Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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1. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on infrastructure, environment and climate action last met. [36050/16]

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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2. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on infrastructure, environment and climate action last met. [37719/16]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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3. To ask the Taoiseach the number of times the Cabinet committee on infrastructure, environment and climate action has met. [38302/16]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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4. To ask the Taoiseach when the next meeting of the Cabinet committee on infrastructure, environment and climate action will take place. [38634/16]

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 4, inclusive, together.

The Cabinet committee on infrastructure, environment and climate action has met twice since it was reconstituted in June. It held its first meeting on 7 July and met again on Tuesday, 25 October. The committee addresses the climate change challenge in terms of domestic policy and in relation to Ireland's EU and international obligations. In addition, the committee drives the development and delivery of infrastructure in support of sustainable economic growth and decarbonisation. It will meet again next week on 12 December.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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What discussions, if any, is the committee having on strategic development zones? I had a briefing yesterday at Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council on the Cherrywood strategic development zone and what is, in effect, the building of a new town in south Dublin in my own constituency. This morning I was at a meeting of the Irish Glass Bottle Site Housing Action Group, which was discussing the strategic development zone on the Poolbeg Peninsula with particular reference to the Irish Glass Bottle Company site. Is the Taoiseach looking at the detail of the strategic infrastructure project areas? In particular, does the Taoiseach have a plan to ensure that, out of these very significant strategic development areas, we are going to get for the public the public and affordable housing we need to meet the disastrous housing emergency we now face? The evidence suggests we are not.

The Irish Glass Bottle Site Housing Action Group tells me that NAMA will not meet its representatives even though it has asked it to do so several times. They want to meet the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Deputy Simon Coveney, and they want the Irish Glass Bottle Company site handed over to Dublin City Council to ensure that we do not get a miserable 10% of so-called social housing, but rather get at least 75% public and affordable housing. Their fear is that NAMA is going to flog that site off to developers and all we will get is a miserable 10% when we are the ones who are putting in place all the infrastructure the private developers will gain from. Similarly, the local authority is looking for €100 million from the new infrastructure fund for Cherrywood so that we can get the 8,000 residential units there. Given that this was a site sold by NAMA to Hines, a US property fund, are we only going to get a miserable 10% of these 8,000 units for the public when we have paid and will pay hundreds of millions for infrastructure? They are going to make an absolute fortune.

Should the Taoiseach not insist that we get a bigger proportion than 10% of Cherrywood for public and affordable housing? That 10% is a miserable figure which means these developers are getting a free lunch. I want some commitment from the Taoiseach that they will not get a free lunch and that the public will get something back on these strategic development zones.

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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According to President-elect Donald Trump of the USA, global warming is a hoax. According to the experts, hard data shows that global change presents the gravest threat to the future of humanity. On this island where we live, sea levels in the Irish Sea are rising by 3 cm per decade. While that may not sound like an awful lot, it means we will see a 0.5 m rise in the next 50 years. As many of our major cities and towns are along the coast, the environmental, economic and human cost associated with rising sea levels and climatic change presents huge and life-changing challenges. We saw it along the Shannon catchment area with the impact on families. One thing that struck me in speaking to many of those families was the degree of local knowledge, craft and eolas about the river and its environs. In my own constituency, in particular in parts of Dundalk, we also suffered serious flooding. I spoke to some of the affected families recently and they are dreading the winter. They are living in a state of stress and anxiety. There are no provisions that I can establish to deal with flooding issues on the Ardee Road at Mounthamilton and Bellurgan, which is just outside the town. While the CFRAM plans when enacted will, of course, alleviate some of these difficulties, that is years down the line. I am asking what plans the Government has to deal with this winter. I walked the Flurry River with local people who say it needs to be desilted and that the sluice gates need to be fixed. The local authority says it does not have the money for any of that. Will the Taoiseach outline the Government's preventative plans for potential flooding risks this winter? Has additional funding been allocated to local authorities?

Can the Taoiseach speak to the recent EPA report on urban wastewater treatment which reveals that ten out of our 171 large urban areas do not meet EU requirements to provide secondary treatment to reduce the risk of pollution?

It also states untreated wastewater from 43 areas is routinely discharged into rivers, estuaries and coastal waters. It found that 45 wastewater works were linked with river pollution. Given the graveness of the issue, will the Taoiseach indicate the specific steps the Government plans to take?

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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In the context of infrastructural development, I draw the attention of the Taoiseach to the €200 million local infrastructure fund which was introduced when the Labour Party was in government. The amount sought is up to four times higher than the funding available. Housing is urgently needed in the Dublin area, in particular, as well as in other parts of the country, as the Taoiseach knows. He is in agreement that more houses need to be built for young people to buy, as social housing for renting and specific groups such as older people. There is a strategic development zone in Dublin West, Hansfield, for which there has been full planning permission for ten years to build an additional 3,000 houses on a very nice site which is very attractive and which will be well supported by purchasers and renters. It will not be possible, however, to develop the site unless Fingal County Council can access funding to develop roads into it. More than 12,000 houses have been built in the past 12 to 15 years in Hansfield, Littlepace and Onger and an additional 3,000 houses could be built, but the necessary funding is lacking. There was planning permission for the entire period of recession, but it will not be possible for the council to get private builders on site unless roads are built. Will the Taoiseach and the Government ensure additional loans will be taken out with the European Investment Bank, for example, or that other sources of funding will be made available? I note that the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, attended a meeting of Finance Ministers yesterday. He finally suggested the European Union should allow more budget flexibility to allow for more development in countries such as Ireland. Unless many more houses are built than the current targets allow for, we will face meltdown. In the same area to which I referred many people face rent increases of up to 40% once the two-year moratorium on rent increases introduced by the former Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly, comes to an end. The Government is drifting towards a point where this will cause enormous difficulties.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I ask Deputies to be conscious that we want to allow the Taoiseach a few minutes in which to respond.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I will be brief. The reason I asked when the next meeting of the Cabinet sub-committee was due to take place was I was particularly interested to see whether there had been any progress on the proposed establishment of the national dialogue on climate change. A presentation was made to the last sub-committee by environmental groups and, to be honest, our sense is that nothing has happened since. There is a certain frustration that what is contained in A Programme for a Partnership Government will not be delivered. Progress is urgently needed because we are falling behind. The latest climate statistics are very dramatic in showing how we are going backwards rather than meeting any target. We need an extensive and creative dialogue on climate change. The underlying problem is that there is no political support in the House because there is no public support for action. I am very keen to know when the next meeting will take place. I would like to see a sub-group of the Cabinet sub-committee on the national economic dialogue established, with an independent chairperson and a budget to bring in groups involved in the agriculture, transport and energy sectors. The Government has stated it wants to do this. It has now been six months and there is no sense that it is happening. There is a certain sense of urgency at this stage because if we do not do this quickly, consultation on the national planning framework will have started, the capital review will have taken place and we will not have stitched in proper dialogue on how to start addressing climate change as one of our core visions for the future of the country.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I ask the Taoiseach to be conscious of the fact that there are only three and a half minutes remaining.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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In response to Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett, strategic development zones are developed in the first instance by local representatives in city councils and other local authorities. They are not developed by the Minister acting alone. There is always a minimum figure of 10% for social housing. The Deputy can take it that the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government and the relevant Minister of State are focused on the fact that moneys spent by the Exchequer on infrastructure will have to show a very clear result in terms of social housing provision. The Deputy mentioned two sites. The draft plans will be developed and placed before the Minister in due course. There are no free dinners, nor should there be.

On the comment of Deputy Gerry Adams on President-elect Trump, he had a long and very constructive and meeting with the former Vice President, Mr. Al Gore, who is now dealing with the issue of climate change and carrying out global visits. I understand the meeting was quite constructive and informative for the President-elect. It may well have an impact on the actions he proposes to take from here on.

The Deputy is correct; everybody living along a river such the Shannon has local knowledge and experience. When I visited the area, people told me that many years ago during the summer they used to walk across the river at particular points at low water. A great deal of work is ongoing. Extensive work has been carried out in Athlone to attempt to prevent flooding this winter and I hope the rains will not be of the same order as last year.

I was in Craughwell, County Galway a week ago with Deputy Ciarán Cannon, the Minister of State, Deputy Seán Canney, and others. Work will take place there in the next three years. The first development in 50 years is taking place on the Dunkellin river and a diversionary channel with proper structures is being put in place. Work has been carried out by the Office of Public Works and engineering firms to undertake the work properly. I can have the Minister of State, Deputy Seán Canney, supply Deputy Gerry Adams with the details of all of the works taking place. They are extensive and will continue.

On urban waste, part of the reason we need a national public utility is to deal with the fact that, according to the EPA, raw sewage is still being discharged into lakes, rivers and seas. This is not acceptable in 2016. We will deal with the issue by having a national entity that will be able to seek savings in public procurement and provide real value for money which is happening to a great extent.

On the point made by Deputy Joan Burton, there have been many more applications received than the amout of money available. The Minister of State, Deputy Damien English, has pointed out on many occasions that there are increased levels of assistance and increased opportunities available under the programme for Government and the housing action plan to deal with the development of sites. A special unit in the Department will deal with the matter and the Minister of State will make the decision on what sites should be selected. We will not select sites to be opened and then find that no houses have been built for ten years. In cases in which people are ready to go, if supply is the issue, it should be given priority. Are we going to continue to carpet the entire Dublin region in the same manner for the next 20 years? Should we instead consider the structure and nature of developments we want to see in the next 20 years, given its burgeoning population?

On the point made by Deputy Eamon Ryan, following the meeting next week I expect ot have a response to his question. It is to be hoped progress will be made in the national dialogue. I enjoyed the conversations with and presentations made by the groups he brought before the Cabinet sub-committee. I will respond to him next week.