You know the personal regard I have for you, but if you are going to rise up to defend him-----

-----it might not reflect well on you.

It is called telling the truth, Minister.

And to tell the truth, Minister. We are here to tell the truth. Through all your talking I did not interrupt you-----

Will you reprimand the Minister?

Will you reprimand the Minister?

I did not interrupt you.

He came in a few minutes ago to-----

He has a million houses.

It has to be stated publicly that the level of increase in illegal cigarette sales throughout the country is absolutely enormous, and I believe that is a direct result of the 50% or 60% increase in taxes that has been put on tobacco products over recent years. I never voted for those increases. Quite simply, I would love to live in a country and a world where nobody smoked. I do not want to see people smoke but, at the same time, I do not agree with penalising people who do smoke and are addicted, whether they cann…

It was so disappointing to see the Minister for Justice turn her back on the rank and file gardaí up and down the length and breadth of this country and to give a blank cheque of support to Commissioner Drew Harris. He has failed in securing the support of even a minority of gardaí and he has let them down. However, the Minister and the Government gave him a blank cheque. If only they knew how hurtful it was to the members of An Garda Síochána. I am listening to them and what they say is not only have they lost con…

Not science, the ground is wet.

It will dry overnight.

We have a problem. There are 71,554 people waiting for a driving test nationally and 4,853 are waiting in County Kerry alone. The average waiting time for a test is 30 weeks. Killarney has the second highest in the State at 43 weeks and it is 32 weeks in Tralee. I am absolutely inundated with emails and phone calls from students, young people starting out, their parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles. These are people who want to work, to go to school or college and they need a licence. They need to get on the r…

No, I was not. I have been around a while but not that long.

On a serious note, it is not just me. Each Member of the House has been inundated with this. I am pleading with the Taoiseach. A Cheann Comhairle, you know it yourself. You have it in your constituency.

We need to get to the bottom of this and we need to get young people on the road with their drivers' licences.

The main thing to say is that we must make every effort we can make to protect the lives of people who are vulnerable or endangered by this inhuman practice. We must put our shoulders to the wheel and try to stop, prohibit and hinder this awful practice in every way possible. All of us were horrified in recent years when we saw the images of articulated trucks having their doors opened, knowing there were multiple deaths inside in those containers - lovely, beautiful human beings, who in the hope of going to a bett…

I wish to declare an interest in the provision of accommodation to all categories of people. I thank People Before Profit for bringing this important motion and issue before the Dáil again. I was glad to support the continuation of the ban on the previous occasion. I am glad to support the motion because it is important. There were 5,735 notices of termination issued between April and June. That is 21% higher. It is what we told the Government would happen. These are not numbers or statistics; they are mothers, fat…

The Deputy is losing time there.