They are indeed.

I thank both Deputies for their kind wishes. I appreciate them. In response to Deputy Sherlock, John, Billy and Auntie Alice O'Brien and all the Mitchelstown clan are very proud indeed of my appointment. I thank him for acknowledging them. I welcome the opportunity to outline the position on this matter. I have not had sight of the response the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, gave so I will outline my position, subject to revisiting it in due course. I look forward to engaging with the Deputies on the matter a…

I have listened with interest to the Members’ responses. I appreciate and understand the degree of frustration the Deputies and those they represent feel. I will take this away, read into it further and revert to them. The one point I will make is that I am told An Post engaged with the Department in April 2024 and again in June 2024 seeking approval for these increases. On that level, I am confused as to how this can be the same position as it was 12 months ago, considering there has been significant progress, or …

April and June 2024 are after 2023, not to state the obvious, so there has obviously been some progress in that time at least.

They have not been paid, but their paymaster has now engaged with the Department, which seems to be progress. They cannot be paid without someone asking for them to be paid and someone else approving that. There is a workflow and some of the steps, I am told, were only taken in April and June 2024.

That is since June 2024, when the question was received from An Post. I hear the Members' points. I am not abreast of the issue of the class D PRSI contributions, but perhaps the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys, could advise on that issue, which was raised by Deputy Duncan Smith. I understand there are frustrations and I share the Deputies' admiration of the post offices, An Post and the service they provide at every level. I will certainly read into this matter further and I hope to be of further …

Two out of four ain't bad.

Two out of three is even better.

The Tánaiste touched on the western Balkans. I commend my colleague Deputy Crowe. It is a very interesting proposal to broaden the pool. We have heard a lot of discussion this morning of bloodshed and slaughter in Gaza but we have not heard any reference yet this morning to the bloodshed, slaughter and territorial attacks that are happening in Ukraine. My question goes to the western Balkans, the legacy issue and of course the slaughter that took place there in the late 1990s, which was saved by the West, dare I sa…

I recall that in 2004 when Ireland held the EU Presidency, by chance I happened to be in Dublin Airport and saw the flags of the accession states as the EU enlarged massively along its eastern border. That was very positive - former Soviet bloc countries embracing democracy and the economic success of the EU. Enlargement generally has been positive. It is spreading the wings of the EU further afield. However, we have to treat carefully with the western Balkans. It is not a homogenous bloc. It has its own issues. I …

I appreciate that it is a delicate balance and that there is a degree of carrot and stick involved. Much as we want to reach out and reward those democratic initiatives that are in play in Serbia, elections which were questionable were contested before Christmas. Looking beyond the Balkans, places like Belarus have democratic oppositions that are in exile. Moldova is less problematic democratically but is economically turbulent. It often piggy-backs on Romania in order to get access to the EU. There is a massive be…

I will speak primarily as Chair of the justice committee, where this pact went through not long ago. On the procedural aspect, I have heard a constant refrain from many Deputies that not enough time was allowed to debate the matter. I heard the Taoiseach say yesterday on the Order of Business that every Member who wanted to speak on the matter or contribute to it would be permitted to do so. Deputy McGrath, who is still in the Chamber, called for a vote against that. I do not know whether he was voting against the …

How was it curtailed? The Deputy wandered out of the room without having spoken. He was in the room, he hung around for a while and then he wandered out of the room. The floor was open to him and he chose not to take up the opportunity. I am not responsible for what he chooses to do.

The Deputy might decide to characterise it any way he wants.

Indeed. The fact is the committee gave adequate time and completed its consideration only after all Members who wished to speak had spoken. I scanned the room a couple of times and even looked outside to see whether there was anyone else but there was not. That was why the committee finished its deliberation. There was no other reason.

I might need one to keep up with you, although that might be to your credit, given you are a busy man, as I know. I do not want to personalise this, but I do want to rebut very strongly any Member suggesting there was not adequate time, which is completely incorrect. On another point, this is not by any means the end of the debate on the pact. The next Dáil might feature a different government and who knows at what stage the pact will be taken on. Regardless of the vote, whenever it is taken, if the pact is to be e…

This is what I alluded to in my speech a few minutes ago. I am a bit like Deputy Ó Laoghaire; I am indifferent and neutral on this. If the Chief Whip says there should be more time afforded to the debate, I am all for that. At committee, we afforded more time. The time petered out and Deputies did not offer to contribute, so naturally the debate ran to a close. I want to be clear on what we are voting on. As I understand it, we are voting for more time to be allowed for the debate and the Members opposite are oppos…

They seem to be projecting their own conspiracies onto that and saying there is some ulterior motive. That is not appropriate.

Yes. I commend Deputy Smith on introducing the Bill. As an aside, the Ceann Comhairle has already referenced those watching from outside. It might be worth clarifying that though this Chamber is often sparse, many of us are watching diligently in our office, as I was five minutes ago when I saw this matter being raised by Deputy Smith. I made my way to the Chamber to speak on it. I was not aware the Bill was being debated, but it is useful for the public to be aware that many of us are doing our business diligently…

Criminal. It strikes me that there are a plethora of often overlapping and complex frameworks surrounding the capturing of images, be that video footage or stills, from the point of view of GDPR, the constitutional right to privacy, surveillance Acts and the interception of telecoms. We have had many such debates in the justice committee in recent times, not least on facial recognition technology which is now subject to separate legislation and before that we debated body cams for gardaí. When I introduced legislat…