I commend the Independent Group for bringing this important motion to the House in support of our family carers. I commend in particular Deputy Marian Harkin for her advocacy and championing of family carers, not only in this House but also in the European Parliament, which I directly witnessed, and her ongoing efforts in that regard. Those efforts and the efforts of all of us are important because our family carers provide a crucially important service. The fact is undisputed, in my view, that they have been under…

Hear, hear.

It would be a first step.

Where will the families go when they are evicted?

Where will the families go?

A frustration for me over many years was witnessing the policies of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael remove the prospect of home affordability and stability from increasing numbers of Irish workers and families. At the same time we saw representatives from those parties actually claiming to be working for those in need of housing. "I got them that house" was a familiar refrain from Fianna Fáil councillors or Fine Gael Deputies as they approached a front door, never referring to the fact that far from a free house those in…

Homelessness is still going on.

What about the families who are homeless?

I have to register my disappointment that the Minister is not here to take questions. I know he is out of the country but we had agreed to a rota swap on this occasion to facilitate the Minister. I do not think it is acceptable that another rota swap was not offered in this instance. My first question is to ask the Minister his proposals to support our sheep farmers, who are under enormous strain at the moment and are facing what could potentially be an existential crisis.

The Minister of State says the Government has no role in the market, but the Government absolutely has a role in ensuring our primary producers are protected in that market and that there is fairness and transparency across the supply chain. The €2 additional payment per ewe in the new sheep welfare scheme is clearly insufficient. It does not even cover the increase in costs sheep farmers have faced. The Minister of State mentioned other payments. He specifically mentioned ACRES. That is a payment for a service for…

I agree with the Minister of State on that point but I also contend that sheep farmers urgently need direct financial support. A difficulty when it comes to prices is that one of the products sheep farmers produce, wool, is currently worthless. I raised this question on numerous occasions with the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, and he told me to wait for the wool feasibility study. Rather than answers, that study produced questions and now we have to wait for a number of other bodies to complete more deliberations. …

I will let Deputy Canney go first.

Our forestry sector is in absolute disarray and turmoil. I would appreciate if the Minister of State could confirm to the House that she finally recognises that fact, that measures are being taken to address it and, specifically, that the new forestry scheme has been submitted to the European Commission.

Again there is a recognition of some of the failures but not of the failure of the Minister of State's Department. The prevailing failure was very stark when, on 8 February, the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, told the agriculture committee that 1,000 ha had been planted in January. The members of the committee were pleasantly surprised but the figure surprised them as that would mark a sea change. When that was put to the Minister he said, "Yes, there has been a sea change". However, it turned out that the figure wa…

It is the middle of March and so far we are unable to process any new applications because our formal application to the European Commission has not yet been made. In January the Minister was asked specifically how many hectares were planted. He said 1,000 ha. That is important because the 1,000 ha the Minister of State has cited might be virtually all of the planting that will take place in the first half of this year. Just 1,000 ha when the target is 8,000 ha per annum; that has been missed every single year, wil…

That will have serious implications for generations to come.

The Minister of State expects someone else to do it for her.

There was no Assembly last year.

I welcome the opportunity to participate in the debate on the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill. It has the potential to be important legislation. I note that among the stated objectives of the Bill is "to provide for clear and effective oversight and accountability of An Garda Síochána". It also includes provisions to restructure GSOC. In all these matters we have to be informed by the experiences to date, including the experiences of our constituents and our communities, and recognise and accept where …

I welcome the opportunity to participate in this debate. I appeal to the Minister to support our family farmers who are under enormous pressure at the moment. The measures proposed by the Government will increase the cost of agricultural diesel by 1 cent per litre in June, a further 1 cent in September and a further 3 cent in October. Those are costs that farmers cannot bear, particularly if the base price of diesel remains unchanged and certainly not if it increases. However, that does not tell the whole story bec…