The Irish Government could not accept any diminution of the status of the Irish language. In fact, we are doing the opposite. We are supporting the Irish language in all aspects of policy, through the language Act and the fact that the language is constitutionally the official language of the State and is a core part of the school curriculum, both primary and post primary. I will have to look at those remarks in the context in which they were said, and I will discuss the issue then with the relevant Minister becaus…

First, I disagree fundamentally with the Deputy's characterisation of the Government's position on Palestine. We have been very principled in relation to Palestine, both at European Union and at international level and in terms of our policies and allocations of resources. We stood up for UNRWA when it mattered most for that organisation in terms of doubling down on the funds we allocated when it was under threat from some EU member states at the time in the EU Commission. We have intervened in the South African ca…

-----the settlements and the violence by terrorist settlers against Palestinians in their homeland in the West Bank.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 6, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on housing last met on Monday, 14 September. The committee will next meet on Thursday, 22 October. The committee works to ensure a cross-government approach to the implementation of our commitments regarding housing policy. Housing supply has increased significantly over the past number of years, with recent home completions data showing almost 17,000 new homes built in the first half of 2026. This is a rise of 11% on the same perio…

In the first instance, Deputy Séamus McGrath raised the issue of qualifying income thresholds for social housing. To make the point more generally, we built 9,000 social houses last year and we will go higher this year. Deputy Boyd Barrett suggests that we want to get rid of social housing but we are building record levels of it. We are building more per annum now than we have done since the State was founded. Let us at least accept that. You can give out about the methodology if you want all-State construction, bu…

I take the Deputy's point about the partial drawdown of the grant and I will go back to the Minister in respect of that. I will take on board what the Deputy is saying in regard to the budget more generally. Can I deal with the others?

There is Deputy Boyd Barrett. I dealt with that, I think, with regard to social housing.

When what?

I just dealt with it.

The Minister is working on it. It is not that simple.

The Deputy did not acknowledge that we built 9,000 houses and we are building-----

In response to Deputy Paul Murphy, again, I do not have the full background to that issue. It is obviously a matter for South Dublin County Council and those conditions are not satisfactory. The council should deal with it. In respect of Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan's point about Uisce Éireann, I will again engage with it in respect of Carrignavar and Glenville. The developer-led initiative is meant to be new schemes as well, in certain towns around the country. It is initially on nature-based solutions but we are pus…

We are very tolerant people here.

We are very generous. I propose to take Questions Nos. 7 to 13, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on justice, migration and social affairs oversees the implementation of programme for Government commitments that are in relation to matters under those areas. It covers a range of policy areas, including domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, policing and justice reform, migration and initiatives tackling local-area disadvantage. Getting more gardaí on our streets to prevent and detect crime is the Gover…

I thank the Deputies for the range of questions that has been asked. We began with Deputy Dolan and there was another question later about Galway. Deputy Dolan made a very strong case for Galway county, particularly east Galway. As I said, Garda numbers have increased dramatically since Covid. There are 200 gardaí being attested every three months now. It seems the Commissioner has concentrated on getting big cities done first, and Dublin was the first of these. It got a very significant tranche for the high-visibi…

That is an extra 28 for Galway.

It was four for the county and 28 for the city. That is good. I take the Deputy's point. The towns he mentioned are large, including Athenry, Gort and so on. Deputy Cleere gave us a strong sense of the towns in Kilkenny. I take the point. Rural Ireland has its unique crime issues and people feel vulnerable if there is a sense that there is not a sufficient Garda presence. It is a budget priority to continue the momentum in terms of Garda recruitment for 2027. Deputy O'Sullivan made an interesting point on the migra…

Tuigim, tuigim, tuigim. I have dealt with the issues in respect of Galway city. Deputy Mark Ward referred to pursuit training. It was a very good goal by Houghton in 1988. I take the Deputy's point. We must also be mindful of the fact that a lot has happened in the past four or five years in An Garda Síochána, in terms of recruitment activities and so on. There needs to be more focused training and so on, and there will be. Work is already under way with senior gardaí in colleges in the UK who are endeavouring to s…

As this is my last Leaders' Questions of this term, I thank the Ceann Comhairle and all Deputies in the House for their co-operation throughout the year. I thank the entire team that works here, the ushers, the staff in catering and so on, for the manner in which they look after all of us on an ongoing basis. We deeply appreciate that. To the Deputies, while we disagree on many issues, this is parliamentary democracy in action and long may it continue. I just wanted to say that. I thank Deputy Cullinane for raising…

I accept the devastation for families on receiving that news yesterday. This is not the news they wanted to hear. The previous month a drug was approved and that was welcomed across the House. The very same group made that recommendation in respect of that drug. There is an urgency attached to this and we are prepared to work with Members of the House in terms of the processes. We all accept that, ultimately, there has to be a scientific perspective on this. I accept there is also a role for those at the front line…