Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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9. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on Government co-ordination will next meet. [49705/22]

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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10. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on Government co-ordination will next meet. [49902/22]

Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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11. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on Government co-ordination will next meet. [53214/22]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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12. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on Government co-ordination will next meet. [53228/22]

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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13. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on Government co-ordination will next meet. [53231/22]

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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14. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on Government co-ordination will next meet. [53311/22]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 to 14, inclusive, together.

The Government co-ordination committee will meet again ahead of the next Government meeting, which is next week. The committee reviews the agenda of Government meetings, discusses political priorities, reviews implementation of a specified element of the programme for Government, and reviews the activity of Cabinet committees. I am a member of the committee, with the Tánaiste and the leader of the Green Party. The Secretary General to the Government, my chief of staff and the chiefs of staff for the Tánaiste and the leader of the Green Party also sit in on meetings.

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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The Government party leaders met with senior Ministers early this week on the escalating crisis in emergency housing provision, which has been deepened by the war in Ukraine, but the truth is that it has been years in the making and a result of successive governments turning their face or not supporting public housing provided directly by the State. In the past 12 months, child homelessness in Cork and Kerry has risen by an unbelievable 40%. The blame for this solely lies with the Government’s failed housing policies over the past six years where Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have been together. The Government has completely failed to get a grip on the issue and the reality now is social housing is no longer a safety net. The housing assistance payment, HAP, has done nothing but push up the price of houses. The Government has no real plan to tackle the crisis. Will the Taoiseach give us any detail on emergency accommodation that will be rolled out in Cork, because the crisis is getting much worse and families and individuals are struggling as they enter homelessness?

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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Yesterday, I raised the issue of the efforts being made to house Ukrainian refugees and, indeed, others coming here seeking international protection and fleeing persecution abroad. On behalf of the Labour Party, I sought a briefing for Opposition leaders and spokespersons as we are keen to engage constructively with the Government in assisting what has to be a collective national effort to ensure sufficient accommodation is available for those who come here seeking refuge and that we do not see any more people sleeping on the floor in Dublin Airport. What I have heard from communities in my constituency and across the country is real concern that we seem not to have the capacity available, yet we know that capacity is there. Even since yesterday, I have continued to engage with the Government on seeking to put forward proposals for vacant premises that can be used to house those in need of refuge.

I am very concerned to hear that the plan for modular homes is being so delayed. In July, I hosted a briefing in Leinster House with members of the Ukraine civil society forum, and at that point, the members sought a more co-ordinated structure, better management and better communication with local authorities and communities to ensure we would have a short, medium and long-term plan for the housing of refugees. Indeed, that plan had to include modular housing. We now hear that the Office of Public Works, OPW, will install 700 units of modular housing but that these will not come on stream until January and February. It is of concern that there appears to be some opposition to the housing of such sites in different communities. What approach will the Government and the Cabinet committee take now to address this urgent need to ensure accommodation is put in place for refugees, to ensure sufficient homes and units will be available and to ensure we are able to step up?

This morning, I met the Czech delegation. The Czech Government and people have so far housed four times as many refugees from Ukraine per head of population as we have. Members of the delegation expressed great support for Ireland's effort, but we have to be mindful this is a collective effort across Europe.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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For months and months, the taxi representative groups such as Tiománaí Tacsaí na hÉireann, the Taxi Alliance, the National Private Hire & Taxi Association, NPHTA, and the Irish Taxi Drivers Federation have been asking the Government to extend the arbitrary ten-year rule on vehicle licensing for taxi drivers to 15 years. A public consultation concluded on 12 October and the views of taxi drivers on this are beyond doubt. They want the extension from ten to 15 years for taxi drivers. Currently, they have to get rid of their vehicle after ten years. Virtually no electric vehicles are available and taxi drivers took a massive financial hit earlier during Covid. Six hundred drivers in January and February are going to have to leave the industry or get finance for a new vehicle they cannot really afford.

They are asking that the results of that public consultation on the Government decision to give them the five-year extension on the vehicle licensing rule be announced now. They have been hearing it is not going to be until 18 November. These 600 drivers need to know now whether the Government is going to extend the ten-year rule, which is a ridiculous rule anyway. If a car passes the national car test, NCT, it is fit for the road, so why on earth do these people have to jump over an extra hurdle at a time when we need taxi drivers?

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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Thirty-three Ukrainian refugees had to spend a night in Dublin Airport. It is being reported the Government is to use social media to tell Ukrainians there is no accommodation in Ireland. So much for the Ireland of a thousand welcomes. Sometimes people say to me the Government should put its own first, but the problem is precisely that the Government does put its own people first, namely, the corporate landlords, the big developers and those who are sitting on empty properties. There are enough resources in this country to house all the homeless people here and to welcome those who are fleeing war in Ukraine, Syria or elsewhere, but it requires breaking from reliance on the market and, right now, seeking to use the 50,000 properties that have been vacant for six years or more.

In respect of refugees who are attempting to flee conscription in Russia, it is estimated that somewhere between 200,000 and 700,000 people have fled the country. Does the Taoiseach not agree that all those fleeing participation in a war and fleeing conscription should be given refuge? Why would we send men back to Russia to become soldiers in Putin's army?

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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In the context of Government co-ordination, what is the Government doing to prevent more than 100 people from being evicted from Tathony House? Thirty-five households are being evicted, including many families and children. An entire block of renters is facing mass eviction. The Tyrrelstown amendment was meant to stop these sorts of mass evictions happening, but there are so many loopholes in it that landlords can exploit that it is not effective. In this case, the landlord is claiming financial hardship despite the tenants and renters estimating he gets a rental income of €700,000 from the apartment block. In most European countries, it is completely illegal to evict tenants who are paying their rent. It is just not possible to do that in most European countries but it is allowed here. We should not allow landlords who sell to evict their tenants. What is the Government going to do to prevent these 100 people who face this mass eviction from getting evicted?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputies for raising a range of issues. Deputy Gould raised the housing issue. I would disagree with him in terms of his assessment and his presentation of the issues. The factual position is Fianna Fáil has been in government for two and a half years, not six years.

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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Confidence and supply.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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We were not in government-----

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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But you supported their strategy.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Fianna Fáil has not been in government for six years, as the Deputy said. We have been in government for two and a half years and, since then, we have made significant efforts on the housing issue. It is the biggest social issue facing us. We have a lot more to do but, this year, we have the highest number of housing completions since 2008. We have the highest number of commencements on record, the highest number of planning permissions since 2007, the highest number of first-time buyers, at 16,000, since 2007 and the highest number of home buyers since 2008. Also, the highest number of social houses will be provided this year. Progress is being made and we will reach our target of 25,000 houses this year.

What held the Government back were the two shutdowns during Covid over the past two years, which depressed construction activity in house building but we had to do it because of Covid and the lockdowns. We were then hit with the dramatic increase in the costs of building materials, such as steel, timber and so on, because of the supply chain issues that arose out of the economic recovery from Covid and the war in Ukraine.

Notwithstanding those storms, and we need balance in all this, in fairness, not just the usual knockabout stuff the Deputy and his party go on with, ignoring Covid, the energy crisis and the war in Ukraine and just shouting "failure, failure, failure", we have developed solid foundations legislatively through the Land Development Agency, for example, the Affordable Housing Act and various schemes such as the first home scheme to help first-time buyers, in addition to the existing help-to-buy scheme. Fianna Fáil, a party the Deputy attacked, is committed to building more social houses and, along with our colleagues in government, we are determined to do that. Our colleagues in the three Government parties will look at any additional measures that can be brought on board to increase housing supply and get more houses into use for people who need them.

In Cork, some very good work has been done by both Cork City Council and Cork County Council, to be fair.

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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They are hitting all their targets.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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They are proposing cost rental and developing affordable as well as social housing projects, and they are also doing a lot of good work in respect of the Ukrainian situation by creating good projects to house Ukrainians and to co-ordinate work around those fleeing the war in Ukraine.

Deputy Bacik raised that issue specifically. I am hoping that meeting can be organised whereby an official could brief party leaders either tomorrow or Friday, whichever can be arranged subject to their own hectic schedules. In the eight months since Russia invaded Ukraine, the State has housed more than 43,000 people. Many more, coming up to 55,000 in total, have come into Ireland and some have been availing of people they already knew and so on. Unlike other countries, we did not have a strong resident Ukrainian population prior to the war. Other countries did and that gave them greater flexibility.

That figure was 43,000, however, In addition, 11,700 people have arrived in Ireland seeking international protection more generally from across the world. In total, we are potentially looking at approximately 60,000 refugees from Ukraine and the rest of the world who have been housed in Ireland. The average annual arrivals under international protection in 2019 numbered 3,500. That figure has risen from 3,500 to 60,000. Deputy Gould said it was coming for years. No, the war was not coming for years-----

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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Not the war; the housing crisis was coming.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----and we were acting on that. In terms of the Ukrainian situation, decisions have been taken. Again, we appreciate the constructive role Deputy Bacik has played in terms of giving any potential properties that we can act upon in terms of the call for pledges but also the reconfiguration of existing buildings and development of modular accommodation or as I prefer to call it, rapid-build high-quality housing. Again, that ran into objections and issues. We have to expedite the mechanisms by which we get these projects over the line, which I accept. We even heard this morning on the radio that people have concerns about it and say they want more consultation and more engagement. It is an emergency and we need to get these projects up and running as quickly as we possibly can through both the reconfiguration of existing facilities, which the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is leading, and the development of rapid-build units. We need to do far more of that, more generally, in terms of housing. It could be particularly helpful in terms of dealing with emergency accommodation and the avoidance of homelessness, for example. These are high-quality units. I would argue that they are far superior to some of the existing local authority flats, for example, in some locations. We need to get on with it. We are committed to doing that and refurbishing buildings. The refurbishment programme to date has provided 2,145 beds with another 162 due to come on stream. Buildings with a further capacity 2,805 beds have been identified at various stages of the refurbishment process. All that is under way. There is much more detail but I do not think I need to go into it at this stage.

Deputy Boyd Barrett raised a wider issue in terms of the Taxi Alliance. I cannot be the arbiter of what is safe and what is unsafe. We have expert agencies that determine what they believe to be safe and unsafe in terms of roadworthiness and so on. However, I will take the view the Deputy articulated to the Minister to see if that can be re-examined in terms of moving to a ten to 15-year licence, especially given the difficulties procuring electric vehicles. The Deputy should remember that we are not talking about a normal car here. We are talking about a car that would have had a significant degree of usage. I presume it is a safety issue.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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If a vehicle passes the NCT, it passes the NCT.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I know but, again, I am open to having it examined. I would just be careful about it. On another day, the Deputy would be very strong in giving out about a lack of safety regulation in other areas of life. He attacks us on housing and on everything else. It could be argued that what he is proposing here could have safety implications. I will get it checked. I will talk to the Minister and have the issue examined.

Deputy Murphy raised the Ukrainian situation. He said we fundamentally need to break from the reliance of the market. We are not relying on the market. The State is the big actor and player now in housing. You name it. This goes across the board with the help-to-buy and first home schemes, which are designed to help first-time buyers. We have quite a large social housing programme. The Croí Cónaithe fund is trying to bridge the viability gap in apartment complexes in brownfield sites to try to get them going.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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Giving money to developers is relying on the market.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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You name it, the State is getting involved in building and trying to get houses for young people. The State is the provider. We are not relying on the market because the market is not performing to the degree one would like.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I am sorry. Deputy O'Callaghan raised the issue of Tathony House. The Tyrrelstown amendment was meant to deal with this issue in terms of block evictions in apartment blocks. I will have to do a further examination but I understand the owner here is claiming there is a depreciation in value. I might be wrong. I will not say anything further than that. We need to examine the basis upon which this is happening and see what we can do to stop it.