I would dispute what the Deputy has said and her analysis and presentation of it. Dealing with vacancy and dereliction is multi-stranded and must involve a multi-stranded approach. As far back as 2022, the Government introduced what I would consider to have been a game-changing initiative in terms of the vacant property refurbishment grant, which provides up to €50,000 for vacant properties and up to €70,000 for derelict properties. Since its launch in 2022, a total of 17,486 applications have been received; over 1…

-----in any effective way. That has to be said and articulated. Tá an Rialtas ag déanamh gach aon iarracht an fhadhb seo a réiteach. Tá dul chun cinn le feiscint anois sna deontais éagsúla a chuirimid i bhfeidhm.

The Deputy supports it.

I appreciate the Deputy’s support for the Government’s initiative on the tax front. It is not being delayed. In many ways, what is happening here is illustrative of the inaction and the absence of a comprehensive database to bring in a tax in the first instance. Work is ongoing between the Department of housing and the Department of Finance in that regard. Local authorities have had the Derelict Sites Act for decades. There are deficiencies in terms of identifying all of the properties that come under dereliction, …

-----and in a way that ensures there is a very defined and precise database to enable the tax to be levelled by Revenue. We will do everything we can to accelerate this. There is no delaying of this in any shape or form. It will be legislated for in the forthcoming Finance Bill, which it has to be legislated for. I welcome the Deputy’s support for it.

First, the last Government moved in terms of negotiating the public-only consultant contract. We spent a lot of time and did a lot of work on it. We negotiated that with the IHCA. The Government not only expects that to be fulfilled, but will work relentlessly to ensure its enforcement and fulfilment. People cannot be signing contracts and then arbitrarily varying those contracts or deciding to ignore them. Neither can hospitals that are funded predominantly by the State do that either. It is an imperative that the…

First, the Deputy mentioned whistleblowers. I have not had access to those whistleblowers. I do not know whether they have formally given their information to the HSE or to the Department. Are they whistleblowers as per the Act or are they people who have gone to the Deputy directly? The Deputy might clarify that at a later stage; he does not have the opportunity now and I appreciate that. That is an important point. It needs to be clarified and the Deputy needs to be very transparent about that because I do not ha…

I do not have access to that information. What I can say to the Deputy, however, is that the Minister is extremely strong on this. The Government brought in this contract, which, in itself was a radical change from what had historically been the case. We are determined that it has an impact and an effect. As far as the Government is concerned - I was very clear last weekend in my statements on this, and the Minister likewise - we will not tolerate any variation from the contracts that people have signed up to.

That will have to be implemented. I would like the Social Democrats to support that. They did the last time-----

Just to say, Fianna Fáil came back into Government in 2020. I was not in government for the past decade. Facts matter. We did not have the executive authority we now have.

The most significant measure we have taken in terms of dereliction-----

-----is the introduction of the grant to refurbish derelict and vacant housing. There is no question about it. I took a personal interest in that because when I walked in rural areas or urban areas I could see dereliction. The Minister at the time, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, introduced it. Some 17,500 applications is no mean change and 13,000 of them have been approved so that has been a significant initiative. So, it is not years of doing nothing. That is a very significant measure the Deputy chooses to ignore. Aroun…

The point I am making is that the reason it is over 4,000 is because that is where the housing need is and it is where there is the greatest degree of dereliction.

It is also the first phase of this because this is a mammoth task. Notwithstanding the Derelict Sites Act being there, the database as inherited is not sufficient to immediately introduce a tax when we do not have a comprehensive database on derelict registers the length and breadth of the country. This is a tax that is coming in, so it will have to be done properly and in a very precise and effective way that will make a difference. It is very important that we get it right and do it properly. We expanded the livi…

First, I do remember the chronology of events very well. Regarding the issue of keeping the provision of water in public control and ownership, the Government has fulfilled that.

Irish Water is entirely publicly owned and will remain so. Recently, the Government, in the context of the national development plan, NDP, allocated unprecedented funding to Irish Water for the development of water infrastructure across the length and breadth of the country. The urgency and imperative right now is to fundamentally improve the water supply infrastructure. It is a key utility, and the State is investing unprecedented amounts of taxpayers' money to make sure that we get the big wastewater treatment pl…

The more important point is that there are no proposals from anybody around the privatisation of Irish Water or any of the water services. The more important focus for us is repairing and upgrading the existing infrastructure, but also expanding it. Utilities are key to the future of our society and economy, and that is why we are putting huge amounts of money and equity into Irish Water to make sure it has the capacity to do the type of work that is required. In the last three years, particularly in the context of…

I remember the negotiations when we were in opposition but part of the confidence and supply agreement to make sure the country had a Government, which is something the Deputy has never quite had to worry about because he is always in splendid isolation-----

-----and splendid opposition, which is his entitlement.

However, the point I am making is that what we negotiated was-----