It is Defence Forces.

He gave me permission.

She gave the green light for the genocide.

A number of weeks ago, the Housing Commission the Taoiseach set up issued a damning report about the failure of Government policy to address the absolutely dire housing and homelessness crisis. We have been asking since then for a debate on that report. We were led to understand last week that such a debate would take place, yet it is not on the schedule for this week. Given the absolute anger and despair being expressed by hundreds of thousands of families affected by this housing crisis, particularly in the teeth…

If we get a chance to debate it, we can discuss that, as promised.

I do support reference rents.

I campaigned for reference rents.

We will have a debate then. You promised a debate last week. When?

When?

I just asked him when.

I also welcome the Palestinian ambassador, other members of the Palestinian community and activists to the Gallery. I welcome, in particular, Zak Hania, his wife Batoul and their children. I am delighted Zak escaped the horror of what Israel has been inflicting on the people of Gaza, which continues as we speak, as men, women and children are slaughtered by this genocidal regime. This day of Palestinian state recognition is the result of the endless and heroic resistance of the Palestinian people and the enormous p…

All of us will be very familiar with people coming into our constituency offices to show us photographs, as Deputy Gould did earlier. I thank him and Sinn Féin for this important motion. There is damp rolling down the walls and the windows. There is black mould in the bathrooms, kitchens and bedrooms. Clothes and bedclothes are made damp as a result. There is a prevalence of asthmatic conditions among children and older people. I do not know the extent to which this has been studied but anecdotally it is absolutely…

I have never thought that fees for higher education made any sense. Why on earth would one ration access to higher education, college or university? But when we are looking at absolutely chronic skills and labour shortages in just about every sector of our society at the moment, is it not time to remove all obstacles to people getting trained, skilled and educated in key areas where we need people to work in our society?

These are under-pressure, slow and incremental moves by the Government. We are in a very serious situation, however, and we need a bit of bold and radical thinking. Take, for example, the area of special needs, which I and others have been campaigning on, particularly over recent times because of such a dire situation there. There is a lack of teachers, special education teachers, psychologists and almost all of the allied health professionals. As a result, vulnerable children do not have special education resource…

Yes, but this needs a whole-of-government approach. It cannot just be the Minister. If we do not have early intervention for children with special needs, the costs down the line for the rest of society will be huge. There has to be holistic thinking. If we get people trained in areas like the allied health professions and as nurses, doctors, teachers and so on, we will save society a lot of money down the line and we will be helping our young people to get qualified, thereby helping our society and economy. It is a…

There is no doubt that some small businesses in particular sectors like hospitality, small cafés, some retail and so on are struggling. We all come across them. There are certainly plenty of businesses in Dún Laoghaire town that are struggling and deserve and need assistance. However, I warn strongly against any idea that the way to help those struggling businesses is to attack, undermine and delay improvements in workers' wages and conditions. The Government is putting forward worrying signals, some of which are i…

Seven months of public outrage and protests have finally forced the Government to recognise the state of Palestine. I hope that is going to be accompanied by sanctions. I wish to discuss another protest that will happen this Saturday at the Custom House over the Government’s failed housing policies. This comes at an appropriate moment, given that the Housing Commission has confirmed what the dogs on the street know, namely, that the Government has made a catastrophic mess of the housing situation, resulting in unto…

The Taoiseach has probably read it.

We have not had a chance yet.

The Government gave it to the press, not to us.