The number of houses being built is increasing, and the numbers of social houses are at record high levels.

There may be specific issues in Galway. The Deputy needs to talk to the county manager and the city manager in respect of getting projects built more quickly and removing any barriers to getting housing developed.

All the permissions are up in terms of planning permissions for new homes. The number of houses being delivered has gone up, particularly social housing. Close to 10,000 were built last year. The highest number of social houses are being built annually since the 1970s. Some local authorities do better on social housing than others.

The reality is that we are making the allocations to local authorities.

I dealt with this earlier. There has been a substantive body of law enacted in respect of scramblers, in particular. On the enforcement side, gardaí are seizing scramblers and e-scooters. In quarter 1 of 2026, 94 scramblers were seized, tracking well ahead of 2025's full year figure of 159. I gave the figures for e-scooters earlier. About 754 were seized in the first quarter, compared to 931 for 2025. On the training side, we are determined to provide resources to the Garda in terms of equipment and training in all…

I want to commend U2 on its recent philanthropic contribution to Music Generation, which is one of the great legacies of U2 that has brought music to many children the length and breadth of the country who would not otherwise have had that experience. Funding has been matched by the Government. The more recent decision by U2 to contribute substantially has been matched by the Government and Ireland Funds. I was at a dinner two weeks ago to announce that. The legacy and heritage of U2 are phenomenal. It has brought …

It is good that it was built. It was committed to 2022. In my experience, when we build nursing homes or facilities, current revenue or annual funding has to be allocated and staff have to be recruited. I will engage with HSE in respect of this to have those beds occupied and provided for families and those who need inpatient residential care.

There has been huge investment in public sector transport. On rail, very good progress has been made on the Navan rail line over the past number of years in terms of funding provision. I do not operate every State agency. State agencies are legislated for in this House and are charged with responsibility to do things. The issue of congestion is a broader one. In terms of the specifics of the tunnel, it is not an area that seems overly congested at times. That is a matter I will take up with the Minister and will ra…

I did not cause anybody any hurt.

One does not cause hurt if one tells the honest position. I was not responsible for whoever built up the expectation that it would be on that meeting. It was never said to me. There are a number of ways we can approach this. My only objective, like most Deputies on this side of the House, is to help those who have Friedreich's ataxia. That is all. I do not try to score political points with other people on issues as serious as this. I have to say that now. On the issue of confirming drug accreditation and so on, th…

It may lead to wrong results-----

I may be familiar with that case. Deputy Albert Dolan may have contacted me about it; I am not sure if it is the same one. I cannot deal with every individual case on the floor of the House. I outlined earlier the broader approach the Government is taking. Each case will have to be examined on a case-by-case basis at the moment.

In the last budget and the one before it, we substantially increased the capitation grants allocation. I think it was by €50 per pupil; that might have been the year before last. There was a very substantial increase for primary pupils in particular and also an increase for post-primary pupils. The Department of housing has always been reluctant in terms of incrementally dropping water charges for different utilities and areas because people would come forward looking for the same for other deserving causes. I am n…

I will ask the Minister to engage with Uisce Éireann on that specific issue. In some areas, it is performing. The €31 million negative finding in terms of leakage is clearly an issue. It is not just to do with leakage. There have also been issues articulated by the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, in terms of lapses to do with the operation of wastewater treatment plants in some areas. Overall, however, Uisce Éireann is investing a lot and getting a lot done in respect of the upgrading of our water infrastruct…

How can we do that?

The Government cannot affect the seedings that will result from doing that.

We see what is happening at FIFA at the moment. Do we think FIFA would really concern itself too much if the Irish football team pulls out and damages its own prospects for the future? I think the world would carry on, unfortunately. I think FIFA would carry on, unfortunately. The Government is doing a lot in respect of this issue. Our view is that we should deal with it from a governmental level and at a political level and not have to ask everybody to carry-----

In my view, the implications for Irish football are serious, given the wider governance of football globally. That is enough said.

Before I speak on my attendance at the European Council on 18 and 19 June in Brussels, I recognise that we are now one week into our Presidency of the European Union. The first week has been positive. On 1 July, I was honoured to welcome President Costa and President Zelenskyy to Dublin Castle for the opening ceremony of our Presidency. With the members of the Government, I was also delighted to welcome President von der Leyen and the College of Commissioners to Cork for very productive meetings. Yesterday, I was i…

The Government will oppose this Bill for a range of reasons. It would do little to achieve its objective and it would recommit us to an approach that has failed repeatedly over the past 100 years. Most importantly, it would distract from urgent work that is essential before any honest and constructive debate about our constitutional future can be held. This is the work that falls to everyone here and not just the Government. It is important that all of us who aspire to the unity of all Irish people are willing to d…