I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 22, inclusive, together. The programme for Government, Our Shared Future, sets out a series of ambitious commitments across social, economic and environmental policy. The Department of the Taoiseach's Statement of Strategy 2025-2028 puts the implementation of the programme for Government central to the mission of the Department and the Cabinet committee structure plays a central role in overseeing the whole-of-government approach to implementing the programme. Just one year into its five-year life cycle, tangible and substantive progress is being made in implementing commitments across all areas in the programme. For example, housing is a key priority of the Government. We have agreed regulatory reform, tax reductions and an investment of €275 billion over ten years, the largest infrastructure investment in the history of the State. We are targeting the construction of 300,000 homes including 72,000 social homes and 90,000 affordable housing supports. We have agreed reforms to rent pressure zones, strengthening the rights of tenants and stimulating increased investment and development activity. We have reduced VAT on the sale of completed apartments from 13.5% to 9%. There were 36,284 new dwelling completions in 2025, an increase of 20.4% on 2024 and the highest number of completions since the series began in 2018. The number of apartments completed in 2025 was 12,000, up 38.7% from the previous year. There were 18,308 scheme dwelling completions in 2025, an increase of 13.1% from 2024. Close to 6,000 single dwellings were completed in 2025, up 12.5% from the previous year. In the area of infrastructure, the Government has provided a total public capital investment of €275.4 billion over the period to 2035 under the new national development plan, NDP. The accelerating infrastructure task force and a new infrastructure division are driving wide-ranging reforms that will remove barriers to the delivery of strategic infrastructure. Government has published Ireland’s sixth nitrates action programme underscoring Ireland’s success in retaining the nitrates derogation. The Government’s pro-enterprise decisions in budget 2026 invest in Ireland’s enterprise base and support job creation, regional development, innovation, tourism and long-term competitiveness. We reduced the VAT rate for food, catering and hairdressers from 13.5% to 9% with effect from 1 July 2026. We increased the research and development tax credit from 30% to 35% which is having a significant impact in inward investment. We revised capital gains tax, increasing the entrepreneur relief lifetime limit threshold from €1 million to €1.5 million. We increased the national minimum wage by 65 cent per hour, a 4.8% increase that directly benefits over 200,000 workers. We extended the special assignee relief programme, SARP, providing income tax relief for persons assigned to work in Ireland from abroad. We also extended relief on foreign earnings to the end of 2030 and increased the limit on the deduction to €50,000 to assist indigenous exporting companies and their employees overseas. We are also committed to implementing action plans on competitiveness and productivity, insurance reform, market diversification and collective bargaining. In the area of disability, I established the disability unit in the Department of the Taoiseach to bring renewed focus and urgency to disability issues across government. The new national disability strategy was published in the second half of last year. In budget 2026, we approved record investment of €3.8 billion in specialist disability services, an increase of 20%. This funding will support enhanced therapy services and other specialised supports for approximately 45,000 children and the recruitment of additional staff for children’s disability network teams. Funding of €20 million is also being provided for the assessment of need targeted waitlist initiative, delivering approximately 6,000 clinical assessments. We established the new education therapy service and launched a recruitment campaign to put 90 occupational and speech and language therapists into 45 special schools in the 2025-26 school year. We also allocated €3 billion to special education, benefiting approximately 250,000 children in the school system who present with a special educational need. In terms of child poverty and well-being, in the budget we made significant provisions including a €320 million package for children featuring the largest increase ever in the child support payment, increased income thresholds for the working family payment and the extension of fuel allowance to those on the working family payment, €3.2 million of additional funding to expand the national network of family resource centres and an additional €5 million for Equal Start, a 30% increase. There is an additional €16.5 million to implement a new DEIS strategy and the new DEIS plus scheme. There is a 22% increase totalling €7.3 million for youth justice supports. The expansion of the income thresholds for the national childcare scheme will reduce the cost of childcare for lower income families. On migration, we have published a new International Protection Bill to allow for a firm, fair and effective international protection system that aligns with the European Union's migration and asylum pact. We have established a new United Kingdom-Ireland 2030 programme of strategic co-operation to support and strengthen the interaction between Ireland and the UK. We have doubled the resources available to the shared island fund, with a further €1 billion available out to 2035 to foster reconciliation, mutual respect and growth. On justice, defence and national security, we have established a new ministerial council on national security, which I chair. We have allocated €1.49 billion in defence funding in budget 2026, an increase of 11%. Likewise, justice has a significant allocation of more than €6 billion, €11.5 million of which is for domestic and gender-based violence initiatives. There are many more allocations, but due to time pressure I will not go into them.

Sentiment score: 0.37

I thank all the Deputies who spoke in relation to this question. Deputy Connolly raised the issue of affordable housing and the local authority affordable scheme in Galway. I will certainly engage with the county manager and the city manager there on the low progress in respect of the application of that scheme in the Galway context. Certainly, as part of the housing action plan, we want to do more on the affordable housing front as well as the social housing front. There have been certain local variations in terms of the application of the schemes. Some of them have been better than others in terms of scale and the number of schemes completed. I will engage with the county councils, the managers and the Deputy to try to progress it. I will talk to the Minister for housing in respect of the Galway situation too. Deputy Cahill raised quite a number of issues, including Presentation Monastery National School. He mentioned a significant number. I think the Deputy said that the first language of 85% of pupils is not English, which is huge. This means there are particular needs. Progress is being made in terms of an examination of DEIS plus. If a school is not even in DEIS, the prospects of being in DEIS plus are more limited. There was an extensive review of DEIS about three years ago. I will talk to the Minister about whether there are specific supports we can give that school, particularly in terms of the language issues, that might help it to deal with what is clearly a different set of challenges being faced. The Deputy also referred to Knocknagoshel, where the roof of the sensory room has collapsed. Emergency works grant funding should be available for that. I will alert the Minister to it. I think he also mentioned Filemore National School, Aghatubrid National School and Coláiste na Sceilge. What is the problem with Coláiste na Sceilge again?

Sentiment score: 0.25

Yes. That is a school I helped enormously when it was starting. The only challenge is that it produced an awful lot of high-quality Kerry footballers afterwards who won All-Irelands against us, which was pointed out to me with glee by some of the Deputy's colleagues. I have visited St. Brendan's College. A lot of people raise school issues. We are spending a lot more money on schools. A lot more schools need extensions or full buildings. St. Brendan's College is a fantastic school but it is in an old building. I fully appreciate the needs. I will be engaging with the Minister for education to see what we can do in terms of the school programme because quite a number of Deputies across the board have raised school issues today. Deputy Séamus McGrath raised the issue of a one-stop shop for bringing people back into the country and trying to clear up a lot of issues from driving licences to a whole range of other issues. I will progress that with the relevant Ministers. I commend him on his precise scrutiny of the programme for Government and every single aspect of it to keep us on our toes. I will follow up on that one. On Deputy Brendan Smith's contribution, there is a big issue with regional and non-national roads. The flooding of recent times has done a lot of damage in specific locations, but the rainfall generally has had an effect. I spoke yesterday to the Minister responsible - the Minister for Transport, Deputy Darragh O'Brien - on the impact of the floods on the roads, the need to review how we allocate funding to non-national roads and the need to get a serious allocation there. The inclement, wetter weather of recent years is playing havoc with non-national roads across the country. Deputy Malcolm Byrne raised the housing activation fund. Some €1 billion has been allocated. I hope some of that could be allocated to the northern inner relief road in Gorey - I will follow that up - and to the second bridge for Arklow. As the Deputy knows, when we were in Aughrim yesterday we discussed with a number of people, including the county manager and some of the engineers, how Arklow is now primed for housing development. We have put in a massive wastewater treatment plant there. It is a very modern one. If we need to lift any limits that are on Arklow in terms of house construction and so forth, we will continue to follow up on that in the context of the housing activation fund. Deputy Ó Murchú raised a number of classroom issues in County Louth. I think he said that a school hall is being used.

Sentiment score: 0.15

Again, I will talk to the Department of education in respect of that matter. I will talk to the Minister of State, Deputy Moran, about the CFRAM issue in Dundalk. Others have raised flood relief as well, including Deputy Quaide. Flood relief programmes are complex. They take time. That is just the reality. In the interim, we should be providing interim works that can be of assistance.

Sentiment score: 0.23

I have seen some of the works in Midleton, either embankments or gates. We can be doing more and we should work with the local authorities. The OPW wants to work with the local authorities on interim measures while the schemes themselves are being developed. I think that is the direction of travel we intend to work on. Deputy Mark Ward raised the regulation of e-scooters. The Minister got sanction from the Cabinet today for preliminary regulations covering the wearing of helmets and hi-vis vests for the users of e-scooters, e-bikes and so forth. That is important. We also understand that there will be a need for more regulation in respect of how e-scooters are being applied on our streets. Deputy O'Rourke raised special schools and classes. There has been a lot of increases in special schools since 2020. I think the number is well over 11, and perhaps up to 15. I will check the latter figure for the Deputy. There has been a huge number of increases in special classes. In fact, the big phenomenon in education at the moment is the phenomenal growth in the number of children needing special education provision. The October deadline brought on a huge increase in numbers compared to last year. This is notwithstanding those who missed the deadline. This is a very significant issue that we need to analyse and evaluate in terms of the nature of supports and whether we are providing the optimal supports. A significant number of people have come forward since the early deadline was put in place. The Minister of State with special responsibility for special education, Deputy Michael Moynihan, and the Minister for education, Deputy Naughton, have alerted the Government to the significant increase in numbers who have applied, particularly those who would have been in mainstream classes but, because of the early date, principals and others are saying should be in special classes. This is increasing the demand and the need. We will come back to the Deputy on the date. I know the Minister and the Minister of State are working on it, and I will come back to him on it. Deputy Tóibín spoke about World Cancer Day. I accept that there are geographical variations. That is not a situation that is acceptable. Overall, cancer survival rates have improved enormously. I appreciate that the Deputy, being a cancer survivor, is in a good place to articulate and advocate on behalf of this issue. Covid did intervene in some of the screening programmes, and, yes, the catch-up is not there fully in respect of some of them. There is consideration on the way, even to expanding the age cohort that would benefit from various screening programmes. Overall, it is important to say that survival rates have improved significantly over the last two decades for various cancers in this country and that is a positive we have to acknowledge. Deputy Conway-Walsh asked about the pilot basic income for artists scheme. The Minister has proposals in that regard. I will ask him to come back to the Deputy. To respond to Deputy Coppinger, gardaí are accountable. We saw an example of that in the courts yesterday. The Deputy again raised the issue of the DPP. I am not clear what she is saying should be the case but an independent Director of Public Prosecutions is essential in a democracy. It is good practice. If the Dáil was to become involved in deciding who gets prosecuted and who does not, we would be on a very dangerous slippery slope.

Sentiment score: 0.18

I know but we would then need an alternative to having an independent Director of Public Prosecutions. That is the core issue here.

Sentiment score: 0.00

I fully accept that families and people in specific situations may be very angry and annoyed at the absence of a prosecution. I fully understand the concerns of the Nkencho family in respect of what happened but, whatever way you look at this, I see having an independent Director of Public Prosecutions as a strength in our system. I see other systems. The Deputy talked about the United States. Prosecutorial services in the US are very embroiled in politics. In certain states, becoming an attorney general can depend on your politics. I am not too sure that is ideal either. Deputy Boyd Barrett spoke about emergency accommodation numbers. There are big issues involved. There is a wider issue there. Emergency accommodation is a complex issue.

Sentiment score: 0.02

The Minister has received about €100 million in additional money specifically to deal with the issues affecting families in emergency accommodation who require housing that the Deputy has referenced. The Minister is working on that. To respond to Deputy Cian O'Callaghan, yes, there is a delay. I am pursuing that with the Minister of State responsible for post offices, the Minister for Transport and the Minister for public expenditure. There is an issue that needs to be sorted fairly quickly. Both Ministers tell me there is not an issue but there clearly is. My understanding is that the increase is not an issue but there might be something else relating to the Labour Court. That should be progressed. Deputy Whitmore asked about public transport. I will raise what is happening there with the NTA. Deputy Malcolm Byrne has also been raising the matter of transport between Dublin and Wicklow with me. There are issues here for CIÉ and the NTA. A lot of people travel that route. Commuter travel is one of the biggest issues facing the Deputy's constituents. We need to review our plans to make sure we can accommodate additional numbers on public transport. Deputy Rory Hearne raised the issue of the housing crisis. We have the LDA. We are committed to providing 72,000 social houses. We are building more social houses now than at any time since the 1970s. We are doing this through local authorities and approved housing bodies. Last year may end up having been a record year for social housing. I am not sure we should stop doing what we are doing. Perhaps that is not what the Deputy is suggesting but he is saying we should establish a State construction company. That would take a while. It could slow down the construction of social housing. It is not a panacea. I am not clear whether we are in the realm of direct labour any more. Would that work? It did not work in the past. We are now delivering about 12,000. Last year, about 8,500 were directly built by approved housing bodies and local authorities. We need to get up to 10,000. If we can get higher than that on a progressive basis, we will. I am not sure we need a State construction company, on top of what we already have, to deliver social housing. I will look at the Deputy's document but it seems to me that we now need to get on with the agencies we have and get the thing done. I think I dealt with Deputy Quaide's point on flooding schemes. It is a cause of worry and anxiety. We need more interim measures. I will talk to the Minister of State, Kevin Moran, in respect of Mogeely, Killeagh, Whitegate, Rathcormac and the other villages Deputy Quaide mentioned. The interim measures are key. The wider scheme is complex given the nature of what is happening in that area and all of the issues the scheme needs to address. I will talk to the Minister of State in respect of that. Deputy Cleere asked about Gaelscoil Osraí and the vocational college in Kilkenny. I will meet with the community there. Deputy Cleere, Deputy John McGuinness and others have raised this matter before. I will be meeting with the Minister for education on this. I am familiar with the colleges. I have visited the community college and the Gaelscoil. I am anxious to deal with these issues for the school communities involved. I do not have an issue with meeting with the school community if the Deputy wants to arrange that. Deputy McGuinness raised the issue of pobail Ghaeltachta agus an méid tithíochta atá á thógáil againn sna ceantair sin. Chuireamar articles éagsúla san Acht pleanála ionas go mbeimid in ann déileáil go speisialta leis na Gaeltachtaí ó thaobh cúrsaí tithíochta de. Tá an infheistíocht ann anois. Tá muidne sa Rialtas sásta gach aon rud is féidir linn a dhéanamh chun níos mó tithe a thógáil sna Gaeltachtaí. Má tá scéimeanna faoi leith i gceist ag an Teachta, ba chóir dó iad a chur in iúl dúinn. Bheinn sásta iad siúd a chur os comhair an Aire agus cinneadh dearfach a dhéanamh faoin gceist sin. Is ceist thábhachtach í.

Sentiment score: -0.00