I welcome the encouraging news earlier this week that the young girl and her carer who were viciously attacked in the north inner city on Parnell Square over a week ago are making a good recovery. I want to wish them well and wish their families well. I hope they make a full recovery soon and that the young girl is at home for Santa visiting this Christmas. I absolutely and utterly condemn the opportunistic politicking by Opposition TDs on this issue. Their exploitation of the north inner city for the sole purpose of promoting their own political ambitions is disgusting and should be rejected by every right-minded person.

I welcome the news that the Government is in the process of considering increasing funding to the Land Development Agency. The reports are that the Government is considering increasing the funding by a further €3 billion to increase the delivery of homes by an additional 6,000 over the next two to three years. Yesterday I was out in Shanganagh, a Land Development Agency site, where almost 600 homes are being developed. One of the initiatives this Government has taken to increase the supply and affordability of homes is to use State-owned lands to reduce the cost and increase the delivery. In Shanganagh, there are almost 600 homes being delivered. This is public land being used to deliver public housing with a mixture of private, social, affordable purchase and affordable cost rental. That is to be welcomed. All in this House should support the Government's initiative to increase the funding to the Land Development Agency and increase the delivery of social and affordable homes on public lands.

I would also raise another critical issue. I take no joy in doing this but I am a former member of Dublin City Council. For years, I have been raising the issue of Dublin City Council's mismanagement of planning and housing delivery in the city and particularly in the north inner city. Finally, The Irish Times caught up with me last weekend and reported on the overconcentration of emergency accommodation in the north inner city. It is an issue I put on the agenda of the joint committee on housing two years ago. It is an issue which the committee completely and unanimously agreed with me on. Dublin City Council has presided over and funded the ghettoisation of parts of our city. It has to be called out on it and the Minister needs to hold the local authority to account on this issue. A new CEO is to be appointed. That CEO must give a commitment to undo that ghettoisation, to increase and accelerate the regeneration projects in the north inner city and to deliver affordable housing.

I hope the Cathaoirleach will indulge me for one moment. It is my very proud honour to welcome the boys and girls from Rutland National School, directly from the north inner city. They are just coming into the Gallery. These are among the finest and brightest boys and girls – they can all stand up – from Dublin's north inner city. They are here with their teacher. It was my great pleasure to meet their student council. My God, what an effective student council they have.

These are great boys and girls. They are a great example to the city and the country. They are very welcome here today. Thanks a million. Gabhaim buíochas.

The students can all suí síos arís. Cuirim fíorfháilte roimh na daltaí as Rutland National School in honour of the visit of the school and in recognition of the good work of Senator Fitzpatrick. On behalf of the Seanad, Senator Fitzpatrick and myself, I thank the school for the student council leadership and for its great work. May I, on our own behalf, offer that the students not have any homework tonight to celebrate their being in Leinster House? This is also in recognition of the fact that in a couple of weeks' time there will be a very important visitor to the pupils' homes. That visitor sent me a message with Senator Fitzpatrick this morning, which is that they must be on best behaviour for the next couple of weeks. I am sure they know who I am talking about. The children are very welcome. I call Senator Keogan.

I thank the Cathaoirleach and join with him in welcoming the children here this morning. I hope you enjoy your visit to your House today.

I am calling for a debate with the Minister for Justice on the exchanges between An Garda Síochána, X and Coimisiún na Meán regarding the protests and riots in Dublin city centre on Thursday, 23 November. Addressing the Dáil on 29 November, the Minister stated that she had spoken to a detective from Pearse Street on the previous Saturday who was actively engaged with the social media companies, including TikTok, Instagram and Facebook-Meta, on Thursday, 23 November. She said that TikTok and Meta had responded by taking down posts about the stabbing and the fallout but that X did not engage and did not adhere to its own community standards. Coimisiún na Meán was established in order to make sure that these companies are held responsible. X's global government affairs team said on Monday that what the Minister said is inaccurate and stated that it had, in the context of its own rules, taken a proactive stance and removed more than 1,230 pieces of content relating to the riots. It stated:

We met with the Coimisiún na Meán on November 24 to discuss our response. The Gardai did not make any formal requests to us until late Monday 27th November. We responded promptly.

The only appeal we have received from the Gardai relating to the enforcement of our rules is for a single post.

We hope the Minister will clarify her remarks.

Obviously, these statements are mutually exclusive. Either the Pearse Street detective was actively engaged with X and was, ergo, able to report that X did not engage, or X's global government affairs team is right in stating that the Garda did not make any formal request to it until late on Monday, 27 November.

The Houses of Oireachtas and the people of Ireland deserve to know the truth of the situation. I understand that the Department of Justice press office offered the following response yesterday when asked about this apparent contradiction, when it stated:

Minister McEntee was relaying concerns directly raised with her by frontline Gardaí who were working on the day of the riots.

The Minister will continue to engage with An Garda Síochána on these matters, and looks forward to directly engaging with X.

Here, the Minister's claims are not restated. Looking in from the outside, one could be forgiven for thinking that the singling out of X by the Minister might have something to do with Elon Musk's outspoken criticism of her Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill and that she was engaged in the type of political-----

Come on.

Senator Keogan, without interruption, please.

-----point-scoring that she so vocally detests when it comes to Sinn Féin. There is no way to know for sure without a debate on the issue, which I am calling for this morning. I am delighted to hear that the young child is making a recovery.