An appeal was lodged yesterday at about 2.40 p.m. even though people have suggested that an appeal could have been lodged a week ago, but for some reason, that did not happen. I am genuinely perplexed about how all of this has been handled - not by the Department, but just generally. Normally in situations like this, the lead association would approach the Government or a Department with a plan and say it was intending to do this, and then one would get things lined up and people would understand what was required …

It is horrific what is happening at the aid centres, where people have been mowed down, slaughtered and murdered. It is beyond any moral compass. I have condemned unreservedly the Israeli conduct in Gaza and the war in Gaza, particularly the last phase, which without question represents collective punishment of the people of Gaza and an attempt to drive them out of Gaza or make life so unbearable that people feel they have no alternative but to leave. That is something the international community has to respond to.…

I presume it must know because it is a contractual issue.

There is an issue between the Department and the contractor, so I presume the board of management must be aware of this. The board would be in-----

It must know.

In any event, I will ask the Minister for education to talk to the Deputy in respect of it.

That was the subject of a debate in the Seanad recently. The Government has an open mind on this. I will give consideration to it but there is a time lead into this and so forth.

There is a broad range of factors. Ireland is late to the phenomenon described by the Deputy in many respects because we would have had the highest birth rate across Europe, and still do, is my understanding, or we have one of the highest. Nonetheless, the Deputy's point merits broader reflection in terms of the society we organise, how society is organised and supported, and challenges in terms of housing. They are all interrelated, so there is no one particular solution or idea that could change that trend. These…

Is it the two wind farms?

Are all of them causing concern?

I will say something at the outset in a broader sense. The Government does not develop wind farms. The Government does not develop solar farms. The prospect of doing that would involve a multibillion euro speculative kind of investment by the State, so they are privately led. The fundamental difference between us in terms of economic philosophy is that I believe there has to be a private sector and there has to be private sector investment in these matters. There have to be guidelines. The Deputy's point is interes…

I thank the Deputy very much for raising the issue. I welcome the community from Knocklong. I have a small connection. My grandfather was in the rescue party for Seán Hogan at Knocklong when he was rescued during the ambush there. They took him away and he was a sentry in the Galtee Mountains for a while.

Well, the Deputy mentioned Knocklong and I was reared on the stories about it in my family. Deputy O'Donoghue raised a more serious point about wheelchair users. I was at an event recently with the Department of Social Protection in terms of supporting the employment front. The Deputy makes a fair point. In schools and some other areas of life, we do support adaptation.

There is Local Link as well whereby we give incentives and supports in terms of facilitation for wheelchair users. There is certainly more we can do now with the sports grants because to the credit of sports clubs, of all codes, they are now developing really good streams of participation in sport-----

-----for those with additional needs.

It is very good that rugby union is doing it. The GAA and soccer are doing it now as well.

Ar dtús báire, ní aontaím leis an Teachta in aon chor, mar níl aon amhras ach go bhfuil an-chuid déanta ag an Rialtas chun an brú atá curtha ar chosmhuintir na tíre de dheasca an t-ardú ar an gcostas maireachtála a ísliú. Tá an-chuid déanta againn chun é sin a dhéanamh. In passing, I also congratulate Katie Taylor on her outstanding win. She is one of our outstanding sportspersons and has done extraordinary work in terms of elevating the role of women in sport. She has brought great pride and distinction to the nat…

There will be supports in the budget to support people in dealing with the cost of living. Food inflation in Ireland in May was 4%. We are mid-table across the European Union. This is a Europe-wide phenomenon. It is a global phenomenon in terms of what is happening with the energy crisis. I love the way the Deputy tosses out an aside to the effect that infrastructure is on the Government-----

-----and that she does not have to account for it at all. We have spent record levels of investment in the past four years. We are going to go further again. The most important thing for the future of this economy is to ensure that we substantially increase and more than double the investment in the energy grid in order that we will have connections. That will allow us to deal with the growing population and economy. We have to ensure that there is huge investment in water, public transport and roads. That is what …

That will be a more effective allocation of spending-----