There is a long list of questions. I ask Members who are putting questions to the Taoiseach to remember that there are many colleagues who want to have an opportunity to do so. Questions and answers should, therefore, be short and snappy.

There is a very clear commitment in the programme for Government to propose substantive reforms, a responsive political system, greater openness and improved accountability. On improved accountability, there was a rather disturbing report in this morning's edition of The Irish Times on the questioning of the judgment of an experienced pilot by the former Minister for Defence of a flight that did not take off because of fog at Cork Airport. The former Minister rang the pilot, which I find extremely surprising. There were sharp exchanges between the two. There was also the revelation that the Air Corps was very unhappy as something like this had never happened in over 25 years. There are a number of key issues. First, it could be construed as intimidation or putting pressure on the pilot, although I am not saying it was. We have seen this happen in other countries and jurisdictions with terrible results. In other words, the issue of safety comes to mind. The professional's judgment should be final. I do not know whether the former Minister has clarified the report carried in The Irish Times this morning, but safety should never be compromised by anyone's diary and there should be clear protocols in place. Has the Government laid down clear protocols for this kind of thing in order that professional judgment on whether flights can take off can in no way be compromised? Has the former Minister been held accountable by the Government and has he been asked to apologise to the Air Corps about the incident?

When it comes to aviation, safety must come first. As I was formerly the Minister with responsibility for transport and aviation safety, it is an area about which I know a little and in which I certainly took an interest when I held that brief. Everyone in the House can be assured that, as far as we are concerned, when it comes to aviation, safety comes first. It is always the pilot's decision, not the passenger's, whether they should fly. It is not correct to characterise somebody who called the pilot as being intimidatory. I certainly do not think that was the former Minister's intention; rather, it was just to ask a question. There is no suggestion the former Minister or any Minister in the Government would try to second-guess the judgment of a pilot.

The living wage technical group has stated this morning that the living wage in Ireland has risen to €11.70, a rise of 20 cent, as a result of the increased cost of living facing citizens and workers. As the Taoiseach knows, the living wage is evidence-based and the rate of pay a full-time worker needs in order that he or she can experience a socially acceptable standard of living, certainly not a gold-plated standard of living but a threshold of decency. The Taoiseach will be aware that the rate of €11.70 is well in excess of the current national minimum wage which stands at €9.25, the rate earned by many who rise early in the morning and go out to work. The programme for Government contains a commitment to increase the national minimum wage to €10.50 in the next five years. This figure still falls well short of what has been independently judged to be a minimum living wage. In the programme for Government the Government states the reason for raising the national minimum wage is to reduce poverty levels. Given that the cost of living is outstripping any such increase, last year's increase in particular, will the Taoiseach accept that the Government needs to be more ambitious in its targets? Will he accept that it needs to adopt a policy of payment of the living wage to workers in order that a socially acceptable standard of living will be afforded to workers, citizens and their families?

It has been over a year since the House passed a Labour Party motion to increase incrementally the national minimum wage until it is pegged at 60% of median earnings. Despite that commitment and the commitment outlined by Deputy Mary Lou McDonald in the programme for Government, so far the Government has only managed to increase the national minimum wage by 10 cent. It has refused to amend the terms of reference of the Low Pay Commission that would make even reaching this low target a possibility. This morning the living wage technical group published its 2017 report which recommended a living wage of €11.70 per hour. Given the continuing rise in the cost of housing instanced, this will come as little surprise to anybody. Leaving aside the recommendation which I do not believe the Government will embrace, there is a formal resolution of the Dáil. Will the Taoiseach tell us in plain terms when and how either the resolution of the Dáil of last year that we work towards 60% of median earnings or the commitment contained in the programme for Government to at least reach €10.50 per hour will be achieved?

No legislation has been promised in this area. There is a programme for Government commitment to increase the statutory minimum wage. In the past five years the national minimum wage has been increased on three occasions. It has been increased by about 20% during that period, at a higher rate than the increase in wages generally. I am sure it will be increased further into the future.

The minimum wage is determined on a statutory basis by the Low Pay Commission and the Low Pay Commission considers all the empirical evidence, including input from unions, from employers, from NGOs and from advocacy groups, and takes into account a number of different things. Those include not just the cost of living, but also the potential impact on employment and displacement. As I understand it, the living wage technical group is separate. It is non-statutory and it is comprised of a number of groups, including trade unions and community and voluntary sector advocacy groups. It is based on certain assumptions-----

Academics and experts.

-----but does not include employers or independent economists in the group making that assessment.

Is the Taoiseach gainsaying the finding of-----

I call Deputy Bríd Smith.

Last November, when the Taoiseach was Minister for Social Protection, we had a lengthy debate about the new method of calculation of the contributory pension in what is known as the homemaker's scheme. I put an amendment to the Bill asking for a report within three months and what the Taoiseach was going to do to tackle the gross inequality to women under that scheme. They are women who reared their children in the 1970s and 1980s, right up until 1994, who got up early before the Taoiseach was born and did a very thorough job for the people of this country. They are now suffering a loss of between €19 and €30 a week. That is no small fry when one is living on an old age pension of the State, rather than the type of pension that Deputy Enda Kenny will leave this House with in the next few years. This discrimination is continuing unabated. There are now tens of thousands of women who are suffering discrimination because of it.

I ask the Taoiseach to please not tell me that if the inequality towards the women is ended, he is going to have to take it off somebody else who is a recipient of social welfare. How about using the EU average of PRSI contributions for those who earn over €100,000 a year and taking what the rest of Europe does for employers' contributions on PRSI? How about looking-----

The Deputy has put the question.

-----at a different kind of measure that tackles wealth rather than poverty?

We are currently conducting a review of the social insurance fund and hope to have that information by the third quarter of this year to feed into a change of the model. The Deputy is right that there are obviously women of a particular age who are coming to retirement age now who are not included in that homemaker's scheme and are obviously losing out on a considerable amount of money every week. We hope to move to the total contribution model as practised by other European countries, but that is going to take a while. I know that dates have been put out referring to 2020 and 2021, but we will expedite it as soon as we have the information from the third quarter report from this year.

My question is about a report that we were promised.

There is no opportunity for a second question.

The Minister did not answer the question. Could we please get an answer on when the report will be due? It is long overdue already.

I have no responsibility. Perhaps the Deputy can table a Parliamentary Question.

It is questions on promised legislation, not questions and answers. I am sure questions can be asked in the normal way.

I can be the judge on that.

The programme for Government indicates that many youth organisations, including Foróige, around the country will be supported. They do valuable work to help young people. They are waiting for an announcement on the dormant account funds for 2017 to 2019.

The question has to be on promised legislation.

The programme for Government says that it will support young people. We are dealing with vulnerable people. Foróige, a national organisation, does huge work there. We are waiting for this announcement on dormant funds for 2017 to 2019. We are seven months into the year now and perhaps the Minister, Deputy Michael Ring, has gone off to try to find the post offices or such - I do not know - but tá sé imithe, he is missing. We need to know before the summer, before this House breaks, that we will get an announcement, especially on this part regarding disadvantaged children in rural and urban areas, because they are being neglected and denied this funding. It is dormant account funding and is no expense to the Exchequer. Please can we have an announcement on when we will have it.

I do not have a date for the announcement, but I will ask the Minister, Deputy Michael Ring, to confirm that as soon as possible.

It is now almost a year and a half since the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill started its passage through the Oireachtas. It has been moving at a snail's pace. In that period, there have been 1,600 alcohol-related deaths. Approximately 800,000 bed-nights have been taken up in hospitals as a result of alcohol-related illnesses, and there have been 420,000 absenteeism days as a result of alcohol abuse. That is imposing a huge human and economic cost on the entire country. The Taoiseach said recently that the completion of this Bill would be a priority. Will he tell us what his proposed timescale is for the completion of this long-awaited legislation? What is the target date for its implementation?

This is legislation that I support strongly. I published it myself as Minister for Health and introduced it into the Seanad just over a year ago. I met with the Minister, Deputy Simon Harris, about it and other matters just last week. The Government is very keen to have this legislation enacted. It is not going to be possible to have it done before the recess, but it is intended to have it enacted through both the Dáil and Seanad in the next session.

Last October, the Government promised to introduce legislation to permit the representative associations of An Garda Síochána to have access to the industrial relations mechanism of the State. I ask the Minister and the Taoiseach when that legislation is going to be brought before the House. Have the Minister and Government consulted with the representative associations before finalising that legislation? I am thinking about the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors, AGSI, and Garda Representative Association, GRA, in particular.

It is my intention to meet with the representative bodies at the earliest opportunity. There are a number of pieces of legislation which are taking up considerable time in the House that I would hope to see processed in the course of the next few weeks. I will avail of the opportunity and would be very happy to report directly to the Deputy.

On rural broadband and the need for a roll-out in rural areas, I want to make a point about the way the assessment for need in rural villages is being done. This is being done as a desktop operation. The village of Upperchurch is near me. It is a small rural village where the proposed roll-out excludes the local school and the main employer in the village. There needs to be a physical assessment of what is needed in rural areas before this roll-out happens.

There is no legislation promised in this area, but on the issue of rural broadband and the need to phase that in as soon as possible, there has been some recent commentary on the plan. I want to clarify that, contrary to reports, the procurement process has not been paused, and it is continuing in parallel with the commercial deployment of high-speed broadband by commercial operators. Some 52% of premises in Ireland now have access to high-speed broadband. We plan to have that up to 77% by the end of next year, and over 90% by 2020.

The health section on page 53 of the programme for Government gives a commitment to "increase access to safe, timely care, as close to patients’ homes as possible". Within our constituency of Cavan-Monaghan, children who break a limb have to wait two whole weeks to get an appointment at the fracture clinic in Drogheda hospital. This medical care is neither timely nor close to a patient's home. I have also been informed that patients attending Cavan General Hospital have had their fracture clinic slots in Drogheda reduced to five slots every two weeks. Will the Taoiseach give a commitment to the children of Cavan-Monaghan who break limbs - which happens quite often with children - that they will be seen more often than that?

There is no legislation promised on that-----

It is in the programme for Government.

-----but I will ask the Minister for Health to speak to the Deputy directly on it.

The Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill is proposed legislation. It is a fairly comprehensive Bill which will affect the delivery and structure of the health service through many sectors in the country. It purports to reform the Medical Practitioners Act, the Dentists Act, the Health and Social Care Professionals Act, the Pharmacy Act, the Nurses and Midwives Act, and the Health Acts in 1953 and 2004, and to bring them into line with an EU directive. What is the progress taking place on the Bill itself? When is it likely to come before the House and have its First Stage and Second Stage?

The heads of that Bill were approved last December, and the Bill is currently being drafted by the Department of Health, but we do not have a date for publication yet.

I call Deputy Danny Healy-Rae. These are questions on the programme for Government or promised legislation. It is not question time.

In the programme for Government, access to health care was promised for people who have illnesses.

When one applies for a medical card at present, it is only dated from the date it is granted. I am asking that a medical card be made effective from the day the person applies for it.

Those with serious illnesses, such as lyme disease, have to travel abroad to get their problems addressed and have to pay a savage cost. The Government indicated that more people will have access to medical cards. I ask the Taoiseach to ensure that those with lyme disease are covered with a medical card because they are enduring savage costs going abroad because the medical care is not here for them.

On the same subject-----

Is the Deputy adding to it?

No. It is the same subject. There was a good system in place previously for those who were terminally ill who had medical cards. Unfortunately, in recent times that system has been failing. When a person has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, within 24 hours of a doctor declaring that it is a terminal illness that person should be issued with a medical card no questions asked.

Promised legislation.

It is part of this.

It does not mean that two wrongs make a right.

This is terribly important. I ask the Taoiseach respectfully, as a former Minister for Health who understands the enormity of this situation on a family, that when a person is diagnosed with a terminal illness, he or she should be granted a medical card immediately upon a medical practitioner signing off on that terminal illness.

I will certainly speak to the Minister for Health about that. As the Deputies will be aware, the Minister is currently launching the new cancer strategy. It is still supposed to be the case. Somebody who has been diagnosed with a terminal illness and is dying is still supposed to receive a medical card automatically. I was not aware of any change in or any problems with regard to that. I have not come across it in my constituency in quite some time. I will certainly check with the Minister of Health if that is the case.

In relation to backdating medical cards, I am not sure if that can be done. It is the case for social welfare entitlements that one receives the payments in arrears from the point at which one is entitled, not the point at which one is allocated. I think that is what Deputy Michael Healy-Rae is suggesting. It sounds like a good idea. I am just not sure how practical it would be because it would involved presumably then refunding fees to doctors etc. and that could be difficult to administer.

In terms of treatment abroad, patients can apply for treatment abroad under the treatment abroad scheme from the HSE and can also avail of treatment abroad without a means test under the cross-border directive, but of course, it needs to be a recognised treatment.

The Taoiseach will be aware that commercial rates is one of the biggest bills that many small businesses face in Ireland today. The Valuation Office conducted a revaluation of the commercial rates across Longford-Westmeath in the last number of months and over 40% of the businesses there saw a significant increase in their annual commercial rates. We were told not to worry that the Government was bringing forward new legislation which would see how commercial rates are charged differently and would be proportionate to the business that is being conducted in these premises. We are now close to summer recess and to my knowledge, this legislation has not been published. When will the legislation be published because these new rates will come into effect on 1 January next year and they run the risk of putting many businesses out of business if not addressed before then?

The heads of that Bill were approved a few months ago by Cabinet. The Bill is currently being drafted in consultation with the Attorney General's office. I expect publication in the next session.

I have had revaluations happen in my constituency. It is a traumatic experience for those in business to have their business revalued and their rates increased dramatically, although it is important to point out that a revaluation is cost neutral. The revenue is supposed to be the same at the end of it.

Assuming everybody pays it.

There are winners and losers, but overall it is supposed to balance out. The fact that it happens so infrequently is a real problem and a lesson in terms of policy.

The next three speakers are Deputies Jan O'Sullivan, Brady and Fleming.

We all got a copy of the Constituency Commission report last week and studied the maps carefully. I suppose it was good news for some and not so good news for others. Either way, I think everybody accepts that it is an independent process with independent recommendations. There is normally related legislation brought before the House. When does the Taoiseach expect that to happen?

Go raibh maith agat. Thanks for your brevity.

Legislation will be required and it will be in the autumn.

Deputy Brady, we are following the example of Deputy Jan O'Sullivan.

As we sit here this afternoon, many are being forced into taking retirement against their will. Not only are they forced into retirement, they are forced onto a jobseeker's payment which is grossly unfair. The Taoiseach will be well aware that in February last a Bill came before this House to abolish the mandatory retirement age. It has gone through pre-committee scrutiny. We are waiting on a money message from the Taoiseach. When will that money message be delivered because it is grossly unfair that people are being forced into taking retirement against their will and onto a jobseeker's payment? When will the money message come and will the Taoiseach commit to abolish the mandatory retirement age?

I will have to check that out. It is not to say it is not in the system, but I have not seen the request come across my desk yet for a money message on that Bill. It is important, once again, to state that there is no mandatory retirement age in Ireland. People are free to work well into their 60s, 70s and 80s, if they so wish, and many do.

Clearly, not many.

However, sometimes employment contracts require workers to retire from a particular job and, obviously, changing somebody's employment contract can be difficult to do in law.

I would like to ask the Taoiseach when the Department of Social Protection will introduce legislation to deal with the unfair situation where a person's contributory State pension is based on his or her average contribution from the time he or she entered the workforce. In particular, the Minister will be aware that many took time out during their working career to look after family duties. In practically all of these cases, these were women. They would have not paid PRSI contributions during that period and as a result, their average contributions over their entire adult life are lower than they otherwise would have been resulting in them receiving a lower State pension than they would otherwise have received. When will this discrimination, primarily against women, be ended?

I am not sure if Deputy Fleming was here but Deputy Bríd Smith brought up exactly the same question a few minutes ago. Unfortunately, the answer is exactly the same. We are waiting on an actuarial review on the Social Insurance Fund that will come back to us probably by quarter three. The model we hope to move to is a total contributions model. We will be moving towards it as quickly as we can. The expected date at present is 2020, which I accept is no solace for the amount of women that the Deputy is talking about, but if we can do it faster, we will.

The next three speakers are Deputies Michael Collins, Corcoran Kennedy and Cowen, and there is another batch.

On page 113 of the programme for Government, I will raise the issue, which I and many other Deputies here have often done, of tillage farmers who suffered huge losses to their crops in the harvest of 2016. Some of them also suffered salt damage to the crops in late 2015 and the early spring. These farmers have been waiting almost 12 months for compensation. Can the Taoiseach announce any compensation package? Will it take into account that some of these farmers have lost up to €60,000?

One must also remember these were being guided towards cheap finance up to now. Many of these farmers did not get the cheap finance. Unfortunately, the farmers who got the cheap finance were those who were not in financial difficulty and those who are in financial difficulty have not got the cheap finance today.

I understand the Minister, Deputy Creed, is taking this.

I would advise the Deputy to listen to County Sound. The tillage compensation fund has been approved.

It is 21 years since the Aarhus Convention was adopted, 16 years since it came into force and five years since we ratified it. What progress has been made in transposing it into legislation to give full effect to the convention in order to give access to information, public participation and decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters to our citizens?

I am afraid I will have to come back to the Deputy on that. I do not have the answer to hand but I will certainly come back to the Deputy once I have the answer.

I ask the Taoiseach, in the absence of the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, if the Government will realise its commitment to bring forward legislation to give effect to the recommendations of the Joint Committee on the Future Funding of Domestic Water Services.

It was to have been brought before the House, agreed and passed prior to the recess.

It will not be possible to bring the legislation through before the recess, but it will be before the autumn.

Will the Government be seeking an extension to facilitate that?

An independent survey of parents' views on the HSE child and adolescent mental health services was released today. The overall result was an 18% satisfaction rating for CAMHS. Will the Government commit to investing fully in mental health services and CAMHS in the upcoming budget? It is only staffed at a level of 53%. At the current rate, it will be 2040 before it is fully staffed.

That will obviously be a matter for discussion in the Estimates process in the run-up to the budget. However, as is and has been the case in previous years, I am confident that there will be additional funding for mental health services, on which spending has gone up by almost €100 million in the past five years. However, the needs are great and, as a result, further resources will be required.

On 30 March 2015 there was an horrific fire in Millfield Manor in Newbridge. Within 32 minutes six houses that had formed part of a terrace were gutted to the ground. Thankfully, no lives were lost because of the time of the day at which the fire occurred. It emerged afterwards that the building regulations had not been adhered to and that, basically, the builder had cut far too many corners. Many of the families - not only the six whose houses were burnt but the other 84 homeowners in the estate also - are faced every day with fear and negative equity and are having problems in getting insurance cover. The former Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly, said at that stage that he would commission a report on the causes of the fire and to enable him to make recommendations to existing homeowners. We are still awaiting that report. Will the Taoiseach ensure the report which is sitting on the Minister's desk is released as soon as possible? Can we get a time or date for its release?

I understand the report is with the Attorney General.

The matter of the national broadband plan has been raised on several occasions. It is State infrastructure. I imagine the Taoiseach is aware that it is eagerly awaited in the constituency I represent which covers counties Sligo, Leitrim, Donegal, Cavan and Roscommon. What is the up-to-date position on the plan?

The current state of play is that the national broadband plan is going ahead. Contrary to some reports, the process has not been paused. It is continuing in parallel with the commercial deployment of high-speed broadband by commercial operators. A total of 52% of premises in Ireland have access to high-speed broadband. With the national broadband plan that figure will rise to at least 77% by the end of next year. Eir is delivering high-speed broadband - predominately fibre to the home - to 300,000 premises in rural Ireland. That is subject to a commitment or agreement between Eir and the Minister, whereby Eir has committed to build high-speed broadband infrastructure to serve these 300,000 premises. As a result, they will not need State national broadband plan intervention. The intervention area has been finalised at 542,000 premises and the procurement process is continuing in parallel.

The final question is from Deputy Martin Kenny. I am confident that it will be appropriate.

I have a question, too.

I am sorry, but we will hear from the Deputy afterwards.

One key issue dealt with in the programme for Government relates to rural post offices. The closure of many post offices in rural Ireland is something many fear. We were told that up to 500 post offices could have been on the edge last year. In fairness, the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Denis Naughten, has done considerable work to get the Irish Postmasters Union and An Post to try to work out a solution. I understand there has been some progress in having an alternative or different model of contract in place. Will the Taoiseach inform us how much progress has been made? When can we expect to see some solution? Many post offices are affected. In our constituency a number are hanging in the balance. Those involved are unsure what will happen. We would like to have some sense of certainty. The post office in my parish of Aughavas is one of those affected. Another is in Ballygawley, County Sligo. There are several others around the country. We, therefore, need to have some sense of closure in that regard. These are all post offices that are associated with small business and they can easily continue to function if they receive some support.

I hope it will not be a sense of closure but rather of security. I do not have any new information, but I will ask the Minister, Deputy Denis Naughten, to contact the Deputy.

I preface my question by saying I do not want the question to be interpreted as being anti-asylum seeker or anti-refugee. The 2016 annual report of the Reception and Integration Agency shows that €64.3 million was spent on running centres for refugees and asylum seekers. The figure represented a rise of 11% on the figure for 2015. A total of €51.7 million was paid to firms to fund the operation of 28 commercially-owned centres. A sum of €7 million was paid to seven centres that were State-owned facilities. As the Taoiseach will appreciate, there is a major difference in the figures. I do not expect him to give me a full answer. However, will the Minister come to the Dáil to inform Members of the breakdown of expenditure? If the Taoiseach can give me a positive answer, it will be acceptable.

I will be happy if the Deputy addresses the question on the issue to me next week. He raises some important issues. Obviously, there are issues of commercial sensitivity, of which he will be fully aware, but I will be happy to deal with the matter within the rules of the House at Question Time.

I compliment Members. There has been an improvement in the appropriateness of questions. I hope, as we progress, that they will be more appropriate.