How can that be done when these workers are being paid by the private sector?

I have been asked by a number of people to raise the issue of the shortage of neurology nurse specialists, particularly in St. James's Hospital. They are campaigning to increase by 100 the number of nurses nationally. They say St. James's Hospital has only four but it should have 14 to deal with the catchment area. Will the Taoiseach look into this, try to find out what the problem is and campaign to get the nurses?

This motion could be addressed to many if not all areas of the health service: insufficient capacity; lack of funding; staff shortages; enormous pressures and mental strain on staff; and a constant ongoing crisis affecting both those who need the service and those who work in it. Despite increased funding and a commitment to employ more staff, there is difficulty in recruiting new staff and holding on to trained staff. One of the answers to that relates to poor conditions of employment, including low pay, poor mana…

I note that the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, is in the Seanad at present. That is probably why he is not here in the Chamber. I am aware the Minister of State played a role in the Rebuilding Ireland scheme and he was the Minister of State in the then Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government in the last Dáil, so he would be fairly clued in to this issue. The cost-rental housing plan for the site at Emmet Road, formerly St. Michael's estate, is due to go for planning in the first quarter of next year…

I thank the Minister of State. I note that no copy of his speech was given out. Perhaps one could be sent over to me. The suggested rent of €1,300 for a one-bedroom apartment and €1,500 for a two-bedroom apartment, which is the concept in some areas in Dublin, is affordable only to the top 30% of households. That is not what we are looking for or what we need in respect of cost rental. For 40% of households, their income means that rent must be €800 a month or less to be affordable. The Minister of State has said t…

Those figures are out there.

I do not agree with the HAP scheme in general.

I want to come back to the question of the situation regarding Israel and the criminalisation of six human rights organisations. They are all vocal international groups. They have been to forums such as the EU, the UN and the International Criminal Court to push for accountability and justice. This move by Israel is absolutely abhorrent. The Minister cannot reply within a minute, but I want to ask if he would be prepared to discuss and debate this in the Dáil next week. We should have at least a two-hour debate on …

We should have a debate on it. Is the Minister prepared to have a debate on it?

Will he ask Fianna Fáil and the Green Party to push that?

Tairgim: Go gcuirfear an Bille faoi bhráid an Roghchoiste um Thithíocht, Rialtas Áitiúil agus Oidhreacht de réir Bhuan-Ordú 180. I move: That the Bill be referred to the Select Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage pursuant to Standing Order 180.

First, I welcome that the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan. At the beginning, I thought that the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, was going to answer all the questions. It is becoming a feature that Deputies are submitting their questions and are not getting the replies and a Minister of State-----

That is why I welcome her being here. That is why I said it. I am not here to have a go at the Minister of State. I want to express the frustration of parents whose children are losing special education hours. One parent who contacted me said that her son lost two days of special education teaching this week. The loss of one-to-one teaching to help him with social skills and extra reading will leave him further behind and regressing. This parent makes a strong point that mainstream autistic children are often forgo…

I thank the Minister of State. I am aware there is a problem and a bit of a crisis in the 3,300 schools around the country and they are finding it very difficult to get substitute teachers to cover absences. I raised the matter last week with the Tánaiste. A particular school had cover for one absent teacher and could not get other cover. This is happening in many schools. The Tánaiste spoke to colleagues in Blanchardstown and Castleknock, where the same thing was happening and there was a possibility of closing cl…

Yesterday, Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett raised with the Taoiseach some very serious questions in regard to the role of the National Asset Management Agency, NAMA, but his reply, as usual, did not deal with the issues raised. I will try to make the matter very simple. Will the Taoiseach's Government, through the Minister responsible, instruct NAMA to provide the following: a map and details of land it currently holds, the locations, the size, the planning permissions and a commercial viability analysis; a list of pro…

I thank the Taoiseach. What I know is that NAMA has €1.2 billion in funding reserves and 577 ha of residential development land, and that is a headline figure. That landholding and those cash reserves are capable of delivering up to 80,000 affordable and cost-rental homes. We know NAMA has been selling apartments for up to €500,000 and more. I put it to the Taoiseach and his Government that we must have a proper discussion and debate around NAMA and its role. We need that information and we need a map with details …

I wish to raise an issue that was recently highlighted to me regarding animal welfare. I was very concerned to learn about plans to exports thousands of pigs from Ireland to China. EURACTIV has reported the backlash to the Government's announcement. Tilly Metz MEP, who chaired the committee of inquiry on the protection of animals during transport, states exporting pigs from Ireland to China is "definitely not the way forward: neither for animal welfare nor for the climate". She also refers to the effect on sustaina…

Live exports are outrageous.

After Luxembourg, Dublin is now the most expensive city in Europe to live in. A key factor in that is the cost of housing, particularly in the private rental sector. The majority of available accommodation in Dublin is empty luxury apartments, empty because their rents are unaffordable. This is alongside an oversupply of luxury student accommodation with rents beyond the means of the average student. Some are now being used, as the Minister knows, for tourist accommodation. During the pandemic, we discovered that f…

I want to raise an issue that was brought to my attention in an email I got this morning from a school principal. The email states: I'd like to draw your attention to the shortage of teachers crisis that the school has been experiencing over the past number of weeks. Neither my school or the joint school have been able to get a sub teacher for over three weeks. This has led to excessive disruption within the school. I currently have teachers out on sick leave. One of these sick leaves is being covered until mid-ter…