Hear, hear.

I thank my colleague, the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, for designating the Minister of State, Deputy Fleming, to answer this question. I am grateful for that. Firhouse Educate Together post-primary school is to cater for 1,000 pupils, and it may be the only such school planned for my constituency. I welcome the efforts made by officials, management, staff and all the stakeholders in securing a site for a much-needed permanent home for this school, which will house 1,000 pupils when it is complete. A formal…

I am very grateful for that empathetic response which grasps the hurt and upset that has been caused. I ask the Minister of State to relay to the Minister my belief that steps need to be taken quickly to begin communications between both schools. Both have been left in the lurch to some degree and the communications deficits have hurt them. If Firhouse ETSS is to be accommodated on site in Firhouse Community College for one academic year, it is important that channels of communication between management and between…

I refer to the well-worn phrase from our generation that children should be seen and not heard. While we do not associate that with the modern generation and age group 18 to 25, it seems to be very embedded still culturally. Forced to lockdown down like the rest of us, this group was treated equally in that sense even though they had least to fear. Having done that, they are last among equals when it comes to the administration of vaccines. They accept that or we, at least, think they accept that because nobody see…

I understand that Deputy Griffin wishes to contribute on this matter.

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for facilitating me in taking this question for my colleague, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, who has responsibilities elsewhere this week. The question relates to whether public expenditure for this year is within profile. Will the Minister give us a picture of below-profile spending and some of the reasons behind it, if he has been able to garner them at this stage?

I thank the Minister for his response. I also thank him, on behalf of my constituents, for his capable and prudent management of his responsibilities in respect of public expenditure. We all know the enormous resources that have been devoted to supporting people, their jobs and businesses over the past 15 months. There is not a constituency that has not been impacted positively. I have heard very positive feedback, particularly from businesses in relation to Government supports and how they helped them to survive. …

From this vantage point, how does the Minister envisage this playing out until the end of the year? Will Departments meet their spending targets? If not, how will those moneys be used? Will they be transferred to other capital projects, for example? To date this year, the underspend in the Minister's Department is 11%. Can he paint a picture of how he thinks the figures will look at the end of the year?

I served on the budgetary oversight committee in the previous Dáil. One of the outcomes of that was a positive recognition of and acceptance for the need for equality budgeting. What is the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform pursuing specifically in the area of equality budgeting?

That is a comprehensive answer. I liked the reference made. We all knew that initially equality budgeting related to gender and it then spread out to areas like disability. Interestingly, this morning at the Committee on Budgetary Oversight, we had an interesting paper from the OECD which referred to some of our tax incentives around the area of climate action. Retrofitting and even the incentives for the purchase of e-cars are actually quite regressive. This is a view I have heard for a while, namely, that many of…

An idea that came up this morning about fuel allowance concerned the State or local authorities getting involved. In South Dublin County Council, there are 10,000 housing social homes. If the State got involved in the bulk purchase of energy for those homes, such as gas and electricity, it could result in a significant reduction in energy costs and offset the need to provide any kind of fuel allowance. Similarly, one of the suggestions that would also have a very wide-ranging impact would be if the State or local a…

The next question is in the name of Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan but he is tied up with a committee vote.

I think that Deputy Connolly is the only Deputy in the Chamber in whose name this question was submitted.

The other Deputies are not here, so I will be relatively relaxed. The clock is ticking.

Deputy Calleary is indicating.

Was Deputy Carroll MacNeill indicating?

That was not communicated to me, to make that clear.

I thank the Deputy for that. I call the Minister in response to Deputy Conway-Walsh.

Question No. 125 is in the name of Deputy Creed and is being taken by Deputy Carroll MacNeill.

I will come back to the Minister of State in a moment.