We have had nine-month time limits before.

I thank the Minister of State for his contribution. Another thing that seems to not change is the same old, same old politics which is failing generations of families in the country. I thank Deputy Cian O'Callaghan for his work on this motion. This is the first opportunity the Social Democrats have had in this term to keep the Government's feet to the fire for the housing catastrophe in this country. As has been proven, I do not expect the Government to turn around and accept that some of these motions would make t…

I wish to ask about the reintroduction of the unworkable Garda rosters on 6 November. The Minister will have listened to "Morning Ireland" and read reports from RTÉ today that found a leaked confidential document from 2019 highlighted the roster "does not provide sufficient resources" to police the country and is not fit for purpose. It did not need to be leaked, nor was it confidential. The same findings were presented in the report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland published in 2018. The West…

The Minister would have seen the passion in the Chamber yesterday when football clubs from around the country with a love of the game assembled here. I am asking about a site just outside my constituency at Alfie Byrne Park, which has been a planned destination for a number of clubs, including East Wall Bessborough Football Club, Belvedere Football Club and I hope Sheriff Youth Club, to develop a pitch that is accessible and has changing rooms and all the amenities a basic footballing facility needs.

I thank the Minister of State for his very comprehensive answer and for getting into specifics regarding Alfie Byrne Road. The site referenced by Minister of State for which Dublin City Council requires funding is just around the corner from Clontarf so there are all sorts of complications given the different GAA clubs and the multitude of football clubs that play on a pitch that is not fit for purpose. The all-weather nature of the pitch is a bit outdated. The Alfie Byrne Road site is different. Any weekend, one w…

It is but there are complications around leases.

That was a helpful answer.

Last month, following another violent incursion and atrocity inflicted on the Palestinian people by the State of Israel, I once again, along with Deputies, asked the Tánaiste whether the Government would finally recognise the state of Palestine in keeping with the commitment made by the then Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, in 2020. Two aspects of the Tánaiste's reply were at odds with the reality being experienced in the occupied territories as we speak. First, he stated he would be prepared to recomm…

I thank Deputy Ó Ríordáin and the Labour Party for tabling the motion. The Deputy's contribution showed his passionate for the subject. This is an interesting, timely and important motion. I will lay out my stall. Football has meant the world to me. I benefited massively from its properties and I ardently want all others, young kids in particular but older people too, to have the same opportunities to play the game in a structured and safe environment surrounded by people who want them to do well, be that in the ga…

At least 300 people who were travelling on migrant boats from Senegal to Spain's Canary Islands have disappeared. The boats they travelled on have been missing for 15 days since they left Senegal to try to reach Spain. Nobody embarks on these deadly journeys out of choice. These families face extreme poverty, deprivation, extremes of heat and weather and persecution. Each migrant's story is their own. In news reports, their lives may be reduced to just numbers on a page but they are much more than that. They are hu…

What steps is the Minister taking in conjunction with her ministerial colleagues to address the deteriorating public safety issues in the city of Dublin?

I thank the Minister for her response. I do not doubt for a second that there are plans in train and I welcome all of them. The north inner city has in the past had such local community policing partnerships. All the while, crime and anti-social behaviour continued almost separately. In Dublin city centre, for example, when a retail worker finishes work at 9 p.m. on Thursday evening, what are we going to do in the immediate sense to make that person feel safe as he or she walks along the street? How will this be do…

I appreciate the Garda station opening and I have welcomed it. If we were to walk along O'Connell Street and Marlborough Street this evening to get a Luas, would any one of us feel safe? I walk home through that area most evenings. There is still an issue. I have specifically asked what attempts the Minister is making in conjunction with her ministerial colleagues. How much has she engaged with Dublin City Council on addressing dereliction and street cleaning? Has she engaged with the Department of Health to ensure…

Will core social welfare rates be adjusted in the next budget to match the rate of inflation, and will the Minister make a statement on the matter?

I do not doubt the Minister's interest in the subject but we potentially disagree on what the rates should look like. The MESL, the minimum essential standard of living that a person needs to live a life of dignity, is substantially above what current core social welfare payments. The argument made by several people who work in this field is that some of the once-off payments are just that – once-off payments – and people are hungry again a week later. The cost of a basket of goods has increased by 10% nationally a…

I cannot unsee the circumstances that exist in the absence of the pandemic unemployment payment, which was very welcome, having been set at a rate of €350 to recognise that people coming out of employment through no fault of their own would not be able to live on core social welfare rates. It is very difficult to unsee that social welfare rates have increased by only €5 a couple of years after the pandemic. In the absence of targeting the lump sum payments that the Minister referred to at the most vulnerable, meani…

I want to go back to the deplorable escalation of violence we have witnessed in Palestine and Jenin over the past week. In response to Deputy Carthy the Tánaiste rightfully mentioned the contribution of his colleague the late Brian Lenihan to the debate, as the first European politician to recognise the right of the Palestinians to a homeland. We recognise and remember this 44 years later because it was courageous and brave and because it stood out from the pack and demonstrated leadership. I ask once again that th…

I was about to say I intend to be quick but I do not have a choice. We have been offered five minutes to debate partaking in four European Defence Agency projects. I put it to the Minister of State and his Government that this is a farce. It gives us absolutely no opportunity to undertake the required level of scrutiny or to fulfil our mandate. These issues matter. I do not want to say this is fine and let it through on a wink and a nod. The Minister of State says that partaking in these common European Defence Age…

I wish to share time with Deputy Catherine Murphy.

At the heart of this scandal in the highest echelons of RTÉ, what I find most astonishing is the absolute spectacular lack of curiosity that exists among various senior executives and departments, with the result that information was siloed and was purposely not communicated to the executive board, or rather not even requested by those who are in a position to oversee the payments. The chair of the board, Siún Ní Raghallaigh, has admitted that there is a problem with the culture in RTÉ and that the executive board …