Micheál Martin

We need houses of different types and size and different approaches to solve this issue.

Everywhere you go, the Opposition opposes almost all of the measures.

What Deputy Sherlock offered there is of no real substance-----

-----in terms of talking about a new agency. The LDA will now have €8.5 billion for direct build.

I thank the Deputy for raising what is an existential issue facing humankind. I also welcome her mother, Madeline, and her good friends to the Chamber. I hope they have a very enjoyable day. I will also take this opportunity to wish President Connolly the very best of success in her role as President of Ireland, as we did yesterday. I fully concur with the objective of addressing the issue of cli…

I have never said we would be shelving any climate projects, but I did say we should not attempt to litigate our way out of climate change because we would divide society. We will develop a counter-reaction to the changes that are required to meet our climate change targets. Maybe I was picked up wrong, but I have been saying this for quite some time. The legal route will be the ruination of the c…

The challenge on the nitrates directive is to give us space and time to get it right, but not to undermine and ruin what is a very important industry to the country-----

----but also to do it in a proper, effective way. That is the objective, and that is what I have been doing-----

-----in my discussions with the present Commissioner. I know the Minister, Deputy Heydon, has also been doing so in his discussions.

I am sorry.

I thank the Deputy very much for raising an important issue that is close to my heart. At the time, I opposed the abolition of town and borough councils. As a democrat, I believe in fundamental layers of democracy. Town councils played a very effective and impactful role in their day. In the first instance, they were a channel for people to get involved in communities and politics and to outline p…

-----municipal districts. That is an issue that has to be factored into whatever we do. I do favour at least establishing a pilot programme whereby we look at certain areas of population of a certain scale where we could reintroduce councils. We talk about connection to people and we talk about democracy. The town councils were that connection. I was in some places recently where flooding had tak…

It probably would be an unfair characterisation to say the task force is full of insiders. The Minister of State has just informed me that about five councillors are on the task force. They were nominated by the representative bodies of councillors. There will be a serious, genuine and substantive look at the issue. It will then fall to the Government to act on the report. As I have said, I would …

I thank the Deputy for raising the question. I do remember my days in the Kampus Kitchen. Actually in the students union, we led a protest when there was an increase in the price of coffee, even though I did not drink coffee, but it did not stop us having a great time having a protest.

We set up our own coffee operation and we realised that there were very high margins in coffee - that was a take-away - and tea. I do not want to be promoting any more of this kind of activity but, anyway, the company was not too impressed. I can see Richard is nodding in agreement.

If we had had Deputy Boyd Barrett at the time, we probably would have had a more effective protest. Welcome back. In any event, I think the third level education situation has a broad range of issues. First of all, we have to have really sufficient funding and core funding so that the quality of third level education is high and that it rates internationally. That is very important. There have be…

-----and make sure the cost for them is reduced significantly.

The publication of a strategic student accommodation approach or strategy is imminent. The Minister took it to the Cabinet subcommittee recently. It involves looking at the specific issue of how we can give capacity to the technological universities in particular to facilitate the development of student accommodation, either on the site that they may have, adjacent or wherever. The Minister has qu…

The key to this is housing supply. Our initiatives since the beginning of the year have been designed to get more houses built more quickly. The rate of increase is in decline, but that is not enough. We need far more supply to deal with the rental issue. Some positive news is that the percentage of first-time buyers has been steadily increasing, as I said, from about 23% of all household buyers i…

The situation is unacceptable. I agree with the Deputy's approach in respect of the professional bodies and CORU. People who are trained in the UK or across Europe should be accelerated. The Minister has had an engagement with CORU in respect of therapies and the professional bodies. The professional bodies also need to look in a realistic way at the thresholds, so it should not need a PhD-based q…

There has been a significant increase in health personnel in the last five years - dramatic increases.

In all services.

If we are honest, what is required here is a more radical look at the model. It is not working.

Just a minute. It is not just more, more, more from the State. People have to look radically at this. Professional bodies have to look at it, in terms of how people are assessed and dealt with and how services are provided, because the number of therapists has increased with recruitment and so on. We are open to doing more, and we have provided more funding for more.

The model has to change as well in terms of how services are structured and provided. The HSE did develop a primary care intervention targeted approach in respect of speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and physiotherapy. It needs to do it now, and it is going to embark on one for psychology as well.