I will raise two issues. The first is the issue of policing. It is deeply disappointing that there has been a reduction in Garda resources across the country as a result of the EU Presidency. In my own constituency, Ballymun and Finglas Garda stations will see a reduction in the coming months as a result of gardaí being allocated elsewhere in relation to the Presidency. There is a feud ongoing in Ballymun and shots fired yesterday. We cannot have a situation whereby the EU Presidency results in a reduction in safety in communities, particularly our most disadvantaged communities. I would like the Government to give a commitment to ensuring that that will not be the case. Second, on the issue of housing, it really is incredible. Housing, as the President of the European Council, Mr. António Costa, said at the ceremony today, is one of the biggest issues facing Europe today, but yet when you look at the Government's plans for the Presidency, there was not a mention of housing in the 13 pages of the two speeches. It is incredible. Across Europe today, there is a generation who cannot afford to pay the rent. They cannot afford to buy a home. They do not see a future where they can start families. They are facing record rents and record house prices because governments have failed to build social housing and have turned housing into an investment asset for landlords. We see the latter in AirBnB. The fundamental failure is that, across Europe, housing as not been treated as a human right. You would think that we in this country, which has the worst housing crisis in Europe, would use the opportunity of the Presidency to put solving the housing crisis in Europe at the heart of what we are doing, yet there was not a mention of it. What a wasted opportunity. We talk about threats to Europe and to the European project, yet young people feel completely excluded and alienated from Europe when they cannot get the basic need of having a home met. That is not a social Europe. It is not the Europe that was envisioned by the founders of the European Union. It is not the European Union that we want to see where people can have a decent life - a life with dignity. That starts with having a home. I would ask the Government to reconsider, put housing central to what it is to do in the next six months, and use this as an opportunity to bring European governments together and bring a resolution to the housing crisis.

Sentiment score: -0.11