I thank the Deputy for raising this issue and for the way she illustrated the serious impact this is having on the community college. I too commend the advocacy of the students. I take her point that they should not have to be doing this, but the pride they take in their school community and their own education is commendable. I certainly urge them to feel free to write to me or the Minister for education. I would be happy to revert to them on this as well. I will ask the Minister, Deputy Naughton, to come back to …

I thank the Deputy O’Callaghan for raising the issue. I welcome the people in the Gallery and thank them for being here today. I am trying to familiarise myself with this issue in real time. My understanding is that all homecare services funded by the HSE have now received the pay uplift they were meant to receive through the WRC agreement but that there are a number of services that do not receive direct funding through the HSE. However, I also understand that Northside Home Care Services does receive some section…

I thank Deputy Gogarty. I always find these questions are so broad-ranging. This is an area I need to familiarise myself with more but I believe there is validity to what the Deputy says in that we want to ensure we fully utilise all of the airport infrastructure we have in the country. I am quite sure people in the west would welcome an increased flow there, particularly because so many who go to Dublin end up travelling west. Sitting beside the Minister of State responsible for planning, I am aware we are looking…

I thank Deputy Sheehan very much for raising this important issue. A record number of services are now operating within core funding, with a 5% increase on last year. Four thousand five hundred and fifty-nine services are now signed up for core funding. However, I take the point that a parent of a child in Castletroy concerned about his or her own service will want to know what is going to happen locally in addition to the national numbers. We have very much kicked off some of our key commitments on childcare. We w…

I will, indeed. I thank Deputy Ó Muirí very much for raising the issue. Since he raised it with me on a number of occasions, I have a detailed note here. I am a great believer in what he said, namely that if enough people are raising an issue with him and other public representatives in Dublin Bay North, then there is an issue, and that issue needs to be considered with humility and respect, and in a constructive manner, by State agencies. If changes have been made, there is no point in people who do not get a part…

I am very sympathetic to and supportive of the point Deputy Scanlon made. The relevant Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, and I were just discussing the fact that the money spent on the schemes represents some of the best value achieved by the State in its expenditure. There is no waste or messing around, and the return on investment is good, real, meaningful, tangible and pretty immediate. I am proud of the work we have done together over the past while. It has seen progress. In this regard, the Deputy has talked …

It is a fair point and I, like the Deputy, do not want to pit workers against management because what we are all trying to do here is make sure that people who have not had pension provision before can in the future and that we end the really difficult gap between people who have pensions and do not have them. That is the ultimate aim. As schemes are rolled out, issues will have to be resolved and the Government obviously does not want to see a deviation or reduction in the level of service provision to address pay…

I thank Deputy Boyd Barrett for highlighting this issue. I join him in welcoming the performers and participants from the theatre group. I thank him for reminding us of the horrific horrors that have been experienced there. Culture and art can often be a very important part of shining a spotlight on this and I join with the Deputy in welcoming them.

I begin by welcoming the British ambassador, H.E. Ms Kara Owens, to Leinster House. I wish her and all at the British embassy a very happy Christmas. I look forward to working with them, as our nearest and closest neighbours, in the time ahead. I join with my colleague, Deputy Timmins, in welcoming the sixth year history class students from Blessington Community College, County Wicklow, who are in the Visitors Gallery today. We look forward to progress on their much-awaited major school capital project in the time …

That is not true.

That is not true.

You went into last year's election promising people an average €300,000 home in Dublin, but you could not tell us how you were going to pay for it or make it happen. We are all working to try to improve the housing situation. Here are some facts: planning permissions are up this year and last year; there have been more first-time buyers this year than last year; and there have been more home completions so far this year than last year. These are positive signs that the investment this State is making, coupled with …

That is positive news.

House prices are still too high. While we have seen some signs of moderation-----

-----the way we need to drive them down and see further progress is with more supply which is priority number one for this Government.

I thank Deputy O'Callaghan. I wish him, his family, his Social Democrats colleagues and everybody a happy Christmas. I think the broadcasting issue he mentioned is a matter for the Oireachtas rather than directly a matter for the Government. As the leader of a political party in the Oireachtas, I am happy to engage with other parties in relation to the issue of the Oireachtas broadcast workers. It is hard to disagree with the Deputy's analysis of the situation. I would be happy to have follow-up conversations with …

My apologies if the Deputy thought I had not acknowledged the damaging effect of homelessness on a child. Of course I acknowledge it. It is a statement of fact. The Government works constructively with local authorities and others night and day to try to remove children from homelessness. I wish to make a statistical point, but I do not make it to take away from the seriousness of the issue, because all children must be protected and all people in homelessness need to be supported. The point is that the growth of o…

We have to consider all these issues in the round. Yes, we have seen far too many children in homelessness and emergency accommodation. That is a statement of fact. We are not where we need to be. That is why I have outlined how we intend to take specific actions under the new national housing plan. It is why the Minister, Deputy Browne, has taken measures to provide ring-fenced funding to local authorities in order that they can specifically buy homes, but only on the understanding that those homes will be allocat…

On the Oireachtas TV unit, we should work together on this issue. To be clear, however, it is one for the Oireachtas Commission, on which all political groupings are represented. It is not an issue of Government-----

My apologies. Many groupings are represented, and I am sure the voices of the Deputies opposite will be heard. That is the forum at which this needs to be resolved. The Government may have corresponded previously on this with the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission. We should engage on this and we are happy to do so. I thank the Deputy for putting a human face on the issue of homelessness. He was right to do so because we can lose sight of the human faces during the debate or in statistics. Mentioning the stories o…