Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 17 Jul 2025

Vol. 1071 No. 5

• Díospóireachtaí
• Aimsigh díospóireacht
  • Díospóireachtaí na Dála
  • Díospóireachtaí an tSeanaid
  • Díospóireachtaí Coiste
• Aimsigh vótáil
  • Vótálacha na Dála
  • Vótálacha an tSeanaid
  • Vótálacha Coiste
• Ceisteanna Parlaiminte
  • Ceisteanna scríofa
  • Ceisteanna ó bhéal
• Leideanna cuardaigh
• Nuair a bhíonn tionchar tromchúiseach ag aithrisí

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate

Housing Policy

Deputy Cian O'Callaghan

I am raising this issue in relation to the situation in Clongriffin and Belmayne. It is a very large community. The start of development there happened about 20 years ago. Many people moved in there then and started out in their lives. They did not have families at that stage. Since then, they have formed families. Children have been born, grown up and become young adults. Over this time, there has been a huge deficit in the community infrastructure very necessary in any area to ensure it thrives and not just housing. Even though it was initially developed 20 years ago, there was stop-and-start development with the crash. There has been a lot more development in recent years and it is coming close now to being completed, and will be completed over the next number of years.

This is an area with a population of almost 14,000 people. There are 7,600 homes in the pipeline too, so the population is going to increase significantly. We are talking about the size of a significant town and yet that really important community infrastructure is missing and there is this deficit. I acknowledge that Dublin City Council, DCC, has recently set up a project office to help bring the area to completion in respect of the facilities needed. These include a new library, indoor sports facilities, community and cultural facilities, a new Garda station, a HSE primary care centre, more sports pitches and all the things to make a decent-sized town thrive. DCC has committed €13 million to ensure there is the necessary completion for the area and that the community infrastructure, which is so important, is also delivered. However, it cannot be delivered by DCC on its own. A contribution from the Government is needed as well. DCC submitted a very good proposal to the national development plan, which was supported by the local community, local community organisations and local community public representatives, including my constituency colleagues and me. If there is going to be completion in the area and a cohesive community, it is crucial that we get the investment input in the context of the national development plan as well. This is absolutely crucial.

What we are asking as a cross-party group of constituency TDs - this Topical Issue matter was submitted by a couple of my colleagues too, Deputies Naoise Ó Muirí and Barry Heneghan - is that the Government look at this very seriously and make a contribution. We are noting that the area did not get a lot of the development levies that were planned and envisaged because of changes that happened concerning some of the housing provided, which meant development levies were therefore not required. I am not talking about the recent waiver scheme but about other aspects that had substitute revenues coming from central Government. There was a lot of housing without development levies at all. There is, then, this deficit in funding for infrastructure. I ask the Minister of State to look at this matter urgently. There must be a significant contribution in this regard from the central Government in the national development plan. It is critical we invest in infrastructure and housing, but we must also invest in sustainable, cohesive communities.

Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration (Deputy Niall Collins)

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I note he is raising it in conjunction with his two colleagues, who, unfortunately, are not here to partake. I recall that my Fianna Fáil colleague, the other TD in the area, Tom Brabazon, raised this issue at a Fianna Fáil party meeting recently when we were discussing the whole area of sustainable communities.

In the first instance it should be noted that the provision of amenities and services is a core element of the statutory plan-making process by local authorities and is key to promoting the development of balanced and sustainable communities. Section 10 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 requires planning authorities to include objectives in their development plan to integrate social, community and cultural objectives with planning for residential and other development. The section further provides that objectives must also be included for the preservation, improvement and extension of amenities and recreational amenities. In practice, planning authorities comply with these requirements through the inclusion in their plans of relevant objectives, policy support and development management standards for such amenities and services, including within new residential developments, as well as identifying suitable locations for such facilities on a stand-alone basis through the zoning of land for recreation, social and community uses.

The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has provided formal guidance to planning authorities on the preparation of development plans, including on the provision of accompanying amenities for new communities, through the Development Plans - Guidelines for Planning Authorities 2022. These guidelines were issued under section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 and planning authorities are required to have regard to them in the performance of their functions. As noted in these guidelines, the implementation of the development plan is a key strategic focus for the relevant local authorities, Dublin City Council and Fingal County Council in this instance, and they must use their wide range of functions in housing, transport, amenities development and infrastructural delivery to achieve the objectives of the plan, including in relation to the provision of amenities.

The making of a development plan is a reserved function of the elected members of each planning authority. A planning authority or An Coimisiún Pleanála may also attach a condition to a grant of planning permission requiring the payment of a contribution in respect of public infrastructure and facilities that it is intended will be provided by or on behalf of a local authority. This may include open spaces and recreational and community facilities. The basis for such contributions is set out in a development contribution scheme as adopted by the elected members.

In addition, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage provides funding to local authorities through the €2 billion urban regeneration and development fund which is supporting a programme of significant transformational capital projects that will contribute to the regeneration and rejuvenation of Ireland's cities and other large towns, in line with the objectives of the national planning framework and the national development plan.

The Belmayne and Clongriffin areas were provided with funding through the Department's local infrastructure housing activation fund, LIHAF, for improved local road access, pedestrian facilities and access to public transport in the area, including Clongriffin train station.

It is noted that, under section 213 of the Planning Act, a local authority is empowered, for the purposes of performing any of its functions, including giving effect to, or facilitating the implementation of, its development plan, to acquire land, permanently or temporarily, by agreement or compulsorily.

In accordance with section 63(3) of the Local Government Act 2001, local authorities are independent in the performance of their functions and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage has no role in relation to the planning or provision of amenities and services in individual local authority areas.

Deputy Cian O'Callaghan

I thank the Minister of State for the response. I acknowledge that Deputy Denise Mitchell has been very supportive, along with the other TDs for this area and all the public representatives from all parties, in supporting the local communities on this. I know the Minister of State has not written his response but there are a few things in it that are factually wrong. Neither Clongriffin nor Belmayne, or any part of them, is in the Fingal County Council area. They are entirely in Dublin City Council. I know the Minister of State does not know this but it is disappointing that the Department, in writing this answer, does not know this.

Second, it is factually wrong to talk about the LIHAF funding providing access to Clongriffin train-DART station because that LIHAF funding was provided for access. That funding was never drawn down, but it was provided for access in the Baldoyle area, which is in Fingal County Council, and which, also, is not in Clongriffin or Belmayne. It is disappointing that the Department, in writing this response, could not get its facts right.

Third, on the urban regeneration and development fund, there was an application to Dublin City Council for funding from that but it was rejected and no funding was received. That also was a disappointment for the area.

Fourth, to reiterate, the reason there is a particular deficit in community infrastructure here is not because the local authority has not been following the steps set out in the reply. It is because Government was not providing a sufficient amount of social housing in other areas and a lot of housing here was then provided, which was not initially planned, and for which there were no development levies. While the area was planned to have development levies to pay for community infrastructure, due to Government policy a lot of that housing came without any development levies. The problem with that is that it still needs infrastructure. Social housing still needs infrastructure. If you are going to get social housing, which is desperately needed, it has to come with infrastructure and community facilities. To be fair to Dublin City Council, it is trying to fix this. They are putting in €13 million but Government has got to do a bit of the lifting here as well.

Deputy Niall Collins

As I stated at the outset, the provision of amenities and services is a core element of the plan-making process and is key to promoting the development of balanced and sustainable communities.

Section 10 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 sets out mandatory objectives which must be addressed by local authorities in their development plan, including objectives for the integration of the planning and sustainable development of the area with the social, community and cultural requirements of the area and its population. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has supported the local communities in this planning function through the publication of ministerial guidelines, including Development Plans - Guidelines for Planning Authorities in 2022, providing for a strategic approach to the implementation of new development with a wide range of amenities and supporting community and social infrastructure critical to planning and sustainable communities.

Implementation and delivery of the provision of necessary amenities for new residential areas is a key responsibility of local authorities working in tandem with developers, infrastructure providers, Government agencies and others to ensure the sustainable development and quality of environment of such areas for new residents.

I will take on board the factual inaccuracies the Deputy said were presented and I will communicate them back.

Hospital Overcrowding

Deputy Maurice Quinlivan

I mean no disrespect to the Minister of State, Deputy Collins, but I would have hoped somebody would have come from the Department of Health. At least they told us it was going to be the Minister of State. I appreciate that we were told, at least. The last time I had a Topical Issue it was on crime and nobody came from the Department of justice. I want to put that on the record. I will write to the Ceann Comhairle about it because it is bad road to be going down. We are trying to raise important issues to us and we do not get that chance often. It is important that a Minister from the line Department comes in. Again, I mean no disrespect to the Minister of State, Deputy Collins. He is from my own county and I know him for a number of years.

The capacity issues of University Hospital Limerick continue unabated and they risk patient safety. In each year since the Fine Gael-Fianna Fáil coalition was established in 2020, the trolley numbers at University Hospital Limerick have got steadily worse. Already this year, we have seen 12,998 people treated in this manner. In 2024, it was 23,203 people. In 2023, it was 21,400 people and the previous year, it was 18,012 people. The coalition parties have failed again and again to address the capacity issues at University Hospital Limerick. Indeed, since Fine Gael entered government in 2011, there has been a 585% increase in trolley numbers in my local hospital.

Each of those left on a hospital trolley in a hospital corridor is somebody who has presented to the hospital and has been assessed and deemed in need of a hospital bed and yet no bed is available to them. The people of Limerick and the mid-west region deserve much better. The staff at University Hospital Limerick deserve much better. It is not good enough that 1,899 people were treated in June this year in conditions that are devoid of privacy and dignity. For the record, June saw 233 more people treated on trolleys than in June 2024.

Despite this issue being raised on so many occasions in this Chamber for more than five years by me and despite it also being raised on so many occasions by consultant doctors, patient advocacy groups and nurses' organisations, there is no real progress being made.

Last week I had the pleasure of meeting with the members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, the nurses' union. They highlighted how often their members were asked to care for multitudes of patients - numbers that are clearly not safe or acceptable. Nurses, doctors and other medical professions at University Hospital Limerick do their best, in most cases, in the most challenging of circumstances, but they are exhausted. The hospital struggles to retain nursing staff. Who could blame these nurses departing for jobs in places such as Australia and Dubai? Once there, they have job security, a lesser ratio of patients per nurse and accommodation options near their place of work. In Limerick, the average rent is €2,400 per month, and beyond the affordability of many nurses.

We are halfway through the year and already 13,000 people have been treated on trolleys in one hospital. This is an utter disgrace and a complete abandonment of the people of Limerick and the mid-west. A government that is serious about addressing the obscene nature of the overcrowding in UHL, which has caused the cancellation of elective procedures and excessive emergency department wait times, would have said that the number is far too high. Indeed, I would suggest that such a government would have taken robust action to stem the tide of increased numbers.

Over recent years, we have had commitments to build two 96-bed units, each of which may deliver an additional 48 beds. While I welcome any increase in capacity, it is simply not good enough. It is not enough when you consider that UL Hospitals Group itself advises a minimum of 400 beds is needed to deal with the capacity. Even that number does not consider the projected population growth in the mid-west region.

This is a crisis. It happens every day and needs an emergency response. Too often, there has been the tragic avoidable loss of life at University Hospital Limerick with the issue of overcrowding deemed a contributing factor. One thinks of the loss of young Aoife Johnston. We are 12 months on from the publication of the Clarke report into Aoife's avoidable death and since then, the capacity challenges at UHL have only worsened.

Last October Sinn Féin brought forward a motion in the Dáil, in part on the establishment of an additional model 3 hospital in the mid-west region.

An Ceann Comhairle

The Deputy will get to come back in a second time.

Deputy Maurice Quinlivan

The Government did not oppose that motion and we await a response from HIQA.

Deputy Niall Collins

I thank Deputy Quinlivan for giving me the opportunity to address the House on capacity at University Hospital Limerick and provide an update on measures that are being taken to alleviate overcrowding. Reducing emergency department overcrowding and reducing waiting lists is a priority for this Government. Many patients are still waiting too long for hospital appointments and treatments. UHL has one of the busiest emergency departments in Ireland. Presentations totalled 87,194 in 2024.

Between January and June this year, emergency department attendances at UHL were 9% higher than in the same period last year. Despite this, the daily average of patients counted on trolleys at 8 a.m. during this period is down 3% on the same period in 2024. However, too many patients are being treated on trolleys at UHL. More capacity is required but this must be supported by a range of reforms across health services in the region.

There has been ongoing investment in additional capacity at UHL in recent years. UHL’s annual budget spend has increased from €265 million in 2019 to €507 million in 2024. A package of wide-ranging reform measures is also being implemented. These measures are aimed at capacity and reform of the health system in the region, including increased staffing levels. Staffing at UHL has grown by 48%, an increase of 1,337 whole-time-equivalent staff, from 2019 to May 2025.

More beds are needed in the hospital and across the mid-west region. Through Government investment, 140 new beds have opened in UHL since 2020. This includes the successful delivery of two fast-tracked 16-bed inpatient blocks which opened in December 2024 and June this year. More new bed blocks are being developed, which will provide up to 292 additional beds by 2028. This includes two 96-bed blocks, the first of which is expected to open in September 2025.

Bed capacity is being further expanded throughout the region through the acute hospital inpatient bed capacity expansion plan. This will deliver 572 new inpatient beds in the region by 2031, including 24 new beds at Nenagh Hospital, 48 new beds at Ennis Hospital and 42 new beds at St. John’s Hospital in Limerick. In addition, 25 virtual ward beds are operating at UHL.

In May 2024, the Health and Information Quality Authority, HIQA, was requested to conduct a review of urgent and emergency care in the mid-west region. The primary objective of this work is to ensure safe, quality acute care in the region. As part of this review, HIQA was requested to consider the case for a second emergency department in the context of the population changes in recent years and the ongoing pressures at UHL. HIQA published the terms of reference for this review in August 2024. A preliminary briefing was received at the end of February. This preliminary briefing was published in March by the Minister for Health. A final report is expected in September 2025. The Minister will then consider the findings of the report to ensure that the appropriate actions are taken to ensure safe urgent and emergency care that is both safe and of high quality. I would like to reassure the Deputy, and all patients and people in the mid-west, that this Government is fully committed to improving health services in the region.

Deputy Maurice Quinlivan

I thank the Minister of State, but it does not give me any confidence. In the last line of his response he said, "I would like to reassure the Deputy, and all patients... in the mid-west, that this Government is fully committed to improving health services in the region." I have received the same reply since 2016 when I first started raising this nine years ago. The fact remains that we have record numbers of people attending University Hospital Limerick, with June of this year having the highest June number ever. The Government's plan will not address this issue.

I am not sure if the Minister of State is aware that the second 96-bed unit that he mentioned has been referred to An Coimisiún Pleanála. That means we will face at least a two-year delay on that one. I would like to know what the Government intends to do in the interim as we plough through the An Coimisiún Pleanála delay on that. People are entitled to object to planning applications if they want but this will cause chaos in Limerick because we were depending on this 96-bed unit being delivered sooner than that. This will potentially add two years on to that. What will the Government do in the interim to solve the problem we have?

The sum total of the Government's plan to solve the crisis is to introduce a few additional beds, which is not really good enough. It is talking about 2028, in three years' time and potentially two years later than that. In Limerick city and county, where the Minister of State lives, the people he and I represent cannot wait that long. We need immediate action that treats the situation with the urgency it deserves. In recent weeks an average of 100 people per day have been on trolleys and the hospital is simply not designed for that. We have had a new emergency department since 2017. It was never designed properly for the numbers presenting to the hospital. The UL Hospitals Group advises that a minimum of 400 beds are needed and even that number does not consider the projected growth of population in the mid-west region which we all know will grow exponentially. The figures the Government is offering are dramatically short of what is needed in University Hospital Limerick. I do not get any comfort from the response the Minister of State gave and the people in Limerick and the mid-west will not get any comfort either.

Deputy Niall Collins

There is no doubt that when people get through the emergency department at UHL, the care and treatment they receive up the house and in their journey through UHL in the main is very good and very high quality.

Deputy Maurice Quinlivan

I agree.

Deputy Niall Collins

That needs to be acknowledged and put on the record. Very often, the political narrative around UHL dismisses the very fine work that is going on there at all levels by porters, nurses, doctors, senior house officers, consultants and those at administration level. Of course, there have been some very unfortunate high-profile individual cases which have been in the news. They should never have happened but unfortunately they did happen. However, in the main people get great treatment and care at UHL.

I do not agree with Deputy Quinlivan when he says there has been no progress.

Deputy Maurice Quinlivan

I said no recent progress.

Deputy Niall Collins

I have outlined the significant investment and the significant progress that the Government has made over recent years, particularly since Fianna Fáil returned to government in 2020, by almost doubling the operational budget, increasing the workforce by well over 1,000 and increasing bed capacity. There has been a robust response. The Deputy said there has not been a robust response. I would argue that he is wrong. When Sinn Féin people discuss UHL, I never hear what their proposals are. The Deputy has not outlined here today and I have never heard him outline previously what Sinn Féin would do in government about UHL.

Deputy Maurice Quinlivan

We had the last Dáil motion on UHL which was passed.

Deputy Niall Collins

Sorry, I have the floor. Sinn Féin describes the problem and provides a commentary on the problem, which is fine and we are all well able to do that. What would Sinn Féin do differently? How would it resource it differently?

Deputy Maurice Quinlivan

We are the only party that actually called for-----

Deputy Niall Collins

Sinn Féin has never outlined a detailed proposal.

Deputy Maurice Quinlivan

Yes, we have.

Deputy Niall Collins

It will not take An Coimisiún Pleanála two years to reach a decision on the second 96-unit block.

An Ceann Comhairle

That concludes the question. I thank the Minister of State.

Deputy Niall Collins

The delivery time for decisions through An Coimisiún Pleanála has drastically fallen, thankfully.

An Ceann Comhairle

I thank the Minister of State.

Deputy Niall Collins

I passed UHL recently; it is a massive building site.

An Ceann Comhairle

The Minister of State is way over time.

Deputy Niall Collins

There is huge investment going on there.

An Ceann Comhairle

We have to move on.

Deputy Niall Collins

A lot has been done and I accept that more needs to be done. It is incumbent on everybody to point out the positives of it as well.

An Ceann Comhairle

We are way over time and the Minister of State is out of order.

Deputy Niall Collins

There are challenges there, but there are plenty of positives.

Disability Services

Deputy Paul McAuliffe

In our constituency offices, we frequently receive queries about different State services and requests for appointments. Where possible we are able to make progress for people. Recently I was taken aback when Christopher, a constituent of mine from Whitehall, contacted me regarding an audiology appointment. It was in fact his daughter who was in touch with me. He was informed that the soonest audiology appointment which would be available to him would be in December 2026. I am assured that urgent cases are dealt with more speedily, but that is of little comfort to Christopher who is seeking an appointment and who is slowly losing the hearing that he has. I understand from Chime that this is not unique and that over 8,000 people are waiting for audiology appointments.

I am looking for the Minister for Health to take measures that might assist in waiting list initiatives specifically for audiology appointments. There has been some progress with children's audiology and I believe over €750,000 was identified for funding to try to fast-track those children who are waiting for audiology appointments.

Whether you are young or old, the loss of your hearing is a very scary thing and is something that isolates you. I know that as many older people lose their hearing, they feel more and more removed from their own family, their neighbours and their friends. They perhaps do not attend the same events they would have attended. It can be a very isolating experience. It is for that reason I hope we might be able to take some measures on this matter. I would appreciate it if he could update the House.

Deputy Niall Collins

On behalf of the Minister for Health, I thank Deputy McAuliffe for raising this important matter. Addressing waiting lists is a high priority for the Government and substantial investment has been made to address waiting lists across a range of acute and community health services. A previous review of audiology services, published by the Health Service Executive in 2011 as the national audiology review group report, identified shortcomings including access issues, poor information flow, inadequate staffing and unacceptable waiting times. The report made recommendations to address these concerns. Most of these recommendations have been implemented, including the roll-out of a national audiology clinical management system for community services, which is facilitating improved waiting list management. The national audiology clinical management system clearly indicates that the demand on HSE audiology services is increasing year on year, especially with the ageing demographic of the population as Ireland ages.

The system also provides information to improve the prioritisation of patients according to clinical need. However, there is still much work to do in relation to the community audiology waiting lists. The World Health Organization’s World Report on Hearing, published in March 2021, recommended that governments develop a comprehensive people-centred hearing care plan within their national healthcare plan. The Minister for Health established the national hearing care plan working group in August 2024. The group is tasked with making recommendations around developing a holistic model of hearing care in Ireland. The group is jointly chaired by the Department of Health and the HSE and membership is drawn from relevant stakeholders, including the Irish Society of Hearing Aid Audiologists, the Irish Academy of Audiology and the Department of Social Protection.

The group has developed a workstream, including subgroups to progress important matters. The group is considering the current level of hearing care provision in Ireland, current capacity constraints and opportunities within the HSE and the appropriate linkage between public and private provision of care to maximise positive outcomes for patients, including reductions in waiting times. While the work of the group progresses, funding has been allocated in 2025 to address children’s waiting lists as part of the waiting list action plan by using suitable external providers. The HSE advises that the appropriate tender documents have been finalised. The HSE will soon complete the identification of suitable external providers. Once a list of such providers is finalised, the funding will be allocated to each regional executive officer on a pro rata basis to ensure that the longest waiting children aged four and over are seen as a matter of priority.

Importantly, this will increase capacity within the HSE to prioritise the assessment of adults waiting for community audiology services. This is especially important for older adults as appropriate hearing care is a vital factor in them remaining connected to their families and local communities.

Deputy Paul McAuliffe

I welcome the initiative for children. The Minister of State is right. That will free up capacity within the system for adults. I acknowledge those people with more urgent cases are seen more urgently than in December 2026, without that length of a waiting line. It is actually very difficult to track that because when we ask the HSE what the average waiting times for audiology services are, it tells us the system it uses will not allow it to calculate the average waiting times. It is very difficult to back up what the HSE is telling us in terms of the prioritisation of more serious cases and overall improvements.

I accept the bona fides of the Minister for Health on this to progress the matter and to put in place the waiting list working group and the management of audiology services. I welcome the initiative for children and the impact that will have. I hope that means that Christopher in Whitehall will get his appointment sooner than December 2026. If I pass the details of the case on to the Minister of State, he might be able to pass them to the Minister for Health, who might be able to intervene in this matter. This is a very serious case. I raise it on behalf of one constituent but there are, of course, many more. Chime Ireland tells us it wants to see a waiting list initiative specifically for audiology services. In this case, it is in regard to Grangegorman, which is a great new primary care centre that serves much of the northside of Dublin. However, there are other centres around the country that also need waiting list initiatives. I appreciate the Minister of State's intervention on it.

Deputy Niall Collins

If the Deputy passes on the details to me, I will absolutely convey them to the Minister for Health and the HSE. I will also be conveying to the Minister and the HSE the urgency the Deputy has articulated. As I outlined in my initial contribution, the HSE has partaken in a process as to how it intends to address this issue. It is at a cross-roads now in terms of coming out of a tender process and appointing providers who will deal with the demand within our community. It is very important, particularly for younger children who are at such a young, vulnerable developmental age where being challenged with their hearing is a huge burden they have to bear. We have to give them every opportunity.

Financial Services

Deputy Edward Timmins

I thank the Minister for the opportunity to raise the importance of the Irish Stock Exchange to the economy and to the growth of our indigenous Irish companies. I welcome the commitments in the programme for Government to support the Irish Stock Exchange. However, I would like to see this commitment followed up with concrete action to ensure its growth and success. I am glad to see the Tánaiste met the Stock Exchange team on Tuesday and I hope he will take away some of their requests. I know a request is with the Minister for Finance for a meeting ahead of the budget.

Many brilliant companies have come through the Irish Stock Exchange, including Ryanair, Smurfit Kappa and the Dalata Hotel Group. The Irish Stock Exchange also supports a thriving ecosystem of brokers, advisers and legal services, etc. Ireland has been losing out by not supporting more indigenous enterprises to access private capital through public markets, which is evidenced by the relatively small number of initial public offerings, IPOs, here over the past decade. Many Irish companies choose to go abroad, particularly to the US. I know the Government is prioritising improving our competitiveness. I suggest a vibrant Stock Exchange here in Dublin is essential to achieving those goals. If we are serious about growing our indigenous enterprise base, we must build the right environment to allow companies to scale using all sources of capital, including public equity markets.

The programme for Government commits to exploring ways to enhance the Irish Stock Exchange as a vital source of equity and growth for indigenous businesses. This must now be backed by decisive action. Ahead of budget 2026, I urge the Government to deliver on these commitments by building on the progress made in budget 2025. Specifically, Euronext Dublin has proposed targeted, relevant and costed measures for budget 2026 that would support more Irish companies to accelerate their growth by raising finance in capital equity markets by way of IPO. These proposals include introducing a stamp duty exemption on the trading of shares in companies valued under €1 billion; increasing the lifetime limit for capital gains tax entrepreneur relief by €1 million to €2 million, specifically for disposal of shares on approved EEA markets; creating an incentivised saving and investment account scheme; and establishing an Irish equity market growth fund to provide equity finance to companies listed or intended to list on Irish markets, with a particular focus on Irish scale-ups.

Ireland currently employs a stamp duty of 1% on the trading of shares. However, Ireland's rate is an outlier when compared with other European states, many of whom have a 0% rate or at most, a 0.2% or 0.3% rate. Stamp duty should be exempted from the trading of shares for smaller and mid-cap companies. In Ireland, none of our retail banks offer equity products to retail investors. In the UK, the ISA is used widely by people to save money and let it grow over many years. In Ireland, there is €60 billion sitting in current accounts losing value. This is money that could be put to work and would allow people to generate additional income over the years, while incentivising financial security. An Irish saving and investment account would help achieve this. I look forward to hearing from the Minister of State about his planned engagement with Euronext Dublin and the Government's plan to support this vital source of equity capital ahead of budget 2026.

Minister of State at the Department of Finance (Deputy Robert Troy)

I thank Deputy Timmins for providing me with the opportunity to speak on this matter. Ireland’s equity markets are diverse, encompassing public and private participants and a wider ecosystem that includes a large number of professional services firms. It is clear that public equity markets in Europe, including Ireland, have faced significant challenges over the past decade for a variety of overlapping reasons, including competition from private equity and from more liquid US capital markets. The increasing importance of large stock market indices linked to the rise in passive investment strategies has also been a pull factor in listings activity gravitating towards the largest stock exchanges. As such, EU solutions will need to be found to address the common challenges faced by EU exchanges.

The European Commission has launched the savings and investments union strategy, which includes measures to advance the capital markets union, CMU, project and which has support from ministers, Heads of State and Governments. The strategy identifies key measures to help companies access public equity markets, such as the establishment of EU markets infrastructure, reforms to listings rules and measures designed to increase retail investor participation in capital markets and to promote SME investment research. These measures build on those contained within the CMU action plan of 2020, which included a number of legislative files, including the Listings Act, the European Single Access Point and the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, MiFID, II review, which are currently being transposed. The savings and investments union strategy will build on the progress made by the CMU action plan. Ireland is a strong supporter of this initiative and is actively involved in its development, including measures specifically designed to promote companies seeking to access funding through initial public offerings.

At national level, it is the Government’s strongly held view that Ireland’s capital markets are essential to the growth of homegrown businesses, especially those aiming to expand internationally. This was most recently evidenced by the introduction of a corporation tax relief for listing expenses announced as part of budget 2025 and which is now in place with an overall expenses limit of €1 million per listing.

When introducing budget 2025, the then Minister for Finance, Deputy Chambers, announced he had decided to examine further potential measures. He stated:

To further support Irish businesses to grow and scale, in the coming year my Department will, subject to state aid considerations, introduce a stamp duty exemption. This measure would enable Irish SMEs to access equity via financial trading platforms designed to support their funding needs.

This position is reflected in the 2025 Programme for Government: Securing Ireland’s Future, which states that the Government will, “Explore opportunities to enhance the Irish Stock Exchange as a vital source of equity and growth for indigenous businesses”. The Department of Finance is engaged in giving effect to that commitment and has actively engaged with Euronext Dublin, formerly the Irish Stock Exchange, as part of that work. I met with the CEO and some members of his management team recently. It is very much part of the programme of work in the Department of Finance at the moment.

Deputy Edward Timmins

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. The threat of US tariffs has made it even more urgent for us to support Irish indigenous companies, and the Stock Exchange is crucial to this goal. While foreign multinational companies have created great prosperity in this State, geopolitical difficulties have underscored the need to ensure a positive regulatory landscape for Irish companies to grow and succeed in. Ireland will assume the Presidency of the European Union in the second half of 2026. I hope that the implementation of the EU savings and investments union will be a core priority of our Presidency.

There has been much media attention - indeed too much - on delistings from the Irish market. Delistings are a natural part of the cycle. Last year, there were 129 delistings across seven Euronext markets. Only five of these happened in Ireland. The problem is not the scale of delisting but the lack of a pipeline of new companies seeking to list. From other European and Euronext markets with pipelines of new listings, we have seen that government policy has significant influence. Reducing exit taxes on exchange-traded funds, ETFs, may incentivise investment in such funds and lead to more trade on exchanges. Unless there are accompanying policy initiatives to increase the number of new listings, however, reducing these taxes will not guarantee the future of the Irish Stock Exchange and ETFs will be of no benefit to Ireland's real economy or Irish companies. There are not enough Irish stocks or stocks traded in Ireland to put into an ETF basket. Even if exit taxes were reduced, the rate would still be 33% higher than the 0% we have proposed for an incentivised saving and investment account scheme, which would be subject to an investment limit of €40,000 and which we believe would have a much greater impact on shifting domestic savings into productive investments in the real economy.

Deputy Robert Troy

I will outline one EU-level capital markets initiative that officials in the Department of Finance are working on. That is the Listings Act. It is a package of measures agreed late last year and currently being transposed by the Department of Finance and the Department of enterprise. It supports improved access to market-based sources of financing for EU companies, particularly smaller firms such as those listed on SME growth markets. Key elements of the Listings Act include the introduction of simpler prospectus rules and requirements, more proportionate market abuse rules and provisions to allow companies use multiple-vote share structures, thereby allowing company founders to retain control while accessing funding on public markets.

The Listings Act also introduces measures to encourage and enhance the production and distribution of investment research on mid-sized companies and SMEs. This is essential if we are to encourage investment in such companies. The simplification and harmonisation of prospectus rules will make it easier and less expensive for growing indigenous businesses to list on the Irish Stock Exchange. I am pleased to inform the House that the Minister has decided to raise the prospectus exemption threshold to €12 million from the current €8 million. This will reduce the regulatory burden for smaller issuers and increase their access to capital in order to invest for long-term growth.

The Deputy is right that the value of money on retail deposit offers major potential. The savings and investments union, on which the Government is hugely engaged, will be a channel to do that.

We are also in the process of updating the Ireland for Finance strategy, in respect of which there is a commitment in the programme for Government. A public consultation process in that regard will open in the coming weeks, and I encourage submission to it. We hope to publish the strategy early in the new year.

Animal Welfare

Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Collins, for coming in to take this matter. It relates to dog-breeding establishments. I am looking for details on the number of pups bred in the country every year and the numbers exported. I listed in the text of the Topical Issue I submitted the various bits and pieces I am seeking.

I have dealt with many animal rights groups and charities in recent years. Some of the stuff I have seen has been eye-opening. Some of the facts, statistics and images I have seen at first hand are appalling. The State and the Government have a great deal to do to ensure that dog-breeding establishments are compliant and regulated and that where issues arise, the repercussions are felt by those offending or not in compliance.

Nearly 7,500 dogs entered Irish pounds last year, according to the Department of Rural and Community Development. The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals estimates that the numbers of cats and dogs surrendered between January and November last year were up 49% and 44%, respectively, and that 30,000 pups are bred in licensed establishments every year. Other animal welfare groups estimate the figure could be anywhere from 70,000 to 80,000 pups per annum.

To give an example of how big and lucrative the industry is in Ireland, the UK has a population 15 times larger than ours and yet we produce half the number of pups that are bred there. That shows the extent of the dog breeding in this country. Much of it is done properly and correctly by responsible breeders, but, unfortunately, much of it goes under the radar. Some 25,770 pups were listed for sale on dogs.ie in 2024.

Annually, we are told the figure of registered pups bred in licensed establishments is typically 7,000 or 8,000. How were there 25,500 pups for sale on dogs.ie in 2024? That is something we need to reconcile and correct.

Some of the practices in the sector are very concerning. It is an industry estimated to be worth around €150 million per annum. We need to look at legislation that will restrict the number of breeding bitches we permit dog breeders to have. At present one can have six breeding bitches. That needs to be revised downwards, in the context of the capacity of these establishments and animal welfare being at the centre of it. We need to tighten up on alleged tax avoidance by those breeders, particularly in non-registered or backyard breeding establishments. There is a clear case for Revenue to be looking at this. We also need to tighten up on the issue of dog licensing and micro-chipping to ensure there is compliance. I was in the Dáil a number of weeks ago when a Fine Gael TD, Deputy O'Connell, raised a recent court case where a person clearly in breech and found guilty of numerous animal welfare abuses was fined a measly €500. Anybody who knows anything about the industry knows the pups are often going for €1,000 or €2,000. When we have a system that does not disincentivise that type of behaviour, people will continue to take their chances and operate under the radar.

Recently, Barry Roche, a journalist in the Irish Examiner, had a story about a conviction in Charleville which I might mention in my supplementary contribution.

Deputy Niall Collins

I thank Deputy O'Sullivan for raising this matter with respect to dog-breeding establishments and the number of exports internationally. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine has asked me to take this matter on his behalf. The Dog Breeding Establishments Act provides a regulatory framework for the licensing, monitoring and inspection of dog-breeding establishments by local authorities and where a serious and immediate threat exists to public health or animal health and welfare for the closure of such establishments. Local authorities are responsible for the enforcement of the Act. Section 9 of the Act states that each local authority shall cause to be established and maintained a register of dog-breeding establishments situated in its functional area. Therefore, the legal responsibility to maintain a register of dog-breeding establishments is a matter for each local authority.

However, recommendation 11 of the Report of the Working Group on Control of Dogs recommended that a centralised national database of dog-breeding establishments should be created. In 2023, the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht reached out to local authorities to collate their registers. The Dog Breeding Establishment National Register was then published on gov.ie. Data on the number of pups bred in dog-breeding establishments was not requested at that time. In March 2025, information was requested from local authorities to update the register, to include the number of female dogs in each dog-breeding establishment, but the number of pups bred was not requested as part of these returns. The updated register will be published on gov.ie in the coming weeks once all the returns have been collated, based on the information that was provided by the local authorities.

Regarding the number of dogs exported internationally, these are facilitated through commercial movements. Commercial movement of pets is defined where a pet, or pets, are either travelling unaccompanied, or are travelling for the use of trading, or for shows, sporting events or where an owner has more than five pets travelling. All commercial movements of dogs require certification. The type of certification is dependent on whether the destination is to other EU countries or non-EU countries. The number of dogs exported commercially from Ireland in the past five years are as follows: in 2020, 8,993; in 2021, 10,581; in 2022, 7,089; in 2023, 9,440; and in 2024, 8,768. Certification must be signed off by a veterinary inspector in the regional veterinary office of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. An exporter must contact their local regional veterinary office to have an inspection of the shipment of dogs completed prior to travel. The regional veterinary office inspection includes relevant paperwork, vaccines, microchips, health certificates, animal welfare and confirmation that the exporter is registered with the Department.

As part of the programme for Government, this Government is addressing the disjointed approach to dog control issues and ensuring all legislation and policy related to the control of dogs, dog welfare, and dog-breeding establishments will rest with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. As the Deputy knows, there is a mechanism by which transfers of functions happen when new Governments take up office and when new Departments are established. Policy and legislative responsibility for the Dog Breeding Establishments Act 2020 is due to transfer to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine from the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht imminently. Both Departments are working closely together to ensure the smooth transfer of functions.

Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan

I thank the Minister of State. I know it is not his Department but I appreciate the figures. I was already familiar with many of them. For example, one statistic was that in 2024, a figure of 8,768 pups were exported. The ISPCA and the DSPCA both estimate that around 40,000 or 50,000 pups were exported. I trust the charities on the ground. As public representatives, when we get a report of a horse, a dog or whatever in jeopardy, we know they are the people dealing with it every day. Basically, the State is gives them a few bob every year to sustain them in the hope that we are ticking the boxes. Essentially, that is what we have done over the last few years. I trust their figures more than I trust the Department's figures. When they tell me there are more than 40,000 pups being exported every year, I trust them and not necessarily the figures the Minister of State read out.

The Minister of State rightly said it is the responsibility of the local authorities. I can only speak about Cork but I think we have three dog wardens in the city at the moment. I think it is a bit better in the county where there are approximately six. They are not tasked with enforcing the stuff they are faced with.

I am just on the phone to a journalist, Barry Roche, who had an article in the Irish Examiner a couple of weeks back about somebody who was found guilty in Charleville. The crimes that are being committed and the gain for these people in taking the chance and going under the radar far outstrip the sanctions and penalties they are faced with if they get caught.

I am aware this will all come under the Department of agriculture but I have a concern about that. I understand why it is being done, because the vets are with the Department of agriculture, but there are not enough vets. The vets will say there are not enough of them. They do not even have powers to do unsanctioned visits or inspections of properties.

The Minister of State and I live in the part of the country where most of this puppy farm culture is, namely, north Cork, west Limerick and parts of Kerry. The numbers being paraded are frankly astounding. It is an industry worth more than €120 million or €130 million. It needs to be better regulated and tightened up. Ultimately, we need to improve animal welfare standards.

Deputy Niall Collins

I absolutely agree with the Deputy that more needs to be done in this area. The whole area of dog breeding is a huge industry at the moment. The 2019 Act was a very progressive start but we must revisit it and probably update it. I have always been a huge advocate for animal welfare. We must always strive to continue to do more to promote a better culture of animal welfare, whether it is for dogs, cats, horses or whatever. I want to acknowledge the hundreds of animal welfare groups around the country. They do receive funding from the Department of agriculture but it is not enough. They need more. Unfortunately, they have to rely on their own fundraising mechanisms too much and we need to resource them a little bit better. I want give a particular shout out to the DEEL Sighthound Rescue organisation in Limerick, Star Rescue and Limerick Animal Welfare. I have first-hand knowledge of the very fine work they do.

I want to refer to the 2010 Act. I remember, because I was here, when the then Minister, John Gormley, brought in the Dog Breeding Establishments Bill. The Opposition at the time cynically used it as a ploy or political tactic to try to wind up everyone involved in outdoor pursuits, whether they were gun clubs, hunting clubs or fishing clubs, that this was going to be the thin end of the wedge and that the Government had a covert agenda of trying to shut down outdoor activities.

It was brilliant legislation at the time. It needs to be updated now and it needs to be better resourced, but at the time, it brought in a regulatory regime around puppy farms and breeding establishments which had got out of control. The ironic thing about it was that John Gormley brought it in in 2010. There was an election in 2011. Parties swapped over and one of the first things then Minister, Phil Hogan, did was commence the legislation when the Opposition of the time was cynical.

I remember when I was canvassing for the 2016 election, I went into a farmyard and met a fella who said he had had strong, robust words with me back in 2010 about the Dog Breeding Establishments Act. He said I told him what it was about, but he did not agree with me and did not believe me at the time. He wanted to compliment me because what I had said was right. A few years later, people saw the good in it. Unfortunately, a lot of groups were misled at the time. That legislation needs to be updated because 2010 was 15 years ago at this point. A lot of people do a lot of good work on animal welfare.

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