Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 29 Jan 2026

Vol. 1080 No. 1

• Debates
• Find a debate
  • Dáil debates
  • Seanad debates
  • Committee debates
• Find a vote
  • Dáil votes
  • Seanad votes
  • Committee votes
• Parliamentary questions
  • Written questions
  • Oral questions
• Search tips
• Utterances having an adverse effect

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions

Deputy Matt Carthy

Caithfidh an Rialtas bata agus bóthar a thabhairt do Larry Murrin mar chathaoirleach ar Bhord Bia. Tá muinín na n-eagraíochtaí feirmeoireachta agus an phobail i gcoitinne caillte aige. Caithfidh sé imeacht. We are now nine days into a serious and escalating crisis of confidence in Bord Bia. It is a crisis entirely of the Government's own making. At the heart of it is a clear and undeniable conflict of interest. The chair of Bord Bia is head of a company that imports Brazilian beef that is produced to lower standards and is the subject of weaker safety requirements. At the same time, he is presiding over the State agency charged with promoting Irish beef, which is produced to the highest environmental, welfare and food safety standards. The contradiction goes to the core of Bord Bia's credibility, and farmers know it.

Yesterday, the Taoiseach's response to my party leader was confused, evasive and, frankly, all over the place. Instead of showing leadership, he appeared either unwilling or unable to grasp the clear powers the Government holds in relation to this appointment. Instead of addressing the substance of the issue, Ministers have resorted to dismissive language, talking about witch hunts and hikes and suggesting that farmers are somehow doing their own sector a disservice by speaking out. I met with the farmers protesting at Bord Bia headquarters yesterday. I spoke directly to them and to their representative organisations. All farming organisations are unequivocal: Larry Murrin's position is untenable, confidence has been lost and he has to go.

Matters deteriorated further this morning. In response to Deputy Martin Kenny, the agriculture Minister launched what I consider to be an unprecedented attack on the largest farming organisation in the country, the IFA, seeking to blame it for this crisis. That was, frankly, unbelievable and deeply irresponsible. It shows a Government lashing out rather than facing up to its own failures.

Bord Bia, we all acknowledge, plays a pivotal role in promoting Irish food on global markets, but that role is based on trust. Above all, what is required is the trust of our primary producers. Farmers are out in all weathers. They are meeting ever higher environmental, animal welfare and regulatory standards. They are doing what the State asks of them. Their confidence in Bord Bia is depended upon. Their confidence in Bord Bia has been broken.

Irish agriculture is already under immense pressure, facing new challenges all the time, including the emergence of bluetongue disease. Farmers do not need a self-inflicted crisis of governance at the very top of the agency that is supposed to support them. The Government appointed Larry Murrin. It has the power to act. My question is direct and plain: will it use its powers to restore confidence in Bord Bia and remove its chair?

The Tánaiste

We will not remove the chair. The Deputy has come for a head and he is not getting one. That is the position of the Government of Ireland. This is a Government that follows due process. This is a Government that does not decide that protest removes people from office. This is a Government that listens and engages. We believe that if a person puts up their hand for public service, which is what serving on a commercial semi-State board is, and makes a positive contribution, then they have the support of the Government.

The Sinn Féin position on this has not involved looking for explanations or facts. Its deputy leader is not here today, but he was here last week. Before the board meeting had even taken place, Sinn Féin wanted the chair of Bord Bia gone. It did not even want the meeting to take place. The position was "Go. Off with his head" before there was any chance to engage at all.

I said to Deputy Doherty then what I say to Deputy Carthy now. Conflicts of interest and perceived conflicts of interest are always important to raise in any corporate governance structure - 100% - but it is also important that processes are followed and that people are given an opportunity to discuss information. I will get to that in a moment. I believe there is information and complexity here that are deliberately being overlooked - possibly even suppressed - in Sinn Féin's presentation of this situation.

Mr. Murrin appeared before the board last week. That was the right thing to do. He is the chair of the board. He answered all the questions board members had and had the support of the overwhelming majority of the board of Bord Bia. I understand that he is happy to appear before the Oireachtas agriculture committee, and he should do so. Again, that is an important process. The committee is the right place for the people's representatives, including those from the Deputy's party, to have the opportunity to probe, ask questions, discuss and see, beyond social media posts and gut instinct, whether there is an issue here or whether the chairman actually has a robust and credible explanation. The Oireachtas agriculture committee either has invited or is about to invite the chair to attend a meeting. I know he is willing to attend. A date is being arranged. I hope that meeting can take place next week. It would be helpful for everybody to have a proper, thorough examination.

I agree with the Deputy that there are more important issues we should be discussing on the floor of the Dáil today, including bluetongue, which deserves more than a passing reference, the Common Agricultural Policy and the fact that significant parts of the country are under water. Let the agriculture committee do its job, rather than having a rinse and repeat of the same question I was asked last week. The Government's position has not changed.

I also want to say that Bord Bia and its chairman, Mr. Murrin, have presided over massive growth in Irish exports. Does that count for anything in Sinn Féin's book? We have not seen the full figures for 2025 yet, but I will be surprised if the value of Irish food exports does not exceed €20 billion. That is a remarkable achievement and would be a new record for our largest and oldest indigenous industry.

There is complexity involved in any trade deal. The Deputy is around here long enough to know that in 2008, when we had the pork dioxin problem, there was a global recall of Irish pork and contingency plans were needed. In any major global deal, contingency plans are needed. To win major global deals that benefit the Irish economy, Irish workers and Irish taxpayers, we have to have a contingency plan. If Sinn Féin's position is that a food company cannot have a contingency plan in place, then that company cannot compete. If Sinn Féin's position is that if a person is running a food company that has a contingency plan in place in case anything goes wrong with Irish produce and there is a recall, that person cannot be on the board of a semi-State, then I believe our commercial semi-States would be the worse for that. I hope it emerges at the committee that Irish farmers have benefited significantly from the deal this company, Dawn Farm Foods, has in place.

The position of the Government is clear. We look forward to an opportunity for the agriculture committee to pursue this. I would also ask the IFA and ICMSA to take up the offer of meeting with the chair of the board. Every country chair in the IFA is welcome to meet, together or on their own, with the chair of Bord Bia. It is very disappointing that the IFA has not taken up that offer.

Deputy Matt Carthy

The Tánaiste talks about the success of Bord Bia-----

The Tánaiste

Yes.

Deputy Matt Carthy

-----but it appears that he is oblivious to what that success is built on. It is built on the work of our farmers. It is not Larry Murrin or Bord Bia that are out in this weather milking cows. It is not Larry Murrin or Bord Bia dealing with cows calving in the middle of the night.

The Tánaiste

Wow. We do not need Bord Bia. Get rid of Bord Bia.

Deputy Matt Carthy

It is not Larry Murrin or Bord Bia that is delivering the highest standards met by farmers anywhere in the world. It is our primary producers, who are doing so. They - not just me or some backbenchers in the Government parties-----

The Tánaiste

Not in mine.

Deputy Matt Carthy

-----are telling the Tánaiste that confidence has been lost in the chair of Bord Bia. The Government is trying to be evasive and to look for different ways out of this situation. The ultimate truth is this: the chair of the State agency charged with promoting Irish produce across the world is also head of a company that is importing beef from Brazil.

Deputy Martin Heydon

Soundbites.

Deputy Matt Carthy

That is untenable. There is a clear conflict of interest.

Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill

That is not right.

Deputy Matt Carthy

Stop trying to dodge. Stop trying to protect your man in Bord Bia. Instead, protect Irish family farmers by removing the chair of Bord Bia and restoring trust in that organisation.

The Tánaiste

Usually when you deliver your response, it should be in some way linked to what I just said. You have accused me of being evasive. Here it is, really clear: I support the chair of Bord Bia. I think the chair of Bord Bia should continue. I think he should go in front of the agriculture committee. I do not accept Deputy Carthy's smears. I do not agree with his position. That is my position. How is that evasive? It is pretty clear to me. That is a pretty clear position to have.

Deputy Matt Carthy

It is an unacceptable position.

The Tánaiste

Instead of the prepared lines that he has been working on in front of the mirror this morning, maybe the Deputy should listen to what the Government is saying. We are very clear in relation to our position on this.

There is significant value. I do not like the way the Deputy just dismissed the work of those in Bord Bia because they are not out in the rain. Bord Bia is doing incredible work across the world at a time of extraordinary global-----

Deputy Matt Carthy

On the back of our farmers. Do you not accept that?

The Tánaiste

The Deputy just dismissed them.

Deputy Matt Carthy

You have to accept that it is our primary producers who are doing the hard work.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Order, please.

The Tánaiste

Bord Bia is doing incredible work promoting our farmers' goods right across the world. I am so proud of the work of our farmers and of Irish produce.

Deputy Martin Kenny

And the financial malaise being experienced by our farmers.

The Tánaiste

Do not come into this House and attack the Minister for agriculture, who has achieved more-----

Deputy Matt Carthy

He is the one who attacked the farming organisations.

The Tánaiste

-----for Irish farmers than Deputy Carthy will ever achieve-----

Deputy Matt Carthy

He attacked our farming organisations.

The Tánaiste

-----whether it was nitrates-----

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Order, please.

The Tánaiste

-----whether it was Mercosur, whether it is TB or whether it is work on bluetongue. Let us be honest-----

Deputy Martin Kenny

The IFA is not at one on Brazilian beef.

The Tánaiste

-----when it comes to Sinn Féin, this is not about food on the table; it is about a head on a plate.

Deputy Cian O'Callaghan

The housing completion figures announced earlier show that we are thousands of homes short of the target the Tánaiste set. The number of homes is almost 5,000 short of the 41,000 that he promised to deliver. Of course, the Government is trying to run away from that target now. The housing Minister has decided that annual targets are a distraction. A distraction from what? This is the number of new homes that the Tánaiste said are needed and that he promised to deliver. The 41,000 target is there, in black and white, published by the Government just weeks before the election. If the Tánaiste needs to jog his memory in this regard, he can consult the Fine Gael election manifesto because the 41,000 target was printed in black and white in that as well.

We all know that this is not the only housing target the Government has missed by a country mile. In the run-up to the election, the Tánaiste was categoric that 40,000 new homes would be delivered by the end of 2024. That was another bogus figure, trotted out despite mountains of evidence that it was pie in the sky.

Out of ideas and with their housing plan in tatters, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have now reverted to type. They are offering tax breaks for developers and sweetheart deals for investment funds, along with new legislation with the sole purpose of letting already record rents rips. Instead of providing affordable homes for people to buy, the Government is, in the words of the Taoiseach, pivoting "more strongly to" the private sector. This means turning hard-pressed renters into cash cows for investment funds and bleeding them dry to feed the vultures.

This is not an academic debate about numbers. It is about people in their 20s, 30s and 40s who are still living in their childhood bedrooms and feeling hopeless and helpless because their lives are passing them by. They are missing out on milestones, relationships, career opportunities and even starting families. It is about the growing number of elderly renters who are at risk of homelessness. It is about the 5,321 children who are growing up without homes, all because successive Governments have doubled down on failure. What is happening is not an accident; it is a choice. Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have led us here. Today's housing numbers are yet another monument to their failure.

Under the Tánaiste's watch, a housing crisis has morphed into a housing disaster and from a housing disaster into a social catastrophe. Despite this, the Tánaiste is going to stand up in a minute and tell us about what a great job he is doing. The gall is incredible. Will the Tánaiste admit that he has broken yet another election promise. Why did the Government publish annual housing targets just before the election and then tear them up straight afterwards?

The Tánaiste

You would swear the number of new houses was down today, based on that. The number of new homes completed last year represents an increase of 20% on the previous year. For the people listening at home - and just in case they missed the bit at the start - there were almost 6,000 homes built last year than the year before. We are now living in a country where 600 first-time buyers are buying their first homes every week. The Deputy talks about people living in box rooms. Yes, there are too many. He talks about hopelessness. It is not hopeless for those 600 people this week who will get the keys to their homes and begin their lives. These are the people I see, right across my community in Wicklow and right across this country as well.

We have completion figures today that show momentum. They are a positive sign. There is now momentum back in the housing market. The Deputy is correct. That did not happen by accident; it happened as a result of the policies that we are pursuing and that are injecting confidence again in an ability to build in the private sector and a realisation across all parts of the State that this housing emergency is the responsibility of all parts of the State to fix. I refer here to Uisce Éireann, the ESB and local authorities, which need to zone more land as opposed to just passing motions condemning the housing situation. The local authorities actually need to help.

Let us be honest. I would say the Deputy was a bit surprised that the figures are as high as they are today. I would not go as far as to say that the Deputy was disappointed, but I would say he was surprised.

Deputy Rory Hearne

Stop.

The Tánaiste

The ESRI forecast that 35,000 homes would be built. We have exceeded that. The Central Bank of Ireland forecast that 33,500 would be built. We have exceeded that. The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council forecast an assumption for this year of 34,500. We have exceeded that. We need to continue to do much more. The plan that this Government has is to deliver 300,000 homes by the end of 2030. This is a positive contribution towards that. It is a significant increase. If the Deputy looks at the graph, he will see that it was the highest number of housing completions since 2011. The Deputy likes to talk about my party being in government a long time. When I came into the Dáil, there were approximately 7,000 homes completed. Has the Deputy looked at the graph? It is the highest number since 2011. Do we want it to be higher? Of course, we do. There is momentum now, and we have to build on that.

The Deputy and I have different policy views, and I respect that. We debate them and we will continue to do so. However, I suggest that some of the policies that we adopted in the budget we have yet to even see the full potential of because they were obviously introduced later in the year. During the course this year, we will begin to see their impact. That is not just my view. The Deputy will have seen the Bank of Ireland economic analysis published this week and what it is hearing from the market in terms of the positive signs of the decisions that we took.

We will work constructively with anybody in this House. We have seen the number of planning permissions increase significantly. We have seen positivity on commencements, namely a doubling of the number between December and November. More first-time mortgages were approved in the first 11 months of 2025 than every before. There is a housing emergency in this country,. It is an emergency if you do not have a roof over your head or are trying to move out of the box room. However, today's figure represents an increase in housing supply, and that is a good thing.

Deputy Cian O'Callaghan

Just over a year ago, the Tánaiste promised voters 41,000 homes in his party's election manifesto. Just weeks before the election, the Government promised the delivery of 41,000 homes in 2025. The Government failed to meet the target it set for itself by almost 5,000 homes, and the Tánaiste is dressing up this failure as some sort of success.

The Government is presiding over a situation where rents are at record levels, where the numbers of adults living in their childhood bedrooms are at record levels and where house prices are at record levels. Almost 17,000 people are now homeless. That is a terrible indictment of the Tánaiste's and Fine Gael's time in office. Two hundred and sixty-seven of those people are pensioners. There are 5,321 children growing up without homes. That is another record level, and the Tánaiste is presenting this as somehow being progress and success. Will he admit that he has broken his election promises? Will he explain why the Government has ripped up its annual housing targets? Why does it not have annual targets anymore?

The Tánaiste

We have a target. We have a whole plan. It is fully funded, it is published and it contains a commitment to deliver 300,000 homes. We are making progress in relation to that as well.

Deputy Rory Hearne

Why did you get rid of annual targets?

The Tánaiste

We have explained that very clearly. We made a decision. Whether a home is built in December or January does not make a fundamental difference.

Deputy Sinéad Gibney

It does.

The Tánaiste

What makes a fundamental difference is the total amount of supply built over a five-year period.

Deputy Rory Hearne

We do not know your targets.

The Tánaiste

Sorry, Deputy O'Callaghan is the deputy leader of his party. Maybe Deputy Hearne will get a turn one day. Deputy O'Callaghan is well able; he asked the question.

We built 6,000 more homes last year than the year before. That is progress. We built 30,330 in 2024 and 36,284 homes last year. The Deputy does not want any hope in relation to this. The Deputy wants to continue to talk down the progress that is being made. It is the highest number of completions-----

Deputy Sinéad Gibney

That is untrue. You are so cynical.

The Tánaiste

The cacophony from those opposite is hard to take. It is the highest number of completions since 2011 - from single-digit thousands to 36,200. Let us build on that. Let us come forward with ideas as to how to take that forward, but let us take at least one minute or a couple of seconds to acknowledge that the number of housing completions for last year exceeded the forecasts of the ESRI, the Central Bank of Ireland, the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council and, probably, the Deputy's own expectations as well.

Deputy Cian O'Callaghan

You are going to evade your targets and your promises.

The Tánaiste

Let us build on that work and help more young people get out of their parents' homes. While we are comparing figures, let us compare apples with apples. The population of this country has increased by more than 750,000 over a ten-year period, but the Deputy never wants to factor that in-----

Deputy Sinéad Gibney

You have known that for a decade. You have been in power for a decade and you have not delivered.

The Tánaiste

-----as well when the term "highest ever" is used. We have had the highest number of first-time mortgage drawdowns ever since figures began and 600 people are getting keys to their first home every week. That is progress. We have a lot more to do, but these figures today give us momentum to build on.

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

I am amazed that the Tánaiste is trumpeting success in light of the housing disaster that people face in this country. Tomorrow, we will have the end-of-month figures for homelessness. At the end of December, 16,996 people were homeless. A record number of people, including 5,321 children, were living in the misery of emergency accommodation.

Whatever the figures are tomorrow, there will be an unacceptable level of homelessness.

Next week, the Government plans to bring in a Bill that is going to lead to some of the most, if not the most, unaffordable rents anywhere in Europe being increased even further because market rents will then dictate what any tenancy that ends can be set at. Market rents are currently €2,600 a month and in much of Dublin they are more often €3,000 or even €3,500. These are shocking levels. We now have the CSO figures that show 36,000, which, honestly, is a marginal improvement.

Deputy John Cummins

We would have more if the Deputy did not object to them.

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

According to the Central Bank, we need 50,000 to 60,000 houses a year in order for the Government to meet its 2030 targets. There is not a hope in hell of reaching the housing need that has been agreed on by many bodies, including the Government.

Deputy John Cummins

Stop objecting to them.

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

By the way, Mitchell McDermott today proved that this has nothing to do with planning permissions. We have loads of planning permissions.

Deputy John Cummins

Stop objecting.

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

It is not planning objections that are the problem, as Mitchell McDermott said. We have 32,000 planning permissions that are being sat on. There are no judicial reviews, they have the planning permission, but they are not happening because of viability. What does that mean? It means profits - profits for your developer friends - or the lack of infrastructure, such as water infrastructure. We know from Irish Water that it is only being given enough money by the State for 30,000 units a year when we need 50,000 to 60,000 units. The Government is not putting in the infrastructure.

What about the developers, landlords and investors? The Minister, Deputy Lawless, summed up the Government's policy earlier this month. He said:

[Housing] is about international markets. It’s actually a spreadsheet in Zurich or New York or Antwerp, more so than a builder looking at a site in Longford or Roscommon, that’s actually deciding what happens here.

That is it. That is the policy. The investors in Zurich, Antwerp and New York, profit-driven, tell the Government to jump, and it says, “How high?” Meanwhile, the housing misery continues, with the most unaffordable rents, record numbers of people homeless, totally unaffordable house prices, speculation and land hoarding, as developers and investors sit on planning permissions, waiting for the Government to pass even more legislation in their favour, so profits can go up.

The Tánaiste

I know we come at these things from a very different place ideologically, but we need private investment to help build homes. We do not wish to live in a country where every house is built by the State. Can I just be clear about that? We want to build social homes. I think we are on track to build a very significant number this year, and we will have the figures for 2025. We want to build affordable homes and, heaven forbid, we would also like more private homes, and that ain’t a bad thing either. There are lots of people who want to move out of their box room for the first time. They are not looking for a local authority home in all instances; they are actually looking for a home to buy. Planning objections are a factor in relation to that. They might not be in RTÉ, when the Deputy was out there the other night, but people do care about planning objections.

The Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, and Deputy Barry Ward are coming to work every day, pursuing policies to deliver more houses. Deputy Boyd Barrett is seeing housing schemes in his constituency, and saying, “We don’t want that one, that one and the other one.” That is not helpful or constructive.

The Deputy is right that homeless figures are too high, of that there is no doubt. That is why we are continuing to invest more in emergency accommodation. It is also why we have to continue to understand better the composition of our homelessness figures so we can pursue the correct policies.

Viability is important. Again, we have different ideological views. However, unless the Deputy’s view is that the State must build everything, then we need to make sure that it is viable for people to build homes because if it is not, they will not build them. That is how business works, as the Deputy knows. We have already seen very positive indications from the decision we took to reduce the VAT rate in terms of people now being much more interested in building apartments in this country. That is not just my view, by the way. The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland looks at apartments, and it has said there are five categories that it looks at. Before our changes, only two were viable, but now a number more are deemed viable as well, so that is progress.

At a European level, there are real housing challenges, so we are not the only country grappling with this. In Europe now, we actually have one of the strongest rates of home completion in the entire European Union. For every 1,000 people living in Ireland now, 5.9 homes are being completed, whereas the EU average is 3.3. I stand here very aware that there is a housing emergency, very aware that it is the biggest domestic issue bar none, very aware that people are putting life decisions on hold until they can get a home, absolutely, but also very confident that the decisions we are making now, hard at times as they are, will yield real benefits in terms of increased supply. Supply, supply, supply is the way forward in relation to this.

We have taken a number of actions. The Deputy made a fair point in relation to the infrastructure that is needed to enable housing. I agree with that. I hear, right across the country, "We have zoned land here. If only it was serviced." That is why, this week, we announced a €1 billion fund that every local authority, including in Dún Laoghaire, can apply for. It opened this week, and it closes at the end of February. There is an onus on every local authority to realise it is part of the solution here, or part of the problem. It is up to them. They need to put in their applications now to draw down that funding to help put in the road infrastructure, water, wastewater or whatever is needed to open up more sites. In relation to infrastructure, I agree. In relation to viability, we have different views on that, but I believe we have taken a number of measures. We will continue every day to engage constructively with any idea that can help to increase supply further.

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

We do not need a single further unaffordable home, not a single one. What we need is affordable homes. I did not say they should all be social. I said they should all be affordable or social. The problem is that houses being delivered with rents of €3,500 or for €600,000 or €700,000 are totally unaffordable to ordinary people, but are very good for investors. We are saying we need a State construction company to deliver the infrastructure that the Tánaiste accepts the Government is not delivering, and to deliver social and affordable housing. We need a no-fault eviction ban so people do not get evicted through no fault of their own into emergency accommodation, including, increasingly, older and very vulnerable people. We need to stop the speculation and land hoarding. We need to stop dancing to the tune of investors in Zurich and so on in order to deliver the housing that we want.

By the way, on my own personal record, for one of the developments we opposed, we said there should be more social and affordable housing because it was only getting 10%. We opposed it-----

Deputy John Cummins

One of them. What about the other ten or 12?

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Deputy Cummins, please.

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

We opposed it, and we got the social housing. We said there should be more social and affordable housing, and we got the 100% because we opposed it.

Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill

You opposed it. Then you go looking for votes at the same houses you objected to.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Order, please. The Minister should be showing a good example.

Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill

It is disgraceful.

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

It was only 10%. We got 100% because we put in a submission on it.

Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill

None of those families would be living there if it was down to you.

The Tánaiste

The Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, is reminding us of the irony of knocking on doors, looking for votes, at the same doors that you opposed ever being built. It is something we should all reflect on in this House. We all come under pressure in our communities to object to this and object to that. Sometimes-----

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

It is not true. We said we should have social and affordable housing.

Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill

It is true.

The Tánaiste

You guys can take this up in Dún Laoghaire. I think it is a point worth considering.

Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill

I will happily list them out.

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

Says the special adviser to Eoghan Murphy.

Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill

I will happily list them out.

The Tánaiste

Sorry. Hang on a second.

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

She is getting personal but I cannot.

The Tánaiste

She is the democratically elected TD for Dún Laoghaire.

Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill

It is about his record as a TD.

The Tánaiste

The Minister is well able to handle herself, and I am sure she will pursue this.

There is a direct correlation between supply and demand and affordability. The Deputy is right. We all want to see more affordable homes. We know that one of the things that drives up prices is if there is more demand for homes than supply, and, therefore, we have to increase supply. I think we agree on that point. I fundamentally disagree that we do not need more planning applications or more planning permissions granted. We absolutely do. We also need more land zoned. I am getting pretty tired of the local authorities that think they have done enough. We need to over-zone land because not all zoned land actually correlates to new housing developments. Every local authority now needs to look at what it can do to make sure there is enough zoned land. What we will do in partnership with them is help to provide the funding to make sure that land is then serviced.

Deputy Peadar Tóibín

Much of the country is inundated with floodwater at the moment. The Government cannot control the weather, but it can control the delivery of flood defences and the forecasting systems that can protect people in this country. In those two areas, the Government has been a disaster. Two years ago, I asked the Minister for public expenditure the timeframes for the delivery of flood defence schemes in the country. He did not give an answer. Government Ministers are allergic to measurables in case they can be held to account.

The Minister told me there were 46 schemes at the design stage at that time. Let us look at a couple of those. In Midleton in 2023, during Storm Babet, 600 homes and 300 businesses were flooded. The damage was estimated at €200 million, which is incredible. People came within a hair's breadth of losing their lives in Midleton. The damage was unprecedented but was not unforeseen because Storm Frank had devastated the exact same area in 2015. In 2015, flood defences were promised, with a completion date of 2020.

Today the planning application for those flood defences has still not even been submitted to Cork County Council. It is an incredible situation. When it rains in Midleton, an elderly gentleman often stays awake at night to watch the height of the river in order to be able to warn families of impending danger. Eleven years after Storm Frank, Midleton is dependent on a human water gauge for the protection of lives under the Tánaiste's Government. Enniscorthy has been waiting 25 years for protection. In 2014, €55 million was allocated to flood relief schemes in Enniscorthy. This week Enniscorthy is a lake. There have been 12 floods in 25 years and planning permission for these flood defences has still not been granted.

Practically every single piece of infrastructure development in this country is grinding to a halt. Housing is in reverse. It will be 2050 before Uisce Éireann has the gaps in the infrastructure filled. The grid cannot take the renewable energy that is created at the moment. Commuters are sitting on motorways that look like car parks. Tens of thousands of families are currently at risk due to flooding because those defences are not in place. Why? It is because the Tánaiste's Government has the slowest planning, licensing, permitting, tendering and judicial reviews in the whole of the European Union.

Flood forecasting too has been incredibly slow. Met Éireann does not provide flood forecasts to the public. It provides rainfall forecasts that do not give a full picture in terms of ground saturation. There are no real-time weather stations recording rainfall in mountain areas and in the catchment areas of the major rivers. The national flood forecast and warning service was announced in 2016, yet ten years later none of these flood forecasts are being made available to the public. Councils know this information and people will get it but only if they ask the councils what is happening. I believe that the glacial pace of infrastructural delivery in this country is costing lives and is costing people dearly. Will the Tánaiste detail today when the outstanding flood defences that are promised will be delivered?

The Tánaiste

I thank Deputy Tóibín for raising the issue and asking the questions. First, I just want to be conscious in my own comments that there are still weather warnings in place in our country. The weather event that many communities are experiencing is still ongoing, with particular warnings for Dublin, Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford, Wicklow and Waterford. There is more rain forecast over the coming days and flooding will continue to be a risk due to saturated ground conditions and very elevated river levels. I urge everyone to continue to exercise caution as conditions can change quickly, to monitor the Met Éireann forecasts and to follow the advice of local authorities. I want to thank all the local authority crews, the ESB crews and others who are working hard with communities and often in very adverse conditions.

I remind people that the Government financial schemes of assistance are now both open. There is a scheme in relation to homeowners under the Department of Social Protection, and the Minister, Deputy Calleary, has made that clear. There is also a scheme under the Department of enterprise for businesses affected, and the Minister, Deputy Burke, made that clear yesterday. Our national emergency co-ordination group, and the humanitarian subgroup of that, are meeting daily and will meet again today to continue to assess the situation and co-ordinate responses as required.

The Minister of State, Deputy Boxer Moran, is currently visiting communities that have been affected. I know he was in Dublin earlier today and he has been in Wicklow. I believe he is going to Enniscorthy to meet with people there today. That is important. He will be looking to see what can be done in the here and now to assist communities as well.

The Deputy made two specific points. I could stand here and list a number of flood relief schemes that have been delivered, the significant benefits of which we are seeing in areas of our country that used to flood but which do not now experience that flooding. That, however, is cold comfort to the communities that are waiting and I am conscious of that. The Deputy will understand why I do not accept the assertion that nothing has been done in relation to flood relief. In fact, I would point to significant progress and money that has been spent right across the country delivering flood relief schemes that are really helping to protect homes, communities and businesses.

I accept the Deputy's point that it is taking far too long to deliver far too many. The Deputy referenced Enniscorthy and I too want to reference that. This is a scheme where we have committed the funding. Some €51 million is committed to the Enniscorthy project under the national development plan. That remains the position. We now need to see how we can accelerate flood relief schemes. I am not just saying that today. The House will remember that we published the accelerating infrastructure task force report just before Christmas. We will be bringing to this House a critical infrastructure Bill. We have to recognise there are some things, such as environmental issues and individual views people can have, that matter but there is also something else that matters, which is the public good. Lives, livelihoods and homes have to be at the top of the pecking order when it comes to our planning system. Let us be honest that sometimes that does not always seem to be the way. We hear about the mussel delaying the flood relief scheme in Enniscorthy. It is the people of Enniscorthy that I am concerned about. Our critical infrastructure Bill will specifically address the fast-tracking of flood relief schemes.

In my second answer, I will come back on the flood forecasting piece. We will be having a Cabinet committee specifically on storms and floods in a very short time to stock take all of the various flood relief schemes and to look at the lessons of Storm Éowyn and the progress that has been made in relation to that. I am very happy for the relevant Minister to provide an update.

Deputy Peadar Tóibín

I can remember a long list of Ministers splashing around floods in their top boots for photographs. I can even remember former Minister Joan Burton falling out of a canoe when looking at a flood system. None of this gives any confidence at all to people who are being inundated at the moment. The Tánaiste talks about the critical infrastructure. My problem with the Tánaiste is that he has been here for 15 years yet if we remove the future tense he is silent on delivery. This is an incredible situation. In Clontarf, flood defences will have been 30 years from concept to completion. A scheme in Sandymount was promised 20 years ago but will not be delivered until 2032. Galway was promised works in 2019 but it will 2035 before delivery. These are all with the caveat, "If everything goes well". The Tánaiste must be embarrassed by the length of time it is taking for the delivery of infrastructure in his area.

In terms of the clean up, I know of homes that are not getting sandbags from their communities. Business people I am talking to are still not clear about what exactly is covered in relation to this. Will their earnings be covered? Will it be means tested? People have lost their cars. We have seen cars submerged. They will not be paid for their cars. People feel it is unfair that people from Ukraine had their cars fixed by the Government a year ago and yet these cars will not be fixed in this particular situation. Everybody should be treated equally in this country in relation to fixing of cars. When will the Tánaiste fix these issues?

The Tánaiste

I am not sure how the Deputy segued Ukraine in there but he did.

Deputy Peadar Tóibín

I am just saying that everybody should be treated equally.

The Tánaiste

I agree with that but I am not sure how helping people from Ukraine links to a flood situation.

Deputy Peadar Tóibín

I am saying it because cars are not being paid for.

The Tánaiste

That is the point the Deputy made and our response to Ukraine is another point. I am not sure the conflation of the two is particularly helpful on this occasion.

Deputy Rory Hearne

You still have not-----

The Tánaiste

I am going to answer Deputy Tóibín's question. I am very proud of the record we have in delivering many flood relief schemes across the country. I can think of Clonmel, west Cork, Mayo, and I can think of many. I am equally frustrated, as is Deputy Tóibín, but nowhere near as frustrated as the people of the communities affected, that it is taking far too long to deliver far too many. That is why in our general election campaign we talked about a new approach to infrastructure. That is why when this Government came together we agreed to accelerate the delivery of infrastructure. It is why we are identifying specific areas of need as critical infrastructure. It is why we intend to legislate for that this year with the co-operation of the Opposition. Instead of all just coming in here and slinging insults at each other, let us actually pass legislation that might make a blind bit of difference to people. That is our job. We will bring forward critical infrastructure legislation.

On the flood forecasting, Met Éireann does a very good job. I thank Met Éireann for the job that it does but we need to have a conversation about what information we can usefully make available to help. When people hear that there is a yellow rain warning that has a very different context depending on the river levels and depending on the levels of saturation. After every storm, it is important to reflect on that.

• Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions
• Back to table of contents
• Ceisteanna ó na Comhaltaí Eile - Other Members’ Questions