Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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I am sure the House will join me in sending best wishes to Ireland's finest, the undisputed world champion, as she makes her homecoming on Saturday in her bid to be world champion in two weight divisions. We are all waiting for the words "and still" to be uttered at the end of the fight.

On Monday I attended the A5 public inquiry. This project is crucial to opening the north-west; transforming one of the most dangerous roads in the country; and reopening the economic potential of the north west. In the next few days the inquiry will look at a range of topics including the funding of the A5 project. This upgrade was agreed 16 years ago as part of the St. Andrews Agreement. The Government of the time agreed to co-finance it on a 50:50 basis. The Government stepped back from that commitment during the economic crisis. Given where we are with respect to economic growth, surpluses and the comments of the Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance, is the Tánaiste committed to financing this project on a 50:50 basis as agreed in St. Andrews?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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It was agreed more recently than the St. Andrews Agreement in the context of the Fresh Start agreement and the shared island initiative. The issue is not financing, as the Deputy is well aware. A public inquiry is under way in Northern Ireland. There have been significant challenges in progressing route selection for the project in the North because of opposition from a variety of interests. I have been exasperated by this, as we have made clear through the shared island initiative. The Government has put €1 billion aside for a range of cross-Border projects, including the A5, over the next decade. We want it to come on stream. In the meantime we funded Narrow Water Bridge and the Ulster Canal. This is vital for connectivity of the north west.

I also wish Katie Taylor, who Deputy Doherty referred to, the best. I met her on my way back from Boston. At the time she was quite excited about the forthcoming boxing fight.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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I will return to the issue of accommodation for refugees, which I raised earlier this week as well as last week. I visited Mount Street Lower again yesterday and was concerned to see so many people still forced to sleep there in tents. I was also concerned to see the unacceptable protests and blockades against refugee accommodation in Inch, County Clare. I think we are better than that. I express support for the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, and his Department in their determination to secure accommodation for all who seek refuge here. It appears that the level of support that is required from other Departments is not available and there is not a proper cross-Government approach to this. I urge caution from all colleagues in our use of language. While information is welcome and I am delighted to get information about new accommodation for 66 asylum seekers in my constituency, consultation calls can be misinterpreted. Calls for consultation can suggest that communities can veto who moves in. That is not right. Calls for consultation can even offer a platform to those who will never welcome inward migration, and to those with a much more sinister agenda on the far right. People have put up unacceptable graffiti in the Sandwith Street area. I saw it yesterday. We must be careful in our calls. Information is welcome but consultation suggests a veto and that is not right.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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First, I thank the Deputy for her support of the Government's programme to provide accommodation for those seeking asylum. Some 84,000 people are now in State accommodation. That is unprecedented. Never before in the history of the State have we had to respond to a situation like this because of global conflict, not least the war in Ukraine which has been catastrophic for the people of Ukraine. It has created the greatest displacement of people in Europe since the Second World War. That is sometimes glossed over. It is quite dramatic and traumatic for the people of Ukraine. In addition, wars all over the world, famine and drought from climate change all create additional migration. I take on board what the Deputy has said. The Government will work with her on some of the issues she raised.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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I add my voice and that of my party in condemning the brutal scenes in Navan when a 14-year-old child was brutally assaulted. That should never take place. BeLonG To, the youth LGBT organisation, released figures today from 2022 research which found that 76% of young LGBTQI+ students in schools found schools to be unsafe. What is the Government doing to ensure schools and public spaces are safe for young LGBTQI+ students?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising the issue and I share his horror at the violence and nature of that attack. I too have met representatives of the LGBTI community, especially young people who articulated on a personal level to me the bullying they have been subjected to. In some instances young people have to leave a school and go to an alternative school. That has happened. We must work harder to ensure our anti-bullying strategies penetrate or get traction on the ground. The Minister developed and launched the policy framework, Cineáltas: Action Plan on Bullying, in November last year. It is a multi-stranded programme. It is a good programme, but we must ensure that we resource it on the ground and that it has a real impact in school communities.

Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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There was another fire this morning at one of the Stryker plants in Carrigtwohill. The building was evacuated and thankfully no one was injured. This follows another two fires at the site in April. The fire on 18 April, one month ago today, injured two workers, of whom one suffered serious burns. These fires were just the latest in a series of health and safety incidents at the plant. For instance, in 2021, whistleblowing workers reported a dozen incidents from the years immediately previous to the Health and Safety Authority, HSA, by way of protected disclosure. Stryker management at the plant refused requests to meet trade union representatives of the workforce in the wake of the April fires to discuss health and safety. This is despite three separate Labour Court recommendations and an appeal from the Tánaiste that it should do so. I understand the workers' union, SIPTU, has written to the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Coveney, to request a face-to-face meeting to discuss the situation and the concerns of the workforce. The letter has been acknowledged but to date the Minister has not agreed to the request. Will the Tánaiste agree, given the urgency and what happened again this morning, that he should now do so?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I take it that the fire that happened this morning will be referred to the HSA. Under the law the HSA will conduct and I understand is conducting investigations into the previous incidents in which two workers were seriously injured, one of whom was very seriously injured.

It is an absolute prerequisite that there would be comprehensive health and safety investigations.

In respect of the question of union representation in meetings, I will talk to the Minister, Deputy Coveney, about that. There has never been an issue in respect of meeting with trade unions, which we do on a regular basis in discharging our duties as Government Ministers. I will talk to the Minister about that.

Cathal Berry (Kildare South, Independent)
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The events of the last 24 hours have again hammered home the need to have uniformed gardaí on the street, both as a deterrent and from a reassurance point of view. For that reason, I raise the Garda Reserve force this morning. It is an outfit that has been around for about 20 years. There is currently about 300 reserve gardaí but they have never really got the recognition or the acknowledgement from the State that they rightly deserve. The members of other part-time uniformed services in the country such as the Coast Guard and the Civil Defence actually get a medal awarded to them after about ten years' service. I would be grateful if the Tánaiste could discuss with the Minister, Deputy Harris, whether something similar could be done for reserve gardaí. It would cost only a handful of euro but it would be hugely appreciated by the 300 reserve gardaí concerned. If it is important to them, it is important to me and it should be important to us all.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising a very important issue. I agree with him on the importance of the Garda Reserve. I agree that members of the reserve force can be of significant help to the community. I recall being in government when the Garda Reserve was introduced. Like all institutions, initially there was some resistance to the idea. Increasingly now, both within An Garda Síochána and within the military, there is an acknowledgement of the role of the reserve. We are creating new initiatives in terms of accelerating, expanding, and recruiting more reserve gardaí and likewise in the military reserves. There is a new recruitment campaign. It will be held in quarter 4 of 2023. On foot of this, new reservists will be appointed. A strategy has been developed within the context of A Policing Service for our Future. The Commissioner has developed a Garda Reserve strategy for 2021 to 2025. There are moves afoot. I think the Commissioner is possessed of this and of expanding the number of volunteers.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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I have a letter here from Margaret Egan of Ardfinnan community council. It concerns a troubled bridge over tranquil waters in the village of Ardfinnan. The Tánaiste came to see it two years ago and gave great hope. The county council appointed Roughan and O'Donovan consultants to do an appraisal of it. They suggested a new separate freestanding walkway for the safety of pedestrians. This was the safest option. The Tánaiste told them - I was there listening to him - that they should get funding under the active travel fund. He had a lot of pomp about it and a ceremony with aplomb. However, now the National Transport Authority, NTA, has rejected the proposal, which was paid for by taxpayers' money. The amount of money spent on consultants' reports would nearly build a bridge at this stage and here we are now with a negative. It has been removed from the 2023 roads programme with the NTA. It has just abolished it and we are left still with a one-way system, which is unsafe, with dangerous temporary lights. The Tánaiste saw it himself. I am appealing for sanity here. An independent report was commissioned and a safe bridge was suggested, but the NTA has removed it from its consideration.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy is correct. I am sure he would agree with me that Councillor Micheál Anglim has been a very strong and proactive advocate for this.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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Many people have been.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I say that to be fair to Councillor Anglim. I went down to Ardfinnan. An external review took place. The NTA should approve this separate proposal, given that the independent review said this was the best way to go. I have spoken with the Minister in respect of this as well. I believe there has to be a balance and a proper response from national agencies as well. This is very unsafe. It is unacceptably unsafe for school children and young people. Sometimes, we have to do things outside of the box. The external review came forward with a separate bridge proposal under the active travel fund. I see nothing wrong with it and the authorities should proceed with it.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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Following on from our Private Members' debate yesterday, when I raised the chronic state of medical waiting lists, I want to talk about the specifics of orthodontic services in County Donegal. My office is dealing with a number of cases and recently constituents have written to me. One stated that their 14-year-old daughter has been two years on the waiting list just to be assessed for braces. She was told when she went on the waiting list that even after assessment, she could be another two years waiting for treatment. This is seriously affecting her self-confidence and getting her down. Another constituent wrote to say that their 16-year-old daughter has been referred and is waiting for an assessment by an orthodontic consultant for almost four years. This is surely unacceptable. They have been told that no assessments have taken place there since last March, that they do not even have the necessary equipment to do this assessment anyway and that they do not have the necessary and dedicated accommodation to provide the service. Does the Tánaiste think that is acceptable for the people of County Donegal? What is he going to do about rectifying the situation?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I do not have the specifics in respect of every county across the country at hand. There have been ongoing issues with the dental service and the reform of oral health services. Orthodontics have always been challenging, notwithstanding the unprecedented funding that has been allocated to the sector. We are probably better than most European countries due to our State-funded oral health care scheme for medical card patients in terms of fees.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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Are we better?

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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That is a good way of putting it.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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We are, in terms of the fees paid and so on. An additional €15 million was allocated in the budget for public oral healthcare services, bringing it to €200 million to address backlogs and longer term reform. There is an issue here about value for money, efficiency and about getting some return for that investment.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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There is no return for investment.

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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I have raised this matter previously and I raise it again. It is about the problems being encountered by teachers who provide home tuition because they are treated as self-employed by the Department. Even though the Department pays them, it deducts the tax. They are in category S in relation to PRSI and they have very little access to other services. They do not get paid during the summer months yet they are not allowed to enter into arrangements to provide tuition during the summer months. These people are not subcontractors; they are employees of the Department. We have already seen a number of State organisations getting caught over the fact that they were treating people as subcontractors who should have been treated as employees. Those who are providing home tuition are regulated. They cannot do any more hours than any teacher in a school can do and they have the same regulations. Therefore, they should be treated as employees.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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It is a bit more complex than that. The home tuition grant scheme provides funding towards the provision of compensatory educational services for children who, for a number of specific reasons, are unable to attend school. This could be due to illness or certain conditions. By nature, it is a short-term intervention. Some of the providers could be more long term, some are more short term. They might get a permanent job the following year, for example. In the first instance, the home tutors are engaged by the parents and the guardian of the child who is to receive the tuition. Therefore, the tutor actually has no contractual relationship with the Department of Education. The Revenue Commissioners have instructed that payments under the home tuition grant scheme are subject to statutory deductions at source. In order to facilitate parents, the Department of Education acts solely as payroll agents on behalf of the parents and the guardian to ease administration. The Department of Social Protection has determined that home tutors are engaged under contracts for service and are therefore self-employed and subject to PRSI class S. It is the various Departments conspiring that is creating a significant challenge.

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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It is the employer.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Department is not the employer.

James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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The N25 bypass in east Cork is a huge issue of importance to me. I ask about the appointment of a design consultant. There seems to be nothing happening with it for the last number of weeks. I am getting quite frustrated with the level of progress. It seems to be stuck in officialdom. Will the Tánaiste and the Minister for Transport look into this matter to get the design consultant appointed so we know the proposed routes in the next number of months?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy raised this matter with me the other night and I raised it with the Minister. He seemed to be of the view that the project was progressing but he said he would check it for me in respect of its current status and the appointment of the design team. I will revert back to the Deputy on that.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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Ten days ago, Panda Waste introduced yet another charge for my hard-pressed constituents. This time it is €3.80 for the lift of the brown bin. I was contacted by one of my neighbours who said she put her brown bin out for the last time two weeks ago.

She simply cannot afford another €100 per year, and that is if she only puts it out once per fortnight. It is the brown bin, so that cannot be left. If people did, their neighbours would not thank them. At this stage, it is acting as a disincentive to recycling. The trade unions - Forsa, SIPTU and Connect - are advocating through their More Power To You campaign that the councils take back control of waste management. What does the Tánaiste say to them? Does he agree now is the time to do that and to properly incentivise, encourage and help people to do the right thing, which is what they want to do? We are in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. They cannot afford these increases. The private market has destroyed waste management in this State. It is time for the councils to take back control, as do the unions and some of my constituents. What does the Tánaiste say to them?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I agree with the broader strategy of incentivising recycling and separation of waste. The country has made extraordinary progress in those areas over the past 25 years and that needs to be acknowledged. Sometimes we tend to have a negative self-perception of the country; actually, it has made extraordinary progress on a number of fronts in the past two decades.

On the council, I am open to different options in respect of the collection of waste. A noticeable development in recent decades has been the decline in landfill and in the necessity for landfill. Transitioning from a private sector arrangement to a State-sector arrangement in its entirety is easier said than done. That would need to be analysed carefully and in a considered manner.

Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael)
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There is no doubt Government has taken significant steps to support families, and specifically children, during the cost-of-living crisis over the past year but, following a series of questions to the HSE, it was revealed to me that approximately 100,000 children still await their initial dental appointments across all community healthcare organisations, CHOs. In my own CHO 9, which includes the youngest, fastest growing community in Ireland, approximately 5,000 children await initial assessment, plus children with medical cards. Does the Tánaiste believe the processes the HSE has set out to alleviate the significant backlog, as it has described it, as a result of Covid, will meet the targets and all children in primary school will be seen to?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The HSE says it will. I will speak to the Minister for Health again because this issue has been raised across the House again today. We have to give time to deal with the backlog from Covid but we also have to look at methodology and models of provision and have a more fundamental look at this because waiting times are too long.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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As a Deputy for County Meath and proud to be so, I welcome the Tánaiste’s comments on the dreadful attack in Navan and the solidarity extended. I welcome the same from the Taoiseach and across the political divide. It is echoed in the town of Navan, the county and across the country. I echo Deputy Doherty’s call for a comprehensive and appropriate response. As the Tánaiste said, we all need to work harder. I thank him for that.

I raise the recruitment and retention crisis in the retained fire service. Talks between the Local Government Management Agency and representatives from the fire service have collapsed due to constraints relating the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform and pay. Earlier this week, I met with firefighters from County Meath. The service is under serious pressure, as are they as individuals. Will Government intervene to ensure the money is made available?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I share the Deputy’s revulsion at the shocking attack on the young boy in Navan. We have collectively done that today.

On the retained firefighters, we ask all parties to continue to engage constructively on resolving the outstanding industrial relations issues within the established facilitation forum. That is the best way to resolve this.

There is no silver bullet solution to the issues of recruitment and retention. The Minister has acknowledged there clearly are issues. A report was commissioned in 2021. He accepted a recommendation of the management board of the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management to publish it. I will talk to the Ministers. The objective will be to keep all sides talking.

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I follow up on an issue raised earlier by Deputy Naughten concerning European reference networks, ERNs. I note the Tánaiste’s comments and welcome that he believes the ERNs need to be resourced and supported in upcoming Estimates processes but these ERNs cannot be sustained on the goodwill of clinical leads and consultants alone, as is the case now.

Yesterday. the cross-party committee on rare diseases met with Dr. Cormac McCarthy and Dr. Atif Awan, who outlined to us the critical role ERNs should play in the care of people living with a rare disease and highlighted the difficulties they face without adequate support from the HSE. The ERNs need support and investment or we risk losing them. The HSE has provided no funding or support for the work the clinical leads do and has heretofore failed to integrate the ERNs into its structures. No pathways have been established to route patients around the country into their relevant ERN and no support given to clinicians to commission reports or, as Deputy Naughten said, even do basic things like maintain and upload data. This needs urgent attention.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I referenced the Deputy’s interest in this in my earlier contribution and his long-standing advocacy in this area. I spoke with the Minister for Health on the ERNs and the necessity to provide resources to build up supports for the clinicians involved, as well as to recruit people to the service to enable a critical mass of people within the HSE to be focused on our participation in ERNs. They are the way forward to bring expertise and knowledge together.

Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent)
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Consultation is not the same thing as a power of veto, clearly. Saying we will have a Zoom call with people about something that happened and that, by the way, we are not for changing is not consultation either. A community in Inch approached me and a member of the Tánaiste’s party because they saw works being done. We asked what was happening on their behalf but got no answer. In Scarriff, where I come from, works are being done on the former Clare Lakelands Hotel, which was last used to house asylum seekers a long time ago. I have asked the question but received no answer. This morning, it was confirmed that for five weeks there has been consultation with the community in Santry about what is proposed there. Why is there consultation for some and not for others? Is it that the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must or is there a more palatable reason for the consultation with some communities and not others?

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I thank the Deputy and Senators for joining me at the online meeting yesterday. At that meeting I recognised that the information provision timeline was really tight. The reason for that was the need to house people, in light of the fact we have people on the streets at the moment.

Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent)
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Was time not tight in Santry?

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I recognise that causes difficulty for the Deputy and elected representatives in terms of the engagement there. I reiterate that I and the Minister, Deputy Darragh O’Brien, are happy to engage with the delegation of residents to discuss and address some of the issues. I have to be honest; we need to use this accommodation. The accommodation is suitable. I do not want to be putting inaccurate-----

Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent)
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That is not the question I asked. Why is there a consultation with some people and not with others? That is the question.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Resume your seat, Deputy.

Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent)
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I know how tight it is. I know there is an emergency. Do not patronise me.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I am really not patronising you, Deputy.

Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent)
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Just tell me why there is consultation in some parts of the country and not others.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Will you resume your seat, Deputy?

Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent)
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Can I get an answer?

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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No.

Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent)
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No answers. Then people are right to protest, are they not?

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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If you were not shouting, you might have got a reply.

Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent)
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What alternatives do they have?

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Please, Deputy. I call Deputy Paul Murphy.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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I ask the Tánaiste about an attempted illegal eviction yesterday on Harrington Street, Dublin. There was no court order for the eviction. The private security that turned up and turfed a woman in her 50s and her furniture onto the street had no Private Security Authority licences. They threatened the housing activists, who were supporting the tenants, with violence. When the gardaí arrived, they refused to intervene, said it was a civil matter and refused even to take statements about the violence that had taken place.

Is that acceptable? I also ask about what happened on Sandwith Street last Friday. Far-right activists online have claimed that there was a deal between them and An Garda Síochána to allow them to go in and so-called "remove" the tents. We know that the tents were burned. Is there an investigation into that? If anything like that were to be the case, it would be extremely concerning.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I hope the Deputy is not suggesting that there was a deal between An Garda Síochána and far-right activists.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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I am asking whether it is being investigated.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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There was no such deal, for God's sake. We need balance in what we are saying in the House.

In respect of the illegal eviction, the Government takes illegal evictions very seriously and is committed to doing everything in its power to ensure that tenants are treated fairly, respectfully and within the confines of what is legally permissible. The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage has written to the director of the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, under his powers under the Residential Tenancies Acts to ensure this matter is investigated thoroughly as early as possible.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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Despite increases in Government funding over the past few years for the non-national road network, county councillors will be unable to carry out as comprehensive annual programmes as they had planned. This is due to the enormous increase in the costs of road maintenance and road construction products over the past 18 months. In any mid-year review of the capital programme, the Government must prioritise this roads programme for much-needed additional funding. Some 95.7% of the entire road network in my own county of Cavan is non-national. That demonstrates very clearly the importance of such roads and the need to have them brought up to an acceptable standard, both from a social and economic point of view.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this issue, which he has been raising consistently over the past while. I have spoken to the Minister in respect of this and we are very conscious of the need for maintenance of country, rural and regional roads. We will continue to pursue this in terms of any available resources we can allocate this year to deal with the fact that the costs of the materials that go into repairing a road, repurposing a road, etc., have gone up. We need to deal with that.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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We are out of time, but I will take 30-second questions from the four remaining Deputies.

Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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I was contacted by a young married couple who, thanks to the lifting of the eviction ban, had their notice to quit come into effect this week. They are now homeless and are living with family members. They are not the only young married couple who are in that position and who are telling me that there lives are being put on hold, especially when it comes to being able to have children. The couple I mentioned cannot find anywhere affordable to rent. They cannot afford to buy a house. No affordable housing will come on stream in Galway city for a number of years. What does the Tánaiste say to these people who feel there is no future for them here, which is a place they want to build a family?

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I am sure that, like many Deputies, the Tánaiste is seeing how growing participation in the workplace is exposing weaknesses in childcare supply, particularly in rapidly growing areas such as those I represent on the northern fringe of Dublin. When will the details of the capital programme that is provided for under the NDP for childcare be outlined? When will we see legislation for the childcare development authority, which is part of the programme for Government?

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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The Tánaiste will be aware that Ireland is one of the first countries to launch an artificial intelligence, AI, strategy, AI - Here For Good, which sets out the high-level direction on how best to use the positivities of AI. One of the three core principles is ensuring good governance to build trust and confidence. Given that the EU has commenced the legislative process to introduce a regulatory framework for the use of AI, does the Tánaiste agree that it would be premature to push ahead with facial recognition technology in advance of having that regulatory framework in place?

Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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Four years ago, the people of Limerick voted in a referendum, along with people in Cork and Waterford, on the issue of the directly elected mayor. In Limerick, it was successful. To date, we have seen no legislation. It begs the question as to whether the Government is serious about this. Can the Tánaiste confirm to us when we will see the legislation and, more importantly, when will the election take place? I truly believe that if we get this legislation right and if we deliver a directly elected mayor, which the people voted for, other counties and areas will copy what we are doing. It will be four years ago this month that people voted for this and we have seen nothing yet.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I will ask the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, to take one of the questions.

I do not have the specific details about the couple Deputy Farrell raised or the nature of the eviction. Approximately 1,000 cases are now being progressed by local authorities across the country in respect of the tenantin situscheme.

Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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They are not on the housing list.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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A variety of initiatives that the Minister took are having an impact and are responding but the overall issue will have to be resolved through more and more supply. Thankfully, in the first quarter, commencements were at an all-time high since 2014, as were completions. We are making progress on building new homes-----

Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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But they are homeless.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----particularly for first-time buyers there has been a noticeable and significant increase over the past two years-----

Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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But there is nothing for them.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----for first-time buyers.

Deputy Troy raised the issue of AI and I appreciate the points he made about good governance, trust and confidence. However, it will be some time before that directive comes to light. It will be a considerable length of time. I favour the use of facial recognition technology by An Garda Síochána in respect of child abuse cases, for example, as well as murder cases. There are approximately three areas that the Commissioner has asked for this technology on the basis of using data that has been collected or that is already available. This would be instead of gardaí spending hours and hours going over data to try to identify a person who could be responsible or who could do further harm. We need balance on this. I do not think gardaí are looking for a comprehensive approach or anything like that. However, in specific areas, such as child abuse and murder, we must listen to what they are saying.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Deputy Quinlivan also had a question.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I am sorry. I will have to come back to the Deputy in respect of that. It is my understanding that the legislation was progressing-----

Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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It has been four years and we have not seen it.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----so I will come back to the Deputy with a timeline on that.

Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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We need a commitment from the Government on that.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I will come back to the Deputy.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I thank Deputy Bruton for the question. Some €45 million is provided for under the national development plan for capital investment in childcare. It will be available in 2025 and 2026. This summer, we hope to make the call for capital for 2025. That call will be coming out this summer.

In terms of the legislation on the childcare agency, a working group is now coming together which is bringing together elements of the sector to work to advance that legislation. Finally, in terms of expanding capacity and giving more options to parents, the childcare (amendment) Bill is currently going through pre-legislative scrutiny. That will bring childminders into the regulatory framework and will allow parents who use childminders to avail of the national childcare scheme, NCS, support. This relates to all parents in the choices they make for childcare.