Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

If she wants me to, I will. The fundamentals are that we do need to see a collective end to the scourge of people being homeless and being put into hotels. We need to see a continuation of the social housing building that the Government has commenced. We need to see the issue of the affordability of land being tackled and we need to look at all measures that can increase the output and supply of housing. Personalised attacks on the Taoiseach or the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government have nothing to offer in any debate. What we need to see is not just idle rhetoric but actual reality happening in terms of policy development. I looking forward to working with all Senators to see that happen.

Senators Maria Byrne and Grace O'Sullivan raised the issue of the participation of women in sport. I congratulate Joy Neville on being awarded one of the People of the Year awards. It is great to see young women being able to reach the pinnacle of their careers, whether it is Katie Taylor, Katie Walsh, Joy Neville or whoever. It is fantastic and I support any initiative we can undertake to encourage women's participation in sport.

Senators Grace O'Sullivan and Murnane O'Connor raised the issue of school accommodation. I am not familiar with the particular issues they raised in terms of the specific schools but the refurbishment of schools is something the Government is committed to. If I may educate some of the Members of the House who come in making statements - I am not sure what kind of research they do - in 2017, the Government spent half of what the Fianna Fáil Government spent in 2008 on rented prefabs. We are planning for the future. That is why we have seen the announcement of new schools and €8.4 billion in a school building programme. That compares with €4.9 billion in the previous ten years. In 2008, we had about 2,000 rented prefabs in use.