Seamus Healy TD calls #budget14 social vandalism & says former Labour leaders Corish, Cluskey and Connolly would be turning in their graves; and asks why do the rich and powerful in the country always get away scot free and asks why there is no wealth tax in #budget14
Seamus Healy TD raising the issues of heat and fuel poverty with An Tániste Eamon Gilmore at Leaders Questions and asks if Government is monitoring winter deaths due to cold weather.
Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Independent)
The Government has cut heating supports, such as the fuel scheme and the free units of electricity, in each of the last three years. In 2011, the number of free electricity units was reduced from 2,400 to 1,800. In 2012, the period over which the fuel scheme operated was cut by six weeks and in 2013, the household benefits package, including the free units of electricity was cut again. Even before these cuts were implemented, it is known there were more than 1,000 additional winter deaths in the Republic. Moreover, it is known the vast majority of such deaths were due to cold-related conditions and that such conditions exacerbated underlying medical conditions such as, for instance, respiratory illnesses. These facts are known on foot of professional research carried out and directed by Professor Goodman of the Dublin Institute of Technology. This research was peer reviewed and publicly funded through the Centre for Ageing Research and Development in Ireland and was launched by the Tánaiste’s colleague, the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Rabbitte. It is known that before the cuts introduced by the Government, heating costs were significantly cheaper. Over the past three years, gas costs have increased by 22%, 8.5% and 2% in 2011, 2012 and 2013, respectively, giving a total increase of 32.5%. Similarly, the cost of electricity rose by 14.8%, 5.9% and 3.5% in 2011, 2012 and 2013, respectively, giving a total increase of 24.2%. In addition, the cost of oil rose by 18% in 2012 alone.
A recent press release from the Society of St. Vincent de Paul reveals that the increase in energy bills over the past three years has cost €500 per family. This wipes out completely the value of the fuel scheme for 2013-14. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul also revealed that it now spends more than €10 million per annum to provide heating supports for needy families.
tMichael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
A question please, Deputy.
Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Independent)
Is the Government monitoring the increase in winter deaths due to cold-related conditions caused by the Government cutbacks to heating supports? Does the Tánaiste know how many deaths the cuts relating to heating supports have caused since 2011? Will the Government reverse these huge cuts to needy elderly families?
Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
Hear, hear.
Eamon Gilmore (Tánaiste; Minister, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
The Government is very much aware of the increase in the costs of fuel and the pressure that is putting on households, families and elderly people. This is the reason a range of supports is in place to support people with the cost of fuel. One thing that is clear regarding fuel, energy and gas is that we in Ireland are receivers. We are receivers with regard to the cost of fossil-based fuels, including oil and gas, and are very open to the way in which the price of such commodities fluctuates on the world market. This is the reason the Government is doing two things on a strategic level. First, it is increasing the generation of renewable energy in Ireland to reduce our dependence on oil and gas and to enable the supply of electricity and energy at a lower cost. Second, the Government is addressing the retrofitting of homes in order that their energy efficiency is improved and the cost of heating them is reduced. Thus far, approximately 250,000 homes have been retrofitted. The Government is particularly concerned that the retrofit scheme would proceed for those households with low incomes. A total of €50 million has been provided to improve the insulation of 25,000 of the least energy-efficient homes over a three-year period and 1,000 of these improvements have already been carried out. Additional funding has been provided to address the retrofitting of local authority-owned homes to improve their energy efficiency. This issue must be considered in two ways. First, the support the Government provides for households through the fuel allowance, for example, must be maintained. In addition, the issue must be addressed at the level of the energy efficiency of the home itself. This is the reason the retrofitting of houses to get higher standards of energy efficiency and thereby reducing the cost of heating the home must be part of what must be done. Ultimately, that is the best way of doing this sustainably over a longer period.
Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Independent)
As usual, the Tánaiste has not answered any question I asked of him.
Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
Yes, it is disgraceful.
Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Independent)
It is the usual performance in this Chamber and sometimes one wonders whether it is worthwhile to ask any question. The Tánaiste naturally blames the world markets for the increases in prices and while that is well and good, the Government’s response to increased costs has been to cut supports to needy families by cutting the fuel allowance, the free units of electricity and the household packages. The Government has deliberately and knowingly cut heating supports. It is known that cold-related conditions mean additional winter deaths. This policy is an act of social vandalism and is a matter of life and death. Must Members wait until there are more elderly deaths before finding out what is the exact position? Will the Tánaiste answer my question now? As the Tánaiste does not know the answer, will he ask the Central Statistics Office, for instance, together with the Centre for Ageing Research and Development in Ireland, to ascertain how many deaths the Government’s cuts have caused since it came to power in 2011? I again ask the Tánaiste whether the Government will reverse the huge cuts that have taken place over the past three years and for which it is responsible?
Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
Hear, hear.
Eamon Gilmore (Tánaiste; Minister, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
There are occasions in this House when allegations are made that are seriously over the top.
Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Independent)
Like?
Eamon Gilmore (Tánaiste; Minister, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
The allegation the Deputy has made in this particular case falls into that category.
Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Independent)
Which allegation?
Eamon Gilmore (Tánaiste; Minister, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
No, let us concentrate on dealing with the problem.
Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
The Tánaiste did not answer the question.
Eamon Gilmore (Tánaiste; Minister, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
The issue of fuel costs is a matter of which the Government is aware—–
Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
The Government has made it more expensive.
Eamon Gilmore (Tánaiste; Minister, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
—–and which it is seeking to address.
I have set out for the Deputy the way in which we are seeking to do that.
Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Independent)
By cutting the supports.
Eamon Gilmore (Tánaiste; Minister, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
The Deputy has asked me to ask the Central Statistics Office to produce figures for us. We will do that and I have no problem with that. We will ask for advice from anybody who has advice to offer to us in this area. We will listen to what any of the organisations representing older people in this country have to say. We will take advice from wherever we can get it, but there is a difference between hearing that advice, addressing it in a reasonable way and making the kind of over the top hyperbole that the Deputy has just made.
Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Independent)
Which one?
Eamon Gilmore (Tánaiste; Minister, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
The Deputy asked whether we would ask the CSO to produce figures for us. The answer to the Deputy’s question – let me be clear on this because he accused me of not answering your question – is: “Yes, we will.”
Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Independent)
What about my second question? I asked whether the Government will reverse the cuts, but the Tánaiste did not answer that one.
Deputy Séamus Healy questions An Taoiseach regarding local authority housing and housing adaptation grants.
Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Independent)
This year the Government has cut the capital allocation for local authority and voluntary housing by over €106 million. This is in the context of huge reductions already, from €1.5 billion in 2008 to €585 million in 2013. Recent figures for waiting lists for local authority housing have reached the shocking number of approximately 100,000 or, to be precise, 98,318. The level of social housing building in Ireland is at zero. Local authority housing has been decimated. The local authorities’ budget for house building has been reduced from €367 million in 2010 to a paltry €65 million in 2013. Capital funding for voluntary and co-operative housing this year has been cut by €15 million, from €70 million to €55 million, a reduction of 21%. The public house building programme is almost non-existent and because of this, the numbers on housing waiting lists have increased hugely, from 56,000 in 2008 to 98,000 – the most recent figure – an increase of 40,000 families languishing on housing waiting lists. The Government has abandoned the social housing building programme. This is another reason the Labour Party is at 6% in the polls. It had a proud record in providing local authority housing, but it has done a U-turn on this issue also. What is happening is that house building has been privatised and developers and landlords are being paid, instead of putting the money into building houses. They are being paid through schemes such as the rent supplement scheme and the paying of mortgages over and over again through the rental accommodation scheme and the long-term leasing scheme. In view of the huge numbers languishing on local authority house waiting lists, will the Taoiseach agree that a major public house building programme should be commenced by the Government? Such a programme would provide a major stimulus for the economy, create thousands of jobs, provide badly needed homes for families on waiting lists, reduce social welfare expenditure and save money. Will the Government immediately commence a major house building programme for the 100,000 families languishing on housing waiting lists?
Enda Kenny (Taoiseach, Department of An Taoiseach; Mayo, Fine Gael)
I thank the Deputy for his comments and questions. Clearly, there is an increase in the number of applicants for adequate and proper housing, many of whom are on local authority lists. NAMA has offered 4,000 houses, of which, I think, 2,000 have been taken up by local authorities.
Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
A couple of hundred only.
Enda Kenny (Taoiseach, Department of An Taoiseach; Mayo, Fine Gael)
Significant numbers of families are living in very small apartments, which is causing frustration and concern for many. I met the Construction Industry Federation the other day and I am aware that there are quite a number of good contractors and developers who have never been in NAMA and are not in the league of those deemed to be rogue builders or cowboys. The people concerned want to see a construction centre that has integrity, can be trusted and will measure up. This is an issue the Government will look at, but I am not going to confirm what moneys, if any, can be made available in the capital budget for it.
On the live register, there are at least 80,000 people who were involved in the construction sector in one way or another and there is clearly scope for a programme. For example, in the regeneration projects in Limerick and other locations there is a significant amount of public housing being built. I expect the response from local authorities to be improved in terms of the offers made by NAMA. As part of the budget, the Government will consider what is the best thing to do in respect of the increasing pressure from families seeking on public housing lists.
Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Independent)
It is obvious to everybody that the Government is refusing to fund a significant local authority and voluntary house building programme. However, will it at least spare the disabled, the ill and the elderly from cuts and give them some quality of life in their remaining years? This year the Government has cut the funding for housing adaption grants for persons with disabilities and ill and elderly people by €15 million, or 36%.
Seán Barrett (Ceann Comhairle; Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
Can we have a question, please?
Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Independent)
We now have a situation where we have ill and disabled persons who must crawl up the stairs and cannot have a shower or a bath, not because they have been refused a housing adaption grant, but because they cannot even be considered because the funding has been cut by the Government and the money has run out. Does the Government have any compassion for the people concerned?
Will the Government show some common decency and restore the €15 million that was cut from the scheme so these people can have reasonable living conditions in the later years of their lives? Will the Taoiseach at least spare the disabled, the ill and the elderly from these cuts?
Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
Hear, hear.
Enda Kenny (Taoiseach, Department of An Taoiseach; Mayo, Fine Gael)
Compassion and common decency are not exclusive to members of the Opposition.
Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Independent)
I hope everybody in the House has compassion and common decency.
Enda Kenny (Taoiseach, Department of An Taoiseach; Mayo, Fine Gael)
This is why we listened to the sad saga of the women who were in the Magdalen laundries.
Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Independent)
I did not ask about the Magdalen laundries. I asked about housing adaptation grants.
Seán Barrett (Ceann Comhairle; Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
Please listen to the reply.
Enda Kenny (Taoiseach, Department of An Taoiseach; Mayo, Fine Gael)
This is why we are acting in respect of the people evacuated from their firetrap houses in Priory Hall. It is why the Minister of State with responsibility for housing, Deputy O’Sullivan, and the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government met NAMA last week to discuss—–
Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Independent)
Every Deputy knows what I said is true. They deal with it every day of the week.
Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
Deputy Healy is dead right.
Seán Barrett (Ceann Comhairle; Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
Deputy Healy asked his question and I ask him to listen to the answer.
Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Independent)
The Taoiseach is not answering the question.
Enda Kenny (Taoiseach, Department of An Taoiseach; Mayo, Fine Gael)
I am making the point to Deputy Healy in direct response to his comment that compassion and common decency are exclusive to people on that side of the House.
Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
He never said that.
Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Independent)
I said everybody in the House should have common decency. That is why I am asking the question.
Seán Barrett (Ceann Comhairle; Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
I ask Deputy Healy to stay quiet, please.
Enda Kenny (Taoiseach, Department of An Taoiseach; Mayo, Fine Gael)
It is why the Minister of State with responsibility for housing, Deputy O’Sullivan, and the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government met NAMA last week—–
Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
It is a pity they did not meet the Priory Hall residents a couple of years ago.
Enda Kenny (Taoiseach, Department of An Taoiseach; Mayo, Fine Gael)
—–to discuss the question of speeding up transfers from NAMA for social housing.
Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Independent)
Will the Taoiseach restore the cuts made to the housing adaptation grant? He will not.
Enda Kenny (Taoiseach, Department of An Taoiseach; Mayo, Fine Gael)
It is why the programme of voluntary housing and building takes into account many of the people Deputy Healy mentioned.
Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Independent)
Are ill and elderly people going to have to—–
Seán Barrett (Ceann Comhairle; Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
I ask Deputy Healy to stay quiet.
John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
He is just trying to get an answer.
Enda Kenny (Taoiseach, Department of An Taoiseach; Mayo, Fine Gael)
It is why, in consideration of whatever limited capital is available for this area, priority will be given to the elderly and the disabled in the forthcoming budget.
Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Independent)
Ill and elderly people cannot get a stairlift.
Enda Kenny (Taoiseach, Department of An Taoiseach; Mayo, Fine Gael)
The Minister of State with responsibility for housing has already made this point very clearly. I cannot deal with the specifics of what will be allocated, but within these constraints the Minister of State with responsibility for housing has already referred to the priorities that will be dealt with.
Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Independent)
It is shameful.
Workers & Unemployed Action 