Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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I heard the news that our colleagues Deputies Róisín Shortall and Catherine Murphy have announced they are not going forward for re-election. I acknowledge them as two mighty and formidable women in leadership. I wish them both the very best in the future. A moment of girl power, I feel, which is rare enough in these Chambers.

Two thirds of people believe it is harder than ever to buy a first home. That is the stark finding from new research published today. This sentiment is felt particularly strongly among young people. The reality is that bad Government policy and decision-making has literally shattered housing affordability for an entire generation. Let us look no further than the fiasco at Oscar Traynor Park, Coolock, where the Government will ask people to pay between €400,000 and €475,000 for a three-bedroom home under its so-called affordable housing scheme. For a one-bedroom home, the price will be between €264,000 and €309,000. How are these prices affordable?

They might be affordable if someone is well-off or well paid, but it should be remembered that this is supposed to be a scheme to help those on low and middle incomes to buy homes of their own. The reason the prices of these home is beyond the reach of working people is the Government’s insistence that public land at the site be sold to a private developer. What the Government should have done, and what Sinn Féin called for at the time, was to fund Dublin City Council to develop social and affordable homes on the site, but Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil could not stomach that. Despite Dublin City Council initially voting down the proposal, the Government pushed for the site to be sold to that private developer. To grease the wheels, a commitment was made that three-bedroom homes in the development would be sold for between €250,000 and €306,000 and that these prices would be fixed and not affected by inflation, but here we are four years on and there is no such thing. So much for those commitments.

What is worse is that the Government now proposes to do the same thing with the old DIT site on Aungier Street. It has decided to transfer that State land to a private developer without condition. It has exempted the developer from building social and affordable homes on prime city centre land. This is more bad decision-making and another huge mistake made by the Government with its eyes wide open. The land at Aungier Street should be transferred to Dublin City Council to deliver social and affordable housing. Transferring State lands to commercial developers is a disaster for housing affordability. The way forward must be to keep public land in public ownership and have councils or approved housing bodies deliver genuinely affordable housing.

Tá an Rialtas seo ag cur i bhfeidhm polasaithe a thaispeánann nach bhfuil aon chliú acu conas tithe ar phraghsanna réasúnta a chur ar fáil. Is í réiteach na faidhbe ná tithe a thógáil ar thalamh poiblí, lenar féidir le gnáthdhaoine agus oibritheoirí iad a cheannach.

Does the Taoiseach accept that prices of €400,000 and €475,000 for a three-bedroom home under a Government affordable housing scheme are absurd? Does he believe that is affordable? Why on earth is the Government making another major mistake with the Aungier Street site? Transferring prime State-owned land to a private developer and exempting the developer from delivering social and affordable housing is nothing short of madness.

Deputies:

Hear, hear.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I, too, want to begin by paying tribute to Deputies Shortall and Catherine Murphy on their significant decision. I want to acknowledge them both as very formidable politicians. I believe Deputy Shortall is the longest serving female TD in the history of our State. That in and of itself is an historic record that deserves commendation. Through her work on Sláintecare, she brought parties with different views together to try to find common ground. Deputy Murphy has served for approximately 30 years in various political roles in her community and in Dáil Éireann. She will always be remembered as a particularly diligent and efficient member of the Committee of Public Accounts. Of course, they both played a major role in founding their political party. I want to wish them both and their families every happiness and good health now and into the future.

I thank Deputy McDonald for raising this very important issue. Let us start on something that I know we can agree on, namely, that far too many people in this country still feel that homeownership is out of reach. We are working to change that. I accept the bona fides of all political parties in this House that bring forward ideas and policies as to how they would change it, but it is also important to say to those people seeking to buy homes in our country that real progress is being made and that every single working day so far this year in Ireland, we have seen 321 new homes commence construction. So far this year-----

Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change)
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People cannot afford them.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I will get to affordability. So far this year, we are seeing around 500 people per week buying their first home. Sometimes, we get the impression from Deputy McDonald that no one is buying a house and nothing is happening, but that is simply not the reality.

On top of that on the social housing side of things, we saw the largest number of social houses allocated last year than at any time since the 1970s. Never in my lifetime were more social homes allocated than last year. We are making very significant progress in respect of housing supply.

It is particularly regrettable that the Deputy conveniently misrepresents the Government’s position on Aungier Street because she, the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, and other TDs for Dublin Central probably know the story better than most.

This House passed legislation, which I would say that the Deputy voted for, establishing the Grangegorman Development Agency, GDA. That set up an organisation in law that was charged with disposing of properties, including on Aungier Street - it is in the functions of the law - and putting the money generated from that into Grangegorman in the Deputy's constituency and one of the most incredible transformative projects. I believe the Deputy described it as her university when she visited it in February and looked on in great marvel at the huge contribution it has made to education in her community but much more widely than in just in her community. It has always been known by her and by those she met in Technological University Dublin that day that these properties would be disposed of and that every cent would go into the delivery of education. The Deputy might excuse me if I do not tolerate or buy the faux outrage here today because the Deputy knows the law well relating to the GDA.

She also knows that when we passed the Land Development Agency Act 2021, which I believe the Deputy opposed, it specifically also referred to the Grangegorman Development Agency. There is no big gotcha moment here. The Government position on the disposal of former Dublin Institute of Technology property has always been clear: dispose and put the money into education into the transformative Grangegorman campus in the Deputy's constituency.

We also checked with the Land Development Agency and the agency confirmed in writing to Government that it was not planning on developing that site for housing in any event.

On Oscar Traynor Woods, the Deputy is cherry-picking figures. The reality of the situation is that across Ireland, the average price under the affordable purchase homes under Government schemes is €267,000. Of course, when one has A-rated homes in certain parts of the city, we can see higher figures but we now have on Oscar Traynor Woods house prices that are 19% to 21% lower than market prices. These are facts that are worth repeating.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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The problem is that he will not answer the question. Is €475,000 affordable for those people in need of an affordable home? The Taoiseach will also not accept that transferring public land to private developers is simply the wrong policy. It is not the way to develop and to deliver truly affordable homes and the Government should not be transfer a prime inner-city location, land so rare between the canals, for private development. That should go from the university to Dublin City Council for development.

This morning we saw the publication of an ESR, report that had been commissioned by the housing Minister about housing need. Incredibly, it only looked to the future. It Ignored and took absolutely no account of the tens of thousands of people who currently need a home today. You could not actually make this stuff up. It is very little wonder that the Housing Commission threw the book at the Government and said very clearly that what we need is a radical transformation in housing policy. It was right and we need that transformation now.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Is it the Deputy's position that she accepts every recommendation of the Housing Commission report? Is that her position? We have written to her on the issue and we are awaiting the Deputy's response as the Government. If it is the Sinn Féin position that she accepts every recommendation of the report, she might just clarify that. I will sit down if the Deputy might just clarify that. Is that her position, "Yes" nor "No".

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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I am happy to say to the Taoiseach that we accept the finding of the Housing Commission-----

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Yes, thank you.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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-----that the Government's policy is failing and failing miserably.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I thank Deputy McDonald.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I gave the Deputy time for a bit of straight talking. Yes or No?

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Please, answer my question about affordability, Taoiseach, if he could?

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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€400,000,

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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-----and I would be obliged.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I gave the Leader of the Opposition an opportunity to say "Yes"-----

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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€475,000.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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-----that she accepted all of the recommendation or "No" she did not and she refuses to answer. The Deputy wraps herself in reports when it suits her but she is not a details person. She is refusing to get down into the details. Which recommendations is she in favour of and which recommendations is she against?

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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Is it affordable?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank Sinn Féin very much for the chorus behind Deputy McDonald, which is trying to assist her but I am well able to answer the question, and I thank the Deputies very much.

Affordability very much depends on a person's circumstances. I am sure what Deputy McDonald thinks it is affordable is very different to what other people might think, as I am sure what I would and what other people in this House would think. That is why we provide a range of housing solutions. The average cost of an affordable home under our schemes is €267,000 and for anyone watching in, Sinn Féin would abolish the first home scheme-----

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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The Taoiseach cannot answer the question.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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-----it would abolish the help-to-buy scheme-----

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I call Deputy Doherty to order, please.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The reality of the situation is that Sinn Fein promised people in Ireland the €300,000 home and 72 hours before the local elections, Deputy McDonald admitted that was bogus.

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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Answer the question.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I answered the question but the Deputy just does not like the answer.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I ask Deputies to stop heckling.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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The Taoiseach is not entitled to an affordable house. It is €400,000 for an affordable home.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I call Deputy Holly Cairns.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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It is €267,000 for an affordable house.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I ask Deputies to have a bit of maturity, please.

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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I wish to acknowledge the announcement of my friends and colleagues, Deputies Catherine Murphy and Róisín Shortall, that they will not be contesting the next general election. Catherine and Róisín are trailblazers in Irish politics who have accomplished an incredible amount in careers that span decades of committed political work and dedicated public service, not least of which was setting up the Social Democrats and helping to grow the party to where it is today, with six TDs and 35 councillors. They are stepping back from front-line politics but they leave behind a legacy - a party with strong roots, huge potential and enormous promise. On a personal level, it is hard to articulate the impact they have had on me. I would not be standing here today if it were not for them. I thank them for their support. On behalf of the party, I thank them for all of their hard work and congratulate them on their incredible careers.

What we are witnessing in Gaza is beyond horror. It is the stuff of unrelenting nightmares. For nine months, the Israeli army has bombed, maimed and tortured a starved and captive population. Its aim is not self-defence; it is annihilation. According to a report from Save the Children, more than 14,000 children in Gaza have been killed and 21,000 children are missing. The report said children are also among those found in mass graves recently, with many showing signs of torture. This is the reality of the Israeli Government's barbarity and cruelty. Gaza is now a graveyard for children and, still, the slaughter continues in the full glare of the media spotlight. The publicity does not make a difference. Most western governments have lost interest in even pretending to care. It seems that all you need to do to get away with genocide is continue the relentless killing until the genocide becomes normalised.

The Government has talked tough on this issue but what has it really done to apply meaningful pressure on Israel to stop this massacre? Trade with Israel is continuing. The Israeli ambassador is still in situ and travel visas for those committing atrocities in the occupied territories are still facilitated. The genocide continues but it is business as usual with the Israeli Government. The Office of the Taoiseach sent me a brief note explaining why the Government refuses to enact the occupied territories Bill. It says the Government has disavowed the Bill for "legal, political and practical reasons". While I and many others do not agree with the legal reasons, I find it troubling and offensive that political and practical reasons are cited as a stumbling block to action. We are talking about 100,000 people who have been either killed, injured or are missing, yet the Government is too concerned with politics and practicalities to take action, outside of the welcome recognition of the State of Palestine.

I have asked the following questions a lot of times and I will keep doing so until we see action from the Government. What is the Government going to do to apply meaningful pressure on Israel? Why will it not take unilateral action like enacting the occupied territories Bill? Can the Taoiseach tell me when the updated legal advice on the occupied territories Bill was received? A lot of people believe the legal advice should change in light of the ongoing genocide.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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On becoming Taoiseach, I asked again about the legality of the occupied territories Bill. The same position has be reiterated to me as has been reiterated to my predecessors. Indeed, the same position has been reiterated to me by the Attorney General that would have been reiterated by his predecessors as well. I fully accept the Deputy's bona fides that this is a point of difference, but the very clear legal advice to me, which would be the same legal advice available to Deputy Cairns if she were in my position, is that the Bill is not compatible because these matters are dealt with at a European level.

What I can tell Deputy Cairns is that Ireland continues to push at a European level to change policy on the association agreement between the EU and Israel. I strongly share the Deputy's view that it cannot be business as usual for that association agreement.

I share that view, Spain shares that view and Belgium somewhat shared that view recently but it still remains a minority view among the member states of the European Union. That is frustrating to say but it is a truthful portrayal that I can give from my engagement at the European Council, as recently as last week. Ireland did make amendments to the conclusions of the European Council last week, specifically around the International Court of Justice, ICJ, and the very clear orders of the court, particularly in May in relation to Rafah, It significantly strengthened the language of the European Union's conclusions in relation to that also.

We have repeatedly called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and we continue to work at every opportunity, with partners in the Middle East, including the King of Jordan, to whom I have spoken, and in the EU to build momentum for peace efforts. I also discussed the issue with President Biden. However, I now fear that the stability of the Palestinian Authority is an additional cause for concern. I am already working on this at an EU level. I have already spoken to the President of the European Commission twice about this in the last week as to what role the European Union can play in stabilising financially the position of the Palestinian Authority. This is absolutely key to protecting the State of Palestine and ensuring there is a State of Palestine.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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There will not be if Israel keeps bombing the Palesinians.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Engagement with the two-state solution is absolutely essential.

I am aware of the horrific situation. I am haunted by it, as I know people across this country are. Ireland continues to use its voice at every single opportunity in every single international forum. We do not just say things - we vote that way internationally, amend conclusions that way, provide extra humanitarian assistance and stand by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA. We will continue to look for every opportunity. At a European level, Europe is not where it needs to be.

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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Every day in Gaza brings a new atrocity and today is no different. The hospital in Khan Younis has been evacuated. This morning, the World Health Organization, WHO, issued a plea to the Israeli Government. Now we have powerful organisations basically just pleading with the Israeli Government not to commit war crimes. I do not know how much longer we have to sit back and watch that kind of savagery continue and not just refuse to take action, but actually reward those who have facilitated it. The Taoiseach says that he agrees with much of what I have said, that he is aware and that he is haunted by it. Incredibly, however, the Irish Government is supporting Ursula von der Leyen as the next European Commission President. Fine Gael at least were honest about their intentions in advance of the election. However, honesty is not a word that can credibly be attached to the position of Fianna Fáil on this issue. Von der Leyen and the EU institutions do not care about the massacre of Palestinians; that is the reality. While the Irish Government professes outrage and solidarity with the Palestinians, it is simultaneously supporting Von der Leyen and, therefore, trade with Israel, which has actually increased since this war started. Will the Taoiseach explain how that adds up? How is the Government using every available opportunity when it supports Ursula von der Leyen?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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It is because her position is entirely misrepresented. If the Deputy had been at the European Council, as I was last week-----

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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No, hang on, I was the only Irish person in the room, so perhaps allow me the courtesy of telling the Dáil what happened. When I was there last week, every single Prime Minister and President, bar one - the Hungarian Prime Minister - supported President von der Leyen or, in the case of Italy, abstained. That included socialist governments. In fact, the Prime Minister of Spain, who is probably seen as an extraordinarily strong supporter of Palestine, supported her.

This attempt in Ireland to characterise the inertia at an international level in relation to the Middle East around one individual is misplaced. It is Ursula von der Leyen who significantly increased the UNRWA aid budget and it is she, right now, who is working on financial packages and support for the Palestinian Authority. She has been somewhat successfully portrayed as a bogey woman, but I am not sure how successful it actually was when we look at the outcome of elections across Europe. The effort to make her some sort of bogey woman does not tally at all with the actions she is taking. The fact that socialist and centrist Prime Ministers and Presidents supported Ursula von der Leyen after an election involving 180 million citizens speaks very clearly to her credentials.

Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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It is possible that corporations made profits in excess of €300 billion in this State last year.

Unfortunately, working people did not fare as well. Yes, most workers got pay increases but the majority of those pay increases did not match the rate of inflation and therefore were de facto pay cuts. Maybe this goes some way to explaining why a majority of people who expressed a view when polled by RedC last week supported the pilots. A group of workers seeking a pay increase from a greedy company making massive profits is something a lot of people can identify with. Aer Lingus made profits of €225 million last year. Its parent company, IAG. made an eye-watering €3.5 billion. Executive pay at Aer Lingus has increased by 66% since 2019 and only yesterday, it was announced that Aer Lingus chief executive officer, Lynne Embleton, had received a €269,000 share bonus just last week. Meanwhile, the pilots have not had a pay increase in five years.

This is the largest industrial dispute seen in this State in the 2020s. It is the biggest clash between the interests of capital and the interests of labour this decade. It is in the interests of every working person that the pilots win their claim. Of course, we have had an orchestra of outrage led by the usual suspects from the capitalist establishment. Aer Lingus said the pilots’ stand was "insidious". Aer Lingus’s great rival, Michael O’Leary, called it "industrial blackmail". The unshockable Tánaiste said it was "shocking". The Taoiseach himself opted for the phrase "utterly reprehensible". Never once did the Taoiseach recognise his own responsibility for the current state of affairs. When Aer Lingus was privatised between 2006 and 2015 who were the parties in power? First, it was Fianna Fáil and the Green Party and then it was Fine Gael and, to its shame, the Labour Party. By selling off the national airline to a corporation, it was the likes of the Taoiseach and his party that opened the door to a scenario where Aer Lingus could quadruple its profits in a year, while holding down wages by more than 20% over five years. The Taoiseach needs to own his own mistake here.

It is back to the Labour Court tomorrow. The Labour Court is no friend of working people in my book. If the pilots can get a cost-of-living increase there, I say good luck to them but I have my doubts. If the pilots are left by Aer Lingus with no choice but to escalate their action, they will continue to have my support. Escalation, if it is necessary, will be greeted in the capitalist press with howls of horror but escalation can serve to bring the dispute to a head more quickly and increase the chance of a settlement that does justice to the pilots' claim, which, as I said, is in the interests of all working people.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I am a bit perplexed. I would say the Deputy must have struggled on this dispute. I did not see this coming but maybe I should have.

It is highly regrettable that any Member of this House would cast an aspersion on the Labour Court. We have a long-standing industrial relations mechanism in this country, with both the Workplace Relations Commission and the Labour Court, that is a key part of the infrastructure. To say the Labour Court is not the friend of the worker is factually untrue. The court is not there to be the friend of anybody, by the way-----

Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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It is true.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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Exactly.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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It is there to arbitrate, mediate and come up with solutions to very important things and to bring about industrial peace. The Deputy may not be a fan of industrial peace. I place quite a significant value on it. I thank the Deputy for his intervention today.

I know how upsetting this dispute is to people. That is what I think is utterly reprehensible about this, and I say that without casting a view on whether it is the pilots or Aer Lingus. There are always two sides to any dispute; I am very aware of that. Everyone is entitled to have a dispute and everyone is entitled to put in a pay claim but people are entitled to go on their holidays too. There are parents, including in the Deputy’s constituency, who set aside a few bob to go on holiday with their kids and who are now anxiously checking their social media feeds and websites to find out if that holiday can go ahead. I feel for them. It is their side that I am on. It is the side of the travelling public and the people in the Deputy’s constituency who might own a hotel, bed and breakfast, restaurant or café and who are hoping for and relying on tourists coming in over the coming weeks to help them get through what can be a long winter. That is the side we should be on in this House, not deciding to be divisive or to pit one group against the other, but to speak up for our own citizens who are trying to go on holiday and go about their business. There are people in this country in the tourism sector which is particularly dependent.

The Government’s position has been crystal clear. We want to see meaningful engagement. I do not think there has ever been an industrial relations dispute that has been resolved without two things - engagement and compromise.

They are always the ingredients to any solution to any dispute. The question for both parties is whether they wish to do that now and save everybody the pain, the agony, the hassle and the economic impact, or whether they wish to drag this thing out and then end up doing it anyway. There is absolutely no doubt but there will be engagement and compromise; that is how industrial relations dispute are solved. I hope the Deputy will agree with me that the most important thing tomorrow is for both parties to attend the Labour Court in good faith, to engage in the process in a real and meaningful way, to be respectful of the role of the Labour Court, which I am not sure the Deputy was, and to sort this out. Both parties need to stay there as long as it takes until they sort it out. I say to both parties that there needs to be a willingness to compromise and to engage. I very much welcome the fact that parties have agreed to attend together at the Labour Court tomorrow. I thank the Labour Court for the intensive work it has done in the background on this in recent days, and I really hope this can help put the matter on a pathway to resolution before there is any further upset or damage caused to the travelling public or to the Irish economy.

Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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Let us talk about tomorrow. Tomorrow, representatives of Aer Lingus will walk into the Labour Court. This is a company which made €225 million profits last year and is part of an international group which made €3.5 billion in profit, and its representatives will sit across the table from pilots who have not had a pay increase in five years. Of course, I do not want to see a strike. The pilots do not want to see a strike but the issue is whether they will have the opportunity to go back to work with a decent pay increase which covers the cost-of-living increases in the past five years. If they do, it will be settled. If not, it could be a very different matter.

In order to make the atmosphere better for tomorrow, I will ask the Taoiseach a question. Aer Lingus is leasing planes and crew from non-union airlines such as Privilege Style airline to break the industrial action of the pilots. This is an extremely provocative move, tantamount to union busting. It is opposed both by trade unionists in Ireland and in that airline's country of origin, which is Spain. The Taoiseach talks about the need for compromise and avoiding escalation. Will he give me a straight answer to a straight question? Will he call on Aer Lingus here today on the floor of the Dáil to cease this provocative activity and stop using non-unionised airlines to do this work?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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It seems we have the spokesperson for pilots before profit today. I thank Deputy Barry for that intervention. My position is very clear. It is crystal clear and could not be clearer. It is not for me on the floor of the Dáil, or respectfully for the Deputy, though he is perfectly entitled to, to give a view on which side is to blame, to apportion blame or to accuse one side of being provocative. I have not done that. I have stood up and accepted that any worker is entitled to submit a pay claim and of course to use all of the mechanisms available to him or her to seek a resolution. What I am saying though is that it is really important that the opportunity tomorrow is seized. A lot of work has gone into preparing for tomorrow. Late on Friday afternoon, the Labour Court invited Aer Lingus and IALPA to fresh talks. They commenced at 2.30 p.m. yesterday. This follows direct discussions between the parties last week, which broke down following five hours of talks. Discussions between the parties at the Labour Court yesterday concluded some time after 11 p.m. I want to acknowledge the hard yards and long hours everybody put in yesterday, following which we now have the court saying it will formally intervene. It is not for me to now add new aspects to the dispute or new elements that the Deputy wishes to raise today.

Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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To oppose union busting?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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It is now reported that the Labour Court has requested that both parties submit final written submissions by close of business today. Let that be the focus, let there be a court hearing tomorrow and let us find a resolution in this dispute for once and for all in order that people can go on their holidays and go about their business.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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I visited the Ardara Community Childcare centre yesterday and I was horrified to see the effect the defective blocks are having on the building. Ardara Community Childcare opened a purpose-built premises in the heart of Ardara town in 2007 after securing funding from the EU's special support programme for peace and reconciliation and with the help of many local funding initiatives in Ardara. Since then, it has provided vital childcare for hundreds of families in the area and the surrounding areas, and provides an essential after-school service for children attending six national schools close to the facility. There is no doubt that this childcare service is extremely important to the people of Ardara. Many people rely on this service and many parents have stated they would be unable to work without it. It was devastating for them to discover the findings of a recent defective block report, which showed significant defective concrete materials in all five of the tested areas, including the building's foundations.

The report recommended that the building be demolished and rebuilt due to the high levels of pyrite, pyratite and free mica. However, disgracefully, there is no Government funding available for this. Ardara Community Childcare is a community organisation with a voluntary board of directors and has charitable status. We have been telling the Government since the introduction of the redress scheme that defective blocks would be found in buildings such as this, yet the Government has refused to listen and now community organisations such Ardara Community Childcare are faced with this dire situation through no fault of theirs. They are in this position because of the Government's light-touch regulation and now the Government refuses to address or rectify the effect light-touch regulation has had on community buildings across Donegal. In response to a question regarding Ardara Community Childcare, the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, stated that this is a unique situation. I dispute this completely. This is certainly not a unique situation, as the Government would know if it had listened to the Opposition and the people affected from the beginning.

Defective blocks are already having a detrimental effect on many important services across Donegal, such as Raphoe Community Playgroup and Letterkenny Community Childcare, and this is only the beginning. As the years go on, we will start to see the effects of detective blocks in far more community public buildings in Donegal and across the entire country. The Government must address this now before the issue gets completely out of hand and many vital services are forced to close as a result. There is no way organisations like Ardara Community Childcare will be able to raise the money required to demolish and rebuild the building as a small community. Without vital Government funding, it will be forced to close its doors during a crisis in childcare and this will be devastating for the town of Ardara. What will the Government do to ensure this does not happen and that buildings with these defective blocks will be remedied?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Pringle for raising two important issues which are clearly intertwined here - the issue of concrete blocks and particularly the devastating impact that is having in his constituency to community childcare facilities. He made specific reference to Ardara but also referred to Raphoe and Letterkenny. The Department of children is aware of the service in Ardara and it is aware of the impact that defective blocks are having on that service. My understanding is that the Department is examining how it can repurpose existing capital funding in the Department to assist in that case. My understanding is that the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, and his officials are working on this through what they call the Department's sustainability process.

I want the Deputy to know there is an awareness of this issue in Government. There is a real willingness to try to engage and come up with a solution, perhaps separate and distinct from the broader issue of the existing scheme for defective concrete blocks. Considerable work has gone into the enhanced scheme which is now open for applications. The final regulations came as a result of extensive consultation with key stakeholders and the new scheme is now providing very considerable enhancements. As we have discussed in the past, I believe the previous scheme received 1,644 applications with another 514 to the enhanced scheme at the end of May.

While what the Deputy is clearly highlighting today may not be a new issue, it is certainly a new issue to me in the sense that community childcare facilities are now being affected by defective blocks. Obviously, the Government will need to take that extremely seriously. I am pleased that the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman and his departmental officials have an awareness of it. They will engage on the issue and I know they are actively examining how their existing capital funding could be repurposed to assist in this case. I suggest that the Minister might engage directly with the Deputy on the matter.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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I thank the Taoiseach for his response. I also thank the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, because it is vital that this is recognised. This requires a whole-of-government approach. This is a crisis that will only get worse. Community buildings, private buildings, factories and farm buildings across Donegal will all be collapsing over the next few years because of the defective concrete crisis. It will extend across the country because this is not only a Donegal issue. It has been highlighted in Donegal where it is worst, but it will expand across the whole country. The Government needs to get on top of it. It could amend IS 465 to include pyrite and pyratite as defective materials. That is very simply done. Doing that would mean many people would be able to repair their houses as things stand.

That is a slightly different issue but I point to how the Government is embracing this whole problem. This, unfortunately, is going to be a massive problem. How do you make sure this never happens again? You make sure proper regulations are put in place and enforced, rather than doing away with regulations.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Pringle for raising this issue and I acknowledge he raises it regularly, as do other colleagues in County Donegal. I accept a statement of the obvious. The Deputy has rightly said that the Government and I are aware this is not just a Donegal issue. It is important to say that. My note mentions counties Mayo, Clare and Limerick as other areas that have been affected. The Government recently took a decision to include Sligo County Council too. I am aware this is an issue that first came to visibility in Donegal with devastating effects, worry and stress for people. However, it is not one that is exclusive to Donegal. We have a back and forth in this Chamber - which is one of the reasons it is here - to speak up for constituents, but I think the Government has endeavoured to make a real intervention of incredible scale. We continue to work our way through issues as they arise. The Deputy has raised another relatively new issue relating to community childcare. We are now engaging on that too although today, because I do not want to be disingenuous, I will not be prescriptive about how we help that community childcare centre he referenced in Ardara. I will ask the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, to continue his engagement and reply to the Deputy directly.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I join those Members who have recognised the significant announcement made by Deputies Shortall and Catherine Murphy. I acknowledge that they have had a truly reformative influence on politics in this country. I have known Róisín Shortall for many years from our days in the Eastern Health Board when she was as forceful and direct in her views on health matters as she is today. I have known Catherine Murphy for even longer. We served together on Kildare County Council, and she was outstanding in her sincerity and dedication to the people. Her dedication was to people and not to any ideology, and to ensuring the best possible public services were available. It can be said that Catherine Murphy always played the ball and not the person. I hope they have a successful period ahead and I thank them for all they have done.