Micheál Martin

I absolutely reject the Deputy's assertions. What has happened with the Order of Business is to keep 30 minutes for Deputies, and to not have it for Questions on Policy or Legislation or to not have it as a second round of Leaders' Questions, which had become the practice for certain Deputies in the House. Questions on Policy or Legislation is much better now, in particular for backbenchers from a…

There was a lot of discussion at the Dáil reform committee on the issue. I believe that certain elements of the Opposition did not want this situation to be resolved because it did not suit the agenda, which is to take a wrecking ball to the procedures of Leinster House and Dáil Éireann.

In the two months of this Government, we have allocated close to an additional €800 million in public funding, much of it to the approved housing bodies. That is what we have done. We will continue to look at ways to provide more housing.

We came forward with the help to buy scheme and the first home scheme, now called the bridge the gap scheme, which the Deputy opposed. That is helping a lot of first-time buyers. I accept that prices are too high and I accept that until we get more supply, we will not get into a position where we can moderate house prices. We need more supply. That is the key but the supply will have to be provid…

I think it has to be both.

I accept what the Deputy is saying. There is a fundamental issue with the urban landscape, and with high streets in particular. The world has changed and that needs to be taken on board in the modern planning of towns and cities. We need more residential in our towns and cities. I believe there is a future for retail but it will be a different kind of retail than the multi-stores we had in city an…

What has happened in the past is there was a modification for those terminally ill. I know that is not a great message either in terms of allocation of medical cards. I think Government is sympathetic but then it would have to apply to all. There are different forms of illness, like motor neurone, dementia, chronic cardiovascular disease and others. The principle advanced so far on the ground is t…

I thank the Deputy for raising the case. It has been a traumatic experience for the family and that continues to the present day. Will the Deputy send me the details? Generally speaking, in terms of maternal and infant mortality there are issues we need to be constantly vigilant about. There have been a number of cases. I will not say they are ongoing but there is no question but that issues have …

The official record is the official record.

It has not been voted on.

I attended a meeting of the European Council on Thursday, 20 March in Brussels. The agenda covered Ukraine, European defence, the Middle East, competitiveness, the post-2027 EU budget or multi-annual financial framework, migration, oceans policy and multilateralism.

We can arrange that. In his contribution to today’s debate, the Minister of State for European Affairs, Deputy Byrne, will provide further detail on the multi-annual financial framework, MFF, including the question of possible new own resources for the EU budget, as well as further detail on migration, oceans and multilateralism. I will deal with all other issues. I welcomed further discussions …

That is so untrue. The truth never matters.

Ar dtús báire, is mian liom a rá nach n-aontaím in aon chor leis an méid atá ráite ag an Teachta McDonald.

Tá sé dochreidte an méid atá ráite aici. Níl i gceist againn ach ocht nóiméad ar an Mháirt agus ocht nóiméad breise ar an gCéadaoin a thabhairt do chúlbhinseoirí-----

-----an Rialtais agus Teachtaí Dála neamhspleácha. In essence, I have to say that-----

-----the distortion of the debate is extraordinary. The disproportionate response of Sinn Féin and indeed the Opposition is extraordinary. Considering that this Dáil meets 101 days approximately per year.

What is being proposed for 60 TDs is that they would have an opportunity-----

-----of eight minutes on a Tuesday and eight minutes on a Wednesday to ask a question of the Taoiseach of the day. That actually means that for an individual in that group of 60, it could be an opportunity-----

I have not interrupted anyone. It basically means that once a year-----

-----a backbench TD may get that opportunity to speak in these sorts of questions.

For all that, the Opposition has manufactured a political row and has raised this issue to heights that are quite farcical given the enormity of the issues we have to face as a country.

If I may say-----

Again, I respect-----

I respect the rights of every Deputy who is elected to this House. I respect their rights.