I completely reject the Deputy's constant failed state narrative, which Sinn Féin has been propagating for years now, from trying to break the State to then propagating a narrative that we have a failed State.

I reject that in the hardest terms. We have a country of full employment-----

-----with continued resilience of our economy, despite the multiple shocks of recent years, and a Government that is motivated to give young people hope when it comes to housing, when it comes to their future and in terms of their employment and their wages. That is our central motivation as part of budget 2027. It is to drive better affordability in our economy and, yes, to respond to the serious pressures that we recognise many families and households face when it comes to the cost of living. That is why there wi…

-----that would actually build hope in our economy, because all young people hear from Sinn Féin is higher taxes on work. How will that work for young people? They hear higher taxes on businesses that employ young people. How would that work for young people? How does that give them a greater prospect of a job in the medium term? There is also a level of objectionism to housing supply, which would not help housing supply in our economy. How would that help young people who need homes and want to buy homes across co…

We did not acquiesce with Sinn Féin's classic political opportunism, which they repeat here every week. They are all about shouting out and giving no solutions to anybody. The higher level of tax they would impose across our economy would break it and it would not be able to accommodate half of the spending demands they continually repeat here. We did not agree to the Bill because we have a budget in two weeks. We have a budget that will help working people and reward work but also address some of the cost pressure…

We will use our budget with the Tánaiste, specifically focusing on the energy issues families are facing. Sinn Féin is just seeking to bring that forward and score political points. That is not a solution or a constructive-type of opposition when we have a global conflict and significant international uncertainty. It is just populism, opportunism and a reckless imposition of taxes.

It is the Sinn Féin approach. It does not work. It would break our economy, and it will give no hope to young people who want that certainty into the long term.

I thank the Deputy. As a constituency TD like him, I regularly deal with many children who have in some instances not gotten a place. To be fair to the work of the Minister, Deputy Naughton, and the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, that has improved significantly at the start of September this year compared with previous years. I do not have the specific case details of the child in Belmayne the Deputy mentioned and I regret they do not have a place. We will take that up with the Department of education and the …

The motivation of Government for next year-----

-----is to continue to resource special education in a way that meets the level of demand that is there.

I thank the Deputy. I just spoke with the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, about this issue. He said he will follow up on this particular case. The cohort of children who may be waiting this year is far smaller than in previous years because of the level of investment. However, it is incumbent to the Deputy's point that the NCSC and the Department of education ensure that where a commitment is made, it is delivered on. From my perspective, we have provided a prioritisation of this in our budgetary process to vin…

I thank Deputy Bacik for raising this important issue. I echo what she said about the bravery, courage and leadership of Nikita Hand, who has done the State some service in her wider leadership over the last number of months. From all of what she has said, we must ensure that we continue to support many victims of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. The Minister, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, has led a number of initiatives in this area through some of his legislative reforms across the last 12 months. As Deputy …

You will hold us to account on the time, a Cheann Comhairle. I appreciate Deputy Bacik raising this. We will consider that with the Minister, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, in the context of the Estimates. I know he is keen to ensure that there is further progress in 2027. We obviously want to give effect to the wider recommendations in the O'Malley review, which is all about seeking to supporting the victim's journey right through the criminal justice system and from the point of crisis right the way through. That speaks…

I thank Deputy Collins. As he knows, the wider organisation and the operation of it is managed by Bus Éireann and the Department of Education and Youth sets the wider policy and the funding profile. To answer the question, if we stand back and look at the funding of the school transport scheme from 2019 or 2020 to this year, it has expanded significantly. We had 120,000 children using the service in 2019 and this number is now at over 180,000 pupils in 2026. This is a 50% growth in a very short number of years. Thi…

The challenge is that if we were to follow through on Deputy Collins's suggestion and remove the system we have today, it would be far more challenging for many of the pupils and students who use it. It is a very complex system built up over many years, which has significant organisation to it across many parts of rural Ireland. If we were to follow through on what Deputy Collins suggested, we would have significant disruption to service capacity right across the country and we need to be cognisant of that. What we…

I thank Deputy Kyne for raising this important issue. I am very familiar with the Port of Galway, having visited it many times in my role as a Minister of State at the Department of Transport. I know the ambition in the port to grow, as well as the Deputy's wider work in Galway West over the last number of years to bring that to fruition. As the Deputy knows, the draft revision of the national ports policy, for which the second public consultation period ended on 28 August, confirms the importance of the Galway Har…

In the first instance, the ports policy is seeking to prioritise the commercial aspect of each port of national or regional significance. That is an important principle and discipline across how we manage all our ports. It also speaks to wider that ambition which may not have been reflected previously and the potential of ports around renewable energy, energy security and other issues, which may not have been assessed to the same extent at the time of the previous ports policy. This is why the further consultation …

We heard the Taoiseach's remarks yesterday and we saw the personalised comments directed by the Israeli FA at Heimir Hallgrímsson, which were completely inappropriate. We have been clear in all of what we have said on this and other matters relating to Israel, Gaza and the shocking actions of Israel. We have been consistent on this. The only place where we get criticism of it is in this House. There is a very strong view across the Government of complete solidarity with the people of Palestine and regarding the gen…

The Government is deeply conscious of the humanitarian crisis facing Palestinians. Ireland has consistently stood in solidarity with the Palestinian people, including by supporting access to higher education opportunities in this State. Since the outbreak of the war in 2023, 90 students have been awarded Government-funded scholarships to study here. In addition, approximately 60 Gazan students have come here to study in that period through scholarships offered directly by higher education institutions. For the 2026…

I reiterate our position of total solidarity with the Palestinian people.