That is very patronising, with respect. I am passionate about this issue.

I will deliver my statistics and my facts in any way that I want.

That is fine. Do not tell me to-----

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCeann Comhairle. As this is the last sitting day before the Dáil breaks for Christmas, I take this opportunity to wish the Ceann Comhairle, Members, the press and the staff here in the Houses of the Oireachtas a very happy Christmas and a prosperous new year. Nollaig shona agus athbhliain faoi mhaise dóibh go léir. May I also extend solidarity to the family of Private Seán Rooney of the 27th Infantry Battalion Dundalk whose first anniversary takes place today. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam. …

The Tánaiste is clearly not listening. I just made the point that the Government missed its target for social and affordable housing last year. The Government missed its target not only last year but also the year before and the year before that. It is going to miss the target again this year. The consequences of that are very real because there is an affordability crisis. There are people now who cannot get rental accommodation. Rents have been at record levels. There has been a 12% increase in the past year. Hous…

Answer the question on the targets.

Why will the Tánaiste not answer a basic question?

He will not. The question was whether the Tánaiste will miss his targets again this year. He should please answer the question.

On a point of order-----

I asked twice for the Government to acknowledge it is missing its targets.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Cheann Comhairle as a fhocail dúinn ansin. Today's HIQA report paints a worrying picture. It pointed out that, since 2019, 50 nursing homes have closed their doors, causing the loss of more than 1,500 beds at a time when our older population is growing rapidly. This crisis seems to be escalating. We had 14 closures of nursing homes last year alone, which resulted in more than 400 beds being lost from the system. It is not just in the private or community sector. We now have 1,000 fewer publ…

For the second day in a row we have more than 700 patients who have been admitted to our hospitals and cannot get a bed. There were 57 yesterday in Letterkenny University Hospital and 47 today in University Hospital Limerick. For the second day in a row there are more than 100 patients admitted who cannot get a bed in that hospital. We have ambulances outside that cannot offload patients for the lack of hospital beds. We have elderly patients in my local hospital in County Donegal who have been unable to get a hosp…

I thank everybody who spoke on the legislation, especially those who supported it. After three years of the Minister of State's Government being in office, the homelessness crisis has never been worse. That is a blatant, blunt fact. Each month it gets worse. New records are broken every single month by this Government when it comes to homelessness. As shocking as these new records are, they mask the real impact of homelessness on workers and families, on their financial resilience, on their mental health and on the…

Ba mhaith liom ceist na ngardaí agus an Ghaeilge a ardú leis an Aire Stáit. Táimid ag iarraidh a chinntiú go bhfuil Gaeilge líofa ag gardaí atá lonnaithe i stáisiúin Gaeltachta. I wish to raise the issue of Irish-speaking gardaí working in Gaeltacht regions. Will the Minister provide an assessment of how much progress has been made regarding the Garda's Irish-language strategy, published in 2022? Is her Department aware that there is a shortage of Irish-speaking gardaí currently working in County Donegal, which has…

I welcome that the Minister of State has put new information on the record. I submitted a parliamentary question to the Minister for Justice, which gave me the breakdown of every Garda station in the Gaeltacht regions, including County Donegal. It comprised more than 300 gardaí in County Donegal and suggested there were only nine with Gaelic as a native language or with proficiency. I subsequently questioned that because I know it is not true. I know many of the gardaí in my community who speak fluent Irish and man…

Given Fine Gael's disastrous handling of policing and justice and the reduction in the number of gardaí we have also seen in County Donegal, whether you look at the figures from 2002, 2012 or the past three years the numbers for our county have gone down. On top of that more than one in ten is out sick. These are either people who have been assaulted or injured in the course of their duty, or are suffering from sickness themselves. There is a serious issue there. We then have the situation in Gaeltacht regions. Peo…

Leis an Rialtas seo, tá praghsanna tithe imithe tríd an díon agus tá úinéireacht tí anois níos deacra agus níos deacra agus níos faide ar shiúl do ghlúnta ár ndaoine. Léirigh tuarascáil an lae inniu ó Chumann na Seirbhéirí Cairte go bhfuil ardú de bhreis is €90,000 tagtha ar chostais tithíochta nua i mórcheantar Bhaile Átha Cliath amháin, ó tháinig an Rialtas in oifig trí bliana ó shin. Today's report by the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland on the cost of new housing delivery lays bare the depths of the housi…

I am not even going to respond-----

----- to all the misleading points the Minister has made because it is complete deflection. What I will respond to is him stating that his plan is working. I genuinely ask him or any of the those who were laughing and heckling there if they think it is working when we have seen the record level of rent increases - since records began - at 12%. Does he think it is working when house prices in the greater Dublin area have increased by €90,000 since you folk took office three years ago? Does he think it is working for…

Every bit of evidence shows it. What is the Minister going to do about the report that is published today? The report states very clearly that house prices in the greater Dublin area have increased by €90,000 since he became Minister for housing, over the past three years. It has told us clearly that to purchase a home, you need a joint income of €127,000-----