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

However, the Minister for Health, Deputy Varadkar, explicitly denies that. Will the Taoiseach provide Government time for a debate on the health Estimate and on broader health issues, because there is chaos and a lack of morale in the system?

On the programme for Government legislative commitments on housing and distressed mortgages, it is interesting that it was written into the programme five years ago that the Government would convert the Money Advice and Budgetary Service, MABS, into a strengthened personal debt management agency with strong legal powers that would support families and make an honest effort to deal with their debts, including non-mortgage debt, and provide protection from creditors where appropriate so that families would have time to sort out their affairs. In order to do this, the personal debt management agency would have quasi-judicial status. When will that legislation be introduced and what is the position on it?

In regard to homelessness, a provision was made four and a half years ago in the programme for Government that in line with the comprehensive spending review, the Government would alleviate the problem of long-term homelessness by introducing a housing first approach to accommodate homeless people. In that way, it would be able to offer homeless people suitable long-term housing in the first instance and radically reduce the use of hostel accommodation and the associated costs for the Exchequer. I respectfully suggest that the use of hostel accommodation has not reduced. Rather, hotel and emergency accommodation for the homeless has doubled, treble or quadrupled. The Government said that by having a dedicated body to formulate policy across Government, it would target initiatives in cross-cutting areas to prevent, as much as possible, problems like homelessness. Can the Taoiseach indicate when the legislation for that cross-cutting body will be brought before the House as provided for in the programme for Government?

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