Micheál Martin

A Cheann Comhairle, I think we should thank the soccer manager as well.

One more "T" word now.

I thought you were all socialists together a couple of weeks ago.

Who is the Troy Parrott?

Go for it.

I appreciate the opportunity to participate in this important debate as we approach the fourth year of Russia’s full-scale illegal war of aggression against its peaceful neighbour, Ukraine. It is essential that we never lose sight of the fact that Russia, in a fundamental violation of the UN Charter and international law, launched an unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine, a European count…

Be nice now.

I thank the Deputy for raising this very serious issue. I have offered my condolences to Harvey Morrison Sherratt's family, to Gillian and Stephen, on previous occasions, as has Deputy McDonald. I respect the Deputy's commitment to the issue. As I have said in this House before, no words of condolence or consolation to Harvey's parents are enough. It is an enormous trauma for any parent to go thro…

This is the factual position. It is not right or proper, in my view, that any other construction should be put on it. As we now know, any protected disclosure is investigated by an independent person, not by the Minister or anyone else. The allegations, as the Deputy outlined, are very serious and warrant investigation. That is currently under way in the manner set out in law by the protected disc…

That is something I cannot comprehend. That needs to be the subject matter of an inquiry.

The Deputy made a comment in respect of the Minister receiving this, which is not correct in the sense that there is a dedicated channel, a secure, dedicated mailbox, set up to receive protected disclosures via the ministerial channel. The Minister does not engage with that. The legislation is very clear on that.

The legislation was passed in the House.

The protected disclosure was received in the mailbox on 31 August.

First, the notification was sent from the Department to the reporting person informing them that in accordance with section 8-----

You are not because you gave an opposite perspective.

I did not interrupt you. Please.

The commissioner for protected disclosures, who is responsible, acknowledged receipt on 2 September. Once transmitted, the commissioner independently determines the appropriate prescribed person or public body to follow up on the disclosure. The HSE has issued a statement, as the Deputy is aware. Ministers are required to establish dedicated channels to receive protected disclosures and to publish…

Access to records is strictly limited to ensure the identities of the-----

-----reporting person and any persons named in the report are kept confidential to the greatest extent possible.

All disclosures received by a Minister or Minister of State must be transmitted to the protected disclosures commissioner within ten calendar days of receipt. That is a statutory requirement under the Act.

I am but Deputy McDonald was too. It is not good enough that misleading presentations are being made by the Deputy.

Let us not play politics.

First of all, I fundamentally disagree with the positioning of the Deputy in respect of the housing issue, which is the number one priority facing our country, particularly young people. Progress was made under Housing for All and the targets outlined in it were achieved, despite commentary to the contrary. Over 137,000 houses have been built since Housing for All was published, with €14 billion i…

I have never said that.

We have over 190,000 workers in the construction sector. That is up by about 45,000 since 2019, so there has been huge work done in terms of the human resources requirement for house construction. I was on a housing site last week in Ballyvolane in Cork. They are now building the houses within a nine-week timeframe because of the infrastructure work that went in there about two years ago. Up to 80…