I would like to thank all of the staff in the Oireachtas for their outstanding work throughout the year. I also wish the Tánaiste, the Leas Ceann Comhairle and all of our colleagues a very happy Christmas and peaceful, prosperous new year.

This Christmas some people will be lucky enough to get visits from relatives flying in but many will not and will just have to make do with video calls from Australia, Dubai, Canada and so on. Given staff shortages in Dublin hospitals, Garda stations and schools, why do we not have a Dublin allowance for key workers? Nurses, teachers and gardaí are struggling under the weight of rent and living costs that are far higher here than elsewhere in the country. That is why they go abroad and stay abroad. London has recognised this reality with a weighting allowance and it has been shown to work. We could have a modest enough Dublin allowance, with discounted rent schemes and an expanded, specific affordable housing scheme for essential workers. Why has this not been done yet? When will the Government act to keep some of our best and brightest at home, not just for Christmas but throughout the year?

I thank the Deputy for making the effort today with his Christmas jumper and for injecting a degree of Christmas cheer into this place. I wish him, his family, colleagues and staff a very happy Christmas too.

The factual answer in relation to a Dublin allowance is that all of these issues are matters for pay agreements. It is for the unions and the Government side to bring proposals to the table. While I tend not to comment on public pay policy outside of those agreements, I would just say, as a Wicklow TD, that one of the reasons that I often hear pushback is that if one lives on the border of where an allowance is in place, it all of a sudden becomes a lot more attractive to be a teacher in Dublin than in Kildare, for example, represented by the Minister, Deputy James Lawless, or Wicklow. That is just a detail in terms of how we grapple with these things but what we are considering, and what we are committing to, is helping to provide housing for key staff, starting in Dublin. Some work has been done on that. For example, hospitals have land banks and partnering with the likes of the LDA could provide opportunities to assist with housing pressures for key workers, starting with our capital city. Any allowances are a matter for public sector pay talks.