Micheál Martin

In terms of the individual summaries Ministers get, many were referring to the Central Bank's reports.

Others were referring to EUROCONSTRUCT-----

The bottom line is this-----

-----the only way you ultimately find out is in the first quarter of the following year.

The first quarter of the following year, you get the data.

In previous years, people said we would not reach our targets.

We actually exceeded them. Some of the estimates, even from official circles, were wrong-----

-----for the previous year. There was no-----

I repeat this-----

There was no attempt to knowingly mislead the people on any of this.

We have worked extremely hard on the housing question. It is our number one priority. It will remain our number one priority.

The focus has to be on how we get those numbers.

I pay tribute to An Garda Síochána and its members for the outstanding work they do in a much more complex society than in previous decades in protecting our citizens and working with our citizens every day of every week. They do exceptional work. Our overall Garda workforce is larger than it has ever been. I know the Deputy slipped in the per capita number. It is the highest it has ever been. Dur…

-----it is at approximately 18,000 as we speak. The budget was increased by €500 million last year. That is a 27% increase in the Garda budget since 2020. On another day, Deputy Tóibín will come in speaking about value for money, wasteful Government expenditure and all of that. No one can question the fact that very substantial resources have been allocated, far above what would normally be the an…

There was a Garda Inspectorate report in respect of domestic abuse published earlier today. The Deputy has a habit of going back-----

I mentioned a public order report. The Minister today updated the Cabinet on the progress we have made in terms of public order units, public order resources and a suite of improvements that have happened.

They have.

I will ask the Minister to brief the Deputy after the session on the progress that has been made.

It has been significant, and so it should be.

The Deputy mentioned the Dublin riots. Again, we should always be conscious that we are not alone in this. I and four of my Ministers met with the British Prime Minister the week before last at the annual summit. Events that are happening now are triggered by how certain people behave, outside the House, obviously, in terms of provocateurs or whatever. I refer to people who are determined to explo…

The exact same thing happened in the United Kingdom, with, as the Deputy knows, a devastating impact on particular towns. We have to be very vigilant about that and we have to protect gardaí. One of the most important things that we are keen on doing is accessing legislation in terms of facial recognition and the use of modern technological techniques and capacity, which some of the House, of cour…

I have been watching some of Sinn Féin's messaging on social media. It is almost a new style; a new approach. There was a beautiful one this morning about Eoin Ó Broin and his legislation on water and how Eoin had signed it. The Deputy opposite does it with a kind of "I wonder where that came from?" It was as if an executive order had been signed by Deputy Ó Broin in terms of water charges. I come…

However, we will get legislation done here through plenary methods, but we will engage.

My understanding is that all the Whips agreed the Dáil calendar. I know we have these empty soundbites coming up that since November we have only met so many times. There was a government being formed since November as Deputy Tóibín knows well, but he just ignores it.

To be fair to him, he did not play a meaningful role in the formation of Government. I acknowledge that. He was an observer of what was going on.