I thank the Deputies for their questions. In response to Deputy Bríd Smith, I am very much aware of what the Consumer Protection Act states. I am also aware of what European law states and what the laws relating to the regulation of the energy market state, all of which need to be taken into account. There are powers to regulate retail prices but there are no powers to regulate wholesale prices. That is not the process we intend to use to bring prices down, however.

As regards sheep farmers, I acknowledge the difficulties they are facing. To use the Brexit adjustment reserve fund, one needs to be able to prove to the European Commission that Brexit is the reason prices are low and input costs are high. That would be a very difficult thing to prove. Unfortunately, we are finding great difficulty being able to meet the tests to draw down money from that fund. What I can say is that the Food Vision sheep group met recently with the Minister, Deputy McConalogue. All the main stake…

Tógfaidh mé Ceisteanna Uimh. 1 go 10, go huile, le chéile. I attended a special meeting of the European Council in Brussels on 9 and 10 February. The agenda covered Ukraine, the economy and migration. We also touched on relations between Kosovo and Serbia, as well as the tragic earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria. The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, joined leaders in Brussels, meeting with all his EU counterparts in groups. In my engagement with him, I reiterated Ireland’s commitment to standing with Ukrain…

I thank the Deputies for their questions. On the windfall tax and energy prices, the windfall tax proposal, which is at an advanced stage and being developed by the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications and the Minister for Finance, derives from EU law in this area. My understanding is that it has two elements. The first is a tax on gas and oil product producers in Ireland, of which there are not many but there are a few. There is also a tax on generators. The tax raised on generators will be use…

No. The ESB works as a State-owned enterprise-----

-----and has a profit remit. I think what we are talking about is a model that was tried in the Soviet Union and places like that, where it did not work out so well. In response to Deputy Haughey's question, like him, I do not support removing unanimity when it comes to sanctions. Unfortunately, there is evidence of circumvention, not particularly by EU countries, to the best of our knowledge, but by some countries that are located around the EU. We see that there are unusual changes in trade flows and trade statis…

-----trying to do so much at the same time. I support, as the Government does, the appropriate use of state aid, but we should never forget that state aid is ultimately taxpayers' money given to businesses. Small countries like ours will never be able to compete with big countries when it comes to the amount of state aid they could give their companies. That is why we always need to be careful about that. If the state aid rules are relaxed too significantly by the European Union, the amount of state aid that France…

Tógfaidh mé Ceisteanna Uimh. 11 go 22, go huile, le chéile. The Cabinet committee on health met on 13 February and is due to meet again on 27 March. In addition to meetings of the full Cabinet and of Cabinet committees, I meet Ministers individually to focus on different issues. I meet regularly with the Minister for Health to discuss challenges in the area of health and the Sláintecare reform programme. The primary aim in 2023 is to improve access, outcomes and affordability for patients, and that is what Sláintec…

I appreciate that a great number of Deputies have asked important questions. I jotted them down as quickly as I could. Eighteen Deputies asking three questions each comes to nearly 60 questions. I will try to answer as many as I can as best I can in the time available. Deputy Dillon raised the issue of the emergency department in Castlebar, which needs to be extended. I agree with his remarks on that. I am not sure if it can be fast-tracked but I am working with the Ministers, Deputies Donnelly and Donohoe, to see …

Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked about shortages of medicines. He acknowledged that these are not unique to Ireland and have happened in the past but it is worse than I have ever seen it, anyway. I am told that alternative treatments are available for every product that is currently in short supply. Shortages of certain paracetamol, Amoxicillin or penicillin products relate to individual line items and do not represent an entire portfolio. Unexpected surges in demand such as we have seen take time to resolve as the i…

I think I or my office may be partially to blame as we are the ones who do the grouping.

In fairness to Deputies, on this occasion the questions were on topic but sometimes they are totally unrelated to the group.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 23 to 29, inclusive, together. Various proposals for constitutional reform are currently under consideration. Some arise from the programme for Government and others from the work of citizens' assemblies, the Joint Committee on Gender Equality, and others such as the EU agreement on a unified patent court that arise from legal requirements. While no final decisions have been made as yet on the timing for the holding of referendums, the Government is keen to progress matters expediti…

I thank the Deputies for their questions. I will start with the proposed referendum on housing. The first step is for the Housing Commission to present its wording to the Government. That has not happened yet and we expect it will happen no later than July. There will then be consideration by the Government. Deputy Paul Donnelly asked if we will consult the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage and we will absolutely do that. That will be part of the process of consultation. I anticipate the ref…

One will hear stories, which I often hear, of people who have not paid their rent for two years using their rights to stay in situ even though they have not paid the rent for two or three years.

There are already a lot of tenants' rights and there will be more. We have the rent pressure zones, compulsory purchase orders and fast-track planning and we have had eviction bans. There has been no constitutional bar on doing any of that. Private property rights in Ireland are subject to the common good so I think the question is misframed. What is it that a housing amendment would allow us to do that we cannot do already? That is a different question because it is very clear we have been able to do all of those …

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. The mother and baby institutions payments scheme is currently being debated by the Oireachtas. The scheme will include financial payments to an estimated 34,000 people and a form of enhanced medical card for almost 20,000 who were resident in mother and baby and county home institutions. This will come at a cost of approximately €800 million to the taxpayer. It is one of the biggest schemes of its type as we seek to put right some of the wrongs of the past. While…

It is not fair to characterise the decision of Government in respect of this matter as arbitrary. We had a commission of investigation. It made its findings and recommended a set of actions and a redress scheme. We decided to go well beyond what was recommended by the independent commission, which was chaired by an independent judge. The commission looked at the matter for many years before coming to its findings and we went further than it recommended-----

-----so it is not fair to say it is arbitrary in that regard.

It is also unfair to characterise the response of the Government as being solely linked to financial compensation. There is much more to what we are doing than that. For example, one of the things we have done is put in place immediate counselling support. That was available on the publication of the commission's final report through the HSE's national counselling service. A State apology was also made by the former Taoiseach, now the Tánaiste, Deputy Micheál Martin, in January 2021. That was significant too. As I …