I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." The Houses of the Oireachtas Commission came into existence on 1 January 2004 under the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Act 2003. The founding commission legislation had two principal consequences. First, the commission became the sanctioning authority for expenditure, for deciding on staff numbers up to the grade of principal officer and for the provision of services and related matters to the Oireachtas. Second, the system for the allocation of budgets to the…

A Chathaoirligh, I should inform the Deputy we are not discussing that Bill. This is the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission (Amendment) Bill. The Appropriation Bill has not yet been taken.

We are not; this is the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission (Amendment) Bill. The Deputy is referring to the Appropriation Bill, which is later today.

I thank the Deputies who have contributed to the debate, namely Deputies Conway-Walsh, Sherlock, Phelan, Shortall, Ó Cuív, Collins, McGrath, O'Donoghue, Ó Snodaigh and Violet-Anne Wynne, who made some concluding comments. I will pick up on a couple of points made. Every speaker who contributed to the debate offered support for the Bill and I thank them very much for doing so. I will respond to comments made by Deputy Róisín Shortall who referred to the Bill being rushed. It is indeed the case that I am hoping to co…

I move the following Supplementary Estimates: Vote 4 — Central Statistics Office (Supplementary Estimate) That a supplementary sum not exceeding €400,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2024, for the salaries and expenses of the Central Statistics Office. Vote 5 — Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Supplementary Estimate) That a supplementary sum not exceeding €4,667,000 be granted to defray the charge which will co…

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I am pleased to introduce the Appropriation Bill 2024 to the House. It is critical annual financial legislation. It has to be enacted before the end of the year to give effect to the authorisation of voted expenditure throughout 2024 and to allow for the continuation of expenditure into 2025. It has two main functions. The first is to provide legal authorisation for all of the expenditure that has occurred in 2024, on the basis of the Estimates voted on by the Dáil…

I thank all Deputies for the contributions they have made. I will respond now to a number of the matters that were raised in this debate, including the issue of accountability in relation to the huge amounts of money that I am asking the Dáil to vote on this afternoon. I thank Deputies for recognising the importance of the passing of this legislation but I would emphasise that in order to get to this point, Revised and Supplementary Estimates had to be passed in order for this Bill to be passed. Those individual Es…

But the money is not lost. The point that was being made or suggested was that because this is a carryover, the money is being handed back but that is wrong. In fact, because it is a carryover, it is being retained within the Department but spent in a different year. The absence of a carryover would mean the money is not being spent in the Department but the presence of a carryover means that it is. There is a real and fundamental misunderstanding of what a carryover is here. The money is being spent but just in a …

I am right.

I know I am right. I am wary of making points with absolute certainty but the point I am making to the Deputy is that the State is directly involved in building homes. It does so through local authorities. The majority of those 11,938 homes would have been built directly by local authorities, which is the State. That is the argument I am making to the Deputy. To suggest the State is not involved in directly building homes would be wrong. Even if the State body to which the Deputy referred were to be established, it…

I thank the Ceann Comhairle. I also thank all the Deputies who contributed to the debate and raised various issues. I will begin with Deputy Ó Snodaigh, who raised an issue I am very familiar with because he has raised it with me on a number of occasions. It is worth putting the issue in context. We are talking about €2 million out of the €104.3 billion being allocated under this legislation. Deputy Ó Snodaigh raised important issues of principle. He stated that this is money which, in his view, is not subject to t…

I wish to say something on the Schedule. I should have said it earlier but given this also will be my final opportunity to speak in this Dáil - although like everybody on the Opposition benches, I hope to be in the next one, depending on the support of our electorate and our constituents - I thank all the Deputies over the Dáil term for their co-operation in how we have debated lots of legislation. Even though we have, at many times, vigorously disagreed, I always respect and understand the views being put forward …

Hear, hear.

I thank the Deputy very much for raising what is a very important issue for the school and for education policy in general. I know she agrees that all the girls and boys who go to that school and their teachers deserve support and recognition in the learning received and the teaching provided. It is therefore very important that this issue be raised here today. I will comment on the general supports available to our schools that look after young girls and boys who have additional and further needs and then deal wit…

I can absolutely assure the Deputy of our desire, which I am sure is the desire of everyone in this House, to continue to support the school beyond quarter 1, well into what I am sure will be an important future for it in meeting the needs and educational needs of the pupils it is looking after. To reiterate what I said a moment ago, we recognise in general the demands that schools are facing and the demands that this school in particular is facing due to the work it is doing. On the specific questions that the Dep…

-----but I know it will only be heightened by the exchange that we are having here today. Given the funding we are making available for special education, particularly for these schools, to meet the needs of the pupils and support the teachers, I hope this can be brought to a place where the school can get the support it needs so its valuable work can continue in the future.

The Deputy appears to be approaching this issue through the lens of claims that may or may not be made at election time. That is not the approach of this Government. We have a senior Minister with responsibility for disability. That Minister is Deputy Donnelly. The Government made a decision to move disability services out of the Department of Health and move them. Excuse me; the Minister is Deputy Roderic O'Gorman. He focuses on that in addition to the responsibilities that he has.

The issues the Deputy is raising are ones the Government takes seriously. I go back to the point that I made in reply to Deputy McDonald. Amid the different figures that we will trade and the general political claims that will be made here, I am keenly aware of that young girl or young boy with a disability or additional needs and the support she or he needs early in life. I am keenly aware of the value of those children's teachers, their healthcare professionals, the work their schools do, and the need to support …

The Deputy referred to the Government splashing the cash. I assume she is referring to the cost-of-living measures. What cost-of-living measure is she against?

Is she against the energy credit? Is she against the change in the domiciliary care allowance?