Hear, hear.

But they are only at 50% capacity. I was at the meeting.

You were not at the meeting.

They are at 50% capacity.

Where are the 40,000 houses you promised?

You were on the record saying there were 40,000 houses. Where are they?

5,000 children homeless.

In the last Dáil, I was very honoured to be the party spokesperson on addiction, recovery and well-being. It was a privilege for me to meet all the different groups and organisations who were working at the front line, supporting people in recovery and those in the throes of addiction and supporting their families. I commend my colleague, Deputy Graves, who has taken over this role now. She has hit the ground running and is doing a huge amount of work. A huge amount of work is needed here, especially for those who …

This Bill has been fast-tracked as an attempt to cover up decades of underinvestment in our energy grid. I absolutely agree that we need a modern, fit-for-purpose grid but it must be done with the required Government accountability. Sinn Féin has four constructive amendments we are asking the Minister to consider. They include proposals for greater transparency, fairness in pricing and the prioritisation of projects. Data centres cannot be given the same priority as hospitals. This is an issue on which we see bad G…

We believe that price legislation should work for the ordinary person and our amendments look to deliver on that. This is about people's quality of life. This is about people not being afraid. Can the Minister of State imagine being afraid to turn on the electricity or the heating?

The report of the Barnardos 2025 back to school survey indicated that the average price of uniforms was €126 for a primary school uniform and €119 for a secondary school uniform. Many parents have just paid out for these uniforms, but they are facing additional costs as well in January. Children grow and play and a lot of the time, these uniforms have to be replaced. That is an additional cost. I know parents who have had to go to the credit union to get loans to send their kids back to school. They had to borrow m…

The question here is whether the Minister of State, the principal, the board of management and the parents are satisfied that the concerns about a reduction in teaching hours for pupils have been addressed and that there is 100% certainty that there will be no such reduction. As the Minister of State knows, St. Gabriel’s is a specialist school that deals with children with some of the most complex issues children can have. It is a very important school. I spoke to parents who were very upset when it looked like the…

Democracy is at its best when it is robust and transparent. I understand that there in awful lot of anger at the process certain parties took during the nomination process for presidential candidates. This has to be looked at. Looking back, the majority of people agree on that. I sat on the housing committee during the establishment of the Electoral Commission. Now is the time to commence the review of presidential elections. We have seven years to get this done. We can work together. This is something the vast maj…

If we ever wanted more proof that the Government has its priorities all wrong, this Bill is it. On a day when the Minister for housing announced a war on dereliction and vacancy, it is a joke. It would be funny if it were not so serious. We have a Finance Bill that does absolutely nothing to tackle either. The housing Minister's war on dereliction will start in two years' time, but for the next two years he will be looking for derelict properties. We know where they are because every local authority has a derelict …

We have a unique opportunity to work together to accomplish something many people thought could never happen. We have brought forward a motion on planning for a united Ireland. Going back to Wolfe Tone, the Fenians and all the people down through the generations, many tried to unite this country as a free 32-county Irish republic. We have the opportunity to take a step closer on that road and we are asking the Government to come with us, to walk next to us, to be part of this journey and to bring the unionist commu…

Answer the question.

You gave it to the vulture funds.

It is like the student fees-----

Their profits are off the charts and the prices-----

The Government is doing nothing about it.