I thank and acknowledge the ambassadors in the Gallery here today. I extend my solidarity to the people of Ukraine for all they have endured because of this invasion and aggression from Russia. The Irish people stand with the people of Ukraine and, on behalf of the Irish Labour Party, I say we stand with them as well.

I raise the issue of housing today and in particular, the issue of renters and supports for renters. We saw a new daft.ie report this morning, which shows that rents have increased by 4.4 % over the past year. There has been a 34% increase in rents compared to pre-pandemic levels. That is coupled with the Threshold report from last week, which showed that 10% of renters in the Republic of Ireland feel they are trapped in the rental sector and are not there by choice. Their aspiration is to have a home of their own. Unfortunately, the average house price is now over eight times an individual's annual salary. It is hard for people to save when they are renting. I ask we have a full discussion and debate on supports for renters with the Minister for housing.

Over the weekend, we saw a front page story in the Irish Examiner about the new student accommodation strategy, which is yet to be published. However, we are hearing soundings there may be a provision in that for college course hours to be curtailed or academic co-ordinators will be asked to change timetables to fit around the housing issue. My understanding from speaking with the Minister, Deputy Lawless, is that might not be part of the final strategy now. We need clarity on that; clarity for students and clarity for families and those working in our colleges as to what the story is and a timeline for the publication of the student accommodation strategy. It would be fitting for this House to have a debate on that strategy as well. It will be long awaited, no matter when it is published.

Before moving on to the substance of what I want to speak about, I acknowledge what Senator Nelson Murray spoke about, particularly the death of young Mia Lily Keogh O'Keeffe. We could add also the names of Conor Quinn, John Guy, Laura Hoy-Henry, Kathleen Cunningham and Brian Frisby and Grace Elliott. At the weekend, we lost no fewer than seven lives on Irish roads on an all-Ireland basis. That is seven lives too many. We are past the point where we do not declare what is happening on our roads a national crisis at this stage. We are tinkering with it when we look at the Road Safety Authority, RSA, and how we deal with it. There is an onus on and opportunity for this House to move and say exactly what we have. We have a crisis on our roads. It is not being addressed. There is a role for local authorities, which are being completely left out of the equation. We need to call it out for what it is, however, and it is a national crisis. I extend my sympathy to all those families who will have empty chairs and empty lives for the rest of their lives.

I need to address the debacle that was the special needs assistant, SNA, situation. I commend the Taoiseach and the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Moynihan, who it seemed were very much alone in coming out and trying to address it. We have now, thankfully, found €19 million to shore up the problem. We are very proud of SNAs in Fianna Fáil. We pioneered the concept and since 2020, we have had a 45% increase in the numbers. However, I am deeply troubled that this is the second major announcement the Department of education has botched. We saw earlier this year the capital plans for schools over the next two years, and large numbers of schools across the country that were expected to be included in it were omitted. I ask that the Minister for education comes in here and that we seek a review of that national plan that was announced. It was heavily influenced by mandarins within the Department of education and their ideas and what they wanted for education and was not influenced significantly by the Minister herself. It is indeed significant that we have had two Ministers for education within a ten-month period. It is a critical portfolio.

We also need to call for a review of that school building development plan.