I am not quite clear about what the Deputy articulated in that minute, in terms of whether it was more spending, more tax or whatever.

We appreciate the role of the fiscal council. Its reports are a valuable part of the budgetary process. We fully accept there are issues in terms of how we manage our public finances in the context of the revenue. However, the Future Ireland Fund and the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund have been a success and they have not been funded by borrowing to date.

It is interesting that if we look at Irish expenditure over the last number of years in terms of the argument around the sustainability of public expenditure, there is no doubt that there have been a lot of increases, but one metric to evaluate is to look at total gross voted expenditure as a ratio of national output. Basically, we are kind of tracking fairly consistently over the last years, at about 33% through the 2026 to 2030 period.

It did increase sharply during Covid.

I appreciate the comments Deputy Coppinger has made. The violence last night in Belfast, the racism on display and the burning out of families because of their ethnicity have to be roundly condemned. It is very dangerous. It puts Northern Ireland in a very difficult and challenging spotlight in terms of where the North goes into the future societally. Some areas are potentially becoming no-go areas because of the colour of someone's skin or their ethnicity, despite the fact they might have been living in an area fo…

I am the Taoiseach.

The Deputy is confused on this one; there is no question about that. The International Protection Act 2026 has been introduced by this Dáil and supported by this Dáil. It will provide a very fair, sustainable, efficient and robust asylum procedure. It will also result in faster dealing with applications and appeals that may be made against those decisions. It will be much faster. It also enables us to return asylum seekers who need to go back to the place where their asylum application originated in Europe. This is…

What Deputy Lawless said there is misinformation. It is absolute misinformation.

It is absolute nonsense and I think it is wrong.

Nonsense, just bloody nonsense.

I thank Deputy Crowe for his robust advocacy on behalf of St. Joseph's Secondary School and its extension application. I take on board what he said. There has been significant investment in school buildings but, clearly, there is a necessity for more. I will engage with the Minister for education on this issue to see if we can move forward and advance this extension for the benefit of the students who attend the school and, of course, the staff who work there, as well as the wider community. It is a valuable school…

It is absolutely not sustainable and it is not safe for people either. It is not appropriate. It is wrong that people should feel the need to use tents at times. The facilitation of that is something I have issues with. The Government does not support that. The Minister has sought accommodation in different locations but also, the Act itself will lead to much faster treatment of applications. About 70% of applications are decided in the negative; in other words, people do not actually have an entitlement to asylum.…

The Deputy is being unfair to his colleagues, Government TDs who are-----

-----people of considerable experience and who have had significant impact over the years in respect of Cavan-Monaghan. There has been increased funding overall in terms of roads this year. I will engage with the Ministers for housing and the environment, local authorities and the Minister for public expenditure to make sure we can deal with the significant challenges that people undoubtedly face across the country in respect of roads, road maintenance and restoration.

It is a very reasonable point the Deputy is making. It is a good scheme and it has been a good, welcome initiative. We always evaluate initiatives in terms of how they are working. I will speak to the Ministers for energy and Finance in respect of this.

I thank the Deputy for his comments. This is a very important issue for people generally, but young people and young couples in particular, in rural Ireland. Given the housing crisis we are in, we simply have to look at every avenue to increase housing capacity. The Minister and the Minister of State with responsibility for housing have been working substantively on this with significant proposals. I envisage that in the next number of weeks, they will bring it to Cabinet. We have had a discussion at the Cabinet su…

I pay tribute to St. Joseph's Gaelic football club for its ambition and energy and for serving the community so well. This project represents the manifestation of a further milestone in the club's development and history. I will ask the Minister and endeavour to engage with Uisce Éireann to see if anything can be done here to facilitate what is a very significant community facility for the wider community that will be used by all.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I also recognise the strength of his advocacy in regard to the ring road in Galway and the absolute necessity for it. It is with some degree of dismay that we read that there will be a judicial review of the planning. I urge the authorities - and I will engage with them - to see if mediation can bring about a speedier outcome to the issues that have been raised. My understanding is that the county council is the lead authority but I will talk to TII, the county council and…

I condemn, and I have condemned, what happened on last evening. "Racist pogrom" is a good description of last night in north Belfast. I made the point in my earlier remarks that there were certain media outlets of a particular political disposition that sought, from observing some of the interviews, to raise tensions. That is unacceptable and I roundly condemn that. Everybody has a responsibility for what is said because the dignity of every individual must be respected. To have families and young children subjecte…

This is parliamentary democracy. By 86 votes to 62, the International Protection Act 2015 was passed in this House. It has been signed by the President. Why are Members inventing and deliberately misinforming people? That is what is going on here. This law has been debated in this House at length.