I thank the Deputy for her question. I first want to echo what she said about Brother Crowley. Ireland has lost a wonderful person, someone who brought incredible care, humility and service to support the most vulnerable in our country. We thank him for his tireless work. May he rest in peace. I offer condolences to all of his family. In response to the Deputy's question, I acknowledge there is still pressure in the daily lives of many families and costs are still high. What we said at the time of the formation of this Government was that, as part of the process around budget 2026, changes would be made in a sustained and permanent way. That covers all policy areas across government. In the context of further and higher education, the Minister, Deputy James Lawless, has engaged, and will continue to engage, with students and the stakeholders in that sector. That will form the basis of the options paper on the cost of education, which will inform his work and the negotiation as part of budget 2026. That specific detail will inform him about what is possible and how he wants to prioritise the different measures that can be taken on a permanent and sustained basis. The Deputy referenced the measures that were taken last year or the previous year. Those measures were taken on a one-off temporary basis as part of a cost-of-living package. We are approaching budget 2026 by trying to take measures that can be made on a permanent basis. Work around that is happening across the Government, with different Ministers setting out their priorities in the context of the budget negotiation process. I will be engaging with the Minister, Deputy Lawless, in that context following the summer economic statement and the publication of the national development plan. One element of the cost for students is the student contribution fee, but other elements can help the affordability for students. Those include the grants from Student Universal Support Ireland, SUSI, income thresholds and reckonable income when it comes to the wider grant system we have across the further and higher education sector. The work the Minister is doing now in developing the options paper on the cost of education and considering what are the best measures he can take in the context of budget 2026 to support students and households will form the basis of his discussions on the budget. We have said that the work over the coming weeks will inform the overall allocation, which will be made available in the context of current expenditure. However, we have had a series of interventions over recent years. The average rate of expenditure increase has been 9% in recent years. We have uncertainty around us and need to be careful about the broader economic and budgetary context. That is why we are undertaking careful work within the Government to set out what is possible in terms of the interplay between current and capital expenditure and the changes we will make from a tax perspective. As a Government, we are saying that the measures we will take for 2026 and onwards will be taken in a budgetary context. We are not taking ad hoc decisions in early July when there is a process to be undertaken. That goes for all my Government colleagues, across the board. We are cognisant of the pressures that families face, including in respect of third level fees but also in respect of the cost of education at primary and secondary levels, the continuing cost of childcare and the cost of a whole range of services. We want to strengthen public services and make them more affordable. That is the medium-term expenditure framework that we will set out in the coming weeks. That will form the basis of the broader negotiation.
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What I have said very clearly is that the outlook will be informed by what we agree as part of budget 2026. This is the hypocrisy of Sinn Féin when it comes to third level fees. In the North, the then Minister, Caoimhe Archibald, was not at the time ruling out hikes in student fees.
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She then said that she had to work within the context of the financial position. It is the same for this Government when it comes to budget 2026.
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When it comes to all policy-----
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All decisions we will make for next year will be made in the budget.
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They will be done and concluded in the budget process. That is the same as has happened in previous years. That is the context. That will inform the outlook for 2026.
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That is the same for all policy measures.
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It is decided in the budget.
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I absolutely reject what Deputy Bacik set out there concerning the Minister, Deputy Browne. If we look at the series of actions and reforms he has undertaken in recent weeks, I think a significant difference will be made in driving housing supply, private and public, in our economy. He has reformed and streamlined the approval process for new-build social housing projects this week, making a real difference in respect of streamlining the process to try to drive the approvals for social housing across our economy. He has brought through significant reforms and an expansion of the remit of the Land Development Agency, which is to drive the supply of social and affordable housing right across Ireland. He has established An Coimisiún Pleanála, three-year planning permission extensions are being made in certain cases and he has revised the national planning framework to ensure we have more zoned land to try to increase the supply of homes across our economy. The heads of the Bill on reforming short-term lettings has been agreed. This will help to release thousands of units for long-term use. He has also extended the first homes scheme to 2027, agreed the new housing activation office to try to co-ordinate the supply of homes across local authorities and secured €750 million in additional funding for more social, affordable and cost-rental homes, alongside a significant programme of acquisitions. Therefore, I absolutely reject what the Deputy said relating to the series of measures that the Minister, Deputy Browne, has taken and that will cumulatively make a difference in driving the supply of housing across our economy. In terms of the issue of homelessness, all of us in government are disappointed by the increase in the figures we have seen, but we know that the real solution to trying to reduce homelessness is to increase the supply of social and affordable homes. It is in this context that there has been a concentrated effort on preventions and exits. This has been reflected in the figures from quarter 1 of 2025. Nationwide, 642 households, including 850 adults and 369 families, were prevented from entering emergency accommodation by way of a tenancy being created, for example, in quarter 1. Turning to the question regarding the tenant in situ scheme, one of the first measures we took as a Government was to provide €325 million in 2025 for local authorities to buy second-hand properties, with a particular focus on tenant in situ acquisitions. This is an important part of the overall allocation for 2025. Separately, I am working with the Minister, Deputy Browne, on the national development plan. Central to that will be a focus on housing supply in our economy. It will not only be concerned with providing direct subsidies for housing, but also with how we can invest in our water and wastewater infrastructure, in our grid and in our transport infrastructure to drive the overall supply of homes.
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If we look at the series of reforms the Minister has taken, it will make a difference.
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I have referenced a series of actions being taken,-----
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-----including the strengthening of the Land Development Agency, continuing to support the increased supply of social and affordable homes-----
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-----and the measures the Minister, Deputy Browne, has taken to cut through some of the bureaucracy that exists around the four-stage approval process and reform that. He has taken a series of measures that will increase the supply of social and affordable homes.
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Central to the new national development plan will be an increased allocation that is all focused on housing. Our central and number one focus as a Government is driving the supply of thousands of new homes right across our country, but this requires reforming how systems operate. The Deputy is just asking for additional allocations, but we need to change some of the systems that are currently-----
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Well, credit has not been given to the Minister, Deputy Browne, for some of the measures he has taken in recent weeks that will make a difference in the context of social and affordable homes.
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On the tenant in situ scheme, we have provided an additional €325 million in 2025 for local authorities to buy second-hand homes.
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This will make a difference to families facing homelessness.
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The Deputy cannot just dismiss budgetary planning as if it is not a proper part of how the Government operates and how politics should operate as part of-----
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The Deputy just dismissing this and saying we should have ad hoc decisions on measures taken every week is not the appropriate way to run the budgetary process. What I said very clearly yesterday and again today was that we acknowledged the pressure many families and students faced. That is absolutely understood by everyone in the Government. What we have said we will do around the budgetary process in the coming period is examine the cost-of-education paper, on which the Minister is working. This will inform the ongoing negotiation as part of budget 2026. In that budget, we will take decisions on how we can support continued affordability of public services. A key part of that is further and higher education. We are saying that we will do that within the confines of what we set out on budget day. This is the way annualised budgeting has worked for many years and the Deputy should not dismiss that. What we have said very clearly is that we will move away from one-off temporary measures. What that meant last year was the measures taken relating to third level fees were temporary. We are approaching it this year in the context of seeing how we can provide continued and permanent changes for next year. The Minister, Deputy Lawless, is looking at that in the context of SUSI grants, reckonable income and the student contribution fee. That is what we are saying to people. It is around budget 2026 that we will set out what measures will be taken for next year. That is how we are engaging in this. It is unfair to just dismiss that by referencing politics and whatever else the Deputy said. That is unfair on the budgetary process. It is important, across every measure in Government, that we set out the overall allocation that will inform tax and expenditure policy for next year. We will engage in good faith with all our ministerial colleagues around their priorities. Obviously, affordability in education is one of them, which is understood fully by everybody in Government. It is through the budgetary decisions we take that we will set out what the fee threshold will be next year. That was the same in previous years when we had a cost-of-living package and a permanent package. What we are saying this year is that we want the measures we take to be taken on a permanent and sustained basis. It is on that basis that we are engaging in budgetary negotiations.
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The programme for Government is centrally important and informs all Ministers in how they negotiate in any budget. What is referenced in the programme for Government relating to students and third level will inform the Minister's budgetary negotiation. What happened in previous years when temporary one-off measures were taken was that they were taken in the aftermath of the start of an academic year. Whatever decisions are made in the context of the budget around reducing the cost of education will be deducted through an academic year if a decision is made on that. This is what has happened in previous years when it came to temporary one-off or cost-of-living packages. What we are saying is that the budget will inform what measures are taken relating to student contribution fees, SUSI grants and reckonable income. Affordability for students is a key priority for the Minister as part of the budget discussions that will take place.
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I am familiar with the serious congestion in Galway city and the broader Galway region. As the Deputy knows, the National Transport Authority, NTA, has been developing the Galway metropolitan area transport strategy to inform what is possible for the future in the context of public transport but also road infrastructure in the Galway region, in conjunction with Galway City Council and Galway County Council. Part of the development of this metropolitan area transport strategy necessitated the mode-specific analysis being undertaken for a light rail feasibility study and the strategic roads feasibility study. The light rail feasibility study was published by the NTA on 30 October 2024. The backdrop is the ongoing consideration of the ring road, with which the Deputy is familiar. I know the demand within Galway city for light rail. What we are doing in the NDP is prioritising transport infrastructure more generally. This will involve a serious uplift in investment in transport infrastructure over the next five years and the setting out of a longer term position to provide confidence in the development of public transport infrastructure in our cities, between our towns and within our regions. The metropolitan area transport strategy will help inform what is possible in the short to medium term. I know it is being progressed by the two relevant councils. I am open to that engagement as Minister. Light rail in Dublin and other parts of the country has been of a stop-start nature. It is an effective way of delivering public transport in urban areas and we need to have a better pipeline of light rail over the longer term. The NTA and Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, need to work on that in terms of the respective metropolitan area transport strategies. There is a lot of interest in the development of the ring road in Galway for its citizens and the people Deputy Connolly represents. There are also people in Galway who want to see light rail developed as an option in the urban sphere. Congestion is a serious issue. When I canvassed in Galway on many occasions last year, public transport and the ring road accounted for probably 50% of the issues raised on the door by the many people I engaged with. As a Government, with our prioritisation of transport infrastructure, we want to make real progress on some of the projects that can be started quickly but also to set out the longer term position on transport strategy and what can be delivered for Galway and the broader west of Ireland region over the coming period.
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I think we all share the objectives of significantly improving transport infrastructure for Galway city. The work that has been undertaken around the feasibility study for light rail is important in that context. The National Transport Authority is considering that with the two relevant councils. There has been significant investment in Ceannt Station, as the Deputy knows, to try to improve connectivity for commuters. In Oranmore and elsewhere, there has been investment and upgrades and significant work has been undertaken related to BusConnects in Galway. I welcome the work that has been undertaken around the feasibility study for light rail in particular. As I said previously, we need to build more momentum to have more light rail in some of our urban areas compared with recent years where its development has been of a stop-start nature. It is an effective way of delivering public transport, as we have seen in Dublin. It will be considered in the context of the national development plan.
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