Thank you, Deputy.

Thank you Deputy. Minister-----

The Deputy is out of order.

I raise an important issue, having regard to an email I received from a concerned citizen. It relates to the circumstances in Dublin whereby residents and businesspeople are affected negatively by what is happening at Grattan Hall, Mount Street, Grattan Court and adjacent areas. I want to know what the Government is going to do about this. The description I have indicates there is a large encampment of hundreds of young males, wearing hoodies, outside windows and doors of residents at Grattan Court and such places.…

I move: That Dáil Éireann: recognises that: — more than 500,000 individuals are family carers, which means one in eight people in Ireland provide regular unpaid care; — family carers are the backbone of care provision in Ireland, however they often lack support and recognition; — caring intensively over a long period without support or recognition negatively affects a carer's physical and mental health, financial status, and social integration; — for many carers who care for a child with additional needs their cari…

I compliment People Before Profit-Solidarity on tabling this very important motion for discussion today. I am a member of the Joint Committee on Disability Matters and, sadly, many of the issues the committee has heard about over the last three or four years remain current. Solutions are not being found. The Government could take a hand over many of the things that are happening and try to sort them out without any more toing and froing. In 2019, an INDECON report noted an increase in the cost of living with a disa…

I also welcome the opportunity to speak on this subject, which is important not just to everyone here in the House, but also to every family in Ireland. I congratulate the Minister of State, Deputy Colm Burke, on his appointment. This is my first time speaking to him in the House; best of luck to him. The cancer strategy we have is a good strategy. I think everybody agrees that we should be proud of the strategy as written on paper. Where we are running into trouble is that the implementation of that strategy leave…

On behalf of the Regional Group, I too want to extend our sympathies to Charlie's family. The thing that stands out most for us is the fact that he was so courageous when he was struck down with ill health and the spirit with which he took that on. He was an example to us all to take on whatever life gives us. We wish his family well into the future. He will be missed. May he rest in peace.

I wish the Taoiseach well if this is his last day taking Leaders' Questions. I thank him for his friendship and loyalty over the last seven or eight years. In the aftermath of the referendums we had and the Government's insistence that it wanted to do something for carers, will the Government support our Private Member's motion coming before the Dáil next month? We will be seeking the introduction or the initiation of a non-means-tested carers support scheme for carers. Equally, regarding the issue of disabilities …

I thank Sinn Féin for tabling the motion, which is very important. In a rural constituency such as Galway East, which I represent, we can see the lack of services. The first issue is with GPs. Even in the towns they are under awful pressure. I was in a GP practice on Tuesday morning. One of the doctors was not there and there was great pressure on the rest of the staff because he was out sick. There is no fallback position. What is wrong is that we do not have enough GPs. We all know what the problem is but how are…

I thank the Minister of State. Her heart is in the right place where getting things done is concerned, but there are so many issues within the systems that have been set up that it is difficult to find out what is happening. I get many calls from parents who are trying to get their children assessed, into special needs care or into ASD units. Last week, I encountered the case of a school that wanted to put an ASD unit in place. Everyone was happy with that plan and there was a demand for it, but the Department of E…

I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 37 and the name of the Member in each case: Deputy Mairéad Farrell - To discuss the issue of rents in investment fund-owned student accommodation in Galway. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív - To discuss the need to improve the two Connecting Ireland bus services in Connemara. Deputy Kathleen Funchion - To discuss the appeal of Helping the Homeless in Kilkenny to avail of the ESF and food and basic materials support…

The debate is concluded.

As no other Deputy is here to put questions, that concludes the business for this evening.

I thank the Labour Party for bringing forward the motion. I welcome the opportunity to speak on it. Housing has become the single biggest issue not just in Dublin and other cities but right across the country. It is an issue in every rural constituency, including my own in Galway East, where we do not have enough houses being built. I will focus first on social housing. I accept there has been a huge turnabout in terms of local authorities building social houses. It is a welcome move that this is happening again. I…

We will now go back to the Government.

Yes.

Before Committee Stage commences I would like to deal with a procedural matter relating to Bills to amend the Constitution. The substance of the debate on Committee Stage relates to the wording of the proposed constitutional amendment, which is contained in the Schedule to the Bill. The sections of the Bill are merely technical. Therefore, in accordance with long-standing practice, the sections are postponed until consideration of the Schedule has been completed.

I commend Deputy Tully and Sinn Féin on bringing forward this motion. As a member of the Joint Committee on Disability Matters it is important that I focus on a few things. We have looked for the ratification of the UN protocol. We issued a report on that. I was disappointed this week to see an announcement that some other report will now be prepared by Government. That will be brought before it later in the year, and we will end up with a situation where it will look to see if it is in a position to bring this in.…

I am sharing time with Deputy Tóibín. I welcome the opportunity to speak to the Bill and commend Deputy Collins and her group on having introduced it. At face value, it seeks to protect workers who want to have their union fees deducted at source, checked off and submitted to the union. That is fine but I want to speak about the implications it might have for small business. A huge proportion of small businesses in this country have their backs to the wall. We in the Regional Group tabled a Private Members' motion …