That is inaccurate information.

I am very heartened to see that at least one Member got actual answers to his question. I am sure the fact the question was put by a member of a Government party is not lost on anybody. I have been in contact with Paul Guy, whose father, Audeon Guy, was referenced by the Taoiseach. As he knows, the family have gone public on the shocking abuse their father endured in Beneavin Manor nursing home. He is a lovely man. The sight of him left neglected, man-handled, disrespected and forced into a chair was shocking to wa…

It did happen.

I extend a céad míle fáilte to Aran and Sophie Byrne who are recently married. They are here with their family - love's young dream in the Dáil. I also welcome the Moylagh Historical Society from the royal county. Fáilte romhaibh ar fad. The Taoiseach repeatedly tells us that fixing housing is his number one priority so people have waited for the big initiative for some idea that he might bring forward to turn the tide of this emergency. God knows, we have been enduring the Government's directionless approach since…

What the Taoiseach is about is screwing renters.

He is about doing it very brazenly and then he wants to try to distract from that fact. He should go ahead and extend the 2% cap across the State. He should do that. We will support him in doing it. I do not think anyone will object to that. However, that does not disguise the actual intent and the effect, in the here and now and in the long term, of what he is about to do. The rent pressure zone provisions are being gutted. Regarding existing tenancies, let me read the Taoiseach's own words: "All landlords will ha…

Yes, they will.

This is the import of the Government's proposal. The disappointing thing is everybody knows rents are extortionate at this point. The job of a responsible Government is to ensure a cut in rents and to ban rent increases.

Instead, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael want to facilitate the jacking up of rents. It is disgraceful.

Answer the question.

Answer the question.

He has been asked three times.

Your press release, Taoiseach.

The press release. You are not chairing a committee.

Hear, hear.

Tens of thousands every year. Watch that now. Watch that bubble.

Do you want to keep people in their homes?

What is this? This is extraordinary.

Yes.

More than 100,000 children are now living in consistent poverty. That number has jumped, astonishingly, by more than 45,000 in just 12 months. These were the alarming figures reported by the Children’s Rights Alliance this morning. This is particularly shocking at a time when the economy is performing well and public finances are very, very strong. It comes at a time when the Government refuses to tackle the soaring cost of living. Prices are out of control, from rents, which we have discussed, to groceries, energy…