It is important and I would like to see a statement on the matter.

I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion. Sinn Féin’s motion is one-page long and sticks to phone pouches and child and adult mental health services, while the Government’s countermotion is significantly longer and goes wider. With that in mind, I will also go wider in my condemnation. In many ways this debate is about phone pouches but in many other ways it absolutely is not. There is perhaps a world in which a budget allocation of €9 million to provide a phone pouch to every student the length and bread…

"History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce." I have never felt those words to be more relevant than when sitting here this week listening to the announcement of the budget and to some of the commentary that came from Government benches in respect of it. I cannot help but feel that we have been here before. This budget reeks of the infamous 2007 budget. The so-called giveaway budget of 2007 promised everything but delivered nothing but disaster in the years that followed. We had been told that it was…

Thanks.

I want to ask the Tánaiste about the task force the Taoiseach commissioned for the city of Dublin. It was one of his first acts when he came into power some four or five months ago. That report has been completed and it is sitting on his desk. I read today that it is intended to be brought to the Cabinet in two weeks' time. Contained within that report are a number of recommendations about restoring flat complexes around Dublin and reanimating O'Connell Street to bring people in to live on that street. It will requ…

I asked about the task force.

What is the point?

What is the point?

I asked about the task force.

There is a significant problem developing in my community. The GP Care For All service in the primary healthcare centre in Summerhill is a fabulous service. I knew what existed at that location before in terms of GP healthcare; what exists now is a beyond a world of difference. GP Care For All is a charity-run model. Doctors are salaried. Most important, those who avail of the service are some of the most vulnerable in the community. They have no idea that it is a different style of GP practice from anywhere else -…

It is.

I thank the Minister of State for the response. This is where my frustration and that of the practitioners comes from, as well as, most importantly, the concern of the multitude of different communities and mostly vulnerable communities that avail of that service. Without question we all accept the substantive work that GP Care For All does. We are all in absolutely no doubt but that the service is and can be transformative. I also have had meetings with GP Care For All and with the HSE. Many people have been taken…

I thank the Regional Group for tabling this is an important motion. We have seen many others like it over the past 18 months. The motion is a reflection of the justified pressured that is placed on all of us as public representatives when we knock on doors, meet people and hear these hard stories. A sum of €600 million to abolish the means testing for the carer's allowance does not seem like a huge price to pay, particularly when we consider the money saved by the Exchequer as a result of the care provided by these…

For over 12 months now, we have watched on with horror as depravity was rained down upon the population of Gaza by the state of Israel. Throughout that time, many across the Opposition, including ourselves in the Social Democrats, have asked for action and consequence. We have been met solely with words. Now, not only are we finding out that all the Government has offered is words but we have also blinded ourselves to what is occurring over our own airspace, where weapons of war have been transported through our ai…

I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach for the leverage she has given me this morning. Will the Minister provide an updated report the work of the night-time economy task force that operates from her Department. I would like to understand if, as part of that task force or through any of the Minister's remit, there has been an audit of cultural entities that exist after 10 p.m. Will the Minister consider establishing night-time economy advisers the length and breadth of the country, where they may be needed?

As the Minister mentioned, the night-time economy and the night-time culture economy present huge opportunities. There has been an effort on her part, certainly in the early years of the Government, to make changes. I believe night-time economy unit has huge potential, and we have seen some examples of that. Yet, I do not believe that there is some degree of collaboration across the Departments that sit around the table. For example, the Department of housing has a huge role to play by looking at vacancies and how …

I reiterate that hugely beneficial work has been undertaken by the task force and, in particular, under the Minister’s leadership, but I would like to see what the outcome of that will be. I would have liked to ask about the night-time licensing laws, which were promised as part of this reimagining of what our cultural entities could look like in the night time. However, I am not sure if I had to address it to the Minister, who was driving it initially as I was redirected to the Department of Justice. As part of ou…

I thank People Before Profit for bringing forward an excellent, timely and powerful motion with so many meaningful suggestions. To enact even half of them would make a substantive difference to the lives of countless people the length and breadth of this country. I hope many of these measures will be reflected in the budget when it is presented to us early next month. At the heart of the motion is the struggle that so many families have to make every single day just to vindicate a basic need for their child and hav…

We will.

Motivated by the overreach of the Department into the affairs of Dublin City Council and the elected members there, I would like to ask the Minister of State about the specific measures and initiatives that the Department intends to implement to support and enhance the business environment in Dublin city centre, including addressing high commercial rents, fostering innovation, improving infrastructure and tackling issues related to crime that may impact business operations and consumer confidence.