Dáil returns for first sitting of 2023, with controversy in no short supply

The Dáil returns from recess today for the first term of 2023. It might be the first day back but already there is no shortage of controversy.

In between Christmas and the return to Leinster House, we have seen the resignation of Minister of State Damien English as well as an apology from the newly installed Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe. All in all, it is an ignominious start to the term for Fine Gael.

As Harry McGee reports, all of the Opposition parties have now joined together in a rare show of unity to press Donohoe to explain discrepancies in his 2016 general election expenses.

Donohoe has come under increasing pressure in recent days to make a Dáil statement setting out how he omitted to include in his expenses statement a sum of €1,057 which was used for the use of a van and to pay six workers to erect election posters in his Dublin Central constituency. He was expected to will make that statement at about 5pm today.

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Any such statement will be the political story of the week, overshadowing the return of Leo Varadkar as Taoiseach, although Varadkar himself will jet off to Davos in Switzerland for the World Economic Forum. In any event, Ministers were up bright and early this morning with the Cabinet meeting set to kick off at 8am. Top of the agenda was plans brought by the Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien to address the problem of defects in apartment buildings.

Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan will bring forward plans in relation to electric vehicle charging locations. The aim of his Cabinet memo is to make it more attractive for people to buy and drive electric cars in the coming years. Many people have expressed worries around whether they would be able to travel across the country in an EV, particularly if the weather is bad. The fear is that the car will run out of juice and leave the driver stranded.

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Under the Minister’s plans, high-powered electric vehicle chargers would be installed along the main road networks, with such chargers being placed within every 60km stretch. All the details will be contained in the first ever electric vehicle charging infrastructure strategy, which will cover the next three years.

Funding of €100 million will be set aside for the strategy, which will also address apartment charging, neighbourhood charging, destination charging as well as motorway or en-route options.

Separately, the interim Minister for Justice Simon Harris will bring forward plans to target gangs who try to groom children into a life of crime. Criminals who do this could face up to five years in prison. The legislation is designed to prevent criminal networks from exploiting children to commit crime.

Mr Harris is expected to tell Cabinet that some children are being deceived by criminal networks into believing crime can bring “wealth, bling and a party lifestyle but in reality it brings debts and fear.”

The plan is to enact this legislation by the summer.

Other major items on the agenda include a plan for the media sector which is being brought forward by the Minister for Arts, Media and Culture Catherine Martin.

She will present Ministers with an implementation strategy and an action plan which will give effect to the recommendations made by the Future of Media Commission report last year.

The strategy will include a review of Irish language services across the entire media sector as well as the introduction of new funding through a new media fund. Priority will be given to local democracy reporting and courts reporting schemes.

There will be consideration given, too, to an increase in the spending on independent productions. There will also be commitments to progress the reform of defamation laws and a review of the operation of copyright laws.

Migration: The Big Political Question of 2023

In the last week or so, the Taoiseach and other Ministers have been strongly hinting that they will prepare for the same number of refugees to arrive from Ukraine in 2023 as arrived in 2022. There are various projections which have been prepared for Government to help Ministers get their heads around what 2023 may entail. The big (and obvious) question is this: if State accommodation is already incredibly stretched, can the Government provide accommodation for another 65,000 or so refugees? There is massive anxiety in Government about this. The possibility of temporary closures (akin to what was seen at one point over Christmas) of the Citywest processing facility has been raised by Government figures. There are already growing tensions in communities around the country. The question of migration and immigration could yet be one of the biggest issues of 2023. Here is a piece on the modelling, and a background piece explaining the context.

Proving that politicians are feeling the heat, the issue dominated the Fine Gael parliamentary party meeting last night. As Jack Horgan Jones reports, some Fine Gael politicians told colleagues last night that they want to see aspects of immigration policy hardened. Fine Gael deputy leader Simon Coveney raised migration issues, warning that some elements want to create and use tensions around migration as a political tool. His intervention is potentially significant. At the very least it shows that politicians are becoming increasingly aware of the simmering tensions across the country.

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Playbook

In the Dáil, the first Leaders’ Questions of 2023 kicked off at noon. There were statements on the Climate Action Plan after lunch. And Opposition TDs wanted to know where the annex to the report is. This is important because it details how the goals set out in the Climate Action Plan may actually be achieved. The main Government legislation of the day is the wordy Oil Emergency Contingency and Transfer of Renewable Transport Fuels Functions Bill 2023. In a nutshell, this legislation sets out the powers that the Government would have in the event of a sudden and severe curtailment of oil supplies. In the evening, about 6pm, Sinn Féin will bring their first private members motion of 2023. This is a motion about increasing capacity in the health service, which is timely given the record trolley figures witnessed in the new year.

If you want to see a more detailed agenda for the day, you can read it here.

If you’re wondering what’s happening in the Seanad, you’ll have to wonder a little longer because Senators do not return to full Oireachtas business until next Tuesday, January 24th.

Fear not, however, as the committees are already in full swing.

The joint committee on health met at 9.30am to discuss exclusion zones. These are effectively “safe zones” outside healthcare providers that are providing abortion services, where protests would not be allowed to take place. Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has already informed Cabinet of his plans which are aimed at stopping protests directly outside where women are accessing such services.

At the same time, the joint committee on social protection will discuss plans for the auto-enrolment of pensions. Then at 1.30pm, the joint Committee on media heard from RTÉ, TG4, Virgin Media and several others about the long-term vision for the media sector. Expect plenty of talk about the future of the TV licence fee.

There are many other committee meetings today. The full details can be found here.