I hope that is the case. Certainly, I will ask the Minister to engage with both Deputies Fitzmaurice and Daly. I will just make a couple of comments. The point the Deputy made about the physical environment was a very important one. One of the happiest days I had as Taoiseach was the opening of the newly refurbished National Rehabilitation Hospital, NRH. It has always been an incredible hospital in Dún Laoghaire. To a layman like me, it has performed miracles in people's rehabilitation journeys. However, the facili…

I thank Deputy Cleere for raising the issue of school building projects in general, and our need to deliver more, but also specifically in relation to his constituency of Carlow-Kilkenny. As he knows, since 2020, some €6.7 billion has been invested to increase capacity and upgrade school facilities. This is a record level of investment. Some €210 million in capital funding went to County Kilkenny and €51 million in capital funding went to County Carlow. Over that period, we saw 43 schools in County Kilkenny and 25 …

I was making an effort to write them down, but I think the Deputy named nearly all of the 15 schools we had on the list. That was a good tour of the constituency. Whether they are schools in Carlow or Kilkenny, I get it. There is obviously great joy when a school list comes out and your school is on the list, but there is that sense of apprehension as to what it means for the school. That is why I really want those schools to know it is not the final word. The Government is very clear in relation to that. Our mediu…

The Government works in a number of ways to try to help and assist families. We have brought in many services to assist people with the cost of education, including the free schoolbooks and hot school meals programmes. It was well known that the leaving certificate fees were reverting this year.

I thank Deputy Kelly for raising this matter. I know he is somebody who has consistently highlighted this issue and his significant concerns in relation to it. I do think there needs to be further examination and inquiry into these matters. The form that takes or how that is brought about is obviously a matter in the first instance for my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan. I have not had a chance to discuss this with him, but I do share the view of the Taoiseach, as previously articulated in this Hous…

We have a State organisation in the Land Development Agency that is making a real and positive impact in relation to the delivery of homes right across our country. I have been on many sites with it in recent weeks and months. We do live in a housing emergency, of that there is no doubt, but it is important to quote the report in the round. I note that we did see the number of terminations actually fall in the final quarter, down 3.6% in quarter 4 compared with quarter 3 of 2025. We also saw the number of tenancies…

I thank Deputy Boyd Barrett very much. I know we are not allowed to do a back-and-forth, but could I ask him if the children are in the school?

Sure. I thank him for raising the issue on behalf of his colleague, Councillor Reddy. I will speak to the Minister for education today and see if she or somebody on her behalf can engage with the equality in education campaign to see how we can bring progress to this as quickly as possible.

I thank Deputy Dolan very much. I appreciate him raising this issue today as Daffodil Day is tomorrow and this House will not be in session. I am meeting the Irish Cancer Society this afternoon. I am sure this is one of the issues that it will want to discuss too. I do not want to pre-empt what the Government may do in future budgets. Deputy Dolan would give out to me at an Oireachtas committee if we did that. We do need to look at this. Thankfully, people are living longer and cancer survivorship is increasing, bu…

I thank Deputy Brennan for raising this issue. First and most importantly, I want to express my deepest condolences to the family of the late Claire Cullen. It is an incredibly heartbreaking case for the Cullen family and the community in Courtown in Wexford as well. I want to assure him and the House that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is very much aware of this tragic case. It also wants to extend its sincere sympathies to Claire's family. I am assured that consular support is being provided to the f…

I thank Deputy Guirke for raising this issue. I want to clarify that this was not a decision taken by the Minister for Health but it was, indeed, a change in pricing practice by a number of pharmacies across the country. The position in this regard is as it always has been. I ask that pharmacists engage with their loyal customers on the issue and reflect on the comments of the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill. I will ask her to provide the Deputy with the most up-to-date information on her Department's engagement …

On foot of this matter being raised by the Deputy, I will make myself aware of the details. I do not want to comment on any specific legal actions or outworkings that could be ongoing because such cases require the law to be followed. There are protections in place, with clear rules in relation to tenancies outlined by the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB. I expect all of those rules to be adhered to. Without commenting on individual cases, we have seen instances in the past where a practice was being considered an…

As the Deputy said, he raised this issue with me a number of weeks ago. I spoke to the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, who committed to getting back to the Deputy. I will follow up with the Minister on foot of our interaction today. We keep the allocations we make for roads and transport under review as the year progresses. The Deputy has highlighted a specific concern in relation to Cavan and Monaghan and has engaged with officials there. I will ask the Minister to get back to him directly.

I take the Deputy's point that saying something is a priority but asking someone to wait for three years clearly is not what people would rightly expect. On foot of his raising this issue, I will speak to the Minister directly to ask that she look into the matter and revert directly to him.

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. The Department of Health and the HSE are aware of the outbreak recently reported in the UK and are actively monitoring the situation. Based on information available, the HSE assesses that the overall population risk in Ireland related to the UK outbreak remains very low. This aligns with the assessment of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control that the risk to the general public in the EU remains very low due to the very small probability of expos…

I acknowledge, as I always do, that this is an issue the Deputy has prioritised since he came into this House. It is something about which I know he feels passionately. I will check with the Minister for Health where we are at in terms of the roll-out of the early access scheme. I assure the Deputy, and, most importantly, the people who have rare diseases and parents of children with rare diseases, that the Government absolutely intends to make significant progress on this during our term of office. We have already…

We will always work constructively with colleagues on housing. I acknowledge the Labour Party has brought forward constructive proposals in relation to housing in this Dáil and the previous Dáil. I have a different perspective in terms of the Government's position on housing. In our rental reforms Bill, we brought forward very significant protections for renters. We introduced security of tenure, with tenancies of a minimum duration of six years, and what is, in effect, a ban on no-fault evictions. From quarters 3 …

I thank Deputy Healy for raising this issue. We are seeing very significant increase in the number of gardaí entering training in Templemore. It is a huge priority for the Government to increase the number of gardaí. I am absolutely disgusted and angered to hear about any assault on a member of An Garda Síochána. When I was justice Minister, we changed the law to increase the sentencing available to the courts for anybody who assaults a member of our emergency services, including a member of An Garda Síochána. An a…

I thank Deputy Ó Muirí for raising this matter. I know the flooding experienced in his constituency of Dublin Bay North was really horrendous. I remember witnessing the video footage of it. We all saw the videos in particular of the basements of apartment blocks being flooded, and the fear and anxiety that created. The emergency response payment administered by the Department of Social Protection does not exclude apartments from supports. That has been confirmed to me by the Department. However, the Deputy's broade…

I agree with everything the Deputy has said. It is our intention to finalise a package. It is our intention to agree that package at Government next week. One of the criteria that we have set for measures we bring forward is whether they can be put into effect quickly. While I am not talking about the Deputy, people in this House, often those on the Opposition benches, have ideas, even some good ideas, but actually it is about looking at what we can do quickly and also providing ourselves with the flexibility to re…