I will start there and go in reverse order. I thank Deputy Ward. That is a constructive suggestion. I will check when the review is due to be completed and see if we can make progress on the idea of a social housing passport. I am aware in parts of my constituency as well that county boundaries sometimes do not reflect the way people live their lives and where they work, go to school and so on. Deputy Murnane O'Connor raised the issue of the need for an upgrade of Bagenalstown wastewater treatment plant. I will get…

Yes, I understand. I definitely heard the Deputy. Deputy Conway-Walsh raised the issue of defects in apartments and the interim scheme and the longer one. I will send her a written note. In short, up to the end of March, 128 applications are being progressed under the interim funding across 26 local authority areas, representing more than 13,000 residential units. Approximately 80% of the units affected are located in the four Dublin local authority areas, but I am aware from reports that there have been difficulti…

First, I agree with the Deputy's comments about this being a welcoming country and about there being no room for racism in the country. It is important that we live in a country where the leader of the Government and the leader of the Opposition can come together in our national Parliament and say that. That is important, and I welcome that. However, let me say this: there is no confusion and there is clarity. The reality of the situation is, as the Deputy knows better than most, that we have a common travel area b…

What I am very well aware of is not allowing this country to become a pawn in any politics in the United Kingdom. I hope that is something that the Deputy and I can agree on because as political leaders in this Parliament, I hope the Deputy will also agree that we have every right to set our own migration policy, we have every right and obligation to make sure that migration policy is rules-based, efficient and effective, and we also have every right when countries enter agreements that those agreements are honoure…

I am very clear that those operational agreements are in place under the common travel area and I am very clear that we are going to legislate so that we will have absolute clarity so it can work. I am also really clear that it is only one of a number of things that we need to do. The more significant thing that has been done in recent weeks is not the legislation today but the faster processing time because we know that is what helps make a very positive impact on reducing the numbers of people coming to our count…

I thank the Deputy for the question. First, we have data and we gather data relating to the International Protection Office. While I am not suggesting the Deputy is, we cannot ignore the reality of the island that we live on and the peace settlement that we have on this island. So, we do not count the number of people who come over the Border by nationality or anything else; we know that.

Deputy Howlin knows this well too. As I imagine Deputy Bacik knows, when people present at the International Protection Office, very experienced staff, who have done incredible work in a very intense environment, carry out interviews and the likes, and garner, not anecdotes, but data and information on how people have come to our country. They are telling Government and we are telling the Deputies opposite that the overwhelming majority of people now presenting in that office have come from the UK or down from Nort…

Now let us discuss how we can address those issues. Let us discuss how the PSNI and An Garda Síochána can work more closely. Let us discuss how we can work to protect the common travel area from abuse. Let us work to see how we can - I welcome the Deputy's comments - work at an EU level because I do not believe we can go it alone. We may differ on some of the detail of the migration paths and I look forward to the opportunity to debate that in the House, but I very much agree on the ultimate need to overhaul EU rul…

That is a really important thing to do. The people on Mount Street and people in Deputy Bacik's constituency would believe that is an important thing to do. Regarding the legislation the Minister for Justice intends to bring forward, she today received permission to draft that. The Minister intends to enact legislation by the end of this month. In that legislation she will outline how she intends to respond to the issues that were brought to the fore by the High Court in March of this year. I believe there is a way…

I do not think it is objectively fair to say the Government has failed on accommodation. I do not think there is a community across Ireland who believes that. If you look at the scale of challenge this country has faced and the amount we have done as a people to provide accommodation in very difficult circumstances, that needs to be acknowledged. There are no easy solutions when it comes to accommodation. Again, I am not suggesting the Deputy does this but all too often in our migration debates in Ireland, we start…

-----but they also want to know that there is a functioning rules-based system as there is and on which the Minister, Deputy McEntee, has taken a number of measures to make more effective. Regarding the data issue, I am very confident that the information that has been provided to the Government on processing times is exactly what people are seeing in the International Protection Office. The Department's firm assessment, based on the experience of staff and others working in the field, and on the material they are …

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Pardon me?

I speak for the Government of which the Tánaiste is a part and I am very confident in saying that the Tánaiste, I as Taoiseach and all members and parties of the Government are very clear on this. The Tánaiste made a valid point yesterday that does not contradict the Minister, Deputy McEntee's point at all.

I thank Deputy Lowry for raising this important issue. Let us begin on a point of absolute agreement. The Government does not wish in any way to see any rural area, or indeed any area of Ireland, least of all in County Tipperary, lose connectivity. That is the exact opposite of what we have been working to achieve and making good progress on over recent years with the national broadband plan, which at its heart has been specially designed to support rural and remote areas, which were at risk of getting left behind …

I thank Deputy Lowry again for raising this issue. The Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, has been here to hear his comments directly, and he and the Minister, Deputy Ryan, will continue to keep Deputy Lowry updated on this. As I said, I cannot comment on an individual company, for obvious reasons. There is a regulatory process and engagement with the Department and ComReg. As Taoiseach, however, I want to make sure that rural areas do not lose connectivity. We are all trying to move forward with the roll-out of the …

I thank Deputy Pringle for raising what he is right to say is an extraordinarily serious issue. Listening to his final words is a reminder of all of the progress we have been beginning to make as a society in destigmatising some issues and promoting equality. The risk of that being undone or damaged by dangerous online use of social media is pertinent. I met the DCU anti-bullying centre in my past capacity in government and I am grateful for the work it does. I will make it my business to familiarise myself with th…

The approach we need to take is to hit them where it hurts, that is, in their pockets and on their financial balance sheet and that is what we intend to do under legislation I imagine the Deputy probably supported, as did many people across the House. It is not only about asking the companies nicely whether they wish to do things. This is far too serious an issue for our children, our country, many public policy areas and, on occasion, for democracy. Social media can bring about incredible benefits. I am known to u…

That is a very serious charge.

Then condemn it.