Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I, too, welcome the imminent publication of the Government's social housing policy. It is long overdue. While I welcome the allocation of €2.2 billion over the next three years, I urge the Government to prioritise the homeless. People the length and breadth of our country are becoming homeless on a weekly basis.

I ask that the Leader contact the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, and ask her to intervene, at the eleventh hour, in the teachers' dispute. As we are aware, next Tuesday 340,000 pupils in more than 730 schools the length and breadth of the country will be affected by industrial action taken by 27,000 teachers. While I accept and acknowledge that some progress has been made by the Minister since she took office, the changes proposed by her and the Department are too much, too soon. I urge her to re-examine the issue and not to allow a situation to develop that is similar to that of Irish Water, in which mistakes were made because there was a rush to make changes just for change's sake. What the Minister is trying to achieve can be achieved over a longer period, and consideration can be given to the concerns of teachers and parents.

I second the amendment to the Order of Business proposed by Senator White.