Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

While the Minister of State reeled off a list of impressive statistics and amounts, the Government is somewhat in denial about the scale of some of the problems associated with some of these headings, which are deeply worrying to concerned members of Irish society.

I will start by referring to housing. I listened to one of the two Ministers for housing we have had in less than two years. This is a structural problem with this Government, and with Fine Gael in office. It is now so focused on spin that people are not being left in jobs long enough to see matters to completion. They do not have time to build up authority with civil servants so that they can be in leadership positions and inspire people in order to actually get the job done.

I was on the first trip on the new Luas line a few days ago. When in Cabinet, I argued very strongly for spending on public transport. Without that kind of spending, we will not be able to give people the quality of life they need. I was astonished when I passed Dominick Street and heard both of the Fine Gael Ministers who have been responsible for housing, Deputy Coveney and his successor, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, refer to that huge vacant site within a stone's throw of Stephen's Green. I thought building was under way. I had not been in Dominick Street on foot for a few months. I was astonished to discover that nothing has happened.

Having seen the Dominick Street site lying empty, I raised the issue of another site with both Deputies. It is called O'Devaney Gardens. By the way, there are beautiful flats further up the way at the corner of Dorset Street. The city council has now boarded up all of the lower levels, which used to be for the use of older people. It is now starting to board up the upper levels and is doing so in the midst of a housing crisis of the scale the city and the country are facing. I want to pause. The Minister is saying that more money has been allocated. I accept that. That is good, but where is the management leadership to get the job done in respect of housing? We have had two different Ministers responsible for housing in less than two years. That is a shocking commentary on the Government. I went up to O'Devaney Gardens to check progress, because that is the area I am from. It is a beautiful site beside the Phoenix Park. It has a public road running through it which would allow building in any corner. It is beside St. Bricin's, very close to Arbour Hill, so it is in a beautiful, highly desirable part of Dublin. There are many transport options there. Even Heuston Station is only a stone's throw away. Weeds are growing everywhere. There is absolutely no sign of a brick being placed on a brick.

Increasing numbers of people are becoming homeless because more of the banks are repossessing houses. When I was Minister for Social Protection, I spent time with the Simon Community and the housing authorities in Cork on several occasions. I agree with Deputy Jonathan O'Brien. It is shocking to see that homelessness is now spreading in a way not seen heretofore. Cork has been very good at looking after its own people. The Simon Community, other organisations, those involved with Penny Dinners and so on have been very good at looking after rough sleepers or people with other issues. Will the Government have a meeting in the new year to show some leadership in the management of expenditure so that we can start getting results?

I spoke to the Minister earlier about the dreadful situation in respect of the publicly-paid employees of section 39 organisations and he was quite honest. He very kindly went through an explanation. However, the explanation provided by the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, was all about process rather than people. There is now a problem. If a nurse, a doctor or another member of staff transfers from one of the hospitals in Cork to work in the hospice, from the beginning of next year his or her pay will be sharply lower than the pay he or she got when working in the hospital. The Minister said that we cannot identify whether some people took a cut. This is a nightmare for the people trying to run these organisations, which include Rehab, the Irish Wheelchair Association, the Western Care Association, and the hospices in Cork, Dublin and Limerick. Rehab employs approximately 10,000 people. It is the job of the Minister to find solutions. We have now analysed the problem over a long period.

All of those organisations, particularly the hospices, have asked for meetings with the Minister and the Minister for Health. There has been no reply. They do not seem able to meet anybody. I believe that all three speakers present here, on behalf of our respective parties, would ask the Minister if he could not sit down with these organisations. He gave us many technical reasons for not acting and I appreciate that he did so, but can he not sit down and work out who is and who is not entitled to pay restoration? The Minister said that some people did not take the cuts. That is possibly true, but he can still make a declaration.

Finally, on education and housing, we have nowhere near enough apprentices in training. As we get the money together, we will have nobody to build the houses or the apartments. Will the Minister please address that from a leadership management point of view?

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