Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I do not like doing it and I am sorry that I did. I have a couple of points today. I would like at some point for us to have a discussion about the cost of rent, particularly in Dublin. Kennedy Wilson is almost boasting that it is making more money here than it does in Los Angeles, and figures show that 55% of the take-home pay of some Dublin dwellers is now going on rent. It is something we have talked about previously, but property prices have risen significantly. It is difficult for people to get on the property ladder. People trying to buy a house are spending so much on rent that they are not able to save for a deposit. We need to have a look at that.

I would also like us at some point to bring in the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy McHugh, to talk about history as a core subject. There is a suggestion that history is being removed as a core subject at junior cycle level. This particular Minister may be more favourable to bringing it back as a core subject but we have not heard him say that and he has not done it. I would like us to have a discussion on that matter, sooner rather than later.

I would also like us to bring in the Minister for Health on the issue of hospital consultants. We heard at the weekend that there is a significant shortage. I note the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, was not able to attend the conference. Apparently, he had a diary clash. There is a serious shortage of hospital consultants. The figures are there. There are outlined. Between 2015 and 2017, 700 specialists left Ireland to work in Australia, Canada and the United States. Pay parity, equal pay and so on are part of that. The figures now show that 1 million people are on waiting lists for outpatient appointments. It is important that we bring in the Minister to let us know what he is doing.

Finally, I want the Leader to bring in the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government as a matter of urgency on the issue of political donations. There was much talk yesterday about how parties were being funded. I would draw the Leader's attention to an article by Mr. Colm Keena in The Irish Timeson Friday last, the headline of which was "Legal question over €1.6m left in will to Sinn Féin". The article reads, "The key line [saying it was a will] in a solicitor's offices in Cootehill, Co Cavan, in 1997, says that he is leaving the money to the "political party in the Republic of Ireland known at this time as Sinn Féin."" We need to have a discussion as to what is and is not permissible and what is not permissible and whether the Standards in Public Office Commission, SIPO, may have been asked to investigate that. While that is a particular case, I would like to bring in the Minister as a matter of urgency to discuss political funding and whether that kind of donation is within the rules in this jurisdiction.