There are no increases in the North.

Will it be €2,000 or €3,000?

Jesus, surely the Minister can answer a question as basic as that.

Mother of God.

The Minister does not know the answer.

That is most unhelpful to families and students.

That is very unhelpful.

Raising rents.

They will make matters worse.

Hear, hear.

They have been cancelled.

The Minister came to the Chamber this afternoon with big folders and is surrounded by his colleagues, including the Minister for higher education, Deputy Lawless, but could not answer a straightforward question. It is not acceptable, smart or clever to come to the Chamber and refuse to answer a very straightforward question that students and their families need clarity on. Will their fees be set at €2,000 or €3,000? The Minister, Deputy Lawless, started this debate. He volunteered the information that fees would in…

Will the fees be €2,000 or €3,000?

The Minister has put the heart crossways in families.

Domestic violence is at epidemic levels. Women's Aid has published its annual report and it makes for very grim reading. Last year, it received the highest number of domestic abuse complaints in its 50-year history. All forms of abuse against women have increased. Physical abuse is up 22%, sexual abuse by 30%, emotional abuse up 15% and economic abuse up 5%. One third of women who reached out to help were subjected to abuse by an ex-partner. The relationship may end but the abuse does not. All the statistics are go…

What message does this send to women fighting to survive? After 15 years of strategy, the Government is still talking about basic training initiatives for front-line responders. Where is the urgency? None of this is good enough. Women faced with violence and abuse deserve far more. Léiríonn tuarascáil scannalach de chuid Women's Aid inniu go bhfuil eipidéim ag dul in olcas maidir le foréigin baile agus go bhfuil géarghá le gníomh láidir ón Rialtas. In my constituency, the community is not waiting. Women have come t…

I thank the Minister. Let me acknowledge the actions that have been taken by Government and the commitment the Minister has made here to the House in respect of Jennie's law and further reform. That is welcome but it is not enough. The evidence on the ground reflects the reality that violence against women and their children is not taken with the seriousness it deserves. Those are the facts on the ground. Women feel unsafe. Women in very dangerous circumstances find it difficult to leave and difficult to access the…

The lack of standardisation is undesirable, as is the lack of wraparound services. I do not want the Minister to deliver just more of the same. We need a real step change if we are to achieve zero tolerance.

Yesterday, Taoiseach and leader of Fianna Fáil, Micheál Martin, unveiled the Government's intention to convert the GPO for the purposes of retail units and office accommodation. This is the Government's shameful plan for the most iconic site of Ireland's struggle for freedom. This is the building outside which Pádraig Pearse in Easter 1916 read aloud the Proclamation of the Irish Republic. This is the building inside of which James Connolly led brave volunteers to fight for Irish Independence. Dublin is the city th…

Cuirim fáilte roimh na Little Blue Heroes. We are in very safe hands with outstanding people like them. I thank them for being here. Households continue to be hammered left, right and centre by soaring prices with no let-up. With extortionate rent, big electricity and gas bills, high fuel prices, unaffordable childcare and runaway insurance premiums, prices are out of control. Workers and families are squeezed and forced to live week to week. They ask themselves when all of this will stop because they cannot keep u…