Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In a report circulated to Dublin city councillors last Monday night, it was stated that the council's budget allocation for homeless services will have a projected deficit of some €18.5 million and that the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government has been notified of the seriousness of the shortfall and its implications for services. In the context of the commitment in the programme for Government to provide for the homeless, we have a situation in which Dublin City Council will have no funding for emergency accommodation in the final months of the year, despite the fact that well over a thousand children are currently in such accommodation. Can the Taoiseach confirm when the necessary intervention will be carried out by the Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly, to address this situation in line with the commitments made both legislatively and in the programme for Government?

In respect of company law, the Minister of State at the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Gerald Nash, has indicated that legislation may be forthcoming to prevent a recurrence of what happened at Clerys last month. In particular, this legislation would seek to prevent employers who behaved as those in Clerys did from becoming directors of other companies for a specific period. Will the Taoiseach indicate when legislation relating to that issue will be brought before the House in line with comments made by the Minister of State? The Minister of State also indicated that legislation would be forthcoming to ban low-hour and zero-hour contracts, the consequences of which we saw in the Dunnes Stores debacle and the treatment of workers there. Will the Taoiseach likewise indicate when that legislation will be forthcoming?

See this speech in context