I answered Deputy Shanahan and he was too busy with his Hunger Games. I am outlining the difference that has been made and what has happened. It is also the case that other measures the Government was committed to have happened. St. Declan's Way, the development at Cappoquin, the work that has happened at Mount Congreve are only just a few of the examples of the commitment of Government to make a difference for the south east-----

-----just as we have a commitment to make a difference to every other part of the country.

I thank the Deputy for raising this extremely important matter. We are all aware of the need to respect the voice of survivors and respond to the suffering and abuse that many have endured. I know the Deputy has been raising this issue for some time and I know the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, is very aware of its importance. His Department is working to make a difference to it. On the particular point the Deputy put to me regarding the role of a child protection officer, the reason the role will be provided and funde…

The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, has indicated his concern regarding the delay in the appointment of the person into that role. He and the Government believe an important intervention is needed to respond back to the issues of public concern the Deputy referred to. The Shannon report into those issues was driven and supported by the Minister after he met survivors and had the kinds of issues the Deputy referred to raised with him. I understand the Minister met with survivors as recently as ten days ago to hear their …

I thank all the Deputies for the different issues they raised. To begin with the issue raised by Deputies McDonald and Bacik, the Minister, Deputy Martin, is going to be in front of an Oireachtas committee for many hours this evening. She will then be in the Dáil tomorrow afternoon making a statement, hearing the views of Deputies and responding at the end to the questions that are being put to her. The appropriate place in which this matter should be dealt with is the Oireachtas committee that is responsible for t…

I know, but you could have fleshed it out a little more-----

-----just to give a bit of acknowledgement of the support that is being offered. I am going to come to Deputy McGrath in a moment.

You just wait over there, the Deputy who does not know what an ecosystem is.

We voted for that legislation-----

Government Members voted for that legislation because, of course, we appreciate how complex this is. Of course we appreciate the concerns that are there, but this kind of law is needed to put in place the steps that give us a chance of protecting our nature in the time ahead.

Very briefly, I would not like Deputy McGrath to think I am forgetting him for a moment.

Of course I know what an ecosystem is. It is our nature, our food and our environment, which we are in a battle to protect. Those who know it the most are our farmers, who are closest to nature, and the Government will spare no effort-----

-----in continuing to work with them with the kind of transition and change that are needed.

What public service broadcasting needs is confidence regarding the money that will be available to it in the years ahead, which is what the television licence has offered in the past. If it is to be scrapped, there will be a need to find €130 million or €150 million from someplace else. That is money we will not be able to spend in responding to the issues just raised by party leaders. The Government is considering the future of the television licence at the moment. The revenue the licence fee brings in is very val…

When the Deputy raised this important question earlier, I referred to the budget funding available to homelessness services. This funding ensured that 1,161 households were prevented from entering emergency accommodation through the creation of a tenancy. During 2023 we saw a 25% increase in the number of adults prevented from going into homelessness versus the previous year. The urgency is there and we will continue to take any step we can, through providing funding, to help those who are at risk of homelessness. …

I thank the Deputy for raising the matter. The Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, and the Department, will continue to engage with schools and families in relation to all of this. It should be emphasised that when schools are notified of their special education teacher allowance for this September, there will be an increase of 1,000 teachers to provide special education in our schools. There is an increase in the number of teachers we have, meaning there will be 14,600 spec…

Again, I offer my condolences to Ms Delaney's family. Deputy Bacik raised the same matter with me some moments ago. This is the reason the Government is committed to building 9,300 social homes this year through our local authorities and approved housing bodies. This will give us the ability to respond back and support those who are on our housing lists and those using our homeless services. I will not repeat too much the figures I had given to Deputy Bacik earlier. I spoke on our efforts to prevent people going in…

The Deputy does a disservice to road safety by claiming that the reason Kildare receives funding for roads is because it is close to Dublin-----

Criteria are laid out that lead to the allocation of funding to local authorities-----

I will most certainly engage with and raise the matter with the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan-----