As Head of Government, when will the Taoiseach acknowledge his housing policy is failing rural communities?

The issue is that local authority managers are saying it is not suitable or appropriate.

The policy the Government is now pursuing when it comes to rent is a cynical attempt to drive rents even higher for tens of thousands of people already struggling to keep a roof over their heads. There is no denying that the Minister has chosen to side with corporate landlords, institutional investors and developers and to throw renters under the bus. I want to see RPZs - those modest protections - extended to the 17% of tenancies not currently covered. We know what will follow, however, because the Minister has to…

I will speak on amendment No. 211 on child and youth mental health services. Sinn Féin's policy for a considerable amount of time has been to change CAMHS to a broader service and to increase the upper age limit to 25. This would be an important step if it were to be adopted. I note what the Minister of State said earlier about listening to the Opposition and working with us but I also note that no amendment has been accepted from the Opposition at this point. If the amendment were to be accepted, child and youth m…

You are benchmarking against your own failures.

Where is the 40,000?

Throughout the State, families are crying out for housing. If they are not crying out for housing, they are in our clinics crying to us because they are facing eviction or watching their children raise their families crammed into their childhood bedrooms, sometimes multiple families in the one home. They are the hidden homeless who are never counted in the figures and never make it into the headlines but they are homeless nonetheless. Others are only a paycheque or an eviction notice away from becoming homeless. Pe…

Hear, hear.

The Minister of State and I have had a number of engagements at the committee and at a number of different events. I echo Deputy Mac Lochlainn's wishes for him. I do not think I could wish more for success for him. This is crucial. Our industry and the coastal communities it sustains are facing existential crises. I really hope the Minister of State does well and succeeds, and that he can deliver on the items he has been raising over the last few months as he begins this role. The Government must finally give coast…

I speak in support of the amendment. Both the Minister of State and I have dealt with situations where people have sought the help of mental health services and have been effectively told they need to address the other issue, go elsewhere before they go to them or not to come to them at all. That is not good enough in the modern age. As Deputy Clarke said, there should be no wrong door. When somebody presents looking for help be it at mental health services or any other healthcare service, they need to be looked af…

I support Deputy Clarke. This is an issue that mental health professionals and gardaí are bringing to us regularly. I know last year, in response to a parliamentary question, as the Minister of State knows, there was only one authorised officer between the city and county in Waterford. I have a number of questions submitted but I do not know if that situation has improved. I hope to God it has, but that will remain to be seen. It proves the point that the debate we have been having over the past 40 minutes or so is…

It is being gutted.

Your delivery on the supply side has been weak.

There is no time.

September is just around the corner. Despite a flurry of announcements earlier this year, there is still no sign of delivery on special education. I say that because Knockmahon National School in Bunmahon in my county, Waterford, received approval from the NCSE in 2023 to provide an autism class but was refused funding this April. St. Mary's nationals school in Grange also in County Waterford was given no answer as to why the Department has ignored a SENO report asking for an increased SNA allocation. Scoil Gharbhá…

Sustained political will is needed. It will not happen by itself. The announcements are great but on their own they are nothing. I mentioned seven schools in west Waterford which have written to me in the past two months. We need to see concerted political action from the Government to ensure those spaces are available in September.

The snail's pace at which vacant council homes are being brought back into use is a disgrace and it tells a wider story about the Government's other failure in housing delivery. In communities right across the State we see the consequences of this every day in vacant homes gathering dust while families sit on waiting lists, dereliction, antisocial behaviour and the crassness of people walking past these houses knowing that they would provide lovely homes for their families while they languish on waiting lists and r…

-----press release issued by his own Government today and had to consult-----

-----the Minister across the Chamber in answering questions. The Minister and this Government need to do better.

It is all about the Taoiseach.