Simon Harris

I thank Deputy Cullinane for raising this important issue. I want to be very clear for people watching at home that the decisions the Government has taken and the legislation the Government is taking through the Houses this week is legislation that will extend the rent pressure zones. As everybody renting across Ireland knows, the rent pressure zones were due to end at Christmas. Had we not taken …

Deputy Cullinane does not need to lecture me about students. When I was Minister for further and higher education we reduced student fees every year and we extended the renter's tax credit to students while Sinn Féin in Northern Ireland continues to expect students to pay way more to access college. Do not worry, and more importantly students should not worry, because in the forthcoming budget we …

In the Sinn Féin housing plan------

Just give David his chance this week Matt. You might get a go next week. In the Sinn Féin housing plan the party is in favour of reference rents, which the ESRI said would be unworkable and complex and the Housing Agency said would be unworkable, complex and lead to more disputes. Sinn Féin knows what a reference rent would have meant.

It would have meant increasing the rent for existing tenants. I do not expect consistency from Sinn Féin on policy development, but a little bit of recognition it contested a general election on the basis of abolishing rent pressure zones and replacing them with reference rents, something the Housing Agency the ESRI and I reckon a hell of a lot of renters do not think are a good idea either.

Do not talk to me about the privileged classes when the largest property owner and investor in this House is the Sinn Féin Party. Let us remember Deputy Cullinane's party is the biggest property owner in the Dáil. His party's director of finance Des Mackin boasted to The Irish Times-----

-----a few years ago that Sinn Féin had "40 or 50 [properties], easily"-----

-----across the island. He said the party had "...tried to tidy it up some years ago, but it was too difficult".

They do not like the truth. He went on to say, "In Belfast alone we’d have seven ... Nationally, I’d say it exceeds 40 or 50 ..." The biggest property owners and investors in Dáil Éireann are those in Sinn Féin. Do not give me "We are on the side of the working people". It is a load of bull that people see right through. You are the wealthiest party in this House-----

-----and there are no two ways about it. At least have the decency to stand by your policy.

You are in favour of reference rent. We are in favour of rent pressure zones. It is a balanced package. We are taking measures-----

-----to expand rent pressure zones. We are taking measures to make them permanent. We are also making sure we can deliver more supply, because do you know what renters need? Places to rent.

I thank Deputy Whitmore for raising this issue. She is right. It is a real challenge in lots of communities, including the ones we are proud to represent in Dáil Éireann. I am grateful for the capacity review report she referenced in terms of the ESRI and the detailed work it has done, which will assist in workforce planning and which shows the growth in GP capacity that will be necessary in light…

I assure the Deputy that my head is firmly up in the air. There is a lot of work going on in this area. However, as she and I know from talking to GPs, not just in our county but also across the country, it is not just about the number of GPs. It is also about the supports they want to allow them to hire more nurses, the triaging of patients and out-of-hours services. The Deputy referred to GPs le…

It seems the Taoiseach stole my line, because I was going to say I would find out. I thank Deputy O'Gorman for raising a very important issue. I will answer the questions directly, but I join with him in talking about the importance of a science-led, evidence-based approach to vaccination. I am very proud that largely, but not exclusively, in this House we have taken an approach across party line…

I give that commitment. We will come back in three weeks with a definitive plan on that. While I am on my feet, I suggest, as this relatively new Dáil commences, that every Member of this House would publicly commit to supporting the vaccination programme. There is no room for pseudoscience or wannabe doctors who are not doctors. I want to know if every single elected representative in every singl…

I hate to burst the Deputy's gotcha moment but I suggest he might wish to interrogate his numbers. I am not sure whether we should do a show of hands, but I imagine there is not a Member of Dáil Éireann, other than himself perhaps, who is not aware of the fact that there can be duplications. There can, of course, be people involved with more than one local authority. There can be people in my con…

The Deputy said homeless.

He said homeless lists.

Who is incompetent?

There was not as much pirouetting and spinning at my daughter's ballet recital compared to what I just saw there. The reality is this is far too serious to engage in conspiracy theories.

The Deputy suggested I went around counting people. The reality is we have robust, politically independent, impartial structures in our State-----

Sorry, no. The Deputy can wave his sheets of paper but I want to know who in the public service he is calling incompetent?

It is our public service. It is ours, we live in a Republic. It is our public service and it does a bloody good job and I want to know-----

Just wait a second now, Mr. Angry. Wait.