Paul Murphy challenges minister's ethics and demands accountability

The Taoiseach included in this grouping is a question about ethics reform. Minister Niall Collins emerged today and for the first time answered some questions about his unethical behaviour, not from TDs, because he refused to do that and he shielded him in that decision, but instead from the media. And so for the first time, not on the Dáil record, but to the media, Niall Collins admitted that in January 2007, when he participated in the decision to put land up for sale, he knew at that moment that his wife had expressed interest in buying that land. Teachta, do you agree that his position as Minister is now not tenable? I can read for you from the Code of Conduct for Councillors, which is absolutely crystal clear. Under the 2001 Act, Councillors must disclose at a meeting of the local authority or of its committees any pecuniary or other beneficial interest of which they have actual knowledge they or a connected person have in or material to any matter with which the local authority is concerned in the discharge of its functions and which comes before the meeting. The Councillor must withdraw from the meeting after disclosure and must not vote or take part in any discussion or consideration of the matter or seek to influence the decision-making of the Council. He has admitted it. He said he knew he had knowledge at the time. It is absolutely black and white. He did not discharge himself. He did not declare the interest. How can he continue as a Minister? The Prime Minister. The Prime Minister. The Prime Minister. The Prime Minister. In relation to the Focus Ireland legislation, as I said earlier, Mr Bryan is going to consider it. He is considering some amendments to the Housing Act and will be considered in that context. I know local authorities would argue that they already do take into account the best interests of the child, but perhaps that is not what happens on the ground. We will also give some consideration to assignment community legislation that would assist people who are at risk of homelessness. Deputy Dillon raised the issue of Garda resources in Mayo and in other parts of the country. I certainly hear what he is saying, but I can give the assurance to the House that Garda numbers are growing again. Temple Moor is open. We have over 14,000 Garda now. We are aiming for 15,000. We are funding for 1,000 additional recruits this year. Even when you take into account retirements and resignations, we will still see an increase in the total number of Garda this year. We are also hiring more and more Garda staff who then free up sworn Garda and uniform Garda for work protecting the community and making our community stronger and safer. In relation to unaccommodated asylum seekers, the most impactful thing we can do is to provide accommodation. We hope to provide accommodation for a significant number of people next week through new accommodation, which has been secured. For those who are on accommodation at the moment, we have secured access to day services in Dublin, in the Capuchin Centre and Mendicity. There are also additional vouchers and easier access to the daily expenses allowance. We are also looking to secure access to nighttime services as well. Again, we should not lose sight of the bigger picture. Nearly 100,000 people have come here in the past year from Ukraine and from other parts of the world seeking air protection. Almost all of those have been accommodated, but we are now at the point where we cannot guarantee accommodation to everyone who comes here seeking asylum. That is the position we are in at the moment, and we need to be honest with people about that. But we will do the best we can to provide shelter, and we will turn nobody away. In relation to the Serview option that Deputy Kelly has raised, I do not know if that is feasible or not. We will have to check with the experts, but certainly somebody should check on it anyway. So welcome the suggestion, and I will make sure that that is checked out as an option. On the disabled persons grants, my understanding is that an additional allocation was made in the last few weeks, and I will check up on that with Minister O'Brien. My understanding is that juries are not available. I do not know the details behind that. I understand it is going to be redeveloped and that is not available. Again, I do not know the details in relation to the respite services in Goree, but I will let Minister Rabbit know that it was raised here. It is concerning that the service may close for a period. If it is down to staffing, well, that is a real challenge. We are at the point of full employment now in Ireland, and while I would much rather full employment than high levels of unemployment, it does mean that everyone is short of staff. Public sector, private sector, every sector, well paid positions, poorly paid positions, everyone is short of staff, and that does challenge us to change the way we do things and try to reform services. But that is very difficult, I know, when it comes to something like respite, which is inherently labour-intensive. Finally, in relation to the matters raised by Deputy Murphy, it is my firm view that ministers are accountable to the Dáil and should make statements and take questions about their actions. If it is the case, though, that ministers are accountable to the Dáil for actions that do not relate to their work as ministers, that should apply to all TDs, I believe, and all TDs should be willing to answer questions here in the Dáil and make statements. That should be agreed across the board. We should have fair rules around that as well. They are not always fair, but I do not think it is right that only ministers should be required to account to the Dáil, particularly when it does not relate to their ministerial functions. That is what is being argued here. In relation to Minister Collins, this relates to events of 16 years ago at the Brough Area Committee. I understand that a complaint has been made to SIPPO. SIPPO is the appropriate body to make a determination on this matter, and we await their decision. Thank you very much.