We are back to the heckling because the Deputies do not like the answers. I believe in public sector investment. We have provided 48,000 social houses alone in the last four years. We have the highest level of social housing provided by any Government in over 20 or 30 years. That is a fact.
TDs / Micheál Martin
Micheál Martin
Taoiseach
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Plus 6,426 contributions in the regular slots, such as Leaders' Questions and Priority Questions. Speech from the chair is not counted.
Party, constituency and offices
- constituency Cork South-Central 29 November 2024 to now
- party Fianna Fáil 29 November 2024 to now
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We exceeded our targets in Housing for All, with more than 30,000 houses over the last three to four years. That is a fact, but it is not enough. We need private sector investment. Deputy McDonald calls it vulture funds. We need institutional funding in the country to supplement the State-level investment. That is the problem. In the last election, Sinn Féin had proposals that would screw first-time buyers.
Those proposals are why the people did not give Sinn Féin any ringing endorsement of its housing promises. It failed to convince people about them.
Aontaím go hiomlán leis an Teachta. Is uafásach ar fad an méid atá ag tarlú i nGaza leis an gcogadh uafásach agus na mílte daoine, leanaí go háirithe, ag fáil bháis de dheasca polasaithe Rialtas Iosrael. I agree with the Deputy's presentation of what is an absolutely barbaric and appalling situation in Gaza. There is absolutely no justification in any shape or form for what is occurring. The prosecution of this war i…
It is absolutely unacceptable that innocent people were abducted and have remained hostages for so long after 7 October. That was also an appalling, barbaric crime by Hamas, which needs, in my view, to stop the war and disband, because it has caused nothing but misery to its own people. The Israeli Government needs to stop what is happening right now. We need a ceasefire. We need a restoration of discussions towards …
To be fair, it is more than just words from Ireland. We have contributed significant funding to Palestine, to the Palestinian Authority and to UNRWA, which has been much maligned but is the only UN agency that has the capacity not only to facilitate the surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza but also to facilitate the reconstruction of Gaza. Most people will admit that privately if they are not prepared to admit it publ…
We also intervened in the South African International Court of Justice case against Israel under the Genocide Convention. Now we will work very hard in respect of the EU-Israel Association Council-----
-----where there has been a significant shift in opinion in the European Union, which is important.
I disagree fundamentally with the Deputy's sentiments when he says we do not see the problem. Of course we see the problem and we have made it very clear that we see the issue here regarding assessment of need. I am not making any excuses; I am just focused on solutions. I have heard precious little from anybody here on the Opposition side in terms of a solution-driven approach.
I have heard a lot of rhetoric but have heard little on the solution front.
Equally, the Deputy referenced the High Court decision. I have no intention of going back on the standing operating procedures, but I believe that when the High Court makes a decision, it is clinicians who should ultimately decide on the nature and type of provision of therapy, medicine or anything. The last Government did not follow through for different reasons. There was not agreement in respect of it after the Hi…
This Government is adamant it will deal with that aspect. It is only one aspect, one strand of it. It needs to be looked at because there needs to be a framework that allows therapists to intervene more quickly in providing services to children. An assessment of need, by the way, is not a static thing nor should it be. As a child develops, the child needs ongoing review. That is why the Government has already taken a…
The Health Service Executive has been highlighting the court decision for quite some time. That is the answer to the Deputy's question on that.
The Deputy is not correct in that at all. He asked specifically about the law and I gave him a straight answer that this Government will deal with that aspect of it. However, the outgoing Government dealt with a whole load of other issues pertaining to this. For example, 4,162 assessments were completed in 2024, a 30% increase on 2023, and that upward trend is continuing with the assessments that were completed in th…
I thank the Deputy for raising a very key issue. He began by speaking about the septic tanks that are largely associated with existing housing stock across the length and breadth of the country. It is important that we improve upon them and refurbish and develop them and provide grant assistance to enable people to replace septic tanks that are old and not performing to the optimal level.
There are a lot of engineer…
I have met them. We discussed one of the critical issues in towns and villages across the country, which is the need to free up capacity, for example to local builders if they are developing a housing estate of 20 houses or 50 houses so that they would be able to develop their own treatment facility according to the specifications set by Uisce Éireann. That would then be subject to inspection. I think that would help…
I suggest that maybe if you guys have a monopoly on it over everybody else-----
I will say no more than that.
I was not in government in 2013.
What is the Deputy saying about Askeaton?
I have spoken to Uisce Éireann representatives about this and they have a national mapping exercise already. With the best will in the world, if we want to build 50,000 houses per year and if we give an extra couple of billion euro to Uisce Éireann over the coming years, it will have to concentrate that spend on the big cities and big areas of population. Therefore, for smaller villages and towns we need an alternati…
I accept the Deputy's good wishes.
I thank the Deputy for raising this crucial issue. Investment in childcare has quadrupled since 2015 from €260 million to close to €1.4 billion in 2025. Last year alone, funding went up by 26%, or €261 million. Childcare costs meanwhile have dropped by more than 38% since early 2023. The last Government did a significant amount of work. I acknowledge Deputy O'Gorman is in the Chamber. He worked with all three parties…
-----to ensure stronger provision.
First, I have to say very strongly that it is one thing to say we acknowledge it. We need to more than acknowledge it. There has been a significant step change in investment in childcare in the past four years. That will continue as regards the level of it. The State funds nearly 40% of all early learning and care of school-age childcare places across multiple funding rounds. Last year, the supply and management unit…