-----and you are talking about opening a school.

We need to treat the housing emergency in the same way we treated Covid. The whole of Government needs to get behind this, as does the Opposition, to come up with solutions. I do not want to see 4,653 children in emergency accommodation. I asked the Minister's predecessor how many children must become homeless before the Government finally accepts its policies are wrong. I will ask the current Minister the same question. How many children need to become homeless before you will put your hand up and say "We cannot f…

We sincerely want to work with the Minister on this. We will support positive initiatives but in the austerity years, funding for youth clubs, youth projects and education were all slashed, whether these were for diverse communities, the Travelling community or working-class areas. We need that funding restored. That is the first thing I ask for. Second, we need investment in more community policing, especially in areas where we know there is huge social deprivation. You can see it. It is there in part of the const…

You are doing it.

You are doing it.

There are 5,000 children homeless.

There are 5,000-----

You have your finger in the pie.

Shocking behaviour. Disgraceful.

In 2024, the ESB made €706 million in profit. At the same time the ESB and the Government have failed to put the proper infrastructure in place to prevent the loss of electricity that carried on for weeks in some areas because of Storm Éowyn. While the ESB decides what to do with €706 million in profit, some people are struggling to keep the light and heat on, and to pay their bills in the middle of one of the worst cost-of-living crises in the history of the State. That is not just me saying it or Sinn Féin saying…

I will try to be constructive but, following on from my colleague, €11,000 is a joke of an amount of money. I appeal to the Minister of State to increase that amount. A local authority that has a property that will cost between €50,000 and €80,000 to fix will leave it idle and fix the voids that are cheaper. The Government is only giving €11,000 plus the grant for the retrofitting, so call it €25,000. Therefore, all the cheaper houses are done first, but what happens then is that the local authorities are leaving t…

I wish to inform the Minister and the other Deputies talking about excess water usage that water in Cork is undrinkable. Some of the time, it is not fit for human consumption. In Gurranabraher, the area in which I live, test data is coming back stating that the levels of manganese are so high that the water is unfit for human consumption. Still, we cannot get a "do not consume" notice from Irish Water. The HSE is washing its hands of the matter and the EPA is running for cover. Right now, there are water charges in…

Where in the programme for Government is a referendum on water-----

-----to protect the people.

Hear, hear.

Ah, stop.

There are approximately 100 children with additional needs in Cork who do not have a school place this September. Their parents are putting up a Trojan campaign to force the Government to provide their children with a place. There are rumours that there will be an announcement this week about a new special school in Carrignavar. Will the Taoiseach confirm if that will be announced this week? Will it be open in September? Have the issues with water affecting the Carrignavar area been sorted out? I spoke to a mother …

He has not met them.

Will they have a place, yes or no?

I want to talk about a lady in my constituency who spent six years on the housing list and on the rental accommodation scheme, RAS. She is to be evicted on 10 April. Because of the sky-high house prices in Cork, the council is not allowed to buy the house under the tenant in situ scheme. The council has said the landlord is looking for too much. This lady has three children, the youngest of whom is three. This is the only home they know. This year, instead of Easter egg hunting and having a happy Easter, this famil…