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housing supply. The current baseline position is not at all near what we require to deliver the quantum of housing we in this House all want to see delivered. The need to accelerate the outworking of that will be really important in the period ahead. I take … There is always more ambition than there is possibility around what can be allocated, but we are working through that. The Deputy is right that we need to make sure there is a focus on basic infrastructure, particularly water, energy, and, in certain instances in rural Ireland, transport

stage in this process. For the record, not once is the climate and environment Minister mentioned in this Bill. References to the housing Minister appear repeatedly. Given that section 39 explicitly disapplies section 15 of the climate Act for both the Minister and An Coimisiún Pleanála, the absence … legal one too. Notwithstanding the disapplication of our own climate laws, under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the State has a positive obligation to protect its citizens from the foreseeable harms of the climate crisis. I do not mean that in an abstract sense

rural Ireland. These include some of the key strategic priorities that underpin rural development, such as increasing the availability and affordability of rural housing and the essential infrastructure and services to support population growth in rural towns and villages. We have also heard loud and clear the need … play in the implementation of the new Our Rural Future. These programmes are designed to support the delivery of projects in communities right across rural Ireland that will revitalise our rural towns and villages. Investment will help to provide the necessary facilities and infrastructure in communities to assist

implementation of the UNCRPD at local level. The publication and funding of this new national disability strategy is critically important to advancing the rights and improving the lives of people with disabilities and this will be an clear and early priority for me as Minister. There is such … severity of disability and household type. One advocate explained very simply to me that if you are mobile, you are warmer in your house but if you are sitting in one spot all day, you need more heat and you have higher heating bills. This should

constructive contribution. This is the sort of thinking we need. I thank the Deputy for that. I do not 100% know what the right thing to do here is, but what I 100% know is that the current situation is extraordinarily dangerous and needs to change … point of purchase definitely has a role. I am somewhat sympathetic to rank and file gardaí, who are asked by this House to enforce laws that are often very challenging for them to enforce in terms of their own safety. We have all seen tragic situations where gardaí

Minister said: "[I]t would not be legally possible to seek to opt out even if this was the democratic wish of the Houses of the Oireachtas." There are parts of the pact it makes sense for Ireland to opt in to, such as Eurodac and screening … engages in what I call "lawfare" against families, including, in one scandalous instance, compiling dossiers on those simply seeking to vindicate the rights of their children. Aside from the measures Sinn Féin has outlined we would support, the pact offers nothing the Government could not simply choose

want to talk about my own stuff but if there is more than one income coming into a house, it is taken out of the threshold. Talking to students and parents, all they see is that the Government broke its promise. They thought they would get a reduction … they will see a further reduction in college fees and when they will see college fees totally abolished. This is what that people right across Dublin Mid-West and throughout the country want to know

Garda code of ethics and in recent years a strong organisational focus has been put on embedding the principle that human rights are the foundation and purpose of policing into the everyday actions of members of An Garda Síochána. The Deputy will appreciate that the establishment … advised that the Minister is not aware of any matter of urgent public interest which would warrant reopening the matter. As the House is aware, the Minister is considering a petition received from a number of civil society organisations calling for a statutory inquiry into the Sallins case

November of this year. The Minister of State, Deputy Canney, and all of us in the Department of Transport and in this House deemed it to be unacceptable when he met the RSA at the beginning of May. New proposals were brought to him today on the delays … would take responsibility and drive it. I am confident that the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, will. We have to get this right. The contributions of all Deputies today illustrate the importance of this. With the report every two weeks and publishing the progress report, I hope real

extent, it is only 27.3%. That is an area which needs to be focused upon. We need to look at the issue of housing for persons with disabilities, given that disabled individuals make up 25% of homeless people, which is hugely disproportionate. We need better accessible transport, affordable … Taoiseach's nominees to the Seanad. They would have addressed the gender balance deficit but they are also experts in their own right in the field of disability. I hope that somehow, through whatever sector, their contribution can be encouraged and recognised

away our excess corporation tax and also put excess corporation tax into capital expenditure. It was a record budget for roads and housing. I am somewhat amazed at some of the contributions by Deputies over the course of the debate here this evening. Some Deputies criticised people … research and development tax credit. In 2023, some 1,804 companies availed of it. They are companies that are providing real, quality jobs right throughout the length and breadth of Ireland. The 1,804 companies that availed of the research and development tax credit in 2023 paid

given his time; I am given my time to respond for the Government. Respectfully, I will continue without interruption, if that is all right. When we talk about solidarity with Ukraine and the cost of providing supports to the Ukrainian people, being humanitarian and welcoming people into … online throughout the electoral process in countries like the Netherlands, France and Austria. As I have stated before, over 50 Members of this House find themselves sanctioned by the Russian Federation due to the diktat of the ambassador in Orwell Road simply for saying clearly that the Russian

people who desperately need it. This is not a new argument. This is the eighth time that I have brought legislation before this House demanding that the Government act and reduce the cost of home heating oil. Eight times I have called on the Government to put workers … families are stretched to the limit, and too many people are wondering how they will afford their next delivery of oil and are, right now, sitting in homes with empty tanks. When I met those families in different parts across the State, I made them a promise

county have been denied timely, respectful and affirming care. The word "respectful" has been used in this Chamber. When a Member of this House comments in this Chamber in an odious way against another Member, it is something we must call out and not sit idly … sends is that their identity is somehow less deserving of recognition. This is not just a healthcare issue; it is a human rights issue. The reality in Ireland is stark. We have only one dedicated gender service, which is based in Dublin, and the capacity there is overwhelmed

assertions of the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU. People are not naive. They are asking who is watching the watchers. Right now, the State regulator cannot cap prices. It cannot directly stop unjustified price hikes or intervene when retail prices diverge far from reality. We need … successful election campaign: a country we can afford; running for office to lower the cost of living for working-class people; building affordable housing; childcare for all; reducing the cost of energy; ensuring affordable groceries. That was not in Ireland; it was in New York city. It went

that very few people around the world now will listen to the hollow claims about western values, democracy, international law and human rights because they are broken on a daily basis by those same people who proclaim them. The world is a much more dangerous place … President of Syria had a $10 million price on his head by the American Government. He is now fêted in the White House. I find this incredible

need to keep the pressure on. I hear from concerned people every day across counties Carlow and Kilkenny who are, quite rightly, horrified by what is happening in Gaza. They are urging us, as a country and a Government, to do more, to push harder and to pass … that other countries across Europe will be inspired to do the same. I support the Taoiseach's call on all parties in this House to work with their equivalent parties across Europe and encourage them to speak with their governments to do as we have done and enact

September. It is the most visceral indicator of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael's systemic failure in housing. I would really like to know how they handle the shame of it. I do not mean to personalise it, but I would really like to know how those supporting … already dominate the rental market. Taken together, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and some of their Independents have had 12 years to get this right. In that time, we have seen spiralling rents, broken promises and the shame of increasing homelessness. It is time to say "Enough". While

whim of a powerful ally or a strategic alliance that we never voted for. Some in government and most Members of the House will say the UN is not perfect. Abandoning it does not fix it, however; it merely removes your moral anchor. All the fighter jets … want the people to simply have their say, and what is wrong with that? If the Government is confident this is the right path, and the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, seems confident it is, let the Government put the triple lock to the people. Hold a plebiscite

leave the women of one county entirely without one. In the worst case scenarios, when women are murdered, their murderers retain guardianship rights over their surviving children. We have an epidemic of violence against women and children in Ireland. That we have such a shortage of refuge spaces … welcome commitments from the Government on these matters but the test is whether the zero-tolerance promises or commitments made in this House today are meaningful. Will we see legislation and policy enacted on this priority or will women in this House rise again in one, two, three

that they should get investment first and foremost. We must also ensure that sites are opened up and that in the delivery of housing in particular we have the investment and infrastructure needed to achieve the overall objectives, goals and targets we have set ourselves. For Uisce Éireann … investment into a new water tower, that issue has been resolved and we are starting to see challenges and problems like that resolved right across the country. What have we said as a Government we will do? We will invest even further. We said very clearly with

carry out that work. Currently, they are not able to get funding from the Department for that. This is a very pertinent issue right around the coast but in particular at Cé Heilbhic in my own constituency, where lives and livelihoods are being put at risk. We must … affairs, I will work to hold this Government to account but I will also work with the Minister and with others in this House to offer policy suggestions and solutions to improve people's lives in rural Ireland and to bring our young people back to live

Wexford through routine checks in a slaughterhouse. That was the first time we saw it in an Irish-born animal, and it has, rightly, put farmers on edge. Now we are told, and it is important to repeat, that bluetongue does not affect people or the safety … need straight answers, quick access to vaccinations and clear guidelines that help them keep going. Time and again I have said in this House that rural Ireland is buried under needless bureaucracy. Farmers feel they are being treated as the problem instead of the people who feed

Combined with unprecedented levels of violence and record levels of settlement construction, there is a huge risk of further destabilisation. The UN human rights office in the occupied Palestinian territory has expressed alarm at the decision of the Israeli security cabinet this month to resume land registration … Palestine. Our diplomats do an excellent job and must be allowed to do their jobs. Turning to the question of legislation, as this House will be aware, the previous Government carried out an extensive analysis and review of the occupied territories Bill late last year. The Government

Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, spent time in County Louth last Friday opening a welcome new social housing development. It was great to welcome him to our hometown and our small city. In the time he spent in County Louth, there was a very strong chance that … years without any intervention whatsoever being made. I want to say, hand on heart, that I am grateful - if gratitude is the right emotion or position to take - for the interest the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, has taken in this matter since her appointment as Minister for Health