There is another fundamental issue, which is that 17 other Bills are due for a hearing and it is not possible. What would we say to the originators of the 17 other Bills as to why-----

As I said, I have no objection to the ordering of the business of the House. It is an issue for the Business Committee. I would quite happily welcome further debate on this critical issue and it is critical to review what is happening with regard to the numbers. Have we seen a spike in evictions? Is the mechanism for those who face eviction because of financial circumstances due to Covid providing the right protection? I would welcome that debate. It is a matter for the Business Committee to manage the ordering of …

-----with the Bills Office.

We all have the terrible ritual of watching the numbers at 6 o'clock every day. A couple of weeks ago, having been informed by Ronan Glynn that Louth was of particular concern, I looked at the sectoral area and there was a particular problem in Carlingford and north Dundalk. I have friends in the area so I look out for it and keep an eye on it with real concern. Every day if the Louth numbers have not gone up, I hope it will manage not to have the difficulties we have had in Dublin, Donegal or elsewhere and I hope …

I will absolutely commit to the Deputy and any other Deputy that the 700 new workers who will work in community centres, home based testing and outbreak testing will be fairly distributed throughout the country.

It has to be fairly-----

They have to be fairly distributed throughout the country-----

-----because every Deputy here, I am sure, will want it to be done on the basis of public health advice and science-----

-----with regard to where we need testers and how they should-----

I am the first to acknowledge there are areas of the country that we have to address. The HSE is best placed to make that call.

My apologies.

I am glad to say it is still my area of responsibility. It is within the Department. I am also glad to say that something we have seen in recent years is a turnaround in An Post whereby the company is starting to grow again. The company is introducing new services. Only three weeks ago, I helped it launch a new scheme to help people save energy in their homes.

It is working with an energy company and providing the finance. It is opening up a range of new financial instruments. Yesterday, Deputy Moynihan gave me an example from north-west Cork where a local post office sought to introduce a community work hub centre in the post office to see whether it was a way of attracting business. We need to use the post offices as centres for Government services and a range of new financial services and other services. We are committed to doing this.

We are seeing the expansion of An Post into areas such as parcel delivery, financial services and other areas. I am confident this will lead to growing new business. It will be different and it will not stay the same. We will not retain the mail or other systems as people move on. There is a future for the Irish post office system and the network.

I will start with the issue of next year's leaving certificate students. It is clear that everyone's preference would have been to have sat the leaving certificate this year but it was not possible. That was the decision that was made. One thing the Government is saying about the pandemic is that we will keep the schools open. It is critical for the mental health and development of our children that we will do whatever it takes to do this. In these circumstances, the message to the upcoming leaving certificate stud…

Maybe I could have a supplementary.

Cork was the first real scare place in my memory of this back last spring. There was an instance in Cork where it started up. I remember talking to some of the medics in Cork who were really expecting to be hit the worst. In truth, Cork over the subsequent several months, had a much lower incidence compared to the rest of the country. That has changed in recent weeks in Cork city but it may, thankfully, not be the case in parts of the county. We all have to be vigilant. One of the reasons the Government set up this…

The Government is working together collectively. I had a long conversation with the Minister, Deputy Harris, this morning to get every detail from him as to what will happen with the CAO and application points. I had the officials of the Minister for Education and Skills brief me at length. Over the past few days, our various teams have been fully briefed and informed. The Cabinet comes to discuss something when there is a decision to be made. Sometimes it is appropriate to get the proper information, as well as al…

I agree with the Deputy that St. John of God Community Services does vital work and provided a significant service to a large number of people over the years. It has given 12 months' notice. It is a serious issue and I am happy to provide a note to the Deputy with background information. St. John of God Community Services, part of the St. John of God Hospitaller Services Group, provides a range of invaluable services and supports to more than 2,400 children and adults with intellectual disabilities and 5,000 childr…

No one here is saying that everything in school transport is working perfectly. It clearly is not. The case of the child recovering from an illness is difficult. If the Deputy provides me with the details, we can look at the specific case. We were not able to adjust the actual system in the timeline for the return to school and the public health side of it. It was working because there had not been a spike or an increase in infections due to the return to schools. The first real concern was keeping our schoolchildr…