Does the Minister have an answer for this one? It is one of these strange questions where I can probably answer the question myself to some degree.

The issue with the autism unit at De La Salle is that it was operating out of a classroom made available by a teacher, which then had to be returned to them. There is a plan for a building that would deal with two units. The issue was that a modular unit is going in that will only fit one class, but a huge amount of work has been done by the principal and the NCSE. I got good news last Friday, so I am hoping this will just be reaffirmation of that in the sense that resources will be provided by the Department. They…

The important issue relates to the school building programme and ensuring that the planned extension will happen as soon as possible. Obviously, it would have been better if it had happened earlier, but it would be good to get a timeline for when we think it can be delivered. If it was in train, we would not have the issues we have been facing recently, whereby parents were told that there was no space in the school for a new autism unit for their children. In fairness and as already stated, major work was done by …

Do we have no time left?

What is the status of the review of disability supports for students in further and higher education centres, and will the Minister make a statement on the matter? Some of this relates to my engagement with the Minister's predecessor, Deputy Harris, not least in respect of personal assistants in further education colleges and trying to rectify the issue with their contracts.

This is absolutely vital work that needs to be done. We constantly talk about how we have to move beyond reasonable accommodations and in the context of universal design, facilitate all sorts of people. It is fair to say that major work has been done in new pathways and route maps for people as regards education. I visited the Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre of Excellence yesterday with Deirdre Hargey, the North's economy Minister. A number of memorandums of understanding, MOUs, were signed with Southern Reg…

I also visited Dundalk Institute of Technology, DkIT, recently, which offers a particular course relating to skills for independent living. DkIT has particular issues with regard to SUSI. I hope this will be looked at as we carry out reviews. I am very glad the Minister spoke about the cliff edge that exists, particularly when kids hit the age of 18. With regard to services across the board, there is a significant body of work that needs to be done. I referred to personal assistants in further education colleges. I…

A number of businesses in the Clanbrassil Street, St. Nicholas Quarter, Church Street and York Street areas of Dundalk received a text message at 10 a.m. today from Irish Water, telling them essential maintenance works would be taking place between 8 o'clock tomorrow and 8 o'clock on Monday and that this may cause disruption. I would be calling for a different intervention had I not managed to contact Irish Water. I ask the Minister if anything can be done to mitigate this. Obviously, the businesses and the town ce…

We will probably have a fair amount of agreement, at least on this side of the House, on the issues out there at the minute, among them the cost-of-living crisis that workers and everybody else are going through. I have no doubt that, as people are hitting the doors, they are getting it in the neck, for want of a better term, on the pressure businesses are under also. There is a cost-of-doing-business crisis also. It is a matter of how we look after the people we need to look after. We need to make sure we look aft…

It was never off it. The Minister of State is just not very good at finding it.

The Taoiseach has spoken about a sustainable migration system and the idea of streamlining processing times for those trying to avail of international protection. We all want to see something that is fair, but it also needs to be efficient and enforced. The Taoiseach has spoken about how countries have been added to the list of safe countries. He has also spoken about how we have improved our processing times and what impact the latter has had. Will he provide an update on the matter? The Irish people want to see t…

I want to bring up the issue of the De La Salle College in Dundalk and an autism unit. There was one autism class last year. It was put in a class that was freed up by a teacher. There will be a prefab unit that that class can go into.

I know. The problem is we are talking about a number of families. We are talking about five families that have been told there is no room at the inn. It is a four-way conversation including the school, the NCSE and the families. We just need to bring it to some sort of completion. The problem is that if the school building programme had been earlier, we would have had the solution with the two classes.

I commend the kids of Dundalk Grammar School on their campaign regarding the playing of Gaelic football. I have had very positive discussions with the principal, Mr. Graham, and with the GAA. It is hoped we will see something positive at the end of that. It was a very well-conducted protest. As I said, the kids were brilliant and the school was great to allow it. It was democracy in operation. It is a pity we do not see more of it. I bring up the issue of the 100X, which is a Bus Éireann Expressway service between …

I wish to discuss the affordable housing scheme in County Louth, specifically Cois Farraige in Blackrock just outside Dundalk. Time was extended to allow more people to apply. Initially, there were just 26 applications, only five of which met the criteria. Council officials said that the difficulty lay with the criteria. Not for the first time, I will put it on the record that I do not believe that €305,000 is what an affordable housing scheme should be priced at. It means a large number of people are priced out of…

I spoke earlier during statements and, not for the first time, I brought up the so-called affordable housing scheme at Cois Farraige, Blackrock, just outside Dundalk. In fairness to Louth County Council, it extended the time to ensure people could actually apply. Of the initial 26 applicants – I do not know how many more applied later – only five were able to meet the criteria. While there were meant to be ten affordable houses offered, only five applicants could meet the criteria and get a house. Therefore, there …

I wish to ask the Minister of State about the Government's short- and medium-term plans to ensure there are reductions in premiums for insurance products, particularly public liability insurance. This question follows on from the question that was previously on the floor. We are talking about reductions in settlement costs and the reforms that have happened in respect of duty of care, etc. However, the operating costs of insurance companies are still going through the roof. An enormous amount of businesses are unde…

We know what the Minister of State cannot do but it is a question of what he can do and what interaction he intends to have with these insurance companies as premiums are still going up. I get the idea that we knew that an issue existed in respect of duty of care. An argument could have been made that it could have been dealt with at an earlier stage. The problem was that a huge number of companies that operated in the public liability sphere, in childcare and other sectors, left the market. What conversation will …

We want far more companies to come into the market. We need the likes of OUTsurance, or whoever else, to engage specifically on public liability insurance. We know the issues that exist and the other added costs at the moment. It is an issue that affects community events, event tourism, sporting and community organisations. We all know the ridiculous premiums that have been charged for community centres. We are talking about sustainability across the board. I will come back to my previous question. If premiums cont…

I am not sure that the clock was-----