Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Two reports that came out today are damning of the Government’s housing policy. The latest rental report from daft.ieshows that rip-off rents were up another staggering 10% in the final three months of last year. New figures also reveal that cuckoo funds, courtesy of sweetheart tax deals provided by the Government, massively outbid ordinary house buyers for family homes and then rent them back to those people at extortionate rates.

On the Taoiseach's watch, affordability has gone out the window. These rack rents mean that people have no breathing room to save for a deposit. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have made homeownership a pipe dream for an entire generation and a nightmare for those desperately seeking to put a roof over their heads.

In October's budget, the Taoiseach did nothing for renters - zero, zilch, nada- and this has to change fast. The cost-of-living measures the Taoiseach says he will introduce must include cutting rents and banning rent increases for three years. Ripped-off renters need relief now.

The average rent in the last three months of 2021 was a whopping €1,524, and it was more than €2,000 in Dublin. Let us take a second for that to sink in. There are double-digit increases in 20 counties, up by 20% or more in every county in Connacht, so clearly the rent cap of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, is a failure.

In December, the Taoiseach said the role of cuckoo funds in wrecking the housing market was being exaggerated. However, his claim was simply untrue, and it does not tally with the facts that 4,900 family homes were bulk-purchased by these very funds last year and that they outbid ordinary homebuyers by up to 32%. It is past time that the Government took action on these funds. They are a key driver in pushing rents up to record levels. People are forced to pay rip-off rents before they get to pay their energy bills, put food on the table or meet the cost of childcare. Many renters are left with literally nothing at the end of the month, so is it any wonder that Generation Rent feels battered, bruised, exhausted and sold out?

The daft.ie report shows the Government is failing on supply. The number of homes available to rent is at its lowest in 15 years and, therefore, we should not be surprised that landlords get away with charging big money, sometimes to live in places where your feet could literally touch your fridge while you are lying in your bed. This is a social disaster. It is unfolding on the Government's watch. Rip-off rents rob a generation of a decent life and the ability to build their future. This cannot continue. We need action now. Renters do not have the luxury of waiting on the never–never for the Government to deliver on supply. Is tubaiste sóisialta iad na cíosanna atá as smacht. Tá glúin iomlán ann atá níos measa as ná riamh, agus tá sé ag dul in olcas. Caithfidh an Rialtas cíosanna a ghearradh agus cosc a chur ar arduithe ar feadh trí bliana.

I have been asking Taoiseach until blue in the face to cut rents by means of a tax credit, putting €1,500 back into renters' pockets, and to ban rent increases for three years. He could have done this at budget time but chose not to. I now urge him to do these very things as part of the cost-of-living package he promised. He should take this opportunity to finally make a difference for the renters of Ireland.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising the question and the issue. The Government came into office more than a year and a half ago, and I have made it clear that housing is the key social issue facing our country and society. Ireland needs, on average, 33,000 homes constructed per annum right out until 2030. These homes are needed to satisfy demand for housing across all four types of tenure: affordable, social, private rental and private ownership. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, in the context of the Housing for All strategy, has broken down the tenure types as follows in respect of our objectives: 11,800 new privately owned homes; 6,500 new private rental homes; 4,100 new affordable homes; and 10,300 new social housing homes. Therefore, the State is investing the largest amount of capital ever in social and affordable housing, with clear targets to reach the figure of 33,000, which we desperately need to get to. Supply is a bit like last year and the year before because of Covid. There is a need in the market and there will be demand in the market for 6,500 new private rental homes per year. If the market supplies fewer than that number, rents will rise even further. We cannot wish away the basic law of supply and demand. We need more supply, and we need it as quickly as possible.

I have been very consistent and open in the House in saying the State sector will invest in an unprecedented way in social and affordable houses. We will also need private investment to make sure we reach the target of 33,000 across all four types of housing we want, from cost-rental and affordable housing to social and private housing.

With respect to funds, including institutional funds, we have already passed planning laws and introduced taxation measures to stop the bulk-buying of houses and homes in the State. The Deputy knows that. That is the position. An Bord Pleanála has followed up on that with recent decisions, copper-fastening the legislative changes the Minister has made. It is basically about supply. I am aware that the Deputy may not agree and does not like me raising the issue of supply. People are objecting to various projects on an ongoing basis. If we believe there is a crisis, as I do, we do not have the luxury of consistently opposing planning applications for social, affordable and private housing. The Deputy opposed 1,100 rental homes on Clonliffe Road. She may have had good reasons for doing so, but I find it hard to reconcile the definition of a "crisis" with wholesale serial objections to projects that would supply homes that are badly needed.

Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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The Taoiseach's party in Limerick-----

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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The Taoiseach, without interruption.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The answer is more supply. We need more supply and to build more houses. A total of 20,000 were completed last year, when the Covid lockdown hit us, and we hope to reach a figure of 25,000 in 2022. However, the target in Housing for All is to get to 33,000 houses every year. That is what we need to get to. We need it across all types of housing: private housing, public housing to an unprecedented degree, affordable housing and cost-rental housing.

Deputy McDonald quoted daft.ie. On the key page, the author states, "As ever, the solution remains in the construction of large numbers of market- and cost-rental housing to cater for tenants of all incomes." That is the conclusion on what is required. I know it is very difficult for people. The Housing for All strategy is the correct strategy. The investment is available from the public side. I have seen no real substantive alternatives on the supply issue coming from anybody. We have gone through the figures with all the people involved.

Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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The Taoiseach is relying on the private sector; that is his problem.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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There has been a detailed dive in the policy underpinning Housing for All regarding the various tenure types. We now need to get on with it and allow the houses to be built. That is a sincere point I am making. If we all agree this is a crisis, we are not going to solve it with 20,000 or 25,000 units per year; we need 33,000, at a minimum, per year.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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The Taoiseach does not need to do any kind of deep dive just to come across these figures. A rent of €1,500 or €2,000 per month is simply unaffordable. It seems that he does not actually understand what is happening. He seems to be suggesting the funds build the houses in question; they do not.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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No.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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They acquire them, and they do so by outbidding ordinary families and workers who simply want to purchase a home and put a roof over their heads. That is what is happening. Does the Taoiseach know what his policy is doing? It is making a bad situation worse. It is demonstrating that the wrong kind of supply can actually make the situation worse.

The average renters find themselves in a nightmare of the Government's construction. They are being fleeced for high rent by the funds that have sweetheart and favourable arrangements with the Government, and they are unable to accumulate a deposit and advance in their lives.

It is outrageous. It strikes me that the Taoiseach is happy to come in and recite big figures, but never actually get to the root of the issue or deal with the day-to-day reality that people cannot make their rent. I put it to the Taoiseach again that, as part of the Government's cost of living package, he should cut rents by means of a tax credit and, for God's sake, put a ban on runaway rent increases for three years. I ask the Taoiseach to do those things for the renters of this country.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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There is no doubt in my mind that Sinn Féin's policies would restrict rental supply in the next number of years-----

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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That is because you do not understand them.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----and would actually cause rents to go up. The Deputy knows that. She mentioned houses. She knows well we have already taken steps, both legislative and through taxation, that do not allow for bulk buying of houses and for homes in housing estates.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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It does.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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It does not, and the Deputy knows it.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Apartments-----

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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An Bord Pleanála has followed up in terms of recent decisions in relation to that. The Mullen Park project in Maynooth did not proceed. We are talking here about the other report that was referenced this morning in terms of apartments and so on. That is the context. There cannot be bulk buying of houses and homes and so on in this State.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Apartments are homes.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I know that.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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The Taoiseach does not understand it.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I do understand it.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Apartments are homes.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I think the fundamental point is one of supply. Sinn Féin has consistently ignored it, because it is playing the political sloganeering game. It is into exploiting the issue for sake of electoral gain. I know that.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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It is about affordable supply and the right supply.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Please, Deputy. Let the Taoiseach answer.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The real issue in supply is that at different times and different stages, the Sinn Féin spokesman and others will advocate for private developments and say they want them. What we are saying in Housing for All is that 33,000 houses are required. Social housing of up to 10,000 units will be required and we are providing funding for it. It is likewise, with affordable housing. There will also be a need for private rental. If we restrict supply, the rents will go up, as sure as night follows day.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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They are going up every year.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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We need supply.

Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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There are 5,000 homeless on the Taoiseach's watch.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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What we do not need are serial objections, as the Deputy's party have made, to developments in Tallaght, Donabate and right across.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Seriously? You have nothing to say to them.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Sinn Féin has objected to the building of around 6,000 houses.

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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That is not true.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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It has objected to them and voted against them being built. That, to me, is hypocrisy-----

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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Appalling dishonesty on the floor of the Oireachtas from the Taoiseach.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----when put in contrast with the huge crisis that we have in terms of housing supply.

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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The party that objects to most houses in the State is Fianna Fáil.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Please, Deputy Ó Broin.

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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I am fed up of this Taoiseach lying about what Sinn Féin councillors are doing.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Please, do not accuse the Taoiseach.

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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They are downright lies.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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It is not acceptable to accuse any Member-----

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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It is not acceptable to mislead the public and it is not acceptable to have rising rents.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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It is not acceptable to accuse any Member of the House of lying. I ask the Deputy to withdraw that claim.

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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I absolutely will not withdraw it. It is dishonest.

A Deputy:

You will be taking a walk.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Please withdraw the accusation of lying.

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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I have no intention of----

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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It is out of order. The Deputy knows it is out of order.

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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The Taoiseach is misleading the House.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Is the Deputy substituting his claim with "misleading the House"?

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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I am more than happy to substitute "willingly misleading the House" for "lying".

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Thank you.

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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It is the same thing, Taoiseach.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I call Deputy Catherine Murphy. Can we please restore some order for the Deputy?

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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What does the Taoiseach have to say to workers and their families today who are desperately trying to save to buy their own home? He can hardly tell them to stop complaining or to shop around. Cuckoo funds are outbidding household buyers by as much as 32%, paying on average €105,000 more per property than household buyers. Ordinary workers can shop around for an eternity, but increasingly they feel they are chasing shadows. They will never be able to outbid the cuckoo funds that are swooping in and snatching the homes they hope to buy. This is not just happening in the build-to-rent sector, the sector designed specifically by Government to be bought exclusively by cuckoo funds. Last year, these funds spent €2.27 billion acquiring nearly 5,000 properties for use in the private rental sector. In some cases, the funds are buying these homes and leasing them back to local authorities that reward them with guaranteed extortionate rents, in some cases for up to 25 years, before they get the keys back. Again, this has been deliberately facilitated by Government policy. The Government voted to slash the stamp duty for cuckoo funds if they leased the homes back to local authorities. We warned the Government at the time that this would be the result, but it went ahead anyway.

The head of research of BNP Paribas Real Estate Ireland, John McCarthy, has explained further that "[cuckoo funds] believe that rents are well underpinned by existing market imbalances and Ireland's demographic potential". In other words, the rental market is so utterly broken and dysfunctional, these funds do not believe that sky-high rents are going to come down any time soon. Ireland has a young population who are going to be condemned to continue to pay crippling rents for the foreseeable future.

Rents are now 50% higher than they were during the Celtic tiger peak. What level does the Taoiseach think is sustainable? In Dublin, rents went up by 4% in just the last three months of 2021. Nationally, year on year, they went up by 10%, with 20 counties seeing a double-digit increase. Rents increased by 25% in County Donegal. Meanwhile, the Government insists the rent caps, which are now set at a 2%, are working. It is plainly obvious the rent caps are not working. The Government has to be straight with people. Most people believe this is out of control. The Taoiseach is going to have to tell us how he will get control of this. Does he accept the Government has incentivised the disaster by rewarding the cuckoo funds with tax breaks for buying what would normally be family homes? Does he accept rent caps are not working? Will he immediately bring in a three-year ban on rent increases? We really need to see an eviction freeze. There is a serious problem with evictions coming down the track.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. Again, the issue is a very serious one. Rents are too high for people. There are not enough houses out there. We can see from the from the Daft report there are not enough apartments to rent. There is not enough housing out there to buy. The whole purpose of the Government policy over the past 12 months and since we came into office has been to increase the supply of housing dramatically. A total of 31,000 starts happened in 2021. That is the highest number of housing starts since 2008. We are going to continue with that acceleration of house building if we are allowed and if people just remove the obstacles and allow us to get housing and apartments built.

We are going to have to build different types of housing. There will be a very large public housing programme. We want more than 10,300 on average as part of that 33,000 overall houses to be built every year. We want to get up to that 33,000 target. Supply is key here. People can rightly raise the issue and so on, but equally, we need solutions. I am talking about solutions in terms of supply and the type of housing we provide and to enable people to afford housing. Cost rental is one of those models that is developing and is in its infancy in this country. I predict the cost rental model, which can offer a very substantial rent reductions below the market, will accelerate and be enhanced due to Government efforts in working with local authorities and others. Social housing is going to increase year on year, and specifically, direct builds. We are phasing out the leasing. We will increase direct builds on an unprecedented scale. Also, there will be 4,000-plus affordable houses built. That is what the State can do, but the private sector will be involved as well. It will also be providing housing and apartments, as has always been the case.

The one thing we cannot do is inhibit supply. It is easy to be political about this. I understand it fully and I have no issue with it, but I have to make sure we introduce the right policies for the long haul. We cannot develop housing policy on the basis of the outcome of the next election and who wins it or who does not. We now have to get a consistent housing policy that lasts the decade and brings stability to the market. The market is not stable right now; the rents are too high. However, a lot of thought has gone into this from people just outside of politicians in terms of what we need to do. I believe in a strong social housing programme and it is happening now. I believe in the idea of affordability and that we should help from the State perspective. I believe in the idea of cost rental. However, I also believe that we need private sector investment as well. I think the Deputies in opposition need to speak out on that. Do they believe in private sector investment at all in the housing market or is it their view we should continue the decline in the number of landlords? They are leaving the market. We do not have enough rental properties. We do not have enough houses built for people to buy. We want more owner-occupiers. We want to give people the chance to buy their homes, which is why the shared equity and help-to-buy schemes and so on are coming in. There are huge issues here, and I acknowledge that. However, we need to be solution focused in terms of how we get to grips with it.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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Let me address the issue of private sector investment. Of course it has its place. It is a big part of the solution but it has to have constraints put on it. The Taoiseach stated that he has spoken to a lot of people in terms of designing the solution. I am wondering who he has been speaking to because the solution that has been designed really favours cuckoo funds over individual home buyers.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Hear, hear.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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That is the obvious thing that is happening here. Does he ever question that he could be getting this wrong? Fianna Fáil has got it wrong before. Does he ever question that he is talking to the wrong people or taking the wrong advice? Look at the evidence. Look at the evidence of rental costs. Who can afford €2,000 a month in rent in perpetuity? It is only going to be a question of time before we see young people queueing up at airports to leave this country.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Absolutely.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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They will do so because they cannot live in it. Housing is critical to that. For the past decade, I have been speaking about the need to build social housing. When the housing assistance payment, HAP, was brought in, I said it would be a disaster if it was not accompanied by a big housebuilding programme and it would become a dominant feature in terms of the amount of State money that went into it. I am sick to death of predicting things that turn out to be right. Perhaps the Taoiseach might listen to some of us rather than saying the same thing. We know we need supply, but we need affordable supply.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Hear, hear.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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This is not working and anyone looking at those statistics knows it is not working.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I have been a long-standing advocate for social housing, along with the Deputy, even when I was in opposition. We are now looking at an unprecedented social housing programme. It is going to take time to build but it is happening right now.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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I have been listening to that since 2012.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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There were 31,000 starts last year. I accept and am glad the Deputy acknowledged the need for private sector investment. It does need to be constrained. We have already brought in planning constraints on funds in terms of housing estates and being able to bulk buy. They cannot do so. From a taxation perspective and a planning position, that has happened. In terms of apartment building, there has been a huge issue for some time in terms of the whole issue around viability of apartment building. The daft.iereport and the BNP Paribas report state that, basically, if that funding was not available, those apartments would never have been built in the first place. We have an issue with apartments - there is no question about that - in terms of viability, particularly in terms of brownfield sites and trying to get compact living. That is all part of Housing for All and that is why the Croí Cónaithe fund is being established - to see if the State can help in terms of creating viability and affordability in that apartment sector. That is clearly a challenge but, again, let us be clear that we have to be very careful we do not inhibit supply even more in terms of just responding to the short-term issues.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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On 5 February 1992, the UDA murdered five nationalists and wounded another nine in the Sean Graham bookmaker shop on the Lower Ormeau Road in Belfast. Two men wearing boiler suits and balaclavas pumped 44 bullets into the victims. The names of the five Catholic men and boys were: Christy Doherty, aged 52; Jack Duffin, aged 66; James Kennedy, aged 15; Peter Magee, aged 18; and William McManus, aged 54. The police ombudsman for the North yesterday released another shocking report. There has been a litany of reports. She detailed the murder of 11 Catholics by loyalists with the assistance of the British military. Her report also investigates the murders of Harry Conlon, Aidan Wallace, Michael Gilbride, Martin Moran, Theresa Clinton and Larry Brennan and the attempted murder of Samuel Caskey in 1990.

The RUC special branch had informers who were directly involved in these murders. Informants employed by the special branch were murdering Catholics throughout the North at that moment in time. A police gun was in the hands of loyalists who were involved in these murders. The ombudsman identified eight British informants linked to the murder or attempted murder of 27 people. The RUC destroyed files. It failed to investigate CCTV footage. It failed to search the houses of suspects. It failed to carry out forensics on blood. It failed to test a getaway car for gunshot residue. These reports come just a few weeks after another report by the ombudsman that was released on similar murders on the north coast, in Derry and Antrim. The police ombudsman has 400 such requests in her in-tray at the moment. Those are 400 requests relating to British state collusion in the murder of citizens. These were citizens of a state murdered by the same state. They were Irish people murdered by the British military in Ireland. It is not ancient history. This is in our lifetime. The perpetrators of these murders live in the same towns and villages as the families of the dead loved ones. Some of those securocrats still work within the security forces. Some of them have actually been promoted as a result of their activities. In many cases, the PSNI knows who carried out these murders but there seems to be no effort to seek proper convictions.

The British Government is a signatory to the Good Friday Agreement and the Stormont House Agreement. These are international agreements. The British Government has international responsibilities to justice. I am asking the Taoiseach to use every single tool, including our position in the UN, to make sure there is an international investigation into murders by the British state in Ireland. I am appealing also to the Government to look at the creation of a historical inquiries team on this side of the Border, in a similar fashion to the Smithwick tribunal, to take evidence from people from the North and to try to get to the heart of what happened to these people and to ensure there is justice.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue. This report from the police ombudsman is a very significant one. It is a deeply disturbing report and, as the Deputy stated, the second such report in a matter of weeks. Examining those attacks, in particular that in south Belfast in Sean Graham bookmakers, resulting in many murders and one attempted murder, it has found very strong evidence of investigative and intelligence failures and collusive behaviours by the RUC as defined by the ombudsman, including the continued unjustifiable use of informants involved in serious criminality and murder and, crucially and unacceptably, the return of weapons to loyalist paramilitaries. It is simply appalling, what has been presented in the report of the ombudsman.

I did say yesterday in the House that I met several victims' groups last week, Relatives for Justice being one. Among that group was Mark Sykes, who was there in the bookmakers and was shot. It was very emotional for him to have to recount, 30 years on, what happened to him and what he witnessed and how long he has had to campaign to get this report of the ombudsman published. The predecessor to the current ombudsman was working on this for quite some years as well. As the Deputy is aware, he is a survivor of the Sean Graham bookmakers attack. I was grateful to him for talking me through his experiences even though it was very difficult for him. I also spoke to other victims of other atrocities as well last week.

What it does bring home in the first instance is that we do need a comprehensive and agreed framework to deal with the painful legacy of our past. We have had the Stormont House Agreement and other agreements and the British Government does need to adhere to agreements it entered into in the context of the Good Friday Agreement and in the context of legacy. I have made this point to the British Prime Minister and we have made this point consistently to the British Government that legacy is important in terms of the overall architecture of the Good Friday Agreement and the need to follow through on it. There has been too much foot-dragging regarding agreements that have been entered into.

The Deputy referenced the Smithwick inquiry. The Irish Government fulfilled its obligations under the Good Friday Agreement and subsequent agreements, around legacy. Anything we were asked to do, we did. We stand ready. I have said this to other groups and victims and political representatives of other victims who feel they have not got full closure or have not got prosecutions in respect of their loved ones who were murdered and they would allege collusion in the Republic. I said to come and meet us and that if we have any information, we will provide it as a State because we believe that is our obligation.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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Ten days ago the Taoiseach laid a wreath at the Bloody Sunday Memorial in Derry. At the time and since then the Taoiseach has indicated the families of those who were lost, who were murdered, on Bloody Sunday need to find justice. We are looking at the likelihood that there is going to be an amnesty. If there is an amnesty in the North of Ireland, it means there is no rule of law and that the perpetrators will get away with murder.

I attended the 50th anniversary of the Ballymurphy massacre, and speaker after speaker got up on the trailer that day and said the British Government quite simply wants to get away with murder. That is what is happening here.

Over recent debates in which I have participated, I have made an effort to name every single victim of the Bloody Sunday massacre, the Ballymurphy massacre, the Springhill massacre, the murders that were researched in Operation Greenwich and those today in the Ombudsman’s report. Is it not shocking that we know the names of the people who lost their lives, the people who were murdered, but we do not know the names of the people who perpetrated those murders. Most people, for example, would not know Lance Corporal David James Cleary, better known as Soldier F, who is accused of murdering civilians on Bloody Sunday. Most people would not know the alphabet of British Army perpetrators of murder. We need to ensure people know their names. The Taoiseach has recounted what has happened, but I am asking him what steps will he take to ensure those names are known throughout the country for the murders they have committed.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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In the first instance, I have told the Deputy what we are doing. I do not agree with the amnesty at all and I do not take it as a likelihood. The Irish Government has entered into discussions with the British Government and all of the parties in Northern Ireland in respect of the proposals that emanated from the British Government last year. We have made it very clear we do not accept any unilateral actions in respect of legacy that would represent a breach of the Good Friday Agreement and subsequent agreements.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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What is the cost to Britain?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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First of all, proposals were made that cannot be accepted. We have opposed them and have made it very clear to the British Government that there can be an amnesty for nobody. State forces and governments have a higher moral order in how they conduct themselves, as does the government in any state. Equally, no paramilitaries should have an amnesty either in respect of heinous crimes and murders that were committed against very many people.

The Deputy is correct in saying people want closure, details and to find out what happened to their loved ones and who killed them. Some, such as the two victims groups I met last week, know who killed their loved ones, but they want further information to establish if that could have been prevented, for example, and whether further preventative actions could have taken place with the use of informants, collusion and so on.

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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I want to raise with the Taoiseach today the very important issue of the collapse of the repair and maintenance of service to Eir customers in south and west Kerry. I am inundated with calls from customers. There was a time when we had excellent repair and maintenance cover based at the Cahersiveen depot, which ceased in July 2021 when the last customer service technician retired. In the 1980s and 1990s, there were up to 30 technicians based in the Cahersiveen depot. They were excellent people who gave great service, with people such as Tom O'Shea who gave 46 years of loyal service, Dónal Clifford, Dave Fenton, Dermot Corkery and, in west Cork and west Kerry, Jim McCarthy. These people retired but were not replaced. They had local expertise, knowledge and experience and knew their customers and the terrain. Unfortunately, upon their retirement, they have not been replaced.

I know every last inch of the rugged beautiful coastline from Kenmare down through Sneem, Castlecove, Caherdaniel, Waterville, down into Portmagee, Ballinskelligs, over onto Valentia Island, up through Kells Bay and on over into Killorglin. I know every last inch of it, but unfortunately the Eir customers in that area are not getting the service they should have. I am asking the Taoiseach and the Government to intervene with Eir and to put people working on the ground. We need maintenance and repair people. The rugged coastline I have outlined to the House is beautiful but it gets a battering from the weather, which is why the poles, wires and whole service need to maintained.

I pay a very special thanks to the operations manager, Mr. Pat O’Sullivan, who always worked so diligently on behalf of all the customers and all of the other Eir staff, but they need help and people on the ground to carry out the basic maintenance that is required. Connectivity is so important and the service is so vital in the areas I am talking about because they are predominantly rural areas. Whether it is going up into places like Glencar or into the Bridia Valley or Cloon Lake, all of these people need service. Some of them are possibly getting a little bit older, are vulnerable and want to have their landline. Many of these people do not have a proper mobile service, and that is why it is so important.

It might be asked, when it is a company in the way it is, in that it is not semi-State, why a person would be raising it with the Taoiseach. I will tell him why. It is because these people, some of whom are pensioners, are all taxpayers, workers, farmers and people we are here to represent. Because of it being such a serious issue, that is why I wanted to bring it to the floor of the Dáil, why I want the Taoiseach to take it on board and why I want him to know about the problem that is there. I am asking him in a very humble way if he will contact Eir, let it know the issue was raised here today and let it know it is only common sense that when there is a service, maintenance people are needed to attend to the repairs and keep things right.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this issue and suggest that, given his poetic elegance, by the time I sit down, Eir will have heard this has been raised in Leinster House. I appreciate the seriousness of the matter because connectivity is everything today in the modern era for work, education and quality of life.

Eir has announced, as part of its €1 billion capital investment programme, that it plans to invest €500 million to expand its Irish fibre network to some 1.4 million premises in urban areas. In August, Eir announced plans to expand its gigabit fibre network roll-out to a further 200,000 premises, bringing its planned deployment to 1.6 million premises. This includes all towns and villages across Kerry that are not part of the Eir fibre broadband roll-out. More than 28,000 premises in Kerry have been passed to date under Eir’s programme. Meanwhile, in early October 2021, SIRO announced phase 2 of its fibre broadband network roll-out. This includes extensive plans for the main towns and villages in Kerry. To date, SIRO has passed in excess of 16,000 homes and businesses as part of its Kerry fibre broadband roll-out programme. I will talk to both companies to ensure the work continues.

The roll-out of the national broadband plan in Kerry is proceeding. This State-led intervention will be delivered, as the Deputy is aware, by National Broadband Ireland, NBI, under a contract to roll out high-speed, future-proofed broadband network within the intervention area. This area covers 1.1 million people living and working in more than 544,000 premises, including almost 100,000 businesses and farms, and 679 schools.

For the interest of the Deputy, I am advised by National Broadband Ireland that, at 31 January 2022, more than 295,000 premises have been surveyed nationally or have surveys under way, with in excess of 154,000 premises constructed or under construction across all counties, including Kerry. There are 27,183 premises in the intervention area in County Kerry, of which more than 17,500 have been surveyed by NBI. Surveying is completed in the deployment areas of Dingle, Rathmore, and Kilgarvan. Pre-works are under way in the deployment areas of Ballyheigue and Castlegregory and main works are under way in the deployment areas of Tralee and Killarney, with in excess of 5,000 premises now available for order or pre-order and more than 8,800 premises progressing well through construction. Further details are available on specific areas within County Kerry through the commercial operator websites and the NBI website, which provides a facility for any premises to query availability in this area.

The broadband connection points, which are a key element of the NBP in providing high-speed broadband in every county in advance of the roll-out of the fibre to the home network, in the Kerry context are now installed at Gneeveguilla, Tureencahill, Valentia Cable Station, St Fiachna’s Church, Old Railway Station Heritage Centre and community spaces in Cullenagh, Kielduff Community Centre, Chapeltown, Killeenliath, Kilmoyley Community Centre, Black Valley in Our Lady of the Valley Church, and I could go on. There is also a long list where the NBI has installed connectivity for national schools, but the list is too long, although it is quite extensive as well.

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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That answer from the Taoiseach is brilliant and excellent if I had asked a different question.

Unfortunately, however, the issue I am raising is telephone lines, wires hanging down and no noise when people pick up the telephone. That is the question I am raising today and it is the issue I want the Taoiseach to take back to Eir. I wish the CEO of Eir very well. The person is retiring and that person saw fit to bring in a new trainee to be trained for the role of CEO of the company. It is recognised at the higher end that a person should be trained in, but technicians at ground level who keep the service going do not train in somebody beneath them. It is done at the top, but it is not done where it really matters. I am asking the company to recognise this. When it was a semi-State company up until 1999 it was one of the best in the world.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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Yes.

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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The Deputy remembers that. Today, I remember people such as Mr. Albert Reynolds, a highly respectable politician who did great work. I remember him for his work. It went from the Department of Posts and Telegraphs to Telecom Éireann and then from Eircom to Eir and one of the problems we have is the neglect on the ground. Privatisation was not a friend to this company.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Thank you very much, Deputy. You are out of time.

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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It resulted in the death knell for the service in rural areas as far as I can see. Let the message go out loud and clear that Eir must pull up its socks and put people out on the ground working door to door to keep the service and connectivity going. I thank the Taoiseach for this opportunity.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Again, I thank the Deputy. As I said, we will engage with Eir and the other companies with regard to provision. The world has changed. The Deputy is correct to point out that the late Albert Reynolds was the pioneer in communications-----

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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There was a telephone in every house within a month.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----and bringing Ireland up to a level of communications capacity that was instrumental in foreign direct investment coming into the country as well.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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It took a year to get it fixed.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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It is very important, therefore, that we get it right with broadband and that we get a high level and high quality of connectivity. That means investment from both the private sector and the State, which is investing very significantly in the intervention areas that are not covered by private sector companies. Those areas are now earmarked in the national broadband plan. The State is putting in a lot of investment, as the Deputy knows. I will engage with the companies and I will raise the issues the Deputy raised this morning.