I very much welcome the question raised on the historical and the cultural aspects. There are also trade aspects and how the State focused on trade with the US over the past 35 or 40 years. The Government now needs to focus on Canada and how it can get Canada to invest more here because of its access to the European market, but likewise so that we can export to Canada. We have already got that link as well with our third level institutions in that quite a number of students from Canada are studying in our third lev…

The Tánaiste recently met with the Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, in Washington. He might outline the progress that was made as a result of that meeting.

One of the problems we have with the US is that there is a view out there, especially in America, that it is a one-way street. America thinks that we have all the advantages in the sense that we export quite a large volume of goods, especially in the pharmaceutical area. The point the Tánaiste made that Irish companies have created over 200,000 jobs there indicates that it is very much a two-way process. We need to sell that message a bit more strongly. While we have the EU Presidency, which is not too far away, th…

How much progress has been made on expanding the list of goods which will be exempt from the 15% tariff? Has progress been made on the cost of visa applications and is there likely to be further progress made over the next two to three months?

This comes issue under the Department of Health. My question on whether consideration will be given to putting in place a shingles vaccination programme to be made available to people over 65 or to immunocompromised patients in view of the fact that shingles vaccination is recommended by NIAC for those over 65 and for those who are immunocompromised and aged between 18 and 65. Shingles vaccination is currently not available on the national immunisation programme. While the drug for shingles is approved, it is not a…

I fully accept the answer the Minister of State has given in the sense that cost-effectiveness is also an important issue in relation to any new medicine that is made available under the drugs payment scheme. What I am saying, however, is that I understand that after the decision of July 2024, there were further negotiations but, again, no progress was made. While there was a considerable cost reduction made by the pharmaceutical company, my understanding is that a decision was taken following the HTA not to approv…

I welcome the reduction in VAT from 13.5% to 9% in the building industry. I understand there is a technical issue, however. If a housing agency owns the land and engages a contractor to build apartments, the builder will have to collect 13.5% rather than 9%. This will have an adverse effect on a number of projects in the Taoiseach's constituency, with which he and I are familiar. The landowner engages with the contractor on a building contract. My understanding is that VAT is proposed on sales, not on construction.…

I can give the Taoiseach a copy of the letter.

I will be brief. I thank the Minister, the Department, the vets and all involved in this for all the work they are doing. One issue that has come to my attention is the additional compensation that is available. It is available on the basis that the total number of reactors is 9.5% or above. That is fine in a situation where it is 9.5% of 50 animals but if it is 9.5% of 300 animals and the number of reactors does not reach that even though there is a huge loss, for instance, 27 out of 300 animals, there are no addi…

The commission on generational renewal in farming has published its report. I ask the Minister what engagement the Department has had with relevant stakeholders on generational renewal policies and whether he will make a statement on the matter.

I thank the Minister. As he will be aware, the report clearly sets out that only something like 4% of farmers are under 35 and 37% are over 65. This means we have a major challenge. It is also about the demands of farming. In dairy farming especially it is a seven-day week and people are on call all the time. There are jobs outside the agricultural sector that are very attractive. Only 3% of CAP supports are going to young farmers and I think one of the recommendations is to push that as far as 8%. That is one simp…

I am a solicitor and if we go back 25 years there was a lot of succession planning, whereas I find the same level of planning is not there now. I am wondering how we can encourage that, talk openly about it and ensure there is a plan in place. In one case, in order to do a proper transfer of land we had to transfer the land to the daughters-in-law because that was the only way we could do proper planning in relation to transfer of land. We are not looking carefully enough at succession planning. There is also a pro…

I thank the Minister. It is accepted that the more people get out of their own homes and are involved in community activities makes a huge difference to their mental health. It is important we continue to promote that but it is important there is co-ordination between Departments as well, especially regarding the cultural area. The Minister mentioned the issue of nursing homes. One example of people getting involved is a group in my own constituency, Mayfield Men's Sheds, whose members visit two different nursing h…

I thank the Minister. I welcome the development that has occurred. The collaboration between the HSE, the Department of Health and the IPU is a welcome development. The agreement that has been reached shows that providing healthcare in the community is extremely important. Progress is being made in this area. Over recent years, pharmacies have been playing a greater role in providing healthcare. It is important for that to continue to grow. What has been agreed is safe, it is equitable and it is about efficient del…

Article 1 of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which came into effect in 1951, is very clear: "The Contracting Parties confirm that genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law which they undertake to prevent and to punish." It is now beyond question that Israel is guilty of committing war crimes in Gaza and that Israel is now committing the crime of genocide in Gaza. Senior Israeli politicians have no qualms expressing pu…

Will the Minister give an update on the progress of the M20 Limerick to Cork motorway project and make a statement on the matter?

The big challenge we have is the growth in businesses and in the number of people having to travel to work in Limerick, Mallow or Cork and the resulting huge volume of traffic on this road. The road was fine 50 years ago, in particular from Cork to Mallow and Mallow to the Limerick boundary, but it is now past its sell-by date. It is important that the project be expedited. For instance, I travel to Mallow to get a 6.05 a.m. train to Dublin on a Tuesday morning and at 5.30 a.m., the volume of traffic against me is …

-----because there is still indecision about the final route.

The Ryder Cup will take place in two years' time and work has already started on the roads there. It will have an effect on the area because a huge number of tourists will come to the country during that period. For them to see the road infrastructure without any evidence that we are trying to improve it will not be helpful. This issue needs to be prioritised because of the number of people who will travel to Ireland and to that region during that period.

It is amazing how the market changes. One issue that is now on the market is high puff count vaping devices. They have exploded onto the Irish market in a short period. They are known as carousel or click-on vape devices, but they are commonly known as “big puff”. While they do not breach existing laws because their tanks contain 2 ml of vape liquid, big puff disposable vapes are in clear breach of the spirit of existing legislation as they have supplementary tanks. It just goes to show how the market responds wher…