First of all, nothing has changed. Nothing has changed at all in respect of the tax situation governing carers. I think we need to keep everything in perspective and not create unjustified fears because I have checked this with both the Department of Finance and the Department of Social Protection. No new tax has been introduced, but what has happened on a forward-looking basis is the Department of Social Protection is providing Revenue with details of taxable carers' income in real time. About 90% of all carers are either registered already or are not liable for tax. We will obviously do everything we can because the Government, as Deputy McDonald knows, has dramatically increased the threshold for the means test income disregard. We have increased the carers' allowance by over €50. When you compare that to Northern Ireland-----
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-----where it is £83, our level of increase is very significant.
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We will be talking.
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Is it not a motion?
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We have quite a flexible labour market in this country already. The previous Government introduced a right to request remote working. There is a significant degree of remote working happening within the economy. As Deputy Bacik knows, by definition, it is not applicable to every workplace. The Government is not disposed to support the Labour Party's motion tomorrow evening. That said, we have a healthy labour market in Ireland. Our objective is to try to maintain that for SMEs, major Irish indigenous companies and multinational companies. We want to make sure that we have an environment that continues to facilitate the generation of new jobs. In some areas it is much easier to organise flexible and remote working and in other areas it is less so. One can be overly prescriptive too-----
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-----with unintended consequences.
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The most effective way to prevent elderly people becoming homeless is through social housing. Some 52,000 social homes have been added to the social housing stock between 2020 and now. In addition to that, about 14,000 voids were brought back into use - these are houses in the social housing stock that were empty. In quarter 3 of last year alone, 1,600 new social homes were delivered, including 1,330 new-build homes. We can and will work to prevent elderly homelessness through the increased building of social homes, acquisitions, the tenant in situ scheme, and other mechanisms that would prevent elderly people from becoming homeless.
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It is not that we are letting it happen. Come on.
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What is the Deputy saying? It is wrong that it is happening but the developer and the approved housing body have contractual disagreements. Is the Deputy saying the Government should just ignore that and take a side?
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You do not sit back either but you get the thing resolved in the best interests of the taxpayer-----
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------and those seeking housing. There are reasons particular cases like this happen. They are disgraceful but they happen. We will work hard to resolve this in the best interests of the taxpayer and those seeking housing.
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The Deputy failed to mention the fact that Billy Kelleher, Barry Cowen and Cynthia Ní Mhurchú will be voting against Mercosur in the Parliament. I am intrigued by his language. I know he is a former member of Sinn Féin. He spoke about reining in these MEPs and controlling them.
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We have a somewhat different ethos to the Deputy.
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I have answered it.
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I have.
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I accept that 19 years is far too long to spend in temporary accommodation. I am not aware of the specific background but I will talk to the Minister to see what can be done to improve the situation. In relation to Stepping Stones Special School, there has been a significant uplift in capitation for special schools arising out of the last budget. I presume that will take effect some time this year. I will ask the Department to look at the financial situation in respect of Stepping Stones to see if any once-off help can be delivered while that uplift is awaited. That uplift in capitation is significant and has long been sought by those involved in special education.
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Again, these issues are optimally resolved locally. All idle property that is not earmarked should be used. There should be more proactivity among State agencies, the OPW and local authorities in utilising existing buildings. A good local authority will do that and will proactively seek to get buildings utilised, particularly for an organisation like Men's Sheds, which has been very impactful in terms of men's health and well-being. I do not know whether the HSE has any temporary premises. The Deputy has identified one and we will pursue it and see what we can do.
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Is St. Paul's a DEIS school at the moment?
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It has not been ignored, so.
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DEIS status affords very significant opportunities to schools in terms of pupil-teacher ratios and additional supports. The Deputy has outlined the position with DEIS+. The budget has approved it and allocation of resources has happened. Obviously, a scheme has to be developed. It is going to be a very targeted programme for those most in need in education. I will ask the Minister to revert to the Deputy. The Deputy has outlined the details in terms of where we are with stakeholder consultation and so on. Hopefully by the next school year, we will have this in place.
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There is a responsibility on the local authority. The derelict sites levy is there. We are changing that as a result of the budget, as the Deputy knows. The Government has decided that the responsibility for dereliction and derelict buildings will transfer to Revenue. Work is under way between the Department of Finance and local authorities to get the proper maps for local authority areas that will fall under the remit of Revenue to determine dereliction and to apply the appropriate levies to get activity going.
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Public transport is the way forward. Rail is particularly important. The more people we can encourage and incentivise towards using rail, the better, particularly in areas like Kilkenny and Carlow which are very close to the Dublin area where people would commute for work and so forth. Sustainability in terms of financial sustainability is potentially an issue. Sometimes charges are made because if they did not have charges, the car park would be filled by others who might not even be using the facility. I will reflect on what the Deputy is saying and will engage with Iarnród Éireann on the points he has made, particularly in terms of Bagenalstown and whether further capacity is needed there and the impact of the charges. It is costly enough to get the train. I take the Deputy's point.
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I appreciate the Deputy taking the opportunity to express sympathies on the death of his late colleague, Mickey Brady. I join in the sympathies to his wife Caroline and his family more generally. On the carers situation, I answered the Deputy's party leader earlier in respect of that. Nothing has changed. There is no additional taxation. Rather, the Government has significantly increased the income disregard to record levels for couples and for single people, which is quite dramatic in its impact. We have also increased the value of the carer's allowance by €10 this year but by €50-odd over the past number of years. Other measures are also committed to in the programme for Government. We will continue to work on this over the coming months.
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I thank the Deputy. As he said, other Members have also raised this issue. I did a tour of Maynooth with Deputy Ó Cearúil. It is a classic education town. It is a beautiful town with tremendous potential at all levels of education. Is féidir leat do thuras oideachasúil idir bhunscoil, an dara leibhéal agus an tríú leibhéal a dhéanamh trí Ghaeilge. Is áit speisialta é. We are very committed to expanding investment in schools in Maynooth and across Kildare more generally.
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I will help in that I will communicate with X and ask that they turn up. There is not that the gap in the legislation. The 2020 Act does cover-----
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It does cover the sharing, dissemination and distribution of intimate adult images.
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We can arrange legal advice for the Deputy in that regard.
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We always put the worker first. I question much of the basis of the Oxfam report, as I have in the past, as the Deputy knows. Economists are dubious about some of the basis and premise upon which the research is based and its application to Ireland, in particular. Certainly, there is no €1 billion waiting out there in terms of a wealth tax.
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