Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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I think the Tánaiste has been at the Cabinet table for nearly a decade, nine years or so. In that period, the average house price has increased by €200,000 which a huge sum of money for any family. That is just the increase for a new home since the Tánaiste took up office around the Cabinet table. Indeed in the last five years, the average house price increased by €100,000. Every five years the price of housing has gone up by €100,000 under his Government. Is it any wonder that there are now 100,000 Irish-born people in Australia? Is it any wonder that so many people do not feel their future is in this country when they cannot afford a house anymore? Young people are struggling to put a roof over their heads and finding that prices are just running out of control. They then see that the Government delivered fewer houses last year than in the previous year. Does the Minister accept that the Government's housing plan has failed young people and those who want to get a roof over their head, in terms of affordability? Does he accept that it is actually going in reverse in delivering houses as testified by the numbers from the CSO which show the Government delivered fewer houses last year and is on course to do the same again this year?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy is right to highlight housing, which is the biggest domestic challenge we face. There are many young people, both here in Ireland and Irish young people abroad, who want to see and need to see more progress made on housing. I would point out some progress has been made. The Deputy quotes headline figures which are perfectly acceptable to quote. However, of course we have put in place a number of schemes like help to buy and the first home scheme that make a real meaningful difference in the amount of money that somebody actually has to come up with versus the headline price. However, let me be clear, we have to do a lot more. Between now and July we will deliver a new housing action plan. I say the word "action" because we do not need to big, long, wishy-washy document. We need clear actions outlining who will be responsible and when they will be delivered. We also have a chance, through the national development plan review, to invest a lot more in the enablers to scale up housing particularly regarding water, wastewater and energy.

Conor Sheehan (Limerick City, Labour)
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I utterly condemn the actions of Hamas and Hezbollah. However, yesterday a member of the rap group Kneecap was charged with terrorism offences in the UK. They were charged under legislation that the British Government has been rather selective in its application of. The British Government has sent over 14 shipments of arms to Gaza. Last year it sent £127 million in military equipment to the Middle East. These charges are political. They are designed to censor and silence those who are calling out this genocide. It amounts to a carnival of distraction. Will the Tánaiste commit to raising this with his counterpart the UK Foreign Secretary and with the UK Prime Minister?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I join the Deputy in absolutely condemning Hamas and Hezbollah, which offer no future positivity to the people of Palestine. That is not just my view on that; the President of the Palestinian Authority has been clear that the future of Gaza needs to be a Hamas-free future.

I am also Minister for Defence. I have seen the utter destruction and death Hezbollah can bring to members of the Irish Defence Forces, and I think of Private Seán Rooney. I am conscious with regard to the British Government, recognising the separation that exists between governments and criminal justice systems and not wanting to say anything that cuts across a criminal justice system in another country, but I am very clear that the absolute focus of the entire world in the here and now needs to be on the depravation and starvation and war crimes being committed in Gaza.

Jen Cummins (Dublin South Central, Social Democrats)
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The Tánaiste said he will bring a memo on the occupied territories Bill to Cabinet next week. This is a long overdue but welcome step in aligning Ireland's trade policies with our values on human rights and international law. Not a grain of rice, drop of water or vial of medicine has entered Gaza for months. A trickle of aid has now been allowed in, but the Israeli Government is preventing it from being distributed. We all see the distressing images of emaciated children and their desperate parents every day. Gaza is a hellscape and the relentless slaughter and suffering is just incomprehensible and unbearable. All this is happening while we are waiting for the Government to publish the occupied territories Bill, which does not ban the trade of services. Why is the Government diluting the occupied territories Bill in this way? Why is it taking so long?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I agree with the Deputy in many ways on the description she has given of the horrific situation in Gaza, but the reason that is happening is not because we have not passed the occupied territories Bill; it is because Benjamin Netanyahu's Government is engaging in war crimes, and it needs to stop. It needs to stop right now; it needs to stop today. The aid, including aid funded by Irish taxpayers, needs to get into Gaza. I am meeting Senator Black today for a follow-up meeting on the occupied territories Bill. I find her to be a very sincere person who just wants to get progress here and is not precious, for want of a better word, with regard to who brings the Bill forward. I do want a Bill that is legally robust. I do not want a Bill that makes us think we are doing something but falls at the first challenge. I do not have a policy difference, by the way, with anybody in this House who wants to include services and goods. I do have a legal difference, but I am happy to tease that out with people. I am also happy to be proven wrong on it, but I do need to tease that through as well.

Brian Stanley (Laois, Independent)
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The issue I am again raising with the Tánaiste is the bar on over-70s being allowed to drive under the school bus scheme. Drivers should be able to continue working within the scheme until they are 75 provided they pass a strict medical test and a strict eyesight test annually. The situation whereby they are arbitrarily forced to retire at 70 is wrong. We already have a shortage of school bus drivers, and more will be forced out. We are losing drivers every week. More will be forced out between now and the end of August as they reach 70 years of age. Bus Éireann representatives were in the Oireachtas yesterday telling us they are trying to recruit drivers and are going to expand the scheme, but they will be able to do it. I do not mean that in any smart way; I am saying that it is not mission impossible. There is a difficulty as the positions are only part-time positions of three or four hours per day. It suits retired people who are on a State pension. It does not suit young people or men or women who have a family. The wages are not there for it because it is only part-time by its nature. Younger workers simply cannot take that on.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy.

Brian Stanley (Laois, Independent)
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Both the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach have agreed with me on the floor of the Dáil that we need to change this. A review has been carried out by the Department of Transport. That is now complete. The Government is now talking about an independent assessment according to a parliamentary question reply I received this week.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Stanley.

Brian Stanley (Laois, Independent)
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The Government has the review done.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I call on the Minister to answer.

Brian Stanley (Laois, Independent)
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That should be enough. We need to fix this and sort it out because we have only 13 weeks left to do it. We have 13 weeks until 25 August.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. More children than ever are accessing the transport scheme, at 173,000. There is a very clear commitment to make sure we expand that further and that as many children as possible can access it. Of course, that means more buses and more drivers. There are clear reasons as to why the 70 year age limit was set, but we have given a clear commitment in the programme for Government to review that to see if any changes can be made, be it in the size of the buses or the number of children. That is happening at the moment, and it is something on which my Department will be working closely with the Department of Transport.

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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Earlier this month, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Keir Starmer, outlined significant changes in UK immigration policies, including tightening of visa controls, reduced post-study work rights and a longer route to citizenship, going from five years to ten years. While these are UK domestic decisions, they have a serious impact on us here in the Republic of Ireland, particularly because the UK still occupies part of this island for the moment.

This is what I am asking the Tánaiste. We are hearing reports of asylum seekers crossing into the Republic from Northern Ireland, as stated by the British Government. The British Government has now said that it will not accept returns. This puts a strain on the immigration system here and the challenges of integrating a common travel area, which to my mind risks and undermines North-South co-operation and Border security issues. I ask the Tánaiste to outline the discussions the Government or his Department have had with their counterparts in the United Kingdom on this matter. What practical steps are being taken to protect the common travel area?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy O'Flynn for raising this matter. I assure him that there are structures in place between our Department of Justice and the Home Office in the United Kingdom in terms of the monitoring of the integrity of the common travel area. Obviously, we do not overly discuss all of those matters publicly for obvious reasons, but I can assure the Deputy that there are very good links at official level. I would also say more broadly that the decision taken this week by the UK Government and the EU to have closer co-operation can only be a positive in terms of working together on issues that clearly are global and bigger than any country's borders. We do, therefore, work very closely in this regard. We also have an obligation in terms of our own rules, making sure there is more efficient administration so that, regardless of how people enter our country or seek to enter the country, they get a quicker "Yes" or "No" answer as to whether they have a legal right to be here. That is a very important part of the integrity of our migration system.

Tony McCormack (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Government's plans to make it easier and quicker for new teachers to become permanent - that is a positive step - but I ask the Government to also look at bringing in a rule that new permanent teachers must wait five years before taking a career break. Principals and teachers I have spoken to in County Offaly are very clear on this. Early career breaks are causing problems with staffing and making it harder to plan ahead. It is also upsetting for students who need stability in the classroom. Will the Government review the career break policy as part of these changes?

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for acknowledging the changes being proposed around the permanent posts. The reason I am proposing that is to make sure our young teachers have that permanent position so that they can access mortgages more quickly and that it gives them that sense of belonging within their schools. It is very much a decision for the individual schools as to whether they allow career breaks. We have said very clearly, and the Department has set out clear rules, that if schools cannot fill the position, they should not be allowing teachers to take career breaks. I know that is not always the case. We do have positions that are not filled, in particular in some of our larger cities, but overall, we need to make sure we do everything possible to allow more teachers to come through the system and ensure that we keep those who are here and encourage more back. That is something I am working on at the moment, and I hope to bring forward further proposals in the weeks and months ahead.

Naoise Ó Muirí (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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In this Chamber on Tuesday night, I asked the Minister for agriculture a question and he confirmed that farmers cannot put excess solar energy back onto the grid. These are the farmers who access the solar capital investment scheme. The Tánaiste or I can put panels on our roofs and we can feed excess energy back into the grid. Farmers cannot do that. It is fundamentally unfair. There are 130,000-plus farms in the country. Many of those buildings can take solar panels. Why can we not encourage farmers to do that and put energy back onto the national grid? I understand from the Minister that it is a question of EU state aid, which sound ludicrous to me. I do not even see the angle for state aid. I ask the Tánaiste to use his good offices in trade and foreign affairs to progress that at European level.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Ó Muirí very much for raising this issue. He is right; the rationale, for better or worse, is around state aid rules. They are intended to ensure that subsidies provided by member states operate in accordance with the same basic rule book and, in the context, grants provided under the Common Agricultural Policy are intended to support farming activity. There is a view as to whether this ends up being a double investment. If we come up from the weeds, though, the broader point the Deputy is making is right. There is a climate emergency - of that there is no doubt - and we need to be coming forward with practical ways to help people, particularly farmers, who are well up for this by the way, to make a positive difference. I will certainly engage with my colleague, the Minister for agriculture, and more broadly with European colleagues on this issue.

Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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We are facing a shortage of GPs. People in County Clare have contacted me to state that when their doctor or GP retired, they were left with no GP as they did not have a medical card and they are now reliant on walk-in clinics. People with a medical card have been assigned to already overburdened GPs when their GP retired. People cannot get appointments to see their doctors, leaving them with no choice but to head to accident and emergency departments. Some have to go to walk-in clinics and pay a fee as the walk-in clinics do not accept medical cards.

Some have to borrow money to go to walk-in clinics and others have to make the awful choice to hope for the best and wish for their issues to go away, but usually end up in accident and emergency departments. What can be done to increase the number of doctors working in underserved areas? What is being done to attract, recruit and retain doctors, especially those who are trained here, and make them feel they are welcome and do not need to emigrate due to a lack of housing or the cost of living?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising an issue that is very real and comes up quite a lot across the country. I will ask the Minister for Health to respond to her on her plans, if the Deputy wants to provide her with examples of some of the issues she referenced in her constituency.

We are very committed to increasing the number of training places for GPs. We have already begun that work and the trajectory will continue and accelerate. We have engaged with GPs on a number of occasions in recent years on their contract in order to make the services they are providing more viable. We are continuing with that work.

The Deputy referred to deprived or underresourced areas in terms of GPs. The HSE has the ability to hire salaried GPs in that case. There are some examples of that already in this city. We are keen to provide that more. There is often an inverse relationship between where the health need is most required and where the number of GPs are populated. I will ask the Minister for Health to come back to the Deputy with more information on that.

John Connolly (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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The NTA advised me of its decision to defer the development of a new transport strategy for Galway. The original strategy was developed in 2016. This puts us at odds with other cities such as Cork, Limerick and Waterford, all of which had their strategies reviewed in the process of the development of a new strategy.

The NTA also informed us it has delayed or deferred the introduction of the new bus network in Galway. All of this seems to be pending the outcome of the assessment of An Bord Pleanála of the N6 project, for which we have no timeline and do not know when a decision will be made. In 2022, the NTA tendered for a company to undertake a review of the Galway transport strategy. My understanding was that its remit was to develop a strategy that would cater for either outcome, that is, with or without the new N6 project. It is, therefore, deeply disappointing that it has made this decision.

The strategy for Galway should be multifaceted and consider the all-island rail review recommendations to double the railtrack to Athenry and develop the western rail corridor. There are bus priority infrastructure measures in the original strategy that have never been developed. We should have some update on the current position. There is uncertainty about our park and ride strategy. One bugbear of mine has been that the park and ride strategy was developed by the park and ride office in Dublin, not in Galway. I ask the Tánaiste to ask the NTA to reignite the development strategy.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Connolly, who makes a very compelling case. Any transport strategy will have to be multifaceted, as the Deputy correctly said. I will not cut across the decisions pending in An Bord Pleanála on the N6 and I know the importance of that in Galway. Regardless of what decision is made, there will still be a requirement to do more on the public transport network. We are very proud of the all-island rail review and we want to make progress on that, as well as other areas, over the lifetime of the Government. In light of the Deputy's representation today, I will speak to the Minister for Transport and ask that he convey his views to the NTA and come back to him directly.

Noel McCarthy (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I once again wish to raise the issue of the disruption to the water supply in Ballyhooly in my constituency of Cork East. Last month, I spoke about the urgent need to repair the water network servicing Ballyhooly as local properties continue to experience daily disruptions, with limited or no water services. This, unfortunately, means that daily chores cannot be completed, with the situation only worsening as the weather gets better. While Uisce Éireann has conducted some remedial repairs and water has been tankered to the area, residents continue to raise legitimate concerns as their issues persist and they are unable to go about their daily lives. I ask the Tánaiste to use his good offices to liaise directly with Uisce Éireann and keep the pressure on. I ask in the hope of finding a necessary solution to a problem that has continued for far too long and only seems to be deteriorating further.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank my colleague, Deputy Noel McCarthy, for raising this important issue. I can only imagine the degree of frustration being felt by his constituents in Ballyhooly, which he is giving voice to today. I am due to meet Uisce Éireann tomorrow and I will raise this issue with its representatives and come back to Deputy McCarthy directly.

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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The boat operators who bring visitors to land at Sceilg Mhichíl usually have a short season of about 100 days once the season opens, which this year happened on 10 May. These local people from Portmagee, Valencia and Baile an Sceilg have now lost 10% of these days in the best May weather in years. This is affecting their livelihoods and those of local businesses and is disappointing tourists from all over the world. It relates to a High Court case, but the people there are in limbo. They say there has been a lack of communication from the OPW and silence from the Government and Ministers. Will the Tánaiste break the logjam, provide clarity for the boatmen and make a decision to allow trips to return to the Skelligs before the season gets even busier?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Daly. I have known the Minister of State, Deputy Moran, to be described in many ways, but "silent" is a new one on me. I will ask him to engage directly with the Deputy. I have heard about the challenge this has created, the impact it is having on the livelihoods of people and the vacuum or lack of clarity on the position. On foot of the Deputy raising this issue today, I will ask the Minister of State, Deputy Moran, to contact him directly to discuss the matter.

Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Independent)
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There has been no public eye care service in south Tipperary since last September. There have been no consultant ophthalmology clinics, optometry clinics or nurse-led eye clinics. Dr. Hillery, the previous consultant, retired last September, having given years of wonderful professional and personal service to the population of south Tipperary, including children and the elderly. She gave more than adequate notice of her retirement, yet the HSE has failed in its duty to fill the vacancy and provide this vital service. There is now, of course, a huge backlog and real concern that the HSE may be attempting to transfer the service out of the county. I ask the Tánaiste to intervene with the HSE to ensure that this post is filled urgently and the service restored to the county.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Healy for raising this matter. I know from what he said the stressful impact the situation is having on people who require eye care services in south Tipperary. I have been assured of two things. One is that the HSE is actively trying to fill the post. I take the point the Deputy made about the gap between someone who gives due notice of retirement and filling a vacancy. I understand the HSE is actively trying to fill the vacancy. I have also been informed that there are no plans to withdraw the service from the Deputy's area. I will ask the Minister for Health to come back to him directly. I am assured the HSE is eager to fill the vacancy and get the service back up and running.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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I am finding it hard to see how we are still here when thousands of babies died in Gaza last night while food trucks with baby formula and baby food were sitting nearby. Netanyahu has issued evacuation orders to annihilate Gaza, and his finance minister has said, "the world still hasn't stopped us". He is right. I do not want to hear about how the Government is the best in the class, because all of the others are so terrible. The EU and the West have allowed this genocide to happen and they are not lifting a finger.

I want to ask the Tánaiste about Ireland's action, not statements or words. Can he identify one serious sanction taken by Ireland to stop Israel? No action has been taken at Shannon Airport, which is used by the US, which is backing the genocide, to refuel. The Central Bank is processing war bonds. The occupied territories Bill will be delayed and watered down by the Government.

Let us contrast this with what the Government did against Russia. Will the Tánaiste agree, for example, to do what it did in respect of Russia when it invaded Ukraine and freeze all Israeli assets in Ireland now? Will the Government issue travel bans against Israeli people, soldiers and business people who have businesses here and are supporting the genocide? Would the Tánaiste agree to do that? That is the type of action we need, not more words.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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We do not just provide words; we provide a significant amount of money, including through UNRWA, to the Palestinian Authority and in aid. We do not just say words. We have joined with South Africa on a case in the International Court of Justice on the genocide convention. We have worked to try to build a majority at the European Union, which now exists, in terms of the association agreement.

The Deputy is correct regarding sanctions taken against Russia which have not been taken against Israel. I would point out that those sanctions have been taken at an EU level.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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Hypocrisy, in other words.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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We are working at an EU level because that is how sanctions are introduced. I do not disagree with the Deputy's analysis of the situation, but Ireland is taking practical actions and doing everything we possibly can.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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We are 19 months on and there is nothing.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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We are doing everything we can do.

Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North-West, Fianna Fail)
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I want to ask the Tánaiste about the policy of first-time passport applicants requiring gardaí to verify their identity. Every Deputy in the House will have been frustrated by cases where a passport could not be issued because a name could not be found in a book in a Garda station or a contact not made. One can imagine the frustration of my constituent, Sinead, who has had her application rejected twice because a name could not be found in the book.

In six counties on the island it is not the police service alone that is required for identity verification, as other trusted local office holders can do it. Will the Tánaiste consider reviewing the mechanism and the process to free up Garda time, to improve what is otherwise a very good public service and to strengthen identity verification by involving other office holders?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy McAuliffe. He raises an interesting and fair point, and it is one that comes up quite a lot. I will certainly commit to engaging with the Minister for Justice on this. We are going through a period of reform in the passport service. Many challenges that used to exist, including delays in getting passports, are, thankfully, gone. Many people are pleasantly shocked at how quickly their passport arrives. I accept that as we move through reform this is an interesting point. Integrity and child protection are issues that Deputy McAuliffe and I value but is there a better or more efficient way to do this? Not all Garda stations are open at every time of the day. I accept there are real challenges. I will talk to the Minister for Justice and the Passport Office and I am happy to meet Deputy McAuliffe on this to see what we can do.

Joe Neville (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I want to speak about a key issue impacting many people in north Kildare. Most likely it is impacting people throughout the country. This is the provision of childcare facilities. I have spoken to parents in Kilcock, Leixlip, Celbridge and Maynooth who are really struggling. It is a key issue in the programme for Government. We also know from speaking to providers that they are struggling to get the correct facilities. I want to focus on three specific areas. These are the expansion of afterschool care in school buildings and campuses owned by the State, the plan to change the guidelines to ensure we have the right properties built in new housing estates because it does not seem to be happening, and encouraging State-backed investment to deliver facilities as the initial cost of building these facilities seems to be a big barrier to entry for new providers.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Neville for raising this matter. He is right that it is a major priority for us in government. In the programme for Government we have outlined 21 specific commitments on childcare. My constituency in Wicklow it is not too dissimilar to Deputy Neville's constituency in Kildare in terms of a very fast-growing population of people. They are pleased to see the reduction we have made in childcare fees but they want a place. The reduction in the fees only matters if they can get a place. We do need to look at what more we can do. Each of the three areas referenced by Deputy Neville are areas to which the Minister is giving consideration. The Minister for Education and Youth and I discussed at the most recent Cabinet committee how we can use education campuses more broadly in terms of utilising State buildings and State land, and what we can do on the guidelines to make it easier when housing estates are built. Many housing estates are built with a crèche or childcare facility but many childcare providers find the upfront costs they need to pay far too high. We are very clear in the programme for Government that there are parts of the country where we need to have State-backed public provision. The Minister, Deputy Foley, is working on an action plan on childcare, which I expect to be published in the coming months.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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The deposit return scheme is the scheme through which people pay extra for their drinks in bottles and cans, to be reclaimed afterwards from machines that are usually in supermarkets. It is described as a circular economy initiative. We are told it is about helping the environment. Why then is so much of the plastic that is collected needlessly shipped out of Ireland? There is a company in this State that can recycle the plastic. It is Shabra Plastics and Packaging, which is based in my constituency. It creates local employment, contributes to the Irish economy and provides an environmentally sound point to recycle the plastic collected in Ireland. Here is the scandal. By June this year 17,000 tonnes of plastic will have been collected under the scheme but only 3,400 tonnes of it will have been recycled in the State. This means that 88% of the plastic collected under what is called an environmental scheme is actually being shipped to locations throughout the world. Does the Tánaiste accept this is environmentally ludicrous and goes against the principle of the scheme? Will he, as Tánaiste, along with the Taoiseach knock whatever heads need to be knocked together to sort out this scandal?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Carthy for raising this matter, and for providing me with the figures, which do seem quite extraordinary in terms of the amount of plastic being collected under the scheme that then has to be shipped out of the country. I do not profess to be an expert on the detail of this but I will ask the Minister for the environment to look at the specific issue raised by Deputy Carthy to see whether we can do more to build up capacity in this country.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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The capacity is there.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I know but I will ask the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, to come back to Deputy Carthy on it.

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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I want to raise a very important issue on HHC, a semisynthetic cannabinoid. It is being sold legally in the State. It is being purchased and consumed by teenagers. Recently in my constituency of Mayo I heard of a harrowing case of a young teenager who consumed the drug not realising how dangerous it was because it was so freely and readily available. It ruined his life. He had to withdraw from school to try to get himself off HHC. The fact is that it is sold in vape shops throughout the country. It is sold with sweets. Very often these shops smell like bubblegum and cotton candy. It is a fact that these companies are purposely targeting children with vapes and HHC. We need action to address this. We need to ensure HHC is regulated.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy.

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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We also need to ensure that companies can no longer target children with vape shops and lovely beautiful colours-----

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy.

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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-----and beautiful scents and smells. It is absolutely wrong. We need cross-party support. We need to address this.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I call the Tánaiste.

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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There are children who are walking the streets and teenagers purchasing vapes and HHC.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I ask the Deputy to conclude.

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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It is a major issue and I hope the Tánaiste will address it and we will bring legislation-----

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I call the Tánaiste.

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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-----to ensure this is provided for.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Lawless for raising what is clearly is a very important issue. I am pleased to tell him there is a proposed public health nicotine inhaling products Bill which will contain a range of measures to reduce youth use of nicotine inhaling products such as vapes, a ban on point-of-sale displays and advertising, a ban on devices resembling toys and games, restrictions on flavours for sale, requirements for only basic flavour names to be used, and a complete ban on disposable vapes. Specifically on the HHC element raised by Deputy Lawless, I may ask in the context of the points he has made that the Minister and the Chief Medical Officer give us a view on it, and Deputy Lawless will have a chance as the legislation progresses to pursue it.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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The shocking treatment of the community and people of Dundrum in County Tipperary is ongoing by the Government, as it was by the previous Government. The Tánaiste met Mrs. O'Dwyer and Andrea Crowe in Clonmel during the election and he listened to them. He also assured me here after the election, when he was appointed as Tánaiste, that a pause was being put on the use of hotels. Now we find a contract has been signed, by some faceless and nameless official, with a Spanish company with a book value of €120 while there are three serious court cases going on at the High Court on ownership and the carry on in the premises. The Government has signed a €20 million contract for 277 IPAS people to be placed in a village where there were 220 people according to the most recent census. The Government's own guidelines state it cannot change the demographics by more than 5%. This is a shocking vista and it is continuing. What happened to the pause the Tánaiste told me was on it? Why was the contract signed before the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, and the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, took charge of this situation from the Department of integration? This is shocking. One doctor has written to the Tánaiste.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy McGrath.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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Everybody has been talking about it. The people of Dundrum have a peaceful protest there. They are good decent people who looked after the Ukrainian refugees very well. This continuing blackguarding of a community is shameful.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy McGrath. I did indeed meet Mrs. O'Dwyer and others in Clonmel and I share Deputy McGrath's view of meeting good decent people. I do not have the information available to me here but I will ask either the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, or the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, to come back to Deputy McGrath directly on this issue in Dundrum.