Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Now we will take Leaders' Questions under Standing Order 36. I call Deputy McDonald.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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I would first like to address information which I placed on the Dáil record last week relating to an incident where a Sinn Féin representative sent inappropriate text messages to a young person. It was then my understanding that the young person was 17 years of age because of the information provided on his application form when he applied to join Ógra Shinn Féin. That information was wrong. The young person himself has made clear that he was, in fact, 16 at the time so I want to correct the Dáil record to reflect that he was in fact 16 years of age when these texts were sent.

I have now written to the young person and his mother offering a full, unequivocal and sincere apology. What happened to this young person was wrong. Niall Ó Donnghaile's behaviour was unacceptable and utterly inappropriate and no young person should have experienced that. I am also very sorry for the hurt that my words caused in the statement that I issued following his resignation. That was never, ever my intention and I apologise to that young person for issuing that statement. Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle.

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

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Our student nurses and midwives are incredible. They do invaluable nursing work while on placement on wards and, in fact, they keep our hospitals going. They do a minimum of 28 hours a week and they work far beyond their training duties.

The McHugh review of 2022 addressed pay for intern nurses. However, the new subsistence allowance for first-to-third-year student nurses does not go far enough and leaves so many in very difficult circumstances. The review failed to address supports for other students working in clinical placement in the health service.

One student nurse wrote to, I think, every TD at the weekend to say that in their first five weeks of studying to be a general nurse, they were taught how to save a life, how to bathe a paralysed patient and how to care for the elderly and infants, but then went on to say it is clear to them that the role of a student nurse is not valued.

The work that student nurses and midwives do is invaluable but they are also experiencing a cost-of-living crisis. They struggle to find accommodation. They are forced to pay rip-off rent when they do so, or they are forced to commute long distances when they cannot.

The mother of one student nurse wrote to my colleague, Deputy Mairéad Farrell, to share the distressing situation that her daughter is in. She is a second-year student nurse. She commutes a long distance to and from her placement because she cannot afford accommodation. She has slept on friends' sofas while working shifts in a maternity ward from 7.30 a.m. to 8.30 p.m. and now things are at breaking point for her. Her mother wrote that they now have to borrow money from family to put her up in a hotel for the days of her placement, that the HSE told her not to even ask for reimbursement, that they cannot afford €300 a week, that they are on low incomes, that they are sick at the thought of what will happen, that the stress it is causing is sickening, that her daughter breaks her back studying and working, that she has the loveliest nature and will be a lovely nurse - one of the nurses that our country is crying out for - and that surely this cannot be right. This student nurse is not alone. So many others are pushed into very difficult situations while pursuing their qualification and working hard for us in our hospitals.

By the way, this is not about a return to the apprenticeship model; this is about a fair deal for students working in our health service. Tá sé thar am go mbeadh Rialtas againn a thabharfadh cothrom na Féinne d’oibrithe cúraim sláinte ina n-oiliúint. Does the Taoiseach agree with me that healthcare workers in training should have a fair deal for the work they do when on placement? Will he commit to delivering that fair deal for first- to third-year student nurses and midwives?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy McDonald for raising this important issue. I join her in acknowledging what she rightly describes as the very important role student nurses play in our health system, in our hospitals and in our community during their training. She is quite right to make that point. Of course, in their fourth and final year, student nurses are paid, but the Deputy is talking specifically about their first to third years as well. My colleague, the Minister for Health, did have an expert review group that looked at that profession in general and how we could support people at all stages of their progression, from the student nurse right through. My understanding is that the report made a number of recommendations in relation to increased levels of support and subsistence, recognising things around travel and accommodation. I truthfully do not have it here in front of me but from my memory, I think it was something that would have been developed in consultation with the likes of the INMO as well. If there is a wish to have further engagement on that with the representatives, we are certainly happy to do just that. The Deputy is right and we can agree on this. We all want a fair deal for those who are providing care, albeit as students, in our hospitals, because that care is invaluable. We want that to be fair. Certainly we had taken some measures to endeavour to address that. Clearly the Deputy is outlining a case that the Minister for Health would be happy to take a look at and maybe raise with nurse representative bodies like the INMO. We were of the view that we had made some progress through that expert review group report but let us take that away. I am very happy to do that.

While we are on the issue, I would make a broader point. The Deputy said not to mention the apprenticeship model which is separate to her question - I get that - but I would make the point that we have tried to broaden the number of places in the country where you can access nurse education. We have tried to partner more with local hospitals in that area. Deputy Mairéad Farrell, who has brought this issue to Deputy McDonald's attention, would know very much how in the Galway area, working now with the tertiary degree programme, we have seen more opportunities for more people to access nursing courses closer to their home and also hopefully their placement in their local or regional hospital. I hope that will have a positive impact. We want more student nurses. We are trying to grow the number of people who are studying nursing. We are growing the number of college places in our healthcare professions. Of course, if there are cases coming through of people who are finding the cost-of-living challenge acute, the Minister for Health will be happy to engage further on that.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Taoiseach. He will remember during Covid there was a huge discussion around student midwives and nurses and the work that was being done. It was said at that point that the work was not being adequately recognised and compensated. I just think it is really problematic that we are back in a space where young students of nursing and midwifery feel again that they are not being recognised or valued. The last thing we want is these young professionals feeling they are not valued within the Irish health system and making a decision to make their contribution in Perth or Toronto or wherever that might be. The case brought to the attention of Deputy Farrell is by no means an isolated incident. This is a widespread experience. In fact, many of the students are now talking about organising for demonstrations and bringing political pressure to bear, and rightly so. We have a proposal for a €3,000 bursary. We would like to discuss that with the Taoiseach. We hope he will adopt it, not least because we will be heading into elections very soon, as he informs us.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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So I hear.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Young people and students working within the healthcare system are going to watch very carefully to see what we have to say and whether we are prepared to put our money where our mouths are. On this side of the House we certainly are. I will send on details of the individual case to the Minister. I hope the Taoiseach takes the point, which is made in good faith, that it is in all of our collective interest to get this right for these students and make sure they can live, survive and thrive.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I am glad the Deputy picked up my election hints anyway. I thought they were rather subtle.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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There goes the surprise.

It is a serious issue the Deputy is raising and I do appreciate that. We have significantly increased the level of supports to our student nurses. We did that, as she rightly said, arising from the debate around Covid and post Covid in respect of the very important role being played by student nurses. I do not have the specific figures in front of me but I think the level of support we are providing, through that subsistence, travel and other supports, has risen by several million over the past couple of years. We are happy, however, to engage further on this.

I would also make the point to student nurses that, of course, we have also done other things that will help them along with other students, whether that is reducing student fees, improving student grants, making nursing available in more parts of the country and in ways that work for more people, or extending the renter's tax credit to cover students as well. I am very happy to take a look at it. As we come into that election season, we need to acknowledge that a lot of other students are carrying out important placements as well. Nurses and student nurses are an extremely important group, but having some degree of a consistent approach to all the people playing an important role in our health service as students is something other professions mention to us regularly. I am happy to follow up.

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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The Taoiseach has confirmed we will have an election in a matter of weeks, and with that, this Government’s disastrous handling of the housing crisis will be on the ballot. A vote for this Government will be a vote for record house prices, record rents, record homelessness and over 500,000 adults living in their childhood bedrooms. Every week, this crisis deepens and deteriorates. House prices are now rising by double digits, 10% per year. Nationally, first-time buyers are facing median house prices of €345,000 and a staggering €462,000 in Dublin.

Who can afford these kinds of prices and relentless increases? As soon as people think they have scraped and scrimped enough to buy, the prices change again and the goalposts shift. This is why people are losing hope. No matter how hard they work, save or try to do everything right, it is never enough. Every month, house prices climb even higher. Since this Government took office, median house prices have increased by €85,000. That is more than €20,000 added to the cost of a home every single year. Does the Taoiseach think people's salaries are increasing at that rate? Are teachers, nurses and gardaí, for example, getting their pay bumped by €20,000 a year? That is what they need just to stand still. To make matters worse and, frankly, just confusing, the Government keeps telling them its plan is working. It is only working if its plan is soaring house prices, and that is a plan that only works for developers and vulture funds.

Last week, the Social Democrats launched our affordable housing plan. It is fully costed, credible and deliverable. Under our plan, three-bedroom homes could be delivered in Dublin for less than €300,000 per year. In the rest of the country, prices would be below €260,000. The people buying these homes would own their home and the land it is built on. Affordable rental is also a key component of the plan. Over the term of the next Government, we would deliver 75,000 of these genuinely affordable homes. The Social Democrats want to go into government, not to make up the numbers but to treat housing like the emergency it is and to take radical action to address it. The Taoiseach said at the weekend that we need 60,000 homes a year. That has been obvious to everybody other than his Government for a long time. The key question is not the target but how we will get there and how people on average incomes will be able to buy them.

Does the Taoiseach think house price increases of more than €20,000 per year are sustainable or affordable in any way? Does he accept that Government policy is driving record house prices?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Cairns.

I definitely agree with the Deputy on one point, which is that politics and the next election certainly cannot be about who comes up with the biggest figure in terms of the number of homes they are going to deliver because the public will rightly see through that. People will be much more interested in the how. That is absolutely right. Deputy Cairns said everybody knows we need 60,000 homes. That is kind of neither here nor there. What people need to know is how we are going to get there. The idea that we could have gone from a low base of under 7,000 homes being built in 2011, to 60,000 homes any earlier than now, is not borne out by any evidence. I would be very happy to meet the housing expert and the construction expert who would counter that point. We are in a situation now where we will see close to 40,000 homes delivered this year. These people buying new homes are not imaginary. The Deputy tells a story of the housing challenge, which is real. It is absolutely real. What is also real is that there are 500 first-time buyers buying their own home every single week. That is real. Surely the Deputy must meet these people as she goes around the country. She must meet these people in her constituency. I certainly meet them in mine so I do not know how the rest of the Deputies do not meet them. I meet people every single week buying their homes. They are buying homes that did not exist only a few years ago. This is because there is 128,000 additional homes that have been either added to or brought back into our national housing stock in the lifetime of this Government; 116,000 of them being new-build homes as well.

It is not just my word or my anecdote that shows there is progress in terms of people being able to access their own home. If we look at mortgage drawdowns, not commencements, not completions but the number of people drawing down a mortgage, it is true to say that the first-time buyer drawdown reached a peak of almost 26,000 last year, which was the highest annual level since 2007. When the Deputy refers to a loss of hope, I fully accept there are huge challenges when it comes to housing, not just in Ireland but right across Europe, but I also know there is very significant hope when we saw more first-time buyers last year than any year since 2007 draw down their first mortgage. These are real people and they are real facts. That matters as well.

When it comes to the issue of affordability, I am absolutely aware, and you would want to live under a rock not to be aware, of the huge challenges people face in trying to get their deposit together to buy a home. I met people as recently as Sunday on doorsteps who raised that issue with me. However, I am also aware when I engage with those people that there are a number of supports the Government has put in place that is making a very significant different to them, whether that is the help to buy scheme, where about 50,000 people have now benefited, or the first home scheme, where we are helping to bridge the gap between what you can get as a mortgage and what you can afford in the price of a house. When we look at headline house figures, that does not tell the full story because we are intervening at a level of subsidy that is without precedent in this country. I will read the Deputy's plan. I have not yet read it but I hope she would commit, if in government, to keeping some of those schemes. If not, there are tens of thousands of people who are hoping to avail of them in the months and years ahead who will be terribly disappointed.

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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The figure the Taoiseach gives of 40,000 homes is disputed by the ERSI and the Central Bank. We know commencements are one thing and completions are another thing altogether. For the first six months of this year, completions are down nearly 10%. That is the reality. He mentioned the help-to-buy scheme. On this, the ESRI has stated that if this scheme was scrapped, house prices would fall. While we can all understand it can feel really supportive in that moment when house prices are so high to get that grant, it is a sad indictment of this Government that this is really the only defence it has when the ESRI has said removing it would bring down house prices.

People watching at home can see the Taoiseach is just not answering my straightforward questions. Instead, we just get deflection and spin. The facts are actually clear. Median house prices are soaring by more than €20,000 a year and listening to the Taoiseach, you would swear that was evidence of a plan that is working. Is that what he is saying to people when he meets them at the doors? The people I meet are completely fed up, exhausted and they are giving up on ever being able to buy a home in this country. This is the record of the Government and, as I said, that record will be on the ballot. At the very least, for people to think the Government would accept its policy is driving house prices might give some hope that it would be able to address it. Does the Taoiseach at least accept that the Government's approach has failed? Not introducing a vacancy tax with teeth-----

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

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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-----not banning the bulk-buying of homes, not addressing these issues has not worked.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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There is no balance to the Deputy's argument; this is the point. I am able to stand here and talk to the electorate on their doorsteps and point to progress and also point to the more there is to do. The Deputy just wants to dismiss any of the progress, as though those extra 128,000 homes do not exist. I am interested in what she is saying now because she has set out her stall if she is to be in the next Government.

If I am to be in the next Government, the help-to-buy scheme is absolutely staying. If the Deputy wants to get rid of it, and if she wants to tell the people who are processing their applications right now with banks across the country that she is in favour of getting rid of it, fair play, that is her position. It is not mine, and I will not go into government with anybody who does not keep it. It needs to be kept, as does the first home scheme. Both of them need to be kept because they are practical levels of subsidy. Giving people back a little bit of their money to help them save a deposit is exactly what my party and this Government intend to continue to do.

When it comes to bulk buying, Deputy Cairns talks about spin and deflection but she does not say in her piece that we have taken more action on bulk buying and stamp duty as recently as a couple of weeks ago in the budget, where we again increased the stamp duty rate. When she talks about house prices never being higher, let us not ignore the analysis from the Central Bank as recently as last month that shows house prices, relative to household disposable income, at a ratio of 4.1, compared with 5.5 in 2007. I am aware the biggest issue facing people in this country, and facing our economy and society, is housing, and that is true, but I would much rather have a debate about how we can improve the initiatives we have in place to make them work for more people and get that housing supply from 40,000 to 60,000. This idea of telling people that no progress has been made in the last number of years is not borne out by fact. Some 500 people every single week, including in the Deputy’s constituency, are buying their first home and mortgage drawdowns for first-time buyers are at the highest level ever since 2007. They are also facts.

Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent)
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Michael Collins was born close to Clonakilty.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Not the one beside the Deputy.

Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent)
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No. Where Fine Gael was born was close to Clonakilty. He was born to the son of a farmer. Since it has come into government, for decades, Fine Gael has done nothing but close down farms around this country. We then go to Eamon de Valera, who was born in New York and raised in Bruree, County Limerick, and was for Fianna Fáil. Again, we look across the Governments over decades slowly taking out the people around the country. At one time, Fine Gael was seen as the farmers’ party, which it is no more, and Fianna Fáil was known as the workers’ party, which it is no more.

The Taoiseach talked to the previous speaker about building houses and building things in Ireland. The discrimination of this Government against people around Ireland is evident when we look at infrastructure. When we look at where the money is being spent on infrastructure around the country, we see that a lot of money has been spent within Dublin itself. The Government is supposed to reflect the country with regard to investment in infrastructure.

If the Taoiseach watches television during the week, he will see that the biggest polluter in this country - the Government has been roaring for years it is the farmers - is the Government itself because of lack of infrastructure. Sewerage systems that Governments have promised for 40 and 50 years have never been upgraded, which does not allow people to build in their own towns and villages. This is what I am talking about. We then look at Uisce Éireann, which is looking for €6 billion at the moment and it says it needs €120 billion to fix this. In Croom, despite €5 million or €6 million being spent on a water system, it is now bringing in trucks of water, six per day. It is costing €200,000 a month to bring water in, even though the pipe scheme is there.

We are talking about the waste of funds. We are talking about rebuilding Ireland. How can any business or person in Ireland have fairness if the Government does not give proper funding for infrastructure? It is putting the infrastructure into highly populated areas and discriminating against the rest of the counties of Ireland that want to prosper. People want to have a home in an area that is affordable for them. That is what we want. We have to share the infrastructure. I am also looking for accountability for where the funding is going. We are not getting value for money. It comes back to the Government itself to make sure the likes of Uisce Éireann are accountable for the funds they get. The problem is that they are top-heavy and we are not getting value for money, which means we build no homes. No matter what the Taoiseach says we are producing in this country, it is not for the country. It is for certain areas of the country, which discriminates against every working person in Ireland. We need to make sure they get homes in their own areas.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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My party and this Government are proudly supporting farmers, rural Ireland and the agriculture sector.

We meet them on a very regular basis. I meet them on a very regular basis. I regularly met them with the Minister for agriculture as well. We took a number of decisions in the budget to further support farming and farmers, including making sensible changes to the residential zoned land tax and extending agricultural reliefs, which I do not believe every party in this Dáil would do. As recently as today at Cabinet, we established a commission on the issue of generational farming. As I visit marts and agricultural shows and travel around the country, one of the biggest issues I have heard is the importance of a farmer wanting to know that there is a future for a son or daughter who might want to take on the farm. We do need to do more on that, including looking at retirement schemes and the likes, so we are in the business of listening.

We are not in the business of talking down to agriculture. We need to be very clear that agriculture is not some "nice to do" thing that people in the countryside do. It is the backbone of the Irish economy. It is the part that does not leave when times get tough. It is always here and it needs to be treated with respect. I have never heard anybody in the Government suggest that the biggest polluter is agriculture. That is not borne out, as the Deputy correctly says, by any sort of evidence.

Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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The Greens say it.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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No, the Greens have never said that. I do not need to speak for the Green Party but it does not say that either because it follows the evidence. We saw figures published today that show more progress on emissions reduction, farmers yet again stepping up and, quite frankly, farming and agriculture making more progress than some other parts of our economy, which should be acknowledged as well. The biggest issue farmers are raising with us is the nitrates derogation. This is a very important issue and we must be ready to pull together as a country and don that Team Ireland jersey, the green jersey, to make sure we can retain the nitrates derogation next year.

We provided additional funding of €1 billion to Uisce Éireann as recently as the budget. This will help capitalise Uisce Éireann to meet many of the projects it needs to do. The Deputy mentioned some issues where he believes there are challenges in terms of delivery and I am happy to follow up on them. I am very happy to engage with the Deputy on these issues.

When it comes to infrastructure, we now have a real opportunity to invest significantly in water, energy and housing. I presume most parties have a view on what the €14 billion from Apple should be spent on. I think it should be spent on infrastructure-----

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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It is great that we have it. You guys did not want it.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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We have it anyway - we can agree on that much - so it is now a matter of having a discussion about how to spend it. I am sure we will have that conversation again. That does provide opportunities in terms of how we will use that windfall tax revenue to invest further in infrastructure. I imagine we will have a longer debate in the not-too-distant future but I do not accept that this Government does not have a focus on rural Ireland and regional Ireland. I can point to countless examples of where we have positively invested in the cities and counties well outside Dublin, including the Deputy's county, Limerick.

Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent)
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The reason I got into politics - I have been a building contractor all my life and I am a block layer by trade - is that I want to help build for the future. I want to use my experience. I do not build for local authorities. I have always had our own jobs to do.

For 40 or 50 years, we have been promised infrastructure. The Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins, who is sitting behind the Taoiseach, made promises in respect of Askeaton but the Government never delivered it. For 40 years, a Fine Gael councillor looked for it to be delivered but it was never delivered. That councillor has now retired and there is still no infrastructure. We look at Oola and Dromcolliher. I can go around the counties and see all the promises that were made. These are towns and villages in Limerick that looked for infrastructure but never got it. We are talking about 40 years of promises. Every time there is an election, there is a promise, but it is never delivered. After 15 or 20 years in politics, they have never delivered for the people of Limerick and this is reflected across the country because there has been no delivery of infrastructure.

If we have infrastructure, we can build. That is the foundation but we do not have it. It has never been invested in. We are looking for everyone in every county to be given a fair shake at it, but the Cabinet must reflect that. If every member of the Cabinet is from one base, it will never rebuild Ireland. The team has to be right and the team has to reflect this country. The team the Taoiseach has does not.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I have a Cabinet Minister from the Deputy's constituency in-----

Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent)
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The junior and now the senior since the Taoiseach stepped down. Only for that, there would-----

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Will the Deputy allow the Taoiseach answer?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I think the Deputy meant to say when I stepped up.

Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent)
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Stepped up or stepped down, whichever.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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It is like Lanigan's Ball. He stepped out and I stepped in.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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When I became leader, I appointed a Minister from the Deputy's constituency to the Cabinet. The Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins, also serves the Deputy's constituency. Both of them advocate for the area.

Statements of an absolute nature that no infrastructure has been delivered do not stand up to any degree of scrutiny.

Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent)
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The facts are there.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Here are other facts as well. When I visit the Deputy's county, which I do regularly, and intend to visit very regularly shortly-----

Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent)
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It must be an election.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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There will be. I wish the Deputy well in it. There will be many people in his county who will recognise progress has been made on infrastructure. In fact, there is probably not a part of Ireland that has greater levels of third-level infrastructure per head of population than Limerick city and country - we now have three universities in Limerick - providing young people with an incredible education. I am sure the Deputy will accept and agree that is infrastructure.

Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent)
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Where are they?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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They are in the Deputy's county of Limerick.

Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent)
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In the city.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I presume Limerick city is part of your county so that is fine. On Askeaton, the wastewater treatment plant is being advanced by Uisce Éireann through funding provided by this Government. This is funding that the Deputy probably votes against in the Dáil, when we try to pass budgets.

Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent)
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It is 42 years later.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy has a job to do, and I wish him well in it, which is to stand up to say everything is terrible in rural Ireland. I do not believe it-----

Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent)
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False promises.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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-----and I do not believe the people believe in it. I look forward to taking our case to the people.