Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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This week, we heard the heartbreaking personal testimony of Micheline Walsh and her husband, Richard. They are in their late 70s, have been overholding for more than a month following an eviction notice and currently have nowhere to go. Micheline was not just highlighting her own case but those of the many older people who are at risk of homelessness and the hundreds of people over 65 who are currently in emergency accommodation. The Minister has said the State has a good record of treating older people with dignity and respect. Unfortunately, since this Government took office, the number of people over the age of 65 in emergency accommodation has increased by a staggering 43%. Today, ALONE and Threshold are publishing a report highlighting the growing number of older people living in expensive and insecure private rental accommodation, many of whom are now at risk of homelessness. This harsh reality is a direct result of the Government's overreliance on the private rental sector to meet social and affordable housing need. Will the Minister outline what the Government will do to end the scandal of older people in emergency accommodation and to give people in the autumn of their lives secure and affordable accommodation?

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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What we are going to do is build more homes. We are going to place an emphasis on age-friendly accommodation because we recognise the clear demographic trends and that there is going to be a requirement for the State to deliver public housing for older people at scale over the coming years. In the interim, the housing assistance payment and other supports will continue to be available.

We will work through the individual cases that arise where eviction notices are served on older people. We recognise the enormous anxiety and stress that can cause, especially for older people. That is why the State, our local authorities and our approved housing bodies will work on solutions in those individual cases. Fundamentally, however, it is about building more age-friendly accommodation for our growing older population.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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This morning, my Labour Party colleagues and I met with Cara Darmody and her father, Mark, from Ardfinnan in County Tipperary. Cara is only 12 years old but she has already become an impressive and powerful advocate on behalf of children with autism, autistic children, who are being denied services in this country. She has spoken out on behalf on her family about their struggle to get adequate services for her brothers Neil and John, in particular Neil, who is now ten and a half. She was the youngest witness to give evidence before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Autism last November. The Minister of State at the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy Rabbitte, is well aware of her circumstances and the Taoiseach has also been made aware of them. What Cara and her family want us as legislators to do is to address the situation for families of children with autism, or autistic children, throughout the country. This includes the issues that have arisen in respect of difficulties getting diagnoses, difficulties with accountability in the HSE and, crucially, a review of the carer's allowance to ensure that it is fit for purpose for the many parents who are caring 24-7 for children with profound needs.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I compliment Cara on her strong performance and for being the fantastic advocate she is.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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Hear, hear.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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Cara raised some vital points in my meetings with her. One issue I have taken totally and completely on board, on which I was assisted by the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael McGrath, was the allocation of €11.5 million to address assessment of needs. We are in the final days of producing our progressing disability services, PDS, roadmap, in addition to putting a plan in place where we will not just see assessment of needs done on an ad hoc basis between the 91 PDS teams. We will put regional assessment teams in place so there is a structure and plan. There will then be an outflow, whether it is back into education or the disability PDS teams. There is a plan and pathway. Perhaps the Minister for Social Protection will answer the other pieces.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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Some 25 Palestinians, including several children, were killed by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza yesterday. The Israeli apartheid state shows no regard for human life in Palestine, with its illegal settlements, forced evictions and ruthless, unscrupulous bombings. Under international law, it is clear that Israel is committing crimes against humanity in Palestine. We were rightfully very quick to condemn Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine as an atrocity and assert our immediate support for those who are suffering, but we continue to show double standards. Furthermore, I say to Deputy Michael McGrath in his capacity as Minister for Finance, it is simply disgraceful that investments held by the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, ISIF, are linked to businesses that are complicit in human rights violations in the Palestinian territories. The Irish taxpayer should not be complicit in the funding of apartheid. Will the Minister for Finance recognise and condemn Israel's actions in Palestine as a violation of international law? Will he join the growing calls for ISIF to divest itself of holdings in Israeli companies?

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Government has been very consistent in being a voice for restraint in this conflict. We are not at all, in any way, satisfied with what we are witnessing. It is appalling. The bombing of civilian areas in Gaza is simply not acceptable and must come to an end. We have joined the international calls for a ceasefire. Mediation efforts are under way. We urge all parties to become involved and come to the table to find a resolution. The specific issue of ISIF falls under my Department's remit. I will examine that specific issue and come back to the Deputy directly.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Shortly after 9 a.m., the sheriff and ten private security employees, accompanied by two gardaí, acting on behalf of Ernst & Young receivers and a bank - I am not sure which bank - cruelly and ruthlessly evicted by force a family of four in the constituency of the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Richmond. This is a family of two working parents with two children who always paid the rent and did nothing wrong, yet Ernst & Young and a bank threw them out. I acknowledge I was in contact with the Minister and with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, which requested Ernst & Young, as I did, to allow the council to buy the property, which it was willing to do, but Ernst & Young just said, "No". Today, as we speak, that family is sitting in a car, traumatised and in shock. The mother cannot speak and the children do not know where they will sleep tonight. It is absolutely disgusting that Ernst & Young and a bank would do that. What will the Government do about it?

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy. That sounds a shocking situation-----

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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It is happening all the time.

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----that should never have happened. I will speak with the Minister on it and we will follow up. If the council has made an offer to buy the property, that should be facilitated and that is what should happen. We will follow up on this specific case.

Michael Lowry (Tipperary, Independent)
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Waiting for biopsy results can be a difficult and traumatic time. People want and need to know the outcome as soon as possible. Their diagnosis and future treatment is dependent on these results. In south Tipperary, microbiology and histopathology services are located at University Hospital Waterford, where all pathology consultants are based. University Hospital Limerick, UHL, has revealed to me that demand on its services is over capacity. The average waiting time for non-urgent patient results in Tipperary University Hospital is currently 11 weeks. Biopsies for patients in north Tipperary are handled at UHL and there is currently a waiting list of three to four months, other than for endoscopies.

This is an appalling situation for County Tipperary patients. People are getting an initial diagnosis but then have to wait for what seems an eternity for confirmation. These unacceptable delays are causing huge distress to patients and families. It needs to be addressed urgently.

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy. I do not have the operational detail available to me to give him a substantive answer to his question. I acknowledge the concern and anxiety that is evident when patients have to wait that length of time for results. The Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, will get back to the Deputy.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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I received a letter from Ms Margaret Egan, the secretary of Ardfinnan Community Council. The bridge over the River Suir at Ardfinnan has operated under a one-way system since October 2015. The Fianna Fáil party leader, then Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin, went to Ardfinnan two years ago in a blaze of glory and promised money, possibly under the active travel scheme or similar. The National Transport Authority, NTA, has now rejected a comprehensive report that was done looking for an independent walk bridge that would be separate from the road bridge. That bridge has now been removed from the NTA's work programme. The people of Ardfinnan are very angry about this. They are entitled to be, as is the wider hinterland. We need this situation solved. This project has been abandoned for eight years by successive Governments, including the previous one that was backed by Fianna Fáil and this one. A promise was made by the Taoiseach, who visited the area glory hunting, but there is nothing to show for it. People need this bridge. It is the safest option for sick children, pedestrians and anybody else who might be walking, fishing or using the bridge for pleasure. It needs to be sorted out.

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy. I am not sure about the blaze of glory-----

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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That is what it was. Fanfare.

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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----but I am sure the former Taoiseach's visit was genuine and motivated by a desire to try to move the project on and make progress. My colleague, Deputy Cahill, has also raised this matter and was there on the day with the Deputy. We will need to get an update from the local authority, the NTA-----

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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It has refused.

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----and the Department of Transport to establish the exact status of the project and why it is stalled, as the Deputy said it has. We will need to check that out.

Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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I recently attended an agricultural meeting to discuss the draft EU nature restoration plan, which proposes the restoration and rewetting of approximately 700,000 acres of drained peatlands. Even if we restore all the available Bord na Móna and Coillte lands, we are still looking at approximately 500,000 acres to be restored and rewetted by 2050. This is enormous. It is the biggest land use change we could possibly imagine in Ireland. It would cover, for example, approximately 80% of all the agricultural land in Sligo and Leitrim. Furthermore, the Government plans for 1.25 million acres of forestry by 2050. If the two proposals are taken together, that is 2 million acres. I am not asking for a full stop.

I am asking for a pause in order that there can be a proper impact assessment of the cumulative impact of the enormous change in land use being pursued by the Government.

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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I attended the same meeting with representatives of the IFA, and I met representatives of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association yesterday as well. Farming here will not thrive without nature being restored, and we cannot restore nature without farmers. The Government is negotiating a position in the EU to develop a stance on the nature restoration regulation that will work for Irish farming. This aspect is only one small part of what is a significant regulation. We want to do our best for Irish farming. We recognise that farmers will be voluntarily involved in any scheme eventually developed regarding a nature restoration plan. We want to ensure that this will work for Irish farming. We reiterated that at the meeting last night, and we will continue to do so. We need farmers to engage with us in a positive way to try to develop the best position for Ireland.

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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Quite rightly, we have a significant focus on the health and well-being of our young people, in particular in the context of their access to a strong physical education, PE, curriculum. Seamount College in south County Galway is a post-primary school with an enrolment approaching 700 pupils, all of whom currently have no access to a PE facility on site. Despite repeated approaches to the Department of Education by me and the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, regarding the provision of such a facility, we have had no success to date. The Department has repeatedly told us that it is focusing for the moment on the development of classroom facilities, which is a laudable ambition. It is being inconsistent in its approach, however, in that 21 schools throughout the country, as part of their refurbishment or redevelopment, have been allocated sports halls in the past five years. Two of these are located in close proximity to Seamount College, and it is right that they got that funding. Seamount College has been denied funding, however. This is an issue that needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency for the 700 students who do not have access to proper sports facilities.

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Cannon for the question. I fully appreciate the importance of having access to a sports hall in a school environment. We hear the point the Deputy is making about Seamount College in County Galway. I acknowledge the efforts made by him and the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, on that issue. We will raise it with the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, and respond to the Deputy with a detailed update.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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On 26 April, I emailed the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, to bring to her attention the case of a 44-year-old woman in my constituency who has multiple sclerosis, MS, and is a wheelchair user. She had to go into a nursing home due to the lack of home care. She is 44. I am older than this woman and I am nowhere near ready for a nursing home. It is demeaning, dehumanising and not the right way to treat people. Likewise, there are twins living in my constituency who are almost 18. Both are wheelchair users and both have been allocated home care. It is hit and miss every week as to how much care is delivered. One of them now needs to go into hospital for an operation, but that cannot happen yet because the doctor will not sanction a release unless the requisite home care can be provided and there is no guarantee that it will. Both families believe that Home Care Direct might be able to be part of the solution, but it would seem that the negotiations are going nowhere. Can I please get an update as to when we will have sustainable home care for people in north County Dublin?

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. Only in the past week I have met with various providers to discuss how we can access care and work with other providers that are not part of the framework. I refer to looking at this provision with a person-centred approach and a clear understanding of the value of personal assistance, PA. This is very different to home care and home support. We need to use PA support for people aged under 65 in conjunction with various providers. Department officials and I attended that meeting. I hope we will have a positive outcome.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State.

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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The €800-per-month scheme for pledged accommodation for Ukrainian refugees has been quite successful. I know many families who have been housed as a result of the scheme. We can learn from what has happened with it. Will the Government consider expanding the scheme to include other cohorts of people in need of housing, including, for example, those who are currently classified as homeless? Will it also consider reviewing the rates paid under the scheme as an incentive to try to bring units, particularly those on the short-term rental market, into use as long-term accommodation? This could be done relatively quickly and could supply many new units for people desperately in need of housing.

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy. We are always open to examining new ways of making more accommodation available. Where there is spare capacity in homes, we have looked at all the different policy levers we have to see how we can encourage people to make those rooms available. As the Deputy knows, we have a very generous rent-a-room relief scheme. Up to €14,000 of income can be received tax-free. The Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys, has made a change from a social welfare perspective to ensure that people can receive income when they rent out a room in their home without it counting against them in the context of their social welfare benefits. We will, however, consider the points made by the Deputy to see what more can be done and what other options there may be to allow more accommodation to be freed up around the country.

Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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I wish to raise the issue of the lack of public health nurses in the constituency of Dublin Mid-West. Information that Deputy Ó Broin and I received indicates that there is a shortage of public health nurses in Rosse Court resource centre in Lucan, Lucan health centre, Rathcoole health centre, Steeple House health centre in Clondalkin and Rowlagh health centre. A campaign is under way to fill the vacancies, but eight posts remain unfilled. One parent who contacted me said the small children affected were the most vulnerable in our community and cannot be the victims of a failed recruitment campaign. Children's brains develop more in the first five years of their lives years than at any other time. If children do not get the necessary development checks, something that might be missed could have a life-long impact on them. Can a root-and-branch investigation be arranged to find out why this is happening in this area? Can measures be put in place to ensure the families in Dublin Mid-West get the services they deserve?

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Ward for raising this issue. I fully appreciate the importance of both developmental checks and the vital role public health nurses play in our communities. The issue here is not one of funding, but of the recruitment of public health nurses. Efforts are under way to make progress in this regard. We have successfully recruited about 20,000 extra people across the health service since the onset of Covid-19, which is a significant expansion. It is challenging to recruit more people into some areas. I will ask the Minister to respond to the Deputy on this specific issue.

Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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I raise the issue of the HSE removing certain medications from the medical card list. One of my constituents is on Allegron, which is a medication for anxiety and depression. Unfortunately, she began to suffer from her condition due to an having had an anaesthetic. This woman has very limited means and the product costs her €43 per month. The HSE is consistently taking products off the medical card list. What is the justification for this, and can the decision relating to the medication in question be reversed?

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Cahill for raising this matter. As he knows, the Government does not get directly involved in those matters of detail for which the HSE is responsible. We do, however, understand the importance of the issue when this happens for a patient who has been receiving medication under the medical card scheme. We have taken note of the specific issue raised by the Deputy, and the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, having consulted with the HSE in order to see what can be done in this regard, will respond to him.

Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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As my party's spokesperson on older people, I am deeply concerned by the recent news concerning home care providers leaving the market. According to a report on the website of The Irish Timeson Sunday, up to 40,000 people who depend on home care may be affected by this decision and their well-being could be in jeopardy. As a society, we have a responsibility to provide adequate care and support to our elderly and vulnerable population. This Government must take immediate action to address this issue and ensure those people requiring home care support can obtain it in a timely manner. I urge the Government to provide clear communication on what actions it intends to take to resolve this issue. It needs to find a solution to keep the providers in the market and guarantee that our loved ones receive the care they need. Let us work together to ensure the most vulnerable members of our communities are not left without support. Earlier, the Minister said the Government would find a solution on housing. It must also find one on this issue, please.

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy. The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, has been doing a great deal of work in this area. Having negotiated several budgets with her, I know she has pressed the case for increased funding very hard. She was extremely successful in securing extra funding.

Since 2021, we have provided an extra €207 million in funding. That is no consolation to anybody who cannot get the home care services they need. Last year, 20.8 million hours of home support were provided across the country and a further 109,000 hours were provided as part of a pilot to test the statutory home support scheme. The budget is in place. Again, the issue is the availability of staff to provide care. We had a discussion earlier about the ageing population and demographic changes. That underlines the fact that this is an issue that will become more important. I wish to take this opportunity to correct something. I said that the number of people aged 65 years and older will double in the next decade. To be accurate, it is over the next two decades.

Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent)
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As of this morning, the INMO trolley watch recorded 84 people on trolleys in UHL. The consistently high numbers have gone beyond a joke. It has created a huge amount of anger locally. Nurses have stated they are retiring early because of the pressures and stress they face in UHL in order to protect their mental health. UHL is the infamous war zone. The nurses, who are heroes in our time of need, are working with a major deficit in the mid-west region and are clearly adding to the substantial argument for the need for a model 3 hospital in Ennis. Morale in UHL is far too low, but they will work in Ennis. The only real solution is to provide additional inpatient beds in Ennis hospital, with a long-term plan to upgrade it to model 3 status. The writing has been on the wall since the reconfiguration failed. It was not backed up with the promised resources and investment.

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising the ongoing challenges. We understand the impact these statistics have on all of the individuals and families involved. A huge amount of work is under way to make progress, in particular in UHL where we know there have been real problems. The Minister and HSE have put a real focus on the hospital and have provided supports. Nationally, we have expanded bed capacity. Ultimately, we need to do that. We have an ageing and a growing population. We have delivered almost 1,000 new acute hospital beds and more than 400 community beds. Ennis General Hospital is an operational matter for the HSE and I do not have the details to hand of what it has proposed in that regard. I will ask the Minister to consult the HSE and come back to the Deputy.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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When will the school transport review be published? One of the reasons I ask is that there are 250 students, rising to 300 next September, attending Sancta Maria College in Louisburgh. As it stands, it costs €850 for one child, €1,452 for two children and €1,800 for three children to get to school. Parents want to send their children to the nearest co-educational school, which is that school. We need flexibility around school transport. We need the recommendations made in the review to be implemented this year. The costs are frightening for those trying to access education.

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy. We have made a lot of progress for those who are eligible under the scheme. The Deputy is raising the example of people who are not eligible, but in the forthcoming year those who are eligible have reduced charges of between €50 and €75 per student with a cap per family of €125. The Deputy raised a particular issue and specific location. I take it the students are not currently eligible for the scheme and, therefore, are paying fares to private bus operators. I will ask the Minister to come back to the Deputy with an estimated date for the publication of the review.

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I ask the Minister about education and training board, ETB, adult education tutors. I will join them tomorrow outside the office of the Minister, Deputy Simon Harris, for a protest. In 2020, the Labour Court issued a recommendation to sort out the messy contracts and pay scales and the fact these workers have to sign on during holiday periods. Nothing has been done about it. A month ago at the TUI conference, the Minister said the contract will be with them within days. Since 2020, the Labour Court recommendation has sat in the Department and has not been acted on. These are fine, dedicated and committed adult education tutors who have messy contracts and poor salaries. Their issues need to be sorted out, as per the Labour Court recommendation. They are undervalued, yet provide an essential service, mostly to people whom the education system failed in the first place during their childhoods. I want the Minister to look into this as a matter of urgency. We will be outside the Department tomorrow from 2 p.m. and I urge other Deputies to join us.

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Smith. My understanding is that following discussions with the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, approval for an offer to be made to the unions has been agreed. The proposal is that a grade of adult educator will be formally established, with a standardised pay scale aligned with the Youthreach resource persons scale. The grade will apply to tutors employed in ETBs to deliver further education and training programmes who are currently employed under a variety of terms and conditions. A formal offer has issued to the unions and both sides are meeting to discuss the details of the offer. It is to be hoped agreement can be reached very shortly.

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Great news.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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The case to which I referred on a number of occasions in the House continues, with renewed vigour and determination, namely the manner in which mothers and their children who happen to be in custody cases are being treated. A recent indication is that one woman has not been allowed to see her children for 50 weeks. Several others are in the same boat. I know the Leas-Cheann Comhairle does not want me raising this.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Deputy, you can raise general matters but there is a separation of powers and you are raising a very specific case in a particular manner that I have highlighted repeatedly. You have to find another way of raising this issue. You have mentioned it repeatedly, and the Minister, Taoiseach and Tánaiste have all said it should be looked at in terms of family law. I have to-----

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the measures taken and indications from the Minister for Justice and the acting Minister for Justice, but this is now a matter of urgency which will reflect on the nation in a serious way. It would appear that a constitutional crisis will arise, the nature of which we have not heard of for many years. The Leas-Cheann Comhairle has spoken, and rightly so, about similar situations, and abhorred them.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Deputy, thank you. I am going to go back to the Minister. It is not about me. It is about the issue the Deputy is raising and the separation of powers.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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It is not a single one.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I hear that it is general. I will let-----

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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All I can say is that the Minister is very much aware of the issue the Deputy has raised on a number of occasions. It is being worked on.

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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All of us here get tonnes of housing queries to our offices. The Government has introduced some fantastic housing grants and schemes to help people, but it is often very hard for people to navigate all of the schemes. My office always does its best to advise them, but there is a need for a centralised one-stop shop to help and signpost them to the best housing grants that apply to them, whether it is the help to buy scheme, first home shared equity scheme, cost rental, affordable purchase, the local authority home loan or vacant or derelict refurbishment grants. The SEAI offers brilliant grants when it comes to retrofitting and energy grants, and also provides an information service to advise people interested in applying for the grant. Would the Government consider establishing a housing information office to provide practical help, advice and assistance? It would have the dual impact of helping more people get an opportunity to tell their own home and if officials could guide people through the process, that would simplify the processes even further.

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Higgins. She is right to point to the myriad different schemes, supports and incentives now in place. It can sometimes be difficult for individuals to navigate their way through the system, even in terms of getting information, and then understanding and applying it. Sometimes, they have to look at different websites and so on. The Deputy's suggestion has some merit. We will raise with the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, whether there is a need for one central point. I would imagine that the Citizens Information service website probably collates the information and presents it in a way that is accessible. What the Deputy has said has merit and will be considered.