I do not agree with Deputy McDonald's assertions once again. No matter what any State agency does, or what anybody out there does, she will blame the Government. That is her standard practice. The Government is at fault for everything. Her latest assertion is that the Government must now run RTÉ. Just think about that and reflect on it. Is that what Deputy McDonald is actually saying, that politicians should go in there and run the national public service broadcaster? That is what she is saying.
Sentiment score: -0.15
I know she has to do this for electoral reasons and politics and to play the game but there is a serious undercurrent here, and coming from the Sinn Féin Party it will create its own challenges in good time and I want to put that on the record. I would say what has happened is unacceptable. The Minister has had a meeting, or will meet, the director general today. Deputy McDonald made a comment on the legislation. The Minister brought it before Cabinet today. Again, she implied that he was at fault for the delay in bringing the legislation. That is not true.
Sentiment score: -0.07
The Oireachtas pre-legislative scrutiny took a considerable length of time. Deputy McDonald's party and members were involved in this legitimately. Please do not come in here, after taking time on pre-legislative scrutiny, and then say the Minister is acting in slow motion.
Sentiment score: 0.24
That is the kind of dishonesty that characterises every one of her presentations here in recent times on Leaders' Questions. She does not really care about the truth any more. Whenever something breaks out, let us have a go at the Government and let us blame the Government and that is it. It is a simple formula and that is what Deputy McDonald is about. I do not believe the current management is laissez-faire. I do think it wants to get to grips with this. That is my assessment, and I think the board does as well. Yes, everybody knew Derek Mooney was a presenter and not a producer. Deputy McDonald said the dogs on the street knew it but I would say that the dogs in the wild knew it-----
Sentiment score: 0.02
-----in terms of his role. There may be others. What this speaks to is a lack of structure in terms of how people are recruited, designated and treated from a human resource point of view in RTÉ. The wider issue that the bonnet needs to be lifted on is whether there is consistency across the organisation in respect of the treatment of people and the treatment of employees of the company. There is a real disparity in terms of how some are treated compared to how others have been treated, and this is a problem for RTÉ that needs to be sorted out. There needs to be far more transparency than we have experienced in recent years in terms of this issue. In terms of the funding issue, collectively, as an Oireachtas, we need to make up our mind on whether or not we want public service broadcasting and a national broadcaster. These are options that politics can take. We can decide to abandon public service broadcasting altogether and just have a free for all. I do not agree with that but just saying that when Deputy McDonald has a go at the €700 million, there are choices facing the Government. You either cut it down, undermine it, let it go to waste or let it go private. What is the Deputy saying? Is she saying the €700 million should not have gone into it?
Sentiment score: -0.08
I fully agree with that, and that is what the Minister is doing. It is going to the C and AG, and it will be before the public accounts committee. It took some time to get through the Houses, but the Minister is doing that. It took some time because of you guys, rightly. I have no issue with pre-legislative scrutiny, but you cannot blame the Minister for delays with pre-legislative scrutiny. They cannot do that. They cannot get away with that kind of stuff and I am not going to let them get away with it. An rud is tábhachtaí ná go mbeidh soiléiriú ann maidir le RTÉ ar chúrsaí pá, costais, caighdeáin, agus coinníollacha a bhaineann leis sin, agus go bhfuil cothrom na Féinne á tabhairt do gach éinne atá ag obair laistigh de RTÉ. Tá sé sin ríthábhachtach. Táimid den tuairim go gcaithfidh RTÉ sin a dhéanamh agus táim muiníneach as an Aire go bhfuil seisean go láidir den tuairim sin chomh maith.
Sentiment score: -0.13
The Minister has brought through the legislation that will bring RTÉ under the remit of the Comptroller and Auditor General, which is a stronger regime of public accountability for RTÉ than has been the case hitherto. There has always been sensitivity in the relationship between the political system and RTÉ. In the midst of all the turmoil and noise, we need to keep an eye on that too. It will go before the public accounts committee. Deputy Carthy can laugh away because it would be of no concern to him.
Sentiment score: 0.07
If he could run RTÉ, he would run it in the interests of his party. That is how you guys operate and would operate.
Sentiment score: 0.29
The point I am making is that the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, is meeting with the director general and the chairman of RTÉ today. I believe they are making a sincere effort to try to get this reorganised. There has been some progress made but what has happened is unacceptable. What is more important is that there is consistency across the board in RTÉ in terms of how people are treated from a human resources point of view and that rights and conditions apply to everybody in RTÉ and not just some.
Sentiment score: 0.05
I again do not accept the full presentation because the Deputy is being somewhat disingenuous. She attacked the rent reforms. By the way the whole reform of that was advised in the first instance by the Housing Commission and she urged us to implement its recommendations. That is the first point, and it did need to be reformed and the reforms have added protection for tenants. One of the outcomes of that is, in terms of those who are objecting to the six years, that some landlords opted out but there is always a churn in terms of tenancies, landlords and so on and there is a higher number, over 13,000-----
Sentiment score: -0.13
-----who have actually entered the market. As some people exit the market, more enter the market and it needed to be sorted and to be solidified as well, and the Deputy knows that. Her objection was she tried to portray it as an incentive to developers and landlords but it is the protection elements of the reforms that have caused some smaller landlords, perhaps, to exit. She cannot have it both ways.
Sentiment score: 0.12
No, I am sorry; the Deputy cannot have it both ways. We need to have a settled landscape out to the next decade or so in terms of the investment side of the equation to get more in. The bottom line is 36,000 homes were delivered last year, which is the highest since records began and up 20% on 2024. A total of 38,000 new dwellings were completed in the 12 months ending quarter 1 of 2026, which is an increase of 26 year on year. Since 2020, about 177,000 units have been built. Planning momentum is very strong, with 8,000 permission in quarter 4 of 2025, which is up by close to 20%. Some 20,000 houses were granted permission in 2025, which is the highest number since 2009, and there were 8,400 commencement notices in quarter 1 of 2026, which is up 184% year on year. Real dwelling investment is up 19.4% in the first three quarters of 2025. Construction employment was at 191,900 at the end of 2025. That is up 30% since 2019 and 12% year on year. The HBFI loan book grew 25% in 2025. We allocated €1 billion to the housing infrastructure investment fund. Residential planning permissions in Dublin exceed 78,000 units. Some 24,246 apartments are under construction or on active sites across Dublin. There were 50 new schemes active during quarter 1 of this year alone. In total, 31,936 homes were either built or under construction across 202 active sites in quarter 1 of 2026. That is evidence of very significant momentum within the housing area and supply is the key. On social, affordable-----
Sentiment score: 0.12
-----and cost rental, the increases are happening across the board.
Sentiment score: 0.00
People enter the market and people leave the market continuously, and have done so. The Deputy knows that. It is just a fact. The bottom line is that she cannot spin away either and pretend that nothing is happening in terms of housing supply.
Sentiment score: -0.04
Over 9,000 social houses were built last year. Those were direct builds that the State funded. Housing is the number one issue facing the people of the country. Our population has grown exponentially, and if we dig deep under the demographics and the population figures, we can see the impact on the pressures on the housing situation because of the different parts of that demographics story. I can deal with that at a later time. We need to increase housing supply, and this is what the Government is focused on in a whole range of initiatives that we have introduced, from social housing to cost-rental to affordable housing. There are a significant number of drawdowns for first-time buyers, for example. It is much higher than it was back in 2015, when the percentage of first-time buyers was 26% of all household buyers.
Sentiment score: 0.08
It is now 40% in 2026.
Sentiment score: 0.00
We need it to happen faster-----
Sentiment score: 0.00
First, I extend my deepest sympathies to the family of Mr. Sakila. The full circumstances of what happened there need to be examined and investigated fully and thoroughly. I understand that Fiosrú has been notified and is involved in that as an independent statutory body. The situation is deeply concerning and very concerning to many people who witnessed it. I just want to make that point but obviously we cannot pre-empt the outcome of any investigation. In respect of the Israeli action against the Sumud flotilla in international waters and the detention of those onboard, I strongly condemn what the Israeli Government has done and I condemn the action of the Israeli military forces, as I have done previously and as we did very early on. The Deputy's picky attitude to timing is just wrong and unnecessary. We will engage and are engaging with the Israeli Government on the release of all Irish citizens who have been wrongfully detained by the Israeli military in international waters. It is unacceptable behaviour. Let me be clear: the humanitarian situation in Gaza is equally unacceptable and has been for quite some time. Very often what tends to happen is people very quickly pivot away from attacking the Israeli Government and want to attack the Irish Government more than attacking the Israeli Government. That seems to be the standard course of action here which I do not think adds a whole lot to trying to help the overall situation in Palestine. Most Palestinians I meet and when I meet the Palestinian Authority or people in the area, they are very appreciative of successive actions the Irish Government has taken on this question. We have given a lot of support to the Palestinian people and rightly so. We will have allocated about €144 million by the end of 2026 in support of the Palestinian people. That is not insignificant. We have consistently supported UNRWA and have given €68 million since 2023. We intervened in South Africa's International Court of Justice, ICJ, case against Israel under the Genocide Convention. We made a submission to the ICJ on the legal consequences of Israel's actions in the occupied territories. We subsequently co-sponsored a resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly back in 2024, which sought to implement the court's advisory opinion. We recognise Palestine as a sovereign and independent state. We have organised medical evacuations of sick children from Gaza, along with their family members, for treatment, and plans are ongoing for further missions. We have supported over 300 people to leave Gaza and travel to Ireland since the crisis began. We will now work to get those people released and safely home
Sentiment score: 0.04
I disagree with the Deputy's fundamental premise on this issue. People know my voice on Gaza and the Middle East. They know it in the European Union, both on the Foreign Affairs Council, when I was Minister for Foreign Affairs, and back in 2007, when I went to Gaza. I do not really need lectures from the Deputy in terms of my sincerity about Gaza.
Sentiment score: -0.10
I appreciate what those on the flotilla are doing. If we passed the occupied territories Bill in the morning, there would still be a flotilla, and I understand why there would be. Earlier, I listed all that has been done. If we look back at the debate before we did the recognition and before we intervened in the South African case, all the Deputies opposite were saying, "If only you would do this, it will achieve a fundamental change in Israel's position". We did all of that. We did so for the right reasons, because we think it is the right thing to do. Has it impacted on Israeli behaviour? Let us be honest: it has not. The Minister will progress the occupied territories Bill-----
Sentiment score: 0.15
-----but will it change Israel's position? That is the key issue.
Sentiment score: 0.00
Globally, there must be an international alliance of countries to really put pressure on Israel.
Sentiment score: -0.36
I respectfully suggest that is the way to proceed.
Sentiment score: 0.40
I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I acknowledge that there are very significant difficulties and challenges with the dental treatment medical scheme and dental healthcare more generally in terms of the poor capacity in the public sector side of dental treatment. The preponderance of people has been towards the private sector and the difficulty in terms of recruitment and establishing a comprehensive structure within the dental public health service has proven problematic for quite some time. There have been negotiations with the IDA and the Department of Health and there has been additional funding allocated. The Deputy is aware of the impact of that in County Offaly. I do not have the specifics of County Laois per se, but it seems to me, and I will speak to the Minister about this, that we need a more fundamental re-examination of how we provide dental services in the future in the most efficient and effective way that meets the needs of those who require such treatment, and what is the best mechanism for doing that. The existing approaches and more traditional approaches of the past have not borne fruit in terms of where dentists choose to operate or tend to do their practise and so on. That is a difficulty. I will ask the Minister to engage with the Deputy in respect of the situation in County Laois more specifically because he raised that. Overall, dental health has improved fairly significantly. The public health side of dental health has been positive in terms of the basics people need to adhere to, but for those requiring treatment, many are waiting too long, particularly for orthodontics.
Sentiment score: 0.13
The preponderence of people are moving more into the private sector. That is the reality. However, I take the Deputy’s point. There are ongoing reviews and discussions on this between the Minister and representative organisations. Recruitment has been ongoing and additional funding has been allocated over the past two to three years. I do not have the specifics on County Laois; I know the Deputy does. I will ask the Minister to engage with him in respect of County Laois specifically. In terms of prioritisation, those with special needs should get first priority in terms of interventions.
Sentiment score: 0.13