Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I sometimes wonder what is the point of the programme for Government, regardless of which political party is behind it and regardless of the title that goes with it. It is bound to be aspirational, wide-ranging, innovative and creative, heralding a new dawn and so on, but the reality of what it leads to is another matter. I accept that there is a need for a principled approach from a new Government, but sometimes principles are lost in the language, especially if it is figurative and colourful because then there is a danger that it will become jargonistic and cliched. I reread the programme for Government for today's debate and was struck by the opening statement in terms of a common purpose. The language used includes phrases such as "democratic revolution", "political whirlwind", "delivering change", "begin mending the pieces of a fractured society" and that "the key objective will be to repair our society over the next five years and get our people back to work". It goes on to state, "w"e will...". Sometimes I think just one principle, one commitment to social justice and making our society a more equal place might do in that regard. One way of ensuring it has a chance is by committing to the equality proofing of budgets and a social impact analysis before they become a reality. An cheist atá agam ná: Cén fáth an bhfuil muid ag caitheamh trí lá ar an díospóireacht seo? Tá a fhios againn go léir cad atá ag tarlú. Beidh na Teachtaí ar thaobh an Rialtais ag caint faoi na buntáistí agus beidh siad go léir sásta agus beidh muidne ar an taobh seo ag caint faoi na deacrachtaí, na fadhbanna agus na míbhuntáistí.

There is a predictability about this debate and I wonder what is the point behind it. Obviously, the Government wants to talk about what has been achieved and we will look at what has not been achieved. Fortunately, I did not decide to spend my speaking time reacting to the Ministers who were supposed to be present. Instead I decided to look at the issues on which I had been following up in terms of what was included in the programme for Government. I will commence with housing, as others have done.

There is a massive housing crisis. I am aware that there is a crisis in Dublin Central. We have a private rental sector with serious issues involving rogue landlords who do not maintain a high standard of quality in the accommodation provided. There is consistent overcrowding through subletting. I have been quoted various Acts and regulations in place to deal with that issue, but they are not worth the paper on which they are written, unless they are implemented. The proof of this, or lack of it, is that we still have landlords who are not registered with the PRTB and areas in which there are high rates of illegal dumping from private rented accommodation. We have landlords who refuse to take those in receipt of rent allowance and who are increasing rents all the time, thus adding to the crisis. We have a local authority that does not have enough houses to cater for those in need of housing and an increasing number of voids that are not being tackled. We know what the statistics are. Some 89,000 have been waiting since last May. In January this year there was a waiting list of 90,000. We know those who are working with the homeless experience up to 5,000 people homeless at any given time. In Dublin the number of families becoming homeless every month has doubled from eight to 16.

Deputy Stephen Donnelly raised during Leaders' Questions recently the issue of distressed mortgages being sold off in bulk to companies such as Lone Star. He asked why the mortgage holders could not have an opportunity to buy their mortgages at the reduced rate. One of the points made by the Government concerned the cost to the Exchequer. However, there will be a further cost to the Exchequer in any case because those people will end up being evicted, thereby adding to the list of homeless.

This morning, Deputy Joan Collins raised the issue of homelessness. The Taoiseach's reply was that she was looking for an immediate response. However, this problem did not arise overnight in that it has been on the cards for quite a number of years. While I accept it is a problem that the Government inherited, it has worsened instead of getting better. Dublin City Council could take the entire €50 million that was allocated and it still would not have enough. Something specific must be done to address voids because every local authority area has them. In the property market, private rental accommodation is experiencing an increase all the time.

There are two points on which not much progress is being made. One concerns environmental crime, including graffiti, illegal dumping and noise pollution. On the use of on-the-spot fines, the authorities are not getting to those who are guilty. At a Dublin City Council meeting last night, I noted members were discussing the incinerator. It was absolutely appalling to hear the amount of money that has been wasted on it and the additional money that may be spent on it. Despite this, it will still not be usable, regardless of whether one believes it should be.

As I am on the foreign affairs committee, I considered the subject of aid. I accept there has been progress in that there was a review of our foreign aid policy leading to “One World, One Future”. Our diplomatic network is doing extremely well and Ireland's response to humanitarian crises is to be noted. I commend the work of Irish Aid. It was disappointing that in spite of the commitment in the programme for Government to meeting the target of spending 0.7% of GNP on overseas development aid by 2015, an announcement was made that we will not achieve this.

I raised in the past the threats to the Good Friday Agreement because of the ignoring of prisoner rights issues in the North. This is still very much on the agenda.

Despite a commitment in the programme for Government to enforce the prohibition on the use of Irish airspace and airports "for purposes not in line with the dictates of international law", we make no effort to honour it. Ms Margaretta D'Arcy, a very ill 79 year old woman who protests about this, is in jail for taking up the point.

There are plans in the programme for Government on flood risk. Some local authorities, including Dublin City Council, have been proactive on this matter. However, there was a lack of progress evident after the recent storms considering that certain areas are flooded repeatedly. Although Dublin City Council has been involved with preventive measures, the insurance industry is not paying a blind bit of notice. The industry continues not to insure houses although flood-prevention measures have been implemented. It will not even insure unaffected homes in areas where there may have been flooding only at one end.

I am particularly interested in education. The Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairí Quinn, stated DEIS is our primary mechanism for systematically promoting greater equity within the school system, and that we are seeing compelling evidence that DEIS works in primary schools. Even now, there are calls coming in from DEIS schools about the danger of losing teachers because the numbers might be down by one or two on the previous year. The Minister talks about reform of the junior and leaving certificate systems but this has turned into the downgrading of history and geography. No objective examination is envisaged for the whole six years of second level school. There is inadequacy in the training for the reforms in English. With regard to the school certificate, teachers involved have genuine concerns that are not being addressed.

The targets of quality and effectiveness in Irish teaching are well spelled out in the programme for Government but progress has not been made. I acknowledge the Minister is examining second level but we should start at primary level. The teachers are not coming out of the training colleges with the required interest and commitment.

I will probably be the only Deputy who will raise the subject of animal welfare, about which I am concerned. Despite the recent legislation and efforts by some of us really to address animal welfare issues, Ireland is still a cruel country regarding the treatment of animals. We see this with hare coursing because of injuries to both hares and greyhounds. Ireland is one of the very few countries to continue to allow the practice. We have digging out of foxes, which even foxhunters believe is cruel, and there is serious neglect of horses. Although there is a ban on stag hunting, it is being blatantly ignored. The badger issue, animals in circuses, vivisection and the opening of another fur farm must also be considered. Those who are dedicated to animal welfare and who protest peacefully are being harassed, physically assaulted and threatened when they protest. There is inactivity on the part of the Garda when these issues are raised by protestors.

Consider the commitment on disability and mental health. The Government, when producing budgets, should say people with a disability, physical or mental, are sacrosanct such that they will not have an additional worry in the approach to a budget that something will happen them.

Dáil reform has been discussed. While "Dáil reform" might make a grand title, we do not see any major reform. The Government has committed to not overusing the guillotine; we have seen that. There was a commitment to allowing backbench Deputies to introduce their own Bills. However, the number of Bills that succeeded in getting past First Stage is minimal. There was a commitment to sit four days per week every second week. I agree with the Friday sittings but I am not sure that they have been very successful. The democratic process is certainly not working for those of us who are independent. There seem to be constant inroads made into trying to deny and downgrade our role. This is evident on foot of the recent changes to procedures for priority questions.

While I acknowledge the Government states there have been various increases and that certain trends are in the right direction, unless the progress filters down to those on the ground, it will not have the desired effect. The Minister will probably see this in the results of the local and European elections. People are struggling and suffering, and there are those who are seeing their standard of living decrease.

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