David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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Care Champions is an organisation that speaks for and represents many people who lost loved ones in care settings during Covid, as the Tánaiste knows. Its members are protesting outside the Dáil today. They have a number of asks, one of which is that we have, to use their words, a full and transparent inquiry into the Government's response to the pandemic and continuing care issues. They are asking for urgent reforms to ensure adequate resources, staffing and regulation for the care sector, including strong safeguarding legislation, care partner legislation, which exists in the North, and mandatory reporting for staff. Does the Tánaiste intend to meet Care Champions, or has the Taoiseach arranged to meet Care Champions, so they can hear at first hand what its members are telling us? I have met them previously and will meet them again today. It is very important that we hear from the families of people who unfortunately lost loved ones in care settings, and that the inquiry that is in place suits their needs and objectives.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I have no issue with meeting and will meet this representative group. I may not be able to do so today because the Iraqi Minister of Foreign Affairs is visiting Ireland and I have to meet him after this session. The Government is close to finalising a Covid inquiry. As I said, the objective of an inquiry into Covid and how the country managed it should be an evaluation to make sure that when the next pandemic comes, or other type of emergency, we will be well prepared for it. We should learn from the mistakes that were made but also what was done well, and do that through a proper, constructive evaluation methodology. Otherwise, in the next crisis, people will only be watching their backs instead of making decisions.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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Next week, the Labour Party will table a motion on the crisis in healthcare for patients and staff. Throughout the country, trade unions representing healthcare workers are holding lunchtime protests because the new de facto recruitment embargo is leaving vital positions unfilled and, therefore, putting patient safety at risk. It is taking up to a year to fill vacancies and when someone retires or leaves for another position, or takes leave, such as maternity leave, his or her position is not ring-fenced for backfilling. Clinical managers have no local autonomy to fill such vacancies and have to compete with all other requests in regional health areas. The INMO is balloting for industrial action, we are seeing key nursing posts being left vacant, and SIPTU has highlighted that the staffing crisis is causing delays in essential treatments. Thousands of positions were abolished because of the previous embargo, while the HSE spent €650 million last year on agency staff, which is 3% of the entire health budget. Will the Government lift the cap under the pay and numbers strategy and give local directors of nursing and midwifery sanction to recruit and fill posts so we can ensure safe staffing?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Some 28,000 extra staff have been recruited since 2020. I regret that people, notwithstanding the context of 28,000 extra staff, including 9,000 extra nurses, feel that is a cause for industrial action. I acknowledge that there may be HR practices within the HSE that need addressing, but 4,000 staff alone have been regularised, which includes 2,000 extra people employed during Covid without sanction and 2,000 since then. In the financial settlement from the Department of public expenditure on health, which the Government agreed to, approximately €1.5 billion was put into the base this year to cover and make sure that all 4,000 staff are secured, plus an additional 3,500 staff for next year. Numbers are increasing. We just had a debate about value for money, Government expenditure and so on. We need to be very clear. The Government wants and will continue to expand health but we have expanded health to an enormous degree in the past four years.

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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I will ask about our airspace. We have all seen the barbaric and heartbreaking scenes coming from Gaza and Lebanon, where hospitals are burning, schools are razed to the ground and children are buried alive under the rubble. The Ditch has reported on at least nine flights carrying weapons of slaughter travelling through Irish airspace. It should not be up to small news websites to monitor Irish airspace. That is the Tánaiste's job and the job of the Government. By turning a blind eye, they are allowing our neutrality to be trampled on. Ireland should not be facilitating the transport of weapons that are then being used to commit war crimes. What action is the Government taking to ensure that our airspace is not being used in this way?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I already articulated my horror at what is happening in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon, and my condemnation of what I consider to be war crimes and breaches of international humanitarian law. However, the presentation that the Government is somehow facilitating this is an outrageous assertion. We are facilitating no carriage of weapons to Israel or any other part of the world. That company violated Irish law, essentially. The Minister for Transport and his Department are endeavouring to get precise information from the Belgian Government and the company. No one here is facilitating any transfer of weaponry through our airspace. Under the Chicago Convention, people are obliged to seek permission from the country-----

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----if they want to fly through our airspace with weapons. If that company has flouted law-----

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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What are you doing is the question.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The way the Deputy presented it was less than accurate.

Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance)
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There will be a very important debate tonight on the final report of the Joint Committee on Assisted Dying. As the Tánaiste knows, that report, which made a recommendation for legislative change, was finalised in March this year. Will the Government grant TDs in Government parties a free vote when it comes before the Dáil next Wednesday?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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In the Fianna Fáil Party, for close to a decade now, we have had a free vote on issues to do with life or an issue of conscience. That will remain the position in respect of this proposed legislation. Even though I do not agree with such legislation and have very serious reservations about it, nonetheless, it will be a vote of conscience for each individual member of our party. I cannot speak for other parties in the Government.

Michael Lowry (Tipperary, Independent)
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I have been contacted by numerous members of the north Tipperary branch of the Irish Farmers Association conveying serious reservations about the dangers involved in the use of low-emissions slurry spreading equipment. From 1 January 2025, the majority of farmers will be banned from using splash plates on their farms under good agricultural practice guidelines.

This blanket ban on splash plates will lead to greater health and safety risks for farmers spreading slurry - this is the important point - on the slopes of north Tipperary, including large tracts of hillside across Upperchurch, Borrisoleigh, Templederry, Silvermines, Newport, Ballywilliam and Portroe. These costly new tanks and attachment are doing excellent work on low-level ground and serving the intended environmental purpose. However, the same tractor and tank are totally unsuitable for hillside land. The tractor-attached equipment creates a serious imbalance, which will inevitably lead to life-threatening incidents. Farmers using this expensive equipment on slopes are endangering their lives. Rather than a blanket implementation, could we agree on a compromise solution to address the problems of hillside farmers?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Lowry for raising this question. He has been fair in saying that many Irish farmers have moved to embrace low-emission slurry spreading technology. That is facilitating improved nutrient use efficiency, farm profitability and air quality. There are issues from January onward in terms of obligations. I will talk to the Minister for agriculture in respect of this. Under the targeted agriculture modernisation schemes, TAMS, grant aid in excess of €76 million was paid over the period 2016 to 2023 to support farmers investing in the necessary low-emission slurry spreading equipment. Grant aid continues to be available at a rate of up to 60%. The Deputy is talking about health and safety issues on hilly grounds. I will talk to the Minister in respect of that.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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I raise the serious deterioration and neglect of the beautiful town of Cluain Meala, the vale of honey. In 2014, the then Minister, Phil Hogan of Fine Gael, supported by Fianna Fáil via confidence and supply, abolished Clonmel Borough Council. On that day, Clonmel Borough Council had €145 million in capital assets and €30 million cash in hand. Every year for the ten years since that date, we have had a discretionary spend of €20 million, which amounts to €200 million. Money is being taken out of Clonmel, leaving it penniless. Yesterday's meeting of the new municipal district, a subcommittee of the county council was told it had €200,000 of a discretionary spend, up from €140,000 last year. We cannot continue with the undermining of the famed town of Clonmel, the biggest inland town in the country. It is penniless and cannot do any necessary works. Will the Tánaiste give a commitment before the election that he will restore the borough council to Clonmel and other boroughs? I am asking about Clonmel in this case.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Thank you, Deputy.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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The former Minister, Deputy Brendan Howlin, has said it was the biggest mistake of his life. He admitted that, at least. Will the Tánaiste admit the amalgamation was a mistake?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Will I admit it?

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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The money was taken was taken from south Tipperary-----

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Thank you, Deputy.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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-----to north Tipperary and Nenagh. It is daylight robbery.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I beg your pardon. I opposed that at the time, and Deputy McGrath knows that. How dare he assert that I-----

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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There was confidence and supply.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I was not in government at the time. I opposed it.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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You were supporting it.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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How dare you.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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Is the Tánaiste suffering from memory loss? Fianna Fáil was in a confidence and supply agreement síos anseo.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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No.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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The Tánaiste was sitting there like a nodding donkey all the time during confidence and supply.

Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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This was in 2014.

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

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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Were you not? My God, the state of the spin and lies. The Tánaiste was there.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I beg your pardon. I am not spinning any lies. You are.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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You were. The facts are-----

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Will the Deputy allow the Tánaiste to respond?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I want to make the point that-----

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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You allowed it to go through-----

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I did not.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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-----on a wink and a nod.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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It was 2014.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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Check the record. Yes.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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There was no confidence and supply in 2014.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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No.

Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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That was in 2016.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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None. The Deputy is right. The then Minister, Deputy Brendan Howlin, acknowledged it. The Labour Party brought it in and Fine Gael agreed to it at the time.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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Will you-----

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Howlin acknowledged subsequently that he felt it was the wrong move. At the start of the last Government, Deputy McGrath refused to back this Government-----

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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You did not want us in government.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----even though I want to restore urban councils. We have a policy in Fianna Fáil to restore urban councils.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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When?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I believe they are essential to progression of towns the length and breadth of the country. I thought they were a very good exercise in local democracy. I believe urban councils are a very good exercise in terms of local people coming together to do what is right for their locality.

Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Hear, hear.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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Will the Government restore the borough councils?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I ask Deputy McGrath to withdraw his assertion that I somehow was involved.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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No, I will not. When will he return them?

Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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I want to ask the Tánaiste a very specific question about the draft Air Pollution Act (amendment) Bill. It has been widely reported, certainly by the local media where I live, that this legislation could potentially grant local authorities the power to search people's homes and seize or destroy unapproved materials. What I am talking about is turf, which people use to heat their homes. My question is very specific. Does this proposed legislation give powers to a local authority or indeed any authority to go into people's homes and seize turf that the homeowners are using to heat their homes?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The legislation respects turbary rights and the rights of people, historically and traditionally, who have used turf from their own bogs to fuel their own homes. That will continue. There is no question of people going into people's homes, taking turf and penalising them or anything like that. That is not going to happen. That is scaremongering to an extraordinary degree. To be fair to the Minister, there was a lot of discussion at the time between the three parties in government on the air quality Bill. We are very anxious to protect those who had historical and traditional practices in respect of the bogs they own and so on. The commercial exploitation of bogs is a separate question and air quality-----

Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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That is not what I asked. I asked about homeowners.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I know. I was just making the point for clarity purposes. Deputy Harkin got the answer in terms of domestic use.

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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In the past four years, 9,500 Irish people have died from Covid, of whom 89% were aged over 65. Countries such as Italy, France, Sweden and the UK are working on their inquiries into Covid, how it happened and how to prevent it from happening again. The Tánaiste said yesterday that the Government had unfinished business. Indeed it has, and he referred to in his answer to a question from Sinn Féin. Will the Government commit to publishing the terms of reference of the Covid inquiry into those deaths in Ireland before it is dissolved, so that the people protesting outside this House, Care Champions and the thousands of families who grieve and remain concerned about the lack of truth and transparency about what happened, for example, in Dealgan House, know the truth? This is essential for the credibility of this Government, the Minister for Health in particular who avoids answering that question.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I acknowledge and recognise how difficult is has been for families generally who lost loved ones during Covid, but particularly for families of nursing home residents who died during the pandemic, which, let us not forget, presented the country and the world with one of the greatest and most wide-ranging public health challenges internationally. This was a global pandemic, the likes of which we had not witnessed since 1918 with the Spanish flu. There is a need for a comprehensive evaluation of how the country managed Covid-19. We are very close to that. There were issues, as I said before, in identifying a chair for the inquiry. I hope we will be able to publish the terms of reference before any event may happen in the time ahead.

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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I would welcome that very much. It will not happen though.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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There is a broader issue in terms of a specific home. That is something people may have issues about in terms of how to work that.

James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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I raise the issue of the rampant growth in the number of solar farms being developed in the east Cork area, ranging in size from 450 acres to 1,200 acres, one of which will potentially remove the largest single cow herd in the country. This is something that is hugely concerning to the people of east Cork, as we see, potentially, our green fields turning grey. I know Government guidelines will come out in quarter 4 of 2024. Is there any concentration in the Government on preserving top-quality agricultural land that is being turned into commercial solar farms?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The guidelines are important. There are constitutional issues in terms of property rights and what owners of property may wish to do with it. There is also the balancing of the effective use of solar power vis-à-vis the necessity of food security and food production. The area of the country Deputy O'Connor mentioned is probably the best agricultural land in the country. Anyone who goes to Ballymaloe will see a vast expanse of beautiful fields, land, tillage, production and so on. A balance is required in the aesthetics as well, in terms of how the country looks in the future. There is also the question of better utilisation of platforms for solar panelling other than green fields. I do not think the country would appreciate the entire green grass of Ireland, our 40 shades of green, being replaced with 40 shades of grey.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Thank you very much.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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That is not a bad way to finish.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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After a campaign by parents, there are now four primary-level ASD classes in my town of Skerries, in the Educate Together National School, with two more due on stream. However, there are no places for these kids in secondary schools. As sure as night follows day, a child who starts in primary school will hopefully progress into secondary school. Temporary accommodation was provided for mainstream students in Skerries Community College while the college awaits its extension, which has been stalled since 2020.

However, no temporary accommodation has been provided for kids who need to be in an ASD classroom. Parents are getting frantic at this stage. They have been in touch with my office because they know that not only are there no secondary places in our town but neither are there any in surrounding towns. The NCSE, the board of management and the parents all agree this is necessary. They tell me the blockage is within the Department of Education. Will the Tánaiste engage with the Minister for Education and come up with a solution, even if it is only a temporary solution while we await the school's extension being built?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I do not understand why there would be a blockage in the Department of Education in terms of a temporary building. There have been approximately 1,700 new special classes in mainstream schools in the past four years, so we are consistently expanding at the moment. There are 11 new specialist schools, 7,600 more special education teachers and so on. In the past four years, 4,000 more special needs assistants have been provided. A physical building obviously cannot be put in place in months but if children need accommodation, I will talk to the Minister and the Minister of State with responsibility for special education on this. The NCSE is increasing its staff and so on with a view to making sure we can get places for children for September.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I raise the need to have medical interns assigned to Cavan and Monaghan hospital, which is a large level 3 hospital. Interns have not been allocated to the hospital despite its services expanding over the years. Cavan General Hospital has been approved as an intern training site. The vast majority of level 3 hospitals have interns but Cavan and Monaghan hospital, despite promises, has not been facilitated in this respect. Without trainees, this hospital will have difficulty recruiting and retraining Irish-trained doctors in qualification as they will not have the experience of working there previously. Over the years, management and staff at all levels have worked very hard in the hospital to expand considerably the range of health services provided locally. It is regarded as having excellent training opportunities across a range of specialties. The hospital has the personnel and the facilities to provide appropriate training for such doctors. The needs of smaller-scale hospitals must be addressed and would help the better delivery of health services throughout the country. In the national doctors training programme, I am very anxious that provision is made for the Cavan and Monaghan hospital with particular reference to the Cavan General site, which has recognition as an intern training centre.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. Cavan General Hospital is a very important hospital and I know the Deputy has been a consistent advocate for it. I will talk to the Minister for Health. The Deputy is saying the medical interns are not getting placements there. That is serious.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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They are not being assigned to it.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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They are not being assigned. That is a serious issue. I will talk to the Minister for Health and see if we can get a note to the Deputy on that.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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Decisions need to be made by the workforce planning people to assign people to Cavan and Monaghan. They would be very well trained and well looked after, as the Tánaiste knows.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Absolutely.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I was delighted to see the Tánaiste’s backing for multidisciplinary teams supporting our schools. I agree it should be a programme for Government commitment. A pilot of 75 schools and 75 preschools was undertaken when I was Minister, which is quite some time ago, and that has never been extended. I admit Covid might have delayed it but it should have been. The capacity to engage with resource teachers and SNAs to extend therapeutic programmes is a missed opportunity. We have a legal right to an assessment but no legal right to therapy after the assessment is done. That results in perverse use of the resource we have available. The Fine Gael policy lab did some work with parents and there is a strong preference among parents for the kind of campus approach the Tánaiste was talking about yesterday. I strongly support the Tánaiste’s call that it must be in a programme for Government.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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It is a red-line issue for me going into any new government that we would have multidisciplinary teams in our schools starting with all the special schools, of which there are about 116, and then extending it out. I am conscious of the pilot the Deputy developed at the time which I warmly welcomed. I have been a long-standing advocate for the multidisciplinary approach where all the different professionals are working together with teachers in situ. As the Deputy may know, that has been resisted strongly in the health service. The HSE in particular favours community development network teams, which I also understand to a degree, but that has not worked. Children are not getting access to therapists. We have to change. We tried the pilot and the pilot is struggling at the moment, if the truth be told, but we need all parties to the next Government, whatever those parties may be, to commit to this departure from existing policy.

Johnny Mythen (Wexford, Sinn Fein)
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I have been asked by constituents to bring forward this issue to the Government. One person dies every hour from cancer in Ireland. Population-based programmes in Ireland published in September 2022 stated the burden of breast cancer in Ireland is estimated to increase to 50% by 2045. The American Society of Breast Cancer Surgeons stated that all women over 25 years should have a formal risk assessment. Yet the formal screening age for breast cancer in Ireland is 50 to 69 years, as stated in the BreastCheck booklet.

Research published in The Lancet Oncology journal states that screening mammograms at 40 years of age instead of 50 saves women’s lives. Early detection is important and provides a better outcome for patients. Cancer has no age boundaries and nor should we. The request is that the age for a formal risk assessment for breast cancer should be changed to 40 years. Will the Government consider this life-saving change to the BreastCheck programme?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I introduced the BreastCheck programme as Minister for Health. We did it in a progressive way. We did not do the entire country at once, rather, we took it region by region and the whole emphasis was on professional high standards and an internationally peer-reviewed approach. There is room for debate on that. People have talked to me about going to 40. We can facilitate a discussion among clinicians and advocacy groups, together with the public more generally, about whether that is a clinically advised move.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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I understand from the media that a memo was brought to the Cabinet relating to the restoration of Dublin city centre. One of the suggestions that made the press was that RTÉ would be moved to the GPO -----

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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God, you are not going to do a somersault now, are you?

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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My question, and I will do a somersault if it turns out to be true, is whether there was a budget in the memo for any of its plans or whether that issue is just another publicity stunt for Fine Gael next week. Is this something serious about how we restore the city of Dublin? In that memo, is there a budget and is there a timeline?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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First, I do not think the memo has come to the Government. I think it is due next week.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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Tuesday, then. It was reported on “Morning Ireland” on Monday and in The Irish Times.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I am not responsible for-----

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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Does the Tánaiste expect a budget? Will there be a budget?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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It is a report that was sought on what the future should be. It will not have a full comprehensive budget for the next ten years but it is pointing the direction. It will be a catalyst for further debate, of that there is no doubt. The city council is already allocating resources to some of the objectives contained in the report. The GPO is something we do need to address. It is interesting that when An Post vacated the GPO, about 1,000 people went out of the city centre. Some of what I said earlier about footfall leaving the city centre because of remote working and other things are having an impact on services. O’Connell Street is a key issue for us. This Oireachtas has had different views about how O’Connell Street should be developed. It has probably been overly delayed in coming to a consensus on that issue but if we can resolve the issues around the GPO, which will need a lot of expenditure to get it right and fit for modern facilities and so on, that could help enormously.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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I note the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, is behind the Tánaiste. Slaney Search and Rescue is a voluntary organisation based in Enniscorthy, County Wexford, that was founded in 1995. It provides water cover for many local events but unfortunately, most of those are body recovery of persons from the water. This is recovery to distraught families who have tragically lost a dearly-loved family member. It receives no funding of any description. It has no premises. Its resources, from the lovely people who give them, are depleted every time because we have no 24-7 mental health services in Wexford. Nearly five years after being elected, no provision has been made for that. This is causing two problems. We have no resourcing of the rescue services for those who take their own lives and we have no 24-7 mental health service to help them from taking their own lives.

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy very much for her question. Some €110 million of funding in this year's mental health budget, which will increase significantly next year, is paid out to various organisations and NGOs and different groups on the ground that deliver services. The onus is on each group to reach compliance with the regulations and the governance has to be in order. They can engage with the local HSE to try to secure a service level agreement to deliver supports. It is not true to say that there are no 24-7 supports for anybody in Ireland with mental health difficulties.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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I said in Wexford.

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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It is absolutely untrue to say there are not 24-7 supports for people with mental health issues in Wexford. They can attend the emergency department in Wexford General Hospital, which will always be the first port of call, that is, an out-of-hours emergency department.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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To the Tánaiste, I say that is what elects Independent Deputies.

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

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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The rubbish that you talk.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Please, Deputy. I call Deputy Quinlivan.

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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That is appalling behaviour. The Deputy has got her moment again for South East Radio.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Well, good for you. Let me tell you every time someone ends up in the Slaney, you will get your moment.

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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That is scandalous and appalling.

Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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A Cheann Comhairle-----

Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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The issue of homelessness in Limerick has never been so bad. There is a complete absence of available emergency accommodation for those who desperately need it. Homeless service providers have spoken to me, as they do on a regular basis, to say there simply are not nearly enough beds available in the city. On any given evening, there can be up to 70 people sleeping rough. This part of Limerick has no emergency accommodation that is available for them. The monthly Department of housing figures, although an incomplete measure of total homelessness, show that there were 200 children where the State provided emergency accommodation in the mid-west alone. This is a stark and tragic number of young children impacted by the housing crisis. I have been raising this issue on lack of services and spaces in Limerick for a number of years and it only gets worse. Does the Tánaiste agree that his Government's policy on housing continues to fail tens of thousands of people every single day and will he instruct the Minister to provide additional emergency accommodation in Limerick?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister is doing that. Some €303 million has been made available for delivery of homeless services in 2025. That is money going to local authorities, including Limerick, so they can provide emergency accommodation, homeless prevention tenancies and sustainable services. There have been very significant increase in funding for the housing first initiative-----

Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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It clearly is not working.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----where most of the homeless non-governmental bodies came to us to ask whether the Government could fund housing first significantly. The Government did that and we certainly work on providing services for prevention and then to enable people to exit homelessness-----

Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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It is not working.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----to tenancies as quickly as possible. Much of it is working, by the way.

Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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It is not working.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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About 6,848 adult preventions and exits have been achieved-----

Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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We have doubled the numbers since three years ago. How can that be working?

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Let the Tánaiste answer.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----in 2023. That is a 25% increase on the 5,478 adult prevention and exits achieved in 2022. Huge resources are going into the area and that there are more and more people, with the growth of the population, and so forth. It is complicated-----

Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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So the Tánaiste will not-----

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----with regard to what makes up the composition of homelessness but I do not accept that resources are not being provided, they are.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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We are out of time now but I have four remaining Deputies and I will take 30-second questions from each of them. I call Deputy Niamh Smyth to speak, please.

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I want to raise very important strategic infrastructure, not just for the Cavan-Monaghan area but for the whole north-east region as well, which is the east-west link corridor from Dundalk to Sligo. First, I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Lawless, who was not two weeks in the Department when he met the council officials in Cavan County Council to hear about the woes with regard to roads. I want to raise with the Tánaiste the sincerity within the Department of Transport to get behind this project that is the east-west link corridor. This has been long-mooted, for the past 20 years, as a strategic piece of work which has to be done. Some €2 million has been set aside over those 20 years with regard to the design and the preliminary studies. I ask the Tánaiste in his powerful position if he could go into the Department of Transport to see that there is a real willingness and money behind it to see this project delivered.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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My apologies, Deputy, but I must call Deputy Wynne to speak now.

Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent)
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Budget 2025 contained €2 million for the expansion of neurological services and funding for hospitals in Kerry, Portlaoise, Wexford, Mayo and Letterkenny. Clare and the mid-west region was the first to set up a community neurorehabilitation team in this country and it has been left behind. It has currently 5.6 whole-time equivalent posts when it requires 12. As this involves Article 26 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, UNCRPD, I hoped the Tánaiste might provide clarification. I welcome the fact that the Government has acceded to the optional protocol but my understanding is that the Tánaiste and the Minister for Foreign Affairs must sign the instrument and deposit it with the Secretary-General of the United Nations and until such time, it is approval in principle.

Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein)
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Ireland's animal welfare and dog welfare record is appalling. Ireland's record as the puppy farm capital of Europe and of backyard breeding is a shameful legacy of the Government. The Government's ban on XL bully dogs has resulted in dog rescue groups being overwhelmed on so many levels. Given that the term XL is not straightforward, can the Tánaiste state why there is no appeals process?

On the Government's website relating to the ban on XL bully dogs, there is a photo of two dogs that are not XL bully dogs and one dog which would need to be measured to decide if it is or not. Can the Tánaiste have these incorrect photos removed and can he reassure dog lovers that there will be an appeals process put in place?

Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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I want to raise with the Tánaiste the policy of the National Transport Authority, NTA, which, for the past ten years, has been trying to remove the number 11 bus. It was successfully resisted in 2014 but was unfortunately put back on the table again in 2017. Despite multiple changes and the addition of Wadelai Park and Home Farm back on the route, but only on an hourly basis, and then back to a full service but without the cross-city or the local terminus; the reality is that the NTA needs to quit while it is ahead on this bus. BusConnects is a complex project and it involves changes but passengers know how and why they use the service. The Minister of State, Deputy Lawless, and I visited the Broadstone garage there recently and we saw the complexity of it. I ask the Department of Transport to talk to the NTA to have it go back to the drawing board on this. It is not working for local people and it is not going to delivery the efficiency the NTA believes it will.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I believe two of those questions are for the Minister of State, Deputy Lawless.

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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Starting with Deputy Smyth on the east-west corridor, I thank her for hosting that day and indeed the officials in Cavan County Council. I will come back to the east-west project and I am not aware that it is included in the national development plan, NDP, but I am aware that the presentation which the officials gave that day certainly took note of that and it is in progression with the Department.

The Deputy may be interested in two other projects in her area. These are the Virginia bypass, which has delivered a preliminary business case and is expected to go to planning next year. I know that she has been a constant advocate for that. I also mention in Monaghan the Clontibret to the Border region part of the N2 project, which is advancing with the EU's Connecting Europe Facility funding, which is probably of interest to the north-west area in general and it may be relevant to that project also.

On Deputy McAuliffe's projects, it is important to acknowledge his constant advocacy for public transport in the north Dublin area. We also visited a Luas Finglas site recently with regard to the preferred route. With regard to BusConnects, I am aware of teething troubles and issues at local micro level on the different projects but it is a project at scale. There are 12 spines across the city being envisaged, which are also taking place in Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford. It is also a national approach which brings me back to a discussion earlier to have regional bands, etc. I agree with the Deputy that there is a need to start realising the benefits. We need to go from the concept of the planning stage through to delivery, and successful implementation. That is something that I think the next Government will have to grasp the nettle on. We have done the planning and prepared the shovels. Let us now get the buses up and running on those routes.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I call the Tánaiste to speak now to deal with Deputies Wynne and Andrews, please.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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There were a number of issues that I picked up there on the neurological services.

Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent)
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I was speaking about the optional protocol and whether it was signed.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Was that about disability? Yes, that is signed.

Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent)
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It is signed and it is with the Secretary General, but it is only 30 days..

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I signed it. I will double-check on that but I think I signed it yesterday. What else was there?

Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent)
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The community neurorehabilitation team.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I will go back to the Minister of Health in respect of that and will come back to the Deputy on it.

On Deputy Andrews's point, I am not so sure that we are the puppy farm capital of the world or of Europe but I will talk to the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, with regard to the Deputy's comments on an appeal. There are many guidelines there and there is a significant legislative framework governing animal welfare.

Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein)
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What about the photos?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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A great deal of progress has been made and I do not accept that we have a lousy record on this. We have to appeal to the citizens-----

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Deputy Andrews is not happy with the doggy pictures.

Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein)
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I am talking about the photos of the dogs as there are incorrect photos on the website. If even they could be removed-----

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I will speak to the Minister, Deputy Humphreys in that regard.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I thank all Members present and that concludes Questions on Policy and Legislation.