Go raibh maith agat, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I might try to go back to football-----

-----to wish Troy Parrott and our boys in green all the best of luck tonight in Prague. We are all hoping for a hat-trick. Tá cruachás na gcostas maireachtála ag éirí níos measa, go háirithe ó thaobh tionóntaí de. The cost-of-living emergency is getting worse. The measures the Government announced mean the cost of living will remain stubbornly high for workers and families who cannot make ends meet. Renters are not immune from this crisis and are in fact the worst hit as they face double-digit rent increases under …

The Tánaiste selectively quoted from a number of sources, including the Housing Commission. The fact of the matter in regard to short-term lets is the Government is already talking about weakening the legislation by increasing the population cap and putting in exemptions that were not there when the original legislation was mooted. The housing crisis has become so severe that an 88-year-old with dementia is being evicted in County Sligo as we speak. That is how bad it has become under the watch of this Government. …

I thank the Government Chief Whip for facilitating time for this debate at my request. I was struck by something my colleague, Deputy Ó Laoghaire, said earlier in relation to the tendency of the State to treat issues of institutional abuse as piecemeal and individual. If we look at industrial schools, Magdalen laundries and mother and baby homes, the fact of the matter is this was incarceration funded by the State and facilitated by a corrupt institution, the Roman Catholic Church. I was struck by some aspects of t…

I thank my colleague, Deputy Smith, for bringing forward this Bill. If the Organisation of Working Time Act is not the appropriate vehicle by which to legislate for this proposal, I ask whether it could be done through the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023. I am very disappointed by the attitude the Government has taken to this Bill because it is a practical one the provisions of which would cover HSE cancer screening programmes and other screenings recommended by a doctor based on age or heal…

Time and again we have seen Women's Aid and other organisations criticise the Garda response to domestic violence. Last year, almost half of survivors surveyed described their Garda experience as unhelpful. The issue here is not all gardaí; the issue is some gardaí and an inconsistency in their approach. We need more consistent mandatory and specialised training to properly protect survivors of domestic abuse. The 2024 Garda ombudsman report sets out very clearly what the issues are in relation to training. It is n…

Thank you, Deputy.

Thank you, Deputy.

Thank you, Deputy.

Thank you, Deputy. You are over time.

In accordance with Standing Order 85(2), the division is postponed until the weekly division time on Wednesday, 25 March 2026.

The amendment is out of order.

I have just been told a letter would have been sent to the Deputy.

There have been three mass evictions that we know of this year. A total of 20 families were served with notices of termination from The Park on Lord Edward Street in Limerick, along with 14 families, as stated earlier, on Ballybane Road in Galway. The RTB data from this morning is stark. The Government is presiding over the largest level of evictions since the Famine. Last year, 20,033 people received notices of termination. That is the population of Swords. There was a 41% increase in the number of notices of term…

This evening at 5.30 p.m, my colleague, Senator Harmon, will lead a protest against the unconscionable planning decision we have seen at Bessborough. This site should become a site of national conscience. We cannot concrete over a site where 923 children died while the Government sits idly by. We need to have statements on this.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. I want to ask the Minister today about the targets for social and affordable housing delivery under Housing for All. Given that it has become abundantly clear that the Government will not meet the targets this year, and it has never met them for social and affordable housing, will the Minister revise the targets contained within the new housing plan in order to take account of this and deal with the growing housing deficit?

The Minister's rental reforms are going to increase homelessness, certainly in the short term. One of the leading issues in regard to addressing homelessness is having an adequate supply of social and affordable housing. Based on the quarter 3 construction status report, the Minister is only going to, as of that date, meet 30% of his target for social housing delivery. In 2024, 10,596 were delivered against a 12,930 goal. Is the Minister going to revise the targets he has for an average of 12,000 new social homes i…

Going by the Minister's response, he is saying that 9,289 new-build social homes-----

There were 9,089 built. That is still, over the lifetime of Housing for All, beneath the target of that plan. I am asking, in particular, about the 2026 budget allocation. For example, that does not take into account that there was an underdelivery of around 4,000 units under the previous housing plan and the Minister has already underestimated the level of need in his new housing plan. He has not actually taken into account that the figures suggest that overall, under Housing for All, the Government did not reach …

The Minister did not meet his target.