Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I move:

Tuesday's business shall be:

- Motion re Fifth Report of the Committee of Selection (without debate)

- Finance Bill 2025 (Second Stage) (to conclude within 3 hours and 34 minutes; any division claimed to be taken no earlier than 7 p.m.)

Tuesday's private members' business shall be the Motion re Irish Unity, selected by Sinn Féin.

Wednesday's business shall be:

- Statements on Men's Health (not to exceed 2 hours and 25 minutes)

- Statements on Fisheries (not to exceed 3 hours and 32 minutes)

Wednesday's private members' business shall be the Motion re Office of the President, selected by Independent Technical Group.

Proposed Arrangements for this week’s business:

In relation to Tuesday’s business, it is proposed that:

1.the ordinary routine of business as contained in Schedule 3 to Standing Orders shall be modified to the following extent:

(a) the Dáil may sit later than 10.48 p.m.;

(b) in the event that Second Stage of the Finance Bill 2025 concludes before 7 p.m., the sitting shall stand suspended until 7 p.m., and any division claimed on the proceedings on Second Stage of the Finance Bill 2025 shall be taken no earlier than 7 p.m.;

(c) the weekly division time shall be taken on Tuesday 21st October, 2025, either on the conclusion of proceedings on Second Stage of the Finance Bill 2025, or at 7 p.m., whichever is the later: Provided that where questions on the Finance Bill 2025 are subject to divisions, the weekly division time shall be taken on the conclusion of all such divisions; and

(d) private members' business may be taken later than 6.12 p.m. and shall in any event be taken on conclusion of the weekly division time, with consequential effect on the commencement times for Parliamentary Questions to the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, and topical issues;

2. the proceedings on the Motion re Fifth Report of the Standing Committee of Selection shall be taken without debate; and

3. the proceedings on the Second Stage of the Finance Bill 2025 shall be brought to a conclusion after 3 hours and 34 minutes and the following arrangements shall apply:

(a) the arrangements for the first speaking round shall be in accordance with those contained in the table immediately below (to be read across, not down);

(b) on the conclusion of the first speaking round or where speeches conclude before the 3 hours and 24 minutes have elapsed and no other member is offering, a Minister or Minister of State shall be called upon to make a speech in reply which shall not exceed 10 minutes, whereupon proceedings shall be brought to a conclusion; and

(c) members may share time.

1. (1) the ordinary routine of business as contained in Schedule 3 to Standing Orders shall be modified to the following extent:

(a) there shall be no suspension of sitting pursuant to Standing Order 25(1) and Government business shall commence at the time when the SOS would normally be taken; and

(b) the Dáil shall adjourn on conclusion of the Statements on Fisheries;

(2) the Dáil on its rising shall adjourn until 2 p.m. on Tuesday 4th November, 2025; and

(3) in relation to the Parliamentary Questions pursuant to Standing Order 47(1) which would have been taken on Thursday 23rd October, the following arrangements shall apply:

(a) the Questions to the Minister for Finance shall be taken on a future date to be ordered by the House;

(b) the Questions to the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation shall be taken on Wednesday, 5th November, 2025; and

(c) the allocation of priority Questions to either Minister shall not be affected by these moves, nor shall the rota of Ministers or rota for priority Questions be affected;

2. the Statements on Men's Health shall not exceed 2 hours and 25 minutes and the order of speaking and allocation of time shall be as follows:

(a) the arrangements for the statements, not including the Ministerial response, shall be in accordance with the arrangements contained in the table immediately below (to be read across, not down);

(b) following the statements, a Minister or Minister of State shall be called upon to make a statement in reply which shall not exceed 10 minutes; and

(c) members may share time; and

(a) the arrangements for the statements, not including the Ministerial response, shall be in accordance with the arrangements contained in the table immediately below (to be read across, not down);

(b) following the statements, a Minister or Minister of State shall be called upon to make a statement in reply which shall not exceed 10 minutes; and

(c) members may share time.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Are the proposed arrangements for the week's business agreed?

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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Not agreed.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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I call Deputy Paul Murphy.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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Can I ask whether we are going to schedule a debate about the new principle being espoused by a presidential candidate that TDs should have to declare previous professional work relating to a topic before speaking on it in the Dáil? For example, the Minister of justice, who I thought spoke well on this yesterday, would have to declare, before he spoke about violence, if he was ever involved in defending a murderer. It would then be assumed that he was sympathetic to murderers as a result. Does the Government not propose to pursue this and disagree with their candidate for President?

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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There are a number of barristers in this Dáil. One of them, our Minister for justice, has expressed his concerns about the attempts to undermine our justice system. It is important that we deal with that this week. There should be statements with questions to defend that system. Of course, the Minister for justice himself was attacked politically in this regard and he knows what it feels like.

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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We will have a debate on the Special Criminal Court while you are at it.

Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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Why is Fine Gael undermining law and order?

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Deputy Gannon, please. One voice.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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I ask for a debate on the co-ordinated attacks by Government parties on the legal profession. It is a dark week in this House and it is important that Members of the Government reaffirm their commitment to the rule of law, which they have undermined this week in a shoddy attempt-----

Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal East, Labour)
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Our party strongly echoes those concerns, as raised previously.

Michael Collins (Cork South-West, Independent Ireland Party)
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Last night, a ten-year-old Irish girl under Tusla care was allegedly sexually assaulted on the grounds of the Citywest Hotel, a facility housing asylum seekers. The suspect, an asylum applicant with a deportation order, had remained in the country despite being refused protection earlier this year, making the attacker here an illegal immigrant. The people are rightly alarmed. We need an urgent and honest debate here today on immigration policy, or as soon as possible.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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An honest debate about what? I did not hear the Deputy.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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I seek to table an amendment to the Order of Business under Standing Order 35(3) to allow for questions to the Ministers for children and justice on the crisis in Tusla and IPAS and on the circumstances that led to Tusla losing a ten-year-old child yesterday and the alleged shocking crime, the murder of a child in Tusla care last week and the ongoing scandal of asylum seekers who have received deportation orders but have not been deported.

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I have heard the views of the various Opposition Whips in relation to barristers. Tomorrow morning, as everybody is aware, there is a Private Members' motion on the Office of the President. I am sure there is ample time there if somebody wants to raise an issue.

On the question to the Minister in regard to Standing Order 35(3) that has just been raised, at the moment the gardaí are involved. There is a criminal investigation and I have no doubt the Minister will come into the House when it is the right time to do so.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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It is for the Minister for children also.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Are the proposed arrangements agreed to?

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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Agreed.

Deputies:

Not agreed.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Yesterday, ripped-off households were hit with a double whammy. First was the news that food price inflation had reached its highest level for nearly two years. On that same day, the big electricity price hike from SSE Airtricity kicked in. This is the second hike in just one year. This is affecting hundreds of thousands of households. How bad do things have to get before the Government stands up to these companies and protects people from price gouging? When will it rein things in and end the rip-off? Surely the Taoiseach now recognises that it was a serious mistake not to include a cost-of-living package in his budget? The Finance Bill is before the Dáil this week. I ask the Taoiseach to see sense and provide meaningful measures to support households through this cost-of-living crisis.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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We did take very significant measures in the budget to support families, particularly working families and families on low incomes. The Deputy has failed to acknowledge that in all her commentary. The child support payment had a permanent increase of over €16 for those over 12 and a permanent increase of €8 for children under 12. The extension of the fuel allowance to the working family payment means 26% of all households are now entitled to a fuel allowance. We have already brought in the free schoolbooks scheme and free hot school meals, all of which are significant factors in reducing pressures on families. We acknowledge that food prices are going up and that is significant. Energy remains an issue and we are engaging with the companies. There is a regulator there as well to make sure that price gouging does not happen and that competition applies.

I saw Sinn Féin's budget proposals. They would have added 2% to the cost of living.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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No they would not.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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That is a fact. That is from the Central Bank-----

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Stop parroting-----

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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I thank the Taoiseach. Time is up. I call Deputy Ivana Bacik.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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The latest figures from the Department of housing show that, again, the Government will miss its targets for building social and affordable homes this year. It promised 10,000 new social homes and completed fewer than 2,000 in the first half of this year. The Minister for housing has boasted that more than 26,000 social homes are at various stages of design and construction. He had the temerity to describe this as indicating the Government's efforts to accelerate the delivery of social homes. However, remaining at the planning and design change is simply not good enough to put a roof over anyone's head this year. Look at the numbers of children, with 5,000 children homeless, and the numbers of families and people in homelessness, with so little available to people looking to find a home of their own - so little affordable to rent, so little to buy, and the tenant in situ scheme so ineffective for so many. When will we hear about the housing plan and the reality of the likely figure for the construction of social and affordable housing?

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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By any objective yardstick, one would have to acknowledge that the last five years has seen extraordinary, exponential growth in the provision of social housing in this country compared with any decade going back to the seventies. A total of 50,684 social homes have been added to the social housing stock between July 2020 and quarter 2 of 2025, more than 13,700 homes were brought back into use under the voids programme, and 2023 and 2024 saw the delivery of newly built social housing reach levels not seen since the 1970s, with almost 16,000 social homes built over the two years. There has been very significant progress on the social housing front, which will continue with increased allocations in this budget for social housing and, indeed, for affordable housing. From the launch of Housing for All, nearly 16,900 affordable housing supports have been given.

Holly Cairns (Cork South-West, Social Democrats)
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I am hugely impressed by the courage shown by Niamh Kelly. Last year, she was viciously attacked by her ex-boyfriend and stabbed 50 times, leaving her with life-changing injuries. Yesterday, he was jailed for 14 years and Niamh has bravely spoken out. She has encouraged other women in toxic relationships to leave and get help. I welcome the measures the justice Minister brought to Cabinet today, including plans to create a domestic violence register, which I hope will include stalking and coercive control, as well as physical abuse. I would like to know why the Government is putting a 12-month pause on legislation that my colleague, Senator Patricia Stephenson, has introduced.

Her Bill would create a safe passage travel scheme for survivors of domestic abuse and their children. This would entitle them to free travel for three months while they try to rebuild their lives. This is a small measure that would make a huge difference. Does the Government support this Bill and, if so, why is it delaying it by 12 months?

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister for Social Protection is examining the proposal and will work with a range of groups and organisations in respect of it. The free travel scheme, more generally, has expanded very significantly since its conception and has very wide coverage. The Government is not opposed to this but the Government wants to work through the implications.

Charles Ward (Donegal, 100% Redress Party)
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When the original defective concrete blocks, DCB, scheme was in operation, apartments in multi-unit developments were eligible. Then, in 2022, eligibility was narrowed to dwelling houses, single ownerships excluding buildings with shared structural or common elements, apartments, duplexes and multi-unit blocks. These dwellings contain the same defective materials as a detached or semi-detached house. The exclusion demonstrates a serious failure in how the scheme is being managed.

The Government's amendment to my motion last week described the DCB scheme as a residential home scheme, as it said that non-residential properties could be dealt with under other funding schemes. Apartments and residential homes being excluded is irrational, deplorable and undermines the equality in law and property rights. The Government's amendment completely ignored my motion and the need to provide a remedy for apartments. Can the Taoiseach confirm alternative pathways established for affected apartment homeowners and whether they are currently operational, since the defective buildings have to wait? We have to wait. Those owners do not have the same rights as other homeowners.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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From an overall perspective, the allocation and commitment in terms of the defective blocks scheme is unprecedented in scale and cost to the State in respect of that. My understanding is there is further legislation on the way in respect of defective apartments, so I will talk to the Minister again in respect of the issue that the Deputy has raised.

Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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Under the farm to fork strategy, beef prices are good at the moment. Dairy might have slipped a bit but it is still not too bad. However, there is a major problem arising in the pig industry where prices have dropped 30 cent a kilogram. Has the Government engaged, or will it engage, with the farming sector to see how it can help a sector that is starting to struggle at the moment?

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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The recent budget did provide significant supports for quite a number of sectors in the agricultural industry. Obviously, there are still concerns in relation to tillage and I will take on board what the Deputy has said in respect of the pig industry, although I was in north Cork recently and met with a number of people and it was not quite raised with me on that occasion. Certainly, I will ask the Minister for agriculture to engage with the Deputy on that.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the much-needed additional investment in special education and the establishment of more special classes for children with additional needs, as well as the commitment of the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Moynihan, and the Minister, Deputy McEntee, to this very important area of education.

I previously raised with the Taoiseach the inequity existing in the disadvantages suffered by smaller schools due to their difficulty in reaching the required enrolment threshold for special classes. This inequity also impacts severely on schools under the patronage of smaller churches because, by and large, they have small enrolments. In far too many instances, children have to travel too far to access a special class. Existing enrolment thresholds need to be amended now, particularly for the next school year, to address the very legitimate interests and aspirations of our smaller rural schools and schools under the patronage of Protestant churches.

Children should be facilitated with appropriate school placements as local to their homes as possible, with realistic criteria, and siblings should be in the same school if at all possible while at the same time providing proper supports for these children. I spoke to the Taoiseach earlier about one particular school in County Cavan that I have concerns about. His assistance in addressing these issues will be much appreciated.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Thank you, Deputy, your time is up.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy very much for raising what is an important issue, particularly in terms of smaller schools and smaller denominational schools of particular churches. The late Martin Mansergh was actually very attentive to the needs of smaller schools in rural Ireland and the Border areas, in particular those that were Protestant or Presbyterian, and where the numbers were low in terms of refurbishments. We had a big impact at the time.

I will talk to the Minister for education and the Minister of State with responsibility for special education, Deputy Michael Moynihan, in respect of this issue. What the Deputy is saying is that the existing class thresholds are too high. I think there is an issue there, whether we can come to some resolution or not, I will certainly talk to the Ministers to discuss that. In terms of the specific school the Deputy identified, I will certainly go through that with the Minister.

Naoise Ó Muirí (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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My question is about a growing but unseen issue in our communities, which is online fraud. I will give one example from a constituent this morning. The lady went on booking.com looking to book a holiday apartment. She responded to an ad and entered her contact details. She got a phone call back from somebody with an Irish accent who directed her to another site. She put in her details and got scammed out of €4,300. She has absolutely no recourse and booking.com is not interested because she went off its platform so there is no recourse. It is really difficult. The issue of online fraud is under-reported. It is not talked about, mainly because people get embarrassed about the fact they have been had. If somebody breaks into your house and takes a €500 television or something worth €300, you would be very quick to report it but punters do not report online fraud because they are ashamed and embarrassed. We just need to start talking about it and airing it as an issue.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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Absolutely. I agree that we should be constantly creating a heightened level of awareness in terms of online fraud and in fairness, An Garda Síochána is doing that. Just last week I heard on a morning radio programme about the impact of online fraud. There is advertising highlighting the dangers and what to watch out for and so forth. It is a very serious issue which is impacting on a lot of people. It is a type of robbery without violence in one sense, compared to the old fashioned type of robberies, but it is more lethal in terms of its impact on people's well-being, welfare and income levels.

Dessie Ellis (Dublin North-West, Sinn Fein)
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As the Taoiseach is aware, a family's weekly grocery shopping has substantially increased in cost. Along with this hit to the pockets of hard-pressed families, it has become increasingly clear that many of the products being bought by families have decreased either in volume, weight or size in a trend known as shrinkflation, while prices for these products have risen substantially. What is the Government's plan to tackle this cynical practice, which affects the spending power of families in this cost-of-living crisis?

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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There are various regulatory frameworks governing food products, both on the price side but also in terms of standards. We have a regulator to protect the consumer. These issues should be raised, first and foremost, with the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, CCPC, because there are issues that need to be monitored on a constant basis in terms of shrinking the volume of a particular pack or whatever.

Dessie Ellis (Dublin North-West, Sinn Fein)
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There are fewer slices in a loaf of bread.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I know.

Edward Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The only public transport for most of west Wicklow to Dublin is the No. 132 bus, which travels only four times daily, with the last bus leaving Baltinglass at 3 p.m. and the last leaving Dublin at 5.30 p.m. Last April, when I met the NTA I was told that a very significantly increased service would be put in place later in April but nothing has happened since. The NTA is now saying that this cannot progress as the Department of Transport has placed a hold on uncommitted expenditure for new public transport services. Can this issue be resolved? Similarly, I want to raise the issue of two Local Links that have been promised and are overdue. The Bray to Glendalough route was promised for September. The provider is ready but there is still not start date. The same applies to the proposed route from Knockananna to Carlow.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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There has been fairly significant expansion in the rural transport programme from 2022 to 2025. Some €84 million has been invested in the rural transport programme, and €116 million has been allocated to regular rural services and almost €40 million has been allocated to new services, including Connecting Ireland, new town services and BusConnects. In Carlow, Kilkenny and Wicklow, funding increased by 46% between 2023 and 2024 to more than €3.5 million. The passenger numbers on these routes in counties Carlow, Kilkenny and Wicklow increased by 61% from 2023 to 2024. I will talk to the Minister in respect of the issue the Deputy raised. Obviously, all Ministers have to operate within the budgets allocated to them.

Catherine Ardagh (Dublin South Central, Fianna Fail)
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It is heartwarming to see the cross-party support for the legal profession today.

The Decision Support Service, DSS, is a progressive and long-awaited reform under the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015. It was established to empower people to plan for their future decision-making and to uphold their independence and dignity. However, in practice, the absence of a dedicated solicitors' portal is creating serious barriers for professionals and service users. Solicitors are currently required to log into their clients' personal DSS accounts. The process is cumbersome, time-consuming and raises significant GDPR and cybersecurity issues, as it often involves handling passwords and sensitive personal data for clients. As a result, many solicitors are now reluctant to take on DSS work, which is leaving elderly people and vulnerable adults without access to the very service designed to support them. I ask for a Government commitment to introduce a secure solicitors' portal for the Decision Support Service and to explore establishing DSS kiosks in local libraries and community hubs, with access to computers, printers and scanners to help people to navigate the DSS system. This is particularly important because these arrangements only become relevant when a loved one loses capacity.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising what is a very important issue for many people. Ensuring that the enduring power of attorney application process is a user-centric and accessible one is a priority for the Department and the Decision Support Service. The Minister has informed me that there is ongoing engagement between the Decision Support Service and the Law Society to ensure the smooth running of the service. This is the beginning of a series of engagements between both parties underlining our commitment set out in the programme for Government to introduce a solicitors' portal. The Government is committed to doing that. The Deputy's issue is when and how fast it can happen.

The Department is also considering the operational period of the Decision Support Service and the uptake of the new system of supported decision-making in that regard to assemble an evidence base for the next steps. I will talk to the Minister with a view to trying to get progress accelerated on this. I like the Deputy's idea of kiosks in libraries and community settings. That is a very good idea. That would create an accessible, user-friendly system.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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Households across the State are faced with significant increases in the local property tax, LPT. Starting from 1 November there will be very significant increases in some areas. County Dublin and surrounding counties and large urban areas have seen huge increases in property prices. This will put a huge burden on people with very large mortgages and older people on low incomes, in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. The promise on the local property tax was that there would be improvement in local services. In truth, that never happened. Right across the State the Government gave with one hand but took with the other. People are handing out money for the local property tax but are not seeing an improvement in local service. Sinn Féin would scrap this unfair tax. If the Government will not do that - I do not need a debate on the local property tax - what will it do to protect people from these huge increases in the local property tax?

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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That money would have to be replaced from somewhere.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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We set that out every year.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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Yes, it is funny money; it is magical tree money.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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No, it is not. Fianna Fáil blaming funny money is a bit rich.

Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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The Government cannot stick to its promises.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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Services can be seen. I have seen the correlation between proper application and ringfencing of local property tax revenue to services.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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The Government took away roads funding and grant funding.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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If you have a proactive council and public representatives, people will see the benefits of it. We are constantly being told that we need a broad revenue base to sustain public services. For example, this budget expanded public services very significantly, over and above what was a high base over the past number of years.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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For people who cannot afford it.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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There are challenges in certain areas but the bottom line is that for well over two decades now it has been advocated that we need a broader base in terms of raising tax.

Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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Like others, my thoughts are with the young girl who was the victim of an alleged sexual assault in Saggart last night and her family. While there are issues regarding security around IPAS centres and asylum policy in general - issues I will continue to follow up on - we must, of course, let the gardaí take their investigation through the process. However, there are also questions for Tusla.

I note the Taoiseach stated that the national review panel would investigate the circumstances surrounding the child absconding under Tusla care before the attack. However, the special rapporteur on child protection recently suggested that this panel was not operationally independent of Tusla, had no legislative authority to produce reports and lacked transparency. When will it be put on a statutory footing so it can be empowered to carry out truly independent reports? Too many children are coming to harm under Tusla's care, and last year, Tusla referred 19 deaths of children to the review panel.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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It is the intention of the Minister to give legislative authority to the national review panel and to amend legislation. I understand a Bill is on the way that will enable the Minister to do that, but I will get the specifics for the Deputy in respect of that in the next day or two.

Liam Quaide (Cork East, Social Democrats)
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Last Saturday marked the second anniversary of Storm Babet. I attended a demonstration in Midleton to highlight the lack of progress in flood relief measures since that catastrophic event. I can see very clearly that individual staff in Cork County Council, the OPW and Arup are working very carefully and with great commitment in their efforts with flood relief but how can it be justified or even explained that so many residents and business owners in Midleton, Mogeely, Castlemartyr, Killeagh, Rathcormac, Ladysbridge and Whitegate and remain as exposed to flooding two years on from Storm Babet or from December 2015 when there was another catastrophic flood event? A flood gate scheme was announced by the then Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, in October 2024. It is proceeding at a snail’s pace and the flood gates are of no use to residents of timber-framed dwellings such as those in Gleann Fia in Mogeely. There is no indication of when works will begin to protect our villages in east Cork. When are we going to see the ambition and urgency that is needed from the Government applied to flood relief in east Cork?

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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There are two aspects here. First of all, there is the interim works. I did see some progress on those when I attended - I think it was earlier this year - Midleton where there were embankments and, on the main street, protective gates were put in. My understanding is that the council has had procurement issues in terms of some of the materials that are required for the interim works.

In terms of the flood relief scheme more generally, that is going through a process. I wish it could be speeded up as quickly as possible. My understanding is that work has been completed or under way to protect 80% of at-risk properties through a €1.3 billion investment by Government for flood relief measures more generally. The Midleton flood relief scheme is a complicated scheme. The Deputy must be aware-----

Liam Quaide (Cork East, Social Democrats)
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What is there for these villages in particular?

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy is as aware of these issues as I am.

Liam Quaide (Cork East, Social Democrats)
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I am, but the villages-----

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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This is not a back and forth.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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In terms of the council, some people are now saying that the council should not have got the job to do the interim work but I think the council is probably best placed to do interim works in terms of any given department.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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The Taoiseach will have to engage further. Time is up. I call Deputy Sheehan.

Conor Sheehan (Limerick City, Labour)
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I wish to talk about the CAST pilot project in Limerick, which is ten months operational. Much credit goes to the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, for this. To date, this project has recorded 80 diversions from Mental Health Act detentions as well as incidents of criminal diversion for minor offences. It ensures that people get the right care at the right time in the community. The CAST support forum has 14 partner agencies working together on a periodic basis to help frequent users of unscheduled emergency services. When will the internal and external evaluation of this project be conducted? Will the Minister of State confirm, subject to the evaluation confirming what we have been told on the ground by An Garda Síochána and the HSE, that this pilot will be continued and mainstreamed in Limerick and, hopefully, rolled out nationwide? It is a very good initiative but it needs additional resources and its own ring-fenced budget.

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for speaking about the CAST project. We often hear about game-changers on the floor of this Dáil but this project is a game-changer. For the many who do not know about it, it involves incidents to which the Garda is alerted and the persons involved might have enduring mental health conditions, for example, they might be psychotic. What it means is that the consultant psychiatrist or the advanced nurse practitioner with mental health training travels in the vehicle with the gardaí, and when it is safe to do so, the mental health intervention is made. We have every intention of continuing this pilot. I saw a preliminary report earlier this year. The results were outstanding. The Garda and the Ministers for Health and justice are very supportive of it. The regional executive officer, REO, in the Limerick area is fully supportive of it as well. I visited it recently and spoke to the superintendent as well. We will be rolling it out. The Minister for justice has said that he wants to see it being mainstreamed across the country.

Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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There are institutional barriers that affect women leaving domestic violence that we can and should change. One of those is the fact that women on the council waiting list in one county who move back to their home county due to domestic violence have to reopen a new application in the new county. Therefore, they are not eligible for emergency accommodation, cannot get homeless accommodation, are not eligible for social housing support and have to start again from the beginning in terms of years on the list. I have raised this at all levels but am not getting any outcome for the women, so I ask the Taoiseach to take a look at this. I raised it previously with the Minister for housing. Really, I have raised it at all levels. There should be a simple solution that we could look at and I ask the Taoiseach to take a look at that.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising what is a very important issue. I agree with her. I think there should be a basic protocol between the local authorities so that when a person who is a victim of domestic violence and her family move from one council area to another, they should take their record in terms of length of time with them.

Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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Could the Taoiseach look at that?

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I will. I will pursue it.