Cén dáta a bheidh sé á dhéanamh?

Rents continue to rise in Galway city with a report recently stating that they rose by 8%. Regularly there are no houses to rent available in the city under the housing assistance payment, HAP, limits, pushing people into homelessness, which rose by 42% in Galway over the last 12 months. As a measure to prevent a continued rise in homelessness, would the Taoiseach consider giving Galway HAP the same 50% flexibility as is given in Dublin?

I would like to thank my colleague, Deputy Clarke, for bringing forward this motion in support of the Women of Honour. We fully support their call for a full statutory inquiry. We commend their courage and bravery. We believe them and we will continue to stand with them. I have no doubt of the massive toll this has taken on them. Like many whistleblowers, they went through an incredibly difficult process to bring this to light and, like many whistleblowers, they were driven by what is right. These women have helped…

We are all acutely aware of the issues arising from the increases in the cost of living and the impact these have had in recent months. We have had debate after debate on this issue in the Chamber in recent weeks. We need to see strong action to help those who are struggling most. We have all seen the impact of the increases in the costs of electricity and fuel in our electricity bills. I am sure many of us got our electricity bill through the door and were surprised at the significant rise in the bills. We also se…

We can see from the Government amendment that it is, at best, kicking the can down the road by having a Second Reading in nine months and, at worst, shooting this legislation down. As I have said previously to the Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Ossian Smyth, we are here to offer solutions. The Government asks us to offer solutions. However, it is fair to say the Government just is not interested in our solutions, even on occasions such as today when we explicitly state …

Can I speak as well?

Right.

Families' quest for truth and justice is not a quest with an infinite amount of time. So many families who have had family members murdered due to British state collusion have seen the parents, partners, siblings and children of those killed pass away without the truth behind their loved ones' killings being known. There needs to be a sense of urgency about this. This weekend marked the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. Like the Minister, Deputy Coveney, I was in Derry to see the families walk the route their love…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Labour Party for bringing forward this timely and appropriate motion. We all know that people have had it extremely hard for the last two years with the Covid-19 pandemic. So many people lost their jobs or were out of work for periods of time and some were on reduced hours as a result of necessary closures to deal with the pandemic. We also know that many businesses have struggled to keep their doors open. Now as restrictions are easing, ordinary workers and families are faced with a crisis…

Regarding the recent forced displacement of Palestinian households in occupied East Jerusalem, the UN last week urged Israel to halt all evictions and demolitions in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, immediately after a family was forced out of their home the previous day. I am referring to the Salhieh family. They bought their house in Sheikh Jarrah in 1967, which is a long time ago. It was before this State had joined the EU and at a time when Eamon de Valera was the President. It should go without saying …

Galway, like every other county in Ireland, has been deeply affected by the mental health crisis in our young people. This is probably the biggest issue that young people raise with me personally, which is a good thing in the sense that young people are being very vocal in relation to mental health services, or the lack thereof, and are looking to engage with us in that debate. After being elected to the Dáil I took a particular interest in and focus on the crisis in the mental health services in Galway, as the Min…

Yesterday, we had the welcome announcement of the long-awaited front-line bonus and after many suggestions and promises from various Cabinet colleagues, we saw the exclusion of certain workers from this. One of the reasons for this, which the Tánaiste mentioned yesterday, was that many of those excluded would benefit from the additional bank holiday. I will tell the Minister who will not benefit from an additional bank holiday: the thousands of carers in this State who do not get a day off. Will the Minister explai…

Carers lost everything during the pandemic. They lost their day services and respite, including their unofficial respite in the form of help from grandparents and other family members when we were all told to isolate, keep apart and stay in our homes. As for the parents of children in special schools, even those schools for children with severe to profound intellectual disabilities closed. For children and parents alike, their lifeline was gone. The workload of family carers increased monumentally overnight with no…

I am specifically asking the Minister why he decided to exclude carers from this bonus. We know there was a real-life impact on the lives of family carers. Many carers approached me, as I am sure they did the Minister, during the course of the pandemic to explain just how difficult the loss of services had been for them and not only how hard it was for them then but how it has had a long-term impact on them. Carers told me of the severe sleep disruption experienced by those who they care for and how at some points …

An tAire has said that he expects to receive the Mulvey report in the coming weeks. Will he advise us as to the preparation he has done for receiving the report? I understand that he cannot guess what will be in the report but I am interested in hearing about his preparations.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. I am also quite interested in the analysis that he and his Department will have done to determine the additional value of those extra hours. Will he say what has been done to quantify the savings made by increasing the hours? How many shifts were covered? How much was knocked off the agency Bill? What extra services were delivered? As I am sure the Minister is fully aware from listening to much of the analysis surrounding the letter he received, it is interesting to look at the produc…

I thank the Minister. I am aware that the Minister has not received the full report but I am interested in this area because we often see an increase in the use of agency staff, which comes at a cost. I would be interested in looking at that analysis and whether those additional hours had an impact. Did we see a reduction in the use of agency staff? What I have seen at times has instead been an increase in the use of agency staff. I would also be interested in hearing about the details of the preparations undertake…

Can I ask Deputy Doherty's question?

Okay, but he is on his way.

Apologies. I did not realise I needed to give prior notification.