I raised this matter with the Taoiseach and I would like to know what progress he has made on it. I am now finished my sentence and I am now sitting down.

I have placed my question.

You are not being fair.

That you are being unfair?

I take it back. When I put my questions I am entitled to put them and to get an answer.

The final progress report for 2022 does not include social and affordable rental or purchase output. This omission is incomprehensible. When will the Government publish these figures? The Daft.ie rent report for the same period shows new rents spiralling upwards to record highs. Spiralling rents are, of course, a consequence of Government failure to deliver adequate levels of social and affordable homes. At least one third of renters should not be living in privately rented accommodation and the private developer s…

First of all, I wish to record the shock felt across the world at the natural disaster and devastation we have witnessed in Türkiye and Syria. We extend our solidarity to all those hurt and injured and urge the global community to rally to the support of these devastated communities. Last Thursday the European Central Bank increased interest rates for the fifth time since July of last year. For the almost 200,000 households with a tracker mortgage this will result in an immediate and significant impact. The high-st…

I thank the Taoiseach. As he said, there are 186,000 borrowers on tracker mortgages, 129,000 on standard variable rates and more than 113,000 with non-banks and vulture funds. Some borrowers are being affected very dramatically and very immediately with these five hikes so far and with more to come. I do not believe the Government should hesitate on this matter. The reality, as we know, is that families and workers were struggling anyhow with a cost-of-living crisis. For lots of families, this has now, as they say,…

Do not imagine for a second that we or the families who are struggling can wait for the next budget. That is completely unreal.

It is not agreed. The Attorney General has published his report. There is nothing terribly surprising in it but it is disingenuous of the Taoiseach to describe the treatment of vulnerable citizens as merely an historical phenomenon. The political choices that were made by successive governments are very much contemporary. The Attorney General has set out the legal stall from his point of view. I have a question for the Taoiseach, however. Will he, this week, avail of the opportunity to make a comprehensive statemen…

-----and members of the Cabinet decide. The Taoiseach has very significant questions to answer on these matters from Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and, let it be said, others, including those within the Labour Party.

I hope the Taoiseach and his colleagues, rather than answering individual questions, will make a comprehensive statement on these matters. The levels of child poverty in the State are absolutely unacceptable. We have seen the worsening situation for workers and families laid bare in a report by Barnardos, published this morning. The Taoiseach is probably familiar with its key findings. One in ten parents have used a food bank over the past year. That is double the rate for last year. One in five parents have not ha…

We also need further supports in respect of energy costs. Will the Taoiseach put together such a package and, if so, when will he announce it?

The Taoiseach's response indicates the huge amount of work that is still to be done yet on the issue of equal pay for work of equal value. I wish to raise a related matter with the Taoiseach, if I can. It is the domestic violence leave reduced rate of pay provision that is contained within the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022. The legislation, as the Taoiseach knows, enables the Minister to make regulations to prescribe "the daily rate of domestic violence leave pay". The Minister for Childr…

Later this year there will be a look-back independent inquiry into the State's handling of the pandemic. How will nursing home deaths be dealt with? I encourage the Taoiseach to meet families whose loved ones died during the pandemic. These include families from Dealgan House or Ballynoe nursing home in Whites Cross. They will tell a story of systemic institutional failure that resulted in an absence of oversight, governance, accountability and training, and inadequate staff ratios. Care Champions has catalogued th…

In response to my last question on paid domestic leave entitlements, the Taoiseach cited the North as a reason for holding entitlements back. I will put on the record that north of the Border, there is an entitlement to ten days of leave on full pay. I reiterate my call to the Taoiseach to go back to the Minister and to ensure that domestic violence leave is at full pay. I will raise the NESC findings from focus group work undertaken in the north west. Not surprisingly, the region's historically poor transport conn…

I asked about Derry Airport.

Ben arrivata, Signora Presidente . You are very welcome, Madam President. Ireland is a nation that stands proudly for the values of democracy, solidarity, equality and human dignity, for freedom. These are values shared and cherished by the peoples of Europe as we strive to shape a bright future for workers, families and communities in a rapidly changing world. They are of course the values that must drive, reform and recast the European project. I warmly welcome President Metsola today. She visits us when our toge…

----and openly and repeatedly violates international law. If the European Union is a Union of values, of peace, then the EU must be to the fore in forming a global movement against Israeli apartheid in Palestine with the same international determination and momentum that defeated apartheid in South Africa three decades ago. Tá a fhios againn nuair a oibríonn muid le náisiúin an Aontais Eorpaigh go bhfuilimid chomh láidir agus is féidir. Bainfimid an rath is mó amach nuair a oibríonn an Eoraip mar fhórsa ar mhaithe …

Ben arrivata, Signora Presidente . You are very welcome, Madam President. Ireland is a nation that stands proudly for the values of democracy, solidarity, equality and human dignity, for freedom. These are values shared and cherished by the peoples of Europe as we strive to shape a bright future for workers, families and communities in a rapidly changing world. They are of course the values that must drive, reform and recast the European project. I warmly welcome President Metsola today. She visits us when our toge…