedicated infrastructure division in the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation recently published its report outlining the most impactful barriers to infrastructure development, based on extensive consultation. This report has put significant detail behind what we already knew, that delivery of much needed infrastructure is taking too long. Our regulatory and consent systems have evolved over time to the point where we have a complex landscape, characterised by an increasing number of decisions being referred to the courts for interpretation. All too frequently, this is leading to processes that take too long and an extremely conservative system. Next month, a detailed action plan to begin to tackle these barriers will be published. It will have a focused set of reforms that are practical, time-bound, and impactful. We will be taking action to strike a better balance between the rights of individuals and the public good. We will be simplifying regulation and consenting systems, reducing the administrative burden and cutting the red tape so that our systems are not delaying much-needed investment. The Government has now committed more than €275 billion to investment in infrastructure over the coming decade and the Cabinet committee will oversee the investment and the reforms required to maximise the efficiency with which it is delivered.
Sentiment score: 0.15
I thank the Deputies for raising these issues. I appreciate the focus from Deputy Cleere on Kilkenny City Vocational School and Coláite Pobail Osraí. I visited these schools many years ago with the late Bobby Aylward. I think his son was working there. I will certainly keep an eye on those and will talk to the Minister for education in respect of them. It is important. Substantial funding has been made available for education on the capital front. If we look at capital, we keep saying that delivery is not happening, and I did say that myself. At the same time, we are now spending the capital that has been allocated over the past two years. In 2020, 2021 and 2022, not all of the capital was spent and it was moved to other Departments to get spent. I refer to the past two to three years. This year, it is €2 billion-plus. We are at €19 billion, so we would have spent €17 billion last year. Inflation has happened and construction inflation has been higher than normal inflation, which has been a problem. The issue of European directives and European frameworks on the environmental side is proving very problematic in terms of flood relief programmes and so on, and there is no point in saying otherwise. I will pursue those. Deputy Shane Moynihan reflected the idea that if we do not accelerate, we could lose international experience, which we are certainly seeking in respect of the metro and some of the more complex transport projects, such as light rail and so on. We have seen how that has worked in the past in terms of the Luas and other big developments. There are a lot of roadshows going on in terms of the implementation of the planning Act, the commencement of all regulations there, further legislation in respect of judicial review, which the Minister for justice is going to bring in, and the report coming back from the Minister, Deputy Chambers, in respect of removing the barriers and having a programme for the accelerated delivery of infrastructure projects. I know there are a number of school projects in the Deputy’s constituency that he has highlighted. Deputy Seamus McGrath highlighted the need for investment in city centres. We significantly improved the living city initiative in the budget, which I advocated very strongly for. A lot will depend on the city council getting the maps back as quickly as possible for designation. With regard to shops, there will not be any timeline in respect of the date of the building, so any shop can convert and avail of the scheme. In terms of housing and other buildings, the year is now 1975 as opposed to 1915, so, hopefully, that will create some activity in the five cities and regional centres like Dundalk, Drogheda and other areas. I have had meetings with the city council. People do not like the word “taskforce” in Cork - we are kind of fussy - so they are looking for a different title because the city has made progress. They had issues with that but, in any case, we are going to set up a group in terms of the roadmap for progress and a fresh approach to Cork city itself. It is important that we get the terms of reference and the focus right. Some work has been undertaken between UCC, the city council, the Cork Business Association and others in respect of how the city should progress. We want to make sure that in what we establish, we capture that and not duplicate or do something on a different strand or track. The current development plan, up to 2028, is important. We are talking about a world class city driving local and regional growth and embracing diversity and inclusiveness. We have the large-scale regeneration projects in Cork docklands and Tivoli and the development of a much-enhanced, citywide public transport system. A lot of active travel projects have been delivered in Cork city. which is quite good to see. It is about bringing all of that together. I would be particularly interested in the inner city core - that we create new opportunities there. There is more work to be done for towns around the country in that respect. We need to bring more residential back in. This then creates new opportunities for a different kind of retail and hospitality into the future. Deputy Ó Murchú referenced flood projection and CFRAM. I could not agree with the Deputy more. All the flood relief schemes are slow-moving, by definition, in terms of consultation with various groups, stakeholders and so forth. It is something I have raised with the Attorney General and others in terms of EU frameworks that govern a lot of this. Adaptation and flood relief are critical to the survival of towns and cities. They are urgent because of the impact of climate change, which is very real.
Sentiment score: 0.22
Where we have implemented flood relief schemes, for example, Bandon, which I would be aware of, Fermoy and Clonmel, the impacts have been very significant in protecting those towns. The public good has to take precedence. Deputy McGreehan raised the growth in population and the issue around wastewater treatment and so forth. Deputy O'Rourke raised the topic of school buildings, including a number in his area, creaking water infrastructure and the Kells wastewater treatment plant. We will be engaging with Irish Water given the additional it has now received. Deputy Coppinger mentioned Fingal County Council. She said there are 20,000 homes. That is a matter for the council to get going. There is about €11 billion of public expenditure allocated to housing this year between capital, current and Exchequer funding. That is a lot of funding from the State side. We are not throwing money at developers. We are putting a lot of money into housing. We are putting a lot of money into social housing.
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We need the private sector as well, in addition to the huge unprecedented public sector investment. Deputy Paul Murphy raised public transport and the state of the bus services. A lot of investment has gone into the bus services. BusConnects has been slower because there has been huge consultation with people, residents and communities who had issues with BusConnects - let us be honest - and those were legitimate issues. We will continue to prioritise public services. It is not a privatised bus service. There is a substantial Bus Éireann contribution to public buses. Bus Éireann and Iarnród Éireann have expanded. In reply to Deputy Quaide, there is work under way in respect of the alternative route into Cobh. There is the issue of the rail connection to the Youghal greenway. That is being developed but I get the issue. Cork to Midleton was the first railway expansion in its time and it reversed a trend lasting 50 or 60 years. It has been extremely effective. However, we need to continue to work on the economy within Youghal and create opportunities for people living in the town. It is an iconic and attractive area. That is something we have to continue to work on. We are very focused on the need to get that road situation into Cobh sorted. There are economic implications arising from that, in terms of releasing the docklands, the port, marina point and so on. Deputy Tóibín raised Storm Babet. I dealt with some aspects of that in terms of the flood defence issues. The county council has worked on certain households and businesses and protecting them as interim steps, but, again, that is a complex scheme. It has numerous challenges and Midleton has numerous challenges in terms of potential flooding risks. That is understood. There is a lot of work going on to try to get that scheme going. Deputy O'Sullivan raised the elective hospital. I put that back on the map at the time. I am going to pursue this. We have the site, and likewise in Galway. There has been a lot of school expansions in Cork as well. We will continue to focus to get more of those done, and more quickly. There are quite a number on the list that we need to get done. Now, with the allocation that has been given to education, we will certainly keep the pressure on to complete the projects. The Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, is working particularly on the special education side to get special classes provided and get extensions done to accommodate extra autism classes. Deputy Heneghen raised private wires. The Minister has got sanction from Cabinet and is progressing with the legislation. This is important because it will help some companies that are waiting for connection and so on.
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 15 to 23, inclusive, together. The coalition of the willing is a group of more than 30 countries committed to strengthening support for Ukraine. I have attended leader level meetings of the coalition since it began its work in March. Over the summer, in July and August, US engagement aimed at ending the war in Ukraine led to increased diplomatic activity. A summit was held between Presidents Trump and Putin in Alaska in August. A meeting between Presidents Trump and Zelenskyy, together with European leaders, took place subsequently in Washington DC. The coalition of the willing met on four occasions to discuss the outcomes of these meetings and to consider the next steps, most recently on 4 September. Discussions focused on progressing work on security guarantees for Ukraine that will underpin any ceasefire or peace agreement and provide assurances to Ukraine that it will not face a future invasion by Russia. These security guarantees aim, first and foremost, to support the Ukrainian military as the primary provider of security. They would also include a multinational reassurance force. There may also be a role for a peacekeeping force to monitor any ceasefire or peace agreement. I have made clear to our partners in the coalition of the willing that Ireland would not join a reassurance force. In line with our long tradition of peacekeeping, however, Ireland is open to considering participation in an appropriately mandated peacekeeping mission. There was also agreement that Ukraine's accession to the European Union would form an important part of a package of comprehensive security guarantees for Ukraine. We have been steadfast in trying to accelerate accession for Ukraine to the European Union. At the meetings of the coalition and at the informal meeting of the European Council in Copenhagen on 1 October, I underlined Ireland's strong support for Ukraine's European Union ambitions. I urged that the accession negotiations with Ukraine progress as quickly as possible. There was discussion at all meetings on the need to maintain pressure on Russia, including through more sanctions and other economic measures. The coalition of the willing will continue to work to support the achievement of a just and lasting peace for Ukraine. In that context, I hope that the most recent initiatives from US President Trump lead to meaningful progress. I will be attending an online meeting of the coalition later this week. The meeting of the European Council in Brussels on 23 October, which I will attend, will consider how to step up our support for Ukraine and efforts to achieve a ceasefire and a meaningful and inclusive peace process. I spoke by phone on 1 September with President Zelenskyy. We had a warm and substantial conversation during which I reaffirmed Ireland's strong support for Ukraine and the Government's commitment to a just and lasting peace. I invited President Zelenskyy to visit Ireland. I look forward to welcoming him in the near future. I expressed my solidarity with the Ukrainian people in the face of unrelenting Russian assaults and reiterated Ireland's readiness to continue to support Ukraine. I also restated previous commitments that Ireland will continue to work with partners to support Ukraine's path towards EU membership. During my travels to New York for United Nations General Assembly, UNGA, high-level week on 23 September, I attended a meeting of the international coalition for the return of Ukrainian children, co-chaired by President Zelenskyy and Prime Minister Carney of Canada. On 24 September, I participated in a meeting of the international Crimea platform, which was also attended by President Zelenskyy. The meeting agreed the New York declaration which recommits to achieving a just and lasting peace for Ukraine, based on the principles of the United Nations Charter, and which respect Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
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To decide what?
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What does that mean? Russia is giving them no chance. It is just bombing them.
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That is weasel language.
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It is classic, formulaic stuff from you.
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I apologise.
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Did you listen to my reply?
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Why do you ignore it?
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You distort everything. That is just stock in trade.
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That is a separate matter. We dealt with it earlier. Come on. We are on Ukraine now.
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This is about Ukraine.
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I thank all the Deputies for raising those various issues. Deputy Brennan raised the key issue of Ukraine's accession process. Ukraine has responded very well to the framework that governs accession. Basically, it involves reform. Ukraine has carried out a lot of reforms, which the Commission has acknowledged to the membership of the EU Council. The Commission has also stated that Ukraine has been extremely positive in terms of meeting the various standards required. One of the big issues we have is that Hungary continues to oppose the formal opening of the first chapter, even though we would argue that the European Council had agreed to the accession process in an earlier vote over a year ago. At the same time, there is a parallel negotiating process in terms of approximating Ukraine to the various standards that would apply to different chapters. It is very regrettable that Hungary has behaved in such a manner. It is really endeavouring to stifle and stop Ukraine from joining. Key milestones have been reached. There is ongoing interaction with the Commission. We have offered support in terms of providing personnel, namely people from Ireland who would have previous experience of the European Union, to help with Ukraine. We have offered funding on the humanitarian side and so forth. What we can also do - we do this with other accession states - is in terms of training of public servants, utilising the IPA and so on. We are very open to helping the country on progressing the reforms and understanding how the EU works. We have been strongest in terms of making sure that this matter is on the agenda at every meeting. In the previous Government, I would have been, in or around 2021, one of the minority pushing for accession. From a geopolitical perspective, it is a no-brainer. It has to happen. That has helped the western Balkans, even though the states there were worried Ukraine would go ahead with Moldova. Now it is accepted that enlargement, as an issue, is back firmly on the EU. It had been fairly dormant for ten years, if we are honest. It can be a long process. Hungary is really undermining the process, but we are working with Hungary and with others. My latest encounter with the President of the Council, Antonio Costa, was on Ukraine membership. Deputy Malcolm Byrne raised very important issues in terms of cyber resilience, hybrid warfare and further supports. Deputy Shane Moynihan raised similar issues in two separate strands. On hybrid warfare, Russia is becoming far more risk-averse or reckless, is the word I would use, in terms of violating the territorial integrity of member states of the European Union through drone violations, aeroplane violations, hybrid attacks on Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia and in terms of the monitoring of subsea cables and of the gas networks between Britain and Ireland. Ireland is under threat from Russia. We should have no doubt about that. We are not immune. We are not some safe haven. It is not the case that every other member state is under pressure but we are not. The drone violations in Denmark were calculated to intimidate before the European political community met and before the informal European Council meeting in Copenhagen. That was what they was about. We should be under no illusions in that regard. As the Prime Minister of Denmark said, the pattern of behaviour is clear. It is not an accident in the Baltic Sea when an anchor takes a gas connection or a cable with it. These are not accidents any more. The shadow fleet is very dangerous. A lot of those vessels are old but they are dual use. They are also environmental disasters waiting to happen. This is very serious because they are transporting loads of oil to India and other places. These are very real concerns that Deputy Byrne raised. I take his point in terms of the Common Agricultural Policy. Deputy Shane Moynihan raised the issue of reparations. I link that back to some aspects of what Deputy Byrne was saying as well. As regards the immobilised assets, there is a big debate ongoing at the moment at European level. We have used the windfall from those assets. In other words, the interest accrued has already been used. I am strongly of the view that when a country like Russia invades and destroys another country, it cannot be Europe that has to rebuilt it. There has to be a financial and economic deterrent into the future. The immobilised assets should be used for the rebuilding of Ukraine. The ECB and others have issues with this from a monetary system perspective. Belgium has issues because it is the home country of Euroclear. There are issues, but it is valid to use immobilised assets in this context because of the destruction that has occurred. Countries cannot violate the UN Charter willy-nilly and then expect the good, honest countries and, I will be straight about it, the European Union pony up all of the time. That is an ongoing issue at EU Council level. Deputy Ó Murchú raised the issue of the summit in Budapest and so on. President Trump, if we are honest, has some unorthodox methods of making peace, but he is focused on peace. He does not like war. He thinks war is irrational and he wants to end wars. I hope that applies in the context of Ukraine and that we can get traction to get the war stopped. However, Russia has shown no interest-----
Sentiment score: -0.00
-----in ending this war. I regret that I had to interrupt Deputy Murphy, but I just noticed his language. He deliberately ignored what I said earlier, namely that we had made it very clear to the coalition of the willing that we would not be part of a reassurance force. I said that in the House. Then I said that we would be willing to be part of a peacekeeping force if it was to monitor the ceasefire line, for example. Yet, he just ignored that and tried to implicate that we would be conscripting Irish troops to a war in Ukraine. He does distort the situation. He-----
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That is what you are saying.
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You said, "send Irish troops to war".
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No. You know the presidential candidate. I have no doubt that she was talking about a peacekeeping role, but you just choose-----
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Then you use language like "I oppose". What about the term "I condemn"?
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Grand. Keep going.
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Yes, but it is very formulaic. I have noticed it over the years. Look at how many times you guys talk about Russia in the House. You will talk about the United States until the cows come home. You will talk about the European Union until the cows come home-----
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----- but you do not talk about Iran, about Russia or about all the others.
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Again, the Ukrainian people have decided. They decided a long time ago that they want to belong. That is the other bit of language you used. You said that it is up to Ukraine to decide, as if there is an issue. Ukraine has decided on its self-determination. You guys have never been sympathetic to Ukraine, if the truth be told. That is the bottom line. Sinn Féin was with the People Before Profit-Solidarity in 2014 when Crimea was invaded. I read all the stuff, and the Sinn Féin line-----
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-----about Nazis in Ukraine and all the rest of it. You guys had a soft underbelly for the Russians for a long time.
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What Deputy Quaide said was unfair on Deputy Fitzmaurice. I thought Deputy Fitzmaurice was reasonable in what he presented. There is a tendency on the Opposition's side to be intolerant. I saw how they all interrupted Deputy Fitzmaurice on Leaders' Questions. He raised legitimate points. He said there should be a debate. I did not get the sense that he was deliberately trying to stir up fear or hatred. I have been very strong on this. I do not need lectures from anybody in this House about supporting diversity and multiculturalism or supporting people irrespective of ethnicity, colour or creed. It is wrong to put that construction on how I responded to Deputy Fitzmaurice or, indeed, on my contributions on the issue yesterday evening. I fully accept Deputy Quaide's point that there is a febrile atmosphere out there. However, I do not think what was said was fair to Deputy Fitzmaurice. That is my view. I ask Deputy Quaide to reflect on that. A lot of people get brassed off when they think they are being told they cannot talk about something or they cannot raise issues.
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That view is out there.
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There are a lot of people out there who feel they cannot talk about migration. We cannot just dismiss people's fears and anger. What happened last evening will create fear.
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One hundred per cent, but I genuinely do not think Deputy Fitzmaurice misrepresented the matter. We can disagree on it, but I just do not think that was where he was coming from. We need to be careful. Everyone has the right to speak in the House. There is a tendency that if people say certain things on the issue of migration they get shouted down straight away. It is a very complex issue, and it is very difficult. What happened last evening adds to that difficulty and complexity.
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Apologies. We will go through the programme for President Zelenskyy when he confirms a date. He is anxious to come. He has indicated he wants to come. I think we have a timeline and certainly that address would be on the agenda. Have we run out of time again?
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Never, Deputy. I always encourage our engagement.
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