Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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I want to begin by expressing my sympathies and those of my party to all the family and those who loved Eugene Nudie Hughes, the Monaghan football legend who crushed the hopes of many who played against him and gave joy to so many people who love our Gaelic games. He is being laid to rest today. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

Tá gnáthdhaoine ag streachailt le billí móra agus iad ag feiceáil na tosaíochtaí atá ag an Rialtas agus ag cur ceiste orthu féin cá háit a bhfuil an cothrom na Féinne. Níl fadhb ar bith ag Fianna Fáil agus ag Fine Gael margadh deas a shocrú dóibh siúd ag barr an dréimire, ach diúltaíonn siad cuidiú le gnáth-theaghlaigh atá faoi bhrú agus atá ag streachailt.

The cost-of-living crisis is completely out of control. It is getting worse by the day. It is putting people under massive pressure. We have constant price hikes and ever-increasing bills. It means working households, even those with two incomes, are really struggling to keep up now. They are squeezed from all angles. It is price hike after price hike, bill after bill and people cannot catch their breath. They are living in stress at thought of the car or the washing machine breaking down - that wee one unforeseen expense tipping them over the edge - and you sit there and you do nothing. Last month, you delivered a budget of €9.4 billion that left people worse off. It was a budget with no cost-of-living package, where you broke your promise of tax breaks for workers. It was littered with cushy tax breaks for top-brass executives, developers and landlords. You left working people behind and you chose to look after those at the top at the expense of everyone else. Your priorities are right here to be seen in your finance Bill. While you could not find the money for cost-of-living supports, here is what you did find the money for - a tax cut of €105,000 for the highest-earning executives, 99 of whom already earn over €1 million, and 19 of whom earn over €3 million; a tax reduction of €320,000 but you only get that if your pension pot is already €2 million and more; and measures that allow developers to make millions of euro of profits building apartments and not having to pay a penny in tax on those profits. You are pouring money into the pockets of those who are already flush while ordinary workers have to watch every euro as they are hit by massive electricity bills, sky-high food prices, rip-off insurance costs and out-of-control rents. There is no end in sight for families out there.

You guys talk about a magic money tree when dismissing the calls to help households. Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have a big fat magic money tree and its leaves are evergreen when it comes to looking after the big boys. You have no problem there and ordinary people see it. You took away their energy credits; you took away the double child benefit payment; you hiked up student fees despite the fact that you promised you would reduce them; you increased the cost of petrol, diesel and toll roads; you jacked up the local property tax; and you provided no extra help for renters but a nice increase for landlords. That is where your priorities lie. None of this is fair. It is not right and you need to change course. Targeted measures are needed, of course, but this cost-of-living crisis has got so out of control that measures that are targeted are no longer enough. We need far more than that. The truth is households which would have been fine just a couple of years ago and would have been getting by all right are now in desperate situations. They are drowning in bills and your Government simply does not acknowledge that. I ask you this: has the penny dropped? Did you hear from people when you were knocking on the doors during the presidential campaign - although we heard you did not do much of that - that they are really struggling, very frustrated and annoyed you have chosen to make them worse off in this budget while you protect the incomes of people at the very top who are already flush?

Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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Hear, hear.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I did a fair bit of it in your own constituency. It was good to be in Donegal. The Deputy persists in trying to misrepresent the budget. Week in week out, he comes in here and says that €9.4 billion more is being spent etc. and then he tries to pivot to suggest it is all being spent in a certain direction. He ignores the fact and does not tell people at home that the bulk of that money went to increasing public services. I presume he agrees with the very significant increase - hundreds of millions of euro extra - in funding for disability services that came out of that pot to which he referred. I presume he agrees with the very significant increase in the education budget, including for capitation fees and special education, all the extra funding to our health service and the largest ever social protection budget, including measures for carers and a major expansion in fuel allowance increases for pensioners. To be honest, I am not sure any more whether he agrees with measures we took to try to help the hospitality sectors in towns and villages in Donegal and across this country. They said to us that their cost base was too high and that was having a real impact on them in keeping the doors open, in servicing the tourism sector, which is such an important part of our economy, and in keeping people in employment. That is a whistle-stop tour of where a lot of the money went in this budget.

The Deputy is making a constant effort to misrepresent and mislead the Irish people on the measures we took in relation to housing supply, but they are the right measures. We took a decision to reduce the cost of building an apartment to help to make sure more apartments are built. This week, there was an Oireachtas housing committee meeting. I am not sure if the Deputy has seen it. If he has not, I am sure Deputy Ó Broin will fill him in. Person after person who has responsibility for building apartments came in and said this will make a real difference and will mean we can build more homes for young people to buy and rent.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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You would not expect developers to say anything else, would you?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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You would have heard directly from Cairn Homes, which said in The Irish Times, "The better news is that the recent VAT cut gets passed on directly to the end user here." He would also have heard from Fitzpatrick and Heavey Homes which said, "Apartments are now viable again" and it will lead to a building boom.

Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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But they are only at 50% capacity. I was at the meeting.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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You are not yet the leader.

Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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You were not at the meeting.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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You would have heard from Glenveagh-----

Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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They are at 50% capacity.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Gould, please.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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You would have heard from Glenveagh which said the accelerating infrastructure task force is going to make a real difference and the innovations are working. Castlethorn, which builds homes, welcomed the budgetary measure.

Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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Thanks very much Tánaiste.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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At the end of the day, the people you describe-----

Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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Thanks very much Tánaiste.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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No. The people you like to describe as elites and everything else are the people we rely on to build homes in this country. The measures we have taken are making a real difference. I do not think when you, Eoin Ó Broin and others meet these lads, you use the same sort of language towards them as you use in this Dáil. The lobbying register shows you are meeting most of them. I do not think when you meet them you describe them in the way you do in this House. You have also come in today, and you tried this at the finance committee yesterday, to try to suggest the measures we have taken to assist small landlords are somehow disproportionate to the measures we have taken for renters. Lest there be any doubt, the budget package we have in place to help renters, the renters' tax credit, is three times the cost to the Exchequer as the tax credit for landlords to try to keep people in the rental market.

You cannot have homes to rent if you do not have people who are willing to rent their home. Please do not continue to misrepresent the steps this Government is taking to deliver infrastructure, to deliver homes, to support jobs and, crucially, to invest more in our public services. That is what budgets are about too; making sure when somebody needs to access healthcare, education or a disability service, that we are properly and adequately resourcing it.

When people look back at this budget, which is one of five in a five-year term, they will see we have taken decisions that will make a fundamental difference to housing supply, to jobs and employment, and to protecting our country. That is what many of the people on the doors I knock on want to see from a Government too.

Deputies:

Hear, hear.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Tánaiste, you talk about misrepresenting and misleading. You are the star of that show; that is your film. You are the person who made a promise to workers that you would reduce their taxes this year and you have left them worse off.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I never said that.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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It is in your manifesto. It says that this will happen each and every year. You are the fella who promised to parents that you would cap childcare fees within 100 days of going into government, but you broke that promise. You are the guy who promised students that you would reduce student fees. They are now paying more this year than they paid last year. You are the guy who is misrepresenting the public and is misleading the public over and over again.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Nope.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Seriously, Tánaiste, you tell us we should support these measures, which will see huge amounts of taxpayers' money go into the pockets of developers, because Cairn Homes and Glenveagh Properties told you this will work for them.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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They told you.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Does you know how much profit they made last year? It is on the public record that Cairn Homes made 22% and Glenveagh made 21%. What is your response? It is to give them more money. They can now make €5 million in profit on an apartment block and pay no tax whatsoever. That is absolute nonsense. People are annoyed because you have decided to leave workers worse off.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Please conclude, Deputy.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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You have decided to withdraw the energy credits. You have decided to jack up local property tax. You have decided to put up petrol and diesel. You have decided to put up student fees. People are so annoyed-----

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Please resume your seat, Deputy.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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-----because you have prioritised those at the top and you have royally screwed the workers you promised before the election you would look after - another promise broken.

Deputies:

Hear, hear.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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It is kind of a single, transferable speech from you. The reality is we went to the electorate. This Government won a mandate to govern and you did not.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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We went to the electorate-----

Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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Where are the 40,000 houses you promised?

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Will Deputy Gould please allow the Tánaiste to respond?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Am I allowed to speak or do I get shouted down in this House?

Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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You were on the record saying there were 40,000 houses. Where are they?

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Please, Deputy Gould.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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They waste the time shouting you down. I would like my time to be protected to respond to the questions because people at home do not want this pantomime. They want to know what is happening, not you sitting at the back shouting and roaring at me every time I try to speak. The reality is we ran an election and we told the people of Ireland what we were going to do over the course of five years.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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No, no.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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We came together as two parties-----

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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No, not at all. You promised that this would be done within the first 100 days. Stop misrepresenting what you said.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Resume your seat, Deputy Doherty.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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We came together-----

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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You did not say five years. Show me where in the manifesto it said five years. Every year you said we would get a tax reduction. Every year you said there would be a tax reduction.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Am I allowed to speak or is bully boy Pearse just back?

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Stop misrepresenting yourself.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Mr. Angry. Bully boy Pearse.

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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Give it a few weeks and you will be back again.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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You are a bully and you shout down people in this House. You are a bully boy and your bully boy tactics will not work on me. We formed a government with a five-year programme.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Tell the truth.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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You have let the mask slip again today that you do not believe there are measures needed to make house-building more viable in terms of apartments.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Nonsense. Tell the truth.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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We are taking those decisions. You will not support the decisions we are taking to make a real difference in housing supply.

Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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20 more years.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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13 years. You created the crisis.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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When we see those extra homes built in the years ahead, young people right across this country will benefit from that. This is budget one of five.

Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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5,000 children homeless.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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You promised in 100 days. You promised every year.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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It will make a real and sustainable difference.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Please show some respect for the Tánaiste.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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You are lying over and over again to the public.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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We will be delivering on our programme for Government while you will continue to shout, roar and offer nothing constructive to this country-----

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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That is the trick. At least own up that you broke your promises.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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-----because that is what bully boys do.

Deputies:

Hear, hear.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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At least own up that you broke your promises.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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You are a bully.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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You hate being confronted by the truth. Over and over again, you break promises.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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A bit of order, Deputy.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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You are a bully, shout and roar, online trolling.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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You have done it over and over again.

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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Ireland should be a country where every child is safe going to bed at night. The attack on the home of the women and children in Drogheda at the weekend shocked the nation. People are asking how has it come to this, and how could anyone try to burn and kill children while they sleep.

It is vitally important that all of us show leadership. Words matter. The Tánaiste's words matter. Where misinformation is spread, we must challenge it. Where there are attempts to sow hate and division, we must build cohesion. Leadership means bringing calm to a debate, not inflaming it. The Tánaiste has said that migration, outside of the number of international protection applicants, is too high. What sectors will he be targeting to reduce the number of migrant workers? Will he be targeting multinationals, pharmaceutical and tech companies? The Tánaiste knows well that these sectors provide a huge amount of employment and taxation which funds our public services. Will the Tánaiste be targeting the health and care sectors? If it was not for migrants working as doctors, nurses and carers, these services would crumble.

Will the Tánaiste be targeting the large number of migrant workers that our food processing sector relies on? How would a shortage of workers in this sector impact on grocery prices? I doubt somehow that the Tánaiste will target the hospitality and tourism sectors. Which cafés, pubs, restaurants or hotels would the Government close? Is the Government thinking of reducing the supply of construction workers? This would have a detrimental effect on our ability to build the homes that are needed, the schools and hospitals. Which major infrastructure projects would the Tánaiste shelve? It is migrants who do essential work as security guards, cleaners and shop workers. Does Government think we can somehow do without these essential workers?

Migrants play a critical role in our economy and our society. It is not just as doctors, nurses or carers - they bring skills and expertise to a wide range of sectors and contribute significant levels of taxation that fund our public services. Migrants are not just critical to our economy; they contribute to communities, culture and sport. They are our friends, our family members and our neighbours. I welcome the news that Zohran Mamdani has been elected mayor of New York. In his victory speech on Tuesday night he said, "New York will remain a city of immigrants: a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants and, as of tonight, led by an immigrant." It is a powerful reminder that immigration is not a threat; it is a source of strength. As the Tánaiste will know, many of the immigrants who built New York came from Ireland. We should show the same pride in the people helping to build and power our country now.

We have an ageing population, which means that our reliance on migrant workers will only increase in years to come.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Conclude, Deputy O'Callaghan.

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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We need these workers to keep our public services running, to ensure our elderly are cared for, to keep businesses open and to keep tax revenues flowing. Has the Tánaiste thought this through? Which sectors of the economy will he be targeting for reductions in migrant workers?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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First, I join the Deputy in agreeing that what we saw happen in Drogheda at the IPAS centre is the most despicable crime. It is attempted murder. It has nothing to do with a migration debate in this country - absolutely nothing. It is a horrific, almost unspeakable act where babies and young children were sleeping upstairs. Everybody in this country, regardless of their political perspective, is utterly horrified. We are all united on that.

I also join the Deputy in reiterating what I already said and what I say every time I speak about migration: migration is a good thing and migrants make a positive contribution to this country. I do not in any way doubt that. I often say that our health service would fall over if it was not for people coming in. I take the Deputy's point that they are in many other parts of our economy and our society. When you go into our schools and see the diversity, that is a good thing. I do not have any disagreement with the Deputy or anybody else on that.

I also know this: we have to have a clear migration policy. It is a statement of fact that our population has grown at a very fast rate. It is a statement of fact that for every 10,000 people who come into our country, roughly 3,000 more homes are needed. I believe it is a statement of fact that we need to look at migration in the round, we need to plan for it and we need to have a mature discussion about what is an appropriate level of migration. We need to do exactly what the Deputy has suggested, which is to go through our economy sector by sector and identify the work needs there. The Future Forty document that has been published this week by my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, is very useful in terms of analysing around 2,000 potential different scenarios regarding how our country might develop and grow in our demographics.

We need to have an evidence-based debate. The Deputy has not said it but some of the comments from his party this week were disappointing. Accusing someone of dog whistling and at the same time calling them Nigel Farage, which I think is a dog whistle, is not a mature debate.

People from other political parties immediately just call me names for stating the fact that, in my view, migration has risen at too high a rate, but it actually is not just my view. I have here a graph that uses Eurostat data. The green line shows Ireland's net migration and the blue line is the equivalent Europe and the grey line is the equivalent for the eurozone. It can be seen objectively that over the last several years our population, in terms of net migration, has risen way faster than the European average and way faster than the eurozone average, and that is a challenge. The extremes in politics, which neither the Deputy nor I is a part of, on the far left and the far right are the ones that fester when politicians of whatever stripe in the centre do not stand up and show willingness to engage, discuss and debate.

The Government intends to do two things. It intends to bring forward new legislation for international protection and there are legitimate issues that need to be addressed, including the fact that the majority of applications are refused. The Government also intends to produce a national migration strategy in 2026 to have an evidence-based, data-driven, informed discussion. I would invite people across the House to engage with that in a calm and responsible manner.

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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We do need to look at the facts, and the Tánaiste knows them well. The Government published a report this week saying that to meet housing demand alone, we need at least 50,000 additional construction workers. The Tánaiste also knows the facts about our ageing population. Again, the report pointed to the situation that we will soon have a reduction in the numbers in our workforce who will be able to support people who are retired, to pay for pensions and to care for our elderly. The Tánaiste knows these facts. Unless there is a miraculous baby boom, we are going to need more and more migrant workers to help support our public services and our economy, to care for our elderly and to contribute to society, and that is a good thing. Migrant workers have played a very positive role in Ireland and we are going to continue to need that. We are talking about cutting off some of the supply of workers that we need in different parts of our economy. I have listed off a range of areas where migrants are essential. I challenge the Tánaiste to say where he will reduce the supply of migrant workers. Is it in housing, health, pharma or tech? What area of the economy does the Tánaiste think can do with fewer migrant workers? Let us stick to the facts. Where does the Tánaiste think there is an oversupply in the workforce at the moment?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Twenty nine per cent of our total immigration figures last year came from international protection, or 18,561. The Deputy has not done so today, but I reject the argument made by some in recent days that international protection is an incidental part of this conversation. I reject that; it is not. When we consider that there were 18,561 applications for international protection in 2004 and that more than 80% of applications so far this year have been rejected in the first instance, we have a challenge there. We can debate the statistics and-----

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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Answer the question.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I am answering the question.

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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Where in the economy can we do with fewer people?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Last year, 18,561 people came here through international protection and a majority of those applications were rejected. They were found not to qualify for international protection. That needs to be addressed.

Sinéad Gibney (Dublin Rathdown, Social Democrats)
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A third were reversed.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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On the next issue, yes, we continue to need people to come. Nobody is proposing a migration policy that would see us not issuing work visas or work permits, but it has to be looked at in a balanced manner and sector by sector. I am sure that the Deputy will accept the facts from the ESRI that for every 10,000 people who come into our country, 3,000 more homes are needed.

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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We need more people to build homes.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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We also need to recognise that every time people come into the country, there is increased pressure on public services. We have to consider this in a balanced fashion. This is not a radical concept. This is something that happens in most mature democracies, in most European countries. We are late to this because migration numbers have only become a larger issue of public debate in recent years after the war in Ukraine and other things. This is what mature democracies and responsible politicians do. They put in place a migration policy and make sure the rules are applied. If a person has a right to be here, great, they should be allowed to make their contribution and be integrated and supported and we will thank them for doing so. However, if someone does not have a right to be here, we have to address that as well.

Charles Ward (Donegal, 100% Redress Party)
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Yesterday, Engineers Ireland ran a training course for engineers on IS 465, a standard, as the Government knows, that is outdated, discredited and currently under review. I met with Damien Owens, the director general of Engineers Ireland. and spoke to engineers who did not even know the standard was being reviewed. They are being trained to use documents that Government-commissioned research from Geological Survey Ireland has proven to be scientifically wrong. The damage in these homes is caused by internal sulphate attack, not mica, yet engineers are being instructed otherwise. This is not a neutral educational decision. The Housing Agency employs these chartered engineers. They must complete this training to work on the defective concrete scheme. They are being instructed to apply for this discredited standard and are paying for the privilege. Damien Owens has told the Oireachtas joint committee that IS 465 is not fit for purpose, yet Engineers Ireland is proceeding anyway, while Government agencies employ and rely upon these same engineers. The State cannot pretend to detach from this by funding the research that disproves the standard and at the same time allow its own agencies and engineers to operate and to be trained. The research does exist and was paid for by the Government. The Government is complicit in misleading homeowners and committing an injustice. This is not just an oversight but the continuation of a system that punishes victims while protecting the State from accountability.

Every step, inconsistency and contradiction is being documented and will be part of the public record. I have a number of questions for the Tánaiste. Will he confirm that any training required for engineers working in State schemes will immediately be reviewed and aligned with the current peer-reviewed scientific evidence rather than the obsolete, discredited standard? Will he confirm that the Government accepts full responsibility for the oversight of such training and the competence of the engineers whose assessment determines homeowners' eligibility for redress? Will he acknowledge it is entirely unacceptable that the Government commissioned and paid for research that disproves IS 465, yet allows its own scheme to continue training and deploying engineers and to act as if the research does not exist? Will he finally accept that every decision taken under this flawed framework deepens the State's exposure to legal challenges and potential judicial reviews? The Government cannot claim ignorance of evidence it commissioned and published.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Ward for raising this matter. Before I address the specific issues he raised, I want to say the Government is acting in good faith on the complex issue of defective concrete blocks. However, this is nothing compared with the stress and trauma being experienced by people in the Deputy's county and others. I have visited them. Over the summer months, I met some of the people and sat with them in their kitchen. I cannot even comprehend the level of stress they are dealing with. We are contributing a very significant amount of public money to the scheme. It is expected to be in excess of €2.2 billion. We are working with communities and Oireachtas Members to try to get this right. I thank the Deputy for the constructive contribution he is making to the debate.

As the Deputy said, on 31 March 2025, the National Standards Authority of Ireland, NSAI, commenced a public consultation period of the revised draft of IS 465. As the Deputy knows, but for the benefit of others, this is the testing standard used to evaluate the impact on homes. More than 600 submissions were received. The NSAI is now in the process of finalising the review. The review is being informed by a number of pieces of scientific research. The task of the NSAI review group is to assess the implications of the entire body of research. We are endeavouring to inform this on the basis of scientific research.

In November 2024, the Department of housing made changes to the way the grant scheme works for certain homeowners, as the Deputy is aware. This followed receipt of the preliminary results from scientific research done on damaged dwellings in County Donegal, which claimed that the underlying mechanism of damage is as a result of an internal sulphate attack due to the presence of excessive amounts of chemical. From 6 November, all homeowners who have been given an non-demolition option will be offered a choice of continuing with the work on their dwelling under the option determined or the option of a full technical review of their application by the Housing Agency. This review will be informed by the current research, once the full review of IS 465 is complete. If homeowners choose to continue with the works, they will continue to avail of the 40-year Government guarantee. Homeowners who receive an option 1 demolition are unaffected by the changes.

This is complex. It is an important matter and it potentially has serious implications for homeowners and also for the Exchequer. I need to be truthful about that. The Department will review the contents over the consultation period and consider the advice received from the expert group. I do not want to make any inappropriate or pre-emptive comments on the draft standard or the potential changes that it might bring to the grant scheme, but the point about additional training is well made. Yes, training will have to be provided should there be changes, and it will have to be certified or overseen by Government. I will ask the Minister, Deptuy Browne, to continue to engage with the Deputy and other Oireachtas Members in affected counties on this quite technical but very practical measure for homeowners.

Charles Ward (Donegal, 100% Redress Party)
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With respect, no amount of reassurance, avoidance or accountability can disguise these facts. Engineers are being trained on a standard that the State's own research has proven is wrong. The Housing Agency employs these engineers. They must use this training to make decisions about people's homes and people's lives. It is not a technical issue; it is an ethical and legal one. The direct effect is families living in unsafe homes. They are left to appeal and left in limbo. The Government cannot claim distance from Engineers Ireland when its own agency depends on the training for its functioning. By commissioning the research, employing the engineers and funding the process, the State has a clear and unavoidable duty to act. Anything less is complicity. Homeowners are entitled to competent, scientifically-informed decisions. Will the Government commit to ensuring no engineer working on the defective concrete scheme is trained and instructed or certified under an outdated or discredited standard?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The point I am making, and the reason I used the word "technical", is since 6 November we are offering all homeowners who have been given that non-demolition option the choice of continuing as was or having that full technical review. I am making the point that review will be informed by the current research, that is, the latest available scientific information. We are genuinely trying to follow the science here. I am also saying to the Deputy I cannot imagine a scenario where training does not arise as a result of that. I cannot imagine a scenario where, on such a sensitive and important issue, the quality of that training is not somewhat overseen or approved by government or government agencies, so I am not endeavouring to be disagreeable on this. I have heard on my recent visits to Donegal that there are also a number of tweaks, though that is completely the wrong word, on how the scheme is being applied and homeowners have made some sensible suggestions to me. A group of homeowners feel they are falling between stools in terms of being able to access and draw down a scheme that has quite a large quantum of money. I intend to engage directly with colleagues across the House on this in the coming weeks.

Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent Ireland Party)
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I raise UHL. We will start off on a positive note. The Minister opened the 96-bed unit in UHL on 13 October. We waited a year and a half for the HIQA report but we have it now. It states exactly what I and others have been saying here for years about UHL. It came out with an A, B and C plan. My view is we need A, B and to work for C. Option A would involve expanding the capacity at UHL. Option B envisages the ED staying on the existing site, along with the infrastructure for critical and complex surgical procedures. Option C is a new hospital for the future. Again on a positive note, a meeting was held here yesterday, convened by Deputy Cooney. It was well-attended by all parties and none. For the first time I was at a meeting where everyone in the room was on the same wavelength. It was 100%. All parties were there. They said A and B plus C.

I do not want this going back into Departments and being buried under paperwork with somebody getting paid stupid money to come up and not deliver. We have had private hospital built in Limerick in 16 months. It was on budget and on time. Let use that model against the spending on the hospitals delivered by the Department. Let us compare one to the other. That private hospital contractor made profit on that building, so why can we not build our hospitals more cheaply, and we take the profit margin out? Why do we not go to the private sector to deliver it? I want A, B and C. I am going to work with everyone who was in the room. There were other people who could not attend who are also in favour of this. The Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, is here. I hope he backs this as well. We want a new hospital for the mid-west region. The lives of people in Limerick, Tipperary and Clare are at risk unless we deliver this. I have been critical of UHL since the start. I am delighted the previous management are gone. I am delighted with the management there at the moment because they are working with everyone who was at the meeting yesterday. People could not speak highly enough of the management in situ. Bernard Gloster is retiring. He is a massive loss, but replacing him is in the Government's hands and whoever takes his place better be as good as he is because otherwise we are going down the same rabbit hole again.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy O'Donoghue for raising this matter. I must say I find myself in agreement with a lot of what he says, if not almost all of it. Let me tease through it. The Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, was away on Government business yesterday-----

Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent Ireland Party)
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That is right.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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-----but he intends to work with everybody on this. What the Deputy said and the tone in which he said it are really important. There are some things that are just more important that party politics and shouting and roaring at each other in here. Healthcare and making sure the people of the mid-west have a proper, fit for purpose health service is our priority, the priority of the Minister for Health and the priority of everybody I know across this House. Let us proceed on that basis. Deputy O'Donoghue and other mid-west TDs have been very vocal advocates for the improvement of services at UHL for a sustained period and there is a need for a comprehensive approach to the provision of services in the short and long term, because people cannot wait forever and a day. They need stuff now and then they need to know where this is going in the time ahead. We are fully committed to improving services in the mid-west region.

I welcome the Deputy's comments about the new 96-bed block at UHL. I hope that is seen as a sign of the Government's commitment. The Deputy was at the opening and I want to acknowledge that. I am glad to say that while nobody wants to see anybody on a trolley, we are beginning to see the benefit of that extra capacity. I too know the new management team the Deputy mentioned to be good people, based on my past postings. I am glad to report the average number of people waiting on trolleys at UHL has halved in the three weeks since the new 96-bed block opened compared with the three weeks prior to that. It is still too high, but it shows the benefit. If you put in extra beds and put in the right management you can begin to see improvements. Importantly, there are now enabling works under way for a second 96-bed block. A further 84 inpatient beds are planned at UHL through the acute hospital inpatient bed capacity expansion plan. These projects include 32 rapid build beds. With the first 96-bed block, when you add that up we will increase bed capacity through this variety of initiatives by 308 beds by 2028, with 572 new beds across the region by 2031.

Let us get back to the HIQA review. We have a roadmap. The HIQA review gave us three options, but the Deputy is kind of right; it did not necessarily gave us three options. Did it give us a menu to work through? The Minister briefed the Government on 30 September. Option A of the review was "Expand Capacity at UHL on the Dooradoyle site". Let us all agree we have started that, we need to do more of that and the quicker the better. On the point about infrastructure delivery and cutting through red tape, we are going to have proposals from the Minister, Deputy Chambers, and his Department very shortly, probably this month, on how we speed up infrastructure delivery. The second option was to "Extend the UHL hospital campus to comprise the existing Dooradoyle site and another site...". The third option talked about the potential to develop a model 3 hospital in the HSE mid-west. Alongside these options, HIQA has also presented an extensive number of additional considerations, including system-wide work - reforms, I suppose - that need to be progressed in parallel. I am clear that all options remain on the table. The Government has not ruled out doing any or all of these. That has not happened. The extensive findings and considerations presented by HIQA are being considered fully by the Minister and her officials and in terms of this not dragging on, the Minister has committed to reporting back to Government on next steps by Christmas.

Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent Ireland Party)
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I thank the Tánaiste. It is unusual we are 100% agreed on both sides of the House that this needs to happen. This is a health emergency and under Covid guidelines we were led to do an awful lot of things under health emergencies. We had John Wall with us yesterday as a patient safety advocate. We have an emergency. Why can we not use emergency powers and legislate that this happen now? We have the commitment of the House that it needs to happen now. The people of the mid-west need this now. The biggest thing here is we have gone almost €1 billion over budget with the children's hospital here in Dublin. That would build the hospital in Limerick and cater for a lot of people. Build a box and put a box on top of that box. We have not even looked at what it is going to cost to maintain the outside of the children's hospital due to all the curvatures and glass. It is about the care within a building. The old two-storey Georgian houses have been here for generations and are beautiful-looking houses. They are boxes. Why can we not just build a box and care for the people who deserve the care, and stop all these expensive designs? It is about the care and the equipment in the building, it is not about the look of a building.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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We are fully committed to UHL. We are fully committed to the mid-west. Let us hope this term of this Dáil signals a new dawn in terms of moving forward on the HIQA report.

The last Dáil was about commissioning HIQA reports but that is all done now. I agree with the Deputy. We do not need a whole load of palaver around next steps. We need the Minister to do her job, which she is doing extremely well, and to report back to Government by Christmas. That is her intention and she is fully supported by everyone in the Government and, I think, by everyone in the Opposition in making that progress. We have increased the budget of UHL very significantly, from €265 million in 2019 to €507 million last year. We have increased the number of staff and are putting in the bed capacity.

I do not want to overly agree with the Deputy in case I kill his street cred but his overall point about infrastructure delivery is right. Things are taking far too long. There are simple things we can do and intend to do. There will be proposals from Government on this by the end of the month. One is to move processes in parallel. We do not need to wait for full planning permission to prepare procurement. Processes need to move in parallel. You can save a significant amount of time. We will also need to see emergency legislation in this House on the delivery of critical infrastructure. If the Government and the Opposition really want to get things moving, we should work together on that in the time ahead.