I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 to 13, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on Europe oversees implementation of programme for Government commitments on the European Union and related issues. It generally meets in advance of formal meetings of the European Council. It last met on 13 October, ahead of the meeting of the European Council in Brussels on 20 and 21 October. As I previously reported to the House, that meeting considered a number of pressing issues facing the European Union, including Russia's il…

Deputy Ó Murchú raised the shocking intensification of the war by Putin against the people of Ukraine. It is a brutal, savage attack on civilians and on a collective people. I was glad to hear this morning that Tony Connelly from RTÉ is in Kyiv to report live to us. It is important that broadcasting services can tell the world about the naked aggression of Russia and its efforts to freeze people out of their homes, villages, towns and cities. It is an extraordinary act of warfare to apply such terror to people, wit…

The Deputy is entitled to that position but I need to point out the consequence of what he is suggesting would be quite damaging to jobs in Ireland. Many workers would lose their jobs because many people would not invest in such a climate or such an environment. I am making a fair point because it would create a degree of uncertainty.

As I have said, the advice we have received so far is it can be resolved through legislation. Decisions have been taken at European court level on dilution of the investor courts and so on, but I will read the judgments. We will give this assessment and examine that. Deputy Barry raised the issue of the elimination of violence against women and I agree with his remarks in their entirety. I empathise with the LGBTI community in Colorado. What is happening in the US in respect of its gun laws is truly appalling. The …

I propose to take Questions Nos. 14 to 20, inclusive, together. This has been an intensive period for British-Irish relations. I will briefly outline to the House the extent of my recent engagements. On Wednesday, 26 October I congratulated the new British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, on his appointment and we discussed a number of issues of mutual interest, including the Northern Ireland protocol. We then had a formal bilateral meeting on 10 November in advance of the British-Irish Council in Blackpool. This was a…

I thank both Deputies for raising a range of issues. Deputy Ó Murchú asked about the mood music relating to a deal. The Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, was very clear that he wanted a negotiated settlement and outcome. There are issues the British Government feels need to be resolved. I was satisfied coming out of those meetings and we both agreed we would remain seized of the issue. We agreed that both of us would collectively seek to get this resolved within a reasonable timeframe. The key is that flesh is put on th…

I do not want to engage in semantics with the Deputy but she has seized on the word "emergency" in the past two weeks as if it is some sort of magic word that will transform our housing output. She is not the first to come up with the term "emergency". At the launch of Housing for All in September 2021, I made it clear that when I talked about and referenced a whole-of-government approach that, "[T]he fact is that the social emergency that is our housing crisis cannot and will not be solved by any one department on…

Deputy McDonald herself has opposed more than 1,600 homes on Clonliffe Road, about 177 apartments in Cabra and about 79 apartments on Moore Street as part of the broader Moore Street development. I am finding it increasingly difficult to understand how Sinn Féin reconciles its track record in this House and elsewhere in opposing such good initiatives that are now leading to cost-rental and affordable homes and social homes. Sinn Féin opposed all of those. Yet, in opposing all of those it still declared the housing …

We have limited rent increases to 2% in every rent pressure zone. We brought in a rent credit this year. Will the Deputy put down her documents and stop trying to create propaganda?

An award-winning journalist, Sam McBride, wrote a very good article recently on Sinn Féin's housing performance in the North. It is entitled "Housing Crisis will not be solved by Sinn Féin's cynical populism". In the last paragraph, he writes that Sinn Féin's Stormont record suggests that party populism is more fervently held than its grasp of the detail of what would actually improve the housing situation and it is prepared to be deeply cynical in this area.

The difference between the Sinn Féin Party which simply wants to exploit the issue and the Government side is that we have taken a range of initiatives and actions. The help to buy scheme, for example, has helped 35,000 people to own their own home.

Sinn Féin would have abolished that scheme. I referenced-----

-----how a person felt the first-home scheme was the best service they had ever got. Sinn Féin opposed that scheme and proposed its abolition.

Sinn Féin also opposed the grants for restoring housing in rural areas. I do not understand why as between 700 and 800 people have availed or are availing of that scheme.

All of those people would lose out if Sinn Féin had its way.

I have repeatedly made it clear in this House that housing is the single most urgent and important social issue facing our country. The Government has brought in a range of actions in terms of increasing housing supply, and it is about housing supply. The targets this year will be exceeded but we need to do far more. The Deputy used the phrase, and I will take her up on it because I have heard precious little on solutions from anyone in the House. I have had no comprehensive response to Housing for All from any par…

The Deputy knows well that, every year, every Department carries over 10% of its budget because schemes are not completed before the end of the December deadline. In addition, there will obviously be money allocated towards the end of the year again in terms of housing initiatives. The housing in situ scheme is one the Minister himself initiated. It is up to 600 houses now that have been or are in the process of being purchased by local authorities, with tenants in situ . That scheme is happening as we speak. As I …

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I also thank him for his initial kind comments, although I felt a sting was going to come at some stage towards the latter end of his contribution. I will make it very clear that the Government is absolutely committed to ensuring equal opportunities for all our citizens, regardless of geography or where people live. We are particularly committed to regional development because it is important we get regional, balanced development in the country, economically, soc…

The Deputy referenced my geographic origins earlier. I did acquire that land for Waterford Institute of Technology back in the late 1990s. This was the land that made all the development on the campus possible in Carriganore. At the time, a lot of people questioned the wisdom of that but in the long term, it proved to be a fairly far-sighted measure that facilitated the expansion of the university, which is key to economic growth. Why do I say this? Employment in the south east has grown by 8.6% in the past year. T…

I join in welcoming the US ambassador, who has been such a great friend to our country since her appointment and has strengthened the relationship between the US and Ireland.