Are the Ministers to meet with these funds? Yes or no?

The Taoiseach has not answered.

Well, many things are out of order.

What is out of order is the Taoiseach's Ministers running and cosying up to cuckoo funds in the midst of a housing crisis.

I asked the questions and they have not been answered.

The Deputy should get his boss to answer the questions then. How is that?

How were they appointed?

Not agreed.

Dublin's MetroLink is now postponed for another decade. This is a huge blow to the people of this city which, as the Taoiseach knows, is gridlocked with traffic. The postponement makes a mockery of the carbon reduction commitments given by the Taoiseach at COP26. This was big talk for the international audience while back at home key public transport schemes get kicked down the road. The truth is the Government cannot deliver infrastructure projects on time and on budget. It certainly has plenty of form in this reg…

You are not one to be citing manners.

The programme for Government commits to convening a citizens' assembly to consider matters relating to drug use. The report published yesterday by the Tallaght Drug and Alcohol Task Force demonstrates the urgency of this commitment and starkly highlights the devastation addiction causes for family and communities. Demand for task force services in Tallaght has doubled over the past decade and this reality is replicated throughout this State. Despite this, task force funding remains at pre-2008 levels. The autonomy …

Last month, the Israeli Government designated six prominent Palestinian human rights groups as terrorist organisations. In an attempt to justify the unjustifiable, Israel circulated a secret dossier, which does not contain a shred of evidence to back up its outrageous claims. Did the Israeli Government or the ambassador to Ireland provide the Taoiseach or the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, with a copy of this dossier? The Oireachtas Friends of Palestine group hosted a briefing yesterday with three of…

The Irish language will have full working rights in the EU from 1 January next year. Mar thoradh air sin, beidh gach reachtaíocht nua curtha ar fáil i nGaeilge, lena n-áirítear rialacháin, treoracha agus cinntí. At EU level, therefore, statutes will only be made available in Irish, including regulations, directives and decisions. It is astonishing that while we have made this progress in the European Union, the same language rights are not enjoyed here at home. In fact, the Government is appealing a High Court judg…

I certainly do not.

The Taoiseach might answer that-----

The cost of living is out of control. Workers and families are at breaking point as they struggle to keep up with sky-high bills. Their quality of life, their ability to plan for their future and their mental health are now really suffering. People are fleeced with extortionate rents and rip-off insurance costs. Childcare fees are the equivalent of a second mortgage, the price of the weekly shop has gone up, while households have been hammered by more than 30 increases in energy and fuel bills just this year. Many …

The Taoiseach cited external factors such as Brexit, Covid and the global energy market, but failed to answer the straightforward question I asked him. He has done nothing to alleviate the hardship that Siobhan, Alison and Kevin are experiencing. In fact, in the budget he did nothing for renters. He proposed to freeze unaffordable childcare fees at their current extortionate rate, and he introduced a carbon tax hike that will drive up people’s bills. I have asked him to change tack to respond to the realities of pe…

What about VAT on energy bills?

There is no each-way bet.

Siobhan is not seeing it and neither are Alison or Kevin.