I thank the Social Democrats for tabling the motion. We all have a shared ambition of solving the housing crisis. We may come at it from different angles but keeping the debate going is very important. I will address the comment Deputy Bacik made yesterday on me not being present for Private Members' business last week. The Cabinet was sitting at the time. That is where I was, but two Ministers of State for housing were present. In relation to-----

I am here.

I am here.

I thank everybody who has contributed to this very important debate. As my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Troy, stated at the outset, this Government is absolutely committed to building more homes in Ireland. We are working continuously to meet the challenge to design and implement policies that shift the dial on delivery and to review and improve our approach where we identify obstacles to meet our targets. In that regard, we want to work collectively with Deputies throughout the House to bring forward s…

I assure the Deputy that the URDF, like the RRDF, is crucial to towns and villages across the country. The programme for Government provides for an expanded URDF programme under what would be known as the towns and cities infrastructure investment fund. The programme is very important and will be launched as soon as we can get it ready.

I move amendment No. 1: To delete all the words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following: "commends the rapid response by local authorities, Electricity Supply Board (ESB) Networks, Uisce Éireann, Community Welfare Officers and others, following Storm Éowyn; and this response, supported by the Defence Forces, Government agencies, Civil Defence and the Voluntary Emergency Services, working with community volunteers, non-governmental organisations and community organisations, is an example of the collaborati…

We have a plan.

A Framework for Major Emergency Management: a Guide to Severe Weather Emergencies.

It is for severe weather emergencies.

We did.

There was.

I am grateful for the opportunity, as Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, to make this statement to the Dáil following one of the most dangerous and destructive wind storms experienced in living memory. First, I acknowledge the extreme hardship experienced by many people across the country who had to deal with power and water outages for extended periods. Unfortunately, there are still households with no power today, although I know ESB Networks is working tirelessly until every customer's supply i…

I thank the Deputies for raising the matter, as it provides me with an opportunity to clarify on behalf of the Minister the current position regarding Scoil Aonghusa in Cashel, County Tipperary. Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for this Government. It is also a key priority for the Department and the National Council for Special Education, NCSE. The vast majority of children with special educational needs are supported to attend mainstream classes with their pee…

I thank the Deputies for raising this issue and giving me an opportunity to outline the position of the school. The Department of Education continues to provide very significant funding in support of the education of children with special educational needs, which is a priority for this Government, with over a quarter of the entire education budget dedicated to special education in recent years. The Department and the NCSE continue to work closely together to plan strategically to meet the needs of children with spe…

I thank Deputy Darren O'Rourke for raising the issue of plans and timeline for delivery of a new school building for Dunshaughlin Community National School, Dunshaughlin, County Meath. The school building project for Dunshaughlin Community National School is part of the Department’s construction programme and will be delivered as part of a campus project that will provide a new eight-classroom primary school and accommodation, including two classrooms for children with special educational needs for Dunshaughlin CNS…

I thank the Deputy. Since 2020, the Department has invested more than €5 billion in our schools throughout the country involving the completion of more than 950 school building projects and with construction currently under way at approximately 350 other projects, which includes 37 new school buildings. These 350 projects currently in construction involve a total State investment of more than €1.5 billion. The Department announced earlier this year that close to 90 projects, including 28 new school buildings, would…

On behalf of the Minister for Transport, I thank Deputy Whitmore for raising the important issue of public transport for Wicklow. Improving public transport services and infrastructure is central to improving citizens’ quality of life and addressing our climate action challenge, and this Government is committed to a fundamental change in the nature of transport in Ireland. The National Transport Authority has statutory responsibility for transport planning in the greater Dublin area, GDA, including County Wicklow. …

The Minister for Transport thanks the Deputy for her comments and I will bring them to his attention. In terms of current developments, design work is ongoing on the DART+ Coastal South project to plan for the enhanced DART service level to Greystones and a public consultation for this project is planned to take place shortly. The proposal to extend the DART to Wicklow town, which is currently under consideration by the NTA would allow an early DART service from Wicklow town to Dublin city centre, significantly enh…

The Government is very aware of the valuable work being carried out by family carers. This is evidenced by the extensive measures it has taken to support carers over recent years. The approach to date has been targeted and has involved increases to payment rates in conjunction with earnings disregard increases and targeted cost-of-living lump sum and double payments. This approach was maintained and continued with budget 2025. At €2.6 billion, it is, for the third year in a row, the largest social protection packag…

I want to be associated with those remarks.