Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach may be aware that staff at the Central Remedial Clinic, CRC, were called to a meeting last Friday where they were informed that the CRC had dissolved its pension plan effective from Wednesday, 18 May 2016. About 50 staff attended the meeting. They have an average of at least 20 years dedicated service with the CRC. A total of 50 long-serving staff are on the old private pension plan as well. These are HSE-sanctioned posts and their salaries are funded by the HSE. I know that when the Minister for Social Protection was appointed, he made very strong statements about pension provision. Will the Government intervene in this situation and, in particular, liaise with the officials in the HSE and the Department of Social Protection in order for them to directly intervene to assist staff in the CRC? An immediate decision was taken by management to wind up the pension scheme and it illustrates the vulnerability of many people in respect of many pension schemes.

There is a commitment in a programme for a partnership Government to review the existing proceeds of crime legislation. It states that the Government will ensure that adequate resources are provided to support the work of the Criminal Assets Bureau, CAB, and that it will examine how communities can better engage with CAB on suspected local use of the proceeds of crime and the potential establishment of a smaller criminal assets bureau to target regional assets. That kind of language in a programme for Government can be interpreted in many ways. I suspect that Independents or people from various constituencies suggested that this should happen. It is a demand from many of the communities at the coal face of the drug trade and the crime lords who are ruling the roost. Their view is that mini criminal assets bureaus would have a huge impact. Is this a commitment to establish criminal assets bureaus in communities to target local drug pushers or is it language that means nothing will happen because it could be interpreted that way as well? Could the Taoiseach clarify when that legislation will be reviewed and when we can expect the review and actions emanating from it?

The Government announced proposals for the reform of the budget process. At the end of the statement from the Ministers for Public Expenditure and Reform and Finance, it says that the Ministers will make themselves available to the Select Committee on Arrangements for Budgetary Scrutiny to discuss the proposals. The first meeting of the committee is expected to take place in the coming days. Our Whip contacted the office of the Chief Whip to be told that this is not imminent and that it all is part of the Dáil reform programme.

We were hopeful that the Government would have learned the lessons of indulging in spin over substance or taking elements of the Dáil reform package negotiated by all parties, repackaging it and spinning it as a Government commitment or decision on Dáil reform. The Government needs to cease this practice fairly quickly. Can the Taoiseach clarify the position with regard to this committee in respect of budgetary scrutiny? The statement says a meeting will be held in the coming days but to the best of my knowledge, nobody is clear about that, at least from our side in terms of being notified of it. Can the Taoiseach tell the House when the legislative programme for this session will be finalised and made available?

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