I do not know where to start in coming back to the Minister on his response. We all know Government housing policy has abjectly failed. The Government failed to deliver homes or meet its own targets. We saw vastly elevated and false targets last year, and thousands of people in homelessness. It is absolutely shocking to see so many children in particular without a home in an Ireland that is wealthy, where the money is there to make the changes that are needed. Instead of taking responsibility for Government policy,…

Look at our manifesto.

To uphold standards.

I too acknowledge the workers in the Gallery. This morning EU climate ministers agreed to reduce carbon emissions by between 85% and 90% by 2040, following marathon negotiations in advance of the COP30 summit. Ministers adopted a legally binding target for cutting emissions by 85% by 2040. On paper and in principle, it is positive to see this agreement reached, but the deal also mandates that another 5% reduction be achieved by outsourcing pollution cuts abroad through the purchase of international carbon credits. …

-----and that we can have investment in infrastructure-----

-----to address climate?

I extand a comhghairdeas mór to our new Uachtarán na hÉireann, Catherine Connolly, on her historic landslide win. I know as President she will do us proud just as Michael D. Higgins has done. I also want to acknowledge the loss of the great Sr. Stan. She did the State immense service through her work on social justice and she leaves a truly remarkable legacy. May she rest in peace. I condemn in the strongest possible terms the attack on an IPAS centre in Drogheda on Friday. The lives of children were seriously enda…

I thank the Minister for his careful and responsible words in his response. He is absolutely right that people must of course be able to debate migration policy, but let us do so in a fact-based manner. Let us use careful and responsible language. I certainly do not think the Tánaiste’s conflation of all migrants with a tiny number of people facing deportation orders was responsible. The Minister has acknowledged the reality that the vast majority of people who have migrated to Ireland are here to work and that our…

I am not conflating them.

No.

Fact based.

The rest of them were.

About 300,000 households are behind on their electricity bills and household electricity bills have jumped by more than €320 in a year. My colleague Deputy Ahern has been working hard to stop the greed that is driving this awful inflation and really making things so difficult for so many struggling households. Deputy Ahern has called on the Government to use the EU electricity and gas directives to introduce price regulation in these exceptional circumstances, namely, the complete failure of competition in the ener…

The winter is upon us. People are already struggling. What will the Government do to help people from struggling even further with their energy bills?

Our thoughts are with the young ten-year-old girl in the care of Tusla who has been the subject of an assault. Our thoughts are also with the family of young Vadym Davydenko who was killed last week in Dublin. I am conscious that criminal proceedings are under way in respect of both incidents. I commend the Garda and wish it well with its investigations. I do not propose to say any more about either case at this point. The Irish Times reports today that ordinary festive staples will cost 20% more this Christmas tha…

Indexation.

With respect, of course we welcome sustainable measures that will cut costs for families and households. However, let us be clear. The Government's recent budget represented a drop in the ocean at best for families that are hard pressed and cannot make ends meet. It is not just the Labour Party; it is people around the country who are dismayed at the vast cost of the VAT cut that the Government chose to implement for hospitality and hairdressers at the expense of doing other things like indexing tax rates. Let us r…

The latest figures from the Department of housing show that, again, the Government will miss its targets for building social and affordable homes this year. It promised 10,000 new social homes and completed fewer than 2,000 in the first half of this year. The Minister for housing has boasted that more than 26,000 social homes are at various stages of design and construction. He had the temerity to describe this as indicating the Government's efforts to accelerate the delivery of social homes. However, remaining at …

There is breaking news tonight. I condemn the outbreak of violence in Saggart.

I see reports that a Garda van has been set alight and fireworks and missiles are being thrown at gardaí as a large crowd have gathered outside Citywest Hotel. I condemn that violence. It is an ongoing situation. I welcome the opportunity to participate in this debate. I thank Deputy McDonald and her colleagues in Sinn Féin for putting forward this motion. It is timely. I am glad to hear that the Government will not be opposing the motion. It is good that we can unite in this House on this issue. Indeed, it is a pr…