On Deputy Mattie McGrath's point, there is a Private Members' motion before the House today from Sinn Féin on the cost of living so that provides an opportunity for further debate on fuel costs and the costs that people are facing.

Yes and the Government is providing time every week to facilitate debate on all these issues.

On Deputy Ó Ríordáin's point, the debate last week was on apprenticeships and this week's debate is on third level education. On Deputy Gannon's point, my understanding is that the SNA allocations will be confirmed this afternoon by the Department of Education.

It is not necessary. We stand over the proposed Order of Business.

The Chief Whip has indicated that statements on special education can be facilitated the week we come back.

The week after next.

Any increase in the level of homelessness is deeply regrettable and disappointing and warrants action from Government. That is why we are acting. This is the number one priority for the Government. We are investing a record amount of money to increase the supply of all forms of housing, including public and cost-rental housing as well as the introduction of new affordable schemes. We are also working with the private sector and the Land Development Agency. We are seeing progress in relation to supply and that is ul…

I also welcome the Ukrainian representatives to the House. I share Deputy Bacik's view about the level of priority that this must be afforded. The Government is investing a record amount of money and that has to be translated into the delivery of homes. Ultimately, what will make a difference here is the breadth of different types of tenure and making progress on that. This includes cost rental, which is a very welcome innovation in Ireland. It is good to see individual schemes coming on stream now. There will also…

I thank the Deputy. This is one aspect of Housing For All. The starting point is to acknowledge that we have a problem in that we are not seeing build-for-sale apartments being built. We are not seeing them in Dublin to any great extent and we are not really seeing them elsewhere throughout the country to any extent at all. In my city of Cork, the last private sector development where apartments were built for sale was finished back in 2008. Since then, the only apartments built in the city were those built by loca…

I thank Deputy Gino Kenny for raising this matter. I will not speak for the Taoiseach, but I do not believe he would be reluctant to have a meeting. This is an issue that we will refer to his office. I wish to reassure the Deputy that the finalisation and publication of the national Traveller health action plan is a priority issue for the Department of Health and the HSE. The Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Mary Butler, and the HSE expect to publish the Traveller health action plan in the comi…

The Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly, is very keen to advance the extension of free GP care for children aged six and over. He has had ongoing dialogue with the representative bodies of GPs to ensure that this can be implemented as quickly as possible. I will ask the Minister to revert to the Deputy with the specific update as to the timeline involved.

I too welcome Tom O'Callaghan to the Public Gallery. The Government strongly acknowledges the important role of post offices in urban and rural communities all over the country. Sometimes they are held up as being important only in rural areas but they are important in urban areas too. The Minister of State, Deputy Hildegarde Naughton, has been working on this issue and is about to bring a proposal to Government in respect it. We are conscious that the transformation payments that were in place are due to end at th…

The action plan will be published in the coming weeks. It will certainly be published by September, if not sooner. The Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman, informs me that it will be September at the latest. Funding is a matter for the HSE and the Department of Health when they set out their priorities in the Estimates process. That process will get under way in the next number of weeks. The Government policy in this regard is clear. If we are going to publish a healt…

There is an agreement in place and the focus is now on implementing it. Work is ongoing with Fórsa. It involves a complex process of assimilating information to capture accurate data in respect of each individual secretary and the application of these data to ensure each secretary is correctly assigned to the new terms and conditions if they so choose. Secretaries will also be provided with an opportunity to confirm whether they wish to move to the new terms and conditions or retain their current terms and conditio…

The answer is "Yes". This is a matter of ongoing consideration, led by the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan. His Department is working with my Department and other Departments to make sure the issue of energy security is fully addressed, particularly in the current climate where there is a greater question mark than before regarding the secure supply of energy. This issue underlines the need for us to accelerate the transition to renewables. As a Government, we passed legi…

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I reassure her that the Department of Health is fully committed to providing leadership and resources to ensure the implementation of the Traveller health action plan once it is agreed. The priority now is to get it finalised and publish it and then make sure it is resourced. As an initial step towards implementing the plan, the Department provided €270,000 to expand Traveller health units last year and further measures will be considered in the context of the budget. The…

I assure the Deputy that the work of the Commission on the Defence Forces is being taken very seriously by the Government. The Minister for Defence, Deputy Coveney, and I are in dialogue on that issue. The Minister will be bringing a proposal to Government in the coming weeks in the context of its response to the commission's recommendations. That proposal will set out how we intend to move forward into the future. As the Deputy knows, it is the right of all workers to have their legal rights upheld. We will be res…

I understand the legislation to provide for safe-access zones is being prioritised by the Minister for Health and is actively being worked on. It is a priority item of legislation and will be brought to Government and published and will commence its legislative journey shortly.

It is, indeed. I say "fair play" to the Deputy and share her congratulations to Derry on a magnificent victory after extra time. I know the limits of my powers, but I am sure the Minister of State will have a discussion with the Deputy offline and see what can be done on that issue.

I thank the Deputy. I will be honest, I do not know the answer to his question about the appointment of the additional specialist nurses for people who are taking sodium valproate, but I will ask the Minister for Health to revert to him, having contacted the HSE.