I think Macra na Feirme is a very impressive organisation. I have met Macra on many occasions. I have had them into Government Buildings and I have met them at the Ploughing Championships. It represents roughly 10,000 people in rural Ireland, some of whom are farmers and some who are not. I would be very happy to meet them again. I understand they expect to be at the Dáil around 1 p.m. tomorrow. As the Deputy knows, I will be here in the Chamber from 12 noon until 3 p.m. so I may not be able to meet them tomorrow b…

I thank the Deputy for the compliments he has bestowed on the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, who is certainly one of the stellar members of my Cabinet. In relation to rural housing, I do not have the exact figures, but I remember discussing this issue with the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, not too long ago. I think approximately 1,000 one-off rural homes get planning permission every year. This figure has not gone particularly up or down, but it has been a pretty steady figure across the years. Yet, we need s…

-----in fairness, we have the Minister, Deputy Foley, who has taken enormous action on school transport, which is of particular benefit to people in rural Ireland. I mentioned the actions that have already been taken by the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, to improve public transport in rural Ireland-----

-----and I know the work that is being done by other Ministers in that regard.

I might ask the Chief Whip to respond on the food ombudsman Bill because I was not involved in the discussions on the scheduling of it. If it is possible to find another hour or two for it, by all means, but I will ask the Whip to come back to Deputy McNamara on that.

In respect of the development levies, this applies to all residential development that commences within a year from today. It applies to local authority development levies and Uisce Éireann-Irish Water connection charges, and they will be fully refunded by central government. Irish Water will not lose out - it will be able to continue with its investments - and local authorities will not lose out either as it will be funded by the Government. This is all designed to bring down the cost of building a home for people…

-----and I am somebody who has been subjected to it. This place is a Parliament. It is not a kangaroo court.

As I said earlier, we expect energy prices to come down. We have made that very clear to the electricity and gas companies. We have already seen petrol and diesel prices come down. We have extended the low VAT rate of 9% on electricity and gas through to the autumn. This week, over 1 million people - pensioners, people on social welfare and families - will receive a €200 payment from the Government to help them with the high cost of living.

This is a very serious matter. I can absolutely guarantee that the Government and the Minister for Justice, Deputy Harris, are taking it very seriously. There is already a Garda investigation under way. That is the appropriate investigation, in my view, because this is potentially a criminal matter. As the Deputy knows, only the Garda can carry out investigations into criminal matters. Senior counsel cannot do that.

The Government considered the report earlier today. The Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly, will publish it tomorrow and people will have a chance to read it then. He has referred it to the Joint Committee on Health for its advice and deliberations. It will be up to the committee to decide how long it takes to do that. Obviously, it is an all-party committee. On operational recommendations that show gaps in the service, we are going to act on them right away. These are being referred to the HSE for implementation…

I am disappointed that the Deputy has decided to personalise an important and very sensitive issue. She does a disservice to women when she tries to personalise an issue such as this.

I just expressed my regret.

The Deputy was having a go at me. The Deputy has plenty of opportunities to do that on other issues. Nobody should personalise this debate. Everyone has their views on this matter. People are entitled to their views and those views should be respected. I am sorry the Deputy is not able to do that. I will leave it at that.

Roughly 250 women travel abroad for abortions every year. They do so for many different reasons, which are detailed and explained in the report. Like I said, the report will be published tomorrow. People will have a chance to read it, and it is being referred to the Joint Committee on Health for further consideration.

That is a false trope that gets thrown about by the Opposition a lot. I have never blamed the Opposition for the housing crisis.

The causes of the housing crisis are multifactorial. I have gone through those factors on many occasions, but I have never blamed the Opposition for it-----

-----or the Government for it. Both those analyses are far too simplistic. However, I have criticised people for objecting to housing developments. I will continue to do that. It is clear that we cannot fix the housing crisis without increased supply of all types of housing.

I know that Deputy Durkan has raised this matter a number of times, and we have spoken about it one to one. The issue is alienation and how courts treat it when it comes to family law. I have a genuine difficulty in that I am not sure what the Government can do when it comes to how the courts operate, but I will certainly speak to the Minister for Justice and the Attorney General about the matter to get more advice on it.

I have not spoken to the Minister of State about this particular matter, but I did speak to him some weeks ago. I understand he is trying to make arrangements to make a statement in the House. I am confident that he has not breached that aspect of the Act. I have been a member of a local authority, as I think Deputy Farrell has. Because this is a reserved function, only a full meeting of the local authority can dispose of property. The Minister of State was not even a member of the council at that time. A local are…

The Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, made an announcement in the past couple of weeks in respect of additional special places in mainstream schools and additional special schools, I think, in Dublin and Cork, but not west Cork. I do not know if that will provide a solution for the young man the Deputy mentioned. I will certainly ask the Minister of State to contact the Deputy directly to see if we can find some way to help.