The chair of the independent review group, Ms Justice Bronagh O'Hanlon, submitted the final report to the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence on 2 February, so only in the last week or two. The Tánaiste has indicated he is considering the report in full consultation with the Attorney General, and thereafter he will bring the report to Government for consideration and further engagement with stakeholders. It is imperative the current workplace culture is fully aligned with the principles of dignity, equality, mutual r…

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I understand that 26 children in Limerick did not receive secondary school places, but I am sure we will be able to find places for everyone. This happens in my constituency from time to time - the numbers are often much higher than 26 - and we are always able to find a place for every child in the school. It may not be in the school of first choice or the nearest school, but we are always able to find a place. I am not familiar with the solution the Deputy menti…

I thank the Deputy. I was very pleased to visit UHL last week. It was the third or fourth time I visited the hospital, and the third time I had visited the accident and emergency department. I was in the old one and in the new one when it opened. I was there again the other day. It really is a very good and modern department. It has some equipment and facilities that just do not exist in other parts of the country, like CT facilities on site, for example, as well as 11 consultants, which is a huge number. It is hor…

When the new CEO of the HSE is appointed, I am going to sit down with him and the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, and see what we can do.

As the Deputy will know, though, developments are under way. A 96-bed block is under construction on the public hospital site. There is also a new private hospital. We want to make better use of Ennis and Nenagh and do other things as well.

I thank the Deputy for raising this question. I agree that the road does need to be upgraded. We have approximately €500 million annually for national roads, with €250 million going to maintain and restore those we have and €250 million to invest in new projects. It is not always possible to fund every project every year. It never was and never will be, unfortunately. For the north west, priority is being given to the Carrick-on-Shannon bypass, as well as closing out the Westport to Castlebar road, the Foxford bypa…

I thank the Deputy for raising the important issue of our electoral laws. On Saturday, The Irish Times reported that the Standards in Public Office Commission is examining irregularities in Sinn Féin's accounts. The accounts have also been examined by a senior independent accountant, who confirmed the anomalies. We are talking about large sums of money - hundreds of thousands of euro. We have had tribunals for less. This could become a major political issue. It would be appropriate for some time to be set aside for…

The short answer is "Yes". As we discussed at the meeting, I foresee Ennis and Nenagh hospitals being upgraded. It is already the case that more patients who are sick but stable are being taken there directly by ambulance. That protocol could be extended further provided it is safe to do so. There can be more medical assessment unit slots and longer hours for the local injury unit. Ennis only has about 50 beds and Nenagh is roughly similar. If those hospitals are going to do more work, they are going to have to be …

I certainly hope that does not turn out to be the case. We have always said that we cannot fully insulate everyone from the rising cost of living but that we would try to insulate people as much as we can, particularly those who are the most vulnerable. In any household budget, there are three elements. There is how much you get paid, how much you get taxed and how far the money goes. To take the first element, pay is going up. Public sector pay, private sector pay and the minimum wage are going up. Welfare payment…

Income tax is coming down. There is the rent tax credit. We are holding off on restoring VAT and excise rates, and we are reducing childcare, education and healthcare costs, student fees, public transport costs, etc. If you are examining this matter in the round, you have to take account of all three; you cannot just focus on one or on a part of one.

I thank the Deputy very much. I join him in congratulating Israel Olatunde on a fabulous performance the other day. I watched it on the news. I am very impressed by what he has achieved and with his speed. I also congratulate the Deputy on segueing from that to the protocol. I did not know where the Deputy was going, but fair play. On the protocol, I spoke with President von der Leyen on Saturday and the Tánaiste met with Maroš Šefčovič in Brussels yesterday. There is contact every couple of days between us and the…

No.

Tógfaidh mé Ceisteanna Uimh. 1 go 9, agus 129 le chéile. The Cabinet committee on Government co-ordination is scheduled to meet again on Monday next, 27 February. The committee reviews the agenda of Government meetings, discusses political priorities and reviews the activity of Cabinet committees. I am a member of the committee, with the Tánaiste and the leader of the Green Party. The Secretary General to the Government, my chief of staff and the chiefs of staff for the Tánaiste and the leader of the Green Party al…

I am a big supporter of cost-rental housing as is the Government. Cost rental is a new model of housing. It is new to Ireland but not new to other parts of the world. It was initiated by the then Minister, Eoghan Murphy, in the last Government and is being realised by the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, in this Government, with projects in Emmet Road, Shanganagh Castle, Cork, and north County Dublin. We really need to scale it up as much as we can and potentially Project Tosaigh is a way that we can do that. Ther…

In the meantime, I agree with what the Deputy said about the purchase in situ programme. The Minister tells me that we are doing that. If a landlord is selling and the tenant is a social housing tenant, a council can buy that property.

If the Deputy wants, he can send me a note. There are different thresholds, as he knows, and I do not profess to knowing the exact ins and outs of the scheme, but I know it is something that is done and we support it. I imagine there are some sort of thresholds. The Deputy may want these set out in detail or in writing. We can certainly examine whether we get rid of the thresholds altogether or whether we raise them. Deputy Tóibín asked about the jaw-dropping settlement that has made the newspapers. I am reluctant …

We have reduced public transport fares, which has been successful, but we need to make sure we do not create major capacity problems for ourselves and that is something we have to balance each time. The school transport initiative is a climate measure. Since we waived the fees for school transport, there has been a large increase in the number of children using school transport. The figure is in the region of 20,000 or 30,000 more. It is definitely a climate measure that is beneficial. I am not exactly sure where w…

Tógfaidh mé Ceisteanna Uimh. 10 go 22 le chéile. The priorities set out in the Department's Statement of Strategy 2021-2023 reflect the role of the Department to assist me, as Taoiseach, and the Government to ensure a sustainable economy and a successful society, to pursue Ireland's interests abroad, to implement the Government's programme and to build a better future for Ireland and all its citizens. In accordance with the provisions of the Public Service Management Act 1997, the Department of the Taoiseach is cur…

I thank the Deputies for their questions. In relation to domestic and gender-based violence, as I said in my initial reply, we are writing the strategy now for 2023 to 2025. I will certainly give consideration to referring to that specifically in the new strategy. Action on this is very much led by the Minister for Justice, particularly Deputy McEntee, who will be returning from leave quite soon. I do think the introduction of leave related to domestic and gender-based violence is a step forward. I want to recognis…

We might talk about that again later with the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael McGrath. I had thought those regional uplift maps were to apply for approximately three years and were coming to an end. I might be wrong. Perhaps we will talk about that matter again. We do not yet have a date to establish the citizens' assembly on the future of education. We want to establish the citizens' assembly on drugs policy up and running by the middle of the year. It is hard to run two at the same time, as we learned earlie…