Smaller class sizes, reduced childcare costs, more gardai, a proposed ban on selling energy drinks to children as well as a clampdown on who can administer dermal fillers, are among the measures in Ireland’s draft programme for government document.
The document was published on Wednesday as Fianna Fail and Fine Gael held their parliamentary party meetings to sign off on the 162-page document.
Among its measures includes the “aim” to reduce the general pupil teacher ratio at primary level to 19:1 over the term of government; creating a new public transport security force which would have similar powers to the existing airport police; reducing the cost of childcare to 200 euro per month per child.
The draft document includes a pledge to establish a new unit for “future planning” as well as commitments on “a focus on reform at the heart of all Government”.
Members of the Regional Independent Group Michael Lowry (second right) and (left to right) Gillian Toole, Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran, Noel Grealish, and Barry Heneghan, speaking to the media at Leinster House in Dublin, after a deal was reached to form Ireland’s next government, with an agreement finalised between Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and the Regional Independent Group (Brian Lawless/PA)
A new public sector pay deal will be linked to the reform agenda, it said.
There will also be a new Infrastructure Division in a re-named Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation.
On housing, the programme includes a pledge to ramp up construction capacity to meet new targets of more than 300,000 new homes by the end of 2030.
The Government would also enact a new Compulsory Purchase Order Bill to bring more land in for home building.
It would also create a Land Price Register and a rent price register.
Elsewhere on health measures, the Government says it will explore restrictions on the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks, including “a ban on their sale to children” as well as ensuring the administration of dermal fillers is only undertaken by trained healthcare professionals.
It also pledges to roll out contactless fare payments on all public transport and keep fares low and affordable.
In a nod to Simon Harris’ proposed acorn savings scheme for newborns, the government said it will “explore” the establishment of a managed savings account for newborns with an initial once-off contribution by the State, ensuring lower income families benefit most from its inception.
It also has plans to introduce paid surrogacy leave.
The draft plan includes a pledge to ensure a transgender healthcare service that is “based on clinical evidence, respect, inclusiveness and compassion”.
It has also pledged to create 9,000 new jobs in international financial services by 2030; a pledge for a new Disability Strategy, with increased staffing and shorter waiting lists; and a plan to recruit at least 5,000 new gardai over the next five years.
The draft programme also commits to a “health-led” approach to drug addiction.
Fianna Fail campaigned on a manifesto pledge to decriminalise cannabis possession for personal use.
The draft programme includes a pledge to divert those found in possession of drugs for personal use to health services.
No explicit reference to “decriminalisation” is used under that section.
The Apple tax money will be spent on housing, infrastructure, energy, water, transport and health digitalisation.
Turning to migration, the government said that those who are processed under the border procedure will not be authorised to enter Ireland.
Their applications, appeals and removal decisions must be processed within three months, and that this includes will include people who have arrived bycrossing the land border with Northern Ireland.
Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin (Cillian Sherlock/PA)
The programme for government also confirms that Micheal Martin will hold the office of taoiseach until November 16 November 2027.
It will then rotate to the leader of Fine Gael, Simon Harris for at least two years.
The two leaders welcomed the agreement that will shape the country’s political landscape over the next five years.
The document will now be the subject of approval by the party memberships over the coming days.
An Irish premier will then be nominated when the Irish parliament returns on January 22.
The agreement comes following negotiations by teams from Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and the Regional Independent Group.
In a joint statement, Mr Martin and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris said the focus was on a “strong and stable government to deliver continued progress on the economy, infrastructure, housing and public services over the coming years”.
The leaders said that if the document is agreed by both parties, they will work together with the Independent TDs to “deliver for families and tackle the challenges facing the country”.
It has also been confirmed that Regional Independent Group member Noel Grealish will take up the role as super junior minister in the Department of Agriculture, while Sean Canney will be the super junior minister at the Department of Transport.
Meanwhile, Longford-Westmeath TD Kevin “Boxer” Moran will take up a junior role in the Office of Public Works, while Sligo-Leitrim TD Marian Harkin will take a junior role in the Department of Higher Education.
Members of Regional Independent Group (left to right) Michael Lowry, Barry Heneghan and Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran at Leinster House in Dublin, after a deal was reached to form Ireland’s next government (Brian Lawless/PA)
Speaking on behalf of the Regional Independent Group, Michael Lowry said: “We’ve worked hard, we’ve put in a long stint, and we have got a result that is very satisfactory for us.
“Boxer will take up his position in the Office of Public Works. He’s very familiar with it. He did a fantastic job the last time he was in the Office of Public Works.
“For Boxer to lose his seat at the last election, to bounce back, command the respect and support of the people of his constituency and to come back here on his first week to be appointed to the Office of Public Works is a massive personal achievement.
“Marian Harkin is a long-serving member of the European Parliament. She’s recognised as a woman of exceptional ability and talent, very capable. She has a particular interest and has always shown an interest in the educational sector, particularly in adult education and in regional development.
“She’s very supportive and has been very much involved in delivering the Technological University of Sligo. So Marian’s position will be as Minister of State in the Department of Higher Education.
“No doubt she’ll do an excellent job.”
Earlier on Wednesday, it was confirmed that Independent TD Michael Healy-Rae will take a junior minister post in the next government.
Danny Healy-Rae and Michael Healy-Rae speak to the media outside Leinster House, Dublin, after it was confirmed that Michael will take up a junior role in the new government (Cate McCurry/PA)
The Kerry TD refused to say which department he will be in, adding it is a matter for the incoming taoiseach.
Mr Healy-Rae, who will take up a position in government for the first time, also declined to say if he had secured any deals for his constituency but that the people of Kerry will see the benefits of having the Healy-Rae brothers in government.
Speaking on Wednesday morning, he said that after many years in opposition, he and his brother Danny want to work in government to better their home county of Kerry.
Asked which department he will be in, Mr Healy-Rae said: “At the end of the day, the giving out of any positions, it’s obviously a matter for the incoming taoiseach, we will respect that role.
“It is fair to say that there is an arrangement in place where there will be a role at a department at a minister of state level for the Healy-Raes.
“It’s fair to say that that role will be going in my direction but as for what that’s going to be, that’s obviously for the direction of the incoming taoiseach.”
He also said he wants to see a “return of common sense” in government.
“What we would like most of all is that this government gets back to basics and gets back to the basic things that the people need, what the farmers need, what the tourism sector needs and all the different things that we’ve been highlighting,” he added.
“Whatever the issue is, we’re not slow to come out and we’ll be still doing that.
“We will try and make sure that common sense prevails, that’s the thing that is needed more so than anything else.”
He also praised his brother Danny for his negotiation skills over recent weeks.
“If President Trump is looking to get any able person to assist him in stopping the war in the Ukraine, he couldn’t carry a better person than Danny Healy-Rae with him,” he added.
“His negotiation skills over the last number of weeks are second to none.
“The work we have done, we are ensuring that government are taking on board the issues and the concerns that are County Kerry.
“Remember, if they are in County Kerry, they are reflected throughout the rest of the country.
“Those issues are taken on board at the heart of government.
“We are going to use our position, the two of us, in supporting the government and in supporting Kerry in what I would like to call a better and stronger way than what we might have been able to do in the past.”
The support of the Healy-Raes now brings the number of TDs backing the next government to 95 TDs.
A full draft programme for government is to be published later on Wednesday, following Fine Gael and Fianna Fail’s parliamentary party meetings.
The document took several weeks to compile following a lengthy negotiation process.