We welcome that, but how can we be confident that this change is going to deliver the transparency and the better, more effective and more patient-centred practice that we all want?

Daft.ie reports today that the asking price for a home is nearly 40% higher than pre-pandemic levels. Meanwhile, 5,145 children are in homelessness. Last Friday's figures again showed a new shameful record, with the creeping up of the numbers in homelessness and a new record being set every month. Every day, we all hear from people with good jobs, many of them couples with two incomes, who are giving up on trying to buy a home because they simply have no prospect of being able to get a mortgage or afford to buy a h…

The Taoiseach outlined some of what the Government has been doing on health. In this budget forthcoming next week, will he clarify if there will be provision to increase the level of GP coverage around the country? I think all of us, in rural and urban areas alike, are hearing about the difficulty in accessing GP services, and about GPs who report being overworked and facing difficulties in establishing practices and in succession. GPs are retiring and are unable to recruit successors. What will be done in the budg…

The European Environment Agency's recent report is nothing short of damning. It sets out the reality for biodiversity and finds that Ireland's natural environment is in very poor condition. Some 85% of protected habitats and almost one third of protected species have an unfavourable status. It is clear that excessive car dependency, unsustainable food production and emissions that are simply not reducing at a fast enough rate are doing untold damage to biodiversity. We are seeing an outrageous situation in Dublin B…

It is unsatisfactory. I add my voice to that. We do need to raise this at the Business Committee. Clearly, the debate on the motion on the flotilla is hugely important. We all looked for that so on this occasion, there is no difficulty with moving straight to that debate. However, in principle, to have just two groupings of Taoiseach's Questions when we have all prepared for three is not acceptable and we need to change that.

I hope he watched the debate. It was very good.

I will share time with my colleague Deputy Duncan Smith. On behalf of the Labour Party, I welcome the motion. I also express our solidarity with all those on the Global Sumud Flotilla. We think especially of the Irish activists on board the flotilla, including our colleagues in the Oireachtas, Deputy Barry Heneghan and Senator Chris Andrews from my constituency. I acknowledge the family members of those on the flotilla, and say they must be so worried about their family members who are on board but they should also…

VAT cuts.

We did.

You created the crisis.

What an extraordinary attempt at deliberate deflection made by a Minister who has nothing of substance to say in response to our careful, thoughtful and constructive motion. The Minister asked us about figures from the Labour Party side. There is one very stark figure that should be uppermost in his mind and uppermost in the minds of all his Government colleagues, and that is the 5,000 children who are homeless.

It is an utterly shameful figure. It represents a record high in the numbers of children who are without a home under the Minister's watch. He can deflect and seek to scapegoat others all he likes, but this is under his watch. He is the Minister for housing, and it is simply not good enough to say he will be taking decisive decisions to reduce and take children out of homelessness. How is he going to do it? We are proposing to him measures that would take children out of homelessness, patently, because all the peop…

I wish to start by joining in the tributes to Julie Lyons. We wish her and her family well on her well-deserved retirement after 34 years and seeing off nine taoisigh. We will miss her. My colleagues have reminded me just how kind and generous she has always been, particularly to the children who visit this House regularly. That has been really appreciated, and also the way she brought fun to our food - Christmas dinners in September and the legendary Markievicz trifles. I thank her very much for everything. She wi…

I wish to express my condemnation of the attacks last night on the global flotilla for Gaza. Our former constituency colleague Senator Chris Andrews is among the Irish citizens on the flotilla. I urge the Minister to work with EU colleagues to ensure the safety of all those on that flotilla. It is appalling to see attacks in this way, and it is yet another example of Israel feeling it can apparently act with impunity against international law. This week, a stark warning on climate was issued to the Government. Rese…

I acknowledge Deputy Heneghan, who is on the flotilla along with other Irish citizens. We wish them all well and hope for their safety. This Government's response to me on climate is another classic exercise in deflection. We heard it earlier during the Government's response to the motion on child poverty and child homelessness. It was deflection and side stepping. Of course this Government is not as bad as Trump on climate but there has been a noticeable shift away from taking climate seriously. I mentioned the ro…

I think it is a fair critique to make. The Government is not taking climate seriously-----

-----and we need commitments in this budget that will reassure us and ensure we meet our targets.

I will add that all our thoughts are with those on the flotilla. It is hugely important that Ireland does all it can on the world stage to ensure the safety of those on board. This week, we saw the US President and health secretary coming out with bizarre and unfounded assertions about links between paracetamol and autism. I want to share the horror of AsIAm CEO Adam Harris, who said that the risk of harmful tropes could set us back decades with regard to understanding autism. He said it is dangerous to make these …

The families of one in five children in Ireland, which means more than 225,000 children, now live below the breadline. Ours is a relatively wealthy country and yet more than 5,000 children are homeless. Those are 5,000 children in emergency accommodation who are doing their homework on the floors of hotel rooms or family hubs. Far too many are living in overcrowded homes with multiple generations all under one roof. The Minister may not be the Minister for Finance yet, but his party has the housing portfolio and he…

Our motion tomorrow.