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service aims to provide an oral examination and necessary treatment for children between second and sixth class and, in some cases, fourth class. Emergency care is provided for children of all ages up to 16 and for those with complex and additional needs. Due to the nature … examination appointment. Building on investment of over €230 million per year in public oral healthcare services, an additional €2 million was awarded in budget 2025 to recruit 15 additional oral healthcare WTEs nationally. The Deputy is right that one of the biggest issues is recruitment. As she said

hand which wields it. Unfortunately, I think this Government is a continuation of the previous one when it comes to housing. The budget was an indication of that. It has really done nothing in housing. It had an opportunity to reduce the cost of construction to address … purchase orders to try to get those properties back into use. Many months ago, this Government talked about the housing crisis and the emergency. In the Dáil and in the media, it said it would allow for units at the rear of properties. People all across Mayo rang

that house this morning cannot be comprehended and will leave an impact, and with the staff in the hospital in terms of the emergency situation they had to deal with. It puts the important role of public servants in our minds when we think of the first responders … life. We are pro public service. I want to make that very clear. In terms of the Deputy's assertions, we approached the budget with a cost-of-living framework in our minds. That is why we did substantial measures in terms of an income tax package, which

million allocated under Housing for All to €325 million through the allocation of an additional €265 million a couple of months ago. In budget 2025, €60 million was allocated. The Minister, Deputy Chambers, significantly increased this funding only a couple of months ago by an additional €265 million … will ensure a more targeted and focused acquisitions programme. My Department continues to engage with local authorities on any challenges which emerge in order to ensure that tenant in situ acquisitions can continue in 2025 where no other solutions exist for the affected households

lack of support for foster carers who the State relies heavily on to provide care for children with nowhere else to go. Budget 2026 should have indexed the foster carer allowance to take account of the ongoing cost of providing care and provide pension security for families … partner or simply cannot afford to pay rent in their area. It is very unfair to make this cut during our current housing emergency. Again, I ask the Minister to examine this matter. Unfortunately, I am sure he, like my office, received a number of such queries during

operating costs. While all spending has to be questioned, I will try to concentrate on what Ireland is getting for this huge budget. Every housing target that Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin, the Labour Party and the Social Democrats have set are nothing short of farcical … generators. Not alone did they not have generators, changeover switches had not even been fitted in any plants in case of an emergency. To pick the plant in Inniscarra in Cork as an example, imagine if it had an electricity shutdown for a number of days and there

housing delivery further in the short term and secure a sustainable level of supply that will help us meet an unmet and emerging demand. The Government has progressed a series of reforms to support a streamlined and well-resourced planning system. This includes a consolidation and a streamlining … expenditure plans and delivery programmes, ensuring appropriate prioritisation for housing. It is also intended the office will manage a multi-annual housing infrastructure budget under the new towns and cities infrastructure fund to be determined through the national development plan review. It will engage and align stakeholders, including

what prompted Cara to commence another protest. Those who live with a disability have been let down by this Government. The recent budget provided no support in the face of a rising cost-of-living crisis. It has failed to honour legal obligations on assessment of need … have to undertake such protests to have this failure addressed. It is high time the Government committed to and delivered on making emergency funding available. It is high time it committed to a timeframe for meeting the legal obligation to provide an assessment within six months

Celtic tiger years, Governments reduced roads funding dramatically to County Wexford, leaving a €67 million hole in the county's rural roads budget. Even the 2021 storm works, including bridge repairs, are only being completed now. Across the State, an average of 15% of roads are in poor … licence issue, this is a significant matter for the Road Safety Authority. I call on the Minister of State to immediately intervene with emergency funding for County Wexford to deal with the disintegrating road conditions. No other country in Europe has to put up with this

remain elevated, economic momentum has slowed, investment and consumer spending have weakened, inflation has risen and supply disruptions, including to energy supplies, have emerged. Member states have been forced to take action to mitigate these economic impacts and enhance their security and defence infrastructure. How Europe … assistance, which is the EU's contribution to the G7 extraordinary revenue acceleration line, and €50 billion under the EU's Ukraine facility budget, of which €28 billion has already been disbursed. On 3 December 2025, European Commission President von der Leyen made a statement on Ukraine

Union. He was a central part of policies which helped us to emerge strongly from the fastest recession and the largest public health emergency recorded in modern times. Although he was proud to represent his party, he always treated his colleagues from Fianna Fail and Independents with respect … development plan. Comprehensive action on speeding up the delivery of housing has been prepared and is being implemented. We have completed our first budget, giving priority to developing essential services, developing infrastructure, supporting those most in need and protecting our economy in the event of a downturn

failure of the Government to do anything in last week's budget to protect them. The economists are very clear. The Government's budget will lead to an increase in poverty, particularly for older people and renters, who are more likely to suffer from energy poverty in poorly … pressure on the energy companies to lower prices. That is my question to him. Will he introduce price controls as proposed in our Emergency Price Controls Bill, something he has the power to do under the Consumer Protection Act? At the very least, will he reverse course

breadline. Ours is a relatively wealthy country and yet more than 5,000 children are homeless. Those are 5,000 children in emergency accommodation who are doing their homework on the floors of hotel rooms or family hubs. Far too many are living in overcrowded homes with multiple … authorities. We hear it states that they can now proceed with more acquisitions up to a value of 30% of their original 2025 budget. However, those commitments are for 2026, so it seems that the Minister is borrowing into next year, kicking the can down the road

real world experience with qualifications that are nationally recognised. Ireland now has over 77 apprenticeship programmes, from traditional roles to cutting edge and emerging fields such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, biopharma, robotics and data analysis. These programmes are shaping careers. They are giving learners practical skills and employers … figures in front of me, I can say there has been a very significant increase in resources for research and innovation in this budget. Yes, we have a way to go. This budget, however, has certainly taken not a small step but a very sizeable in trying

there is substantial money there, the Deputy can point me to it because it is all accounted for in my budget. It would be great if I did have more money but that will be something for the Estimates process when we go through that. In terms … already available in places like Mount Lucas and elsewhere, can actually skill up and get to the stage where they are proficient in emerging technologies and moving with it. As I said in response to an earlier question, change continues to come at us. We need to embrace

comments, the Minister of State failed to acknowledge that disabled people were up to €1,400 worse off as a result of the budget. This was before any recent increases in home heating oil or any other fuel costs. The Minister of State said that he agreed that … short-term measures and we end up with nothing to show for it in the long term. We need that combination of emergency measures, as are proposed in this amendment, and measures that will get us out of the hole and help households over the long term

billion. This is a €2.9 billion, or 8.9%, increase compared with April 2025 and reflects the implementation of the priorities set out in budget 2026 and the significant uplift in expenditure to support programme for Government commitments. Compared with the profiles set out by Departments for their planned … other recent measures to strengthen expenditure control, provides a clear framework for managing expenditure and sets out phases for escalation if spending overruns emerge. Where expenditure pressures persist, the circular sets out a framework for when and how my Department will engage with respect to other Government

clinicians. Nothing is that straightforward in terms of disability. The Deputy is right that the emphasis, particularly in the southern region, is on emergency cases at the moment. I will talk to the Minister about that hearing issue raised by Deputy Mark Wall to see what supports … exactly well served by it either. I will talk to the Minister for an overall review in advance of the next budget. I understand that the number of special classes that have been sanctioned - Deputy O'Rourke mentioned that the number is 351 - is already higher than

various affordable housing schemes now being delivered by a range of partners. A record €6 billion capital investment in housing was announced in budget 2025. This is made up of €3.1 billion in Exchequer funding, €1.25 billion allocated to the Land Development Agency and €1.65 billion … number of measures we are taking to reduce the viability gap. While we are living through a housing emergency and while many measures to address that are being taken to address by the Minister for housing, Deputy Browne, and all of Government, it is worth noting that

projects. Some 500 social homes were pulled overnight. How can a Government justify cutting funding for social housing in the middle of an emergency? It is down to a lack of understanding. My understanding is that the Minister pulled the funding because the Government said those homes were … like the homes for Ireland State saving scheme, which could be putting billions of euro into delivering affordable homes, never mind using the budget surplus to directly fund local authorities, not-for-profit housing bodies and the Land Development Agency to immediately fast-track the projects they could

powers. Some local authorities are doing a bloody great job and we thank them for that. Some are not treating this like an emergency. It is as simple as - no one is going to change my mind on this but we are going to change the law because … Next week we will see the rural planning guidelines to help make it easier for people to build in their communities. In the budget there will be dereliction taxation to help to tackle dereliction. This week saw housing activation funding to try to get housing going. Every

service media to include a framework for public service content. Third, it seeks to protect editorial independence and democratic discourse in accordance with emerging European standards. These are worthy objectives, and many aspects of the Bill deserve support across this House. One of the strongest features of this … what I knew it as, so I am showing my age. TG4 has consistently delivered innovation and cultural value beyond its size and budget, and this legislation rightly recognises that. Another welcome aspect of the Bill is the strengthening of transparency and governance standards. In recent years, including

home beds at the start of October than we did at the start of the year. I see nothing about that in the budget. Step-down beds cost a fraction of acute beds. According to the ESRI, 1,400 community beds need to be built every year until … based funding would be available across the hospital service. We would not have this ridiculous situation where the places of greatest demand, in emergency and outpatients departments, are excluded. We would also make sure that we would do much better than the measly €7 million being given

leave disabled people worse off. They have lost €1,400, an enormous sum for people who are living on the breadline. The budget was a deliberate attack on people with disabilities by a government awash with cash. Not only did the Government get rid of energy credits … House on Tuesday. They want the Tánaiste to live up to his commitments, put his money where his mouth is and introduce an emergency winter payment for disabled people. Will he do this? When will he introduce a permanent cost-of-disability payment

Five months into his tenure as Minister for Finance, the Tánaiste, is bringing forward a second batch of emergency financial resolutions just four weeks on from the initial €250 million package. On balance, we in the Labour Party support the decision to reduce excise duties on petrol … introduce more transparency in a system dominated by international players? Where is the plan to cut the cost of public transport? The budget last year did next to nothing for working people other than keep the show on the road for the country. A point was made earlier