There is no need. It will be dealt with by regulation. The position-----

Can I make some final comments?

Senator Horkan is the most efficient Acting Chairperson I have ever come across.

I thank the Acting Chairperson for the efficient operation today. I thank all four Senators present for dealing efficiently with the Bill and for their contributions throughout the process, going back to the start. I thank them and others from both the Dáil and Seanad for everything done to bring this Bill to where it is today. I appreciate it. I thank Members of the Dáil who so constructively engaged with the Bill. I also thank the staff of the Seanad and the many offices of the Oireachtas, including the Office of…

I thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue because housing - the need for people to be able to own their home and the need for people to have affordable access to rental homes - is the number one issue for the Government. This is why the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and the Government have introduced the Housing for All strategy, which puts in place a very radical set of policies aimed at tackling the core factor driving all of the housing challenges we face, namely, lack of supply. It is not very long a…

I am afraid if they are looking to Deputy Ó Broin for solutions, they will be looking very hard indeed. I have outlined some of the key supports the Government has in place through Housing for All. I have mentioned the help-to-buy scheme, which provides up to €30,000 for a deposit. The First Home scheme provides up to 30% equity. We also have the vacant and derelict property grants. Sinn Féin would get rid of all those supports if it were in government.

If they are looking to Sinn Féin's capacity to deliver, they should look to Northern Ireland, just a couple of miles from where I live-----

-----where it recently had the Minister for housing and Minister for Finance. In the last year for which Sinn Féin had those Ministries for the full year, house prices in Northern Ireland increased by £18,000.

Sinn Féin does not have any magic------

Sinn Féin does not have any magic solutions here. The solution here is more supply in every way we can deliver it. Last year we increased the supply, providing 30,000 new housing units, a 45% increase on the previous year. We will continue to build on that momentum in every way we possibly can.

I thank Deputy Cairns for raising this. The experience of Ivy is harrowing and absolutely unacceptable. We, in government, want to work to ensure that is not the experience of children in this country. Last year, the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, approved an ambitious plan from Children's Health Ireland, CHI, to reduce the number of children awaiting spinal orthopaedic procedures for scoliosis or spina bifida by year end. As part of that, €90 million in current and capital funding was allocated to implement th…

I will certainly speak to the Minister for Health further on the issue of mental health supports. Like Deputy Cairns, I have met many young people who have been affected by scoliosis and know the massive challenge it presents in their lives. It is heartbreaking for all of us to see them waiting for the operation which would significantly change the course of their lives and provide them with this support and intervention they need. As I outlined in my earlier answer, it is something the Government is taking serious…

I agree with Deputy Boyd Barrett about the importance of public service broadcasting. It has been massively important in our history. It was particularly important, when we did not have other broadcast stations, to ensure there was a strong public service broadcasting operation in Ireland. RTÉ has provided a massive service to our citizens and country over many years. It is even more important now in a context in which it is much easier to broadcast and provide means of communication. Given the capacity for misinfo…

The Government wants to see a strong future for public service broadcasting in this country. This is something we all put a very high value on. That is why it has been so disappointing to see what has emerged in the past couple of weeks in the context of the breach of trust, the lack of transparency in respect of salaries and the challenges and weaknesses with regard to governance. That is why the Government is taking this matter so seriously. The Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, is putting in place an independen…

I thank Deputy Tóibín. There is no doubt that the past 18 months have been very challenging for people right across the country and in all walks of life, especially those who are on lower or fixed incomes. That is something the Government has been massively conscious of and to which we have responded very strongly-----

-----in a way that I do not believe has been seen in any other country in Europe. The fact that we have been sensibly and effectively managing the economy has given us the platform, as has the situation with regard to our national finances, to be able to support people who are under great pressure at this time. Over the past year and a half, we have seen €12 billion, which equates to 4.5% of our national income, allocated to specific tax and expenditure measures to try to help households and businesses deal with ri…

Following this direction, Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, with all eight public-private partnership, PPP, companies which operate the tolls, achieved agreement on the suspension of these increases for the first six months of this year. As the agreed six-month period will expire on 1 July, the revised toll prices will apply from that date. The setting of tolls is a statutory function for TII, although there are some procedural differences when it comes to the two public roads, namely, the M50 and the Dublin P…

I have outlined the contractual situation with regard to tolls.

There are certain constraints within which we must operate. The Government has been massively cognisant of the financial pressures on families during the past 18 months. That is why, in the context of those financial pressures, we have intervened to provide support by means of a range of measures to homeowners. In the budget we introduced last year, there was an autumn double payment, a double payment of child benefit-----

-----a €400 lump-sum payment for fuel allowance, a €500 lump-sum payment to families receiving working family payment and those in receipt of disability allowance, blind pension and invalidity pension and €200 specifically for those living alone. We moved to reduce childcare costs by 25% and public transport fares by 20% in general and by 50% for young people. I could go on. There are many more supports, all of which are necessary given the pressure the public was under. The Government has been working to try to su…