2026-04-21

In accordance with Standing Order 35 I call on the Chief Whip, Deputy Butler, to move the arrangements for this week's business.

I move: Tuesday's business shall be: Motion re Eleventh Report of the Standing Committee of Selection (without debate and any division claimed to be taken immediately) Motion re Organisation of Working Time (Reproductive Health Related Leave) Bill 2021 (without debate) Tuesday's private members' business shall be the Motion re Special Education, selected by Sinn Féin. Wednesday's business shall be: Statements and Q&A post European Council meeting of 19th March 2026, pursuant to Standing Order 133 (not to exceed 1 hour 33.5 mins, followed by 20 mins Q&A and Ministerial response for 5 mins) Public Health (Tobacco and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill 2026 (Second Stage) (to be taken no earlier than 4.10 p.m. and if not previously concluded, to adjourn at the end of the first speaking round; not to exceed 3 hours and 34 minutes) Motion re Proposed approval by Dáil Éireann of a Council Decision to resume Vehicle Registration Data exchange with the United Kingdom for the prevention and investigation of criminal offences (to be taken no earlier than 6.30 p.m. and to conclude within 60 mins) Health Information Bill 2024 (Amendments from the Seanad) (to conclude within 1 hour) Motion re Bye-Election for Dublin Central (without debate and any division claimed to be taken immediately) Motion re Bye-Election for Galway West (without debate and any division claimed to be taken immediately) Wednesday's private members' business shall be the Motion re Earth Day, selected by Independent and Parties Technical Group. Thursday evening business shall be the Second Stage of the Education (Medical Emergencies in Schools) Bill 2026, sponsored by Deputy Eoghan Kenny. Proposed Arrangements for this week’s business: In relation to Tuesday’s business, it is proposed that: notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders: (a) Parliamentary Questions to the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance pursuant to Standing Order 47(1), that were due to be taken on Tuesday 14 April, 2026 shall be taken today for 96.5 minutes immediately following the Questions to the Taoiseach; (b) private members business shall be taken on conclusion of Parliamentary Questions to the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance pursuant to Standing Order 47(1) with consequential effect on the commencement times for the items following in the ordinary routine of business; the proceedings on the Motion re Eleventh Report of the Standing Committee of Selection shall be taken without debate and any division claimed thereon shall be taken immediately; and the proceedings on the Motion re Organisation of Working Time (Reproductive Health Related Leave) Bill 2021 shall be taken without debate. In relation to Wednesday's business, it is proposed that: notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders: (a) the time allotted for Government Business shall be extended in accordance with the arrangements for that business and the Dáil may sit later than 9.30 p.m.; (b) the Statements and Q&A post European Council meeting of 19th March 2026, pursuant to Standing Order 133, shall be taken at the time when the SOS pursuant to Standing Order 25(1) would normally be taken, and on the conclusion of the Minister’s response to the statements, the sitting shall stand suspended either for one hour or until 4.10 p.m., whichever is the later; (c) in the event proceedings on the Public Health (Tobacco and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill 2026 conclude before 6.30 p.m., the sitting shall stand suspended until 6.30 p.m. when the order of business shall resume with the Motion re Proposal approval by Dáil Éireann of a Council Decision to resume Vehicle Registration Data exchange with the United Kingdom for the prevention and investigation of criminal offences; (d) any motions to be taken without debate shall be taken on the conclusion of proceedings on the Health Information Bill 2024; and (e) the weekly division time shall be taken on the conclusion of proceedings on any motions without debate; 2. the Statements and Q&A post European Council meeting of 19th March 2026, pursuant to Standing Order 133, shall not exceed 1 hour and 58.5 minutes, and the order of speaking and allocation of time shall be as follows: (a) the arrangements for the statements, not including the Ministerial response, shall be in accordance with the arrangements contained in the table immediately below (to be read across); (b) following the statements, questions and answers shall be taken for 20 minutes; (c) on the conclusion of the questions and answers, a Minister or Minister of State shall be called upon to make a statement in reply which shall not exceed five minutes; and (d) members may share time. 3. the proceedings on the Second Stage of the Public Health (Tobacco and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill 2026 shall, if not previously concluded, be interrupted and stand adjourned at the end of the first speaking round and the following arrangements shall apply: (a) the first-round speeches, not including the Ministerial response, shall be in accordance with the table below (to be read across); (b) where speeches conclude before the 3 hours and 24 minutes have elapsed and no other member is offering, a Minister or Minister of State shall be called upon to make a speech in reply which shall not exceed 10 minutes; and (c) members may share time; 4. the proceedings on the Second Stage of the Public Health (Tobacco and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill 2026 shall, if not previously concluded, be interrupted and stand adjourned at the end of the first speaking round and the following arrangements shall apply: (a) the first-round speeches, not including the Ministerial response, shall be in accordance with the table below (to be read across); (b) where speeches conclude before the 3 hours and 24 minutes have elapsed and no other member is offering, a Minister or Minister of State shall be called upon to make a speech in reply which shall not exceed 10 minutes; and (c) members may share time; the proceedings on the Motion re Proposed approval by Dáil Éireann of a Council Decision to resume Vehicle Registration Data exchange with the United Kingdom for the prevention and investigation of criminal offences shall be taken no earlier than 6.30 p.m. and shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion after 60 minutes and the following arrangements shall apply thereto: (a) the order of speaking and allocation of time shall be as follows:- opening speech by a Minister or Minister of State – 10 minutes; speeches by representatives of Sinn Féin, the Labour Party, Social Democrats, Independent and Parties Technical Group, and Independent Technical Group – 7.5 minutes per party or group; speeches by non-party/group members – 7.5 minutes in total; and a speech in response by the Minister – 5 minutes; and (b) members may share time; the proceedings on the amendments from the Seanad to the Health Information Bill 2024 shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion after 1 hour, and any amendments from the Seanad not disposed of shall be decided by one question which shall be put from the Chair, and which shall, in relation to amendments to the Seanad amendments, include only those set down or accepted by the Minister for Health; the proceedings on the Motion re Bye-Election for Dublin Central shall be taken without debate and any division claimed thereon shall be taken immediately; and the proceedings on the Motion re Bye-Election for Galway West shall be taken without debate and any division claimed thereon shall be taken immediately. In relation to Thursday's business, it is proposed that: notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders: (a) topical issues shall be taken immediately following the SOS for not more than 120 minutes and up to ten topical issues may be taken; and (b) Parliamentary Questions to the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science pursuant to Standing Order 47(1), that were due to be taken on Tuesday 24 March, 2026 shall be taken today for 96.5 minutes immediately following Topical Issues, with consequential effect on the commencement time for the Second Stage of the Education (Medical Emergencies in Schools) Bill 2026 and on the time for the adjournment of the Dáil.

Are the proposed arrangements agreed to?

Not agreed.

The former leader of Fine Gael let the cat out of the bag in recent days. He said out loud what has been whispered by senior Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael personnel for many years - this divide-and-conquer approach between urban and rural Ireland. People in rural Ireland see the carbon tax as a penalisation of them for choices they do not get to make. They have to heat their homes with home heating oil. They need to use petrol and diesel to get by in rural Ireland. I want clarity from the leaders of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil in the Dáil. I want respect for people in Ireland. The Government must stop using this approach of divide and conquer on our people. It is fooling nobody.

Since November, the Government has been acutely aware of the exponential growth in the number of children who require an additional needs school place for the coming academic year. While I welcome the fact that over 430 classes have been made available, the exponential growth in demand means that nearly 600 special classes are required. The Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the Ministers have been aware of this since November. We are six months in now. We need statements in the Dáil on how we are going to deal with this exponential growth.

Inclusive education in this country has been limping from one disaster to the next. In September, there were not enough school places. In November, the portal closed, meaning that parents could not notify the NCSE of their children's needs. In February, we had the situation with the SNAs. Now, in April, we have a new inclusive special education system. Does the Government actually have a plan for special education that is fully thought out? We need a proper debate on special education in this Chamber.

We need urgent explanations and statements from the Ministers on the use of Shannon Airport and Irish airspace by the United States military while it is conducting with Israel its brutal and illegal wars against Iran and Lebanon and the ongoing genocide of the people of Gaza. This is particularly needed given that the number of US overflights has increased by 56% since the Iran war started and that, incredibly, the Department of foreign affairs undercounted US military flights through Irish airspace by 250 flights.

In 2016, when the Taoiseach was in opposition, he said: ...political parties should not think Parliament is their possession and that they can control anything that happens. To date, we have had such an experience, where Deputies have been removed from committees because they voted against the Government's line. Why has he now done a 360° turn in trying to remove Deputy Danny Healy-Rae from the agriculture committee at 3 p.m. because he voted against the Government? This decision has to be reversed and we need a debate on the issue.

A Cheann Comhairle, under-----

I call on the Chief Whip to respond. I am sorry but Deputy Healy-Rae is not entitled to speak.

Under Standing Order 35(3)-----

Justice for the Kilgarvan one.

Under Standing Order 35(3), I believe I am entitled to say a few words.

No, Standing Order 35(3) allows Members to move amendments to the Order of Business. Does the Deputy have an amendment?

I have.

I ask the Deputy to state his amendment.

My amendment is that I be allowed stay on the committee on agriculture. My understanding is that I was appointed as an Independent member rather than a Government or Fianna Fáil member.

That is fine. I call on the Chief Whip to respond.

Just so that all Deputies are aware, I will clarify that they do not need to be a member of a committee to attend meetings. I note the comments made and the requests for statements. These will be considered at the meeting of the Business Committee on Thursday, as normal. The Order of Business stands.

Is the Order of Business agreed?

Not agreed.

Justice for Danny.

Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael attempted a shameful plan to cut SNAs, with some schools facing a loss of as many as six or seven SNAs with absolutely devastating consequences for children and young people. Of course, they were forced into a U-turn by the anger from parents, children, young people and, of course, SNAs. This cannot happen again. Our motion this evening calls on the Government to immediately engage with the Save our SNAs campaign and advance and implement its updated and improved circular on the role of SNAs. This is all to ensure that every child and young person gets the supports they need. Will the Taoiseach agree to engage with the campaign and support the new circular?

I introduced the whole concept of special needs assistants to education back in 1998. The numbers have grown expediently since. We are now at 25,000 SNAs. In any honest way, how can the Deputy suggest there are cuts in the number of SNAs when it is the opposite direction? In fact, the Government today approved further investment in education, which will mean more special needs assistants above the 25,000 for the 2026 to 2027 school year.

Will the Government engage with the campaign?

The campaign is a flawed campaign. It is a false one.

It is what?

We do not need to save SNAs because we are expanding the number of SNAs. We actually have more SNAs.

It is a very real campaign. I am asking the Taoiseach to engage with it.

We have more investment. The Deputy is searching for votes. I understand that.

Thank you, Taoiseach. I call Deputy Bacik.

We are actually investing more. The Government has approved more investment in SNAs today.

The Government will not engage with it.

Today, a survivor of a mother and home, Rosemary Adaser, along with human rights barrister, Caoilfhionn Gallagher, were in Leinster House meeting TDs, including my Labour Party colleague, Deputy Ahern. They met with the special advocate for survivors, Patricia Carey. They are seeking clarity on Philomena's law. They want to ensure justice for mother and baby home survivors who are now resident in Britain - 13,000 people from Ireland. There are welcome guidelines in place since 9 April but survivors are still concerned that without statutory unpinning in particular that there may be an issue about the retrospective effect. They fear that 700 survivors who have already applied to the redress scheme in Ireland may lose out on benefits in England. I raised this last year with the Taoiseach on the visit to the Dáil by Liam Conlon, the MP for Beckenham and Penge in England, who had brought forward Philomena's law in Westminster. The Taoiseach issued a joint communiqué with the British Prime Minister from the Cork summit in March on this but we just need to ensure the Government can work with the British Government to ensure clarity for the survivors.

Thank you, Deputy. Time is up. I ask the Taoiseach to respond.

There comes a time when one has to accept the bona fides of the Government on this. We have worked with Keir Starmer's Government on this.

I acknowledge that.

We had a very good outcome on this, thankfully, when we got the British Government to agree. We are very confident that they will receive redress and that they will not be disadvantaged on receipt of redress in terms of whatever welfare or benefits they may be on in the United Kingdom. That was a good outcome of the UK-Ireland summit that we had in March. That is what we want to do.

It is the retrospective effect-----

Please, Deputy. We do not do back and forth in questions like this.

There is a shocking double standard in how mental health services for young people with intellectual disabilities are staffed compared with mainstream CAMHS. In mainstream CAMHS, multidisciplinary staffing is treated as basic good practice. Yet in CAMHS-ID teams, for a group of children with even more complex needs, there is a far lower standard set by the Government. There is not a single CAMHS-ID team in the country staffed to the level set out in the HSE's own model. The services overall are funded at only 43% of the recommended level. In some parts of the country, such as Cavan-Monaghan, these specialist services do not exist at all. Elsewhere CAMHS-ID services exist only in the most threadbare form with a psychiatrist working with one or two other colleagues. This matters enormously in light of Kerry CAMHS where children with intellectual disabilities and autistic children were among those most badly failed with little or no meaningful multidisciplinary intervention alongside extreme overprescribing and polypharmacy. How can the Government justify this lower standard of support for some of the most vulnerable young people in mental health services?

The Deputy's time is up. I ask the Taoiseach to respond.

I thank the Deputy for raising the question. We are increasing investment incrementally year-on-year in this area. We started from a low base in respect of CAMHS-ID. I think there is an extra €2 million for that specific area in this year's budget. We are going to increase that. Recruitment has been challenging but we are going to expand it and are going to continue to expand it. There are about 45 people working in that area at the moment but we need more obviously. We are going to continue to invest and expand.

I ask the Taoiseach to make a public statement directed at the German Government in support of Daniel Tatlow-Devally who is an Irish citizen who has been incarcerated along with four other fellow activists in a German high security prison for 11 months. He is going on trial next Monday because he was involved in a direct action against Elbit Systems that produces weapons in Germany for the Israeli regime and its genocide against the Palestinian people. He is being tried under legislation which is normally reserved for organised criminals. His treatment and the treatment of his fellow activists is outrageous. It was direct action but it was a peaceful protest. They even filmed themselves and in no way resisted arrest. They are being treated shockingly. They are on trial. It starts next Monday.

I thank the Deputy. The Taoiseach to reply.

The Irish Government should speak up in support of these activists, including our Irish citizens.

I call on the Taoiseach to respond. The Deputy's time is up.

My understanding is that consular services are being made available to those involved in this. The Deputy has not defined what he means by direct action. We will do everything we can to uphold the human rights of any Irish citizen in any jurisdiction. That will continue. We will continue to do that. The courts and the legal system in a given country will also have to take their course. We do not have the capacity to interfere or intervene in the court processes and the hearing of a particular case, but we can and do advocate for citizens so that their basic human rights would be respected in all circumstances.

They are not.

In my constituency a family have already buried one child due to Friedreich's ataxia and their second child is now in a wheelchair due to the same disease, which is advancing. A treatment called SkyClarys is clinically approved and has been shown to slow the progress and the State refuses to reimburse it. Let me be clear: this is not about science or availability; this is about a decision not to fund. What does the Taoiseach say to parents watching their child's disease progress in real time while a treatment exists but is withheld? I want to ask him a direct question. Will he instruct the Minister for Health to fast-track a reimbursement decision for SkyClarys and define the timeframe? Yes or no.

First, it is not a simple decision not to fund. That is not a fair way of putting it. I have spoken to the Minister for Health on this issue. As the Deputy knows, there is a legislative framework governing the reimbursement of medicines, particularly for rare conditions. This is a very sad case with very difficult circumstances for the family. I have spoken to the Minister and I will continue to engage with her this week. I cannot promise anything today. The health technology assessment was not positive in terms of how they do their work. It is an area on which I will come back to the Deputy.

I want to raise with the Taoiseach a fairly harrowing incident that took place in my constituency over the weekend. Mary, a 91-year-old lady, fell and injured her hip at 2.15 p.m. and despite an ambulance being called, none attended to her until 6.15 p.m.. She was waiting, lying on the ground, for over four hours for an ambulance. A member of the Garda Síochána was there to assist her, and members of the public were there. This has caused widespread consternation in our community and led to other people worrying. Will the Taoiseach help me get to the bottom of what has happened here? Will he make sure that we have continued investment in our fire-based emergency service in Dublin, of which we are very proud? Will he also help bring an end to the practice whereby ambulance drivers have to wait at acute hospitals for long periods to transfer patients from their care into the care of the hospital?

I thank Deputy McAuliffe. I certainly will try to help him to get the background to what happened here if he could feed more information and details to me. As he is aware, the Dublin Fire Brigade ambulance service covers the Dublin area. It is unacceptable that a woman would be lying on the ground for four hours. I will get a response from the ambulance service for the Deputy.

Our airports and ports are the front door to this country, but we are making public transport unnecessarily difficult for visitors from the moment they arrive. Visitors still need a Leap card or the exact coins to use a Dublin Bus service. As we know, contactless tap-and-go is not expected to be fully rolled out in Dublin only until 2028. Leap cards are regularly sold out at Dublin Airport at the few retail outlets that sell them. There are regular reports of people being unable to buy Leap cards. There is a clear lack of visible information for passengers arriving at the airport on where they can purchase them. The reality is that visitors can land in Ireland and still struggle to pay for a simple bus journey into the city. It is not rocket science. Will the Taoiseach please talk to the Minister for Transport and ask him to instruct the NTA to liaise with both Dublin Airport and Dublin Port to make sure that we install Leap card machines so that visitors to our country can easily access the city?

In fairness, the NTA and the airport regularly engage, and resources have been made available. However, I will speak to the Minister in respect of the general area. He is well aware of it. Again, the airport authorities and the NTA have a lot of resources. They have a lot of their own resources, or the airport certainly has. There are times too when these agencies need to get on with it. It is not always at the Minister's desk.

Last Friday, a constituent of mine from Wicklow presented at St. Vincent's University Hospital A and E after suffering a suspected mini-stroke. He was vulnerable and afraid but after being seen was told nothing would happen over the weekend. He was told to go home and come back on Monday. He did exactly that. Yesterday morning, he went back as instructed but then had to wait for hour after hour. Morning turned to night, and at midnight he was still left sitting in the A and E, which was absolutely bursting at the seams. Then the reality of it came. After being admitted, there were no beds, not even a trolley. He was given a chair and placed in a shower room in the A and E, with four other men and a woman, all of whom were patients. All were left sitting because there was nowhere else to put them. They were left there for several more hours. That is not care or dignity, and it is totally unacceptable. Under the Taoiseach’s watch, as this is happening, what is he doing in the here and now to address this crisis within our A and Es, not just at St. Vincent's down the road but also right across the State?

There has been a huge investment in the reform of A and E services. We need to focus in on the management of the resources within given hospitals. The Deputy said the person had a stroke.

A mini-stroke.

Any person with a stroke should not be sent home in the first instance. That is a clinical issue. That is what would jump out at me immediately. Having to come back a couple of days later is a worry from a clinical-outcome perspective. I do not know whether the person has made a complaint or whether the Deputy has done so on his behalf. That should happen because then we could track and get answers and responses. That should not happen. There is no excuse for that.

It was good to welcome the Taoiseach to Fairview yesterday for the Land Development Agency, LDA, sod turning at Richmond Village, which involves 779 homes within a close shout of the city centre. The tenancy mix has not yet been determined. Does the Taoiseach agree that affordable homes for purchase is probably the best way to give citizens a stake in their communities? Does he agree that while the LDA has this mandate, in theory it probably could be strengthened further, although it will involve resourcing? Will he encourage the LDA to work towards a maximum amount of affordable-purchase housing at the Richmond Village site?

I do not want to get into specific interventions in terms of mixed tenure or the approach at any given site of the LDA. We have indicated to the LDA that it can do more than social and affordable housing and move into the private-provision area as well to get a broader mix. It is a very good development, with 779 homes. Many big developments are now coming under the aegis of the LDA. It really is the key national intervention in housing at the moment. Thousands upon thousands of houses are under its stewardship right now, and thousands more are in the pipeline. As it evolves, I see as flexible and broad a mix as possible. I am sure the LDA will take on board what has been said in respect of the Richmond Village site.

I previously introduced right-to-be-forgotten legislation as a Private Members' Bill. The Central Bank (Amendment) Bill was adopted by the Government and obviously was part of the programme for Government. However, we are still waiting on the Government amendments so that legislation can be progressed to Committee Stage. So many cancer survivors are waiting for this legislation to give them certainty, especially when seeking to buy a home. The right-to-be-forgotten legislation allows cancer survivors to move on from their cancer diagnoses so that after a period of five years or so, these diagnoses will not be considered when they are seeking life cover to purchase homes. I ask the Taoiseach to find out when the Government amendments will be published so the right-to-be-forgotten legislation can move to Committee Stage and be progressed further because there are a lot of people waiting for it.

I thank the Deputy very much. I pay tribute to her on her initiative on the legislation, which she introduced. I will talk to the Minister, Deputy Harris, and the Minister of State, Deputy Robert Troy, about when they expect the amendments to come forward. I will revert to the Deputy because I believe it is important legislation, particularly for those with cancer and survivors of cancer. This Bill will be of great benefit.

The dire condition of another school in my constituency in of Kildare North, this time in Celbridge, is causing distress to students and teachers. Scoil na Mainistreach has had an ongoing issue with a roof over the past few years, and it is only getting worse. The school has had contractors out and they said it should not attempt another patch job after numerous patch jobs given the poor construction of the school in the first instance. The contractors are also concerned that the internal structure of the school has been damaged. The school decided to apply for funding under the emergency works scheme as it was too late for the summer works scheme but it was rejected by the Department as it does not fall under the category of emergency works. To parents in Celbridge who are sick and tired of their schools being disregarded by the Department of education, this is just pedantic. I ask the Taoiseach to speak to the Minister and her Department to cut through the red tape and ensure the school gets a new roof over the summer, ensuring no further damage to the building.

A new roof probably does not fall under emergency works but probably falls under some project. An entire new roof would be substantial-----

I know but-----

-----but I will talk to the Minister.

Come on, lads. Get-----

I know but the minor works scheme is for lesser works. I am not going to get into that but I think it is a project in itself. I do not know where the project is in terms of the various stages with the Department but I will talk to the Minister for education in respect of it.

Many people got packages over the past week or so. People with machines involved in the construction industry and the provision of services, whether pipelaying for water, electricity or telecommunications, use a lot of green diesel. To my understanding, they have not been included in any package. The cost of building and construction is going up every day but this has been exacerbated a lot further. I ask the Taoiseach to consider looking after those involved in services provision and the construction industry because rollers, diggers, cranes and every kind of machine is run on green diesel. That has gone up by over 80 cent and has only gone down, as far as I can see, by only 5 cents. A lot more needs to be done.

I appreciate the Deputy raising the issue. Certain aspects of construction are covered by the schemes but not machinery yet. However, I will ask the various Ministers covering agriculture and transport to have a look at this. Again, we have made progress on a number of fronts. We have to await the detailed development of the schemes in terms of contractors and farmers. The transport scheme is nearing completion. I will talk to the relevant Ministers.

The recently announced results of the primary school survey indicated some very interesting results. Sixty percent of parents in the denominational schools would like to retain their ethos and 73% of parents in single-sex schools wanted to move to a co-educational model. Eighty seven percent of parents with children in English-medium schools wanted those schools to retain that medium and not move to Irish. The results are very interesting but they are only part of the results. The results from the cohort of parents with children from age zero to school age have not come out, and neither have those of the educators who were able to fill in that information. They have not been published. What is the timeframe for publication? Unfortunately, divestment is moving at nought miles per hour. The move to co-educational is very welcome. It is bringing us into the present as opposed to keeping us in the past. The result on the Gaeilge is a little disappointing. When will the results of the full survey be published and what process will be put in place to ensure divestment and other things move a little bit quicker?

I thank the Deputy very much for raising the issue. It is a very interesting survey which will inform policy development in time. There has to be significant consultation. I will talk to the Minister and ask her to perhaps engage with the Deputy on the next steps. I did not quite get the point the Deputy made about Gaeilge. We will talk later.

A total of 87% want their schools to stay English-medium schools. Only a small number want to move to Gaeilge-medium schools.

Gaelcholáistí.

Would the Taoiseach live in a shed? The Government's plan to allow landlords to rent out modular units risks subjecting renters, vulnerable young people and migrants to this very phenomenon. This is potentially opening the door to the exploitation of vulnerable renters in the private rental market. Yes, we need more flexibility for exempted development but allowing landlords to rent these units out is not acceptable. This will lead to poor-quality expensive rental accommodation. It is absolutely outrageous, in my view, to rent these out on the open market and to treat tenants as licensees with very few protections. Will the Government at least pause this until a full review of licence arrangements is completed and basic protections for tenants are put in place?

They are not sheds.

They can be.

The Deputy is just playing politics by calling them sheds. If they were not for rent, they would be not sheds. It is so hypocritical. If we came in and said planning exemptions for relatives or for sons and daughters for buildings outside, such as residential units in the back garden, would be introduced, they would not be sheds any more according to the Deputy, but the minute we said they would be for rent, they are sheds. This is what he is saying. It makes no logical sense. There are potential costs of up to €80,000. Those are not sheds.

Some of them are.

The Deputy is already making up his mind before anything is built. Does he care about supply at all? Does he really care about it? Is housing just a game in here where we keep on shouting names across at each other? I think the planning exemptions are good. They will release planners from all the small stuff that goes on such as attics and Velux windows, which people go on and on about.

The proposed development of a respite and day service support for individuals with an intellectual disability and an autism centre in Dunmanway is a live project. It is a project that has been discussed for over ten years. While it moves at a snail's pace, sometimes it stops. The former Minister of State, Anne Rabbitte, did a lot of work on it - I give her credit where credit is due - and had progressed it to the point of moving faster. In recent months, John and Mary McCarthy in Dunmanway donated the grounds so now it is up to the HSE to make the next move but it continues to go from person to person because somebody moves to another area and then another area. Jim O'Mahony and the rest of the Kilbrittain committee are extremely frustrated at the way it has dragged on. They are all doing voluntary work dragging in funds as best they can so this project can go ahead. Will the Taoiseach look into it and find out where it is at and how we can we progress it to the point of it going to planning? That is a very important stage and it is not there at this present time.

I think I might have met with people at the very beginning and I did outline that the initial work had to be done to make sure that current funding was available and that it was aligning with existing plans because the land has been donated voluntarily and freely and a huge amount of voluntary fundraising has taken place. I will ask the HSE what the state of play is now to make sure we get this moving.