I did not interrupt you.

The Deputy put the amendments down last week so he could then make the allegation that we are increasing prices and try to engineer protests. That is what is going on. I have seen the Facebook pages. I have seen it all. The Government makes a decision, there are going to be protests. That is the game.

No, no.

The Deputy is entitled to raise the issue, but that is-----

-----the political agenda. I did not interrupt the Deputy. He has an awful habit of doing it. That is his political agenda. The Government has not made a decision in respect of the end of July. Is that clear?

The Government is going to keep it under review and act accordingly.

I welcome the final report of the joint committee. I have not had an opportunity to read it in its entirety. Senator Mary Fitzpatrick, who is a member of the committee, made a presentation to the Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party last evening on the report's core recommendations. Fundamentally, over the past 20 years we have moved to a health-led approach in terms of drug addiction. It has not been a criminal response, in the main. Rather, it has been health-led, going back to the methadone clinics for heroin in an e…

The Government accepts and has accepted that possession of illicit drugs for personal use is fundamentally a public health issue and not just a matter for the criminal justice system. That has been the position for quite some time. The Government will shortly introduce a health referral scheme for those found to be in possession of illicit drugs for personal use. The report has just been published. As is necessary, both the Department of Health and the Department of justice will examine it. There are some 160 recom…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. Clearly, the defective concrete blocks issue has evolved. It is a very complex issue, which the Government is addressing in the first instance by agreeing and allocating very significant amounts of funds to the affected homeowners to enable families to rebuild their homes and get on with their lives. I believe in a multidisciplinary approach to issues. The Deputy's basic query is whether IS 465 should be led by independent materials science expertise or by engineering. I t…

For what is the Deputy seeking a timeframe?

The revision to IS 465 was made on 2 June. Under section 51 of the Act, the Minister must review the scheme following that revision. The review will examine several aspects of the scheme, including treatment of foundations. Findings must be reported to the Oireachtas within three months of completion. That is the timeline.

We need a sense of balance and perspective here. The Deputy's assessment is way off the mark, in terms of painting a picture of where childcare is today compared with where it was even five years ago. We have delivered more progress on childcare in five years than in the previous 30 years. Costs are down by 36%, investment is at a record high and now, for the first time in the State's history, we are beginning to directly build childcare facilities. New measures announced this month will reduce fees further from Se…

Budget 2026 invested almost €1.5 billion in early learning and childcare, which is a 12% increase. Going back a decade, that figure was €260 million. Numbers speak for themselves in terms of the funding. A total of 277,000 children will benefit from the national childcare scheme in 2026. That is 27,000 more than last year. That is not collapse; it is expansion. Childcare prices have fallen by 36% since October 2022, with fees held at 2021 levels while the rest of the cost of living has risen. Some 105,000 children …

I thank Deputy Toole for her thought-provoking question and the ideas that emanate from it in terms of looking at security through a much broader lens than tends to be the case where people look at it more conventionally as military or defence capability. Food security, in my view, is a fundamental part of both economics and a nation's security and it goes to the very heart of sovereignty. Ireland, in respect of food security, has to be looking at a European context, given our membership of the EU, but also because…

When I mentioned Europe, I meant Ireland will be feeding a lot of Europe. That is my point. We are. In fact, I was reading Ronan McGreevy's work on Seán Lemass recently. During the war a lot of our foodstuffs went to Britain. That is an aspect of war and security that rarely gets documented or referenced but it was a significant contribution in its own way. Even globally, the work we do in Africa, particularly in terms of climate resilience advice and product and so on in terms of crops is quite strong because of o…

-----because we need more renewables so we are not subject and exposed to volatility on fuel prices into the future, which derails our economy very quickly.

Sorry?

I will ask her on the Order of Business.

This is a societal issue. Blaming Government for what is going on alone is not a sufficient response. The impact report is quite shocking. It reported 62,275 disclosures of domestic abuse. That is an increase of 33%, including 4,755 involving children. This is a shameful and shocking indictment on Irish society. We need, and there has been, a significant criminal justice response. The Minister for justice has progressed Jennie's law and Valerie's law, the first of which relates to a domestic violence register and t…

It is going to need more than that, I think.