This is another example of Deputy Murphy looking to portray somehow that there is a big industrial ethos and personality to our agricultural sector whereas the opposite is the truth. We have family farms across this country working in a co-op structure, thankfully, in the dairy sector. Under this structure, as much of the return as possible is returned to the family farms and the dairy farms that are doing it. The reason I took that scheme off the table is because my objective is to back farmers and family farms in…

I thank Deputy Doherty for raising this matter. This is a really important service and a really important issue. It is important we get the dental service children need at a young age. That is why it is in the school system. It is also a key priority for the Government. We have been investing over €200 million annually in the provision of oral healthcare, targeting, in particular, those most in need of support to access that care. This includes, importantly and in the context of the issue the Deputy raises, an addi…

We are recruiting staff.

Obviously, we have to work within the budgetary envelope-----

-----that is provided. However, a record number of staff have been employed across the health service during the lifetime of this Government.

An additional 28,000 staff have been employed across the health service. It is particularly important to ensure that we resource the provision of dental services. We accept the importance of early intervention.

We absolutely do. As already outlined, we are putting additional funding in place to address backlogs. We want the backlogs to be addressed and the service improved.

Across the board-----

-----there has been a significant increase of 50% in funding for the health service-----

-----generally over the past four or five years under this Government. We want to ensure the health service is as strong as possible.

In the context of dental healthcare services, we are putting additional investment in place. Some 900 additional staff were employed within the service as recently as last December in order to improve the service further.

I thank Deputy Bacik for raising what is the most pressing issue facing the Government. It is the key, number one priority that this Government has been working to deliver. We all wish that delivering in this regard could be dealt with as easily as setting a target.

At its recent conference, the Labour Party set targets without providing any plan as to how they might be delivered.

The Government will continue to assess evolving needs in terms of medium- and long-term targets. There will be a full assessment in the context of updating those targets. What we are absolutely focused on is increasing delivery and capacity and making a real difference. We are not in any way taking the foot off the throttle in doing as much as possible regarding new housing supply. While the targets will be adjusted, we are going as fast as we can in ramping up delivery. The Deputy mentioned the CSO dwellings compl…

I assure Deputy Bacik that we are not delaying anything when it comes to delivering and building new houses.

I have just outlined that the target for last year was 29,000 and that we exceeded it and reached 33,000. Our ambition this year is to also exceed the targets in place and build as many houses as possible. No house that can be built will be left unbuilt. We want to see more homes as well as more homeowners and more availability in the rental sector. All of the issues, in particular homelessness, will be addressed by more supply. This Government has massively ramped that up in every way possible. We have also put to…

We put that-in place to create a new source of supply. It applies to homes that have been out of circulation for the past few years.

I reiterate my deepest sympathies to the Nkencho family and to all those impacted by this tragic death. Any fatal shooting is distressing and traumatic for those who witness it and for those who grieve the loss of the person who died so suddenly. I know the community has experienced a trauma, and the family very much so, as a result of these events. I know for many people this development will be upsetting. Fatal shootings involving members of An Garda Síochána are very rare in Ireland. All are independently invest…

I believe GSOC has notified the Nkencho family of their entitlement under the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Act 2017 to a summary of reasons from the DPP for her decision not to prosecute as well as their statutory entitlement to request a review of the decision. I understand GSOC will continue to engage with the Nkencho family in the context of coronial proceedings and any other statutory processes that may arise. GSOC has reiterated its undertaking to make the substantive detail of its investigation publicl…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. It has been a challenging spring for all farming sectors. That has come on the back of a very difficult autumn last year. We have just come out of one of the longest and most unprecedented wintering periods we have seen for a long time, lasting almost seven months from last September until now, in many instances. That has made it very difficult for livestock farmers, in particular. Farmers have been very supportive of one another in local communities and neighbourhoods, wh…