Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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1. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the economic policy unit of his Department. [9798/23]

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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2. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the economic policy unit of his Department. [10952/23]

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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3. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the economic policy unit of his Department. [11006/23]

Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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4. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the economic policy unit of his Department. [11019/23]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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5. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the economic policy unit of his Department. [11111/23]

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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6. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the economic policy unit of his Department. [11298/23]

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail)
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7. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the economic policy unit of his Department. [11358/23]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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8. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the economic policy unit of his Department. [11360/23]

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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9. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the economic policy unit of his Department. [11363/23]

Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance)
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10. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the economic policy unit of his Department. [11365/23]

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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11. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the economic policy unit of his Department. [11507/23]

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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12. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on the economic policy unit of his Department. [11540/23]

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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13. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on the work of the economic policy unit of his Department. [11068/23]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 13, inclusive, together.

The economic policy unit is part of the economic division of the Department. The unit assists me, as Taoiseach, in advancing the Government’s economic priorities. The unit also advises me on a broad range of economic policy areas and provides me with briefing and speech material on economic and related policy matters. It assists the delivery of the Government’s economic commitments as outlined in the programme for Government, especially where these cut across multiple Departments. In particular, it assists the work of the Cabinet committee on economic recovery and investment and several related senior officials' groups.

The unit is also responsible for co-ordinating Ireland’s participation in the European semester process, which is the annual cycle of economic and fiscal policy co-ordination among EU member states. This includes preparing the national reform programme each year for submission to the European Commission. The national reform programme provides an overview of economic reforms and policy actions under way in Ireland. This includes those taken in response to country-specific recommendations received. The unit is also responsible for liaison with the Central Statistics Office, CSO.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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There are eight contributors, so I ask for their co-operation. Each may have up to one minute.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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I thank the Taoiseach for his reply. It is nice to get an insight into his Department and the number of senior officials who give him advice and help formulate policy, but I have some issues around the economic decisions of our country that have impacted on us so badly since the bank guarantee and the bailout. I have issues with the way we deal politically with the banks and the hands-off approach we take. My group has a motion tomorrow on cash and the need for it to continue to be available to people. I wonder at times cén sort advice the Taoiseach gets and whether he always act on the advice he gets.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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In asking for an update on the work of the Department's economic policy unit, I am reminded of what business groups have said over the past year or so about the housing crisis being a critical barrier to growth within our economy. I am wondering what advice the Taoiseach has received, for example, about accommodation for hospitality workers in Dublin city. Rents here average €2,300 and I promise those in the city centre far exceed that. Those workers, who are contributing to the economy of the city and the county as well, are clinging onto their homes and will be terrified by news of the ending of the eviction ban. What happens when our hospitality workers can no longer afford to live in this city? Our students, to take another example, already cannot afford it. What happens when we price people we are relying upon out of the city? Was that factored into the Cabinet's considerations today?

Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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Will the emergency accommodation services in this State be able to cope with the surge in demand after the evictions take place in April, May and June? Has the Taoiseach done his homework? Can he give an assurance to this House that the emergency accommodation services will be able to cope? If they are not and people are turned away, what are they expected to do? Would the Taoiseach advise them to go to a Garda station? What would his advice be in that situation? The Cabinet made a reckless decision this morning. It is an act of free market extremism. We are inevitably going to have a record number of homeless people in the weeks and months ahead. What is going to happen when people go to the emergency accommodation services? Will those services be able to cope? Is the Taoiseach able to give us reassurance? If he cannot, what alternative does he suggest for people?

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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Four hundred people have died in homelessness in Dublin alone in the past five years. That is an incredible figure and the national one is far higher, but the Government does not seem to want to record these figures. We have a situation where, heartbreakingly, that figure does not include the number of people who died sleeping rough in the city. We have 11,754 people in homelessness, 3,000 or more of whom are children. Many of these children will be spending their third St. Patrick's Day in a hotel room as a result of the dire crisis in housing. As a result of the Government's announcement on ending the ban on evictions, thousands of families are now living in fear that their last protection from homelessness has been taken from under them by this Government. The Government must go back to this decision. It needs to take into consideration the level of damage that is being done to so many children and so many families who are teetering at the edge of homelessness. The Government's decision must be revoked.

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail)
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Does the Taoiseach agree his Department should lead the development of an action plan to protect small businesses in towns throughout Ireland? I appreciate, as do businesses, the recent measures, including the enhancement of the temporary business energy support scheme, TBESS, and the extension of the reduced VAT rate for the hospitality sector. However, there appears to be something wrong. For example, a restaurant that has bookings for months in advance, so it is successful, is struggling to stay afloat and stay open because it is becoming difficult to make the margins viable. Does the Taoiseach agree we need an action plan? If so, will his Department lead the development of such a plan to protect small businesses across our towns?

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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A case I have raised with the Taoiseach and repeatedly with the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, will come up again in the courts on Friday. It concerns Jacqueline and her husband. Her husband works for a semi-State company and they have two children, one of whom has special needs. Jacqueline and her husband will be going in front of a judge as their landlord is seeking an enforcement order to evict them from the home they have lived in all their lives. I have written to the Minister. He says he is sorry, but there is nothing he can do because the couple are over the social housing income threshold. Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council cannot offer the couple social housing and says it cannot purchase the house, even though it is for sale, which is the reason Jacqueline and her family are being evicted. Will the Taoiseach provide them with a letter to bring to the judge explaining there is now a solution, which he has announced today, for their situation? They got a deferment four weeks ago because there was some prospect of the house being bought, which the Minister then informed us could not happen-----

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I thank the Deputy.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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-----and the council said could not happen. Will the Taoiseach give me a letter to give to the judge on Friday saying the Government now has a solution where the house could be bought for cost rental?

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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We are way over time.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Will the Taoiseach do that to prevent the family being made homeless?

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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This evening, Sinn Féin will bring a motion asking the Government to tax electricity companies on their obscene profits and put that money towards reducing and capping people's bills. Back in November 2022, I warned the Government the electricity pricing system was broken and people were paying prices they should not and need not have been paying. The Taoiseach and his Government colleagues spent a year telling me reform was either impossible or undesirable.

The Taoiseach's Government has failed to act and even opposed the reform at EU level. Last week, the Taoiseach stated there will be a tax on generators and that it will apply to profits made in 2022. That same day, I received a written response from the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, exactly contradicting that statement. Can the Taoiseach confirm that a windfall tax will be applied on electricity companies for all their profits made in 2022?

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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Workers in section 39 agencies recently deferred their industrial action following strong encouragement from the Taoiseach's Government to convene at the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, to resolve outstanding issues regarding pay and conditions. These workers quite rightly feel like they are being treated as if they are somehow second-class. They deliver all the services that public servants deliver, but these workers do so without the same or comparable terms and conditions. It is deeply frustrating for them and their unions to find that the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, the Department of Health and Tusla are all refusing to attend the WRC. There will be no resolution to this issue until the decision-makers are in the room, and they will not be in the room until they get an instruction from the Taoiseach or the relevant senior Minister concerned. I ask, therefore, that the Taoiseach ask the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, the Department of Health and Tusla to make themselves available and to stop ignoring and disrespecting the third-party industrial relations machinery of the State.

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I had the privilege this morning of attending a young carers' briefing hosted by Senator Tom Clonan. The reason I say I "privilege" is that we heard from young people and young carers about their direct experience and how they care for family members. It was quite moving to be there and to hear about what people go through and the sacrifices they make. I will give two recommendations that emanate from their report. Of the many recommendations, one was to support the "transition of young carers to further, higher education and apprenticeships", along with also ensuring to facilitate them to return to the workforce in time. What steps is this Government going to take to support young adult carers actively to engage in and remain in employment?

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputies for their questions. I was asked about concerns from businesses in relation to the housing crisis. It is certainly something that has been raised with me many times, certainly during my time as the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. I hear the concern being expressed by businesses regarding the housing crisis impacting on their ability to recruit and retain staff and to attract staff in from abroad. Having met with representatives of businesses on many occasions to discuss this and other matters, they do acknowledge that this is a problem being faced in other fast-growing economies as well. The multinationals will say this is the same problem they face in San Francisco, Vancouver or Lisbon. They are not saying that we are the only people facing this problem. We must respond to it, mainly by increasing additional housing provision, which is what we are doing.

It is important, however, to put it in a factual context. We do have 2.57 million people at work in Ireland. This is more than ever before. Unemployment is close to an all-time low at around 4%, while youth unemployment is at an all-time low. We had a record number of jobs created by the IDA in Ireland last year and record levels of trade and investment last year. The housing crisis may well be impinging on our capacity to grow but not so much that we are not regarding record growth and numbers of jobs. It needs to be seen in that factual context.

Deputy Barry again asked what we have done in the past few months during the period of the eviction moratorium. I have set this out for the record of the Dáil and it is important to do so again, because I cannot accept the non-factual narrative that the Government sat on its hands and did not do anything in the past few months. This is simply untrue. Just in the fourth quarter of 2022, 5,000 new social housing units were built, 600 were leased, 500 were bought and 1,500 voids were brought back into use. Additional emergency accommodation was also sourced, providing 650 beds. This is a huge amount that has been done during that period and we announced today that we are going to do more. We are authorising local authorities to purchase 1,500 homes where the landlords are selling up-----

Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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Assurances on the homework that has been done.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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One of the things I hope is that we will lessen the need for people to go into emergency accommodation by authorising local authorities to purchase the homes they are living in. If a landlord is selling up, if the tenant is a HAP or RAS tenant, the local authorities have the finance and are being encouraged to purchase those properties. The person will move from HAP to being a social housing tenant, which is something I think we all favour. They will not need to go-----

Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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Have you done any homework on this, any at all?

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Deputy, please.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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----anywhere near emergency accommodation in that period. We also confirmed that we will lease an additional 1,000 social housing units, which will allow us to bring new social housing provision this year to something like 12,000 additional units. Probably more than one third of all new homes being provided in the State this year will be social housing. This has not been something we have commonly seen down the decades and it is certainly not an approach that is neoliberal, right-wing or any of the ideological nonsense we keep having thrown at us as a Government, which just does not stand up to the facts. We have also authorised additional student accommodation, with 400 units to be provided in Dublin City University, DCU.

Deputy Toibín again mentioned the issue of people who have died while in contact with homeless services. I am happy to give him a note on this. He raised this before and I did answer it in a bit more detail on that occasion. As he said, these are not people who died on the streets but people who have been in contact with homeless services. They die for all sorts of different reasons, often in hospices and hospitals from medical conditions, but also often for other reasons, perhaps overdoses and sometimes violence, sadly, and sometimes we do not know the reasons. I can, however, give the Deputy a detailed note on this which can help to explain better what is meant by that figure.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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The lack of wrap-around services.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I agree absolutely that small businesses are in need of support. They are the biggest employers in Ireland. If we add them up, they employ more people than IDA and Enterprise Ireland companies and the Government combined. They employ people all over Ireland. We are doing a lot already, with the VAT reductions staying in place for another period, the improvements in the temporary energy business support scheme, TBESS, and other supports that are regularly offered through Enterprise Ireland and the local enterprise offices, LEO. We are not planning on having any particular task force in my Department, but work on this is very much led by the Ministers of State, Deputies Calleary and Richmond, through their engagement with small businesses in the small business forum. I know that many restaurants, unfortunately, have not been able to survive and have been closing in recent weeks. I am also seeing a huge number of new ones opening, which I think is very encouraging as well. We should not discount this.

Turning to the question of the windfall tax, my understanding is that this applies to profits made in 2022 and 2023. I am concerned that this was not a response that the Deputy got back from the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, so I will check up on that. This was, however, definitely my understanding.

Regarding the staff of section 39 bodies, these are certainly not second-class employees and they are not second-class in terms of the work that they do.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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I-----

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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It is the case, however, that they are not employees of the State. This is a simple fact. We are the funder or part funder of these bodies, and if employers were going into the WRC, they would not bring in their funders or their clients. It is a matter between the employer and the employees and their representatives. There is, of course, a role for the State to play, but this is an interaction that occurs between the bodies themselves and the State. Again, it is with the WRC and I hope it is being resolved there.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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They have no capacity to settle and the Taoiseach knows this.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Will the Taoiseach answer my question?

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Yes. It is a court case and I am reluctant to say anything about a matter that is before the courts. I know the Deputy has engaged with the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, on it-----

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I have got nothing.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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-----and he tells me that there are pertinent facts in relation to this case that the Deputy has not put on the record of the Dáil. I can speak to this afterwards, if the Deputy would like.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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That is not true.