Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 15 Oct 2024

There are more than 11,000 children with disabilities waiting for an assessment of needs to be completed. As the Taoiseach knows, they are legally entitled to that assessment within six months, yet over the past decade we have seen a frightening lack of progress from Government in getting children access to their assessment on time. A parliamentary question response to my colleague, Deputy David Cullinane, shows that fewer children had an assessment of needs completed in 2023 than almost ten years ago in 2014. Waiting lists have ballooned and capacity has flatlined.

When the Taoiseach became Minister for Health there were 4,000 children awaiting completed assessments but by the time he finished, that had risen to 5,000. Now, four years later, on his watch as Taoiseach, that figure has more than doubled. This figure of 11,000 does not count the thousands of children who were subjected to illegal, substandard assessments under a shortcut procedure devised during the Taoiseach's time as Minister for Health. As he knows, that procedure was subsequently struck down by the High Court. Two years on and the Government still does not have a plan to stop the State from breaking the law by ensuring that children get their assessment of needs within six months, as is their legal right. The therapists needed to meet demand have not been hired and persisting pay inequality between the HSE and section 39 organisations means that many children's disability network teams simply cannot retain experienced staff. This has serious consequences. A child needs a completed assessment of needs to access an appropriate school place and to get the right mix of healthcare, social care and educational supports. For many guardians, parents and carers, the assessment is needed to access social protection supports.

The excruciating wait and uncertainty causes real distress for children and their parents. Jaden from Dublin is one of these children. He is five years old. Jaden has an intellectual disability, epilepsy, autism and requires a feeding tube. He is due to start primary school next September but his mother Ciara was told by his psychologist that Jaden must have a completed assessment before starting. She sent off the assessment of needs form last January.

That is ten months ago and still she has heard nothing back. Ciara says she is now very worried that Jaden will not be able to start school on time and that he will not get the supports he needs to progress to fulfil his potential. This is a really horrible situation for any child or any parent.

Tá méadú 11,000 ar líon na bpáistí atá míchumas orthu atá ag fanacht ar mheasúnú riachtanais comhlánaithe faoin Rialtas seo. Ní mór don Rialtas seo anois gníomhú dáiríre a dhéanamh chun cearta dlíthiúla na bpáistí seo a chosaint.

Delayed assessments mean parents not having full information, families going unsupported and delayed development for children. I am asking three things of the Taoiseach. First, hire the therapists who are needed; second, resolve the pay inequality between different children's disability network teams; and, finally, please set a date for meeting the legal rights of these children to ensure that no child waits longer than six months for their assessment of needs to be completed.

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue, an issue that I know is close to all our hearts and indeed all our priorities. I note the Sinn Féin Private Members' motion on the matter this week, which applies an appropriate degree of focus to this very important issue. We have taken a number of steps in recent weeks alone to try to make significant progress in the lives of children with a disability. We launched a new autism innovation strategy. We commenced the restoration of in-school therapy supports for children in special schools. The Deputy spoke about Jaden and while I do not know all of Jaden's needs, it is important that we put the therapies back in schools so that the education system and the health system work much more closely together. We have provided the funding for that.

We have also quite rightly provided a significant degree of additional funding to procure additional assessments of need, the issue that the Deputy rightly highlighted. I think the Labour Party tabled in this House a Private Members' motion on this quite a while ago, inspired by Cara Darmody, looking for us to use private capacity and support the use of the private sector. We have tried to do that, albeit in a slightly different way, but now procuring capacity in the private sector as well as the public sector to significantly increase the number of assessments of need, which I will come to in a moment. We have published a new €15 million respite investment plan. Quite rightly as Sinn Féin called for in its Private Members' motion, we have also agreed under the leadership of the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, to opt into the optional protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

I am very clear we need to do a lot more on disability services. I get that and I appreciate that. That is why we now see for the first time additional funding bringing the disability services budget for next year to more than €3 billion with a total allocation of €3.2 billion. This represents an increase of €1.2 billion in funding for disability services in Ireland in five years. It is a record allocation. It will ensure that more people can access more disability services more quickly. It also recognises a number of the pay pressures the Deputy referenced in terms of service providers.

Specifically on the issue of assessment of needs, I will say a couple of things. First, we have placed a real focus on this. In May, we announced a decision to finance an assessment of need waiting list initiative through the procurement of private assessments that I referenced. That is now working. In the first half of this year, we saw a 28% increase in the number of assessments of needs completed when compared with the same period last year. The campaign led by Cara Darmody is making a difference and showing the positive impact we can have by spending taxpayers' money rightly on using private capacity to go alongside public capacity. A total of 1,092 additional children had assessments of need commissioned from private providers and assessors during the months of June, July and August. There have been 1,092 more assessments done as a result of that decision we took in May. I am very pleased that because it is working we allocated a further €10 million in our budget only a few weeks ago to continue this initiative into next year and to expand the scope of it as well.

Work is also ongoing to increase the capacity of our children's disability network teams through several recruitment campaigns. Currently these teams, called CDNTs, are providing services and supports for more than 46,000 children. Disability services were protected during the HSE recruitment embargo. While recruitment and retention of staff is a challenge, significant work is ongoing to fill vacant posts on each of the 93 CDNTs. It is positive that we see the number of people now working in teams increasing year-on-year and the disability workforce increasing year-on-year as well.

New posts have also been funded in the budget for CDNTs, namely, 20 senior-grade and 20 staff-grade therapists, and 20 therapy assessments.

The second point I will make is this. We need to have a very honest conversation around how we respond to that decision in relation to court and the court judgment. I very much respect the independence of the court but from a policy point of view I do not agree that the laws of our land should dictate such rigidity with regard to the length of time an assessment of needs requires. That is not just my view; it is the view of countless parents and disability representative organisations across this country.

I hope he also accepts that this is not a tolerable situation. That has to change and for it to change, he needs to name a date, in my opinion. That is also the opinion, as the Taoiseach knows, of Cara Darmody, of her father Mark, and everybody who has campaigned very hard on this issue.

I mentioned Jaden and Ciara to the Taoiseach. Like many parents, Ciara is not on her own. There are 11,000 waiting for their assessments of needs. She is frantic with worry now. She completed the forms in January, and she is waiting. It is ten months on and they are left in a state of limbo. I am sure the Taoiseach will accept that this is also unacceptable.

I will put the question to the Taoiseach again, and I might write to him specifically on Jaden's case-----

-----although he is not an exception. There are many others in that situation. Rather than questioning the commitment for the six-month rule, can the Taoiseach make a commitment that the law will be respected and that the six-month rule will be upheld? The Taoiseach knows that is the campaign of Cara Darmody in the end - yes, private provision in the meantime and the finance for it but she said loudly and clearly to the Taoiseach, as he stood in photographs with her, that he should get the State to obey the law and to respect and enforce the six-month rule.

She has been very clear and been able to speak to me directly, and I have appreciated those engagements, blunt and frank as they have been. She is an incredible young woman. What I would say directly to Jaden's mum Ciara - I would be very happy to engage with Deputy McDonald further on this - is that we have a pathway now to make significant progress on assessments of needs. It is not just me saying that. I genuinely believe it on the basis of an initiative we started in May. I saw the difference when we put several million euro - I think €7 million, from memory - through the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, and the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, into the assessment of need waiting list initiative. I saw 1,092 additional children get the service. That is why we have now increased that pot by a further €10 million.

I agree with the Deputy. It is to happen only alongside building capacity for the CDNTs. I will say this, and I said this directly to Cara Darmody and to Mark: we will map out exactly the impact that will have on the six-month rule, and I am happy to engage with the Deputy on that. We will do it in the context of the service plan. I still stand over the view, from talking to many parents around the country, that many parents want access to the therapies rather than an elongated assessment of need. Of course they want an assessment of need but they want that to be in as short an amount of time as necessary to give them the answers as to the therapies a child requires. That is the bit that I think we should return to with regard to changing and reforming the law. I am very happy to work with the Deputy on reforming the law in that area, if that is something we can share a view on.

I raise the ongoing brutal bombardment by Israel of Gaza and Lebanon, and I want to ask the Taoiseach about the occupied territories Bill. Over the last few days, I think we have all watched with great distress as Israel's actions have escalated still further to an even more horrific degree in Gaza and Lebanon. On Sunday morning, UNIFIL reported that 15 peacekeepers were injured in Lebanon following an attack by Israel upon them in apparent targeting of UN bases. These actions by Israel represent a serious breach of international law and of the agreement which has allowed UNIFIL to operate in Lebanon since the 1970s, for many decades. Our thoughts are with all those peacekeepers stationed in Lebanon, and in particular with members of our own Defence Forces and, of course, their families.

Of course, our thoughts are with the civilians of Gaza and Lebanon, who are being killed and maimed in their thousands by the Israeli regime. Some 40,000 people have been killed in Gaza in just over a year, 115 every day, and over recent days it has appeared that the Israeli Government is now intent on doing to Lebanon what it has done to Gaza.

There is horrific reporting from Sally Hayden today about the killing of 22 civilians in a village in northern Lebanon, an area hitherto untargeted. Those who have died include 12 women and two children. There was an especially horrific atrocity in recent days in northern Gaza, where we witnessed people being burned alive at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital following an Israeli attack. We know at least three have been killed and 40 injured. Médecins Sans Frontières reports that this is the seventh time Israel has bombed the hospital since March and the third time in a month. Most horrifying is the report of the death of a 19-year-old young man, engineering student Sha'ban Al-Dalou, who was burned alive in a hospital bed while hooked up to an IV drip.

Apparently, Washington has, at last, protested yesterday's atrocity to the Israeli premier, Benjamin Netanyahu, but that is simply not enough. As Israel continues its genocidal action in Gaza and now in Lebanon, burning civilians, attacking UN peacekeepers and attempting to evict UNRWA from the occupied territories, we now see the US government sending military personnel to help Israel. It is hard to see how the US can act as any sort of peace broker when it has formalised participation in the conflict despite these atrocities. The question is what we in Ireland can do about this. We must do more and take unilateral action, if necessary and we cannot get consensus elsewhere, to sanction Israel more effectively.

We hear today that the Government has received changed advice from the Attorney General on the occupied territories Bill. In opposition, we say there has never been a legal impediment to Ireland passing that Bill and the Government has been too cautious on this. It is reported that the Attorney General agrees with us that the threshold has been reached and, of course, the ICJ advisory opinion has changed the context. The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, has said it is a game-changer. I believe the Taoiseach said today that we are now not waiting on an EU consensus to act. Let us act now. Passing the Bill is the next step we must take. It would represent a real stand against Israel's genocidal actions. The Taoiseach would have the support of all in opposition in this House and the Upper House. Can the Taoiseach assure us, in the limited time left for this Government, that he will pass the occupied territories Bill to create a meaningful sanction against a regime that is intent on such horrific slaughter of civilians?

I thank the Deputy for raising the most important situation at the moment in terms of the horrific humanitarian catastrophe, breach of international law and war crimes that are being committed. Tomorrow, I will attend a meeting of the European Union with the gulf states and on Thursday I will attend a meeting of the European Council where I will engage in detail with EU partners on the issue.

Yesterday, I took the opportunity to speak by phone with the President of Israel, Isaac Herzog, to register my extraordinarily serious concern about the deteriorating situation in southern Lebanon. The specific purpose of that phone call related to the protection of our troops. I am conscious of the 379 Irish men and women serving with distinction in southern Lebanon. I believe I speak for the entire House and the entire country when I say that we respect their bravery and thank them for their service and their safety is paramount to all of us. I want to be absolutely crystal clear on the record of this House that the deliberate firing at UNIFIL posts is outrageous. It is a totally unacceptable breach of international law. It is a cause of deepest concern to the Irish people, most particularly the families of the Irish Defence Forces personnel serving in Lebanon. I want to join with the Deputy in registering that. There needs to be full accountability for these actions. I am deeply concerned about the surge of violence in Lebanon and the launch of an Israeli ground incursion across the blue line.

We saw particularly vicious and despicable attacks and targeting of refugee camps and civilian targets over the weekend. This is deeply shocking. While all of this is going on, we cannot allow the world to forget about Gaza. We cannot forget about the fact that what I believe in is happening in Gaza is still a war on children. The World Food Programme has said it cannot get food in. We cannot get some of the sickest children out for life-saving and life-altering operations. I have spoken to the King and Queen of Jordan, who have led the humanitarian effort in many ways, in this regard. We cannot get the aid in. This could not be a more grave or serious situation.

I have been very clear. I have consistently said that every country must use every lever at its disposal. For different countries that means different things. For some countries, who are providing weapons, they should not provide weapons. For other countries like Ireland, where we are not providing weapons, we should be doing everything within our power as a country to register our absolute disgust at what is happening so that when our children look back on this time they say that in Ireland they did all they could to stand up for international law and human rights.

So far, we have recognised the State of Palestine and have consistently said at an EU level that the EU-Israeli trade association agreement should be reviewed because there are human rights clauses.

However, the Deputy is right that we have not managed to create a consensus about that, far from it. While I will continue to do that this week in bilateral engagements with colleagues, what I am saying is that, in light of the ICJ advisory opinion, I asked the Attorney General to review the situation as regards the occupied Palestinian territories to see whether Ireland can move on this. Last night, we received updated advice about legal issues surrounding the occupied Palestinian territories Bill, with the ICJ advisory opinion being an entirely new context. I have to be clear there are significant issues with the Bill, as currently drafted, from an EU point of view and from an Irish legal point of view. There genuinely are. That has been the consistent legal advice. However, the ICJ advisory opinion is potentially a game changer for what the country can do. It creates a new context for examination of the issue. We have agreed that formal advices will be presented to the Government next week. I am happy to engage with the Opposition with Government colleagues after that. I want to send a clear message - and I will do so at the European Council - that Ireland will no longer wait for EU consensus on this issue.

I thank the Taoiseach. It is encouraging to hear that we will not wait for European consensus and that the advice will go to the Cabinet next week. Certainly, if there is anything we in the Opposition can do to ensure the expediting of the passage of the occupied territories Bill, I think we will all do it. It has cross-party support. That is encouraging.

At EU level, we support the Taoiseach seeking a review of the EU-Israel trade agreement. That is important. He has said he will be at the European Council meeting. He was in Washington last week. He and the Government could go further in pushing the US Administration. That point has been made to me by Palestinian diplomats who are conscious that Ireland has a particular line of communication with the US Administration. We should be using it. As the Taoiseach said, we should use every lever at our disposal. However, we should not forget that the EU remains Israel's biggest trade partner and that EU money is enriching those who are profiting from the slaughter of civilians. The Taoiseach needs to push harder, both with the US Government and EU leaders at the European Council meeting this week, to ensure there is at least some consensus between some member states. I am conscious that we have acted with Spain in the past, especially on the recognition of the Palestinian state. There are other EU member states which share our view and increasing numbers of citizens of the 27 countries share the utter horror everyone feels on witnessing the horrific slaughter in the Middle East.

Political leaders across Europe are well behind the people on this matter. The reality is that Europe should be doing more.

Let me be clear about the United States. It is in no doubt at all about the position of the people and Government of Ireland about Gaza, Palestine and the need for a ceasefire and a two-state solution. I share the Deputy's view passionately and at every meeting I have attended since becoming Taoiseach, in public and private, I have consistently argued that the European Union should be doing more and should be using the review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement to bring about the circumstances for a ceasefire. That is my view. It is also the view of Pedro Sánchez, the Prime Minister of Spain. We have worked with him on this and will continue to do so. I will be with him at the European Council and I will have an opportunity to discuss this directly with him. I will continually make the case for Europe to do more throughout the week.

The point I will be honest about - it will not come as a surprise to anyone - is that there is no consensus at EU level. In the context of the ICJ advisory opinion, we can now re-examine what more Ireland can do because the ICJ advisory opinion places an obligation - not just a request - on us as a country that supports the ICJ to act.

The images of people of burning alive at Al Aqsa Hospital and in a tented camp beside it are possibly the most horrific, stomach churning, terrifying images of this horrific year of genocide by Israel against the people of Gaza. I suspect those images will be a lasting image in people's minds of the utter horror Israel is inflicting on the people of Gaza - burning people alive in hospitals, in ICU beds, in tents. Innocent people like Sha'ban al-Dalou and a falafel seller and a janitor were burned alive.

On Sunday, the same regime killed 22 people and injured 80 in a school in Nuseirat by repeatedly bombing a school.

There is evidence that, over the weekend, Israel has been using white phosphorus, a chemical weapon, in an area where innocent Lebanese people live and UN peacekeepers are present. Israel has threatened Irish troops and attacked UN bases. There is simply no atrocity Israel is not willing to commit. We are seeing that in front of our eyes.

Most likely, the white phosphorus, the bombs that burn people alive in Gaza and the weapons that are being deployed to murder people in Gaza and now Lebanon came from the United States. Very possibly, some of those that were used in horrific atrocities to commit this genocide went through Irish airspace, yet the Government has done nothing to stop it. The Ditch reports that, over the weekend and since the Israeli army pointed its tanks at our troops, two more flights have gone through Irish airspace carrying munitions to Israel to carry out its genocidal atrocities against the people of Gaza, but still the Government lets this happen and does nothing about it. There were thousands of people at Shannon Airport at the weekend – I was one of them – asking why the Government was not stopping this and saying that it was complicit as long as it allowed this to happen and the US military, which is up to its neck in arming and supporting Israel and giving succour to the crimes Israel is committing, to use the airport. When the Taoiseach was in the United States last week, why did he not publicly condemn it in front of the world for giving the weapons to Israel to commit these genocidal atrocities? Why did he not tell the US that its military was not welcome in Shannon Airport while it was arming genocidal atrocities? What is he going to do to stop the munitions for these atrocities, massacres and crimes going through Irish airspace?

If we could measure empathy and compassion in decibels, I would not win and Deputy Boyd Barrett would, but the reality is he does not have a monopoly on concern for the people of Palestine. He certainly does not have a monopoly on concern for our peacekeeping troops, something I am updated on several times a day. We are in constant contact with our peacekeepers and keeping them safe is the number one priority of this Government and the United Nations, and we work on that on a round-the-clock basis.

I will make a point more broadly. It does not relate to anything Deputy Boyd Barrett specifically said, but to the broader issue of being able to differentiate between the people of Israel and the many people of the Jewish faith who live in this country and the policies pursued by the government of Netanyahu. At a time of heightened concern, including from the Government, and condemnation of the actions of the Israeli Government, I wish to differentiate clearly, and let those people know I can differentiate very clearly, between the people of Israel and the actions of Netanyahu and his government.

Ours is a Government that by any fair measure is acting. I find it peculiar that it is only when I engage with Deputy Boyd Barrett that he suggests there is inaction. When I sit down with the Palestinian President, he thanks me for the actions we are taking on behalf of the Irish people. When I sit down with the Palestinian Prime Minister, he thanks me for the actions we are taking. When I spoke to the Prime Minister-----

I am not going to accept the charge that this Government is not taking action in relation to calling out breaches of international law, standing up for human rights, supporting the people of Palestine, recognising the State of Palestine and supporting our peacekeepers. Quite frankly, I find it stomach-churning to hear Deputy Boyd Barrett suggesting we do not do that because that is absolutely what we do. We are taking more actions. I made clear in reply to the constructive contribution from Deputy Bacik the steps that we now intend to take, in working with the Opposition, to see if we can do more in respect of trade and the occupied territories.

Deputy Boyd Barrett also seems to have a view on what I did and did not say in the United States. I did not look left and right but I did not see the Deputy beside me.

The answer is clear. The people over there voted in this House last week to suggest I should not go to the United States of America. They now want to critique what I said in the United States of America. If it had been up to them, I would not have been able to have a conversation. I made the point to President Biden that I make in public and private. All countries should use all levers to bring about a ceasefire and that includes the issue of weapons. I made that clear. On munitions, we are clear as to what can and cannot happen over Irish airspace. It is expressly prohibited for civilian aircraft to carry munitions of war in Irish sovereign territory without being granted an exemption to do so by the Minister for Transport. No such exemptions have been granted.

Last November, we introduced a motion calling on the Government to instigate action for genocide against Israel. The Government voted against it. In October last year, we introduced a motion asking the Government to put sanctions on Israel as it commenced that genocide. The Government voted against it. Before any of this started, we asked the Government to publicly support the demands of Amnesty International in calling for targeted sanctions against Israel for illegal occupation and apartheid. It refused to do it. The Government has been dragged kicking and screaming all the way. It has blocked the occupied territories Bill since 2018 and now, because there are tens of thousands of people on the streets and we see genocide unfold in front of our eyes, it is thinking about looking again at the occupied territories Bill. However, it continues to allow the US military to go through Shannon when the US Government is arming the Israeli state to commit genocide. Under the Genocide Convention, as I pointed out to the Taoiseach and his Government last November, we are obliged as signatories to do everything in our power to deter even the possibility of a genocide. The Government has not done anything to try to deter the possibility. That is why the Genocide Convention was developed after the Holocaust. We have done nothing to discharge our obligations to deter a genocide when weapons are going through Irish airspace to commit that genocide and a military machine up to its neck in Israel's genocidal crimes is using our airports. When is the Government going to do something about any of these things?

I say to the people watching those clips that they should know this. This country is leading at a European level in standing up for Palestine, international law and human rights. This country is now going to take further action on this. I think there is a bit of the Deputy that is frustrated and upset that we have offered to constructively work with the Opposition in how we move this forward. The Deputy is not the international court. The international law based system does not work with him standing up saying, "This is the way it is." We follow the advisory opinions of the ICJ and when the ICJ gave an advisory opinion in July the three leaders of this coalition asked what that means in the context of what this Parliament, this Dáil, can do. We sought updated legal advice and are now proceeding on that basis.

The Deputy seeks to divide on every single issue.

By early 2025, we will have a new Government and a new European Commission and Parliament. Over the coming months, big policy decisions will be made that will shape our future until 2030 and beyond. As a country we are running to catch up on infrastructure required for a growing population. When it comes to airports, which are critical to our success as an island nation, the passenger cap at Dublin Airport has highlighted the abject failure of aviation policy, leading to an embarrassing public row. This daft situation continues while opportunities and solutions at Shannon and Cork airports are ignored.

Shannon Airport has the infrastructure and capacity to handle 3 million more passengers. Likewise, Cork Airport has the capacity for an additional 2 million passengers. Ireland does not have an airport capacity problem, it actually has a policy problem. That should be turned into a national opportunity. By addressing the policy issues Ireland can transform its national airport network into a cohesive system that supports balanced regional development and enhances national connectivity.

Dublin Airport has severe constraints. At times it is choked with passengers and clogged with slow excess, car parking and accommodation issues. Ireland is struggling to meet binding decarbonisation targets. Of the 7 million journeys between the west of Ireland and Dublin Airport, almost 4 million are by inbound tourists destined for the west of Ireland. These tourists would prefer, and should be able, to land at Shannon Airport rather than travelling to and from Dublin.

Shannon Airport's catchment area contains 38% of the population but accounts for only 4% of Ireland's airport traffic. We are relying on Dublin and the already strained infrastructure of Dublin city to accommodate 86% of air traffic. This is happening despite the fact that the primary objective of 40% of passengers is to visit locations beyond Dublin. This situation is inefficient and imprudent.

Failing to utilise fully and maximize the current potential of Shannon and Cork airports which can immediately handle an additional 5 million passengers is not only short-sighted but in the current atmosphere and climate is irresponsible. As an island nation we can no longer afford the risk of one airport becoming a single point of failure. Shannon airport is the under-utilised resource that can immediately assist with constraint problems.

We must deliver a national aviation policy that brings passengers to where they wish to go. That will relieve congestion in Dublin and deliver connectivity to the Shannon region, including north Tipperary. It will further stimulate tourism and bring about investment and economic growth in the region. We have three major State-owned airports, Dublin, Shannon and Cork. Talk of capacity constraints is an artificially created bind created by the tunnel vision of our aviation policymakers. We must take the opportunity to review strategy and set out a strong, sustainable policy for the development of Irish aviation across the regions.

I thank Deputy Lowry for this important question in relation to aviation policy and indeed the role of Shannon Airport. More broadly, on the passenger cap at Dublin Airport, as the Deputy knows this arises from a 2007 condition attached to planning permission for terminal 2. I do not believe a 17-year-old decision holding back growth in 2024 to be a sustainable situation. I engaged with the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, on this to see if there are any options open to the Government, even in the short term, to try to mitigate the negative impacts or indeed accelerate the resolution of the underlying problem. I will come to the issue of the regions specifically. However, I am sitting beside the Minister for tourism who quite rightly reminds me of the fact that so many of the visitors who land in Dublin Airport travel to the regions. Around 38% of people landing in Dublin are heading west. Of the 250,000 people working in the tourism sector, around 70% of them are in the regions outside of Dublin. I very much get the point in terms of the importance of balanced regional development. Of course, a plane landing in Dublin in many ways benefits the entire country as people spread out across our island.

The development of Dublin Airport as a secondary hub airport with the necessary capacity to connect key existing and emergent global markets is a longstanding policy. However, it is important to the Government that we ensure sustainable development of Dublin Airport. We must ensure the balance of our objectives in the national aviation policy with the needs of business and tourism interests and the legitimate rights of local residents as well. We have seen about €124.6 million allocated to regional airports over the course of this Government's term alone. Around €47 million has been allocated to Shannon Airport since this Government came to office. Shannon Airport is currently eligible for funding under the new regional State airport sustainability programme. There are no capacity constraints at Shannon Airport or indeed at any of our regional airports. In 2023, Shannon Airport passenger numbers were 1.96 million, an increase of 22% on 2022. Indeed, last year saw the highest level of passengers in Shannon Airport since 2009, which is an encouraging sign. Ryanair recently announced increased services for the 2024 winter schedule at Shannon Airport with a 5% increase over the capacity it offered last winter.

That is about 30,000 additional seats. I assure Deputy Lowry that our national aviation policy recognises the strategic importance of Dublin Airport but also seeks to optimise the operation of the Irish airport network to ensure maximum connectivity with the rest of the world. Shannon Airport has the capacity to grow to 5 million passengers even within its current infrastructural footprint. The additional passenger capacity can be utilised to maintain and enhance connectivity to the west, north west and midlands and to facilitate charter flights, sporting events and additional scheduled services that cannot be met at Dublin Airport. There is a real opportunity for Shannon Airport to achieve its potential to expand services and meet currently unmet demand. It also has the option of the US preclearance facility, which is a huge resource. We are confident of Shannon Airport's future and eager to continue to support its growth.

The Taoiseach said Shannon has improved, which is has, in terms of passenger numbers and additional capacity, but it needs support, help, political and ministerial direction and the support of airlines to take up its level of capacity. This issue is also about supporting business which needs direct connectivity from its base in the mid-west to Europe and further afield and stopping the waste of time and carbon on long road journeys. People who start a journey by air are doing three or four hours on our roadways. It is about having an aviation policy that supports Dublin as a base for global connectivity and ensure passengers who want to fly to the regions can get there directly. Shannon already, as the Taoiseach said, has the infrastructure and facilities. It can resolve the constraint problems currently in Dublin. It has first-class infrastructure, which is underused, in a location to which people want to go. Shannon has the longest runway in Ireland and one of the longest in Europe. It has everything going for it but the problem is we are not getting political direction to ensure that whatever incentives are required, we need to take the pressure off Dublin, redirect it to Shannon and Cork and utilise the facilities there, which are part of our national infrastructure

I thank Deputy Lowry. To reiterate my position, which I am not saying is that of the Deputy, I do not see it as a choice between the passenger cap at Dublin Airport being resolved and the growth of our regional airports. Frankly, we need to do both. This is an island; air connectivity is important. In fairness to my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Lawless, who has responsibility for this area, he has been to Shannon Airport three times already over the summer. I hope that is seen in the region as a sign of his commitment and that of the Government to Shannon Airport. The Deputy is right; this airport has significant infrastructure. It already has capacity to grow further within the confines of that infrastructure. It has good leadership. I had the pleasure of meeting the chief executive when I was down there to see President Zelenskyy a couple of months ago. It has a US preclearance facility. Passenger numbers are growing, with the highest passenger numbers at that airport since 2009. We see airlines like Ryanair making a decision to significantly expand the number of seats going to Shannon Airport this year by approximately 30,000. We will work with the Deputy. I will ask the Minister of State, Deputy Lawless, to keep in touch with him on this matter.