This is not a matter of ideology, but of pure common sense. That is why I assume the Taoiseach's colleagues on Dublin City Council, or a good number of them, voted down this proposal. It is a matter of proper standards, the right approach to housing policy and a matter of logic that one does not hand over massively valuable sites to private developers so that they can profit and ordinary working people are still left outside the housing market. The sum of €380,000 for a three-bedroom home is not affordable to the v…

Will this Government on his watch now assist Dublin City Council in the way I have set out-----

-----to ensure that the site is developed efficiently and that it results in affordable housing for people who desperately need it?

That they can afford.

That they can afford.

It is not agreed.

The Taoiseach and the Government are denying a request by the Opposition, virtually in its entirety, for the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, to present to make a statement and to take questions relating to the process surrounding the appointment of a justice to the Supreme Court benches. The Taoiseach is being disingenuous in his approach on this matter. He has stated, correctly, that the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board, JAAB, forwarded one name to the Minister for this appointment but he equally knows t…

The Taoiseach is talking down the clock.

The Taoiseach does himself no credit as Head of Government to resist the legitimate and reasonable ask from the Opposition that the Minister for Justice make a statement and take questions on this matter. I remind the Taoiseach that when he was in opposition, he had plenty to say when a former Attorney General was elevated to the Bench of the Appeal Court. At that time, some of his commentary was most unedifying. The Taoiseach said earlier that he never recalled such a request from the Opposition for the Minister f…

-----to examine this matter and to examine exactly what happened. The only person who can assist us in that regard is the Minister of Justice.

We will persist with this matter in respect of the Minister for Justice. As the Taoiseach is aware, the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board advises. It is a clearing mechanism for suitable candidates, but it is the Government which decides who the appointee is. Something happened in this process that requires answers. The Taoiseach clearly cannot provide them because he was unaware of the other three expressions of interest, an extraordinary situation, yet he is defying the legitimate ask of the Opposition that th…

Covid-19 has heightened awareness of the depth and breadth of domestic violence and abuse. Every day during the first six months of the pandemic, 19 women and three children contacted a domestic violence service for the first time, seeking support and safety from abuse and coercive control. Coercive control is now a crime and last month's landmark judgment sends a simple message to abusers to stop. However, despite the significant increase in demand for services, this year domestic violence and abuse continues to b…

I wish to raise two specific matters with the Taoiseach. The first relates to the records of the interdepartmental committee to establish the facts of State involvement with the Magdalen laundries or, as it is more commonly known, the McAleese report. In its statement on mother and baby homes last month, the Government committed to ensuring that the rights of all citizens to access personal information about themselves and their rights under GDPR are fully respected and implemented. The Government also committed to…

The failure of the Department of Justice to inform the victims or their legal representatives of this data breach has caused untold hurt and concern.

I know but these are important matters.

Earlier this year, the HSE commissioned a rapid assessment of a suicide cluster which took place in Ballyfermot last year. The outcome of the assessment was published late last month and it makes heartbreaking and alarming reading. The area considered by the assessment has had a female suicide rate three times the national average since 2015. However, it was the deaths of eight women in their 20s and 30s over a short ten-week period that prompted this assessment. Four of the women were from Ballyfermot and the othe…

Very witty.

The Government came to office four months ago promising to take major action on housing. The harrowing stories from people whose lives have been ruined by the housing crisis are well known to all of us: young couples who cannot afford a home of their own, some living with their children in the box room of their mammy's house; struggling renters who hand a chunk of their wages over to landlords every month; and families on council waiting lists for years, with no light at the end of the tunnel. For an entire generat…

How are these for some facts that the Taoiseach might acquaint himself with? Fact one is that RPZs do not, have not and will not work. Fact two is the evidence, if the Taoiseach cares to see it, that rents are rising. The average rent is more than €1,400 across the State. That is astonishing. By the way, this is not for the Taj Mahal, it is for a two-bedroom unit here in Dublin city. How is this for a fact? The Government has not produced its affordable housing plan. The Taoiseach should not accuse me of propagandi…

Monday was equal pay day in Ireland, meaning that from now until the end of this year women across Ireland will effectively work for free due to the gender pay gap of over 14%. I am sure the Taoiseach will agree with me that this is an unacceptable situation in 2020. The Taoiseach is also aware that student nurses working in placements across our hospitals during the pandemic are not being paid at all. If there is one thing worse than unequal pay it is not being paid at all. As the Taoiseach knows, the work they do…