I thank the Minister of State for acknowledging that I have raised this issue. I do not need to come before the House to talk to the Minister for Education because I get the opportunity to do so every week at our parliamentary party meeting. I am sending the message here to the officials in the Department of Education as well and to those people in the school building unit that Gaelscoil Uí Earcáin cannot wait any longer. We have a principal here listening to the response from the Minister of State as we speak. She…

The mask slips now.

We have disagreed on a lot but I think we can all agree that for many, house prices are unaffordable, rents are too high and an unacceptable number of people are in temporary accommodation. However, I rise to my feet to support the Minister because I believe he is leading the charge to address the housing crisis. As Vice Chairman of the Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage, I have had the opportunity to see him and his team at work over the past two years. In February 2020, when many new M…

Not true.

Some 3,000 properties.

That is not including AHBs.

It was not scripted.

Last week Dublin City Council passed a €1.2 billion budget. It is one of largest budgets it has ever passed. Over recent years the Government has supported many local authorities throughout the country. However, there are challenges with regard to local government funding. We want local authorities to hold onto 100% of the local property tax in their area. When might we review the baseline for funding for local government?

I welcome the commitment to review the baselines. If I heard correctly this will be done in advance of the 2024 budget process. Local government funding is a bit of a dark art. I spent ten years in local government and I still cannot get my head around a lot of it. It is about retaining the local property tax in that locality, because if people pay the tax, they expect those services in that area. While some counties may need more funding, that is a matter for national government, not local government. This is a ne…

I met the team from Dublin City Council last week, along with all Dublin Deputies, and I met with the finance subcommittee. Many good councillors from across parties want to see more done for their county with more resources. I welcome the Minister of State's commitment, and I thank the Minister, both Ministers of State and their party colleagues for working with us on this to deliver this review. The Minister of State mentioned pay, which is another element to this. Dublin City Council has stated that, in the next…

I ask the Minister to engage with councillors as part of the review process.

We have to put this Bill in context. It is in the context of the Social Welfare Bill and the Finance Bill, of the announcements made on budget day and the resources this Government has been able to gather from the people of Ireland and those people who invest in Ireland to create wealth so that we can redistribute it. At the beginning of Covid-19 many people would have said it would be surprising if Ireland was in a position to make an €11 billion intervention without borrowing. We should not forget how the money a…

Representatives of Meath and Kildare county councils recently appeared before the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage to discuss how they are implementing Housing for All. They followed the four Dublin councils and Cork, Waterford and Limerick councils, with more councils to appear before us in the new year. All of these councils are telling us the story of public homes being built in increasing numbers. Two and a half years ago, local authorities including my own in Dublin city only had two o…

We move to the Rural Independent Group. I call Deputy Danny Healy-Rae, who is sharing time with colleagues.

In accordance with Standing Order 80(2), the division is deferred until the weekly division time tomorrow evening.

I understand that is a matter for the Minister.

The Government has a very strong ambition to decarbonise the taxi fleet and it has in place a grant for taxi drivers to do so. This week, however, many taxi drivers who have applied and were approved for the grant and placed orders for e-vehicles have received notification that the grant will be cancelled and they will have to reapply next February, and that is because the vehicle cannot be licensed in this calendar year. However, the Deputy will know there are significant delays in the supply of vehicles. It makes…

I echo the comments of my colleagues from Dublin regarding how proud we are of the city. When we talk about its problems, we are often serving to denigrate the city we are all passionate about. I am very proud of Dublin. I am proud of its representatives when they play in Croke Park, when I visit many of the community projects here and when I travel to other cities and see what we do well. If we really care about the city and the place where we live, however, we want it to be better. From my perspective, having ser…

I welcome the Taoiseach's answer. It gives an example of the depth and breadth of the Housing for All plan and how it touches on so many different areas of increasing supply, not least with the provision of public housing on public land. On the last count, more than 25 public sites are delivering public housing in my constituency. That is very welcome. The most recent of those was announced today with the extension of grants for vacant homes, Croí Cónaithe, of €50,000 in cities, including Dublin, and many towns and…

In the complexity of reaching our climate action targets, one of the easiest ways we can take action is by cycling. One of the best ways of introducing people to that and giving them flexibility is bike sharing. What are the Minister's plans for station-less bike sharing schemes in Dublin and other cities?