The Deputy said homeless.

He said homeless lists.

Who is incompetent?

There was not as much pirouetting and spinning at my daughter's ballet recital compared to what I just saw there. The reality is this is far too serious to engage in conspiracy theories.

The Deputy suggested I went around counting people. The reality is we have robust, politically independent, impartial structures in our State-----

Sorry, no. The Deputy can wave his sheets of paper but I want to know who in the public service he is calling incompetent?

It is our public service. It is ours, we live in a Republic. It is our public service and it does a bloody good job and I want to know-----

Just wait a second now, Mr. Angry. Wait.

I want to know who in our public service or what agency Deputy Tóibín believes is wrong in relation to our housing figures. I made the point about duplication and how you can report homelessness in more than one area. That did not suit the Deputy so he switched his argument for the next stage. The Deputy is right. We are coming from a very low base after a very difficult, deep financial recession in this country. We are working on trying to make progress, day in, day out. We have new ideas and are taking big, bold …

I thank Deputy McGrath for raising this issue. I join with him in sending best wishes to the local gardaí he referenced who experienced assault. An attack on a member of An Garda Síochána is an attack on our democracy and should rightly be condemned. Indeed, in this House in recent years and under the leadership of the then Minister, Deputy McEntee, we significantly increased the maximum penalties for those who assault a member of An Garda Síochána, or indeed our emergency services more generally. I thank the Deput…

I am definitely not directing my remarks at the people of Dundrum – far from it. I met some of them when in Clonmel, but we have seen that huge pressure and challenges have been imposed on the gardaí in dealing with extremist elements in certain places. They visit my constituency as well. I thank the gardaí, who often must operate in the face of considerable abuse, which includes people sticking phones in their faces. They have to show considerable strength to try to keep the peace, so I thank An Garda Síochána for…

However, I am taking the Deputy’s broader point and on this occasion I am agreeing with him in that we obviously need to do more to increase the Garda presence. I assure him that the programme for Government, and also the pipeline we are now seeing from Templemore, will see us on a more positive trajectory as a result of the foundations we have put in place over the past several years. I also assure the Deputy that the safety of our members when out and about patrolling is of paramount importance to the Government …

I thank Deputy Cullinane for raising this issue again. I acknowledge he has raised it frequently. I would make the point that when we have worked together, across parties in this House, on issues relating to Waterford and the rest of the south east, including the university in recent years, we have managed to make progress together. This is a similar issue. Genuinely across the House, there is support for what is requested. The programme for Government commits to working with all stakeholders to quickly progress th…

I extend my sympathy to the family of the young man, Evan Fitzgerald. He was a countyman of mine. The incident was a great shock in the local community and County Wicklow. I understand this is a complex case. Obviously, I am not privy, nor should I be, to when the Garda Commissioner does or does not use the provision in the Act. That is a matter between the Commissioner and the Minister, but I understand the Minister for justice has sought further information from the Garda Commissioner on the case. I also note the…

We are treating this as an emergency. It is a housing emergency and that is why we are taking big decisions each and every week to try to increase housing supply. We have increased housing supply from the floor to around 30,000 homes each year. We need to increase that significantly to deliver 300,000 more homes by the end of 2030. We have been following the evidence base of the Housing Agency in decisions we have made in recent weeks. We have published the report of the Housing Agency, which is the body that is me…

I thank Deputy Ward for the constructive way in which he has been engaging on this issue on behalf of his constituents in Donegal. I am pleased with some of the progress that we have been able to make together after the Minister, Deputy Browne, worked intensively with Deputy Ward's constituents and the advocacy groups in Donegal. I will ask the Minister to reflect on the Deputy's point regarding the cut-off date. I will also ask him to come back to the Deputy about the publication of the Bill and the timeline. The …

I thank Deputy Collins for raising this issue. I am not in any way doubting the accuracy of what he says or his bona fides on it, but if true, that lack of communication would be quite extraordinary. I must say without knowing all the details that the idea of moving people 100 km is extraordinary at any stage in a person's life, least not in the latter stages. I know the Department of Health has engaged with the HSE on this matter. It has requested an urgent update on the issue, including information on the residen…

I thank Deputy Brennan for raising this issue. This Government is keen to support small and medium enterprises. They make up the backbone of our economy and every community that we proudly represent in Dáil Éireann. We have taken two measures already. The SME test makes sure that all proposals that come to the Government are put through the prism of what their impact on our small and medium businesses will be. We have established a new small business unit in the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment. Obv…

I thank Deputy Clendennen. I, too, am very proud of the progress we have made on public health. We have much more work to do. There is a legitimate issue of timing when it comes to labelling. My colleague, the Minister, Deputy Heydon, has shared economic concerns relating to the policy due to the uncertain trading environment, which has been raised with him by many colleagues trying to do their business internationally. The Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment has competitiveness concerns. As the Ministe…

I thank Deputy Ó Cearúil for raising this issue. He is right. Sometimes, means tests can just be mean. We have to make sure that they are fit for purpose. That is why the programme for Government specifically makes this commitment. We want to do a thorough deep dive on means tests, particularly where there are anomalies or poverty traps or they do not align with other parts of Government and societal policy and direction of travel. We made some progress in recent years in terms of people working and access to medic…