That is stretching it.

I move amendment No. 19: In page 26, after line 30, to insert the following: “ Cap on daily expenditure for international protection accommodation 14. (1) The Minister shall, by regulations made under this Act, prescribe a maximum amount that may be paid per person per day by the State in respect of accommodation provided to applicants for international protection. (2) Regulations made under subsection (1) shall specify— (a) the monetary cap applicable to all forms of accommodation procured or funded by the Ministe…

First of all, in respect of the debate-----

I will come to that. The Minister of State should not worry. In respect of the debate, the Government decided the format of this debate. Because it tied us into the EU migration and asylum pact, in respect of which there was a deadline, everything else in terms of the consideration of this Bill has been put to one side. We are now in a situation where this debate is being rushed, guillotined and taken on the floor of the Dáil. The rules within that system are being adhered to. We have all been in situations when de…

Is the Minister of State going to answer the question in respect of the rate cards?

No, the Minister of State has not. He did not answer a single one of the questions I put to him there. The question is about what is in the rate card and what the maximum payment within it is. I assume if it is a rate card that there is a maximum and a minimum. What is the maximum the Government is willing to pay? On what basis does it reach that decision? Could the Minister of State please not give us this façade that there is transparency? Transparency is not just knowing how much somebody receives. It is knowing…

I am just going to respond to that very briefly. We can only deal with what is in front of us. We are dealing with the International Protection Bill. We are bringing forward an amendment that is aimed at tackling something that has been clearly identified by the Comptroller and Auditor General, and by several journalists who have tried to ascertain some of the scandals. There are many scandals within IPAS contracts in terms of the services being provided to residents, the value for money provided to the State and t…

May I speak to the section?

Section 15 concerns Eurodac. It is the first section to deal with the Child and Family Agency, Tusla. The Minister of State will know that we have a number of amendments in respect of the ability of Tusla to do the job it is asked to do. Last week or the week before, Judge Conor Fottrell of the Dublin District Court hit out at what he called profiteering by private operators that are providing unregulated placements for the most vulnerable children, describing it as "wrong and shameful". At the time, he was dealing…

I want to hear the Minister of State’s response on amendment No. 21 before I speak about it directly. Before that, I want to speak about amendment No. 79, which is grouped with amendment No. 21. I am not entirely sure why it is grouped because it relates to ensuring that in the statistics compiled by the Department, we include information provided by applicants for international protection regarding any prior immigration status or permission while in the State. I found it quite bizarre and very surprising that this…

This is a product of the process we were left with because of the approach the Minister has taken to this Bill. We are now 20 minutes away from cut-off. I know the Minister had an issue with the number of TDs who spoke to a particular amendment but, realistically, we have not had a proper engagement on any amendment up until this point or on any section. As the Minister knew, when he insisted he was going to bring it forward on the floor of the Dáil, it is not conducive to having a proper conversation and deliberat…

It was just set out for the Taoiseach.

What Ministers and Government have relearned over the past number of days is a lesson they should have copped onto long ago. You do not mess with children with special needs or with the people who care for them because they will fight tooth and nail to ensure the people they love have their rights protected. There is a familiar phrase that anybody who engages with families of children with special needs will have heard time and time again. We hear that it is a battle a day to secure what their children are entitled…

I would appreciate clarity on some specific points. The Minister of State said a new list will be published next month. I assume that means quotas will be allocated to various sectors. He also said that when deciding those quotas, the Department will give consideration to other factors including housing and access to services. What precisely does "take into account" mean? We know about the pressures, in particular on the housing market. We also know that the only way we are going to increasing housing demand is thr…

I do not dispute anything the Minister of State said. When deciding what level of a quota any given sector is having beyond the construction sector, he said that his Department takes into account housing need and housing availability. How does the Department take this into account? On the one hand, we need international workers to help us build the homes that we need but, on the other, we have a housing shortage. When the population of a given area is substantially increased through any means, that is going to add …

My question is in respect of the unacceptable number of children who are currently waiting for an assessment of need in counties Monaghan and Cavan in my constituency. I ask the Minister for an update on the number of children who have been waiting more than three, six and 12 months.

The Minister of State started her response by saying this is a priority for the Government. I would hate to see it if it were not a priority for the Government. Some 550 children have been waiting over six months for an assessment of need in the two small counties, population-wise, of Cavan and Monaghan. That is 550 times that the members of Government have broken the law. They are obliged under the Disability Act 2005 to ensure that children receive an assessment of need within six months. Imagine that. We have a …

Regardless of what the Minister of State says changes to legislation will do, it will be of no comfort whatsoever to those people who are watching the Government break the law as it currently is. I asked her a specific question in respect of Cavan and Monaghan. How many children last year actually received an assessment of need within the legal time limit of six months? I will ask that question again.

How many last year?

I thank the Minister for State for that. How many children last year in Cavan and Monaghan actually got their assessment of need within six months?