Dear friend,

It continues to be an exceptionally busy period for us in the Seanadwith the Criminal Law (Human Trafficking ) (Amendment ) Bill 2013and the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2013being the most recent issues of interest to me in line with myparticular interest in housing and finance, I welcomed the publicationof the Personal Insolvency Guidelines. The guidelines will set a floorand not a ceiling on what is considered reasonable expenditurewithin a family budget and the amount those dealing with the newInsolvency provisions will be able to retain for their own use.

A major area of concern for me as Spokesperson on Children andYouth Affairs is the very legitimate concern we should all have overthe problem of childhood obesity and all the associated problems notonly with their future health but low self- esteem and psychologicalissues resulting from peer pressure.

Finally, my horror along with everyone else at the matters brought tolight by the Prime Time investigation ‘ A Breach of Trust’ regardingchild care standards in certain crèches in the State. While Iappreciated the excellent work done by the investigation team, Iexpressed my deep dissatisfaction that these matters, which haveresulted in a Garda investigation, had to be brought to light by RTEand did not come into the public domain through a HSEinvestigation. This in my opinion calls into question the performanceof the HSE in this area suggests ‘light touch regulation’ and lack ofpublic accountability historically.

The programme raised two issues for me, firstly the quality ofsupervision put in place by the HSE within the formal childcare sectorand equally important is the protection of children who are cared forinformally. It is our responsibility to provide a clear level of securityfor those children. In the current recession many parents cannotafford formal childcare and are depending on casual arrangementsincluding the engagement of au pairs where there is little or novetting of those providing care.

I strongly believe we need a national childcare plan which includesrecognition of the casual nature of much of the childcare providedwith the interests and safety of the child as our first consideration.

It is not just a question of increasing the frequency of inspections butthe quality of the inspections, the range, the follow up and thecompliance.

Overleaf is a number of the issues I have covered in this session andas always I continue to appreciate the feedback and contact I havehad with many of you and your comments and perspective are trulyimportant to me so please feel free to contact me at aideen.hayden@oir.ie

I am delighted to invite constituents to contact me or to joinme in Seanad Eireann, for a visit or tour of Leinster House.

For updates and links to my speeches please check out mySeanad facebook page.

You can contact me at aideen.hayden@oir.ie

facebook.com/SenatorAideenHayden

Welcome to the latestNewsletter from Senator Aideen Hayden.

Seanad Labour Spokesperson on Housing,Children and Youth Affairs

Member of the Joint Committee onFinance, Public Expenditure and Reform

SEANADNEWSLETTERKilfane, Upper Albert Road, Glenageary, Co. Dublin Senator Aideen Hayden

Tel: 01 618 3178 Mobile: 087 231 1921 Email: aideen.hayden@oir.ie Web: labour.ie/aideenhayden

Speaking at the Women for Women event in Killiney

Aideen with Conn Mc Carrick of Comhairle na nÓg, Dun Laoghaire

I welcomed the publication of the Personal Insolvency Guidelines.

The guidelines will set a floor and nota ceiling on what is consideredreasonable expenditure within afamily budget and the amountthose dealing with the newInsolvency provisions will beable to retain for their ownuse. What’s moreimportant is that theseguidelines will providecertainty for those veryworried people who have beenwaiting for the PersonalInsolvency Act provisions to comeinto force so that they will knowbetter where they stand going forward.

These guidelines will also provide guidance for other financialinstitutions, which in some instances have treated individualsdisgracefully examining household expenditure receipts in minute detailand even questioning families on where they do their shopping. It will bevery difficult for banks and other financial institutions to justify that kindof intrusion where the expenditure concerned is meeting the PersonalInsolvency minimum guidelines.

I also called for the setting up of an expert free independent mortgagesupport and advice service paid for with bank funds. The currentsituation is not acceptable and banks must be held to account. Aborrower dealing with a financial institution is not on a level playing fieldand because banks insist on dealing with everything on a case by casebasis the whole process is shrouded in secrecy. While all cases aredifferent there should be some certainty as to how a borrower will betreated both within individual institutions and between institutions. Thecurrent situation is prejudiced in favour of better resourced borrowerswho can access advice. More vulnerable borrowers are depending onMABS who are over worked and under resourced and in some cases needto be able to access expert legal or accountancy advice to assist theclient. The only other significant scheme available to distressedborrowers is unfortunately very limited and can only be accessed byborrowers after negotiations are concluded and a settlement is alreadyon the table which is too late for any meaningful intervention.

For every distressed borrower there is a lender who has to takeresponsibility for their part in this disaster.

NATIONAL LOTTERY BILL PERSONAL INSOLVENCY. BANKSMUST BE HELD TO ACCOUNT

In support of Nourish Children Week, in April, I added my name to the callfor a complete ban on vending machines in schools.

Speaking in the Seanad I called on Minister Quinn to direct Headmastersand Headmistresses to remove vending machines from schools giventhat a Growing up in Ireland survey revealed the alarming fact that 1 in4 children are overweight or obese.

INDI has conducted a mapping exercise of childhood obesity servicesaround the country which shows that there are only three childhoodobesity prevention programmes for children who are identified as beingat risk of becoming obese, operating across seven counties. There areonly two group intervention programmes for obese children, operatingacross three counties and Temple Street Children's Hospital is the onlychildren's hospital with an intervention programme for obese children.

The cause of childhood obesity is known to be excessive calorie intakeand lack of physical activity. The negative impact of childhood obesityincludes serious medical problems, poor self-image and quality of lifeand a greatly increased risk of remaining obese into adulthood.

The health of our children should far out weight the small contributionthese machines must make to the running of our schools.

HEALTH BEFORE PROFIT

Senator Marie Louise O'Donnell brought forward a Private MembersBill on the National Lottery and while I respect her bona fides on thematter and understand that she has very strong beliefs about therole and future of the national lottery in this country and the need tokeep it within public ownership and within the Irish system. As amember of the Labour Party I too believe in State ownership.However, my view of that ownership is perhaps somewhat differentin that I see State ownership more in the context of the Stateowning a basket of assets some of which, when the need arises, wecan move around. We can change the inputs into and outputs fromthat basket. In other words, it is something that is there for us whenwe need it, whereby we can promote certain activities that we, as acountry, want to promote.

I am conscious that during the 1950s and 1960s the role played byState companies such as the ESB and Bord na Móna was critical inthe commercial and industrial evolution of this State. Thesecompanies were supported by the Labour Party and every partywithin the State at different points in our history. Those companieswere essential to the evolution of industrialisation in this country.Other companies were established because services cannot beprovided unless they are provided socially, for example,transportation in rural areas, and so forth. I do not believe that mycolleagues in the Seanad disagree that there is a role for Statecompanies and, in particular, a role for their continuation. As theMinister has stated on other occasions, Irish Water is an example ofhow we are adapting as a State and moving forward with Statecompanies to provide essential services that would not be providedunless the State engaged in the provision of such companies.

Privatisation has a bad name. It is important for us to distinguish thatwe are not privatising the national lottery pe se, rather we areputting the licence up for sale, which is a critical difference.

Again as I have stated on many occasions the situation is similar tothat of a family with savings. There are times when there is a need todip into the savings account. I have a strong belief, which I haveoutlined in regard to this matter, that I regard the building of achildren's hospital as one of the top priorities of this Government. Itis important to remember that during the decades of Fianna Fáil rule,while we were building ghost estates throughout this country andleaving 230,000 empty units behind, we did not build a singlehospital. Let us be realistic - it is for that reason we are now in aposition where we must find from somewhere the money to build achildren's hospital. As anybody who has ever had a sick child knows,we are not properly served in this country by the institutions wehave available to us to protect our children, especially those whohave acute diseases such as leukemia and life-threatening illnesses.

The national lottery has provided a very valuable service to thiscountry but I believe that service can continue. The Minister hasincluded robust protections and has stated on many occasions in thisHouse that he is determined to protect the services that benefitfrom the national lottery.

He has said on many occasions in this House that he is determinedto protect the services that benefit from the national lottery. Wehave control over the terms under which the licence is offered andwe are in a position, for example, to protect the retailers whoselivelihoods will be affected. We are also in a position to protect themany good causes that will benefit from the national lottery in thefuture.

I believe this could be an opportunity for the national lottery. Thereis an opportunity, for example, to tap into the Irish diaspora all overthe world, who could contribute to an enhanced national lottery. Weshould not see this as the end for the national lottery but rather as apotential beginning. We should never see ourselves as being in aposition where we cannot use State assets and State companies forthe purpose for which they were intended, that is, for the bettermentof the Irish people and Irish society.

EXTRACTS FROM CONTRIBUTIONS TO SEANAD

The Bill essentially extends existing anti-trafficking legislation.Trafficking in persons for the purpose of sexual or labour exploitationis currently outlawed under the Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Act2008. The Act incorporated EU anti-trafficking standards as set out inan EU framework decision. However, these minimum standards werereplaced by a further directive in 2011 which requires EU states tocriminalise trafficking for forced begging for the purpose of criminalactivities. This Bill deals with the requirement to amend Irish lawaccordingly. We were up to the wire on this one as April was thedeadline. The Bill uses an International Labour Organisation definitionand would place into Irish law a specific definition of forced labour.Forced labour is difficult to define and prove.

The Bill also provides that public officials, as defined in the legislation,face harsher penalties than private individuals convicted of the sameoffences, and rightly so. Although our existing law under the 2008 Actis reasonably robust, and aside from the legal requirement upon us totranspose the directive into Irish law, the US State Department, whichmonitors trafficking internationally, has made recommendations tothe Irish Government on how our anti-trafficking measures can beimproved. It made such a report in 2012 and recommended thatIreland consider drafting specific amendments to criminalise forcedlabour in order to strengthen the existing 2008 legislation.

One of the key points of the European Commission's report Traffickingin Human Beings noted that almost 24,000 people in the EU wereidentified as victims of trafficking over the 2008 to 2010 period. Ofmore concern is the fact that represented an increase of 18% over thatthree-year period. More importantly, the report noted that the level oftrafficking convictions decreased by 13% in the same period.

It is worth repeating that 79% of trafficking victims are female, ofwhom 12% are girls. It is a commonly held view that a lot ofindividuals involved in trafficking are from outside the EU but in fact,as the report identified, the majority of victims are from within the EU- mainly from Romania, Bulgaria, Poland and Hungary.

The report cites statistics concerning those identified as victims oftrafficking per 100,000 inhabitants for each EU country. Ireland camein at 1.7%, which is just below the EU average of two victims per100,000 inhabitants. It is not necessarily something for us to be proudof. First of all, it is difficult to estimate with any degree of accuracy thenumbers of people who are trafficked within Ireland. As the MigrantRights Centre has reported, forced labour is a growing problem inIreland. The centre has dealt with over 180 cases of forced labour overthe last six years.

One of the difficulties raised in the reports I have cited is the fact thatwe do not appear to be prosecuting to any great extent under the

2008 legislation. For example, the US State Department noted thatalthough it regarded our anti-trafficking legislation as robust, not asingle case had been taken under the 2008 Act. Of the cases that weretaken, there was only one successful conviction in 2011, which waspresumably taken under other legislation.

I am assuming that is because the 2008 legislation sets a very high barfor the successful conviction of persons for human trafficking offences.I asked the Minister to comment on whether it is deemed to be easierto secure convictions under other legislation. The fact remains that nomatter how many laws we pass or how robust they are, if we do notprosecute under those laws, then it is not of any relevance to havethem on the Statute Book.

I welcome the extra-territorial measures in the Bill because humantrafficking knows no borders. We have recognised the importance ofextra-territorial issues in other legislation, including, for example, thefemale genital mutilation legislation introduced in 2012. I alsowelcome sections 2 and 3 which provide for additional sanctions onofficers or employees of public bodies. It is interesting to note that thedefinition of a public body includes any "body, organisation or groupfinanced wholly or partly out of moneys provided by the Oireachtasthat stands prescribed for the time being (being a body, organisationor group that, in the opinion of the Minister, ought, in the publicinterest and having regard to the provisions and spirit of this Act, to beprescribed)". That is a very wide definition indeed and can potentiallycover a very significant number of bodies which receive funding fromthe State.

Forced labour is a modern day form of slavery. It behoves all of thosebodies tasked in this area, including the HSE and the Department, aswell as wider society to be conscious of the realities of forced labour.Indeed, organisations such as trade unions must be alive to the issuesof forced labour.

I was very interested in Senator van Turnhout's observations on the aupair industry. Indeed, I raised that issue myself in a previous debate onthe vetting of persons working with children in the context of childprotection. While hiring an au pair is, in theory, a very casualarrangement designed to provide a young person with the experienceof living in another country, increasingly, due to current economiccircumstances and the cost of child care, many people are using aupairs as the principal carers of their children. While it may not bepossible for us, as a country acting alone, to regulate this area, it issomething that must be examined at a European level because of thechild protection implications.

CRIMINAL LAW (HUMAN TRAFFICKING)(AMENDMENT) BILL 2013: SECOND STAGE

Speaking at Labour Youth Event with Minister Jan O'Sullivan Supporting Safe Ireland campaign

0612

facebook.com/SenatorAideenHayden

Kilfane, Upper Albert Road, Glenageary, Co. Dublin

Contact Senator Aideen Hayden

Tel: 01 618 3178 Mobile: 087 231 1921 Email: aideen.hayden@oir.ie Web: labour.ie/aideenhayden

When will Commercial Landlords realise the role they have to play ingetting Irish retailers back up on their feet and get real about rents?

While I welcomed the news that the Pamela Scott stores havesuccessfully exited examinership resulting in the saving of 137 jobs. Keyto this has been the fact that negotiations with Landlords have resultedin a reduction of 40% in the Companies overheads.

However, the most significant reduction has been in rents paid onpremises which were crippling the company. It is a sad that manyCommercial Landlords in this country still haven’t woken up to the truthof the matter that they are bringing Irish business down by not beingprepared to renegotiate leases which have upward only rent reviews.

It was only during the examinership process that negotiations, whichshould have been successful without the intervention of the courts,resulted in a game changer for Flairline fashions allowing them to paymarket rents which reflect trading conditions going forward.

We also see a similar outcome for B&Q Ireland where rents have beenreviewed and 640 jobs saved, also as a result of the negotiations withlandlords as part of the examinership process.

Commercial tenants need a more realistic and practical procedure toreview rents, it’s just common sense.

COMMERCIAL LANDLORDS NEED TOGET REAL

I called for an ‘NCT for housing’ to tackle unscrupulous landlords. Recentrevelations that over 90 per cent of private rented flats inspected byDublin City Council do not meet even the most basic of standards isunfortunately no surprise to me.

Some of these flats are in buildings that are more reminiscent of‘Strumpet City’ than modern day in Ireland. Some 1,500 flats wereinspected by the council as part of a one million Intensified InspectionProgramme funded by the Department of the Environment t identifyslum conditions in the city’s private rented sector.

Almost 1,400 of them failed to meet the minimum legal standards forprivate rented accommodation. Many are in a shocking state of repair,with damp and mould growing on ceilings and walls, windowless roomsand exposed electrical wiring. Shared bathrooms and portable heaters inpoor condition are not uncommon.

Renting out substandard accommodation is a lucrative source of incomefor unscrupulous landlords who prey on vulnerable people.

Dublin City Council and the Department of the Environment aretherefore to be congratulated for tackling this problem head-on with acrackdown on slum landlords.

The time has come however, for a new way of ensuring that tenants areprotected. The onus should be on a landlord to prove that a rentedproperty is safe and meets minimum standards.

I proposed the introduction on an NCT for rented housing, like thesystem that currently exists for motor vehicles. Before a property isrented it should be certified as ‘fit for purpose’ with the relevantcertificate displayed in plain view.

At the moment it is up the local authority to prove that a rentedproperty doesn’t meet standards, but under this new system the onuswould be on the landlord to prove that their property is compliant.Inspections under this new scheme would be carried out by a qualifiedprofessional on behalf of the landlord.

An NCT for housing would make it easier for local authorities to enforcethe law and most importantly, it would give greater protection totenants.

WE NEED AN NCT FOR RENTEDPROPERTIES

Planting of first tree of 'one million' trees initiative in Leinster House Launch of the USI Rentbook in IADT Dun Laoghaire