I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. It is one that is of enormous importance to thousands of families across the country. I think all of us will know from our constituency services of cases of people and children who have had to wait a very long time for their assessment of need. I am sorry to hear of the case the Deputy raised and hope Uisneach is getting the support he needs now. There are lots of delays in getting those assessments of need done for the children who need them. As I mentioned, this is somet…

I absolutely guarantee that the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, is leading the way on this and is committed to working with the Government as a whole to make improvements in this area. There are a lot of additional financial resources for disability. The total budget for the year coming is going to be €2.4 billion, with €11 million or €12 million being provided specifically to improve waiting times when it comes to an assessment of need. We accept that there is a problem and it is something we are working on. W…

It is disappointing it seems to be the Deputy's approach to anything, rather than coming up with a solution or ideas and detailing them to set out what he would actually do.

Instead, the solution is just Sinn Féin.

It is pretty narcissistic.

I acknowledge that the housing shortage is an enormous challenge facing our country and people of all age groups, but particularly young people. It is the case that Ireland is a country with high homeownership. Some 60% or 70% of people own their own homes. That is a good thing. However, that is not the reality for people in their late 20s and early 30s, when it used to be. Probably only 30-something per cent of people in that age group own their own home and it would have been much higher 20 years ago. That is a b…

I thank the Deputy. I have heard suggestions or allegations that there are still quarries producing defective materials. If that is the case, it needs to be dealt with, but the relevant authorities will need evidence of that. I am not sure if that is being provided to the relevant authorities. As the Deputy knows, any criminal prosecutions are not a matter for Government. We are a democracy. We abide by the rule of law. That would be a matter for the Garda, not for the Government. The truth is, and I know the Deput…

As the Deputy mentioned in his contribution, the moratorium on disconnection applies to the end of February for the vast majority of customers and to the end of March for the most vulnerable. Ideally, it should apply to everyone. Thinking through the Deputy’s question, it is difficult to know how one would apply that in the case of pay-as-you-go customers just because of the nature of how pay-as-you-go works. The Government can help, however, and it wants to help the kind of people the Deputy mentioned. How can we …

The Deputy makes a fair point. It is something that I can undertake to examine in conjunction with the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys. We need to find a mechanism to protect pay-as-you-go customers. It is gas bills in particular that will present a difficulty over the next few months. We may see electricity prices falling or at least stabilising. The changes in the European rules around how electricity is calculat…

I thank Deputy Harkin for raising this important question and raising SUH again in the Dáil. She has raised this matter many times in the House and has spoken to me offline about it as well. According to the HSE this morning, there are seven patients on trolleys in the emergency department in Sligo, but it has been much higher on other and, indeed, in recent days. I acknowledge the Deputy’s point that ten people on trolleys in a small department, such as Naas or Portiuncula, for example, is worse than ten in a very…

I thank the Deputy. As I mentioned in my earlier reply, a winter plan is being developed. There will be a bespoke winter plan for Sligo, taking into account not only the hospital but also the community services in the wider area. Diagnostics can help quite soon. I know from bitter experience, both as a doctor and Minister for Health, that patients very often must wait a long time in hospitals, particularly over weekends, to get the scans or tests they need. Then they must wait for a senior decision-maker to decide …

I thank the Deputy. When I think about this issue, I do not just think about the financial scandal; I also think about the human impact of it, the 16,000 families affected and particularly the 25 families who have lost their homes. What we see today is a €100 million fine, the largest ever imposed on any bank, in addition to €180 million paid in compensation by the bank. To me, that sends a clear message: rip off your customers and you will pay. It is now very clear to the banks that they will pay big fines if this…

The figures the Deputy gave relate to new tenancies. We will know from the census figures in the next few weeks or months the real average rent paid in all of our constituencies. I look forward to seeing those figures. The rent credit the Government has agreed in the budget might be misunderstood. It is €500 per renter, not per tenancy. That means €1,000 per couple. If three people are renting an apartment or house in the Deputy’s constituency, it will amount to €1,500. The credit is not just for this year; it can …

I thank the Deputy. This was a progressive budget. That is not just my opinion; the independent analysis by the Department of Finance shows that. The kinds of measures in the budget that I think will be beneficial for one-parent families are the double payment of social welfare, the increase in the working-family payment, the double payment of child benefit, the increase in the dependant child allowance, the free schoolbooks and the reduction in the cost of childcare. All of these will benefit a lot of one-parent f…

The Minister, Deputy Humphreys, will be able to give precise information on this today if she has not released it already. The rules for the Christmas bonus are very clear. A person must be on a long-term social welfare payment for a period of time before qualifying for the Christmas bonus. That is not going to be the case for the one-off double-payment that people will receive in October. The rules for that will be similar to those that applied to the pandemic unemployment payment. Very many people, and I do not h…

We will clarify that but the rules are not the same as those for the Christmas bonus. There is a different set of rules that are not as strict.

I thank Deputy Berry for raising this issue and security issues in general. He has been a very strong advocate for funding for security and the Defence Forces in particular. I recognise the contribution he makes in that regard and the fact that the Minister, Deputy Coveney, has secured an additional €100 million for the Defence Forces next year. That includes pay, as it should, but it is the biggest increase in defence spending in any budget. I hope it will be seen as a positive. In regard to our national security,…

I thank Deputy Harkin. I am not aware of the details around that issue but I appreciate her raising it in the Chamber. I will figure out who the right Minister is and have him or her come back to the Deputy directly.

My apologies, I missed the start of that. Is the Deputy referring to TBESS?

We have to legislate for it first and get State aid approval. It will be back-dated to September. We anticipate we can legislate, get State aid approval and have the scheme up and running by the end of the November. That is when people will get the payments and we will back-date them to September. It is open to any business that has seen an increase of 50% or more in the unit cost of energy or gas. It is not the total bill, it is the unit cost of energy or gas comparing the billing period this year with that of las…