Truthfully, there has not been a change I am aware of but obviously, the Deputy is seeing a reality in the system in terms of the cases he has outlined. I will send a transcript of what Deputy said to the Minister for housing and ask that he looks at it and comes back to the Deputy directly.

If the Deputy could send on those details as well, that would be great.

The Deputy is one of the over 60 TDs who are here for their first Christmas and through their first calendar year as well. I wish her a happy Christmas. Politics aside, I know everybody works very hard in the Oireachtas and it has been a busy first year. I thank the Deputy for bringing the facility on the South Circular Road to my attention. I will raise that directly with the Minister for housing and the Minister of State with responsibility for planning, Deputy John Cummins. The Deputy's point is valid. People ar…

It does.

I thank the Deputy for raising this. As he said, this is an issue I know affects his constituency and my own, the Minister of State's, Deputy Butler, and a lot of the south east. This is an issue that everybody wants to see resolved. I know it is an evolving situation but it is my understanding that further mediation is scheduled to take place today and it is possibly even happening now. It was scheduled to take place this morning. I am pleased that both Caredoc and the HSE have confirmed their attendance. It is im…

I thank Deputy O'Rourke for raising this serious and important issue. I think we would acknowledge on all sides of the House that this is something that was done for a good reason, which is the idea of trying to get sight of the number of children who would require a special educational needs place earlier because it is not fair, and it is far too stressful to leave it too late. It was the germ of a good idea, and, in fact, it needs to come earlier every year. I have spoken to some of these parents, and I am aware …

As is often the case, Deputy Clendennen has made a valid, logical point that would make a real difference to patients, patient care, congestion and life. It works on a lot of levels. I join with him in saying it is a very significant week for the midlands and for Offaly in relation to the news of Offaly County Council's decision regarding the new hospice facility. We often highlight rightly here the challenges we have as a country. One of the areas in which we have had a lot of success over the last number of years…

I thank Deputy McGreehan very much for highlighting this issue as we approach the 50th anniversary. We think of Jack Rooney and Hugh Watters and their families and all those injured and all the families impacted. This is an issue that both the Minister for justice and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade are working on raising at every opportunity, including with the British Government. Indeed, I remember it in my previous posting. We now have the legacy framework, and that has to work in all directions. There is…

I hope it is a good one.

I thank Deputy Farrell for raising this important issue, which was rightly raised in this House today. The British ambassador was present here today, as Deputy Farrell and others have raised this issue. I know the ambassador will convey the depth of feelings and concerns of Members of this House to the British Government. I will also raise the issue with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and Government colleagues and, indeed, with our embassy in London on foot of the Deputy raising it today.

At the outset, I pass my sympathies, and those of everyone, to the Minister of State, Deputy Robert Troy, whose father, Paddy, has passed away. Robert is, obviously, a Minister of State in the Department of Finance and we think of him and his family at this time of loss. I thank Deputy Doherty for his question. The programme for Government, Securing Ireland’s Future, sets out a range of commitments to build upon the reforms delivered to date in the insurance sector. On 24 July, the Government launched its Action Pl…

I will speak to the Central Bank as part of my regular engagement, raising the points the Deputy has raised. I am very happy to do that. The establishment of the National Claims Information Database, NCID, has greatly improved oversight of claims' costs and trends in the insurance market. Indeed, it is one of the most comprehensive and respected insurance data sources internationally. The Central Bank of Ireland, which was tasked with developing and operating the NCID, has advised my Department that operating profi…

I can provide them. I am very happy to do that now if the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach will bear with me for one second. In terms of the operating profits for the liability insurance market before interest and tax is deducted, it should be noted that in 2020 a loss of 15% was recorded, a profit of 11% in 2021, a profit of 15% in 2022, a profit of 16% in 2023 and an operating profit before interest and tax of 12% for 2024, the latest year for which the information is available. The data that is published in the most rece…

I am conscious that I put a lot of information very quickly on the record of the Dáil in the interests of the finance spokespeople here and Deputy Doherty. I will perhaps put it in a letter to the finance committee. I did not get a chance to go through all of the data in the brief time available in these back and forth exchanges. I would just make a couple of points to the Deputy. First, I will engage with the Central Bank, as he has done, in relation to the points he has made. Second, what is of particular interes…

Yes, it has been approved and it will be published tomorrow. I am very happy, of course, to provide any advices or technical briefings that are required by Opposition spokespeople early in the new year, whenever required and in the appropriate forum. The medium-term fiscal structural plan will be published tomorrow. In line with all relevant European regulations and procedures, the plan will be submitted to the European Commission shortly thereafter. Although each member state has discretion over the content of its…

I take the point. It would have been optimum to have an opportunity to debate it before the recess. We did make an intentional decision not to publish this earlier in the year. I was not the Minister of Finance but I was involved in the decision as a party leader. The rationale behind it, which I think was correct, was to wait and see what the international environment looked like from a tariff point of view. There was different debate and different commentary on this and we decided to publish a summer economic sta…

I did.

Without being smart, it depends on how you define multi-annual budgeting. What this will enable us to do is set out a horizon for spending levels out to the end of the decade. That provides greater certainty for the Department of public expenditure and others to engage multi-annual funding, which interestingly is something IFAC is very supportive of. It made a very positive difference when we introduced it in health for a two-year period. I met representatives from IFAC. I do not wish to speak for the council, but …

I engaged with my Department as recently as yesterday on this because we had previous engagements in certain forums in respect of it. The Department's clear view is that an uptick in inflation was anticipated in its forecasts. In that context, it points to the issue of base effects. It has provided a graph that I can send to the Deputy. These effects need to be factored in. While the headline figure for November was slightly higher than anticipated, we stress that monthly figures are volatile and the Department's a…

I accept that cost-of-living pressures are real for people. This House regularly debates what the different policy proposals to address that should be. In my Department's projections, which are obviously provided independent of the political system, inflation was estimated to average 1.8% in the autumn forecasting round. Between January and November, it has averaged 2%. On the forecasting provided by my Department in respect of budget 2026, which was delivered in October, the forecast is actually at the outer end o…