I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. We all agree that housing is the most important issue. There is a housing emergency in this country. There is an onus on all of us to come forward with ideas and policies to try to make real and meaningful progress for people in the country. I hope we are at least united on this. This Government has taken a number of steps on housing since coming to office only months ago, including publishing an implementation plan for the Planning and Development Act 2024, publishing draft legislation about short-term letting and the regulation of that sector, bringing forward proposals regarding exempted development and making it easier for people who want to construct developments, particularly on their own land and in their own gardens, and indeed having a new housing plan by the summer recess. The Cabinet committee on housing will meet about that issue today. We have also published the new national planning framework, which was before this House this week and indeed the other House. It is key to ensuring that we have enough zoned land across our country to build homes. We all know that when it comes to the building of homes for our people and getting people out of box rooms, one of the key barriers that people find with regard to construction is silos, where there is a site but there might not be a water connection or a wastewater connection, there might be an ESB challenge or there might be another blockage. When the previous Government set up the Housing Commission, it recognised this issue and called for structures to be put in place. It talked about a housing delivery oversight executive office to bring in expertise and people from different utility companies to ask how we are going to unblock a site and build more quickly. The Deputy is in favour of that idea, which is why I am surprised at his opposition to the idea of setting up this office. Page 98 of the Sinn Féin housing plan does not talk about jobshares or anything else but about setting up a housing delivery oversight executive to bring forward exactly what we now want to do too. Sinn Féín talks about bringing it forward on a statutory basis, ultimately, which I am happy to talk to Deputy Doherty about, but it talks about setting it up in the first instance-----
Sentiment score: 0.27
There is no housing tsar for us either.
Sentiment score: -0.30
I love the way Sinn Féin loves to laugh and joke about the issue of housing. It proposed in the general election that if it was elected to government, and thank God we were spared that, it would establish a new office to bring forward all of the different structures to break down silos. That is what Sinn Féin proposed. The Housing Commission proposed that, and so did the Government. When we got together after the election and formed our programme for Government, we said we would take on board what seemed like a sensible idea, to second people, bring in expertise, and try to get homebuilding accelerated. That is a good idea. On Tuesday at Cabinet, we agreed to establish that office, something very similar to what Sinn Féin wanted on page 98.
Sentiment score: 0.37
That is the only decision that we have made. We have not made any decisions about personnel or pay. Process matters with all of these issues. We will continue to engage as a Government, now that we have made the decision on establishing the new office, on how best to staff that office. The overriding objective will not be personality but will be getting the job done and making sure that people who live in box rooms in their mums' and dads' homes can move out and into their own home. We are taking on board the good suggestions from the Housing Commission. Heaven forbid, we might even be taking on a reasonably good suggestion from Sinn Féin about trying to establish a unit just like this. I am quite surprised that Sinn Féin seems to be so against it today.
Sentiment score: 0.33
I am very on board with setting up a housing activation office and I thought Deputy Doherty was too. It is in page 98 of Sinn Féin's own plan, about breaking down the silos, bringing in expertise, and-----
Sentiment score: 0.00
I am not sure whether its Deputies read the policies but that is what they all ran on in the election. They ran in the election and said that he wanted to establish an office to bring together people to break down silos relating to housing.
Sentiment score: -0.06
That is what we are doing. It was not Sinn Féín's idea or ours; it was a good idea that came from the Housing Commission and we are trying to act on that. The Minister was quite right this week to bring forward a proposal to Cabinet to move that forward. The only decision the Government of Ireland took this week was in that regard.
Sentiment score: 0.11
Now that the Government of Ireland has done that, we will decide how best to populate the office, process matters - I want to understand the processes followed regarding key personnel - and we will then address all those matters and put this together.
Sentiment score: 0.69
That is the appropriate way. Of course, people who do a job will be paid a salary but this not about personalities.
Sentiment score: 0.00
In the first instance, this is about getting things right. Speculation in the media is not how we do things in government. We will bring forward proposals, we will tease them through-----
Sentiment score: -0.11
-----and we will consider them. That is exactly what we will do in the hours and days ahead and we will get this right-----
Sentiment score: 0.00
-----with a housing activation office to break down silos. Getting the right people in place is also important.
Sentiment score: 0.10
I thank Deputy Bacik for that. I also wish everyone a happy International Workers' Day. I would like to acknowledge the incredible work done by workers right across our country in the public service and in the private sector, as well as the many people who work here in Leinster House to help our democracy function on a daily basis. Objectively, it is fair to say a lot of positive measures have been taken, as the Deputy referenced, in recent years to support workers. The minimum wage in Ireland has been increased by more than 33% in the past five years and if I am correct, we now have the second highest minimum wage in Europe. We have introduced statutory sick pay when, two years ago, we lived in a country where there was no statutory sick pay scheme. We have pay-related benefits, which is a really important reform, that took effect at the end of March and this, again, provides a greater safety net to workers if they lose their jobs. I am pleased that auto-enrolment will be introduced from 1 January 2026. I acknowledge the proposals my colleague, the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Calleary, brought forward on that to Cabinet this week. This will ensure that workers right across our country will have greater financial security and comfort in their retirement. It addresses a real divide that has existed in respect of pensions for a very long time. We have also had other important changes, including a new public holiday on St. Brigid's Day, introduced in 2023, and legislation to ensure employers must distribute tips fairly among their employees. Changes such as remote working have also had a positive impact on many workers, though I acknowledge we continue to work through all the change that brings about together. It has largely been very positive for many workers and certainly for many people I meet when I go about my business. We have made progress on issues such as parental and paternity leave. We published - through the Minister, Deputy Burke's work for consultation - an action plan on collective bargaining, which has been one of the key asks of the union movement in its engagement with Government in recent times. More broadly, I am pleased we now have the Labour Employer Engagement Forum, LEEF, which works very well. It is chaired by the Taoiseach and is attended by myself, the Ministers for Finance, Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Social Protection and other relevant Ministers, to tease through in a collaborative way a range of issues that relate to our economy, enterprise and the like. That is a structure that works well too. Of course, Government must always balance all these issues by making sure we hear the concerns of our small businesses, medium-sized businesses and indigenous-owned businesses across the country. I take the point they should never be pitted against each other. Employers know that looking after their employees well is in their interest for a variety of reasons. The Government will see further minimum wage increases and recognise the ongoing work of the Low Pay Commission. I acknowledge the work done by Deputy Nash on that. We want to see a living wage introduced by 2029.
Sentiment score: 0.37
I assure Deputy Bacik the Government is unified in wanting to support our workers and economy and wanting to protect their jobs too. I agree low paid workers and workers in this country are certainly not responsible for the many turbulent challenges the global economy faces and the impact that may have on Ireland. We are very lucky to live in a country where our union movement was very constructive in its engagement, even during the darkest days of the financial crisis. I acknowledge that on International Workers' Day. It does not mean we always agree with them or they agree with us - I do not want to kill their street credit - but it is important we have that constructive engagement and I acknowledge that. On the living wage, this was about trying to calibrate it correctly. It has been - not by the Deputy - sometimes misrepresented or discussed in recent days as though the minimum wage will not continue to rise or that the journey towards the living wage will not continue; it will. We will continue to see the minimum wage increases. At present, we have wage growth in Ireland of approximately 3.5% to 4% and inflation at approximately 1.7%. We are back seeing real wage growths and people's incomes going back up. We are now also trying to help in other ways. Hot school meals and free school books are of course benefiting everybody but also our low paid workers. We will continue our positive agenda in this regard.
Sentiment score: 0.23
I thank Deputy Murphy. I do not believe anybody can credibly suggest that this Government is anti-worker. In fact, there are many more workers in this country as a result of this Government's and successive governments' efforts to create jobs in every town, village and city throughout our island. To have workers, you need to have jobs. There are many more people in employment. Many of us remember days in this House where the biggest challenge being raised on Leaders' Questions and at every other opportunity was that people could not get a job in Ireland. There were very high unemployment rates. We have worked extremely hard to get to a much better place, to get to a place of effective full employment. That is something we should never take for granted. We cannot be complacent about that. We have to work day in, day out to make sure that businesses remain viable. I do not know whether the Deputy was directly quoting people but language about sweeties and all that sort of stuff is just utterly offensive to young people who work bloody hard and play a very good role in so many parts of our economy. I also know that many of the businesses they disproportionately work in, often part time, often during college and the likes, are businesses that are to the pin of their collar in trying to keep the doors open. I challenge the Deputy to call into a café, hotel or restaurant in his constituency, as I am sure he does. I am sure he will hear from them the challenges they face in meeting the pay bill. I am sure he will see in cafés throughout the country, as I do sometimes, reduced opening hours. When you talk to an employer one of the reasons they will cite is the fact of trying to keep down the cost. One of the things that the Government is collectively doing across parties and across the Independents, with the Minister, Deputy Burke, is looking at the whole issue of how we can help businesses with the cost of doing business. That is against a backdrop not of wage suppression, which the Deputy referenced but is simply not the case, but of a minimum wage that is increasing year on year and that will increase again no doubt in the year ahead and years ahead, and that has increased by 33% over the past five years. It is now the second-highest minimum wage rate in Europe. I accept this was not always the case in recent years with very high inflation but we are back now, thankfully, in a position where wage growth is exceeding inflation and exceeding it effectively. In other words, the extra money people are getting in wages is now outstripping any increases in the cost of living. It is wrong to say the Dáil voted for this. The Dáil allowed a timed amendment for a Bill to progress on Second Stage. To people who follow these matters, that is not the same as saying the Dáil passed a law in relation to this. There is no suppression of a decision in relation to that. The Minister has outlined the process he is taking. However, he has also outlined very honestly, as he should, that he is trying to get a balance right to make sure that young people throughout Ireland have access to employment, and that the companies and businesses they are working in can keep their own doors open. Of course, we will continue to keep these issues under review. There are many ways we are helping young people with their own cost of living, with their educational opportunities, with the reduction in college fees and the like. We want to continue on that positive trajectory.
Sentiment score: 0.21
It is not that anybody is breaching the minimum wage; it is that we have a tiered system of minimum wage in this country. The Deputy and I have different views on that but people are following the minimum wage. It is just tiered and applies differently to different people in different age brackets. That is the system that we have had in place. After the Deputy goes into that café and outlines his view to the café owner and goes back to his job as a TD, the café owner is left having to pay the bill and having to think about how they are going to keep the doors open and continue.
Sentiment score: -0.02
We support young people in so many ways. I found myself having to shout at the radio the other day about broken promises in relation to statutory sick pay. Read the Fine Gael manifesto. We were very clear during the general election in relation to five days of statutory sick pay. It is there; it is in black and white. We made it clear to people. There was no statutory sick pay scheme two years ago. There is now. There will be auto-enrolment in terms of pension provision from next January, thanks to the work of this Government. We are moving towards a living wage. We have the second-highest minimum wage in Europe. It has risen by more than 33% over the past five years. We are reducing childcare costs. We have taken measures in relation to hot school meals, school books, reducing college fees and, crucially, we have done something really important, that is, we have created jobs, providing people with employment across the length and breadth of this country. That should never be taken for granted.
Sentiment score: 0.04
I thank the Deputy. I was taking in a lot of figures there; I appreciate that the Deputy has done a lot of work on this. The purpose of the Deputy's question is largely around the issue of carbon tax. On the issue of speed limits, it is about trying to get it right. It is about recognising - we all share this view - that far too many people die on Irish roads. Being very honest, the progress we had made is now at best stalled; in recent years, we have gone backwards. We all know and think about far too many tables that have empty seats around them. The speed limit issue is about trying to get that right, because speed kills. As a politician, I like to rely on the expert advice and input of the likes of the Road Safety Authority in terms of how we get this right. However, it is important that we empower local authorities to deal with local roads. They sometimes have the necessary degree of local knowledge that allows them to recognise which roads are safe and can have a positive input. In the context of carbon tax, we in this country have to be very honest about the climate debate. We have a huge amount of work to do to get both our country and Europe to where they need to be when it comes to climate action. One small part of the overall work that needs to be done relates to carbon tax and what that revenue raised by means of this tax is used for. The Deputy contacts Ministers on behalf of his constituents in Limerick asking about the fuel allowance and retrofitting. I am pleased to say that much of the money that is collected through the carbon tax is now going back into those areas. We are trying to make sure that there is fairness to this. One example in this regard relates to the Department of the Minister, Deputy Calleary, where a great deal of the money being used to fund the expansion of the fuel allowance comes from carbon tax. Sometimes, people wonder where the money they pay in carbon tax goes. It is bring used to try to ensure that those most in need of keeping warm - thankfully, we are having a nice day today - can do so. It is about also making sure from a climate point of view that we make it easier for people to meet the cost of retrofitting their homes. We have a fundamental policy disagreement on this, and I recognise that upfront. The Government has been very clear in relation to the Climate Change Advisory Council recommendation and the recommendations of the scientific experts who feed into it. We use climate tax as one of a number of measures to try to get Ireland to where it needs to be in relation to climate action.
Sentiment score: 0.25
I know it.
Sentiment score: 0.00
I often say that we need more common sense in our politics. The problem is that common sense is a subjective concept. There is common sense in collecting revenue through a carbon tax and in specifically doing what we have committed to in our programme for Government. In a very honest and an upfront way, the programme for Government states that we are going to continue to use carbon tax revenues to fund: social welfare measures for those most in need; agri-environmental schemes to help our farmers - rather than lecturing or talking down to them - in terms of the adaptations they need to make to continue to produce some of the best food produce in the world; and retrofitting, in order to help make peoples' homes more environmentally friendly, warm and cheaper to heat. That is where we are trying to get to. To be honest, when it comes to climate, there is not much low-hanging fruit. There is a climate emergency. The planet is on fire and we are trying to take pragmatic, practical measures to help to move the dial in respect of the changes we need to make in Ireland.
Sentiment score: 0.19