I do.
Sentiment score: 0.00
The solution to the housing issue is supply. We need far more supply than we are getting, notwithstanding the fact we are building more social houses than we ever have per annum. We will continue to build social houses over the next ten years because the investment is being made. There is massive State investment in housing, and there is additional, discrete ring-fenced funding for emergency housing but also to deal with those on the emergency housing lists and provide them with homes. In the budget, the Minister secured ring-fenced funding to enable him to do that. We will continue our work on supply. We will not be out there objecting, as the Deputy is doing in respect of apartment after apartment in her constituency.
Sentiment score: 0.08
She talks about being honest but she is objecting left, right and centre.
Sentiment score: 0.28
Over the past 25 years, or from any historical perspective, the State has done more on redress than has ever been done before. That needs to be acknowledged. Very substantial funds have been allocated for redress. It is taxpayers' money. It is not our money; it belongs to the people, but I would not be as dismissive of what the State has done so far.
Sentiment score: 0.05
Sorry, but I did not interrupt the Deputy. Redress is more than just financial. Many supports, from those of the National Counselling Service to educational supports, have been provided for survivors. Trauma brought about by abuse is lifelong, and there has to be continuous and consistent engagement with survivors in respect of both that trauma and the most effective way of responding to it on a continuing basis. The Government has engaged substantially right across the board and has allocated very substantial resources to address it.
Sentiment score: 0.29
I commend the Pope on the publication of his encyclical, which is a very important document in the context of how he sees the dehumanisation of people as one of the significant potential consequences of AI. We have not engaged in any light-touch regulation. We have adopted the AI Act. We have also adopted the Single Market Act and the Digital Markets Act. Why is the Deputy talking about light-touch regulation? European legislation has been strong. We have strong domestic and European legislation in respect of online platforms. In fact, a big criticism of Europe, including Ireland, is that it has over-regulated. That is a debate in terms of technology more generally. I do not accept the criticism that we have a light touch.
Sentiment score: 0.13
I said to the Deputy last week that the Minister for housing was considering this and would be coming back to the Government with proposals to increase the threshold. Three years ago, we did it. In 2023, it went up by approximately €5,000. I would support the increase in the threshold at which people would be entitled to social housing.
Sentiment score: 0.26
I thank the Deputy for raising a potential loophole. I will talk to the Minister for housing in respect of it. There are significant protections in the legislation the Minister introduced, particularly the six-year rule, which have probably had some short-term consequences but in the overall provide good protection. The legislation provides probably the strongest protection yet given in terms of security of tenure. I will follow up with the Minister in respect of the issue raised by the Deputy.
Sentiment score: 0.52
I thank the Deputy for raising an important issue for the DAA pension scheme and workers. I hear what he is saying and will ask the Minister for Social Protection if he will meet the workers. Perhaps the Deputy could liaise with the Minister, too, but I will raise the issue. I understand the negative impact on the workers concerned if its value has gone down to 50% of what the wage was.
Sentiment score: 0.05
Last year's budget was one of five budgets and people need to realise that. We were strong on infrastructure in the first year, which was the right thing to do because if we do not invest in infrastructure now, it does not get completed any time soon. That was why we had to do that. Of course, disability featured strongly, as did supports for children and housing, which is the number one priority. We will be examining the full range of supports we can give to families in what is a very pressurised environment in terms of the cost-of-living pressures. Obviously, part of that is the tax framework and I have no doubt but that the various Deputies and political parties that make up the three pillars of the Government will bring forward proposals following consultation with their members and consider the most effective way of giving workers a break.
Sentiment score: 0.31
I was not at the press conference, which the Deputy said was attended by Kathleen Funchion and Patricia Carey. As I said earlier, it is not that there is a pot. There is no pot anywhere.
Sentiment score: -0.10
A scheme was outlined and there were estimates as to what it would cost. It is not as if there is a pot of money over there. We have, over the years, supported different categories of people in terms of redress relating to specific areas. Industrial schools were the most significant and over €1 billion was allocated at that time. That was just the financial support but there was much more to it, including counselling, educational support and housing support. We continue to keep issues under review.
Sentiment score: 0.24
I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I met the Johnston family. What happened to Aoife was extremely and profoundly difficult and traumatic for the family. It should not have happened and the HSE has apologised. The Minister has met the family. There was an investigation and examination of it, which yielded a lot in terms of what went wrong. I will speak to the Minister. I did not realise there were issues around the naming of that new block. I will talk to the Minister about that to see if we can get that rectified.
Sentiment score: -0.13
I thank the Deputy for raising what is a very sad situation. It is devastating for the family to lose such a beautiful young daughter in circumstances that no one can comprehend. It was a wonderful day. Everyone headed to the beach and the unthinkable happened. In terms of the emergency preparedness group, risk assessments and the idea of a national protocol that could be triggered in anticipation of a change in weather of the kind we have experienced this week, which has been relatively sudden and quite dramatic in its impact. The Deputy makes a fair point. I will ask the emergency group to consider it. I will come back to the Deputy.
Sentiment score: -0.04
In many respects, the scheme, which was introduced by the then Minister, Eamon Ryan, has had a strong impact in the context of recycling and so on. There have been positives to the scheme. There is no doubt about that. We keep all schemes under review. Bin-scavenging needs to be examined more in terms of scale, prevalence and how we deal with it.
Sentiment score: 0.13
I thank the Deputy for raising what is a pertinent and important issue. There is no question but that medicines are advancing at a rapid pace. In the context of therapeutics and more generally in the area of oncology, there are new drugs, perhaps every five years in some instances. Health systems all over the world are struggling to keep pace with the rapidity of change. Thankfully, survival rates relating to cancer are increasing all round because of the advances that have been made. I have engaged in discussions with the Minister on this matter. Working with the national cancer control programme, we need to look at how we can deal with the rapidity and volume of new drugs coming on stream. Orphan drugs, which may not relate to cancer alone and which may be used to treat a range of other conditions, are going through similar technology assessments. The process is taking a long time. We need the co-operation of the companies involved in terms of dealing sensibly and practically with this, but there is no doubt that it is a growing issue.
Sentiment score: -0.07
Our public cancer centres are good. The Deputy is making a point about private access to medicine and new drugs. That is where the differential happens.
Sentiment score: -0.12
That is a fair point except, but we all need to be honest about it. We need to understand the problem and the challenge. When I refer to migration, I am not blaming anyone. I am simply stating the fact that more than 50% - it is even higher in the Dublin area - are non-Irish citizens. That is just the reality. The composition of homelessness has changed. That is all I am saying. That realisation then informs different responses. When, for example, we came forward with the exemptions for developments in gardens and so on, our proposal was lampooned. However, that proposal could provide a solution for a certain group of people. Everything that increases supply will help us to deal with this matter. Some Europeans who have come here have an entitlement to emergency homes without being entitled to local authority houses or social housing. There are issues here. The Deputy can attack us for even mentioning what I referred to. She cannot attack us just for mentioning the unmentionable.
Sentiment score: 0.08
We need to understand the composition of homelessness.
Sentiment score: 0.00
It is much different from what it was ten years ago-----
Sentiment score: 0.00
-----but we still have to support those in emergency accommodation. That is what I am saying.
Sentiment score: 0.01
This is a complex matter, particular as it relates to those who are dependent. Where would the Deputy draw the line in devising a scheme for fuel allowance? It could be broadened exponentially. We have already expanded it to those on the working family payment. Approximately 470,000 people are now entitled to the fuel allowance. We have expanded it significantly from where it was. I will raise the point the Deputy made with the Minister for Social Protection, but it is not easy. The Deputy is introducing the idea that people working in a house would be entitled to the fuel allowance.
Sentiment score: 0.01
I know, but that person would be working.
Sentiment score: 0.00
How can we differentiate between-----
Sentiment score: 0.00
I hear the Deputy.
Sentiment score: 0.00
Basically, we are spending about €1 billion annually in general practice to support patients. Some 43% of the population now has access to free GP care and Government investment has significantly increased. There is a strategic review of general practice currently under way, and I presume it will take on board some of the issues the Deputy has raised in terms of growth areas in population and the need for greater access to GPs more generally. There has also been increased access to pharmacy capacities in respect of some conditions. There are about eight conditions pharmacists can now diagnose and prescribe treatment for. We have to become more flexible in how we enable people to access primary care services. We have invested significantly in general practice. Under the 2019 GP agreement, an extra €211 million was put in and a further €130 million under the 2023 GP agreement.
Sentiment score: 0.49