Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Last week, I raised with the Tánaiste the fact that homes at Oscar Traynor Road, under a so-called Government affordable housing scheme, would cost between €400,000 and €475,000 for a three-bedroom home. Sinn Féin warned from the beginning that this plan would lead to homes that were unaffordable and out of reach of ordinary people. In the Tánaiste's response to me last week, he said these homes were being advertised at €400,000 but they could be available to home buyers for €300,000 when you combine the first home scheme. That is simply not true, and I am sure, at this stage, the Tánaiste knows that is not true. He has had a week to reflect on his response. Does the Tánaiste now accept that what he put on the Dáil record last week was not true, and that you cannot reduce these prices to €300,000, and you cannot use the first home scheme for this? Therefore, I will go back to my original question. This is a Government scheme that is supposed to deliver affordable housing. Does the Tánaiste accept that €400,000, entry level, and up to €475,000 for a three-bedroom house in Coolock is affordable?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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First, I accept that the affordable purchase homes scheme at Oscar Traynor Road are subsidised through the local authority shared equity scheme, not the first home shared equity scheme, as I inadvertently said. However, that does then mean that is also subsidised up to potentially €100,000 under that scheme, plus the €30,000 from the help-to-buy scheme, which the Deputy did not reference. It depends on what the market value of any given house is but there is a State subsidy of €130,000. I am sure the Deputy would acknowledge that.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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The price is still €400,000.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The only way to deal with affordable housing, in my view, is more supply, and we have to build more houses. I would argue that the schemes, and the multiple schemes we have for affordability, are far superior than anything the Deputy's party has produced so far. In fact, his party would take away those schemes we have provided, and I think that would be very detrimental to affordability and to first-time buyers in particular.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Is it affordable?

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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The Tánaiste will know that the young campaigner for autism services, Cara Darmody, is continuing her protest this week outside Leinster House. I pay tribute to Cara's tenacity in organising her campaign. She is calling for access to assessments of need and services for all children, and an end to the scandalous waiting lists that far too many are facing. Some time ago, the HSE stated in response to a parliamentary question I tabled that it does not reimburse families for private assessments where the State has failed to provide one in a timely fashion. However, that HSE reply is contradicted by the experience of Cara's family in the case of Cara's own brothers Neil and John. Is the HSE only prepared to vindicate the rights of autistic children and children with special needs if their family causes it sufficient embarrassment through protest and in the media? Is that the official policy of the HSE? What is the Government going to do to ensure every child who needs an assessment will receive one from the State in a timely fashion? Can the Tánaiste guarantee that a diagnosis will give rise to the necessary access to supports and services regardless of a child's needs or where they live?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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It is not the policy, nor should it be the policy, that responses occur via protests alone. Every child is entitled, in my view, to the fundamentals. There was a court action which effectively meant the HSE had to go back to the drawing board with regard to the assessment of need process. We may have to look at legislation in that respect. It would be interesting to see how the Oireachtas would respond to such legislation. Assessment is very important, and proper intervention should follow. I am on record as saying that the HSE's response to some of those interventions, which is that it cannot recruit to the CDNTs and so on, has not been satisfactory. I would have a view, as I have for quite a long time, regarding alternative ways of dealing with this. We are progressing that in the Government at the moment.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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Some 3,000 people with status to remain here are being told to leave their IPAS accommodation as of tomorrow. My very simple question to the Tánaiste is this. Where is the Government asking these people and their families to go? I think I know the answer. In the absence of a plan, there will be a merry-go-round of misery.

This question - where are people simply to go? - was put to the Minister for Finance and Fianna Fáil's deputy leader on "Morning Ireland" this morning. His answer was that they should go to their local authority. He very clearly has not been down in Parkgate Street lately because it is out the door with families in very similar situations. The Minister of State, Deputy Joe O'Brien, called this cruel measure a pathway to integration.

If this actually happens, what the Government is risking here is destroying the cohesion built up by civic society which has had to step up in the absence of a Government plan over the last 18 months, helping families such as those in East Wall, for example, to get involved in sports clubs and to be in the schools. What the Government is proposing now is to move one cohort of very vulnerable people away from the services they built around themselves and to bring another cohort in and start the misery again. Please do not do this. Stop that cruelty.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I thank the Deputy. What we are looking to do is to support people who have been given status in this country to access the services and housing supports that everybody else in this country is entitled to do. That is why we have provided very significant resources over the last number of years, working with housing NGOs to put in place officers who are directly engaging with people who have status and are now entitled to use HAP to be on social housing lists. We have had very significant success in that already. Last year, 2,000 people were able to move on from being in international protection accommodation to independent living. That is ultimately what we are looking to secure for people who have been in the international protection system, have been granted status and now want to be able to move on with their lives outside of an IPAS accommodation centre.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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The Minister definitely does not believe that. He cannot believe it.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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It is a national scandal how children with scoliosis are treated in this country. They are left languishing on waiting lists, not for months but for years in some cases, with their conditions worsening. We have heard promise after promise about bringing the waiting lists down, going back to 2017, when we heard from then Minister for Health, Deputy Simon Harris, that there would be a maximum waiting list of four months.

We heard it again from Children's Health Ireland in 2022, with the same promise of a four-month maximum wait and the provision of an extra €19 million to provide that. Now it emerges that a large portion of the money has not been spent on that but instead has generally gone into CHI. The Minister, yesterday in the Seanad, and the Tánaiste, today in the Dáil, said there would be an audit and they would look into how this happened, but the buck ultimately stops with the Minister. He was told about it by campaigners. I have seen an email from Amanda Coughlan-Santry to the Minister for Health in July 2022 saying it looks like CHI thinks this money is for everything.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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The Deputy's time is up.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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The Minister cannot evade responsibility for this.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Hear, hear.

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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It is simply the case that you can only audit how something is being used when it is in place. We funded a fifth theatre which is in place. There is a second MRI facility in Crumlin which we funded. Those services were not in place in 2022. In fact, they were not in place most of the way through 2023. Most of those big services started in quarter 4 of last year, so it is only from quarter 4 of last year that we can seek assurances that the resources that were put in place are being used for what they are intended.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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That is not true. It is nonsense.

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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We looked into this straight away. I sought assurances from CHI via my Department. We did not get them. I sought assurances via the board of CHI. We did not get them. I then took the unprecedented step of instructing the chief executive of the HSE to send in the HSE's internal auditors.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Two years later. It is crazy stuff.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Please, Deputy Doherty.

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Doherty, in a profoundly dishonest contribution earlier-----

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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You are being dishonest

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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-----would seem to be suggesting that we could audit in 2022 the use of an MRI capacity that did not exist until the end of 2023.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Let us stop the money going to the wrong place in the first instance.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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The Minister was warned in advance.

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I can assure the House-----

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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The Minister has made the point. Will Deputies please stop disrupting the House? Could people learn to read the clock? Members have adopted a regulation here that there is a minute for every question. Everybody disregards it. They disregard the Chair. They do not respond when they are called on. They engage in most unruly and unacceptable behaviour, I have to say. You would want the patience of Job to put up with some of it.

Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Independent)
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It is no secret that there is a shortage of general practitioner services in many parts of Ireland and my constituency of Louth and east Meath is no different. Not a week goes by without constituents coming into my constituency office begging for medical access. The Louth GP shortage has left patients in Drogheda facing a two-year wait to register with a local doctor. Just this week, I have one constituent waiting since February and at least three others waiting weeks to access a GP panel. Not only are these constituents being told by local GPs they do not have the capacity to take them in the short term, but GPs cannot even give an assurance that they will be able to increase capacity in the future.

In February, a survey of 275 registered GPs nationwide conducted by the Irish Independent revealed that more than 50% of GPs cannot accept new patients. There is no doubt that right across the country, but particularly in rural areas, we are watching the slow demise of health services, despite hundreds of millions being added to the national health budget. The Tánaiste emphasised that there has been much work on primary care, which is a cornerstone. Can the Minister for Health please answer the question about the shortage of GPs?

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I do not want to incur the wrath of Job again so I will keep it to 60 seconds. We are aware that in some parts of the country, we do not have enough GPs. In response, over the last number of years, we have tripled the number of training places. Now, for every GP who is leaving practice and retiring, two new GPs are coming in. We have augmented that with international GPs using an international programme through the Irish College of General Practitioners. Year on year, the number of GPs is increasing. It will take time for that to be felt right across the country. We are now well on our way to addressing the real concerns the Deputy raised.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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Dundrum House Hotel in Tipperary is a famed hotel and business run by the late Austin Crowe and his wonderful family for decades. The Minister has taken it over and it has been a reception centre for Ukrainians who have been integrated and well accepted in the area. It is now being made into an IPAS centre without any questions about it and with inadequate infrastructure and there are economic concerns. I have a letter here from the Dundrum residents association, which I salute. There is also the matter of creating integrated settings, which is supposed to be Government policy, which it does not do. There has been absolutely no consultation with the community, public representatives or anybody else. I am glad the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, is here. This has been visited on the people of Dundrum. They are welcoming people. Dundrum House Hotel is a linchpin of our tourism product in Tipperary. A very shady business owner is running the place now, to put it mildly.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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No. The Deputy's time is up.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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That is putting it mildly. The Minister is happy to do this. I ask him to meet the delegation next week from the residents in Dundrum.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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We should not cast aspersions on someone outside the house.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The Deputy is right that, for two years, the hotel in question has served as accommodation for Ukrainian families. They have been supported and integrated into the community. Our need for Ukrainian accommodation is less now and our need for accommodation for international protection applicants is higher. In light of that, we made a decision, in agreement with the provider there, that this accommodation will now provide accommodation for international protection applicant families. I have no doubt Deputy McGrath will show leadership in supporting that same level of welcome that was provided to Ukrainian families to international protection applicant families.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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We need consultation. Will the Minister meet the committee?

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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We have provided information about the change of use in this particular case. I am happy to speak to the Deputy further about this. Families from Ukraine are leaving and families from other countries and difficult parts of the world are arriving. I hope we can extend the same degree of welcome.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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Once again, the Government has stumbled blindly into yet another defective blocks fiasco of its own making. I know this will probably annoy and set off the Tánaiste, since he is convinced that the whole thing is sorted, but I am here to remind him again this week that it is not. Three weeks ago today, the Minister, Deputy Ryan, announced that SEAI grants would be available in a co-ordinated and specific way for homeowners with defective blocks. Now it turns out that those who qualified for enhanced home energy upgrades prior to this will not be able to carry over eligibility to the enhanced schemes. This targets the most vulnerable and socioeconomically deprived in County Donegal. As an example, the dry-lining grant aid will be halved in this scenario, external insulation grants will be decreased by almost 50% and many other headings will see homeowners receive 20% to 30% less on average. It is affecting those on working family payment, the one-parent family payment, domiciliary care allowance, carer's allowance and disability allowance. It is an own goal. Will the Tánaiste speak to the Minister to make sure it is changed and made more responsive?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I did not quite pick up the specifics of the points the Deputy was making.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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The grant scheme has been reduced for people with defective blocks.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Grants of up to €420,000 are now available for affected homeowners depending on the works required under the scheme. A report on the first six months of the operation of the scheme was recently prepared for the Minister and it concluded that the scheme was operating satisfactorily. Minor suggestions for improvements were made and are in the process of being implemented. I will ask the Minister to engage with the Deputy.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I call Deputy Robert Troy.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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Eamon Ryan is the Minister. The SEAI-----

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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That was-----

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I call Deputy Robert Troy.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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I am raising the case again of a four-year-old constituent of mine, Clodagh Walsh, who suffers from a rare, life-limiting and devastating degenerative neurological condition called Dravet syndrome. In six months in 2023, she was attended to five times and airlifted twice. Since she started on a drug called fenfluramine, she has had no seizures and it has been life-changing for this young girl. The company marketing fenfluramine submitted an application to the HSE to have this medicine added to the reimbursement list in July last year. It is on the reimbursement list in the UK, France, Germany and the Netherlands. I understand there is a child who has the same condition in Cork who has been approved and is having this treatment paid for. I want to know why somebody in Cork can avail of it and someone in Westmeath cannot.

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Troy and I have discussed this case several times. He got a detailed response from me about the process recently. Further to that, I contacted the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics last night and again this morning.

I am happy to tell the House that there is good progress in the process on this particular medicine. There are further steps to go. I emphasised to its representatives the particular case in question and that there is a sick child. It is aware of the urgency of the situation. As I know the Deputy will appreciate, we now have to let the apparatus of the State engage in commercial discussions with the pharmaceutical company.

Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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I raise recycling and bin collections. The deposit return scheme has come in and the good people of the State are, by and large, doing the right thing with plastic bottles and cans. I support the scheme and use it but because less stuff is going into recycling bins, the private companies that collect waste are now charging us for that. We are charged for the levy on plastic bottles and cans, which is fine, but because of the reduction in the volume in the recycling bin, companies are now charging more. The privatisation of waste collection has caused a lot of these problems. In my locality, four separate trucks collect waste, three on the same morning.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Time is up, Deputy.

Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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It has gone out of control. The Government needs to take back control with a franchise or some other model with local authorities. Other EU states are doing it. Will the Government look at this issue again? The scheme is good but these are the unintended consequences.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Would you like to go on a bit longer?

Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle for his indulgence.

Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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I thank the Deputy for acknowledging that this is a good scheme. It has been successful. Irish Business Against Litter reported that it has resulted in a reduction of one third of the bottle and can litter around the country, which will continue. The Deputy said it has resulted in an increase in waste collection prices. That is not actually true. On Monday, the Irish Independent reported it had heard from some anonymous waste collection companies that they intended to put up prices as a result. I do not think that will happen.

Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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I have noticed it.

Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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The Department is in negotiations with the Irish Waste Management Association to make sure the system of subsidies and levies in place is such that there will be no effect on the cost of waste collection. I do not want the price of waste collection to go up at all. I am glad the Deputy acknowledged that the deposit return scheme is working well.

Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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Will the Government stop them? The company I use is putting the price up.

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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Following on from Deputy Troy's question, last month, data from the latest EFPIA WAIT indicator survey showed that just 14% of orphan medicines licensed by the European Medicines Agency since 2019 are available to patients in Ireland. This places us 26th out of the 36 European countries analysed. Treatments such as ravulizumab, which treats several forms of rare debilitating disease, have remained unavailable to patients in Ireland. In the case of the latter, it has been since its initial application in 2019, despite its availability in the majority of other countries in Europe. Reforms are often disregarded in Ireland as an option reserved to France and Germany. However, rare disease pathways are in place in several countries such as Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, which operate ultra-orphan pathways for pricing and reimbursement, or Czechia, which operates a specialised assessment process for orphan drugs similar to what is proposed in my Bill. These processes take into account unique characteristics associated with medicines for smaller patient populations and recognise the reality apparent in Ireland. What further steps will be taken as a State to plan for future programmes in this regard?

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I acknowledge the Deputy's ongoing advocacy and work in this area of rare diseases. The Deputy is aware of and inputting to the new rare disease strategy. We are improving the current reimbursement process through publication and implementation of the Mazars report and the recommendations therein, adding €30 million in new development funding for medicines this year. In parallel, we are developing the rare disease strategy. Through the combination of the approval and assessment process and the new strategy, we will seek better results in Ireland. To caveat, there are reports suggesting Ireland is far down the league but there are other reports that put us further up. Nonetheless, we must always strive to have the quickest possible access to the greatest number of medicines.

Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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Over the past number of months, I raised the issue of the lack of gardaí in Dublin west, highlighting serious problems people in my constituency have in getting a response when they call 999. Last week, I had to intervene and make a direct call to senior members of the Garda after numerous calls to 999 failed to get a response. At 10.30 a.m., a call was made to 999 in relation to a vulnerable disabled person living alone. His service manager was worried because there was no response to knocks on the door or calls. He called 999 and there was no response. Throughout the day, the local GP made a 999 call and there were no gardaí available. A public health nurse made 999 calls - no gardaí available. The service manager called multiple times and there were still no gardaí available. Local councillor Angela Donnelly made a call and no garda was available. Thankfully, at 5.30 p.m., a unit was released in Blanchardstown to go to that person's house. That was seven hours later. It is an absolutely shocking response.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I will raise that specific case. Will the Deputy provide the information to me? I will raise it with the Minister for Justice and the Commissioner because the Deputy said that on a series of occasions, 999 was rung and there was no response.

Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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There was no unit available.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy said there was no response to the 999 call.

Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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A response is somebody going to the person's door.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I got the impression there was no response at all in the Deputy's presentation. We can seek a full report from the Minister through the Commissioner in response to this specific case.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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When will the next call for proposals under the excellent urban regeneration and development fund be made? I understand it is overdue; it was expected last May. Will the Minister let me know, if not now, later, when this might happen?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I wish it would spend the money allocated in the last allocation.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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We will spend it if we get it.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Substantive funding has been allocated. Lots of preparatory work has to be done in designing various projects. I will check with the Minister as to the exact timeline around the next call. I will tell him Deputy Stanton eagerly awaits it.

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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Becton, Dickinson and Company has had a factory operating in Drogheda since 1964. Generations of Drogheda people have worked there. Unfortunately, the devastating news yesterday was that 170 people will lose their jobs over the next two years. There seemed to be no early warning system to the Minister - the Department was only informed the evening before. There was no opportunity to intervene and support this company, if it can be supported. I know the Minister will travel to New York next week to discuss issues with the company. It is imperative that the Government uses every possible opportunity, even at this late stage, having not been informed at all about what was going on, to see if we can support this company. Its support base in our town has been loyal. The company invested greatly in our town. We would value its continuation. It is a huge loss. What can the Government do, now that it knows about it?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Our primary concern is for those working in Becton, Dickinson and Company and their families who are impacted by this decision. All State agencies will work to support the workers affected in the period ahead as they pursue alternative employment. The IDA will have to work on the site and plant to see if we can get an alternative investor in, which has happened in the past to good effect. Some closures resulted in a rejuvenation of a given site, the most famous being Motorola in Cork ten or 15 years ago. It led to completely new developments on a number of fronts. Likewise in this case, it seems there is reduced demand for the company's key product and pressures from low-cost locations. It is a long-standing company that has been there since 1964. It continues to employ about 900 workers in Enniscorthy, Dublin and Limerick. We will do everything we can for the workers to get alternative employment and then try to get more employment into that location.

Johnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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I raise the serious issue regarding Trim Educate Together National School in County Meath. The school opened in 2014 with 17 junior infant pupils. It initially operated from temporary accommodation in 2018.

It moved to another temporary building in Trim. Since 2021 enrolment has surged from 138 to a projected 201 pupils this September. They will have eight mainstream classes for the first time. A recent health and safety report by Cohort has highlighted urgent concerns due to the inadequacy of the current building. The temporary buildings are simply not fit for educational purposes. A decade since its establishment, the school is still operating from a temporary facility. This has led to overcrowded classrooms, insufficient storage areas, inadequate bathroom facilities and a lack of space for assemblies and extracurricular activities. The school serves a large catchment area in Meath West, including Summerhill, Ballivor, Longwood, Rathmolyon and Kildalkey. Will the Tánaiste or the Minister for Education provide a timeline for addressing the urgent safety concerns and for securing a permanent educational home for Trim Educate Together National School and definite deadlines in this regard?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Some of these issues are when schools are initially started. No school, in my view, should be ten years waiting but it tends to happen if the agreed planning processes are not applied in terms of recognition of a school's identity and so on. We have been through all that. I presume the school has a school building scheme on the way or a design at various stages. I have talked to the Minister as to where it is. The Deputy must know himself.

Johnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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It has been going on ten years.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Where is it now in the pipeline?

Johnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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We do not know.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I will check it out and I will come back to the Deputy.

Johnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Tánaiste.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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In its pre-budget submission, the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland has cited the impact of the lack of affordable housing on its members. The housing crisis, or disaster as the President refers to it, is impacting on the capacity of business to expand or in some cases to even be able to stand still and maintain the worker numbers they have. Dublin Chamber and IBEC have also cited the lack of affordable or available housing as a major concern for their members. Does the Tánaiste agree that the Government's failure on housing is inhibiting future growth and investment and is now starting to have an impact on the potential for jobs and job creation?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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We have full employment in the economy and there has been very substantial economic growth under this Government. We cannot be complacent, however, and housing is an issue. There has been significant improvement in housing in the past three years-----

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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I do not agree.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----without question. Last year 33,000 houses were built.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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Read the submission. They do not agree with you.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Covid upset the first two years of this Government in terms of construction. Since then we have made significant progress but we have more to do. It is about supply and a combination of a whole range of programmes which we currently have in place. The bottom line is it is the only plan out there. I am stunned and shocked that Sinn Féin has never produced a blueprint for housing and never produced a plan for housing.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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I agree with the Tánaiste that only a change of-----

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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We have to do more-----

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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-----Government is going to improve the situation. I absolutely agree.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----to enhance the number of houses. Sinn Féin is all sound and fury and no substance.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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I asked a very straight question. If the Tánaiste does not understand the impact of the issue that they have created-----

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I understand fully and I appreciate-----

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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-----then they will never fix it and all of the available evidence suggests that the Government will never fix it.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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No. Sinn Féin needs to do more-----

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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People understood at the local elections.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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Are you blaming the Opposition for the Government's failure in housing?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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No I am not. We are making progress but the Deputy will not acknowledge that.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Deputies, please.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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The American Chamber of Commerce does not agree.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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We are nearly out of time because people are taking more time than they are supposed to. There are three remaining Deputies and we will hear a 30-second question from each.

Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent)
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I put it to the Tánaiste that 27% of those who are hospitalised for eating disorders, which is the deadliest mental illness, were in hospitals with no eating disorder trained staff and 83% had no access to a therapist or a psychiatrist after their discharge. Is it any wonder that 41% would be re-admitted for the same problem within two years?

Last week we heard from a number of speakers who painted the devastating picture of the black spots of access with 85% having difficulties. I know the Tánaiste knows this. County Clare is one of the 15 black spots. We need consistent and adequate funding but we also need transparency around the development of inpatient beds.

I commend Ciara Greene, who celebrates her 35th birthday this Saturday. She has spent the last 25 years struggling with this in the mid-west. An eating disorder is not a choice but providing appropriate services is.

Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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I have raised the issue of the provision of insulin pump therapy for paediatric diabetic patients in Cavan and Monaghan a number of times. I was told that it would commence in the fourth quarter of 2023. I am now being told by the RCSI Hospital Group that a new pathway has been introduced for children in Cavan and Monaghan but it has been introduced at the Drogheda hospital. This will not actually help these children because parents now have to bring the children over to Drogheda to get insulin pump therapy. I may have been given misleading information. Is this actually going to be provided on site in Cavan or Monaghan?

Johnny Mythen (Wexford, Sinn Fein)
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I wish to raise the issue of the national advocacy service, NAS, that will go out to a strike next Monday with a protest planned outside the Dáil on Tuesday. The crux of the matter lies with the employers, the Citizens Information Board but ultimately with the Department of Social Protection, which funds the CIB. The staff at the NAS have not received a pay rise for over 14 years. The Labour Court has heard the case and has brought forward recommendations. While they were accepted by email from the Citizens Information Board, they are now being reneged upon by both the CIB and the Department of Social Protection. As the national advocacy service represents the rights of our most vulnerable and disabled citizens in society, I appeal to the Tánaiste to talk to the Department to find a quick solution and to accept the Labour Court's recommendation before it becomes too late.

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I will address the first two of the questions if I can. I thank Deputy Wynne for raising the issue. The service required for people with eating disorders is something we take very seriously. We have increased the number of specialist eating disorder teams. My numbers may be slightly incorrect but these have gone from two to 11. We are, of course, seeking national coverage. Where there are areas where it is more difficult, it is something the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, and I are working on. We take this very seriously. I thank the Deputy for raising it.

I acknowledge Deputy Tully's ongoing work on the issue of the insulin pump therapy. There has been regular back and forth between me, the Department and the Deputy on this. If the Deputy would send me a short note on this I will bring it back to the Department and the HSE and we can continue the path we have been on to secure these services.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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With regard to the NAS industrial action, efforts have been ongoing right throughout June on this. I am happy to say that following continued discussion between all parties through the day, I understand that SIPTU has confirmed the strike committee has suspended industrial action - this may be an older note, however - to take part in a facilitated engagement. My understanding as of this morning, but I will double-check that, is there was a process back under way to try to avert a strike.