Kieran O'Donnell (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It has been brought to my attention that the Department of Social Protection's website has been down since Sunday. I ask that the Leader communicates with the Minister for Social Protection and his officials and ensures that every effort is made to get the website, welfare.ie, up and running. People have had to resort to using the Citizens Information's excellent website called citizensinformation.iefor all of their queries.

Senator Boyhan mentioned the activation fund. Two worthwhile projects in Limerick will receive €15 million. Housing is a huge issue but Greenpark racecourse and Mungret College in Limerick will receive funding to build distributor roads to ensure lands can be developed for housing. Affordable starter homes must be a key element. If the State is stepping in to assist by providing the infrastructure to enable houses to be built then it must ensure that the people contracted to build these houses provide affordable starter homes.