I will have to check with the Tánaiste before informing the Deputy of the exact up-to-date position. This is something that is in development and under discussion at the moment. We are already a part of the European Peace Facility. We already contribute to it and that money is used to help Ukraine in the war effort but we have said specifically that we will not allow our contribution to be used for offensive weapons. We are happy to contribute to the fund when it comes to medical equipment, armour, rations and defe…

I appreciate this is a real problem. It is coming up in my constituency office. There is a delay in NCT tests. We are working with the contractor to get on top of it. I do not want to say anything about renewing or terminating contracts here that would not be right, but I will ask the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Deputy Chambers, or the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, to come back to the Deputy with an update. It is something we are aware of and are working on.

I thank the Deputy for raising this really important question. I want to see solar panels on the roof of every school and I believe the Government should fund it, in the same way we have funded broadband for every school. The future is digital and green. It may be more about hearts and minds than watts and megawatts, but hearts and minds count, as I think we will all agree. We are very keen to have solar panels on every school. The Departments of Education and Environment, Climate and Communications are working on …

I thank the Deputy. The short answer is that the Government does remain committed to carrying out that audit. I appreciate it is overdue. It is an important piece of information that we need because when it comes to processing and deciding on sports capital grants, it would be good to have a better picture of where there are already facilities and where there are deficits. That is why it would be useful to carry out this audit. I do not have a timeframe on when it will start, but I will ask the Minister of State, D…

I thank Deputy Dillon for raising this important issue and for advocating on behalf of Davitt College. I can give him the assurance that we will sort this out. There are a number of school projects across the country, including in my own constituency, that either have planning permission or have already gone to tender and the tender has been awarded. We have run into a difficulty. The Department of Education is doing a brilliant job at building new schools and extending others. Because of the increase in constructi…

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue, which Deputy O'Dowd has also raised on a number of occasions. I once again commit to the establishment of an inquiry this year to examine how the pandemic was handled in Ireland. This will not only examine the health aspect and what happened in hospitals, nursing homes and testing centres and with vaccines, but also the wider economic and social management of the pandemic. It will provide an opportunity to learn lessons from our experiences in dealing with the pa…

Last week, the HSE published a summary report on the investigation into the protected disclosure made into the handling of Covid-19 in St. Mary's Hospital community nursing unit. During the period in question, 83 of the 146 residents were confirmed to have tested positive for Covid and, sadly, 22 died as a result. I do not know why the report has not been published in full. There may be a good reason for that. I will check and come back to the Deputy on that. It is important to recognise the role played by the disc…

The Government is committed to building safer and stronger communities across Ireland. For that reason, we allocated funding in the budget to recruit 1,000 gardaí this year. We believe this will be more than enough to cover retirements and resignations. The deployment of gardaí and the location of senior gardaí is a matter for the Garda Commissioner rather than the Government, which is as it should be. However, I will mention this issue to the Garda Commissioner the next time I see him. I do see him quite regularly…

I absolutely agree that we are experiencing a housing emergency in Ireland. That is why we have taken so many emergency actions down the years and in the last few months to try to deal with it. However, describing something as an emergency does not, in itself, change anything. You have to take actions. That is why we built more social housing last year than in any year in my lifetime or the Deputy's, since 1975. I am sure we will break that record again this year. We are using modern methods of construction includi…

I am afraid I do not have a date for the start of the Epilim inquiry. I understand that a number of cases have been settled in the courts but that is a separate matter from the inquiry. I will check in with the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, and ask him to give the Deputy an update on that. On the Irish Water issue, I note this was on a Topical Issue matter last night. The Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Malcolm Noonan, has committed to following up with the…

Tógfaidh mé Ceisteanna Uimh. 1 go 7, go huile, le chéile. As provided for in the programme for Government, we are taking forward our shared island investment objectives and working with all communities and traditions to build consensus around a shared future, underpinned by the Good Friday Agreement. In my discussions to date with political party leaders in Northern Ireland, I have set out the Government's continued implementation of our shared island initiative. I have also made clear that the Government is ready …

My office has asked me to make a correction regarding an answer I gave earlier on. I think I said that, north of the Border, about 2,000 social homes had been built. That was incorrect – I was overgenerous. In 2021, it was 763. In 2022, it was 1,356 against 8,000 here. I remember Deputy McDonald was asked in an interview – I think it was on "The Late Late Show" – what her solution to the housing crisis would be, and she answered, or rather quipped, that the Irish were good at building houses. It is pretty clear tha…

Regarding the all-island women's forum report, the forum has received funding for a second year of work through the reconciliation fund of the Department of Foreign Affairs, which is welcome. The Government looks forward to continuing to interact with the forum as the latter continues its deliberations. Government Departments are considering the recommendations made by the forum in its first report, including on all-island approaches to gender-based violence, deepening of North-South education links and amplifying …

I am happy to comply. I will stop when the clock stops. I propose to take Questions Nos. 8 to 13, inclusive, together. The National Competitiveness and Productivity Council published its annual competitiveness challenge report in September 2022. The report makes recommendations to the Government across a range of policy areas. On 29 November 2022, the Government published a formal response to the council's recommendations. This is the third year in which a formal response was issued by the Government to the challen…

In response to the Chair's call earlier and Deputy McDonald's comment, I will finish on time. I thank Deputies for their questions on Ireland's Competitiveness Challenge 2022 report, which is the matter for discussion. As Deputies know, I meet all the time people who are investors, business people or employers. Of course housing and infrastructure are issues they raise. They also say these are the same problems they often experience where they are headquartered, whether it is in London, San Francisco, New York, Lis…

Tógfaidh mé ceisteanna Uimh. 14 go 16, le chéile. A Policing Service for our Future is the Government’s plan to implement the Report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland. Implementation of the Plan is being overseen by a dedicated programme office in the Department of the Taoiseach and has now entered the final consolidation phase with many substantive reforms already attained. This phase is expected to conclude in the fourth quarter of this year after which the enhanced governance and accountabil…

In regard to Garda numbers, we want to build safer and stronger communities, and that means supporting gardaí and ensuring they are supported, feel supported, and that it is a good career choice. The budget provides for 1,000 additional Garda recruits this year and we believe that will be adequate to cover retirements and resignations. The resignation rate from An Garda Síochána is just over 1%. That may well be higher than previous years, and it is, but it is low in comparison with most organisations across the pu…

-----and assisted by People Before Profit.

It is very interesting debating-----

-----members of People Before Profit in the Chamber. You are interesting people, you are passionate and I enjoy listening to your questions and you often raise pertinent issues I sometimes have not considered, but are you sure you are not a bit bonkers? Do you really think there is going to be a conspiracy-----