I have a point of order. On the previous occasion when statements on nursing homes were taken, some of us waited until the very end of the night to get our slot. I hope that will be taken now.

I welcome this opportunity to address the issue of nursing homes. I am aware the Minister of State has taken an interest in it but there are major issues to be addressed. In this regard, I must raise the over-reliance on private nursing homes with him. It has increased. That 80% of nursing homes are now private has skewed things and left us at the mercy of the private sector. Unfortunately, some in the sector will abuse their position. We have seen terrifying examples of this in recent weeks. The incidents of negle…

One proper meal per day can make a major difference. There should be more home help staff and more flexibility in what they can do. There should be more public health nurses, who are fundamental in keeping people in their homes. Deputy O'Donnell, as Minister of State, will agree that loneliness is killing people. This is not something the Government can sort on its own. Whatever we can do through voluntary organisations and society as a whole, we should do it. We should send out the message that we need people to v…

I welcome this motion, as somebody who passionately believes in the national reunification, not unification, but reunification of the national territory. It is an important step forward and it is long overdue. There has been foot-dragging on this and we need a timeline for progress. National reunification is important. All parties nominally sign up to it. I believe we should do better and we should be proactive about it. The Taoiseach talks a lot about the shared island project. Let us share and extend democracy on…

We have six minutes each.

My question relates to the delays around reviews of decisions relating to disability and carer's allowance. Currently, people are waiting a long time. This matter needs to be addressed. I hope the Department is going to take action on it.

The reason I raise this is because people find themselves out of work through no fault of their own because of a disability or they have to give up work to care for a loved one and may have to put in a claim for carer's allowance. These are genuine cases. I understand that it is complex. I understand that there are a number of different aspects in terms of judging whether people are eligible or not. The Oireachtas helpline is of assistance, but it is not a silver bullet. The experience we have had is that some appl…

If they could be done within a six-week period, that would certainly be very good. I welcome the fact that there is a target in that regard. In the absence of targets, nothing is achieved. Things move when there are targets. The Minister is correct about people supplying more information. Often, those who make claims are not sure what is being sought as a result of the language the Department uses. It has been simplified in recent years, and that is welcome. It is important that we try to achieve the target. As alr…

I welcome the eight proposals in the motion put forward by Deputy O'Gorman. They are very welcome and timely. The very important ones are to further reduce fares and to further accelerate the Connecting Ireland rural bus programme. The all-island rail strategy was mentioned. It is important, as we move towards the reunification of the national territory, that this is stepped up as a practical measure to connect North and South, particularly Donegal, Derry, Sligo, Fermanagh and the other counties of the north west. …

The slaughter in Gaza continues this week. We still see innocent men, women and children mowed down by tank fire and massive aerial bombardments while they queue for food, but also in camps where people are trying to shelter, who have been displaced for the one hundredth time in the past two years. There is a moral and political responsibility on us to do all we can to put pressure on the terrorist State of Israel. Last week, the Government refused to back a measure that would do just that, by refusing to back a pr…

The decision is with the Dáil.

He said we could provide a legal basis to do so. He said that he agreed to look closely at it.

In his view, the Central Bank does approve the prospectus for the sale of bonds.

We must do the right thing.

Anger is not enough.

We must take action.

That is not-----

That is no help to the people of Gaza.

I will comment in due course on the Finance (Local Property Tax and Other Provisions) (Amendment) Bill 2025. The Bill is obviously being brought forward to raise more money. I wish to raise a couple of points to provide context. The abolition of rates by Fianna Fáil in 1977 completely removed a sustainable source of funding for local government. While the election that year was won on the back of this move - in fact it was a landslide victory - not long after, the incoming Government increased taxes. I remember at …

This a very important, timely motion. As a group of TDs on the left, we were party to it. The situation is a housing emergency; everybody accepts that now, with 15,500 plus in homeless accommodation and huge waiting lists for social housing. County Laois, which has a fairly good record for social housing, still has a housing waiting list of 1,600 households. Low Government targets and projections are missed by a country mile. There is a huge need for investment in infrastructure and water in which we are falling wa…