Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 6 May 2026

Vol. 1085 No. 2

• Díospóireachtaí
• Aimsigh díospóireacht
  • Díospóireachtaí na Dála
  • Díospóireachtaí an tSeanaid
  • Díospóireachtaí Coiste
• Aimsigh vótáil
  • Vótálacha na Dála
  • Vótálacha an tSeanaid
  • Vótálacha Coiste
• Ceisteanna Parlaiminte
  • Ceisteanna scríofa
  • Ceisteanna ó bhéal
• Leideanna cuardaigh
• Nuair a bhíonn tionchar tromchúiseach ag aithrisí

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business

Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach (Deputy Mary Butler)

I move:

Wednesday 's business shall be:

- Motion re Proposed approval by Dáil Éireann of the Convention Establishing an International Claims Commission for Ukraine (to conclude within 60 minutes)

- Statements on the Scoping Exercise in response to requests from Dignity4Patients on behalf of victims and survivors of Michael Shine (to conclude within 60 minutes)

Wednesday 's private members' business shall be the Motion re Dublin City Flat Complex Retrofit and Regeneration, selected by Sinn Féin.

Thursday's business shall be:

- Statements to mark Europe Day (to conclude within 2 hours and 25 minutes)

Thursday 's private members' business shall be the Motion re Cost of Living Mini-Budget, selected by the Labour Party.

Proposed Arrangements for this week’s business:

In relation to Wednesday's business, it is proposed that:

1. notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders:

(a)Parliamentary Questions to the Taoiseach pursuant to Standing Order 47(1) shall not be taken, and Government business shall commence at the time when Parliamentary Questions to the Taoiseach would normally be taken;

(b)private members business shall be taken following the Statements on the Scoping Exercise in response to requests from Dignity4Patients on behalf of victims and survivors of Michael Shine;

(c) Parliamentary Questions to a Minister pursuant to Standing Order 47(1) shall not be taken; and

(d) topical issues shall be taken on the conclusion of private members business;

2. the proceedings on the Motion re Proposed approval by Dáil Éireann of the Convention Establishing an International Claims Commission for Ukraine shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion after 60 minutes and the following arrangements shall apply thereto:

(a)the order of speaking and allocation of time shall be as follows:-

— opening speech by a Minister or Minister of State – 10 minutes;

— speeches by representatives of Sinn Féin, the Labour Party, Social Democrats, Independent and Parties Technical Group, and Independent Technical Group – 7.5 minutes per party or group;

— speeches by non-party/group members – 7.5 minutes in total;

— a speech in response by the Minister – 5 minutes; and

(b)members may share time; and

3. the Statements on the Scoping Exercise in response to requests from Dignity4Patients on behalf of victims and survivors of Michael Shine shall not exceed 60 minutes and the following arrangements shall apply:

(a)the order of speaking and allocation of time shall be as follows:-

— opening statement by a Minister or Minister of State – 10 minutes;

— statements by representatives of Sinn Féin, the Labour Party, Social Democrats, Independent and Parties Technical Group, and Independent Technical Group – 7.5 minutes per party or group;

— statements by non-party/group members – 7.5 minutes in total;

— a statement in response by the Minister – 5 minutes; and

(b) members may share time.

In relation to Thursday's business, it is proposed that:

1. notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders:

(a)no motion for a Committee report pursuant to Standing Order 111 or private member's Bill pursuant to Standing Order 169 shall be taken;

(b)private members' business pursuant to Standing Order 168(1) shall be taken for 2 hours on conclusion of the Statements to mark Europe Day; and

(c)topical issues shall be taken on the conclusion of private members' business, and the Dáil shall adjourn on the conclusion of topical issues; and

2. the Statements to mark Europe Day shall not exceed 2 hours and 25 minutes and the following arrangements shall apply:

(a)the statements, not including the Ministerial response, shall be in accordance with the sequence contained in the table immediately below (to be read across);

(b)following the statements, a Minister or Minister of State shall be called upon to make a statement in reply which shall not exceed 10 minutes; and

(c) members may share time.

	Gov	SF	Lab	Gov	SF
Mins	25	15	10	10	3
	SD	Gov	SF	IPTG	Gov
Mins	10	10	3	9	10
	SF	ITG	Gov	SF	OM
Mins	3	9	10	3	5
				Total:	2 hours 15 mins

An Ceann Comhairle

Are the arrangements agreed?

Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

Not agreed.

An Ceann Comhairle

I call Deputy Mac Lochlainn.

Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

Anybody watching the debate here in the Dáil today must be scratching their head when they hear the Taoiseach talk about wind and solar. Does the Taoiseach know that there are turbines turned off in wind farms across this country because the electricity grid is not there? Does he know that offshore renewable energy policy is just not there? There is no strategy there. It is not happening. That is the reality. People need help now. We need an emergency budget now. The Government cannot expect the Opposition to agree to a schedule when it just brushes aside our calls for an emergency budget with an intervention.

An Ceann Comhairle

I call Deputy Duncan Smith.

Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

People need money in their pockets now with this crisis.

An Ceann Comhairle

Deputies have 30 seconds each.

Deputy Duncan Smith

Now that Ireland is lamentably at the top of the list in terms of the highest cost of electricity, and people are pinned to their absolute collar, there has to be an emergency debate and discussion for a mini-budget this week. We cannot agree to the Order of Business on those grounds.

Deputy Conor Sheehan

Hear, hear.

An Ceann Comhairle

I call Deputy Farrelly.

Deputy Aidan Farrelly

Today, Social Justice Ireland has launched its national social monitor painting a very damning picture for young people in this country aged 18 to 24. Rising youth homelessness and decades of underinvestment in mental health services are just some of the issues. I ask for statements on these issues facing young people aged 18 to 24.

An Ceann Comhairle

Thank you, Deputy. I call Deputy Boyd Barrett.

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

On May Day - International Workers' Day of all days - this Government betrayed hundreds of thousands of pensioners in this country and sabotaged the democracy of this House by refusing to issue the money message for the retired workers Bill, which had passed Second Stage and pre-legislative scrutiny and would give pensioners the right to have a say over the fact that their pensions were slashed and have never recovered from the austerity cuts to pensioners. They campaigned for this. The Government announced this on Friday of all days.

An Ceann Comhairle

Thank you, Deputy. I call Deputy Michael Collins.

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

It is a disgrace. Those pensioners are furious. They are very angry. Will the Government at least explain to this House why it has done this to our pensioners?

An Ceann Comhairle

The Deputy's time is up.

Deputy Michael Collins

On 20 May, the people of this country doing short-term lets, Airbnb, etc., are supposed to sign up to a document. It is like a blank cheque. There is no legislation, despite being promised here for many years, never mind over the last number of months. I have been asking nearly every week for three months to bring the Minister before the Dáil to explain the situation. Do not expect people on 20 May to sign a blank cheque. Surely be to God, the Minister can come before the Dáil and explain what is going on.

Deputy Mary Butler

I noted all the comments and the Order of Business stands.

An Ceann Comhairle

Is that agreed?

Deputies

Not agreed.

Question put: "That the proposed arrangements for this week's business be agreed to."

The Dáil divided: Tá, 80; Níl, 58; Staon, 0.

Tá

• Aird, William.
• Ardagh, Catherine.
• Boland, Grace.
• Brennan, Brian.
• Brennan, Shay.
• Browne, James.
• Burke, Colm.
• Burke, Peter.
• Butler, Mary.
• Buttimer, Jerry.
• Byrne, Malcolm.
• Byrne, Thomas.
• Cahill, Michael.
• Callaghan, Catherine.
• Calleary, Dara.
• Carrigy, Micheál.
• Chambers, Jack.
• Cleere, Peter 'Chap'.
• Clendennen, John.
• Collins, Niall.
• Connolly, John.
• Cooney, Joe.
• Currie, Emer.
• Daly, Martin.
• Dempsey, Aisling.
• Devlin, Cormac.
• Dillon, Alan.
• Dolan, Albert.
• Dooley, Timmy.
• Feighan, Frankie.
• Fleming, Sean.
• Gallagher, Pat the Cope.
• Geoghegan, James.
• Grealish, Noel.
• Harkin, Marian.
• Harris, Simon.
• Heneghan, Barry.
• Heydon, Martin.
• Higgins, Emer.
• Keogh, Keira.
• Martin, Micheál.
• Maxwell, David.
• McAuliffe, Paul.
• McCarthy, Noel.
• McConalogue, Charlie.
• McCormack, Tony.
• McEntee, Helen.
• McGrath, Séamus.
• McGreehan, Erin.
• McGuinness, John.
• Moran, Kevin Boxer.
• Moynihan, Aindrias.
• Moynihan, Michael.
• Moynihan, Shane.
• Murnane O'Connor, Jennifer.
• Murphy, Michael.
• Naughton, Hildegarde.
• Neville, Joe.
• O'Brien, Darragh.
• O'Callaghan, Jim.
• O'Connell, Maeve.
• O'Connor, James.
• O'Dea, Willie.
• O'Donnell, Kieran.
• O'Donovan, Patrick.
• O'Meara, Ryan.
• O'Shea, John Paul.
• O'Sullivan, Christopher.
• O'Sullivan, Pádraig.
• Ó Cearúil, Naoise.
• Ó Fearghaíl, Seán.
• Ó Muirí, Naoise.
• Richmond, Neale.
• Roche, Peter.
• Scanlon, Eamon.
• Smith, Brendan.
• Timmins, Edward.
• Toole, Gillian.
• Troy, Robert.
• Ward, Barry.

Níl

• Ahern, Ciarán.
• Bacik, Ivana.
• Bennett, Cathy.
• Boyd Barrett, Richard.
• Brady, John.
• Buckley, Pat.
• Byrne, Joanna.
• Cairns, Holly.
• Carthy, Matt.
• Collins, Michael.
• Coppinger, Ruth.
• Cronin, Réada.
• Crowe, Seán.
• Cullinane, David.
• Cummins, Jen.
• Daly, Pa.
• Devine, Máire.
• Donnelly, Paul.
• Ellis, Dessie.
• Farrelly, Aidan.
• Farrell, Mairéad.
• Gibney, Sinéad.
• Gould, Thomas.
• Guirke, Johnny.
• Healy-Rae, Danny.
• Healy, Seamus.
• Hearne, Rory.
• Kelly, Alan.
• Kenny, Eoghan.
• Kenny, Martin.
• Kerrane, Claire.
• Lawless, Paul.
• Mac Lochlainn, Pádraig.
• McDonald, Mary Lou.
• McGettigan, Donna.
• Murphy, Paul.
• Mythen, Johnny.
• Nash, Ged.
• Newsome Drennan, Natasha.
• Ní Raghallaigh, Shónagh.
• O'Callaghan, Cian.
• O'Hara, Louis.
• O'Reilly, Louise.
• O'Rourke, Darren.
• Ó Broin, Eoin.
• Ó Laoghaire, Donnchadh.
• Ó Murchú, Ruairí.
• Ó Snodaigh, Aengus.
• Ó Súilleabháin, Fionntán.
• Rice, Pádraig.
• Sheehan, Conor.
• Sherlock, Marie.
• Smith, Duncan.
• Stanley, Brian.
• Tóibín, Peadar.
• Wall, Mark.
• Ward, Charles.
• Whitmore, Jennifer.

Staon

Tellers: Tá, Deputies Mary Butler and Emer Currie; Níl, Deputies Pádraig Mac Lochlainn and Duncan Smith.

Question declared carried.

Deputy Mary Lou McDonald

For decades, Dublin inner-city flat complexes like Oliver Bond flats have been failed by the State with families been forced to live in damp overcrowded flats and communities left to battle neglect, antisocial behaviour and organised crime alone. Dublin City Council agreed a regeneration plan to deliver safe modern homes for local families but yesterday, the Government pulled the plug. The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage blocked funding. Why? It was because some overcrowded flats were to be amalgamated to make them big enough for families to live in because the Government chooses to keep them in small overcrowded flats. Think about that. It is absurd, cruel and a betrayal of this community. The Taoiseach visited Oliver Bond flats in 2020, looked residents in the eye and promised regeneration. He must reverse this utterly disgraceful and disgusting decision and fully fund this project.

The Taoiseach

The Government is absolutely committed to supporting regeneration projects submitted by Dublin City Council, including deep retrofit remedial works at older flat complexes. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is actively supporting viable regeneration proposals from Dublin City Council and will continue to do so. We are also continuing to invest heavily in regeneration across the capital city, particularly social housing flat complexes and estates, in a timely manner. I will raise the issue with the Minister as well.

Deputy Mary Lou McDonald

The Government pulled the plug on the Oliver Bond House project.

An Ceann Comhairle

If further engagement is required, it will not be here.

Deputy Mary Lou McDonald

The Taoiseach has misled the House.

An Ceann Comhairle

I call Deputy Bacik.

Deputy Ivana Bacik

Today, parents from Ireland, including our Labour Councillor Ali Field, are travelling to Brussels to present a petition to the European Parliament and institutions asking them to investigate Ireland's failure to meet its legal obligations to children with additional needs. Under the Disability Act 2005, every child in Ireland is entitled to an assessment of need within six months. However, more than 21,700 children are now on waiting lists, overdue for assessments of need. The average wait time is two years and many parents, having battled for the assessments of need, are now battling for appropriate school places, therapies and supports.

The Government's record is abysmal. Families are being dragged through the courts, trying to have their children's basic needs met and there is the breaking of our own laws on this. It is a national embarrassment that families and parents have been forced to travel to the European institutions in Brussels today to present a petition on behalf of their children.

On behalf of Councillor Ali Field and the parents, what is the Government's response?

The Taoiseach

As the Deputy will know, there are a range of responses to this. Apart from the fact that about 6,000 assessment reports were completed in 2025, which was a 45% increase on the previous year, nonetheless, current waiting lists are too high. The model and framework governing this is also wrong. We need a legislative change, which we are going to do, and we need operational change, workforce reforms, increased capacity and recruitment of the therapists, and the development of the school-based multidisciplinary teams, which are now going into the special schools in the first instance. All of those are a more effective way of deploying the therapy resources we have within the HSE and our education system.

Deputy Jen Cummins

Six years ago, the Taoiseach visited Oliver Bond Street in my constituency. I can tell him the anger right now is palpable. The residents have been lied to and let down, and they live in homes that you would not put an animal in. There is damp, there is mould, there are windows rotting out of their frames and there are doors that are not able to close because they are so warped. There is antisocial behaviour that is not acceptable in any other part of the city. These families and the people who live in Oliver Bond House have been let down by the Government.

I am very disappointed. It beggars belief that it has even stated in response to Sinn Féin's Private Members' business today that it is going to work with Dublin City Council on Oliver Bond House, but it is not because it has just pulled the funding. There has just been a meeting where people were told, but it was in the media before the residents who live there had been told. It is an absolute disgrace.

Is the Taoiseach going to apologise and reverse this decision?

The Taoiseach

First, I made a general statement that we are investing a huge amount of money on regeneration.

Deputy Mary Lou McDonald

The Government pulled the funding.

The Taoiseach

On the specifics of Oliver Bond House, the Deputy said just today something happened with communication between the Department and the residents or the city council. I will engage with the Minister for housing on the matter.

Deputy Charles Ward

Will the Taoiseach address the position confirmed in writing by the Government, the Housing Agency and Donegal County Council that homeowners in the defective concrete scheme are required to agree to a remediation determination for their home without first being provided with full engineering evidence, including petrographic and material testing, on which it is based?

The Housing Agency has confirmed it has no issue with sharing the engineer's report and stated it could be accessed through FOI or data protection processes. Donegal County Council confirmed the report is issued to the applicant once it receives it and made available on the portal. However, the Government's position is that the report is not provided to the homeowner at that point of the determination and the issue does not form part of the decision stage. Will the Taoiseach explain the arrangement that it can be conceived without informed consent, where homeowners must agree to a process before seeing the evidence for the determination, and why access to evidence is left to FOI and data protection processes after the decision is required?

The Taoiseach

Again, I will engage with the Minister for housing on that. I presume the Deputy has been engaging with the Minister, so he must have a fair idea as to what his and the Department's perspective is. I do not see any issue with sharing data or material evidence with the homeowner.

Deputy Peadar Tóibín

Ireland is the most expensive country in Europe for electricity. A total of 320,000 families are currently in energy arrears. Energy is not a luxury good; it is a staple. People have no alternative but to use energy, and reports have shown today that already, the increases in energy costs have taken about €2,000 out of people's pockets so far this year and that is going to get worse because it is forecast that electricity prices are going to increase.

Last year, ESB made €636 million in profits. It is a semi-State organisation that operates under the policy guidance of the Government. How is it acceptable that the ESB would make supranormal profits at a time of energy crisis for people? The ESB is making €300 in profit per family in this country. If we break it down to those people in arrears, the ESB levied €96 million worth of profits on the third of a million people who are in energy arrears in this country.

How is that acceptable?

An Ceann Comhairle

I thank the Deputy.

Deputy Peadar Tóibín

Will the Taoiseach mandate the ESB to reduce the level of profit during the energy crisis?

An Ceann Comhairle

The Deputy's time is up. The Taoiseach will respond. It is pointless talking over me; the Deputy needs to prepare in time.

The Taoiseach

First, as I discussed earlier, the Government did take measures in the budget to try to protect people from increasing prices. If we look at the core payments alone in social protection, the increase in core payments, child support payments and the fuel allowance, we are looking at about €2,300 additionally provided out of the budget to a two-adult household, or indeed €1,800 to a lone-parent family. People are definitely, without question, under pressure and we are going to do everything we can to try to continue, as we did in the recent package two weeks ago, which is on top of the budge, to alleviate pressure in terms of fuel costs, including diesel and petrol-----

Deputy Peadar Tóibín

What about the profits of the ESB?

The Taoiseach

-----and for agriculture, fishers and farmers.

In terms of the ESB, it obviously continues to invest in our energy system and so on but we will see what we can do. We can take back a dividend from the ESB and so on. It is open to Government to do that.

Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere

We hear a lot about teacher shortages, and the Government rightly says it wants to attract experienced teachers home from abroad but the reality on the ground can sometimes tell a different story. Teachers returning from abroad, including places like Dubai, are finding that years and sometimes decades of experience simply are not being recognised on the incremental salary scale. The justification given is that this work was done in private schools, even where those schools operated under rigorous inspection and accountability systems. Quite frankly, this does not add up. On the one hand, we are asking teachers to come home and, on the other, we are effectively telling them that their experience abroad does not count.

There also appears to be inconsistency in how these rules are applied, which again can only add to the sense of unfairness and frustration. At a time recruitment and retention are already under pressure, this approach is not just unfair; it is counterproductive. Does the Taoiseach accept that the current system is asking as a barrier to teachers returning home? Will he commit to a clear review of how overseas experience is recognised so that policy matches the Government's stated ambition?

The Taoiseach

To be fair to Government, we have invested hugely in teaching and the teacher training colleges. Numbers have increased exponentially over the past number of years in teaching in Ireland. I understand the issue in terms of returning and not receiving incremental credit. On the other hand, the issue needs to be examined more but we do not want to create scenarios where we incentivise too many leaving the system immediately.

In education, we have, had a stronger position historically than we have had in health in terms of professionals staying within our system, generally speaking but I get the sense of unfairness if someone has taught for four or five years in the United Arab Emirates and then comes back and does not get any incremental credit. I will ask the Minister to examine that.

Deputy Catherine Callaghan

I am asking for increased State funding for supported care homes in my constituency of Carlow-Kilkenny. Supported care homes like Mount Carmel Supported Care Home, Callan, St. Fiacc's House, Graiguecullen and St. Lazerian's House, Bagenalstown, to name just three across the constituency that I have visited, provide a vital service to their communities, helping to prevent social isolation in elder years while maintaining an older person's independence. Without doubt, they truly are a home away from home.

Supported care homes, even though they are subject to Health Information and Quality Authority inspection and operate under HIQA standards, are, unlike nursing homes, deemed ineligible for funding through the previous residential safety improvement scheme and the current residential environmental enhancement, REE, scheme. They need to fundraise in the community to meet these costs. Can the Taoiseach review the eligibility for the current REE scheme so participation in the nursing homes support scheme ceases to be a requirement or introduce a separate funding scheme that supported care homes can avail of to help meet the financial costs of upgrades to their premises, improve resident comfort and meet regulatory standards?

The Taoiseach

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. These are very significant centres and they do great work. About €3.5 million in recurrent funding is provided to about ten care homes in the south-east supported care homes. The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, enhanced that in 2024 with a €1.7 million increase in recurrent funding. A lot of work has been done in respect of it. We acknowledge the very significant role they play and, in fact, the role model they also represent in terms of different stages of care that people may require. We will keep that under review.

Deputy Mairéad Farrell

The Taoiseach has been in the Dáil since before I was born and I am beginning to think he has become so out of touch that he does not see the hardship facing ordinary workers and families. Every single day in Galway, people tell me that the cost of living is too high and that the Government is doing too little. Then, today, we hear that we have the highest electricity prices in the EU, an outstanding 40% above the EU average. Why has the Taoiseach allowed this? Does he not meet people who cannot pay their electricity bills or afford home heating oil? Does he not speak to those people who struggle to fill their cars with petrol or diesel or to renters who can barely keep a roof over their heads? How can the Taoiseach stand over a situation where in a wealthy country with record surpluses, life is no longer affordable for ordinary people? What is he going to do about electricity prices?

Deputy Matt Carthy

Hear, hear.

The Taoiseach

I would not be here if I was out of touch.

Deputy Mairéad Farrell

Gabh mo leithscéal-----

The Taoiseach

I would not be here as long as the Deputy suggested if I was out of touch.

Deputy Mairéad Farrell

People are-----

An Ceann Comhairle

Le do thoil, a Theachta.

The Taoiseach

I ask the Deputy to please not be so arrogant and patronising-----

Deputy Mary Butler

Hear, hear.

The Taoiseach

-----and almost presenting the idea that she is the only person - or Sinn Féin Deputies are the only people - who have a monopoly on empathy and compassion.

Deputy Mairéad Farrell

Show it.

An Ceann Comhairle

Deputy, the rules are the rules.

The Taoiseach

All of my life, I have been in touch with people.

Deputy Mairéad Farrell

It does not seem like it.

The Taoiseach

I understand the pressures that are on people. I do not need the Deputy's lectures in that regard.

Deputy Mary Lou McDonald

Then do something about it.

Deputy Matt Carthy

The Taoiseach should answer the question. What is he going to do?

Deputy Cathy Bennett

He never answered the question.

Deputy Jennifer Whitmore

Dublin Bus recently announced that it is going to introduce a bus tracking system to help it combat the issue of ghost buses. This will be really welcome because it will bring transparency and real-time information to bus users. Why is Go Ahead Ireland not required to implement a similar system? It would be incredibly useful. In my constituency of Wicklow, since Go Ahead Ireland was awarded contracts, we have had nothing but problems with buses not showing up, buses driving past people, buses not actually going on their required routes, or people with disabilities not being able to access the bus because the ramps do not work. It is problem after problem. I hear about this from people every week. It has not been resolved. I have spoken to Go Ahead Ireland about it. I have spoken to the Minister for Transport and the National Transport Authority and we are just not seeing improvement in the service. Having some level of transparency such as a bus-tracking system would absolutely shine a light on the difficulties people in Wicklow are facing.

The Taoiseach

I thank the Deputy for raising that. That is an innovative approach and it is positive to develop a bus-tracking system. The Deputy is saying that not only should it be applied to Bus Éireann but to Go Ahead Ireland as well. I will speak to the Minister to ascertain from him the background to this and how it is going to evolve. I presume that, in the fullness of time, it will have to apply to all providers.

Deputy Rory Hearne

I raise the issue of IRES real estate investment trust, REIT. A number of renters from different complexes it has have been in touch with me. It is deeply alarming that IRES REIT, which is Ireland's largest vulture landlord, owning over 4,000 properties, is refusing tenants permission to replace a tenant who leaves in flat-share situation. The remaining tenant has been told they must pay the full rent. One tenant who is in touch with me is going from paying €1,000 per month to having to pay the entire apartment's rent of €2,000 per month. This is a new practice by IRES REIT to take advantage of the Government's new rental rules by getting around the no-fault eviction situation and it can let it out at full market rent. It is disgraceful, in a housing emergency, that our biggest landlords are allowing rooms to lie idle because they do not want them to be rented out so they can get all the tenants out the apartment and then bring in full market rents.

The Taoiseach said in the Dáil in February: "Existing tenancies will not be negatively impacted as a result of the changes in the rent rules." Here are existing tenants who are facing economic eviction as a result of the Government's new measures.

An Ceann Comhairle

The Taoiseach to respond, Deputy Hearne. Prepare your question in time.

Deputy Rory Hearne

Will the Taoiseach intervene and stop IRES REIT engaging in this exploitation?

The Taoiseach

The Deputy will have to acknowledge that a very substantial part of those reforms was about protecting tenants. That should at least be acknowledged. I will speak to the Minister in respect of this practice, which was not intended in any shape or form, to see how we can deal with that.

Deputy Brian Stanley

I raise with the Taoiseach the situation in our prisons. Our overcrowded prisons are after reaching crisis point. I have complaints from prison staff going back over the past year or two on this issue. The situation in the Midlands Prison in Portlaoise is like a pressure cooker. It is unsafe for staff and vulnerable prisoners. It is vastly overcrowded, operating at over 120% capacity. It has capacity for 890 inmates but the number stands at just over 1,100. Prisoners are sleeping on bunks and mattresses on the floor. There are two prisoners in a cell with a toilet and no privacy.

This is leading to assaults on staff. There were 11 assaults on staff last year and 102 prisoner-to-prisoner assaults and 60 weapons seized. Assaults are up 23%. I have been told the job of staff is being made impossible and managing the situation is very difficult. There is a promise in the programme for Government for 1,500 additional places. When will we see those? When will we start using restorative justice more to divert people away from prisons and when will we see progress on those two issues?

The Taoiseach

I thank the Deputy for raising what is a very important issue. I know he will have a particular focus on Portlaoise as well as it is in his constituency. We do have a challenge with overcrowding in our prisons. There is very significant and good work going on in the areas of rehabilitation and youth justice programmes aimed at keeping people out of prison but the fact remains that some crimes must attract a prison sentence and some criminals need to go to jail. The Government and the Minister are acutely aware of the capacity constraints in our prisons and the resulting challenge faced by those who work and live in our prisons. The Minister is pursuing a dual approach to address the issue of capacity by increasing prison spaces and then pursuing further measures to support non-custodial sanctions. The Irish Prison Service is committed to preventing identified members of criminal gangs from conducting criminal activities while in custody and also to preventing them exerting inappropriate influence on other persons.

Deputy Conor Sheehan

Homelessness has doubled since June 2020 under the Taoiseach's watch. He will not ban no-fault evictions and we have the highest level of homelessness ever recorded. Today the residents of Oliver Bond flats are coming to terms with the Government's refusal to fund phase one of a long-promised regeneration project. This development has been beset for decades by damp, mould and severe antisocial behaviour. The Taoiseach visited it himself and committed to the regeneration. Now the Government and the Minister have pulled the plug. What in the name of God is going on? How can this be justified? Will the Taoiseach immediately go back and investigate this? If this regeneration is not carried out in the way that has been agreed with Dublin City Council, that development in Oliver Bond is not going to be able to be regenerated within, say, the next decade.

The Taoiseach

I will discuss this matter with the Minister for housing. I do not have the specifics in respect of the latest decision on the Oliver Bond complex. I will revert when I discuss it with the Minister.

Deputy Edward Timmins

I met with the NTA in April 2025 and I was advised that the 132 bus service would double from four to eight buses a day at the end of April 2025. Since then, nothing has happened. I still have no clear explanation as to why. Expanding the bus service is part of the programme for Government. I ask that the current service, the only public transport for most of west Wicklow, be at least reliable. It is regularly cancelled. Second, on the proposed 199 bus from Glendalough to Bray, I was told last autumn that it was planning for commencement shortly. I was told in January that the procurement process was complete. My colleague on Wicklow County Council, Councillor Shane Langrell, has been constantly raising the proposed 199 bus from Glendalough to Bray. We owe him and the people of Wicklow an answer and a solution.

The Taoiseach

Over the years there has been significant expansion of bus services. I will have to talk to the Minister. There could be a resourcing issue. There are set budgets for all Departments. That was agreed at budget time in terms of the degree of expansion that could be entered into across the board. I will check what the position is in terms of the 132 bus service and the 199.

Deputy Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin

I understand the Taoiseach is aware of the situation where Gorey Hill special school, which was put in on a temporary basis on the campus of Gaelscoil Moshíológ, where I worked prior to starting here, is now expanding across the remaining green areas of the Gaelscoil. It is basically a problem which has arisen due to the lack of forward planning by the Department and casual indifference. It is having a huge impact now on special education in north Wexford, as well as on Gaelscoil provision. There is a massive demand for both in north Wexford and south Wicklow. My school was happy to facilitate special education to cater for the huge demand, even giving up play areas, parking, storage, green spaces and full access to the hall. However, due to lack of forward planning the special school now needs to expand further and it will need to expand further in subsequent years, going by projections. There is a lot of concern in the area about this. Could the Taoiseach give a commitment that he or his Ministers will come down to Gorey to discuss this with all parties concerned and come to a conclusion that is suitable to both parties?

The Taoiseach

I think Deputy Malcolm Byrne would have been on about this as well as the Deputy. It is in Gorey. I do appreciate the work the Gaelscoil did in facilitating the location of the special school there. I certainly will talk to the Minister for education and see how we can progress this further. The Deputy is saying that the amenities and playing pitches the Gaelscoil has been enjoying are now under pressure because of the expansion of the special school. I presume there are plans afoot to provide a permanent premises for the special school. I will engage with the Minister in that regard.

Deputy Paul Lawless

Fresh statistics released to me regarding primary care services in Mayo are very concerning. Last year only 31 out of 150 Mayo children under five years of age received psychology support. During Covid, when the Taoiseach was Taoiseach, speech and language therapists across the country were redeployed to vaccination centres and for contact tracing. As a result of this, in Mayo in 2021, only 400 children were seen in primary care for speech and language therapy supports. To put that in context, generally there are thousands of children seen in Mayo. Does the Taoiseach accept in hindsight that this was a mistake? Does he accept that many children suffered during those years? Does he accept that there is still immense pressure in relation to primary care, CDNTs and children waiting for crucial therapies across Mayo and many other counties?

The Taoiseach

Covid was an emergency. Before we got vaccination, people were dying and the fundamental objective of Government was to protect life and then to protect livelihoods. That was it, and all the stops had to be pulled out to enable us to do that.

Deputy Paul Lawless

The children can wait.

The Taoiseach

I do not accept that five years on the Deputy can casually, at such remove, make such statements as he just made. If we did not get vaccination, and I presume the Deputy supports vaccination, we would have been in deep trouble and continuing trouble as a country, and more and more lives would have been lost.

Deputy Paul Lawless

And the children today?

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