The Select Committee on Social Protection, Community and Rural Development and the Islands has completed its consideration of the following Revised Estimates for Public Services for the service of the year ending 31 December 2022: Vote 37.

I want to mention the issues of rents, which loads of Members have mentioned. I do not like to say it is at crisis point because it has nearly gone beyond that at this stage. In the two clinics I run, one in Kilkenny and one in Bagenalstown in Carlow, I had an individual in each, one of whom is due to be out of his or her property this Saturday and the other of whom is due to be out in the next two months. There is no hope of finding anything at all for them and it is so difficult. It is even difficult to know what…

Order, please.

Deputy Lahart is taking this question on behalf of Deputy Haughey.

I do not know because the clock has reset to 1 minute.

We are under time pressure but we might get to some of the next question.

There is one minute left.

Thank you Deputy. We have to move on to the next round of questions.

The Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach has completed its consideration of the following Revised Estimates for Public Services for the service of the year ending on 31 December 2022: Vote 1 - President's Establishment; Vote 2 - Taoiseach; Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General; Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office; Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions; and Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor.

My question is in regard to DEIS status for Scoil Mhuire Lourdes, which is a girls' school in Tullow, County Carlow, its application for additional accommodation to expand facilities to support its learning, the reason it does not have an autism spectrum disorder, ASD, class and what measures are proposed to rectify this problem. I had a meeting recently with the principal of this school. It does not have DEIS status but there is an urgent need for it to be given that status. I would welcome some feedback from the …

I welcome what the Minister of State has said about additional funding for the DEIS scheme. That is welcome. However, it is frustrating for a school that still falls outside the scheme, especially when it relies so much on programmes such as the school completion programme and various other programmes. I am glad the Minister of State acknowledged the school in question is working to try to be inclusive. I agree that is what we want our schools to be. If we are being honest, not all schools take that approach and Sc…

What actions does the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth plan to take to implement the key recommendations from the Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures paper from the National Advisory Council for Children and Young People? What steps will be taken to develop a national action plan to address child poverty as part of the next national policy framework?

I thank the Minister. I wanted to ask this question so we could raise the issue of child poverty. Whenever we get the opportunity to highlight it, I believe that we should. The Minister will be aware that the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth has also been considering the issue of child poverty. Representatives of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul were recently before the committee to discuss access to food and people still being hungry. It struck me when one of th…

That is a good argument for keeping some of those additional measures. We hear all of the time that childcare is one of the key issues. I am aware there has been increased investment, and that there is a plan for a joint labour committee, JLC, which is all very welcome, but we also need to keep the focus on as much investment as possible. We know it is mainly women who are affected by that issue, many of whom are the head of a single-parent household and they are affected by poverty more than other households. The …

This question relates to domestic violence refuge spaces. How many have been allocated for 2022, what is the cost of each and how much funding has been provided overall? More importantly, how much of the additional €41 million allocation to Tusla will be spent on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, DSGBV, services?

I thank the Minister. He actually had all the facts and figures for which I was looking. That was welcome.

It is rare that that is said in this House, but it had to be acknowledged. We have had many discussions on DSGBV. In our first days back this term, it dominated debate. There is a cost of €100,000 for one space but there are only 18 safe houses. Even if just from an economic point of view, a safe house is a much better option. There are still counties, including Carlow in my constituency, that do not have refuges. Deputy Tully has mentioned Cavan-Monaghan. Should we be considering a housing model instead? I believe…

I thank the Minister. We do need a wider debate. I am aware that one was had here over recent weeks. I hope that we can continue it and that action will come of it. One of the recommendations of the Citizens’ Assembly on gender equality was on relationships and sexuality education, the role of consent and gender power dynamics in relationships. We need to have the wider debate in addition to considering the important resources. I want to mention counselling and play therapy. From dealing with Amber Women’s Refuge i…

The Select Committee on Social Protection, Community and Rural Development and the Islands has completed its consideration of the following Revised Estimate for public services for the year ending 31 December 2022: Vote 42. The Select Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment has completed its consideration of the following Revised Estimate for public services for the year ending 31 December 2022: Vote 32.

I also extend my sincere condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Ashling Murphy. Lots of words have been spoken since her horrific murder last Wednesday, words of anger, compassion, love and deep sadness. There are not really the right words to properly convey how deeply Ashling's murder has affected us all and shaken the whole nation. However, I would like to share some words written by Orla Muldoon, a professor of psychology, in The Irish Times last Friday. She wrote: Disproportionately, year on year…