By who?

I thank all the Deputies for raising these very important questions here. On Deputy Martin Daly’s question, I have also met the group, Before We Die, in relation to vulnerable adult children and the fear and anxiety of parents in terms of providing for them if they were to pass from this world. The Minister for housing has met the Minister of State for disability. The Minister for housing is instructing local authorities to build and to have a quota in every scheme for people with disabilities in the first instance…

That is the point. That is what invariably happens with industrial relations so that may be the factor here. I accept Deputy Paul Murphy's general point. The incidence of autism seems to have grown dramatically. Although some say it is better diagnosed, I am not so sure any more. The numbers are significant in terms of expansion of services in health, but particularly in education. Even this year it has been significant. In the most recent census, in comparison with the previous one, there has been an exponential i…

They have not heard anything. I will follow up because it is now June. If people want to get enrolled by September something has to happen. I will raise it with the Minister of State, Michael Moynihan and the Minister, Hildegarde Naughton. Deputy O'Rourke said the meeting to consider the drug for Duchenne is tomorrow. I hope we will get a positive outcome from that and can make progress. There has been a fair degree of representation and advocacy in that regard from both Houses. Deputy Wall raised St. Anne's specia…

Ar dtús báire, ní aontaím leis an Teachta. Tá an-chuid déanta againn. Gan amhras, tá i bhfad níos mó le déanamh againn maidir le daoine le míchumas. Tagraím don infheistíocht atá curtha isteach againn, go háirithe sa cháinaisnéis anuraidh. Ba é an méadú is mó riamh in aon cháinaisnéis. The investment in disability has been very strong. The last budget saw one of the largest ever increases in disability services, up to 20% of an increase, which is significant and is having an impact, in particular in terms of servic…

We will have places for children next September. As Deputy McDonald knows, with the decision of the early entry portal, many more applied than was anticipated and 6,000 children who are within existing mainstream schools applied for special class status, which will be provided for and very substantial additional resources have been allocated to meet that need.

No one can deny the extraordinary and very significant investment that has been made - rightly so - in special education.

It is quite significant.

The Deputy has an awful habit of interrupting. I have never interrupted her once in anything she says.

I beg your pardon?

Okay, we will leave it. We will leave it.

I recognise the issues facing people with disabilities. The first thing I did in government was to set up a special disability unit within my Department to prioritise and drive delivery of services and to improve them in every single Government Department and in a whole-of-government approach. We have established a Cabinet subcommittee on disability to deal with all aspects of public services and departmental responses and we have launched a human rights strategy in respect of disabled people. The prioritisation is…

We will have 26,000 special needs assistants by the beginning of the next school year. There will be 26,000 of them and I could go on.

We need to do more and we will do more, as we have with the school therapy services.

It is not delayed.

That is great.

I reject very strongly the Deputy's assertion that we are not taking climate seriously. Her reference to the Green Party not being in government is false.

We are doing things differently because there is a problem, which the Deputy referenced in terms of the Critical Infrastructure Bill. One of the issues is the fundamentalist, purist and perfect is always the enemy of the good. We will achieve far more on climate than perhaps the Labour Party approach or, at times, the Green Party approach because we need to bring people with us. That consensus has broken down. I can see it in the Dáil in the past few years. The Government's commitment has not lessened on climate. W…

It has been. The Deputy needs to face up to it and not be naive. At every turn, significant infrastructure and even infrastructure that will improve the climate has faced challenges because environmental considerations have been weaponised. That is a problem and a challenge. It is a problem all over Europe, by the way. It is all over Europe. That is why some of the renewable energy directives, REDs, were brought in at European level to make sure the overall good is prioritised, as with offshore wind farms. These wi…

We need an honest debate. Let us deal with the facts. Ireland now has the lowest level of greenhouse gas emissions in 35 years.