I cannot see him at all but I presume he is in the back row.

Go raibh maith agat. I ask that the Minister of State would raise that. I know he has been very vocal on this issue, for which I thank him, but we cannot put Irish taxpayers' money into this fund that is going into member states where the basic rule of law and protections for democracy and human rights are not being observed. I ask that he would make that case strongly and ask the Taoiseach to make it strongly at the European Council. The European Commission is pushing it strongly but I have had no indication so fa…

I back the comments on low pay by a previous Deputy. The best way to ensure economic recovery is to get money circulating in the economy by tackling low pay. When people on low pay get a pay increase it goes straight back into the local economy. It is circular. We can see from the data at the moment that people on higher incomes have a higher level of savings. Part of that is because there is less opportunity to spend with the current Covid restrictions. There is nothing more circular than tackling low pay and havi…

As the Minister is aware, internationally the Housing First model has proven to be very successful in tackling homelessness, providing housing for people and housing tenancies. What is the difference between the number of Housing First tenancies identified as being needed under the national Housing First plan and the number of Housing First tenancies that are planned to be provided as matters stand?

When is the assessment of need due to be carried out or completed? As the Minister said, the national Housing First implementation plan identified 1,349 people with high support needs. They are people who have been sleeping rough or who have been homeless over the long term. It identifies a particular group of people who could really benefit from Housing First. The strategy also planned to provide places for half of these people who really need them. I welcome what the programme for Government says about expanding …

On the need for supports, there has been a 13% cut in the HSE funding for the ACCES community health team which works with people who are homeless in terms of mental health. Will that cut be reversed? As the Minister knows, Housing First can be delivered as it is within the capacity of the State. Will the Minister secure the funding to ensure we can get Housing First tenancies in place for that finite number of people, instead of continuing to plough large resources into emergency accommodation? This could be a cos…

The Minister said this evening that he will closely monitor Covid-19 case numbers and that he will take action to protect renters, if necessary, if numbers increase. Given that we have five levels containing a range of measures, would it not be appropriate to specify in those five levels the sort of measures the Government would take and the levels at which they would do that?

I welcome that the Minister is indicating that this work is being done. I take it from the answer that if we do go up to level 5 measures will be introduced. It is important that that work is finalised as quickly as possible in case we find ourselves in that situation and that it will be communicated to people, preferably in advance. That would be the way to do it. Work has been done by a team of epidemiologists at Harvard University, the University of Illinois and the University of Pennsylvania which has shown tha…

I agree with the Minister that that primary legislation should be on a sound footing. One of the most effective things the Minister could do, which is a long-term reform but would also be welcome in terms of Covid-19, is to reduce the grounds for eviction through primary legislation, which would bring us into line with other European countries. Will the Minister do that as a matter of urgency in terms of Covid-19 but also with a view to it being a long-term reform? I asked the Minister about modelling in terms of t…

What work is under way to prepare for the referendum on the right to housing, has the Minister been looking at a wording for that referendum and what timeline are we looking at in respect of it?

Yes.

On 17 September the Chinese Government released a white paper confirming that more than 1 million Uighurs have been detained in so-called re-education camps in the region of Xinjiang. These camps are designed to stop Uighurs and strip them of their culture, language and religion. What action is the Minister taking to raise these human rights abuses with the Chinese Government?

I thank the Minister for his response. Uighurs have had to shave their beards and uncover their hair as part of the restrictions that have been put on them. They have been made to pledge allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party. Children have been taken from their parents and put in orphanages and there has been family separation. As such, will the Government support the introduction of a European Magnitsky Act in the European Council that would impose visa bans and asset freezes on individuals worldwide who are g…

There are Irish citizens of Uighur ethnicity who are directly impacted by the Chinese Government's policies in Xinjiang. I am aware of one case where an Irish Uighur citizen lost contact with their Xinjiang-based mother since early 2017. The Irish citizen is worried about their mother's well-being and whether she is being arbitrarily detained in one of the camps in Xinjiang. Will the Department support this Irish Uighur citizen by inquiring about the current situation and well-being of their mother? This has happen…

I thank the Minister.

As the Minister will be aware, one third of Poland has declared so-called LGBT-free zones. The existence of these so-called LGBT-free zones in the European Union is an affront to European Union values and is in no way acceptable. We cannot tolerate this. Will the Minister write to his counterpart in Poland about this? At a European Union level, what action is he taking to address this?

I thank the Minister for his response. Will he write to his counterpart in Poland? He might address that question. There is agreement in the EU in respect of a €750 billion recovery fund. Once that is disbursed to countries like Poland, if the rule of law, democracy and minority and LGBTI rights are not addressed and dealt with it will be very difficult to deal with them afterwards. We are talking about Irish money going from taxpayers here to countries like Poland. I do not think we would accept that if these issu…

I thank the Minister for his commitment to write to his counterpart in Poland about this issue. That is welcome. I want to strongly acknowledge the work being done by our embassy in Warsaw and its continued support for the LGBTI+ community in Poland. That is very valuable. I also want to mention a letter raising these issues written to the Minister by members of the LGBTI+ community who are Polish and live in Ireland. We must have action at a European Union level on this. The Minister is correct that the EU Commiss…

I am proud to support this motion put forward by the Social Democrats, the case for which has been made strongly by my colleague, Deputy Whitmore. I want to echo her comments regarding Lesbos, the migrant camp there and the four children. I will say to the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, that we can do much better as a country than bring four children into Ireland. There is a much greater need than that and I believe there is a strong will from the Irish people. We have a proud history in supporting people in need in di…

The programme for Government commits to expanding Housing First. The national strategy, Housing First, identifies people who have been rough sleeping, or in and out of emergency accommodation for a number of years, who would benefit from a place under Housing First. The national strategy goes on to say it would provide enough Housing First places for half the people identified as having high needs. Under the expansion of Housing First, as promised by the Government, will the Taoiseach commit to providing a Housing …