-----and he will find that I am reflecting the truth on the ground to him. The Government introduced the 10% stamp duty and, in fact, far from the number of bulk purchases falling, it actually accelerated year on year. I have the figures to hand. They were given to me by my colleague, Deputy Doherty, who received them by means of a response to a parliamentary question. The number of bulk purchases has trebled, quadrupled between 2021 and 2023. The Taoiseach said he wants a review and he wants to take further action…

I want to raise again the issue of safety in Dublin city centre. Sadly, today, we have had another incident on Parnell Square where children have been left frightened and traumatised. People who live in the inner city of Dublin and its communities are sick and tired of the ongoing antisocial behaviour and the sense of threat and dread, sick and tired of the lack of support and services, sick and tired of the Government hollowing out these communities and sick and tired of the fact the Garda resource is stretched be…

This is utterly damning.

There were 113 patients on trolleys at University Hospital Limerick yesterday; the figure is 110 today. At the end of April, the Taoiseach deployed a HSE support team to the hospital to address pressures on health services in the mid-west region. A month on, nothing has changed. University Hospital Limerick remains in a constant state of emergency and is under huge pressure every single day. The Taoiseach needs to stop with the window-dressing and take real action to make a difference. UHL needs 288 additional beds…

We teach life, sir. We Palestinians teach life after they have occupied the last sky. We teach life after they have built their settlements and apartheid walls, after the last skies. [...] We Palestinians wake up every morning to teach the rest of the world life, sir. These are the words of Palestinian poet, Rafeef Ziadah. They are words that powerfully capture the cry of Palestine to the world, a cry that has reverberated for generations. See us, hear us, stand with us, vindicate our nation and our people, recogni…

The Palestinian struggle has gone on for generations. The catastrophe of the Nakba was only the start. For 76 years, the story of Palestine has been one of colonisation; occupation; apartheid; violent and brutal human rights atrocities at the hands of the Israeli state and its ferocious military; daily oppression that sees Palestinians killed, jailed, tortured and forced from their lands; homes, schools and health facilities bulldozed to the ground as illegal settlers violently overtake Palestinian lands and villag…

Rather, they must confront them. Ireland and all of us must insist on that point. Today, along with Spain and Norway, we are taking a lead, but recognition of the Palestinian state cannot be the end. It has to be just a beginning, a new departure in pursuing freedom and justice for the Palestinians. The Irish Government must now follow recognition by enacting the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill 2018 - Senator Frances Black has joined us in the Chamber - and the Illegal Israeli Settlement Di…

One of the major criticisms in the Housing Commission's damning report relates to Government waste of money. The report states: "Ireland has, by comparison with our European partners, one of the highest levels of public expenditure for housing, yet one of the poorest outcomes." Why is that the case? It is because the Government decided to pass the State's responsibility for housing people to private landlords. Last week, I referred to the €3 billion the Government is forking over to wealthy property funds to lease …

The point is that the Housing Commission report is damning. It is not neutral in its assessment of the Government's performance; it is damning and states very clearly the Government's failures. An important failing it identifies is the fact that the Government has turned what should be a temporary, short-term support into a permanent feature in the lives of many people. The Taoiseach did not dispute my figure; it is €10 billion since 2011. That is a lot of public money. That is a lot of potential bricks and mortar.…

Ireland's recognition of the state of Palestine is an historic step in the struggle for freedom, self-determination and human rights for the Palestinian people. I commend all those who campaigned for this over many decades. Today, the people of Gaza continue to endure slaughter, displacement and starvation inflicted upon them by an Israel that acts with impunity. Israel's attacks on Gaza are war crimes. Ireland can and must take an active role within the international community in pushing for an immediate and full …

For the past year the Government has been telling everyone it has turned the corner on housing. Even as so many people across our society struggle to find an affordable home, it dresses up failure as progress. Today, however, we know the truth. The Housing Commission, established by the Government, has called the Government out today. Its leaked report, which would not have seen the light of day had RTÉ not broken the story, is a damning indictment of the Government’s housing policy. It talks about systemic failure…

As I said, the party is now 13 years in government. Any fair analysis of the facts reflects record house prices, record rents and record homelessness. I do not know what world the Taoiseach lives in, but the reality I meet in communities across the State is one of crisis, stress and, in many cases, misery. I do not think I am overstating it to say that when people live in overcrowded accommodation and are on a housing list with no real prospect of getting a house, they know that no matter what they do, they are not…

I raised with the Taoiseach last week the case of 13-year-old Liam Dennehy Quinn because it is an emergency. As the Taoiseach knows, Liam has been waiting for more than six months for an urgently needed spinal surgery. He has been in hospital now for more than six weeks. He cannot leave because the severity of his scoliosis puts him at risk of choking episodes at any time. His family was told in November that he needed urgent intervention. Pamela and Liam wrote to both the Taoiseach and me at the weekend stating th…

Fine Gael has been in government for 13 years and in that time the housing crisis has gone from bad to worse. It is not an accident. We now have a full-blown housing disaster because the Government has the wrong priorities and the wrong policies. As a result, many workers and families are simply unable to put a secure, affordable roof over their head. A defining feature of Fine Gael housing policy has been the enrichment of the private players - the big corporate landlords, the cuckoo funds and the vultures. I want…

As I go across the country, I meet people who live with the consequences of the Taoiseach's housing policy. Here is what they experience: record rents they struggle to afford, record homelessness which leaves families and children in misery, a collapse in home ownership and an entire generation locked out of any real expectation of ever owning a home. Consequential to that, so many, particularly of our young people, are choosing to simply pack their bags and leave. That is the reality of the Taoiseach's housing pol…

It is not agreed. For the second week now, I ask that the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, and the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman, present themselves and make a statement to the House on their handling of the immigration issue, particularly the situation as pertains today on the Grand Canal in Dublin, where there are now 40 tents with unfortunate, vulnerable people living in them at the side of the canal. If ever there were an image for the Government's abje…

We made the request and you knocked us back.

You knocked us back.

Thirteen-year-old Liam Dennehy Quinn has rapidly deteriorating scoliosis. Liam has been hospital bound for the past five and a half weeks. His curvature was at 85° in November but has had no spinal review during his five weeks in hospital. Liam has been given a surgery date of 30 May but his mother Pamela says he is deteriorating by the day and running out of time. Liam has to use oxygen and has lost the ability to use his chair. His mother cannot understand him now when he speaks because his spine is pressing so h…

As we are waiting, I am sure the Ceann Comhairle would like, on behalf of the House, to extend a welcome to the families from Justice for the Forgotten, who are joining us.