We are not failing farmers; we are endeavouring to get a sustainable landing zone for all concerned.

I answered some of this earlier in response to a different question. Just to get a sense of perspective, progress is being made even within the existing system. There is no doubt there is a significant increase in people waiting. However, over 4,000 assessments were completed in 2024, a 30% increase on 2023. Some 1,400 assessments were completed in the first three months of this year, a 65% increase compared with the same period last year. A total of 2,479 assessments were commissioned from private providers at a c…

Everything has to be evidence-based. The Deputy's assertions-----

The biggest major research into sexual abuse in this country was done nearly two decades ago and was quite revealing. It was not revealing in terms of race or anything like that. It was revealing in terms of the prevalence of abuse across the country. One can argue that was earlier, but it still continues. One can look at all of the inquiries we have had. We had one into institutional abuse in industrial schools and we have just announced today a commission of inquiry into sexual abuse in all primary and second lev…

Get my point. We need to-----

We do need-----

I do not have to prove you wrong. I just told you-----

I mentioned what happened in industrial schools and in schools, in terms of other institutional settings-----

-----long before there was any modern sort of increase in terms of different nationalities coming into the country.

Again, as I said earlier, we are providing funding in the interim both to the HSE but also to private providers. Last year private providers cost about €6.8 million and we have allocated a further €10 million this year to deliver close to 3,000 more assessments and to boost capacity, with new assessment teams and so forth. Perhaps the Deputy could work with the HSE to identify private capacity within the Cavan area. Perhaps that is something we could work on, in terms of providing some resource there in addition to…

I will engage with the Minister in respect of this. It is my understanding that there is no cutback programme in place. We have been expanding services generally in the further education field but I will certainly bring this to the Minister's attention, with a view to reverting to the Deputy on it.

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I do not know whether the person concerned has secured a personal insolvency practitioner because that is the mechanism to deal with this in terms of engaging with whoever has the loan now. Generally, the courts have been sympathetic to people in their primary family residence, in terms of not evicting. A process of engagement is required to see if a resolution can be worked out that is affordable for the person, particularly given the circumstances-----

Given that the person has cancer, and I do not know the full background of the case-----

Over the last decade loans have been sold but that has not resulted in wholesale evictions, which was asserted at the time. If people engage, generally speaking-----

I do not know the background to this case but if people engage, cases can get resolved.

My understanding is that the Minister for Transport, Deputy O'Brien, is finalising work on a draft policy framework for unmanned aircraft systems. He expects to publish it in the summer and will seek to identify and address any public, regulatory or legislative gaps. There is a comprehensive EU legislative framework in place to regulate safe drone operations that is directly applicable in Ireland. These regulations cover both recreational and commercial use, including commercial drone delivery services. The aim of …

Is Ballincollig on the south side or the north side? That kind of argument was used 30 years ago but the bottom line is that light rail will be good for every part of the city. On the Cork city task force, there has been huge investment in Cork over the last four to five years. I have indicated that we will be setting up a Cork city task force but we have to get the terms of reference and the focus right. I agree with the Deputy that the focus should be on the city centre but also the immediate suburbs around the c…

The scheme has been very effective. The targets were refined this year by the Ministers for housing and public expenditure with a view to making sure resources are targeted at those who are in immediate danger of homelessness. We do not want local authorities only doing acquisitions as part of their social housing programmes. We want local authorities building new social houses and to do more of that. That, said the Minister is looking at particular cases. He is constantly engaging with local authorities on what co…

I will talk to the Minister. The abolition of town councils was a big mistake. I said that at the time, although I was in opposition. I think it was introduced by Brendan Howlin but he subsequently said it was a mistake. I am a great believer in restoring councils or creating new councils in line with the programme for Government. I will have a look at who is on the task force because there are always people who just want to maintain the status quo . Local representation is positive for local democracy and for loca…

In my honest opinion, Dublin City Council could be performing better with regard to housebuilding and could have performed better over the last-----