Matt Carthy
Cavan-Monaghan · Sinn Féin · Ireland
“I move amendment No. 1: To insert after "on 2nd July, 2026": "and: further calls on the Government to provide that the Accommodation Recognition Payment (ARP) scheme shall apply only to: — existing recipients with respect to the beneficiaries of temporary protection currently benefitting from the scheme where those beneficiaries of tempor…”
“10 reads, "In page 5, line 31, after “section 2” to insert “or section 3”." Section 3 criminalises recording, sharing or publishing an intimate image without consent where it seriously interferes with a person's privacy or causes alarm, distress or harm to them.”
“In terms of the legislation, as well as the breadth of the issues covered in the Bill, the other problem is the number of amendments the Minister has introduced on every Stage on new and unrelated matters that just have not been discussed in this House at all and will not get discussed here because of guillotines being applied and the Min…”
“It is not an additional punishment to be included on the register. As has been said, this is just about having a mechanism whereby the constitutional diktat that justice should be done in public is actually made available. This is not an additional punishment. It is actually a protection for others.”
“We must bear in mind that the vast majority of domestic violence offences and abuses never make their way to court. Most of them never result in a complaint. When complaints are made, most of them never see a file being sent to the DPP. Even when that happens, most of them never actually make it to court.”
“She made the point that when a woman, in the majority cases we are talking about women, goes to a Garda station to make a complaint about domestic violence you can virtually bet your life that it is not the first instance of domestic violence that she has encountered.”
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“This is a coasting budget on the part of the Government where its true colours come out regarding its affinity with workers and families who are struggling to make ends meet. The Government has made their lives much more difficult and I think that this budget is going to be a defining moment in the lifespan of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in government.”
“This has real consequences for people's energy bills and heating their homes, never mind the fact that they are getting no tax supports whatsoever and no other supports. By not providing for a cost-saving package for energy costs and by increasing costs through the carbon tax for people who rely on solid fuel home heating and who have to drive their cars to places, it means that all those families all over this State are actually going to be worse off this year than they were last year. Considering the promises that were made during the election campaign, promises that quite clearly mean nothing, the starkest thing that has been pointed out today - I think many people will see a real truth in it - is that the Government is taking a gamble here that people are going to forget this budget.”
“3 in respect of the VAT rate on gas and electricity and the maintenance of the 9% rate, of course this will be supported, I am sure, across the House. I would contend that it should be the very bare minimum. The Minister's introductory remarks set out in very stark terms to me precisely why so many people will be despondent tonight. She talked about inflation coming down and about the relatively high prices of gas and electricity. This shows again that the Government does not get it. I do not think the Government understands what it means for many people when the ESB bill or the gas bill comes through their letter boxes. Electricity prices are 70% higher than they were pre crisis. Gas prices are 100% higher. That is double where they were.”
“That is why Sinn Féin previously looked extensively at the suggestion of cutting VAT for specific construction sectors, including apartments. As Deputy Doherty outlined earlier, we were informed by officials that it would be costly, very difficult to administer, and would not actually move the dial on house prices. I do not think that would be a surprise to anyone. It would simply get pocketed by the developers. It would be very useful if the Government and the Department published the advice they have received and outline what they think the output of this new policy proposal will mean, other than a big dent in public finances that could be used to give people who are struggling at the coalface of the housing crisis some support. On Financial Resolution No.”
“I want to speak on Financial Resolution No. 4 very briefly and support the comments from Deputy Ó Broin that this just appears to be a rabbit out of a hat. It stands as one of those examples where Ministers and probably senior civil servants sitting around a room late last week realised they had done nothing in respect of housing and needed to provide some form of a fig leaf to suggest that they were actually going to do something to address the housing crisis that has got worse every year with this Government. Somebody decided to introduce another tax break for the people who had got plenty of tax breaks and who had yet to deliver affordable housing at the required scale. Every option and every policy proposal needs to be examined in detail in order to resolve the housing crisis and nothing should be ruled out just for the sake of it.”
“-----that I will not support a resolution that is making the lives of people more difficult for no purpose other than to serve a stated objective of the Government to give the appearance of doing something. The truth of the matter is that just like today's budget, this financial resolution is not in the interests of the people we were sent here to represent. It is, as I said, a vindictive measure on the part of Government.”
“I read through this exact debate from 12 months ago, from 1 October 2024, and I came across some very interesting comments: The increase in carbon tax today further exasperates everyone who has to use a car to go to work, increasing costs for lorries and commercial vehicles and the transporting of food, essential goods and supplies, and the transporting of agricultural products. Passenger bus hire and taxis will also be impacted. The carbon tax is also pricing vehicles off the road.”
“It is notable that the only real impact on smokers, for example, from the Government's budget announced today will actually be an increase in their cost of living. There was nothing in today's budget for workers and families who are absolutely crippled by the cost of living and, of course, from midnight tonight, they will see a rise in the cost of driving to work or driving their families in places they need to be, which is essential for anybody who does not have access to public services. Once again, carbon tax means that petrol and diesel prices are going to rise again. Therefore, rather than support families and workers with the cost of living, today's budget is actually going to make people's lives harder. That is particularly prevalent in constituencies like my own.”
“Therefore, when we look at what we should be doing to encourage people to quit smoking, there are better and more effective ways than taking this vindictive action against many people who desperately want to quit and who clearly are not being incentivised by the ever-increasing cost in a packet of cigarettes, but who need supports. That is why last year, for example, I spoke against the Government's decision to increase the cost of vapes and impose a new tax on vapes because, again, it was using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. We want to remove access to vapes from young people, in particular. We want to ensure that people who have never smoked, for example, do not use vapes. However, we should also be supporting mechanisms that actually provide people who are quitting cigarettes with a less dangerous option.”
“On Financial Resolution No. 1, it has got to the point where these increases in the cost of cigarettes are now just vindictive rather than serving any purpose. It certainly does not serve any health purpose. We know that for a number of years, there were substantial reductions in the number of smokers. That has begun to turn around despite the fact that over the past number of years, the price of cigarettes has increased by more than 34% until last year - I do not have the specific figure - taking these new figures into account. The Government's actions, apart from being vindictive, are also counterproductive. They are enticing and encouraging a growing black-market economy.”
“There must be a ceasefire, there must be the delivery of humanitarian aid and the world must finally demand that Israel stop its absolute barbarity.”
“People warned decades ago that the trajectory was leading to a genocide. Unfortunately, the horrendous events of 7 October were used as the excuse for Israel to carry out the genocide we are now witnessing live on our television screens. Whatever the world is doing in response is too little, too late. I genuinely hope and pray we are at the point where a ceasefire is immanent. I hope that humanitarian aid, food and water is making its way to the children, women and men of Gaza. The work for humankind will only begin on that day. I genuinely fear it will take as many decades as it took to reach this point to get to the point where future generations will forgive the world and all those political leaders who allowed it to get to this point. We must make a start today.”
“I have a genuine fear for the reverberations and scars Gaza will have on humanity for generations to come. International law has been rendered meaningless. The primacy of United Nations institutions has been decimated. We recalled many times in this House and across chambers all over the world the phrase "never again". It became the battle cry of humanity after the Holocaust. The phrase that will be used by generations to come in respect of what happened to Palestinians will be "too little, too late", because the making of what we have witnessed in Gaza in recent months has been coming for decades. Israel, repeatedly, for decade upon decade broke one international law after another when it engaged in occupation, annexation, illegal settlements and mass forced displacements.”
“If TDs are getting information from the NCSE that is turning out not to be actually what is happening, what are parents being told? That is a serious question. This particular issue needs to be addressed but we need to make sure there are no Sonnys out there who are being denied their school place because of incompetence - and that is what this is.”
“In all of the correspondence I receive from the NCSE, officials finished with this absolutely insulting line: "Schools are expected to operate within their existing allocation." There are two children in the school who both need a full-time SNA and there is one SNA. One of the children is going to miss out and at the moment it is Sonny because he is the newest child in the school. When I first started engaging with the NSCE on this particular issue, I thought the case was clear-cut and it was so blatantly obvious that this would be resolved fairly quickly. The fact that it is not concerns me. How many Sonnys are there the length and breadth of the State whose parents do not have the wherewithal or even the energy to knock on the door of their local TDs and have them do some of the fighting for them?”
“On 26 August, I received an email from the NCSE stating that it appreciated my follow-up correspondence and confirmed that the outcomes of all outstanding SNA reviews were due to issue to the school as soon as possible in the first week of September. Then we go on, waiting for the first week in September. No update arrived. On 9 September, indication was given to the school that the review was complete and that the school remained at one SNA. The school is back a number of weeks at that stage. Sonny could not go. This child had a full-time SNA in preschool and then it has essentially been withdrawn from him. Since then, we have been trying to raise these issues.”
“I thank the Minister of State. I sent the OT report to the NCSE on 9 June last year. I do not know whether that report had previously been submitted to the NCSE but I know mountains of documentation were submitted. Just to give a sense of this, after all the assurances that this was going to be dealt with in July, the email I received on 21 August stated: I appreciate your ongoing attention for the enclosed. Duly confirming as per recent correspondence to the school, all documentation and information relating to the SNA review for the school has been recorded by the NCSE and provided to the SNA review panel. No further application or information is required at this time. I had to respond to the NCSE to say I did not know what that meant and to ask what I was supposed to tell the family.”
“On 1 August, I got notice from the NCSE that the school's submission would have an outcome likely next month. On 11 August, the family was contacted by a Fine Gael representative, not by the NCSE, to tell them the appeal had been unsuccessful. It took until 12 August for that to be officially notified to the school by the NCSE. Correspondence was ongoing constantly with the NCSE. On 20 August, I sought, on behalf of Sonny's family, an urgent meeting with the NCSE-----”
“I indicated there was substantial evidence to say Sonny required one-on-one supervision and an assistant and would need a full-time SNA. I received an acknowledgement from the NCSE. A couple of days later I sent it the occupational therapist, OT, assessment that had been carried out, again stating the need categorically. On 19 June, I had reason to meet NCSE officials and provided additional substantive documentation. I later sent correspondence from the school, with the permission of the other child's parents, that showed that child needed a full-time SNA. On 9 July, I received an email from the NCSE which referred to my previous correspondence. I am sorry; it was on 14 July the NCSE confirmed an appeal had been received and an outcome would issue before the end of July. On 25 July, I asked whether there was any update on that.”
“That was not her view and she would say she did not like having to come to that view, but it was the view she had received from the professionals who had dealt with Sonny. She contacted me in June. It is October today and from last November she had been engaged with the NCSE. In June, she told me the NCSE had been in touch with the school and the likely decision was the school would be asked to split the one SNA it currently has between two children and that simply was not possible. I will give an outline of how frustrating this must be for parents because it has been frustrating for me as an elected representative who deals with official bodies all the time. I contacted the NCSE immediately after that. That is going back to 6 June.”
“Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. I thank him for being here. We mentioned during our Private Members' business debate the other week that many families are being left in complete distress as a result of what I consider, being kind, the inefficiencies within the NCSE. A fortnight ago I raised the case of Sonny McElvaney from my constituency with the Minister of State. He is a young boy who has significant additional needs. He has made huge progress, more than anybody would ever have envisaged, largely due to the efforts of his parents, especially his mother. His mother is very proactive. She engaged with the NCSE last November to inform its officials that her child would be attending school, to identify the school of choice and to state categorically the child would not be able to attend school unless he had one-on-one SNA support.”
“The problem is particularly acute in constituencies like my own and that of the Leas-Cheann Comhairle, where people do not have public transport and so have no option but to drive to their place of work. On top of high insurance costs, they are also fleeced by the high cost of petrol and diesel. Households, motorists, businesses and community groups need action on insurance costs. The rip-off cannot be allowed to go on any longer. Rather than looking for credit, I contend that the Minister of State needs to look for answers. The answers have been produced by Deputy Doherty. I would take his advice if I were the Minister of State.”
“I note the Minister of State's big complaint is that Sinn Féin is not giving him credit. Insurance costs have risen at a rate four times higher than that of general inflation, which is itself too high. The Minister of State should be asking himself why his Government has not taken meaningful action to address these issues despite the extensive evidence that previous reforms made with the stated purpose of reducing insurance costs clearly have not resulted in savings being passed on to consumers. People are now being hit on the double. They cannot afford their insurance premiums and therefore have to pay on a monthly basis. Like those who are forced to pay their motor tax periodically rather than annually, they are hit on a secondary level.”
“Tá praghsanna árachais ró-ard agus níl aon rud déanta ag an Rialtas chun é seo a réiteach. The Government has completely failed to address the cost-of-living crisis. In fact, it seems to be in absolute denial that families and workers are going through a cost-of-living crisis with regard to energy costs, grocery costs, general housing costs and particularly the costs associated with having no choice but to drive a car to work, to school or wherever the case may be. Not only has Government failed to introduce measures to support such workers and families, but it has actually made their lives harder by increasing the cost of petrol and diesel, which it bizarrely intends to do again in a number of weeks. The Government has paid lip service to demands for action in respect of insurance costs.”
“I would appreciate it if the Minister could outline whether he intends to bring such a proposal forward in the context of budget 2026.”
“The case to which I refer was taken by a man who, despite having received very serious life-changing injuries and a loss of earnings, received just €645 in compensation four years after a violent assault. While there is a broad agreement that the scheme needs to be properly funded and placed on a statutory basis, it is disappointing that the Minister indicated to that justice committee that this might not happen this year or even next year. That is not good enough, and it is also not good enough to say, as was said at the committee, that people will eventually get their money. Of course, that is the very minimum they should be entitled to but we also need to get to a point where the Minister is in a position to make a commitment that this scheme will be properly funded for 2026.”
“The Minister admitted during the discussion on the Revised Estimates at the committee in June that the fund gets exhausted early in the year, with people who endured serious injuries forced to wait until the following year for compensation in respect of serious and life-changing criminal injuries. We welcome the additional allocation in the Revised Estimate today, but the scheme needs to be reformed, put on a statutory basis and properly funded. The Minister referred to the case of Blanco v. Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal, and the implications of that case with regard to what victims of crime can be compensated for. Arising from the case in question, a number of other cases have been referred to the Criminal Courts of Justice and a response is due in the coming months.”
“Recommendation 22 in the report to which I refer that report states: An immediate review of the Legal Aid Board's capacity to administer the current Civil Legal Aid Scheme should be conducted by the Department ... in consultation with the Legal Aid Board. The report recommends that this review should examine the Legal Aid Board's ability to recruit and retain in-house solicitors and sufficient external expertise and look at the salaries of current and future in-house solicitors, private practitioner fees and counsel fees. Has the review been initiated? If not, why? The Minister will recall that I have raised with him on a number of occasions the issue of the adequacy of the criminal injuries compensation scheme and the lack of progress with putting it on a statutory footing.”
“There needs to be urgent action regarding the fact that many people - and I am particularly talking about women trying to get barring orders in respect of abusive partners - are unable to secure civil legal aid representation. That is because of the level of the fees that are paid, which has remained unchanged since 2012, and the structure as to how those fees are paid. This has resulted in a situation that I brought to the attention of the House previously whereby those who have been granted civil legal aid certificates cannot find solicitors to represent them because fewer solicitors are taking on this work. The impact of this is that some people who are trying desperately to escape domestic violence situations are locked out of access to civil legal aid. That is unacceptable.”
“I am aware the Minister has a large number of items on his agenda; however, I would put it to him that many things are still taking far too long to sort out. While there is an increase in these further Revised Estimates with regard to criminal legal aid, nothing has been done to sort out the crisis with respect to access to civil legal aid. I welcome the publication of the review of civil legal aid, but it should not have taken three years to complete. I have also welcomed proposals to increase eligibility thresholds though there are now serious questions about whether what is proposed is adequate. While implementation of many of the recommendations in that report will take some time, there are things the Minister needs to do without further delay.”
“The Minister mentioned at the committee that there is now a rate card with regard to what will be paid for IPAS accommodation. He also signalled that this will not be made public. I am strongly of the view that the lack of transparency that was at the heart of spending on IPAS accommodation allowed that system to get out of hand. There needs to be more transparency and accountability. There also needs to be engagement with communities with regard to the location of IPAS accommodation. That includes cases such as the purchase of the City West Hotel, where State-run facilities are being developed. We all support the concept of State-run facilities, but that does not mean we neglect our responsibilities to engage with communities on matters that affect them.”
“The Minister argues that contracts were signed under pressure due to the number of those in need of accommodation in the IPAS system at that stage. However, I contend very strongly that this does not remove us from the responsibility to ensure there is accountability and probity in how public money is and was spent. People have become millionaires through the provision of IPAS accommodation and have built companies solely for this purpose. We have to ask how companies secured contracts for what were sometimes eye-watering amounts, including where they had little or no record in the provision of such services. While the Minister argues that he is making changes, the reality is that a record figure of more than €120 million was paid for IPAS accommodation in July alone. That is the latest month for which figures are available.”
“These Revised Estimates relate to several matters, including costs associated with international protection accommodation and the purchase of the Citywest Hotel, funding for criminal legal aid, and the criminal injuries compensation scheme agus ba mhaith liom aghaidh a thabhairt ar roinnt de na sean áiseanna seo. While the justice committee had a very constructive engagement with the Minister yesterday, it should be put on the record that there is a long way to go in addressing the costs associated with the provision of IPAS accommodation. Tá go leor ceisteanna le freagairt fós agus tá an iomarca airgid á caitheamh fós. There needs to be a thorough examination of previous IPAS contracts signed.”
“In a follow-up or supplementary, could the Minister of State give an indication, if she has it, with regard to the number of vacancies that are currently outstanding in Cavan and Monaghan? The figures I have, dating back to spring of this year, show that in Monaghan there were just under ten outstanding vacancies and in Cavan, it was over 12. If the Minister of State has those up-to-date figures I would appreciate them, or, if not, she could follow up in writing with them.”
“I appreciate the Minister of State indicating that she would get that additional information. It might give her a sense of the challenges we have sometimes in actually getting information from the CDNTs. I thank the Minister of State for that and I note what she said with regard to staff recruitment and the need to recruit additional staff and fill vacancies. There is also a big piece of work to be done in retaining the staff that we have. I often comment that probably the most difficult job is for those staff operating within the CDNT, obviously in very stressed conditions. Naturally, they are probably getting the ire of the families who have waited a long time to get them.”
“Does the Minister of State have more detail on those figures so that we can have a better sense of the delays that are there?”
“The Minister of State has outlined that 41 children have been waiting up to three months but, if I am correct, she also said that 334 are waiting over three months. The question itself was fairly specific in asking for more detail with regard to those figures. I wonder if the Minister of State has that data for three to six months, six to 12 months and over a year. From dealing with a number of families in Cavan and Monaghan, which are two distinct CDNTs, I know that in some cases the wait is inordinate, with difficulties in getting initial meetings and then difficulties in accessing occupational therapy, speech and language therapy and physiotherapy after that. In many ways the initial contact is just the beginning of a very hard journey the families have to go through.”
“The Minister will acknowledge that one of the more difficult parts of our job is dealing with the families of children waiting to access children's disability network team services. My question relates to CDNTs in Cavan and Monaghan. How many children are waiting to access those services for up to three months, from three to six months, up to 12 months and greater than one year?”
“In my last five seconds I make an appeal that has been made several times today, which is that we deal with the issue of drivers over the age of 70 who are medically fit to drive buses. They want to drive school buses and they should be permitted to do so.”
“We are engaging with Bus Éireann to try to get that rerouted or at least to get some mechanism to accommodate those children. The fear I have is we might ultimately be successful but it might be next year. As elected representatives, there is always a fear when somebody brings road safety concerns to our attention. We should have a mechanism through which those concerns can be addressed as quickly as possible. The difficulties are compounded by the fact it is often very difficult for us as elected representatives, never mind the families concerned, to get responses from Bus Éireann. It is quite clear there are not enough support staff in the company to respond to queries from the public and elected representatives. I am sure it is a very stressful job for those individuals who have to deal with it.”
“The irony is not lost on people in rural constituencies like my own that we spend so much time lecturing – I will use that term – people about using their car that we have families in counties like Monaghan who are forced to put their children into their car every morning and drive behind the school bus to the exact same place because they have been denied a place on that bus. The other issue that needs to be addressed is the length of time and the bureaucracy when it comes to school bus routes that need to be changed due primarily to demographic changes like new children in areas or for road safety reasons. I am dealing with a number of cases in parishes neighbouring my own where children from one road, which is a very rural, local road, all have to track down to a much busier regional road in the dark hours of the morning.”
“Let us call a spade a spade; concessionary ticket holders are students who need a school bus place and whether they get it is a matter, essentially, of somebody’s generosity. This is despite the fact the school transport review, which was delayed for virtually two years, set very clear recommendations on reducing the distance for which students would be eligible. Some little bit of flexibility on the nearest school principle would ensure people are able to secure transport for their children. It should be an absolute principle and a goal of this House that every child who needs a school bus should get a seat on that bus.”
“Whoever secures such an important contract as our school bus routes has a responsibility to ensure the requisite number of buses, the right sizes of buses and the right number of drivers are in place long before the school year commences. There is a number of distinct issues in terms of the dysfunction that affects these services. It is a minority of them but when it affects your family it is all that is important. The first is obviously the students who are eligible for school transport, have applied on time and paid on time only to find the bus is not in place. There should be a zero tolerance approach to situations like that. I would be saying to Bus Éireann and operators if they secure the contract that they just have to do that and we should be really robust. Then there is the issue of so-called concessionary tickets.”
“Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. We have a new school year and a new Minister in place, but we have had the same old school transport chaos. In my constituency office, it is just part of what we do in the latter part of every August and in September. We deal with families who are absolutely distraught because their entire back to school plans have been thrown up in the air because of a last-minute email from Bus Éireann telling them the school bus place that was paid for and booked back in April in most instances is not actually in place. It is not good enough and the Minister of State’s Department needs to be much firmer with Bus Éireann on the service and planning that goes into providing this transport.”
“Policies that lead to resentment and unfairness must stop and that includes the accommodation recognition payment, which provides a non-means-tested housing support to one set of people that is not available to others equally in need of housing. As this State grapples with the ongoing crisis in housing and with public services under pressure, the need for better planning across all aspects of housing policy, including ensuring that immigration is managed, has never been more urgent. Sinn Féin will continue to set out our proposals in this regard, guided by our anti-racist principles and determined to ensure migration to Ireland is managed in a way that enriches our country and those who come to our country. That is where we need to go.”
“The Government's handling of migration has been an inexcusable disaster. Through its failures, it has let down those who have come here and it has let down existing communities, many of whom have been left feeling voiceless. At the heart of Sinn Féin's approach to migration is our belief that the State has an obligation to manage immigration, not just to allow it to be set by market forces. We believe that at every level, the system has to be clear, fair and transparent with rules that are enforced. The gross profiteering and enrichment of individuals who have become millionaires due to Government incompetence must be stamped out. In the provision of IPAS and Ukrainian accommodation, communities must have a say in what is happening in their areas. There must be proper support for integration and to tackle racism.”
“The Irish Dental Association has called on the Government to limit the number of non-EEA students because it is having an impact in terms of the shortage of dentists across society. Immigration must be managed and that should not be a controversial thing to say. States all over the world, including those with left-wing governments, unapologetically set the rules for entry into their countries and then enforce those rules. The truth is that in Ireland, economic migration has been guided only by the needs of corporations without consideration of other important social goals. It is absolutely logical and sensible - in fact, it is crucial - that issues related to low pay, downward pressure on jobs and the availability of housing is considered when deciding the number of employment and student residency permits issued each year.”
“It is grossly irresponsible to encourage increased numbers of international students, including English language students, to come here at a time the Government has created a crisis in student accommodation provision. What results from this is the exploitation of those students who come here, who then often find themselves jammed into overcrowded and inappropriate accommodation while working in low-paid, precarious jobs. We have to examine the number of international students coming to Ireland as part of the overall management of migration. We also have to address the situation where more student places are being put aside for international students simply because of the underfunding of universities. This is having consequences in a number of areas.”
“The fact is that to date, there has been no Government analysis of the impact of any form of economic migration on accommodation or services, and that includes student permits. Universities, which are starved of funding, have become increasingly over-reliant on overseas students because they are paying much higher student fees. Other private colleges, we know, have been created solely for the purposes of making profits from international students. Some other businesses facing ever-increasing costs themselves have become dependent on low-paid, non-unionised workers, including those here on student visas who can work part time. Managing immigration means that careful consideration must be given to a balance of factors with respect to the numbers of work permits and student permits that are issued.”
“During the summer recess there was at last some recognition from the Government that, as I and Sinn Féin have long argued, the scheme is having an adverse impact on the private rental sector. If the Minister finally accepts this is the case, then surely he will also accept that the scheme has to be limited to those currently availing of it who actually satisfy a means test; that it is limited to those who are housing Ukrainians in their homes, very laudably, but not using houses that should be on the private rental market; and that the practice of top-up payments to hosts should also be banned. The Minister referenced international students, and again, the approach to stamp 2 student visas is symptomatic of the Government's hands-off approach to the management of immigration.”