I thank the Deputy. The summer programme has expanded significantly in the past three years and almost €40 million is provided now for it, which is double the funding from when this Government took up office in 2020. The summer programme for 2023 was available to all schools that wished to run it. There was a 50% increase in the number of special schools that participated in the school programme. The main priority for this year, in the summer just gone by, was that those children with the most complex educational n…

I thank Deputies. The Chief Whip informs me that the issue of the childcare protests was not put to the Business Committee as a matter for debate in this House. That would be the best mechanism by which to find time for it. The sections 39 and 56 strike action is planned for 17 October. I believe there is plenty of time between now and then to avoid it happening. Of course the Government wants to avoid it happening. I reiterate that an offer has been made of a 5% pay increase to apply in November, with 3% backdated…

I appreciate that prices at the pump have gone up in the past couple of weeks to in or around €1.70 or €1.80 a litre, and higher in some places. Everyone is very aware of that. Due to the price of petrol, diesel and electricity going up by so much, the Government reduced excise on petrol and diesel and VAT on electricity and gas. Of course, we will have to make a decision on that on budget day, and that will be part of the budget arithmetic. We will not support the Sinn Féin motion because, as I understand, it stop…

The commitment the Government made was to reduce the cost of childcare for families by 50%. We have gone halfway there this year. We will decide on budget day how much further we can go for 2024. We will go as far as we possibly can but, as Deputy Bacik rightly pointed out, when it comes to childcare and early years education, there are many demands and needs for additional resources to bring down fees for parents, to create more spaces and make them more available, to do things that are targeted at lone and disadv…

When it comes to housing, delivery figures tend to be lower at the start of the year and increase throughout the course of the year. We are helping people to buy their first homes in many ways. There is the help to buy scheme, which must be factored in, the first home scheme, which is very popular, and vacancy grants for turning derelict properties into use. There are also local authority home loans. There are many ways in which we are helping people to buy their first homes. It is important that those are included…

We will not be supporting it. There were two no-fault eviction bans in recent history. Both happened while I was in government. The last one did not work. Homelessness increased and the number of people in emergency accommodation increased for almost every month that it was in situ . It just deferred homelessness and made a bad situation worse later. That is not a solution. The solution is more supply of housing in general and more supply of social housing in particular. I am glad that last year we built more socia…

I understand there are a number of places across the country where it has not been possible to provide school transport. What I am told is it mostly relates to difficulty getting drivers but that might not be the case in the areas the Deputy mentioned. If he passes on the details, however, I will make sure the Minister, Deputy Foley, responds to him directly.

I understand there has been a significant increase in demand for driving tests since 2019, pre-pandemic. That is a reflection of the fact, perhaps, that there is an increased population in the country and more people at work. I appreciate how important it is to have a car in many parts of the country. The Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, has provided a report to us on this. Additional driver testers are being hired and we expect the situation to improve in the coming months.

I appreciate the translation. I picked up almost all of it but not everything. I have not seen the report but I will check with the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and ask him to get back to the Deputy directly.

I will certainly make inquiries with the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and come back to the Deputy directly on that. It is a very good scheme. We want all of our villages and small towns to be able to expand and to have some room for natural increase not in a way that causes sprawl, but in a way that allows more building close to the village and town centres. That requires some investment. I will get back to Deputy Cannon with a further reply.

All four of the companies the Minister, Deputy Ryan, and I met have announced reductions in their prices. Since then, some other companies have announced competitive prices as well. However, the message from us to them was very clear. We do not think their prices are coming down enough. We want to see further reductions in the next billing cycle in the new year. They pointed out to us that there is not a direct link between wholesale prices and retail prices, and people understand why that is. The retail companies …

It remains our position that once the scheme is introduced it will be retrospective - first, because that is fair and, second, we do not want to discourage people from carrying out works now that they would not carry out were it not retrospective. The last time I checked, although it was some time ago, I was informed that there would be some funding this year for emergency fire safety works, but I will have to double-check with the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and get back to the Deputy directly.

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. The Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, in her role as Minister of State with responsibility for the national drugs strategy, leads on this issue, but it is a cross-government effort. We are taking action in terms of increasing services around addiction, which is really important. Drug use has changed and people are addicted to different substances than would have been the case in the past, and polydrug use is a much bigger issue as well. I think we will see that…

I will have to ask the Minister, Deputy Martin, to come back with a more detailed reply on the funding, but we did approve the TG4 annual report today. It is a body that is producing very good-quality programming. About 82% of people watched the channel at some stage over the course of the year, which is a very high number. We have the new children's channel as well, which I think is a good addition too.

I am not familiar with the details, but I can hear that it is causing a lot of inconvenience for people in Drogheda. I will certainly make some inquiries with the Minister, Deputy Ryan, and see if there is something that can be done. I am not sure whether a toll pass would be workable, but I will certainly make sure he is aware of the suggestion.

I thank the Deputy. I gave a comprehensive reply on some of these issues earlier. However, with regard to services closing, it might be worth putting on the record of the House that data from Tusla show that the number of services that have closed so far in 2023 is substantially lower than in previous years. Therefore, while there are some services closing, the number is fewer than in previous years. There are, of course, new services opening, with 48 new ones having opened between January and August of this year a…

That is unfair and inaccurate. Under the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, the budget for childcare and early years education has increased dramatically. It is in excess of €1 billion now. Fees have come down for parents this year and they will come down again. Pay and terms and conditions have improved for the staff in the sector and will improve again. As the Deputy knows, the vast majority of childcare and early years services are open today and are not taking part in the protest.

On Deputy Wynne's question, I do not have all the details on the gentleman in Kilkee. If the Deputy wants to pass them on to me, I will have them checked out. When it comes to any scheme, we all understand there have to be terms and conditions and rules and controls. However, if I picked up the Deputy correctly, the individuals are perhaps living in the same house. I can understand why it might make sense to make the change but I do not necessarily want to make any commitments here. If the Deputy passes on the deta…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 4, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on social affairs and public services oversees the implementation of programme for Government commitments in the areas of social policy and public services. The committee covers a range of topics, including immigration and integration, with a particular focus on equality and public service reform. Other topics covered by the committee include support, social protection, arts and culture, and justice issues such as policing reform, c…

I thank the Deputies for their questions. As Deputies will be aware, we have a set of minimum terms and conditions that apply to all employees. They have been improved in recent years, with, for example, the move to the living wage, more employment regulation orders, particularly in the private sector, the introduction of sick pay, which I was please to be involved in as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, and the expansion of such things as parental leave. There is an issue around bogus self-employment.…