There will be more children in homelessness.

San olltoghchán deireanach in 2020, sheol vótálaithe teachtaireacht láidir agus soiléir gur cheart go mbeadh an deis agus an ceart ag daoine éirí as obair ag 65 bliain d’aois agus an pinsean a bheith acu. Go simplí, baineann seo le cearta agus le cothrom na féinne. Nuair a bhíonn 65 bliain d’aois sroichte ag daoine agus iad ag obair, ba cheart go mbeadh an seans acu éirí as. Tá a gcuid sealanna déanta acu agus a gcuid cánach íoctha acu. Ba chóir go mbeadh an ceart sin bainte amach acu agus cead acu éirí as obair ag…

The Taoiseach talks about not being honest. What about saying that increases in PRSI are a tax on jobs and that is why people should not vote for Sinn Féin? Those are the words that came out of his mouth. What has he done now? He has increased PRSI. We have always made it clear that these measures have to be funded. The right to retire on a pension has existed while the Taoiseach has been in government. It was a Fine Gael Government that abolished it in 2014. We are very clear. We know what the outcome of the last …

Do not embarrass yourself.

That is not true.

There are so many untruths coming from the Taoiseach it is unbelievable.

When the Taoiseach has to resort to that-----

Of course it does but the Taoiseach still has not answered the question of what he would say to the brickie or the hairdresser.

There are elections up North next year if the Government parties want to stand for them.

Half of the people on the Government benches can retire on a full pension at the age of 50. That is the reality. They will be able to take their full pension at 50.

It does apply to nurses.

It does apply to nurses and the Taoiseach should correct the record of the Dáil.

With respect, the Taoiseach should correct the record of the Dáil. This recruitment ban, if he is not aware of it, does apply to nurses-----

The only nurses it does not apply to are newly graduated nurses.

The Taoiseach should correct the record of the Dáil or he should inform himself of how his recruitment embargo applies.

I want to return to the issue of the scourge of vacancy and dereliction that blights our cities, towns and villages. It grates all the more in the teeth of a deepening housing crisis created under this Government. The local property tax returns for last year found that more than 50,000 properties were recorded as vacant. Figures released to me by the Minister for Finance yesterday show that nearly 5,000 properties have been declared as vacant in the vacant home tax returns for this year, nearly 2,000 of which are c…

As the Minister said, all of the data on distributional impact and the number of people paying are available on the website, and the options to reduce the burden are well known. Nonetheless, it is good that Deputy Moynihan has put down this amendment because it allows us to discuss the issue. I was looking forward to hearing the Minister's contribution in opposing the amendment from the Rural Independent Group, which I would have opposed myself. I would be interested in hearing the Minister's comments because the R…

Our amendment relates to rent relief. My colleague, Deputy Conway-Walsh, has addressed many of the issues. It is interesting to listen to members of Fianna Fáil, a party of government, talking about how well the rent credit is working. We argued with the Government for years, until we were blue in the face, to do something for renters, only to be repeatedly told "No". We were told very clearly that any such relief would just go into the pockets of landlords, which, unfortunately, is what is happening. The point is …

I know the Minister is quoting from a report on the refundable tax credits but the refundable tax credit in relation to rent relief will have no impact on the labour market and the Minister should acknowledge that. The report references refundable tax credits in relation to other matters. A refundable tax credit is doable and is possible but that is not at the core of this. There is an increase in those claiming the credit and that is to be welcomed. We would encourage everybody to claim not only this credit but al…

The Government got there four years later.