I do not accept the Deputy's proposition at all but the key point is that people who are looking for housing is the top priority of this Government and indeed the previous one. It is interesting that our supports for first-time buyers are having an impact. The percentage of first-time buyers has been steadily increasing from 26% of all household buyers in 2015 to 40% in 2026.

That is a huge increase. That is because of the help to buy scheme, the first home scheme, and the derelict and vacant housing grant schemes, which are helping first-time buyers. The costs are too high but the only answer is supply. We need more and more supply. We need fewer people and political parties objecting to housing to make sure that we have sufficient housing to provide for the younger people in the country. That is the target and objective of Government across social, affordable, and private housing.

I thank the Deputy, but just before I respond, I want to welcome the group from Laois, Mountmellick and Portarlington who are in the Public Gallery, accompanied by Deputy Fleming. They are very welcome to Leinster House. In terms of the train service from Athenry and the budgetary situation, Deputy Dolan has spoken to me about that as well. We are engaging with the Minister for Transport. That service is working and has worked very effectively. In terms of additional services, there has been substantial expansion o…

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue, and I appreciate his genuine commitment to this. I saw him there yesterday and I know the Ministers of State, Deputies Butler and Cummins, and all the public representatives in Waterford are obviously shocked at the impact of this fire, which has been terrible. The dislocation of so many groups and people has equally been very profound. It is very serious. The CEO was in touch with the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, in terms of the fund idea. The Minister, Deputy Peter B…

First, I have not read that article in The Currency . I will read it before commenting. Second, it does not justify a full trade boycott with Israel because we need to work out what the implications of that would be for Irish jobs and workers in particular. The Government favours a suspension of the European Union-Israel trade association agreement, which at the moment gives preferential tariffs to Israel. A full-on boycott and divestment could have serious implications for Irish jobs and companies as well. We need…

I join with the Deputy in condemning those racists attacks on the Dublin Rose who has been selected. It is absolutely appalling and there should be no tolerance of such racist abuse of any person in Ireland, or anywhere for that matter. Again, all of us in the House need to reflect on this. I recall in the last Dáil that there was legislation on hate speech, which eventually ran into a roadblock politically because others suggested that it undermined free speech and so on. To be honest, the Dáil collectively shied …

I thank the Deputy again for raising this. On the last occasion, I said to him that sometimes we have to be patient but I accept that 24 years is a long time. Often, it depends. The IDA will bring people to various sites. Ultimately, it is up to companies to decide the location of any particular site. I will engage with the IDA to see whether it has any different plans for the site. It would be a big boost to Fermoy if we could attract a foreign direct investment, FDI, company to that particular site. It would make…

I agree with what the Deputy has said. The use of that language is deliberately demeaning to undermine what is an important initiative. It is not a silver bullet in and of itself but we have many different people looking for different types of accommodation in the country. This provides a further option. As the Deputy said, we are looking at buildings and modular units that are quite modern in terms of their configuration and so on. People have used the term "sheds" and all that for naked political reasons as oppos…

We should acknowledge that we have made a lot of progress on this. In the previous Government, we went from 55 to 62 across all the uniform grades. That was significant. We will keep all of this under review. I cannot make any specific commitment to go to 65 today or anything like that.

There are issues we have to take on board in terms of the nature of these professions and the work that is involved. We have come a long way from 55 to 62. That simply has to be acknowledged. It is and will have an impact on the Defence Forces and the Garda. While I did not catch his name, I appreciate the public service the gentleman-----

I appreciate the public service John has given to the country. That is accepted. These are issues that we will continue to keep under review.

I thank Deputy O’Meara for raising this issue. Clearly, he has assembled a formidable Tipperary team for that public information meeting that will involve both Tipperary and north Kilkenny. I anticipate it will be this year. Hopefully, we will be in a position to open for applications in the next month or two. It is a vital scheme that reaches into communities. Across the length and breadth of the country, we can see the impact of this scheme, with first-class sporting facilities in communities and clubs from all d…

When I was Lord Mayor of Cork, one of the great privileges I had was to give a half day and give the homework off. Unfortunately, the Department of education came down on that practice after I left my job as Lord Mayor of Cork. As the Minister for education, I repeated the act. To be more serious, education and learning have evolved a lot. We know that children learn more through play in many instances than just through formal academic rigor. We do not want to dictate to schools across the length and breadth of the…

The students asked that question to me as Taoiseach rather than as a teacher, however.

We have evolved a lot.

The homework is off.

Is that for me too?

I must say that is a very dishonest portrayal and presentation of the situation. In her heart of hearts, Deputy McDonald must know that. It is very dishonest and a distortion of what has actually happened. Surely she realises that the HSE has been engaged with the trade unions on this issue for quite some time. By the way, for well over two decades now, the State has invested very significantly in the modernisation and transformation of our National Ambulance Service, pre-emergency hospital care and the first respo…

Negotiations happened-----

Negotiations happened and there was an agreed outcome. The two unions recommended the agreement to their members. The members were entitled to vote against it. I accept that point but the Deputy's portrayal of this is clearly dishonest when set against the facts. This is not something we should play politics with. People need the services of first responders. The HSE, the Government and I are all saying that the only way to resolve this is through dialogue and exhausting the well-established industrial relations ma…