I do not mind. I am easy.

It is up to the Deputies.

We have taken a stance in respect of Iran, as has the Minister, particularly following the killing of Mahsa Amini and what is going on there right now. It has to be investigated. We have condemned the widespread and disproportionate use of force against peaceful protestors. Women in Iran are being denied their rights. We work with the European Union in communicating our strongest opposition on this to Iranian officials. We will continue to work with the European Union and other international partners to hold Iran a…

You made assertions that there was sleight of hand.

I am entitled to rebut those.

I will if you will allow me to. Most people at COP accept Ireland's bona fides in respect of climate finance and loss and damage. We have led the way.

I will come back to Deputy Bríd Smith on the specifics of the question.

In future, if the Deputy wants answers to specific questions, she should not make the assertions she is making.

We are not. I will follow that up and come back to the Deputy on it.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 12 to 29, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on housing has met seven times to date in 2022. The most recent meeting took place on Monday, 24 October, and the next will take place on Monday next, 21 November. The committee works to ensure a co-ordinated approach to the implementation of Housing for All and the delivery of programme for Government commitments regarding housing and related matters. Housing for All is the most ambitious housing plan in the history of our State …

Deputy Bacik asked the first question. To make a general point, there is no document of substance on the housing issue that is an alternative to Housing for All. There is nothing with its comprehensiveness, breadth and depth covering all aspects of housing. In it is an inbuilt review mechanism, which is important in any plan. Deputy Bacik raised the issue of a census. There is no limit to the number of houses we want to build. Funding is not an issue; the issue comprises delivery, the planning system and the questi…

In local authorities.

I know that. I am just stating what the Minister has indicated.

I have listened to the Deputy at length. I am saying where we are in respect of this. Obviously, we will have more definitive figures at the end of the year, when a lot of completions will come in. On the tenant in situ scheme, the Minister took the initiative and local authorities have purchased houses where tenants were facing homelessness. He has instructed local authorities to proceed and take those houses-----

They are doing it, actually. A good few hundred have been purchased at this stage. I do not believe we should legislatively force local authorities to buy every single house that becomes available. There can be all sorts of background issues. Local authorities have to have some discretion in individual cases. Without that, why have local authorities and why not manage everything from the centre?

Deputy Boyd Barrett raised a similar issue concerning tenants in situ . It seems he is basically saying the local authorities should be automatons and do what they are told across housing. I am not sure that is the right policy and that councillors on the ground would appreciate that approach. There has to be some delegation of authority to local authorities. What we can do is resource them on the housing front, as the Minister has done, to increase their capacity to deliver housing projects in the first instance a…

-----in issues that arise in their jurisdictions. On the question of income thresholds, of course there is an issue. There has to be, and some mechanism is needed to resolve it. There is no point in saying there is not an issue because many people with lower incomes cannot get housing. Therefore, there has to be a targeting of resources too. We cannot just go in one direction only. Every local authority has resources. Each has to allocate those resources for different schemes. Again, there should be ways of interve…

We should allow people their space. There has to be balance in how we raise these issues. I will follow up on Deputy Murnane O'Connor's point on emergency accommodation for men. On Deputy O'Sullivan's comments on the planning review, the hope is the legislation will be published in a matter of weeks. Then it has to be deliberated upon.

It deals mainly with the planning code, not necessarily the OPR or other issues. We will revert to the Deputy on this. Deputy McAuliffe raised the issue of Croí Cónaithe. I agree with him that if opportunities arise in the context of interest rate increases, the Land Development Agency should take over sites for use for cost-rental or other initiatives. Deputy McDonald raised the issue of housing output this year. I will revert to her with the specifics. I do not accept there is a catastrophic failure. Housing for …

I have been very consistent in this House in saying repeatedly that housing is the single most urgent and important social issue facing our society at this time. Since the Government has come into office, we have focused razor-like on the housing issue. The evidence supports this with the new schemes that have been brought in, construction and so on, but I will deal with that in a moment. The Deputy should be in no doubt the Government sees housing as the key priority. It is a pillar of the programme for Government…