He is a Minister. A Government Minister.

Like the previous speaker, people have been contacting me from Ballincollig and surrounding areas to outline how they cannot get after-school placements or crèche facilities for their children. They are searching in mid-Cork and coming in to the city. I spoke to a lady recently who said that she had secured a childminder for the summer but that if she does not have a crèche and after-school facilities to mind her child in September, she will have to give up work. This lady and her husband must decide which of them …

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Sinn Féin policy was to deliver childcare for €10 a day or €200 a month and then, lo and behold, just before the general election, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael said this was going to be their new policy as well and they would deliver it if re-elected. It has not been delivered. What is the timeline for the Government to deliver childcare for €10 a day or €200 a month? Will it be in this year's budget? Will it be in next year's budget? The Minister said she would ph…

In 2016 a new prison was opened in The Glen in Cork and the old prison was closed down. A commitment was made at the time by the Tánaiste's Government, which he was a Minister in, and by the Irish Prison Service that the old prison would not be reopened and would be used by the community for education and training, or maybe as a museum. The republican Thomas Kent was shot by firing squad there. There was supposed to be a community dividend. The Minister, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, supported by the Taoiseach, recently …

In Greystones?

Are there two of them there?

There are two in The Glen.

I am not shouting. I am just saying there are two prisons.

That is fine.

What about the promises that were made to the community? What about the promises that you and your Government made? They were promised in 2016. It is a residential area.

What about tenants in situ , or the tenant in situ scheme? Where has that money gone?

Two weeks ago, Cork City Council announced an affordable housing scheme. This will be delivered through the Department's funding and by Cork City Council. There is shock that it will cost just under €400,000 to buy one of these properties. For years people who cannot get a mortgage and who do not qualify for social housing have been contacting my office and I have been telling them about affordable housing. Those people are now asking me: where is the affordable housing because for most families this is not afforda…

I move: That Dáil Éireann: notes that: — there are at least 2,656 vacant council homes, excluding Approved Housing Bodies (AHB) homes, across the State, including 776 homes vacant longer than 12 months; — the National Oversight and Audit Commission Performance Indicator Report 2023, found that the average reletting time was above 33 weeks and cost, on average, €28,347.05; — this reletting cost represents a 49 per cent increase on costs when compared to 2019; — central Government have only provided €11,000 per home …

Will the Minister think of the families? I ask him to reconsider his motion and to support ours.

I did one last month and the figure is 2,700.

No. The figure we mentioned was €11,000.

That is the same thing

The authority did not have the money.

It did not have the money.

The Minister is having a laugh when he is blaming local authorities when he will not do his job.