Last Friday, figures showed that we have reached the highest level of homelessness in this State's history. We also have the highest number of evictions in this country since the Famine. There are 2,500 children who have been in emergency accommodation for longer than one year. The Taoiseach knows that has a devastating impact on children. Many are in my constituency, Dublin North-West. One mother, Shauna, has been in touch with me. She has four children aged 13, seven, three and one. She is an emergency accommodat…

I cannot believe the Taoiseach is justifying-----

Why punish the-----

So history started on 7 October, yes?

Tá ríméad orm an deis seo a fháil chun labhairt ar Sheachtain na Gaeilge. Nílim líofa ach, cosúil lena lán daoine, táim ag déanamh iarracht mhór chun an Ghaeilge a fhoghlaim arís mar tá Gaeilge i mo chroí. Tá ár dteanga dhúchais ag fás arís. Tá sé istigh i gcroíthe a lán daoine ar fud na tíre. Tá a lán daoine ag déanamh iarracht mhór leis an nGaeilge sa tseachtain seo. Tá sé tábhachtach dom dul lasmuigh de mo comfort zone ó am go ham, faoi mar atáim ag déanamh anois. Tá dúthracht ag mo pháirtí, na Daonlathaithe Sói…

Gabhaim buíochas le Sinn Féin as an tairiscint thábhachtach seo a chur chun cinn. Tá géarchéim tithíochta ar fud na tíre. Tá éigeandáil ann. There is a housing crisis all over this country. It is an emergency. Is fadhb ar leith í sa Ghaeltacht . There is a specific crisis that affects the Gaeltacht. That is, of course, because tá todhchaí na nGaeltachtaí i mbaol agus, mar sin, tá todhchaí na Gaeilge, ár dteanga, i mbaol. There is a specific issue because the future of the Gaeltacht is in danger and that means the f…

What about the State investment scheme?

Why is there not more? The Government is bringing in investment funds.

By throwing renters under the bus?

This is about social media, is it?

I am not taking aim at the Minister of State but it is deeply disappointing that the Minister responsible, Deputy James Browne, is not in the Chamber for this. These are the first statements on homelessness under his Ministry. We are told he is at a subcommittee. Surely, that subcommittee could have been rearranged and he could have had the decency to be here. I am not taking it out on the Minister of State but it is absolutely disgraceful that the Minister for housing is not here for the first statements on homele…

I thank my colleague Deputy Rice for bringing this motion forward. It is a really important motion and is core to the Social Democrats. Why we are here and what we are about is ensuring that people have access to universal public healthcare as a human right and as a public service, regardless of where they are from and regardless of their income, that they have access to that most basic and fundamental need. Is ceart daonna í an tsláinte. Ba chóir go mbeadh rochtain ar sheirbhísí ardchaighdeáin phoiblí, an tsláinte…

The shambles we have seen over the past few weeks would suggest that either the Government does not adequately understand the crisis it is overseeing or the real meaning of inclusion for our children. The decision to cut the number of SNAs was a decision to cut, regardless of how the Government wants to spin it. It was a reduction and a curtailment of the duties on which an assessment would take place on the basis of a highly outdated circular. Nearly one third of the schools that were reviewed were told that the n…

It is not working.

There needs to be a massive change in the approach to remote work in legislation to formalise it as a legitimate labour entitlement and a right and to ensure that remote working is harnessed to support people and communities. Ireland needs a national target for remote work. We need to facilitate and support companies to support workers to ensure that the right and access to remote employment is available for workers across this country. We should not be reverting to them versus us, as has been referred to. This is …

Next month will mark three years since the publication of the Shannon report into sexual abuse of children at St. John Ambulance. Despite the passage of so much time, we are still waiting for recommendations to be implemented. Now there are question marks about the independence of a national safeguarding officer. I am told that survivors have been trying to meet the Minister but they have been refused a meeting. This foot dragging and refusal to engage in such an important issue is unacceptable. We need a debate on…

It is very disappointing to again see the Minister's failure to support a measure which could help the housing crisis. I thank Sinn Féin and Deputy Doherty for bringing forward the motion. Unfortunately, it is one of many areas where we are seeing the Government claiming that its policies are being developed to promote affordable housing and to promote delivery of housing but, in fact, they are, what I think describes it very accurately, "designed to fail". The Minister had no interest in banning or stopping instit…

Tá an ghéarchéim thithíochta uafásach. Today, it has been revealed by the Simon Communities Locked Out of the Market report that there are zero properties available within standard housing assistance payment, HAP, limits. This is the first time any Simon Communities report has shown there is not one property available. Where are people to go and how are they supposed to afford the extortionate market rents? It is an emergency, but the only emergency action the Government is taking is to allow landlords to hike up r…

This matter relates to Gaelscoil Uí Earcáin on Glasanaon Road in Finglas, Dublin 11. A number of parents contacted me to outline some very serious concerns regarding the condition of the school building. Tá an-fhearg agus an-fhrustrachas ar na tuismitheoirí. The building is simply not in an acceptable state. The parents highlighted the fact that the teachers in the school do an excellent job but that the school is located in an extremely old and visibly deteriorating building that is no longer fit for purpose. It w…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit. I will again emphasise that, as the Minister of State has outlined, we have had a serious weather situation. I am sure it is not the only school in the country facing situations like this. Indeed, I know it is not. In my constituency and across the country, there are issues in relation to school buildings being kept up to standard. We have an issue in that the capitation grant given to schools is not sufficient to cover the basic cost of running a school. That is why parents are…