It is this Government that brought in statutory sick pay.

It is this Government that brought in parental leave. We have a much better record when it comes to employment and workers' rights than the Labour Party ever does on any objective analysis.

Do the analysis.

This is a Government that is tough on crime. It is a Government that is building stronger and safer communities. How are we doing it? We are doing it in four ways. We are increasing Garda resources. The Garda budget is €2 billion for this year, which is the highest ever, and it will be higher again for next year. Contrary to what the Deputy said, we recruited between 700 and 800 gardaí this year and, in addition, 400 Garda staff. We will see Garda numbers stabilising this year and rising again next year. They peake…

I agree with the Deputy about garda safety. It is really important that everyone, not just our gardaí, feels safe at work. That extends to members of all our uniformed services, teachers, nurses and people working in our health service, who often face the risk of violence. It is particularly the case when it comes to our gardaí. That is why the Minister, Deputy McEntee, has led the charge on providing body-worn cameras for gardaí, which is really important for their protection, and making sure there are improvement…

The fact the Minister has made this a priority shows how serious she is about the serious crime of domestic and gender-based violence.

I thank Deputy Collins for raising the very concerning issue of the Aperee Living nursing home in Belgooly, County Cork. I am aware of the matter. HIQA has engaged in a series of inspections of Aperee Living nursing homes, six of which are detailed in the publication of Thursday, 7 September. Across these facilities, the chief inspector is concerned about the registered provider's ability to sustain a safe and quality service. There has been ongoing regulatory engagement between HIQA and Aperee Living, including pr…

I thank the Deputy. I understand that a lot of people, whether it is the remaining 22 residents or their family members, are very concerned about the situation. I certainly would be if it were my mother or grandmother. This nursing home has to be closed. HIQA does not cancel a registration lightly. I absolutely guarantee that. The fact that they have given such short notice should indicate to the Deputy how serious this situation is. We are down to 22 residents. Residents and their families have to be consulted and…

I have written to the Commissioner. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Charlie McConalogue, and I have invited him to come to Ireland to discuss this matter with us and to visit an Irish farm to see how well-managed our beef and dairy sector is. He has agreed to come but I do not have a date as yet for this to happen. I look forward to that engagement. Of course, the overarching priority for the Government is to make sure that we hold on to the 220 kg N/ha derogation. I believe that reducing …

I agree with the Deputy's sentiments but I do not believe that these two things are in conflict or should be in conflict. We learned today that Türkiye has withdrawn its bid. This means we anticipate that next week - in fact on budget day - UEFA will formally announce that the UK and Ireland will host the 2028 tournament. This is going to be great for football. It is going to be great for the country. It is a good thing for UK-Ireland relations and this is something I will discuss with the Prime Minister when we me…

I am aware of the document the Deputy has. I have not read it and, therefore, it is difficult for me to comment on it. I can say that community safety partnerships are a big part of the reforms that we are making at the moment. They are a particular priority of the Minister, Deputy McEntee. They acknowledge that policing and public safety is about a lot more than policing. A comprehensive approach has to be taken with all stakeholders and agencies involved. We are determined to make sure that they will be resourced…

Out of respect to the citizens' assembly, we should allow it to complete its work. The citizens have not voted yet and they have not made any recommendations yet. That will happen in the next couple of weeks. We should allow them to complete their work without pre-empting what their recommendations may be. The general procedure that we have taken in politics and in our political system since we established citizens' assemblies is to refer the report for detailed consideration by the relevant committee. I imagine th…

We have a real difficulty finding staff for our CAMHS service in large parts of the country. It varies from one CHO to another. It seems that where there are good promotional and career progression opportunities, it is easier to find staff. That is the case in one CHO. I would not be doing the Deputy's question justice if I were to merely rattle off an answer now and, therefore, I will ask the Minister for Health to write to him and set out in detail the actions that are being taken.

I thank the Deputy for raising the important issue of foster carers. The truth is we need more of them given the number of children whose parents are not able to look after them any more, which has increased quite a lot in recent years. I had a chance to meet some foster carers over the summer break and hear from them their lived experience. I agree that we need a better deal for them. The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, has developed proposals in that regard and is currently in discussions with the Minister, Deputy Don…

I want to acknowledge that we have a real problem finding home carers across the country at the moment. It is not a matter of money; it is a matter of finding staff and finding people willing to do the work. We have expanded the number of hours very considerably in recent years. We are taking two actions. One is a package of improvements to pay terms and conditions to encourage more people to become home carers and work in that field. The second is the issuing of work permits. In the past we did not issue work perm…

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue and I acknowledge once again his advocacy of older people in our society and his interest, in particular, in elder abuse. Deputy Michael Collins raised the matter of Aperee Living in Belgooly specifically earlier and I gave a comprehensive reply to him. As Deputy O’Dowd rightly pointed out, the company has a number of facilities around the country. The chief inspector of HIQA is very concerned about a number of issues, including governance and potential financial …

I know the Minister of State is prioritising this issue. In the context of her budget for next year, she is developing proposals for how we can reimburse parents who have no other option but to go privately. However, we need to get that right. We need to make sure there is adequate capacity in the private sector. We do not really have a clear read on that at the moment. There is some capacity but we do not know quite how much. We would have to make sure that any therapists were properly registered and supervised. I…

We have a massive school building programme under way across the country. It is evident in my constituency and in Deputy Ward's but there is a lot more we need to do, especially in rapidly growing parts of the city and country, including Dublin West and Dublin Mid-West. I will make inquiries with the Minister on that project and get back to the Deputy with a more detailed reply.

There has been a big increase in demand for driving tests. Some of that is related to a snap-back in demand since Covid but most of it is down to a rising population, more people working and more people driving to college and education as the Deputy pointed out in his contribution. I know from the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, that more driver testers have been hired. It is expected that once they are all up and running we will start to see that waiting list come down as it did for passports and work permits …

I thank the Deputy. I definitely think the system needs to be more efficient. The RTB is very slow to deal with complaints, whether for a renter or a landlord. Of course decisions can only be enforced by the courts and that creates a further delay. We definitely need to improve the efficiency and resourcing of the RTB and that is happening. Then of course there is the appointment of more judges. We have been appointing a lot of judges in the last few months, which should hopefully speed up the courts process. I thi…