The Minister of State knows too well that this House has debated housing more than any other issue in the past couple of years. If only words could build houses. We are tabling another motion tonight because, despite all the plans, the schemes and all the announcements that have been rehearsed again tonight in the Minister of State's speech, the situation for families and individuals in all our constituencies remains dire and everybody in this House knows that. Housing is the number one issue. It is the one issue w…

I will also begin by wishing the Tánaiste well in his new role as Minister for Defence. I also associate myself with the condolences expressed to the family, friends and comrades of the late Private Seán Rooney. My question is simple. What are the Tánaiste's plans to arrest the ongoing haemorrhaging of staff from the Defence Forces, which we are aware of? In particular, what is the current status of our active seagoing fleet?

The reality is that whatever has happened to date is not working. We have been talking about the haemorrhaging of staff for a very long time and we are now at a critical level. The Tánaiste would have read the remarks of Lieutenant Colonel Conor King at the annual delegate conference of the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers, RACO, when he said that given the lack of action on crucial retention measures, the lack of implementation, the lack of respect and consideration afforded to commissioned men …

We have been hearing that sort of answer for a very long time. It is not having any effect. We are losing the skilled personnel that it has taken years to train. We have not got a solution to that; in fact we are going backwards. How many Naval Service vessels are actually patrolling our waters right now? Before we get to a strength of 11,500, when does the Tánaiste expect the interim target of 9,500 to be achieved?

How many vessels are at sea or available for seagoing work?

It is not working.

They are being mothballed.

We are mothballing ships. That is the problem.

The working time directive.

We have gone over several of the specific issues. For all of us, the issue is urgency. It is lovely to set up structures, and every report we have had has referred to new structures almost in management-speak, but there has been little by way of delivery. The objective of the commission was to modernise our Defence Forces, stop the haemorrhaging of personnel and ensure the objectives set out were achieved. Regarding reporting to this House, can the Tánaiste set out his timeline for what he expects to happen during …

We have done it for An Garda Síochána.

In this supplementary question I wish to ask about the non-pay Vote. Something in the order of €60 million in non-pay additional funding seems to be very little in terms of the equipment requirements laid out, if we are going to do anything. The cost of the replacement of the two maritime aircraft would gobble up that amount. Would consideration be given to going down the road of setting a capital sum aside, as Germany has done? There was a €5 billion surplus last year. A once-off capital sum could be put aside for…

A modest one.

Just to cheer you up.

Sorry.

Out of many talents.

I will try to gallop though the broad list of issues that arose at the European Council meeting in the five minutes I have. Needless to say, Ukraine is the fist issue. It has been the dominant issue at all European Council meetings since the barbaric invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing assault on the Ukrainian people by Russia. We need to take stock constantly of what we are doing to support Ukraine. We will not be supplying military capacity to Ukraine but one of the issues covered in the Council meeting was the p…

I am talking about a common European defence infrastructure. When are we going to initiate the debate on exactly what our role will be in the EU's strong policy to take responsibility for its own security and cybersecurity? I also raise the issue of the US Inflation Reduction Act, which has the unfortunate acronym IRA. It has been described by many as a serious threat to European competitiveness. I looked at the statistics relating to the relaxation of state aid rules from March 2022. Overwhelmingly, the greatest s…

I think we have time for me to ask two different questions. I want to ask about Ukraine first.

Okay. This is my first opportunity to congratulate the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, on his new role. I wish him well in a very important role for Ireland. I mentioned that we will not provide military weapons to Ukraine. What they have asked for is critical infrastructure. I stated the Council has asked for mobile heating stations, power generators, power transformers and high-voltage lighting equipment. Are we mobilising that? Have we gone across State agencies? I saw some being provided by the ESB, but …