The decision.

The amount paid in fees has been getting lower every month since the scandals and crisis hit RTÉ, compared to the previous 12 months. This raises the question as to whether it has been accepted that people will not pay the TV licence fee. Is this the case? If so, why not scrap the fee? In the eight months from the beginning of the RTÉ scandal to April, almost €150,000 has been paid out in fines. Many people cannot afford a TV licence and they certainly cannot afford these fines. In the 20 months between the Future …

I also echo the question of funding for local radio stations. In my constituency, local radio is important not only in bringing people the global and national news but also local news. We have stations in Cork such as Red FM, 96 FM, C103 FM, Cork City Community Radio and CUH FM Community Radio that play a vital role. It has been even more vital this year because of what happened with GAAGO. RTÉ and the GAA made the disgraceful decision not to show the first three Cork hurling matches or the Cork-Kerry Munster semi-…

These matches need to be shown on free-to-air television, especially the hurling matches.

I have some facts here that will spoil the Minister's earlier rendition. Cork County Council will probably not reach its target figures until 2026. I will give some actual facts. It was five short in 2022 and it was 161 short in 2023. Even though the Government's own targets are so low that they will not help solve the housing crisis, the council cannot even meet its targets. We have a situation in Cork City Council where more people are coming on the housing list than houses are being supplied. I am no genius at m…

-----there is a whole issue of they will not let people on the homeless list in emergency accommodation.

The Minister of State mentioned that the tackling of vacancy and dereliction is a priority or something the Department was going to address. Let me mention some of the figures that came out recently. There are 1,913 buildings on the derelict sites register, and there is €20 million outstanding in uncollected levies, almost €5 million of which relates to Cork. Local authorities are not doing their job. The Minister of State and his Department, led by the Minister, are not doing their job to ensure local authorities …

I raised a matter with the Taoiseach yesterday in respect of equity. I spoke to a gentleman who came to see me and who is looking to buy a house. He has good savings and a full-time job. He has two kids. He is separated and trying to put a roof over his head. He is trying to use the affordable housing scheme and the shared equity scheme. I am seeking clarity. What I have been told is that the maximum available equity is €100,000 or 22.5%. That is what Cork County Council has told me in respect of the affordable hom…

Will the Minister update the House on the implementation of the recommendations of the expert group on Traveller accommodation?

I thank the Minister of State. In my constituency there is a major development of the Spring Lane halting site. We have made a number of observations and Cork City Council has taken a lot of them on board. We have done a lot of work with the Traveller community on this site and with the broader community because we want the development to work. We particularly want it to work for the residents who live there because for decades their treatment has been shocking. We think the site needs to be managed and maintained.…

A young man, Seán, came into my office last week. He works full time, is separated and has two children. He has a good job but is living with his parents because he cannot afford to buy a house. He has saved every penny he can and has substantial savings. He applied and was accepted for an affordable housing scheme run by Cork County Council but even with all of his savings, a gift from his parents, a good job, and a mortgage offer from a bank, he is still €20,000 short. He does not qualify for social housing. He c…

It would be affordable. Our scheme would be affordable. That is the difference.

I will.

There are 4,000 children homeless.

I am sharing time. What should have been a proud and nice day, when this State recognised the Palestinian state, has lost a lot of that with what happened on Sunday and the horrific atrocities and war crimes carried out by the Israeli state. We saw the photographs and videos that come from there and we heard people screaming as the Israeli Government burned men, women and children alive, and the world stands by while 35,000 men, women and children, including 15,000 children, are slaughtered. The genocide that is ha…

I move: That Dáil Éireann: notes that: — housing policy is not only about the number of homes delivered but the quality of those homes for tenants living in them; — as the State's largest landlord, Government has a particular responsibility to ensure, through funding for local authorities, that social housing tenants live in good quality homes; — investment in the maintenance, retrofitting and regeneration of social housing stock is too low; — too many social housing tenants are living in poorly maintained homes; a…

Where is the senior Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, for the discussion on this very important motion? The man who is responsible for housing in this State does not even have the decency to come to the House this evening. Absolute contempt is being shown to the hundreds of thousands of people who live in 176,000 social homes when the Minister does not have the decency to turn up. It is a scandal. People are living in cold, damp and draughty homes. Where is the Minister? He sometimes criticises Sinn Féin. We are he…

I want to let Deputy Pringle know, though he will probably hear later, that our motion applies to rural and urban areas. It applies to all 31 local authorities. We are looking for a major investment of money and additional staff to deal with housing maintenance issues. No disrespect to the Minister of State, but his response and those of the other Ministers earlier show the reality of how out of touch they and the Government are with people who live in local authority houses and with the issues we are dealing with …

When the Tánaiste was Taoiseach in 2022, he gave a commitment that he would phase out long-term leasing. Since then, leases have been signed for 182 social housing units in Cork city. That is at a cost of €3 million per year that the Government is spending, with an average cost of €400,000 for these homes after 25 years. The council and the Government will not own these homes but the developers will have a home plus €400,000. At the end of the 25 years, where are these families to go? This is in the Tánaiste's own …

I am talking about long-term leasing. Long-term leasing-----