On a point of order, the Taoiseach has refused to answer the question.

He will not give the date.

We are heading into the Christmas period. Airport testing is a real issue for me. The aviation taskforce recommended testing at our airports in July but, as the Taoiseach will know, it has been left to the private sector to provide it. The State has not stepped in. We now have a fairly small testing capacity being outlined for our national airports. It is clear that the contact locator forms are a joke. Has a risk analysis been carried out in regard to the lack of proposed testing facilities that will be available …

My colleague, Deputy Ó Ríordáin, proposed earlier this week that consideration be given to closing the schools a little earlier this Christmas. It is something the Government should consider seriously. Most schools will close with a half day on either Monday, 21 December or Tuesday, 22 December. I do not believe it will make a massive difference if they were closed on Friday, 18 December, in the run up to Christmas. It is a day and a half for half of the schools and a half day for the others. It could potentially b…

I wish to raise a specific issue that my colleagues, Deputies Howlin and Nash, have raised concerning the Bill on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union. The Department of Finance has proposed an amendment that would raise the minimum expenditure required to qualify for the VAT retail export scheme, which is basically tax-free shopping, from zero to €175. This means that in order to qualify for a tax-free rebate, a tourist will have to spend at least €175. This is against all trends in other j…

It used to be zero.

It seems to me that-----

I note the Taoiseach's statement earlier and I was surprised by it. The reason I was surprised was that the Taoiseach asked all leaders to come together last Friday. We all came together as an Oireachtas because this was not meant to be a Government versus Opposition issue but the Government has now issued a statement. However, the Government members are also Members of the Oireachtas. The Oireachtas is going to have to take decisions on this issue. Rather than acting as he has done, it would have been polite and a…

I do not know the Taoiseach's position, because all I did was read it in the media.

That is nothing to do with the separation of powers.

The separation of powers is being misused by the Taoiseach's Government across a whole range of things, and he damn well knows it.

The separation of powers works both ways.

We must hold the Government to account for its decision-making as well. We will have another discussion on that issue later. Why did the Taoiseach not meet the other leaders before he did this?

Rubbish.

I accept that.

No one is arguing about that.

I do not believe the Taoiseach has any choice in moral terms but to ask the Minister, Deputy McEntee, to come in here. It is not that long ago that the Taoiseach dismissed a Minister because - he said at the time - the Minister was refusing to come into the Dáil to answer questions. This is complete hypocrisy.

I accept they are different issues. This is a far more serious issue in my opinion. It seems the Taoiseach is the first Taoiseach in the history of this State not to be consulted in any way in regard to the appointment of a Supreme Court judge. Some taoisigh may only get to do this once but the current Taoiseach had no role, hand, act or part in it. What was said to him during the programme for Government negotiations, in which there were two parties along with an acting part of a Government negotiating to get into…

That is the Taoiseach's job.

Rubbish. Absolute rubbish.