May I begin by expressing the shock and sadness that we, as a country, are feeling about the deeply tragic and upsetting scene unfolding in Donabate. As a country, we have been gripped for weeks by the search for this missing little boy. Until today, we did not know his name, but we know it now. His name was Daniel. Until today, we had not seen his face, but now the image of this beautiful little boy is seared into our consciousness. I know there is a Garda investigation ongoing into both the scene and the circumstances. That must be allowed to do its work. However, it is fair to say that this is a moment of significant public distress and concern. The State processes must be thorough and robust in establishing all the facts. I thank Deputy Doherty for raising what is an important issue. I know the cost of energy is a real concern for families across the country. It is a real concern as the evenings get darker and colder. I assure people at home that this Government is taking action to help them with the cost of energy. It is from Monday next week that fuel season begins. From Monday, 22 September and for the next 28 weeks, fuel allowance payments will be paid to over 400,000 homes across the country. The payment is worth approximately €924 in the fuel season. It can be paid in a weekly amount of €33 or two lump-sum payments of just over €460. As a result of decisions we made in the previous budget, more people than ever before will qualify. The Deputy will remember that in the most recent budget, we took decisions that mean the means test exemption, which had applied to people over the age of 70, will now apply to people from the age of 66. I want people at home to know, particularly the most vulnerable and those in most need of assistance, that the fuel allowance season will kick off on Monday. It can be applied for very easily from mywelfare.ie and if you have received the payments in the past, you do not need to reapply. I also want people to know that we have already taken some other decisions to try to help people more broadly with the cost of energy. We took the decision when we came back into government to extend the 9% VAT rate for gas and electricity. This is providing a relief for both families and businesses. I am not sure whether it was a measure Deputy Doherty was supportive of or had proposed. It is a costly measure but it is absolutely right to lower the VAT rate on people’s bills in the here and now. We did not need to wait for any budget or for the Deputy to stand up on Leaders’ Questions and ask us to do it; we took the decision and have implemented it, and that makes a difference to people’s bills. Under the national development plan, only before the summer recess we allocated €3.5 billion to EirGrid because we have got to get better in terms of our energy supply in this country, which has a direct knock-on consequence in terms of cost. Crucially, we have established a cross-government energy-affordability task force. The Deputy is right that the cost of energy in this country is too high. The first item with which the task force was charged was to produce an interim report to consider what measures could be taken to support customers this winter, which measures are to be produced and given to the Minister in advance of budget 2026 so they can help inform decisions we take then. The Deputy is right that we are moving back to an annual budget process this year, but that is not the same as saying we do not intend to take action to help families with the cost of living. However, we have got to take measures that are sustainable and permanent. We are moving away from one-off measures to permanent, sustainable ones. I have given the Deputy a number of examples of practical decisions we have taken. Yes, we are targeting money at those most in need through the fuel allowance – I am sure the Deputy will welcome its expansion and the fact that it will be available from Monday and for the next 28 weeks – and also, more broadly, the 9% VAT rate, which everybody’s bills benefit from. Also, the task force on energy affordability, under the leadership of the Minister, Deputy O’Brien, and chaired by him, brings a range of stakeholders, including the ESRI, together to look at proposals. It is due to report to the Minister very shortly. I want people at home to know that we hear them on the cost of energy and know about the cost of living. It is usually right that you wait for the budget before you criticise it.
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I do not want to be too argumentative the first week back but the Sinn Féin proposal to help people with their energy bills was to subsidise these massive energy companies. Its proposal was to give our taxpayers’ money to the energy companies. That was bonkers, in fairness, but I believe Sinn Féin reflected on it and changed its policy. Sinn Féin was not a big fan of the energy credits and I do not believe it committed to them even in its manifesto. It is now jumping on every bandwagon going. We are going to take action. Energy costs are real, and I do not disagree with the Deputy that the cost of energy in Ireland is too high and a real cause of worry for people. I am telling him and, more important, the people of this country today what we are doing to help those in need. The fuel allowance season will be kicking off on Monday for more people than ever before. That will make a real difference to the Deputy’s constituents and mine, with more benefiting in his county and mine than ever before. I am also telling him about other practical measures we have taken in the here and now, including reducing the rate of VAT on people’s energy bills. That was a practical measure. It was a costly measure but the right thing to do. I do agree, however, on this: there is a structural issue in relation to our energy market that we need to get on top of. That is why one of the first steps the Minister, Deputy O’Brien, took was to establish the task force on energy affordability. The first thing it was asked to do was look specifically at measures that can be taken for this winter and measures that can inform the Government in advance of the budget. I expect the Minister to receive the report very shortly.
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I thank Deputy Bacik. I do not know her councillor, Corina Johnston, but I heard her on “Morning Ireland” this morning. I thought she spoke for so many people and for her community on the very tragic situation. I thank her for that. I thank the Deputy and her party for their constructive engagement. Of course, we will give consideration to Deputy Smith’s Bill. From an Irish perspective, literally around now 15 young Palestinians have been safely evacuated from Gaza. Fourteen of them are students who will be coming to study in Ireland. One is coming here on a critical-skills Visa. They are safely in Jordan, where they will be medically screened. Obviously, they are coming from a famine zone and war zone, a place where genocide is happening. They are due to arrive in Ireland tomorrow. I thank everybody who has worked so hard on this. As the Deputy can imagine, it is very complex to get people evacuated from Gaza. The Deputy is right that we in this House, or indeed Ireland, did not need anybody else to tell us a genocide was happening in Gaza. Ireland was one of the first countries in Europe, if not the first, to call it what it is. The UN independent inquiry has now found the same thing. We have also seen statements of fact around a man-made famine in Gaza. These views are no longer just Ireland’s, mine or Deputy Bacik’s; these are views that are factually based and evidence based and that the world cannot ignore. The European Commission decision yesterday is hugely significant. As the Deputy knows from her engagements at European level, and as I know from mine, Ireland’s voice has been in the minority for quite a long time. To have had the European Commission ratify proposals yesterday that are very far-reaching and quite appropriate – and very delayed, by the way – represents a not-insignificant moment; it is actually a very important moment. In practice, this would have a very significant impact on Israel economically and, I believe, has the potential to change Netanyahu’s calculus in relation to the continuance of the genocide in Gaza. My priority in the here and now has to be, and the Deputy would expect it to be, to try to see if we can get a majority of member states to vote for these sanctions and to do so very quickly. The next meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council, outside a UN meeting next week, is not due for approximately six weeks. It is the same with the European Council. A genocide is going on. We cannot wait a further six weeks, after all the inaction to date. I am leading a diplomatic effort to try to get a number of member states to seek an urgent meeting so that member states can vote. There is nowhere to hide here. You are either in favour or against these measures to try to help end a genocide. I hope that can happen. At a domestic level, I spoke to Senator Black briefly the other day. I am due to meet her on my return from the UN High-level Week, which is taking place next week. We are still committed to legislating. Party leaders will shortly meet the Attorney General on how best to do that. I am happy to brief the Opposition as well. However, I have to be honest with the House and the people of Ireland about passing our own legislation. Again, I do not dismiss that and I committed to doing it, but if we want to make an impact here, acting at an EU level has always been the best way to do it because, while the political power may seem to be whatever goes on between President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu, the economic ability that Europe has in relation to Israel and making it change its course is highly significant.
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Yes, we can and will take action at national level. There is a political consensus on that. We all gave commitments during the election. I am happy to do that, but the Deputy will also remember the previous Government's position was always whether we could get to a point where Europe might act. That looked very remote when this genocide started. It now looks like a distinct prospect. We have got to try to see this through. One way or the other, in a democratic Europe, we have every right to be able to vote for these proposals and to show we are voting to take this action against Israel to try to stop what Netanyahu is doing. That needs to happen and to happen quickly. The Deputy is right that we are not alone. There is a growing coalition, including Slovenia, Spain and Belgium, as she said, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. France has played a very constructive role. We may see our near neighbours in the UK take their own decision on recognition in the coming days, which would be a welcome step forward. We remain committed to evacuations. The Minister for Health is doing very good work on this from a medical point of view. We are doing good work in terms of those looking to come here to study as well. We all know there is complexity around this, but anyone we can help in that context we are helping. At a UN level, the Taoiseach, the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, and I will be in New York for UN High-level Week next week. This issue will be a major priority, as you would imagine.
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I thank the Deputy for his kindness and solidarity. I very much appreciated the very kind letter I received, on behalf of his parliamentary party, from Deputy Jen Cummins. I look forward to all of us working on a cross-party basis, as suggested by the Ceann Comhairle, on safety in public life. I thank the Deputy very much for that. The Deputy is entirely correct in the way he summed up the most horrific and tragic situation in relation to Daniel. He is right that we do not yet know what went wrong but that something went seriously wrong, captures exactly the situation we find ourselves in. I pay tribute to the gardaí and all those involved in the search for little Daniel. None of us can really imagine or comprehend how traumatic an experience that must be for all of those on the front line. We think of them and their families, and the trauma they must be enduring today as well, of course, as the incredible trauma being endured by everybody who knew Daniel. On the Deputy's comments about the sad photo not doing Daniel justice, I heard a lot of commentary about that this morning on the radio. I saw a happy photo released to RTÉ with his arms outstretched playing with his toys, with a beautiful smile, that I presume captured the essence of a beautiful young boy. Our hearts break for them now. The Deputy asked a fair question. My honest to God answer is I do not think we can rule anything out at this stage. The responsible thing for us to do is to try to establish the facts, but we cannot rule anything out. What is the situation as of now? There is obviously the Garda investigation, which the Deputy and I rightly did not comment on. Tusla is conducting the rapid review process of its own engagement with Daniel's family and the Minister for children has asked that the national review panel prioritises the review of this case. Once the Tusla rapid review is completed, which I understand will be within days, that will then be forwarded to the national review panel. It will examine any engagement Daniel and his parents had with health, social, education or any other State services. The national review panel has an independent chair, along with its own independent legal advisers. It makes findings of fact and produces reports that are objective and independent of Tusla, but I do not rule anything out at this stage. This is a deeply distressing situation that is somewhat evolving in terms of what we are learning in real time. In addition and separately to that, there will be an independently chaired well-being review of all child welfare cases that were closed during the Covid-19 pandemic and where there has been no further contact with the child since. This number stands at 42,000, when all periods of school closure during Covid are taken into account, which takes in the early part of 2022 as well as 2020 and 2021. There are also a number of commitments to change our legislation in relation to the Child Care Act, which would provide further protections in respect of child protection and welfare services in the State and strengthen the child protection legal framework, increase the powers of Tusla and ensure greater co-operation. In direct answer to the Deputy's question, we keep an open mind on exactly what he asked. We have got to see where the facts bring us in the coming days.
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The short answer is "Yes". There is a commitment in the programme for Government to do that and it needs to happen as quickly as possible. I heard the chair of the national review panel in recent days. She was very robust in her explanation of the work it does and her confidence that this work could be done in a manner that would be expeditious and thorough. It has independent legal advisers but the point about putting it on a statutory footing is entirely accepted by Government. It is a valid point. It would be extraordinarily foolish at this stage for the Government to rule out any action that may be required. This case shook our country to the core. What has happened is deeply distressing and it is even more distressing when we see the name and the face of the little boy Daniel. We are seeking to establish the facts. A Garda investigation is under way and Tusla will complete a rapid review in the coming days that will then be referred to the national review panel. The Minister for Children, Disability and Equality will then advise Government of any further steps or actions she believes are required.
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I thank the Deputy for raising this issue on behalf of his constituents. It is an issue he raises regularly. I think the Deputy and I agree on this but it is certainly my position and that of the Government that wind energy is a good thing. Renewable energy is a good thing. The health consequences of not having good clean renewable energy far outweigh other issues in terms of health implications. Let us think of all the health implications of the climate emergency and the burning of fuels that pollute our atmosphere, including the lung and respiratory conditions and the impact of them in all our communities over many years and the good work of predecessors such as Mary Harney on smokeless fuel. The point the Deputy makes frequently and well is about the need for planning guidelines for communities, local authorities and planning authorities to help them understand the rules under which planning can be granted. I met some of the Deputy's constituents on this matter during the term of the previous Government. The review of the guidelines has been ongoing for a very long time. I fully accept that point. The review has ongoing for several years. I spoke with the Minister of State with responsibility for planning, Deputy Cummins, today and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage previously and was informed that significant progress has been made towards concluding the review. The review is looking at all aspects such as setback distance, noise, shadow flicker, community obligation and community dividend, which is always important, and grid connection. The noise aspect of this review has been highly technical and took considerably longer than was perhaps originally expected but I understand that this is now substantially complete so there is a real effort by the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, and his officials to get this right and I thank him for his work on this. In addition to the noise aspect of the guidelines that added to the length, the evolving policy and technical context, including our new Planning and Development Act, which we passed last year, and the first revision of the national planning framework, which was approved by the Oireachtas at the end of April 2025, reinforced the need to get the finalised guidelines right and make sure they are fit for purpose and fit for that context as well. We are trying to strike a balance between the planning views of local communities and the impact on their areas and the need for renewable and sustainable forms of energy. There is a specific commitment in the programme for Government to prioritise the publication of these guidelines. I know the Minister of State is prioritising this work. A strategic environmental assessment has been carried out and a public consultation on the draft updated guidelines will take place. This will provide the Deputy, his constituents and his party with an opportunity to submit observations on that draft. I will keep the Deputy informed.
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I am quite sure my Fine Gael councillors agree with me on wanting to get this right and this being about a balance in terms of planning. I am sitting beside the Minister for Health and I make the point more broadly that the health impact of climate change and the climate emergency is very real. We all know in our communities, and I think we agree on this across the House, that the health implications of people breathing in dirty air have been very real in the form of cancers and respiratory disease, so the move to renewables is a really good thing. The commitment we have is to get to 80% of our electricity from renewable sources by 2030.
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But the ownership is not-----
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I do not want to be argumentative because it is an important issue to the Deputy's constituents but------
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-----the ownership issue is a different issue. I am talking about how we are going to power the country and how we are going to have clean air-----
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Offshore is a very important part and my constituency will see a significant amount of that, but this is about getting the planning guidelines right. There are lots of different views about health and climate as well-----
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I must look at those points the Deputy makes. What I am saying to him, and more importantly to his constituents, as well as people I meet across the country looking for guidelines on this, is the publication of new revised guidelines is a priority for the Government-----
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-----and we will have an opportunity to have consultation on those guidelines-----
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-----so communities can directly have their say in the coming months. The Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, is leading on that for us.
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