I will pursue that with the HSE and will contact it in regard to the service. I am not aware of the background to the decision-making there. The “Disability Capacity Review to 2032 - A Review of Social Care Demand and Capacity Requirements to 2032” was published in July 2021.

No, the disability action plan was also published in July 2021. The framework plan was published alongside the terms of reference for an interdepartmental working group to develop this action plan for submission to the Cabinet sub-committee on social affairs and equality.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 8, inclusive, together. On 23 May last, I welcomed a delegation from the US House of Representatives for a meeting at Government Buildings. This was the first visit to Ireland by a US congressional delegation since April 2019, when Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Congressman Richard Neal led a delegation to visit Dublin, London and Northern Ireland. The bipartisan delegation was led this time by Congressman Richard Neal, co-chair of the Friends of Ireland Caucus and chairman of the in…

First, on Deputy Richmond's point, I like the phrase "protocol-busting Bill" that he coined. We had a detailed discussion with the delegation in respect of the issues around the protocol. The delegates included both Republicans and Democrats and some had expertise in the trade area. They found it very difficult to comprehend what the issues were on the UK side. Their view was that the protocol issues could easily be resolved with proper negotiations and discussions. They have made it very clear to those they met in…

Deputy Murphy referenced John Bolton, who is a Republican hawk. I do not accept at all that it is appropriate for any country to be organising coups in any other country. However, Mr. Bolton was a Donald Trump appointee, as the Deputy knows, and his views would not, in my opinion, be representative of mainstream opinion within the US. That has to be said.

I would like the Deputies' insights on Russian interference across the world and seeking transparency from Vladimir Putin as to how many coups d'état he is organising, how many people he is leveraging pressure on-----

-----and how many professional private organisations like the Wagner Group are being funded and organised and creating mayhem across the world. To me, right now internationally - let us call a spade a spade - President Biden is a voice for peace.

He is a voice for reason in international relations and we are fortunate he is at the helm in the United States in the context of a terrible war on the Continent of Europe that could escalate into a horrific nuclear conflagration if we did not have someone as sensible as him in office. That is a fact. Deputy Murphy will never accept that and will never bring himself to acknowledge it because he can see no good at all in the United States. That country is the big baddie.

Yes, but I want to make another point first. Prior to the war on Ukraine, President Biden, President Macron and Chancellor Scholz all spoke to Vladimir Putin saying, "We will get into negotiations and discussions on security issues you may have concerns about, but please do not start this war." He went ahead and started the war.

May I have five minutes, a Cheann Comhairle, to finish my reply?

A minute or two will do fine. I agree with Deputy Boyd Barrett that there should be access into Gaza. I secured access to Gaza then not through the Israeli Government at the time, but through the Egyptian foreign minister. I was the only foreign minister allowed into Gaza then because the Egyptian foreign minister said I could go in through the Rafah crossing. Other senior foreign ministers were not allowed in for ridiculously restrictive reasons. We should not replicate one bad practice with another. The Deputy is…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 to 13, inclusive, together. The Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, travelled to Dublin to meet me on 23 May. I was pleased to host him and his delegation for a working dinner at Farmleigh House. Ireland and the Netherlands are like-minded on a wide range of issues, and we co-operate closely at EU level. Coming ahead of the special meeting of the European Council at the end of May, and its regular meeting in June, my meeting with Prime Minister Rutte was a useful opport…

Deputy Richmond raised the issue of financial support. There are two elements to this. There is the current financial crisis facing Ukraine. I met with President Zelenskyy and I was the first Taoiseach to visit Kyiv. I just received a letter from the President thanking Ireland and me personally for supporting the historic decision of the European Council of June 23 to grant Ukraine the official status of a candidate country for membership of the EU. President Zelenskyy has written to us articulating his gratitude t…

Ireland has a rent pressure zone, RPZ, rate of 2%, and that is a fact. Looking at the data-----

They are working for existing houses and the Deputy knows that. By the way, I did speak to Prime Minister Mark Rutte about housing. The Dutch have huge challenges in housing and they have to build on an even greater scale than us. There is not a country that does not have issues with housing, particularly in cities.

The Dutch are not in as benign a situation as the Deputy suggests.

I dealt with most of what Deputy Murphy raised. The overall story is that Ukraine's application to join the European Union opens the door for substantial funding by the European Union and the world more generally for Ukraine. Other countries have come together, especially during the Lugano conference, and committed to supporting the reconstruction of Ukraine given the extraordinary devastation that has been wreaked by Russia under Vladimir Putin's Government.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 14 to 20, inclusive, together. Ireland submitted its national reform programme, NRP, for 2022 to the European Commission on 4 May. The NRP was laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas and published on gov.ie thereafter. The NRP is an element of the European semester, the annual cycle of economic and fiscal policy co-ordination among EU member states. As part of the semester, Ireland, along with all other member states, is required to prepare and submit an NRP to the European Commis…

In terms of housing more generally, I have said consistently since I was elected Taoiseach that it is the most pressing and significant social issue facing our country. That is why we developed a comprehensive plan for housing, to which no party in the Opposition has responded in any detail beyond sound bites and slogans and some proposals that would make the situation worse. The proposals of the Deputies opposite would reduce supply in the market - simple as.

We now have the highest number of commencements on record. We have the highest number of planning permissions in over a decade. We have the highest number of completions in over a decade. We have established a high-level housing delivery group. Unfortunately, in the past two years we have been hit by Covid first, with two lockdowns, and now by a war on Ukraine, which is affecting commodity prices, in particular the prices of steel and timber, and, in turn, causing inflation. House construction has gone down slightl…