2026-01-29

Yesterday, VHI announced a third increase in health insurance premiums in less than 12 months. It will kick in from March. These three increases over the past year will see many families paying more than €500 extra per year in insurance bills. It seems for many people that there is no end to the rip-off and price hikes. It is not just health insurance. It is energy bills, rent, groceries, motor fuel and childcare. Households are being hammered non-stop, yet Government sits back and does nothing to stop the rip-off. There is something the Tánaiste could do on health insurance costs. The Government has real leverage to tackle to the insurance companies and get a break for customers. Private healthcare relies completely on the public system. Private health insurance is supported by generous tax subsidies of up to €400 million every year. The Government needs to grow a backbone and use the leverage it has. Will the Tánaiste call in the top brass of these insurance companies and private hospitals to demand they stop ripping people off?

The Deputy has missed an important point, which is that this Government is advancing Sláintecare. It is advancing the creation of a universal healthcare system, and the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, is leading on the full implementation of the public-only consultant contract. I hear much commentary about vested interests who have pushed back against making sure that public facilities are used for public patients and there is not that inequality that existed in the past. That is further reducing any suggestion that private health insurance is benefiting-----

How many people have health insurance? The costs are going up. People have it because of-----

Please conclude the answer, Tánaiste, and move on.

Is Deputy Carthy now the champion of the private health insurance sector? I am confused here. We are delivering in the public sector. Everything we are doing is about making sure that, regardless of means, you can access healthcare in a time-efficient manner. That is the policy direction of the Government.

That is not the reality.

That is what we are doing. That is why, whether you are with the VHI or anyone else, we are decoupling private health insurance from access to public hospitals and particularly to consultants on public-only contracts.

Yesterday, on South East Radio, the Minister, Deputy Browne, who is the Minister with responsibility for the national emergency co-ordination group laid the blame for the latest flooding incident in his home town of Enniscorthy firmly at the door of Met Éireann. Incredibly, today, on the same radio station, the same Minister, who also has responsibility for local government issued a statement effectively blaming Wexford County Council for the lack of a planning application for a new flood relief scheme. On 15 April 2025, I attended a meeting in Enniscorthy with the Minister of State, Deputy Moran, and senior officials of the OPW at which they outlined the new flood relief scheme plans to public representatives and Wexford County Council officials. The long-suffering people of Enniscorthy deserve much better than this. When a Minister in control of agencies and Departments with direct responsibility will not take responsibility for their portfolios, what hope do they have? I ask for the Tánaiste’s direct intervention to resolve this dreadful ongoing nightmare for the homeowners and businesses of Enniscorthy.

First, I absolutely recognise the Deputy's characterisation of this as an ongoing nightmare for the people of Enniscorthy, a town that has flooded many times. Government announcements have been made and Government funding of €51 million has been put in place and people want to see the flood relief scheme delivered. I know we have that as a shared objective. I listened to the Minister's comments with regard to Met Éireann. My view of what he said was that he was certainly not blaming Met Éireann. We need to have a discussion about the information that we can put out there. We had a yellow rain warning. That is a not a criticism of Met Éireann.

What about the national emergency co-ordination group?

A yellow rain warning is very different in the context of flooding when river levels are so high. We need to see how we can all work together, including local authorities, Met Éireann, the OPW and the Government, at a time when we are seeing more frequent adverse weather events. The Minister of State, Deputy Boxer Moran, is visiting Enniscorthy in the Deputy's constituency today to engage directly.

Despite repeated assurances from the Government, there is still a crisis in special education. Children are travelling miles outside their communities and some are still without a school place. Assurances were given to me that the closing of the portal on 1 October would not mean that any child would be shut out. However, children are being shut out because the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, has failed to engage with them. Only 7% of post-primary schools have opened with the target set by the Department of education. In my constituency of Dublin South-Central, Clogher Road Community College was told by the NCSE last academic year that it would open, but it has not been on the sanction list. At the same time, special schools are facing redesignation and we are still being told that children do not have a school place despite being told that there are plenty of spaces. Why are the NCSE and the Department of Education and Youth running parallel systems? They seem to be running in parallel. I am being told different things and children are being locked out. It is causing confusion and it is very concerning.

I appreciate the genuine interest the Deputy has in this issue. There is a challenge in this regard. I can point to the fact that we are spending €3 billion on special education, and quite rightly so. We are seeing more classes open. A good idea, or the germ of a good idea, was trying to open the process earlier to be able to forward-plan and get classes in place. I also accept the reality of the world and that some parents, through no fault of their own, were not able to meet that deadline. A solution will need to be found. I cannot see a situation where there is not an opportunity for them to reapply because that demand is real. Their child is real and their need needs to be met. I will speak with the Minister, Deputy Naughton, on it and ask her to link directly with the Deputy.

The announcement by the Government of the new childcare scheme is welcome. The idea is that the Government will buy or build childcare facilities, particularly in areas where there are shortages. It is a small start. Similar to a lot of Members of the House, I would like it to be a lot more expansive but it is a welcome start. It is reported that €177 million will be available over a five-year period and eight buildings will be bought or acquired in the first year. There is a desperate shortage of childcare and early years learning places in Laois. The 84 registered places in the county are full. Parents contact me to say that they cannot get a place for their child, particularly when it comes to full-day services because a lot of people in Laois are commuting. The following towns are short of services according to parents, providers and the childcare committee: Durrow, Abbeyleix, Rathdowney, Graiguecullen, Mountrath, Mountmellick, Portarlington and Portlaoise. Every town in the county needs them. We have had a population surge in the last 15 years which is going to continue according to the Government's plans. I am not against that, but we need more child places. My ask is for one of those eight premises to be designated in Laois. We need it desperately.

The Deputy should conclude.

He could not conclude until he got the most important line in at the end-----

I am getting in first.

-----which was, quite rightly from his perspective, a view in relation to Laois having a need for this. I thank the Deputy for his acknowledgement that this is a positive policy direction. I am eager that the State invests directly in trying to acquire public space to provide capacity. We rightly have debates in this House about reducing childcare fees. We have a clear view on where we want to get to over the lifetime of the Government. Alongside that, we are going to need places and capacity and to support staff. We have identified that money. There will be an exercise done in identifying areas in which there is a need for that intervention. I am sure there will be many such areas. The Deputy has obviously made his case for Laois. I will ask the Minister to consider those matters and link with the Deputy. We will see increases in simplification this year. One of the big bugbears we are hearing from childcare providers is the amount of bureaucracy. We need to cut that back. In September, we will also see reductions in childcare fees for the 47,000 lowest-income families.

Fine Gael used to be known as the farmers' party but those days are well over.

Ah now.

Its MEPs voted against farmers last week in Strasbourg. Today, its Minister for agriculture, Deputy Heydon, when I asked him whether he would use his office to stop Mercosur from being implemented before the European courts make a decision, he stated that he would not and that it was another Department's responsibility.

The Government also refused to hold Bord Bia and its chairperson, Larry Murrin, to account. He has the job of promoting Irish food and I understand he is paid just under €200,000 to do it. Instead of that, he is actually importing Brazilian beef. This is a conflict of interest and the fact that the Government’s judgment does not understand that shows it is compromised on this. It is, "Do what I say, not what I do". One third of farmers at the moment are living off the farm. One third are only living off the farm because someone from that farm is working off the farm. One third of farmers are in poverty or going into debt. Every year, the number of farmers is falling in this country. Will the Government listen to the farmers for a change and do as they ask and remove Larry Murrin?

I do not appreciate being misrepresented. During questions on agriculture earlier, a debate about farmers and agriculture went into the area of a trade deal and what trade policy was, and I highlighted that it was not my direct role.

Exactly. The Minister said he would not do it.

I fought my sector's corner on the Mercosur trade deal. The Deputy knows what way the Government voted. I made that very clear. With regard to the point the Deputy raised around Bord Bia, what I implore everyone-----

No. There is no misrepresentation here at all.

I ask Deputy Tóibín to resume his seat.

Keep going.

The Minister said exactly the same thing to me this morning. He said that it is not his responsibility.

Resume your seat, Deputy Tóibín.

I want to answer on the substantive point the Deputy raised.

I want the Minister to withdraw the allegation that there was any misrepresentation of his view today.

I ask the Deputy to resume his seat.

Can the Minister withdraw the allegation as false?

I ask Deputy Tóibín to resume his seat. I am chairing the session, not you.

Deputy Tóibín made a political charge.

No.

I want to answer the substantive point he raised, if he lets me.

Will the Minister withdraw the allegation that is incorrect?

Either the Deputy wants me to respond to his question or he does not. On the point about Bord Bia, there is nuance and detail involved. A calm space is needed for this to be explained. We have dealt with soundbites, attacks and rash actions and comments by some people in this House that do farmers a disservice. Farmers benefit greatly from the integrated nature of international trade deals. We export 90% of our food and drink produce. With regard to the specific business case of the chairman of Bord Bia, it is absolutely explainable. It was explained to the board of Bord Bia and 12 of the 14 members absolutely accepted that. It was explained to me. The offer is open to both the county chairs and commodity chairs of the IFA to have a direct meeting with the chairman. He is coming before the Oireachtas committee next week as well. Let us have the space for that. Do not do farmers a disservice by going with soundbites and playing on the sensitivities-----

They are the ones who are-----

The Minister should conclude.

Of course they are angry. They are angry because they are being fed soundbites from this Chamber.

The Minister is doing a disservice here.

Let us have a proper, meaningful debate on the importance of integrated global supply chains that benefit our farmers.

The Minister should resume his seat. I call Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan.

I wish to raise the issue of the emergency works grant for Coláiste an Phiarsaigh, Glanmire. It is my former secondary school and I used to teach there many years ago. The reason I am raising this - I typically do not raise individual issues like this on the floor of the Dáil - is out of pure frustration, especially given that this is the week when we are announcing a large capital programme in education, which I welcome. I have been working with this school since November trying to get a roof repaired and we cannot get a positive outcome from the Department. I would like to read an extract from the principal's latest email to me: The condition of these rooms is shocking. Not alone that, water is entering the light sockets and creating a very serious health and safety issue. The lights have to be switched off and both staff and students are often working in the dark. I know the nature of the emergency works scheme and how restrictive it can be. It is for emergencies but if this is not warranted or deemed an emergency, then I do not know what is. It is very frustrating and I cannot a straight response. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked a parliamentary question in this regard last year and the reply stated that €77 million had been spent on roofs in the previous four years by the Department of education. I know, therefore, that the Department can fix roofs. In this case, I ask the Tánaiste to please intervene to help get the school roof fixed.

I thank Deputy O'Sullivan for raising this issue. I can completely understand how it must be a cause of frustration when on the one hand that school is seeing lots of new school buildings being announced, which is a good thing, while also having its own battle to try to get what sounds to me to be a serious repair issue resolved in the interests of the welfare of its students and staff. On foot of the Deputy raising it here in the Dáil today I will speak directly with the Minister for Education and Youth, Deputy Naughton. I will ask her to revert to the Deputy on this and see what options there are to address it.

I ask the Tánaiste to provide an update on the proposed college of the future for Clonmel. It is a project with which the Tánaiste is very familiar. The proposal is the first of its kind for a fully integrated tertiary campus of further and higher education on the one site in the heart of Clonmel. I pay tribute to all of the stakeholders involved, particularly Tús and Tipperary ETB. We are very much ready to move forward to the detailed design and planning phase. It is on the former Kickham Barracks site in Clonmel. It is the final phase and we are anxious to realise the ambition and vision we have for the site. Phase one, the plaza, is complete and phase two is under construction. The latter is the new south Tipperary Garda headquarters. In terms of the college of the future, I ask the Tánaiste to engage with the Minister, Deputy Lawless, to drive this project forward.

I certainly will because, as the Deputy said, I have an interest in this project. I remember being in Clonmel with Deputy Murphy on many occasions. The work of Tipperary County Council, Tipperary ETB and all of the really good interagency work being done on the Kickham Barracks site is really impressive. It is a really good example of people pulling together to see how they can improve, modernise and rejuvenate their town. I know Deputy Murphy played a role in that as the mayor and now as a TD. I am delighted to see the Garda station under way as well. I was there for sod-turning of that. I have seen the plaza too. There is great work going on. The key piece now is to get this college of the future in place. It will provide extraordinary access to education for people in south Tipperary, involving partnerships with Tús and the university too. It is my understanding that the Minister, Deputy Lawless, who is very committed to this project and the further education and training, FET, college programme in general, had a meeting recently with all 12 of the chief executives, including in Tipperary. The message to them was to be ready and to ensure that their design teams are appointed this year. Let us get the design team appointed for the Clonmel project and power on. I will certainly keep a close eye on this too.

Last summer I attended a demonstration protesting a pilot cycle lane between Timolin and Moone in south Kildare, a project known locally as the road to nowhere. Delivered by TII and the council under the national cycle network plan, over €2 million has been spent installing concrete islands and hard kerbs. Instead of improving safety and access, locals describe the road as an obstacle course and a death trap. Crucially, members of local cycling clubs have told me that they will not use the lane. Since the summer there have reportedly been 80 incidents on this stretch, including two serious ones where cyclists were hospitalised. Many vehicles have been damaged too. There was no meaningful consultation before this pilot began. No funding has yet been allocated for maintenance. An urgent safety audit was completed last December but it remains unpublished. Can this situation be addressed before a life is lost? Will the audit be published and will an end be put to yet more waste of public money?

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue on behalf of her constituents. My understanding, although I need to look into it some more, is that this, as the Deputy rightly says, was a pilot, an effort to try out new things. Encouraging people to try out new things is always important but so too is learning lessons and answering the questions and views of communities. On foot of the Deputy raising this today I will ask TII and the Minister for Transport to respond to the Deputy directly.

There was great news today with the announcement of 36,284 new housing unit completions, a 20% increase on the 2024 figures and the largest number since we started recording these figures. I meet people every day who believe that owning their own home is beyond their reach but when we sit down and go through the figures, it often becomes clear that with the help-to-buy scheme and the first home scheme, home ownership may be achievable for them. I have no doubt that a huge number of people out there do not know these schemes exist or do not understand how they work and as a result, they never even try to buy a home. We need to review how these schemes are promoted because the evidence on the ground is that the current approach is not working. Far too many people remain unaware that these supports are available and continue to believe that home ownership is out of their reach when, in reality, it is not.

I thank Deputy McCormack, who makes a really valid point. I join with him in welcoming the fact that more homes were built in this country in 2025 than in 2024. It was not marginally more, but 20% more and the highest amount of homes completed since 2011, effectively since the crash. We now need to build on that. We have a lot more to do, absolutely, but we need to build on that. The Deputy's point is really valid and I find it myself in my own constituency. There are lots of schemes out there, whether it is help-to-buy, first home, croí cónaithe and so on, which do benefit people. From memory, about 60,000 people have benefited from the help-to-buy scheme but there is often a worry that people think that the schemes are for somebody else or somebody else's child and do not necessarily apply to them. I will talk to the Minister for housing, Deputy Browne, to see what more can be done to promote these schemes and maybe to streamline the information as well. I thank the Deputy for the suggestion.

New parents are in a catch-22 situation. The flat rate, per-week payment for maternity, paternity and parent's benefits makes extended leave unaffordable for many families, although it has improved. The reality is that they have no option but to go back to work to cover the costs of rent or mortgages or the cost of living. They then need childcare. Baby rooms in childcare services should be the solution but, since the introduction of core funding, the number of baby rooms across the State has dropped by 25% and by a whopping 35% in my own county of Fingal. Parents are in a catch-22 situation. They have no option other than to go back to work but the childcare is not there. We need a joined-up review of early years policy and family supports to relieve pressure on parents. We need that quickly so that we have the findings for budget 2027. There are policy solutions out there, including better supports for providers of baby rooms, pay-related benefits and the inclusion of children under one in the State-led facilities because, at the moment, the reference is to those aged from one to three.

As always, I want to thank Deputy Currie for the very constructive suggestions she makes constantly with regard to childcare and how we support parents, particularly with the early years. We have done a lot in relation to parental entitlements in recent years, including extending the parent's benefit to nine weeks. That is available for both parents now although the figure is still significantly lower for men. However, we are all living in the real world in terms of our interactions with people and we know that for young people who are paying a mortgage or whatever else, it might not be financially viable for them to take that leave, even though they want to. Government policy wants to help people be able to spend as much of the first year with their newborn as they can and divide that up in a way that works for the family but sometimes there is still a financial viability gap. The Deputy is right that the programme for Government commits to examining pay-related parent's benefit. We have pay-related benefit for people who lose their jobs. We introduced that last April and it is working well. We need to take the learnings from that and see whether they can be applied to other areas, including in relation to parent's benefit. I am happy to raise that matter, as well as the other constructive suggestions the Deputy has made, with the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, Deputy Foley, the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Calleary, and more broadly across government.

Yesterday the Minister for Education and Youth listed 105 priority new school building and extension projects to proceed to tender and construction in 2026 and 2027 as part of the national development plan, NDP. While that is welcome for those communities, there were no objective criteria set out and no explanation as to why particular projects were selected for prioritisation over others. There was very significant geographic variation and some projects that were at a more advanced stage of planning were not listed for priority while less-advanced projects were. There was no indication as to what this means for those projects that were not listed. There is real concern in relation to that, as well as huge frustration in school communities across the State. Children are in school buildings that are wholly inadequate. I can list a number of such schools in my own constituency and there are many more across the State. What does this mean for those other projects that are already years in planning? Does it mean that they are going to be delayed by a further two years?

That is a fair question and the short answer is "No". We have to start somewhere in terms of a list and a significant ramp-up of capital investment. What we saw yesterday was an effort to move forward a further 105 projects. That list consisted of 80 large-scale additional school accommodation projects and 25 further projects to be delivered under the modular accommodation programme. A total of 45 of the 80 projects were already at tender stage and 35 are projects that have planning permission or are at pre-tender stage. The criteria for identifying projects included projects that were ready to go to construction or to tender in 2026 or 2027; the condition of the school; projects in areas with capacity pressures; growing demographics; and projects in the pipeline for a long time. I take the Deputy's point that there are lots of schools but this is not the final word. This is an important tranche and we will look to build on this. As the Deputy knows, with capital projects there can be churn and there can be further opportunities. The Government and the Department will continue to engage with those schools, including the ones in Deputy O'Rourke's constituency.

Will the Tánaiste outline how proposed planning guidelines will take full account of the vital role short-term lets play in the Irish economy, supporting tourism, regional employment and supplementary housing needs? In many parts of the country, especially rural and seasonal areas, short-term letting provides essential accommodation for tourists, contract workers, students and families. These lets sustain local pubs, restaurants, shops, transport providers and visitor attractions and often form a crucial income stream for small family-run business. Given that tourism is a cornerstone of our economy and a key employer, how will the Government ensure these guidelines do not unintentionally undermine local communities or force viable microbusinesses to close? What economic and employment impact assessments have been carried out at local and regional level? What engagement took place with stakeholders in the short-term letting sector during the drafting of these guidelines? How does the Government justify these measures on housing grounds, given the risk they may remove essential visitors' accommodation, damage regional development and deliver little or no additional long-term housing supply?

I thank Deputy Collins for how he has raised the issue. It is important we tease through this carefully. I think we would all agree there is a need to make sure we get the best use out of the housing stock that exists in our country, particularly in a housing emergency. We all share that view. We do not want an unintended consequence. This is not about going into small rural communities where they are very reliant on this. The Government will have to consider this. Work is being done. The population of an area may be one indicator and we will engage with the sector. We will do this. We intend to regulate the short-term let sector. That is important but we need to do it with a degree of caution and informed evidence to make sure we continue to support the tourism sector while making sure, particularly in larger areas, that for Airbnb and the likes there is some regulation and structure. We are trying to get the balance right. I am happy to engage further with the Deputy on it.

Yesterday, the cross-party interest group for family carers, of which I am co-chair along with Deputy McGreehan and Senator Tully, met in the audiovisual room. We heard from family carers Angela Briggs and Matthew Murphy about the 24-7 care they provide for their loved ones. They outlined the stress some 34,000 carers went through recently and are still going through after receiving tax demand letters from Revenue. The Tánaiste knows carers save the State over €20 billion each year. Will the Tánaiste let us know what the Government is doing to remove carer's allowance and benefit payments from the tax net, similar to other payments like jobseeker's allowance? Will the Tánaiste committee to meeting the cross-party interest group to discuss this important matter?

I would be very happy to meet the group. I thank Deputy Wall, Deputy McGreehan and Senator Tully for the work they are doing. It is good to see a cross-party approach to this issue. I think in all our election manifestos we all promised a roughly similar direction of travel. I spoke to Family Carers Ireland this week. I am looking forward to meeting them and Care Alliance Ireland shortly too. It is a statement of fact that carer's benefit or allowance has always been a taxable benefit. It goes out in the letter that it is approved. It is a legitimate point of debate and policy discussion as to whether that should be the position in the future. There is also the issue of the means test. There are lots of issues we need to work our way through. I would like to get a shared sense of priority if that is possible as to how we move forward. We took a big move on the income disregard this year. That is the right thing to do. It will kick in in July. I am looking forward to engaging with the groups and I am very happy to meet the cross-party group.

This week the Minister for education announced extra time will be granted to secondary school students with dyslexia and other and other visual and physical disabilities in their junior and leaving certificate exams but it comes with a catch - it is only ten minutes per exam. I accept ten minutes is better than nothing but it falls far short of what these students require and deserve. It is nowhere near what third level students get. The minimum dyslexic third level students get is an extra ten minutes per hour while second level students are offered just ten minutes per exam. This simply is not good enough. In Northern Ireland, dyslexic students get 25% extra time. The Government's proposal amounts to just 6%. In addition, the State Examinations Commission is just tagging extra time on to existing accommodations, meaning those who do not qualify for current supports such as reading assistance or a spelling and grammar waiver will be excluded. Why are young people who do not qualify for existing supports, in particular students with dyscalculia, excluded? Will the Government increase this half-hearted measure and offer additional extra time in 2026, putting it in line with third level supports? Will it make this extra time a stand-alone accommodation?

I find myself somewhat agreeing with the Deputy on this. I have not had an opportunity to probe the rationale behind the ten minutes but I will. I know the Minister and Department were eager to do something positive and providing additional time is that. As a former Minister for higher education, I am aware of how the higher education sector provides those accommodations. We need to ensure there is never a barrier to progression or access in the education system. I will talk to the Minister, Deputy Naughton, about this to see the rationale for the Department and various expert inputs. I am happy to engage further with the Deputy, Dyslexia Ireland or others.

Like my colleague, Deputy Wall, I raise the issue of carers. They recently received correspondence from Revenue outlining tax liabilities on their carer's payments. For many families, that did not land as a clarification but as a complete shock. We know and all accept that it is not a new policy but for us it demands action. The Tánaiste knows carers are not casual contributors to our health and social care system. They are an integral part of it. They provide round-the-clock care, often at the expense of their own income, health and future security. They save the State billions of euro every year yet we continue to treat their support as a taxable income rather than what it truly should be - a recognition of essential unpaid labour. People with disabilities face higher living costs every single day due to medical needs, transport and basic accessibility. I want the Government to look at removing carer's allowance and benefit from taxable income. Then we would have a Government that listens, respects carers and values the work carers do.

I thank Deputy McGreehan for the work she does as co-chair of the family carers group. I look forward to meeting them. I rule nothing out but I want to have an informed conversation because - I do not mean this in any way flippantly - carers to do such amazing work. We all want to commit to doing more but the commitment a couple of weeks ago was that we were all going to focus on the means test. We will have to have a joined-up conversation with carers and their representatives as to the best way to financially support our carers. The means test is one, tax policy is another. There is a variety of areas. Let us try to have a shared vision of where we want to get to. The reality around tax is the reality. Many carers will never reach the level where they will have any tax liability. They may even get a rebate. My understanding is this was about making sure people did not get landed with a large tax bill but, rather, that it was regularised. Having said that, let us have a proper informed discussion about how we prioritise carers over the next four budgets due in this Dail. I look forward to having that engagement.

My question is about a persistent problem with driving test waiting times in Dublin Bay North. While it is welcome that they are coming down pretty consistently across the country, it is not happening everywhere. Raheny and Killester in Dublin Bay North remain well above the national average, at 19 weeks and 14 weeks, respectively. For young folks in particular, this is not necessarily just an inconvenience. It can mean the difference between taking up a new job, getting to college on time or just having that bit of independence they need. People are being left behind at a critical stage in their lives, potentially. It will get worse if it is not dealt with. What can be done in relation to driver test waiting times in areas like Dublin Bay North?

It is an important point. These delays are not consequence-free, as the Deputy rightly outlined, for somebody trying to go work, go about their lives or go to college. The national average wait time for driving tests has fallen. It is 10.3 weeks, slightly above where it is meant to be, which is ten weeks. It is down a lot from last April when it was 27 weeks at the peak. I take the point that the fall has not been consistent across all areas. The Minister of State, Deputy Canney, is working on this. He is closely monitoring the issue with the RSA. There are plans to open further test centres to assist the situation. I will ask him to take a look at Raheny and Killester and revert to the Deputy.

St. Patrick's national school in Celbridge is at crisis point. It has been promised a new school for 18 years. Parents and teachers have been in touch with me about leaks, rodents and even parts of the school being held together with duct tape. Despite the Minister, Deputy Naughton, visiting the school two weeks ago, it did not make the priority list published the other day. It is completely unfit for anyone to teach or learn in. The Celbridge three school campus has been at planning stage for the past ten years. It is as stage 2a now. St. Patrick's, St. Rachel's and Celbridge Community College are dependent on this campus. The situation is also contributing to longer waiting lists for national schools, which is a new thing for people in Celbridge. When will the campus be delivered? Can appropriate temporary classrooms be provided to St. Patrick's school while it awaits the delivery of its new building?

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. As she stated, it is an issue of which the Minister is aware on foot of her recent visit to Celbridge. I will speak with the Minister, Deputy Naughton, about this in order to determine when St. Patrick's National School can expect progress on the campus and on what can be done in the interim. I will ask the Minister to come back to the Deputy directly.

The number of houses in Mayo represents 3% of the overall national housing stock. Despite this, according to a recent GeoDirectory report, the proportion of dereliction in Mayo represents 14% of the national rate. That is extraordinary. Dereliction is a scourge on our towns and blight on our communities. Many homes have been abandoned for decades and have essentially been left to rodents and bats. That is what is happening. Mayo has had an average of two compulsory purchase orders, CPOs, over the past ten years. We need to resource local authorities in the context of dereliction levies and CPOs . We also need to set targets to ensure that action is happening. We are rudderless in respect of this matter, and communities are struggling. I know of communities in which people are worried because slates are falling off buildings. That is how bad things are in certain towns and villages. We need targets for local authorities and we need to resource local authorities. We must have metrics.

We also do not need to babysit the local authorities. They need to get on and do their job. We have given them all vacancy officers and we have funded them. Hard-pressed taxpayers in this country have funded posts for local authorities to tackle dereliction. It utterly unacceptable that it would exist at the scale it does, particularly in the context of what the Deputy outlined with regard to his county of Mayo. We are so peeved with local authorities in terms of where they are at regarding the derelict sites levy that we are taking it off them and giving it to Revenue in order that it will be dealt with properly. That is why, as Minister for Finance, I intend to introduce a derelict levy tax. I will get Revenue to collect this because it will do it right. It astonishes me, at a time when dereliction could bring in, through the levy, more money for local authorities to deliver public services and act as a disincentive to dereliction, that so many of them have done so little in respect of this matter. They will write me letters and pass motions. They should get on with the job. I do not have any confidence that they are going to do it right, so we are going to legislate, take it off them and do it through Revenue.