Is é an dúshlán mór atá os comhair gach Roinn Stáit anois sa tréimhse atá amach romhainn ná seirbhísí a chur ar fáil trí mheán na Gaeilge. Is é ceann de na spriocanna atá leagtha síos i mBille na dTeangacha Oifigiúla (Leasú) úr a bheidh ag tosach sa Dáil amárach ná sprioc go mbeidh 20% d'earcaithe úra in ann seirbhís a chur ar fáil trí mheán na Gaeilge. An bhfuil aon dearcadh ag an Roinn maidir leis sin agus an gcuirfidh sí fáilte roimhe sin? Measaim gur sprioc ciallmhar atá ann. Ba chóir do dhuine a bhfuil Gaeilge líofa aige nó aici go mbeadh deiseanna nó sruth ar fáil taobh istigh den chóras Stáit dóibh chun fostaíocht a chur ar fáil do na daoine sin agus seirbhís a chur ar fáil chomh maith leis sin. Tá ar an Stát seirbhís a chur ar fáil agus fógraíocht a dhéanamh go bhfuil an tseirbhís sin ar fáil trí mheán na Gaeilge agus go bhfuil sé ar an leibhéal céanna agus a bheadh seirbhís trí mheán an Bhéarla. Má chuirtear litir nó ríomhphost isteach ag an Roinn Dlí agus Cirt agus Comhionannais, ba cheart go bhfaighfear freagra i mBéarla taobh istigh de thréimhse seachtain, deich lá, nó coicís. Dá gcuirfinn litir nó ríomhphost ag an Roinn inniu, an mbeadh an freagra trí mheán na Gaeilge ar ais chugam chomh luath is a bheadh an ceann i mBéarla? Chuir mé an cheist sin ar go leor de na daoine eile a bhí os comhair an choiste cheana. Tá cúpla ceist luaite agam ansin agus bheinn buíoch má tá tuairim ar bith ag an Roinn orthu siúd.
]]>The second issue I wish to raise is the recent British election. I congratulate all of the MPs who were elected, particularly in the North. There are some new faces now, which I very much welcome. However, this week the focus of attention must turn to Stormont. One message coming from last week's election, particularly in the North of Ireland, is that the political paralysis caused by the lack of institutions in the North cannot continue. The voters gave a clear message in that regard, with votes for Sinn Féin and the DUP down on the previous election. There is a real need to get the institutions back up and running in the North before the deadline of 13 January 2020. On the ground, schools do not have budgets to meet basic requirements such as special needs assistants and hospital waiting lists are increasing. We think we have problems with the latter down here but the figures in the North are spiralling out of control. People are waiting for years. There are real issues about which people are concerned in places like Magherafelt and Maghera that must be addressed. The only way they can be addressed is through democratic and accountable decision-making at Stormont, rather than having civil servants running day-to-day operations in the Six Counties, with no decisions being taken, effectively. Sinn Féin has been arguing over the Irish language issue and while I agree with its position, the fact that Stormont is not up and running means that Foras na Gaeilge is not even operational. Basic requirements can only be resolved by getting the institutions back up and running. In that context, I commend the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Coveney on his work. It is essential that both the Irish and British Governments put as much pressure as possible on the parties in the North to get the institutions back up and running, for once and for all.
]]>It is worth mentioning the late PJ Blake, who died in Letterkenny and was buried this week. He was a town councillor, and all his life he was an advocate for the need to tackle the drugs issue in our small and regional towns. One of his main concerns was the fact that the Garda resources to deal with drugs had been greatly depleted, and that remains the case. Gardaí simply do not have the resources, particularly in rural areas, to deal with this problem. It is now the biggest problem for young people in small rural towns. It is affecting our schools, including one incident in my town in recent weeks which is a cause of concern for all of us. We should have a debate on that issue.
I had a discussion this week with the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Finian McGrath, who has advised me that the Irish Wheelchair Association made no application to his Department for funding to keep the Cuisle centre open. Councillor Tony Ward, who is a member of the HSE forum in Roscommon, has raised this issue. It is time that the Irish Wheelchair Association was called to account on this issue and I appeal to it to apply to the Department of Health and HSE for the required funding because I have been informed that if an application was to be made the Minister would look favourably on it. It is time for truth and clarity to be brought to bear on this issue.
]]>I raise an issue I raised in a recent Commencement debate, namely, aquaculture licence applications for Ballyness Bay in County Donegal. Since I raised the matter in the House, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine last week granted approval for 14 of the 18 applications, effectively giving approval for an area the size of 40 ha that can now be used for harvesting with trestles Pacific oysters and clams. The local community are deeply annoyed at the decision, taken swiftly by the Minister, in light of the fact that, in general, such applications take up to two years for a decision to be made. The decision in this case was made within approximately six months of the applications being submitted. There are significant questions to be answered about the public consultation process, given that the local community were not provided with the opportunity to make submissions prior to the Minister's decision. Their only option is to appeal to the Aquaculture Licences Appeals Board, which is an expensive process, with each appeal costing €200. There are 14 licences, and if any group or individual appeals all the applications, it will cost €2,800.
The Minister has got the matter deeply wrong. He spoke in this House and the Dáil, and has blatantly ignored the public concerns over the issue. While nobody wants to deprive people of a livelihood or an economic benefit garnered through farming or aquaculture, the public good, as well the destruction that could be forced on a small bay, needs to be taken into consideration. That did not happen, however, before the Minister arrived at his decision to grant the licences. It is most unfortunate. I ask the Leader to facilitate a debate on the processing of aquaculture licences. Although it may not be possible before the Christmas recess, I would like the Minister to come before the House to discuss the issue in general terms early in the new year.
]]>It is quite worrying that the moneys that have gone over to Irish Water have not been replaced in the local government funding model. I accept that Irish Water is now carrying out most of the responsibilities local authorities would have been carrying out in the water end of it. Nonetheless, that is a net cut in funding to local authorities.
The funding mix available to local authorities is about 10% local property tax. Then there is one third from goods and rental income, one third from State grant and one third from commercial rates. The dependence on commercial rates, and now the revaluation which was referred to by Senator Gallagher, is creating an atmosphere where local authorities need to collect that money and of course that is creating difficulties for many businesses. Aside from that, we should consider providing additional powers to local authorities. Many State services provided by Departments and quangos could instead be driven through local authorities. At least there would be democratic oversight. A root and branch review of some of those services should be carried out in the Custom House. The doubling up of quangos managing services that are beyond the reach of democratic scrutiny should be ended. Local councillors could provide oversight and act on behalf of the people by questioning the delivery of services.
The Custom House and the Department have power over the way that local authorities spend their money. Senator Humphreys, with whom I agree, touched on this matter. Local authorities lack autonomy over how they spend their money. Strict criteria apply to how the block grant from the Department is spent. I will cite an example from yesterday. The director of housing services for Kildare County Council appeared before officials of the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government. The director was told that the local authority could no longer purchase second hand homes where individuals were living and the landlords wanted to sell. Instead, the council must buy new homes. This is despite the fact that no new homes are being built in the region. It makes no sense. Reality needs to be brought to bear. Issues like these are being raised by local authority members throughout the country. Unfortunately, there seems to be a lack of joined-up thinking. Local authorities are on the ground and should be listened to by the Department and not lectured as is happening currently. Councillors should be given additional powers.
I wish to touch on the provision of funding for local councillors. I attended the meeting of the Joint Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government when the Minister of State appeared before it on Thursday, 28 November. He indicated that this matter would be addressed and stated his hope that the Moorhead report would be published within ten days or two weeks. Where is the report? We are one week on. When will he receive it? Will he act on its findings? I welcomed his statement last week that he would publish it upon its receipt. He should fight on behalf of local councillors to ensure that this report is not given over to the Public Service Pay Commission. Were that to happen, we could be looking at a result months, or maybe even years, from now. We need a result now.
The Minister of State also mentioned last week that he would backdate to the local elections any additional payment to councillors. Will he confirm whether that will be the case? I welcome his work, which is not made easy by dealing with the Departments of Public Expenditure and Reform and Finance, but this issue must be addressed as it is long overdue. Other Senators, including Senator Horkan, raised the heavy workload of local authority members. They are the practitioners of democracy and are at the point of contact closest to the citizen. A suggestion I have made numerous times is that councillors should deal with local issues and local representations and Deputies should deal with legislative scrutiny and holding major State organisations to account, including banks. Instead of there being competition between Deputies and councillors at local level, Deputies would have less of a role there. Senators would play a comparable role. When there is competition, the Deputy does not want to see the councillor well resourced. That is unfortunate and wrong, as the councillor should be well resourced, given the significant volume of work that he or she must do.
I hope that the Moorhead report is published as soon as possible. Will the Minister of State give a commitment to return to the House following its publication to discuss its findings? It is a matter for the Leader to schedule, but I would like the Minister of State to do so as soon as possible.
]]>When I met representatives of the Association of Irish Local Government earlier today, we discussed the terms and conditions of local authority members. I support what Senator Craughwell said about the need to do more than look at terms and conditions. We should also look at the requirement for mayors and cathaoirligh of local authorities to attend 80% of meetings. There should be a system that is similar to that which operates in the Oireachtas. When local authority members are facilitating their local authorities by being abroad or at another event, they should be able to reconcile for any local authority meetings they are due to attend. That would be on a par with what is available to Members of the Oireachtas. That facility should be made available to chairs and mayors of local authorities, in particular. When the Minister of State with responsibility for local government comes before this House next week, I hope he will have some good news for the local authority members across the country who are anxiously awaiting equality of pay.
]]>I wish to raise the issue of today's commentary from the Central Bank around mortgage lending in the Irish market and the fact that Irish retail banks continue to overcharge for mortgages. According to European compiled data, our retail mortgage market is the fourth most costly in the EU, after only Romania, Hungary and Poland, which are essentially emerging markets. Our average mortgage rate is approximately 2.96%. This is way more expensive than mortgages in most other European countries. That average does not really tell the full story because new entrants to the mortgage market since the crash are getting rates of approximately 4.5%. If a young couple is looking for a mortgage of €300,000 from AIB, which would come at a rate of 4.5%, they will pay €1,520 a month over a 30-year period. The cost of servicing that loan will be €247,000; let us just call it €250,000. Will that house be worth that amount of money in 30 years? We can only speculate. We do not know. If the bank was to offer a rate of 2.25%, which would still allow it to make a profit according to the Central Bank, the interest over the lifetime of the mortgage would be reduced to €112,000. That is a difference of €135,000 to the individual over 30 years, or a difference of €374 in monthly repayments.
We have to get real here. The ways banks are allowed to operate in Ireland is absolutely disgraceful. They are getting away with murder. They are charging double the interest they need to make a profit on new entrants to the mortgage market. While the Central Bank criticises this, it is standing idly by. I would like to see us use a Thursday to have the Governor of the Central Bank come before the Seanad to discuss some of these issues. I ask the Leader whether that is possible. If not, I request the presence of the Minister for Finance in the Chamber to discuss this issue. There are many factors affecting the housing crisis. This is only one of them. Young people are going to get themselves involved in a 30-year mortgage, the repayments on which they may not be able to meet over the years. The banks will swoop in, take the house, and sell the loan to a vulture fund. This is what they are doing and they are getting away with it. We need to discuss this. We need to regulate in this area and to ensure that the Central Bank acts on existing regulations.
]]>I call again on the Minister to review this. The case of Ballyness is not an isolated one. This is happening all over the country. The manner in which these applications are being dealt with is wrong. Local communities in the areas concerned deserve to have an input. What is striking is that the National Parks and Wildlife Service is completely silent on this application. I do not know why. I know the Department may have stayed within the legislative framework but the process is wrong.
]]>It has come to light that in March and April of this year the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine advertised that a number of applications for oyster farms had been submitted. Notice was placed in The Donegal Democratfor one week only. The Donegal Democrat is not in extensive circulation in the area in question. A local community organisation, Save Ballyness Bay, tells me that only 15 copies of The Donegal Democratare sold in Falcarragh, the primary town near Ballyness Bay, each week. Other newspapers, such as the Tirconaill Tribune or the Donegal Newsare widely circulated in the area but the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine chose to advertise this in a newspaper that is not.There were 72 hours of public consultation afforded through being able to view the documentation in the local Garda station. However, the Garda station only opens from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and if gardaí are called out, it may not be open. Therefore, the public consultation was completely inadequate. The vast majority of people, including me, as a local public representative, did not become aware of the applications until June, so after the public consultation period had elapsed. The only reason I became aware of them was that a local concerned resident raised them with me.
There was a lack of consultation. It is very important to have consultations about these applications because it affords the Department an opportunity to garner a better understanding of how people in a local community feel about large-scale applications. Consultation also allows experts to make an input into the system. Therefore, the decisions that would be arrived at, following meaningful consultation, would clearly be better in public policy terms. This is a public policy decision. If these proposals in their entirety were to be granted, according to members of the local community, thousands of whom have signed petitions, it could devastate tourism potential of the area, not to mention the ecological damage it could cause to the SAC.
The Minister of State has a background in farming. This area is part of a special protected area or special area of conservation. If local farmers want to dig a drain, they must first get the permission of the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, and they can only cut silage or hay at certain times of the year. However, in this case, there has been no consultation whatsoever, or at least there is no paper trail, between the Department and the NPWS in respect of these applications. There is something not right here and I call on the Department to set aside these applications and initiate further public consultation to afford everyone in the local community, including experts and applicants, an opportunity to have their say before a decision is arrived at. Otherwise, a decision will have been taken in the dark.
I am not satisfied with the appropriate assessment that was carried out for these applications. It was carried out by the Marine Institute, which is funded by the Department. There is a conflict of interest. The appropriate assessment should have been carried out by an independent organisation at arm's length from the Department to facilitate an objective analysis. I expected an environmental impact statement would have been required because every planning application for a one-off house in proximity to an SAC requires one. I have major questions about these applications.
I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach for his latitude.
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