What about energy prices? Have energy prices reduced?

Sorry, my final question was not answered. Have energy prices reduced for families and businesses?

I still have not had my question answered on families and if they are going to get lower energy costs.

Is that when you are in government?

When you are in government, you are in government.

I congratulate the Minister on his new post. Will the Minister outline the current capacity of domestic violence refuge spaces and his intentions to increase this to an adequate standard?

I am delighted to hear that the Minister is committed. I hope he will be able to make the necessary changes. The Government delivered seven spaces by the end of 2023. It delivered 12 in 2024. The language I have heard the Minister use referring to 54 units under construction, or due for refurbishment this year, suggests to me a net increase of less than 54. In the best case scenario that would mean he plans to deliver nearly 70 next year. However, it is also the case that this target seems ambitious only in terms o…

I again put it to the Minister that 280 is well below the 500 needed under the Istanbul Convention. A number of weeks ago, I sought a Dáil debate on the provision of these services in my constituency of Cavan-Monaghan. The Minister will be familiar with the fact that the people in our community are among those without any refuge spaces at all. It is a deep concern that the current ambition of the Government is that the people of both counties will continue to go without. This arises directly as a result of not only…

So, because they do not do it, we do not do it either.

The number of adults accessing emergency accommodation across the north-east region that comprises Louth, Cavan and Monaghan in a single week in January was 263. That is an increase of nearly one third on the same period last year. The number of children involved was 130, a near 70% increase year on year. What can the Government do? The tenant in situ scheme is one mechanism that provides a vital protection for ordinary renters from having to face into the cruel and unyielding reality of a local rental market that …

Is onóir mhór dom a bheith anseo inniu le labhairt faoi Lá Idirnáisiúnta na mBan. International Women's Day is an opportunity to recall and pay tribute to the women who came before us. The rights we have today are their legacy, won and taken by them, never freely given by others. It is not a cause for celebration, but rather a warning and a reminder. A warning that there are those who would see those rights taken away and a reminder that we owe it to our daughters to deliver those rights yet to be realised. It is a…

Mental and physical health is one of the strands considered in the Government's well-being framework analysis. In counties Cavan, Louth, Laois, Meath and Monaghan, the well-being of people and our communities will be negatively impacted by the recent downgrading of the services of SOSAD Ireland. They have been downgraded because of a lack of sustainable funding. The potential for this had been well telegraphed and communicated to the HSE well in advance of the new year. It is now March. I am asking the Taoiseach to…

Deputy Bennett.

It is going on since Christmas. Why is it not -----

It needs to happen.

I wish both Ministers well in their new roles. However, I must say that this Government has yet to show the political will needed to resolve the housing crisis. This has been made more apparent in recent weeks as the Government's pre-election confidence in reaching its housing targets was revealed to be utter fantasy. I hope the Government takes note of the Housing Commission's report because something needs to change radically. I also hope the Government will, as Deputy Ó Broin said, give the Oireachtas committee …

I wish the Minister and the Minister of State well in their new roles. I hope they can change healthcare in this country. I have been listening to and taking part in Dáil debates over the past few weeks and it seems easy for the Government to portray that the increased demand for public services has just come out of the ether. Population modelling seems to be only considered as an excuse as to why services are strained or broken altogether today. Explaining away the failures of today by stating they will be resolve…

-----including more pharmacies, rehab care and sport, housing and the environment.

I ask the Minister-----

-----as a starting point that if she will not implement Sinn Féin's plan, will she please-----