Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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The Taoiseach stated there were not enough gardaí in Dublin to combat the violence we saw on Sandwith Street. The Minister may recollect he stated funding was in place to recruit an additional 1,000 members, but that is incorrect. If the Taoiseach checked, he would see that only 288 people entered Templemore this year. He should do the maths on that. The Garda Representative Association, GRA, has stated that numbers are decreasing and members of the Garda are resigning. Many feel burnt out, demoralised and lacking in support. Other gardaí are reported as saying the Taoiseach's remarks demonstrated a lack of knowledge and that he was trying to deflect from the housing issue. The Taoiseach and members of the Garda are at odds. Does the Minister concede he will miss his recruitment target and after a decade of Fine Gael Ministers responsible for justice, will he put a plan in place to bring Garda numbers to safe levels for communities, gardaí and vulnerable people?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I do not concede that at all, because we are seeing Garda numbers grow through Templemore. This will be the first year since the Covid pandemic that we will see Garda numbers increase. We will see more new Garda members than gardaí leaving the force. We saw more than 90 trainees enter Templemore in November and more than 130 enter Templemore earlier this year. We saw more than 155 trainees enter Templemore this week and 53 others say they would like a place this year, but they would like to go in later in the year. When one takes that in the round, it is more than 400 new trainee gardaí. We will keep working on those numbers and I assure the Deputy the Taoiseach is absolutely committed to driving this agenda.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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Food prices and the price of basic groceries are continuing to rise, putting serious strain on households trying to afford just the bare necessities of life. We are seeing price reductions that are not being passed on to consumers. We are seeing profit margins for big retailers increasing and the Minister's retail forum last week was utterly toothless. It did not give retailers any reason to lower prices.

Yesterday, my Labour Party colleague, Deputy Nash, launched draft legislation on excessive pricing which seeks to give greater transparency to the pricing process. It would empower the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, CCPC, to undertake an analysis of price setting and could require retailers to provide information on pricing. This would be a meaningful step towards correcting the power imbalance that exists between consumers on the one hand and retailers on the other. We see a pricing market that is deeply unfair currently to consumers. If companies are choosing to profit at customers' expense, that should be known. Will the Minister support our legislation when we bring it forward in this House and will he appeal to his Government colleagues to do the same?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Bacik. We consider all proposals and I look forward to debating that legislation.

In relation to the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond's meeting, I note that two major retailers dropped the price of bread on the day the meeting was called. I do not think that was coincidental. We do not apologise for the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, and others having an relentless focus on keeping the pressure on here. There is another meeting scheduled for June.

My colleague, the Minister, Deputy Coveney, will also meet the CCPC next week. We are considering legislation to ensure large retailers outline their profit margin. I believe only one does currently.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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Nobody doubts the scale of the challenge facing the State and communities all over the country in terms of providing shelter, welcome and safety to so many people who have travelled here over the past year. What I find unacceptable is the repetition of mistakes, time and again, that started almost last October in East Wall and have continued right up to Magowna this weekend.

I want to ask about the communications strategy. The Minister mentioned that a tender has been initiated in the past two weeks. I would like more detail. I am conscious that the Minister of State with responsibility in this area stated yesterday in the Irish Examiner:

In January, upon taking office, I had initiated proposals based on recruitment of a small team and utilising existing community networks under my remit. However officials of the Department of Taoiseach wanted time to explore alternative models of engagement and I understand that work is ongoing.

What is incorporated in these tenders, when did the Minister of State find out about it and why are we only hearing about it now?

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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I will explain how we do engagement ahead of a new accommodation centre opening. As soon as a contract gets agreed, either I or the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, or close staff, will share a briefing, that is approximately six or seven pages long, on the details of that accommodation centre with all the local elected representatives. The problem is that the timeline between when the contract is agreed and when we get to share that information and move people in is quite tight.

In relation to the tender, the Department of the Taoiseach has been drawing up plans for a communications strategy over the past couple of months. Obviously, new accommodation centres have been opening in the meantime and we have had difficulties with them as well. I would like to see it come as soon as possible. The tender is out. We hope to have some answers on that soon and that we will develop a new communications strategy, which will help. It will still be difficult. We will still have a very tight timeline, when new accommodation opens and when we are able to share the information with the local representatives in advance.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Yesterday, the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, found in favour of Ms Jane Crowe, former Debenhams worker and shop steward in Henry Street and, by extension, hundreds of other Debenhams workers who were cruelly treated and let down by their employer, Debenhams, and KPMG, the liquidators. The ruling found that the liquidators did not consult the workers properly and did not give them the information they sought.

They met the Taoiseach in the corridor when we were screening the new documentary film about their dispute that is going into the cinemas, "406 Days", which shows how a consortium of banks and vulture funds asset-stripped the company and walked away with hundreds of millions of euro while the workers were left with nothing. When they met the Taoiseach in the corridor, they asked him when legislation will come forward to ensure what happened to Debenhams workers, and Clerys workers, never happens again? The Taoiseach said he would engage directly with the Debenhams workers about the framing of that legislation and consult them. Can the Minister confirm that will happen, and when?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I note the significance of the WRC finding. I will certainly follow up with the Taoiseach in relation to the conversation the Deputy is relaying he had with Debenhams workers. I know from one of my briefs about the difficult time they have been going through. We have been trying to provide opportunities for skills, education and other job opportunities. We will reflect on the WRC position and I will get the Deputy an update on when the legislation is due.

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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I want to raise the issue of the retained firefighters' negotiations for better pay and conditions. I understand that when they met the Local Government Management Agency, LGMA, very little progress was made because no discussions could take place on the substantive issue, which is about pay and conditions, because neither the Government nor the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform had given any authorisation to talk about money. This is a worrying trend. The model for the retained firefighters was introduced in the 1950s and is not fit for purpose in today's modern work environment. I was assured by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage last November in a Dáil debate that he was aware of the situation and that he was reviewing the matter with his Department. I am asking the Government to enter into meaningful discussions to resolve this pay-and-conditions issue to ensure that this vital service remains functional and that the retained fire service workers are recognised and rewarded for the great work they do.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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My understanding is that Mr. Ultan Courtney was engaged by the LGMA at the behest of SIPTU to chair discussions. I also understand that a lot of progress was made during those discussions but, regrettably, it was not possible to reach a positive conclusion to the satisfaction of all parties. The Government would absolutely encourage all parties to continue to engage. Let us keep engaging constructively to resolve the outstanding industrial relations issues within that facilitation forum.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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I want to raise the issue of the refusal by Rehab to pay redundancy to approximately 50 staff. All of us who employ people are obliged to look after them with statutory redundancy when they lose their jobs. This involves up to 40 SIPTU former employees and another ten who were not part of any trade union. I understand the Labour Court has been involved. Rehab has availed of public support over the decades. We all supported it. To treat people who gave long and sterling service to people with special disabilities in this way - they have been told to hump off - is no way to behave. There has been a stubborn refusal by Rehab. It must be brought to book by the Government here or held to account by the Committee of Public Accounts or somebody else. We saw issues in the past, and they were quite shocking. This is another new low that they would treat their staff like this and will not give them the statutory redundancy they are entitled to.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Without commenting on the individual case, issues regarding redundancy are set out through both contract law and, as the Deputy referenced, the industrial relations mechanism that is in place. It is not for the Government to intervene here, as there are clear industrial relations mechanisms in place.

Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent)
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Temporary and emergency measures readily and easily become permanent. There is a huge discrepancy in the dispersal of accommodation for persons with temporary protection and seeking international protection across the State with a huge concentration across the western seaboard in areas heavily reliant on tourism. Even within this city there is a discrepancy. If you travel north from this building or travel south, there is a huge difference statistically. What is the Government doing to address that and when will it take effect so that the inevitable burden of meeting our international obligations is borne equally by all parts of the State as opposed to almost exclusively by certain parts of the State?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I can assure the Deputy that the Government's intention was not that. The Government's intention was to identify any potential accommodation that was available and, in the first instance, any accommodation that was available quickly. The Deputy and I understand why that was done in terms of responding in an emergency. As we move into a more sustained phase and need to move from the initial phase into more medium-term planning, the point the Deputy makes about every local authority needing to plan in relation to this, and us needing to support how that is done in a co-ordinated manner, comes into even sharper focus.

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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I want to raise with the Minister issues that have been brought to my attention by constituents regarding the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB. There are huge delays with paper registrations, for example. Even though the board will say it is taking seven weeks, constituents are telling me it is taking ten to 12 weeks. There are delays on the phone. I checked it this morning. I was on for almost 20 minutes. The music is still in my head. I cannot get it out of my head. I was listening as I waited for an operator. There are huge issues with response times for cases being processed. This is an important public body and this is something that needs to be looked at urgently. Whether it is a matter of under-resourcing or whether it is a matter of a more fundamental review, could attention be given to try to improve the service being provided by the RTB?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Griffin for raising this issue and echoing and amplifying the frustration of his constituents in relation to this. At a time when we are trying to support and sustain the rental market, encourage landlords to stay in the market and help people who are renting, it is important that the RTB can function efficiently for anyone who tries to contact it. I will pass on the Deputy's views to the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, and ask him to respond to the Deputy directly.

Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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The Minister will be aware of the pre-legislative scrutiny of the research and innovation Bill, which is before the Joint Committee on Education, Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science at the moment. This Bill has been broadly welcomed across the sector. We in this country know the importance of research and innovation. We have new players now within the tertiary education system and that is our technological universities. However, they are curtailed in their participation in research both due to the contracts the lecturers are operating under, with the preponderance of teaching hours, and the availability of professorships within the technological universities. What plans does the Minister have to upscale and maximise the huge research potential that exists in this new technological university sector?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I am very excited about the research Bill. It is a chance to get a stand-alone piece of research legislation right. Yesterday I announced that we will have a research advisory forum so we can hear directly from the community and from researchers to make sure we get it right. The Deputy is entirely correct. The establishment of five technological universities has been a big achievement for the Government and a big benefit for regional Ireland. The next step is new contract opportunities so they can achieve the scale of ambition that the Deputy and I both have for them. I intend to try to pursue that this year.

Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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As Sinn Féin's spokesperson for older people, I raise the cost-of-living crisis. The Government's inaction is unacceptable amid spiralling rent, food and energy costs. It is disheartening that those in their senior years face uncertainty and hardship. Myself and my colleagues are regularly contacted by older folks who just do not know how they will make ends meet. I will mention the case of an 80-year-old pensioner living on his own who received a gas bill for an eye-watering €1,200. When his family engaged with the gas provider, as the Government suggested, they were told in the bluntest of ways that there was nothing it could do. This elderly gentleman worked for State services for over 42 years but he is having to choose between heating and eating thanks to the Government's inaction. Older people are struggling now and they need support now, not in October. I heard the Minister respond to Deputy Clarke on Leaders' Questions. He said we need action. He also said he was disappointed that Sinn Féin told the Government it was sitting on its hands. He should get used to it because that is exactly what it is doing. How is the Government going to pay this man's bill?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I hope the Deputy had the good sense to tell that gentleman, her constituent, that she did not think he deserved a lump sum fuel allowance payment of €400 before Christmas. I hope she passed that on to him and if not, if he is watching, he might know that now.

Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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Maybe I will tell him the Government needs helping.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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There are people really struggling in this country and unfortunately, the Deputy's party got this one badly wrong. It criticised Ministers for doing dossiers recently. It would be no harm if Sinn Féin did a bit of preparation before it came up with its policies.

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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No answer.

Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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I have been informed by parents in Cavan in recent days that the only speech and language therapist employed in the children's disability network team is leaving within a few weeks, which means there will be no speech and language therapist there. The management is actively trying to recruit a therapist but it is having serious issues and problems. I know it is a countrywide problem and is not just in Cavan. I just feel the progressing disability services for children and young people programme, PDS, is failing. It cannot work while there is such low participation in the teams across the country. Unless something is done urgently to address this crisis, it is not going to change. Has anything been done to address pay parity between section 38 and 39 organisations? Have exit interviews been held with the therapists who are leaving the teams to find out where they are going and why they are going elsewhere? Have we addressed the lack of career progression within disability services? Within the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, have we increased the number participating in the relevant therapy courses for next year?

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising the question. It is important to say that the PDS roadmap will be launched in the next couple of weeks and it addresses all the factors the Deputy raised.

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I want to ask about the Government's commitment to tackling period poverty and making period products free of charge across all educational settings. This Government has made a huge amount of progress when it comes to women's health. Removing VAT on period products was particularly welcome but there is still a lot of work to do to address period poverty in Ireland. A Plan International study found that almost half of girls in Ireland between the ages of 12 and 19 find it difficult to buy sanitary products and to pay for them. In this cost-of-living crisis, some women are having to turn to food banks like the Quarryvale Family Resource Centre in Clondalkin for period products. Organisations like this do fantastic work but they should not have to. Where are we when it comes to tackling period poverty? Can we expect the current period product pilot in educational settings to be rolled out nationwide?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Higgins for raising this very important issue and for engaging with me on an ongoing basis on it. The short answer is "Yes". We can expect that. The pilot has gone very well. We do not want to end up as one of those countries that has more pilots than an airline. When something actually works we should embed it and roll it out. We now provide these free period products across higher education. We have started a pilot in further education and it is my intention for that to be rolled out, subject to the budget. I believe we can make great progress in this area.

Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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On the subject of pilots, I want to congratulate the Minister on the meeting of the Cherry Orchard task force that took place this week. It is not my area but it is very welcome. There is some frustration in the Ballymun area, where there has been very extensive engagement with officials in the Department of An Taoiseach. Funding has been put in place but there is no point having funding if it is not spent wisely. We need access to the senior officials group, which Cherry Orchard, Darndale and the north inner city have. The Department of Justice has been particularly instrumental with regard to Darndale. I ask the Minister, Deputy Harris, to use his offices to ensure this is done. This is about access to senior officials. We are not talking about funding here. We are not talking about recommendations. They are all in place. This is the last piece of the jigsaw and I would appreciate the Minister's assistance on it.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will certainly have it. I ask him to arrange for some people from that community to come to see me and we can talk about this. In both Cherry Orchard and Drogheda, we have really good models that are working. The challenge for the Government is to embed those models across the country. We intend to do that as part of the community safety partnership. I would be very happy to engage on this.

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Earlier this year, the Iceland supermarket chain was sold in its entirety but continues to trade. Conditions for workers in those stores have seriously deteriorated. The big issue for them is that many of them have not been consistently paid for the hours they worked. Many of them are owed quite a lot of money. Their trade union, the Independent Workers Union of Ireland, reckons that at least €11,000 is owed in wages, which flies in the face of the Payment of Wages Act 1991. It is illegal to withhold workers' wages. These workers, many of whom are women, have been working for a long time in the stores on the minimum wage and depend on a weekly wage to be able to put food on their tables.

As a consequence of this and the refusal of management to engage with the union, there will be a strike in Ballyfermot, Coolock, Tallaght and Northside Shopping Centre on Friday. We are asking members of the public to respect those pickets and to support those workers. This is a grave breach of workers' rights. This, more than anything else recently, illustrates the need for legislation on trade union recognition-----

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Time is up, Deputy.

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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-----so that when the majority of employees have joined a union, like the Independent Workers Union, they cannot be told "Go to hell, we are not engaging with you". This employer has broken the law by refusing to pay these workers' wages.

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I appreciate the Deputy's work on this matter and thank her for bringing it up. This is a live issue under the concern of the Department. We would first and foremost encourage everyone to engage with the WRC. There are a number of issues going on in the stores, as the Deputy mentioned, in relation to salaries and rent. I am due to meet the new head of Iceland in the coming weeks. To talk more widely about the Deputy's point, we have a strong practice of voluntary trade unionism and engagement here and it has delivered results. We have relative industrial harmony in this country. We have one of the lowest number of strike days in the EU due to employer and employee engagement, which is to be commended. We will continue to engage on this particular issue and I am more than happy to keep the Deputy directly abreast of it as well.

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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This is not industrial peace.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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The Minister spoke earlier about the ongoing work to build stronger and safer communities and his plans to recruit extra gardaí and increase the number of gardaí, which are very welcome. The visible presence of gardaí in uniform on our streets is very important for our communities. Many men and women would like to serve in the Garda Reserve. Can the Minister tell me when recruitment will begin with respect to the Garda Reserve?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I fully agree that the Garda Reserve has an important role to play in supplementing Garda visibility in our communities. We want to get to at least 15,000 gardaí and we want to grow those numbers even further. The benefit of having another layer of people who can support communities is clear for all to see. The first priority was to open the new garda recruitment campaign. Almost 5,000 people said they would like to be a garda. We are going through that process now and it is my intention that later this year, probably towards the end of the year, we will open a new recruitment campaign for the Garda Reserve.

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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Last November, Sinn Féin brought forward a motion with proposals to help to address the recruitment and retention crisis within the retained fire service. It was voted down by the Government. At the time, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, said he was serious about addressing the issues and said he would take action. A report has been published by the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management with recommendations around conditions but, critically, also around pay. Last week, negotiations between the LGMA and representatives of firefighters broke down because the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform had put constraints on management preventing them from making any proposals on pay.

We are now facing the prospect of industrial and strike action. Retained firefighters were balloted last year. Some 90% of them voted for industrial strike action. They are meeting on Friday to move forward with that action because of the failure of Government. My question to the Minister is about why there is a continuous failure by Government to address the crisis in the retained fire service.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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The Deputy's time is up.

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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What actions will Government take to address the immediate crisis in the service? That means providing money to address these major issues.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I know this is an area Deputy Brady has an active interest in. I would say, as he said, that Mr. Ultan Courtney was engaged by the Local Government Management Agency, LGMA, at, I think, the behest of SIPTU. There were many facilitation discussions and I am told good progress was made, including progress on the provision of a revised model of retained fire service delivery that would provide for both effective service delivery and a suitable work-life balance, including structured time off. Mr. Courtney was not able to reach a positive conclusion to the satisfaction of all parties. We now need to see real and meaningful engagement.

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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Because of constraints put on him by the Government.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I encourage all parties to get back into a room and to continue to engage constructively on resolving the outstanding industrial relations issues.

Marc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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Taoiseach - sorry, future Taoiseach. Minister, the programme for Government and the national planning framework provide for the vital upgrade of the N17. This project forms part of the TEN-T European network, is a core component of the Atlantic economic corridor, passed the strategic research and analysis division of the Department, progressed through planning and design, and a preferred route emerged. Are Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, in government, aware of the Minister, Deputy Ryan's, and the Green Party's unilateral sabotage of all these already-announced national policies, suspending them indefinitely to totally undermine momentum and the potential of the western seaboard to perform to its potential and offer a level of counterbalance to the eastern conurbation? Will the Minister outline clearly if correspondence from the Minister, Deputy Ryan, effectively putting this project on the never-never, suspended indefinitely list, is now Government policy? If it is, the Government needs to come clean with the voters of the western seaboard in this regard.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy MacSharry for his passionate contribution. I know he is a passionate advocate for the west. We have worked together to try to deliver real projects for Sligo and the north west, particularly regarding education. I will have to seek clarity for the Deputy about the N17. I will ask the Minister, Deputy Ryan, to revert directly to Deputy MacSharry.

Marc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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Will the Minister, Deputy Harris, revert to me?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I will revert directly to Deputy MacSharry. I would be delighted to.

Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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I raised a Topical Issue matter here two weeks ago relating to fuel merchants. I was not happy with the reply I got. Compliant fuel merchants in every town, city and village in the country are being forced out of business because of lack of regulation. The majority of coal that is being sold in the State does not have carbon tax or VAT paid on it. Those businesses that are operating legitimately and compliantly are being forced out of business. The fuel merchants want every merchant in the country to be regulated. They want all product to be checked to ensure there is a level playing field and that product that is being sold is complying with our taxation laws, and that carbon tax and VAT is paid on it. This Government has an onus to ensure that a level playing field operates for these fuel merchants and that all product that is sold and used in the country is tax compliant.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Cahill for raising this. I know he raised it in recent weeks. I will ask the line Minister to directly respond to him, or perhaps both the Minister for Finance and the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications. At a broad level, of course it is important that there is a level playing field and that any business activity in our country is tax compliant and complies with the laws of the land and policies of Government regarding climate. I will ask for a more detailed note from the relevant Ministers.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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The dental treatment services scheme was meant to entitle those who needed free public dental services as needed but this is an empty entitlement if the services simply are not available. They simply are not available in Mayo and other counties. We saw the vote of no confidence in the Minister, passed by the Irish Dental Association last week. The Minister for Health admitted that the State had a blind spot when it comes to dentistry and oral health. It is not good enough for people on medical cards to pay the price for this blind spot. In 2010, 63 dentists were taking medical card patients in Mayo. In 2020, there were 53. Now there are 19. There are just no dentists in Mayo now accepting new patients. The Government has to sit down with the Irish Dental Association and sort this out so that people can access vital care.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Conway-Walsh. I will pass her views on to the Minister for Health. We have provided an additional €15 million to oral health care services this year. I take the point about needing people in place to deliver the service. On workforce capacity, I am informed that we live in a country with more registered dentists than ever before, at 3,472 as of March 2023, which is an increase of 153 from the previous year. In my Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, we are looking at how we can train more dentists and we expect to have news on that. I will ask the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, to revert to Deputy Conway-Walsh specifically about Mayo.

Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent)
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I want to speak in support of Focus Ireland's recommendations for the previous Labour Party Bill to address child homelessness, which received cross-party support in this House, to be reintroduced. Emergency accommodation in Clare, for example, has been at full capacity since at least last June. We have a very limited definition of homelessness. That means our figures do not truly reflect the real situation on the ground. The Government said it will increase funding, which is always welcome, but one cannot always just throw money at the local authority and expect it to sort it out. The action teams are expressing that they are doing their very best but we are not seeing increased capacity in a timely manner. The lack of availability of properties is diminishing hope and confidence in people, especially young people and anyone in insecure housing. A direct intervention from the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage is needed. A good starting point would be for the Government to take these recommendations on board and put the needs of children at the centre of this issue. Will the Government commit to reintroducing the Bill in its summer legislative programme?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne for raising this important issue. Homelessness is a major issue that we are all working to challenge. Child homelessness is an issue that we all want to see real progress on. I will ask the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, to respond directly to the Deputy on that legislation but I assure her that every resource that is required to help ensure that we address child homelessness will be forthcoming.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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This is one of the first occasions on which we have completed Questions on Promised Legislation within the allocated time. Congratulations to everybody involved. Just for the information of the House, I have decided that from now on, I will not pick Members to ask questions who will not stick within the allocated one minute anymore. Bear that in mind, please.