I thank the Deputy and what he refers to as a "revelation" in the Business Post was no such thing. I brought a memo to Cabinet three weeks ago detailing the measures we brought forward over a year ago to protect first-time buyers against bulk purchases. What the Deputy has neglected to say is that in that period of time planning permissions have been granted for over 16,000 homes with the condition that they cannot be sold on a bulk basis. That is a fact and that has happened in just the space of one year. I refer …

I was not trying to score any political points. I was just stating the facts of the Social Democrats position and of what we are bringing forward as a Government on affordability measures because we support home ownership, social housing and social housing delivery. We have a plan that is fully funded on a multi-annual basis to do that and that plan is starting to take hold. There is no question that we will turn this around in a year or two but the plan is starting to take hold. We are seeing direct build affordab…

I thank the Deputy. He does our health workers and those who work in the HSE a great disservice by saying the health service is a disaster.

The Deputy will understand what the health service has been through over the past two years and the incredible commitment of our professionals in accident and emergency departments, right through our wards and back room and management teams. They have had two exceptional years trying to keep our people safe and manage this country and the health response through Covid. The Deputy's comments calling the health service a disaster are reprehensible and he should withdraw them. The commitment that has been shown by our…

It is unfortunate the Deputy has taken this approach but he is entitled to do so. Let us be honest with people about the investment in the health service. We have record beds and resources for diagnostics-----

-----and record levels of staff. The Deputy is asking the Government to renege on an agreement that is in place. I have great regard for our public and Civil Service. We have fantastic people working across the sector and, particularly over the past two years, those who wanted to see it have seen the value of that and of ensuring we resource our public service.

The Deputy and Aontú are saying they would rip up an agreement that has been supported by the Dáil previously, by most parties. We are looking at a pay increase of between 1.7% and 10%. Is the Deputy for real in saying he would rip that up if he was in government and bring in legislation to renege on an agreement while we are in the middle of trying to negotiate a new public sector pay deal? Hopefully, Aontú will never get into government.

Good luck.

I respectfully suggest that the Deputy's comments this afternoon pose a risk to social cohesion. I want to be very clear on behalf of the Government.

Government has been very clear, particularly regarding our response to our friends from Ukraine. We will take in as many Ukrainian citizens fleeing the brutal war foisted upon them through no fault of their own as we must. We will not introduce any caps in that regard. Our housing response is in addition to Housing for All. Let us be very clear; there is no blurring of the lines here. I referenced that earlier on. We have the most significant housing plan in the history of the State involving €4 billion a year in E…

-----more social homes this year than we have in any year in the history of the State.

Will Deputy Mattie McGrath try to behave himself a little bit?

I will ask Deputy Nolan a direct question. Does she support this State providing refuge and safe harbour to citizens from Ukraine who are fleeing a brutal war?

From her comments here today - the Deputy is trying to parse that-----

What she is trying to say is that there will be some impact on our delivery of housing for people-----

Ceann Comhairle, there is little point in me trying to respond.

Deputy Nolan has walked a very fine line here this afternoon. What she is effectively calling for is a cap on immigration and asylum seekers in this country. Let us be clear. I am calling that out. That is what she is calling for. We will not support that. We will not support a cap on Ukrainians coming here who have fled a war foisted upon them through no fault of their own. As far as I know, all parties, with the exception of the Deputy and her colleagues, support that approach. Does it pose challenges for us? Of …

We will not go down that line.

I think people will be able to----

Here we go again. I would encourage people to read the record of what Deputy Nolan said in her opening question. People will be able to make up their own mind as to whether she is drawing a distinction between our own Irish people and those who are coming here to seek safe harbour and refuge. We will not put a cap on the number of people coming here from Ukraine. To bring this back to some form of reality, our housing plan is now taking hold. There were more than 30,000 homes completions in the 12 months to May, th…