Ivana Bacik

We cannot. We are not in the Government.

Anybody watching will be wondering when the Government is going to take political responsibility for the housing crisis. He is the Taoiseach and is in government. His party and Fine Gael have effectively governed together for the best part of a decade and yet, he is resorting to throwing critiques at the Opposition for not building homes. We are in opposition. The Labour Party, as the Taoiseach w…

The Government has to take responsibility and deliver the homes people need.

You did not give us a chance. You had done the deal with Michael Lowry.

That is not true.

Hear, hear.

I want to raise the pressing issue of institutional abuse. We know that survivors deserve justice and fair redress but for far too long institutions, and religious-run orders in particular, have been able to evade accountability for abuse carried out under their watch. Last year, we saw the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church recording more allegations of abuse than in …

It will be introduced.

I will write to the Taoiseach.

1. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Taoiseach when the climate action plan progress reports for the remainder of 2024 will be published by his Department. [16740/25]

There is a real concern that we will be simply unable to meet our targets. Figures from the CSO, published last week, show 22% of Ireland's electricity in 2024 was consumed by data centres and that demand had increased by 10% in one year. We recently saw the Secretary General of the Department of the environment raising concerns about the potential conflict between expanding data centres and meeti…

There are some indications that, for example, data centres themselves can drive change and ensure they become net zero but we need the Government to take the lead on this.

We are not seeing that happen currently.

These are Taoiseach’s Questions, not questions to the Deputy.

9. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Taoiseach if he will provide an update on his Department’s interdepartmental group report on the Dublin city task force recommendations. [22232/25]

I have two questions about the task force. We see a huge number of issues in Dublin that need to be addressed urgently. There is a deteriorating public realm, vast numbers of vacant sites and derelict buildings, mouldy and damp social housing, including issues with social housing complexes in my constituency, and a lack of joined-up thinking about keeping spaces safe. Given the need for funding t…

The hotel bed tax.

I think it will be €12 million.

The closure of services.

18. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Taoiseach if he will provide an update on the progress of the national security strategy. [26917/25]

In December 2022, I wrote to the Taoiseach, who was the then Tánaiste, and the then Taoiseach, former Deputy Leo Varadkar, seeking updates on the national security strategy and also seeking briefings for Opposition leaders on national security, as is standard in many countries. That was in the context of Russia's brutal war in Ukraine, the cyberattack on the HSE and reports of Russian spies in Ire…

It is 20 years since we saw distressing footage of conditions at Leas Cross nursing home. Here we are again. The scenes on last Thursday's "RTÉ Investigates" programme were deeply disturbing. Aoife Hegarty's team exposed horrifying practices in nursing homes run by one of Ireland's largest private care providers. I commend the RTÉ team and the whistleblower, Clare Doyle, on exposing those abuses. …

I listened carefully to the answer but I did not hear anything substantive about what the Taoiseach and the Government propose to do following on from those shocking revelations. It is not just about HIQA failures. This is also about ensuring older persons have a voice. There is a blueprint there. We have a Law Reform Commission report from last year about setting up an adult safeguarding framewor…

When?

The Government's rent pressure zone changes have caused fear among renters and uncertainty for investors and the Taoiseach's response to questions earlier provided no clarity. We got poetry - at least, one of the Government Deputies did - but we got no direct response. The Taoiseach said the changes to rent pressure zones will increase supply. Has any modelling been done to show how that will happ…