I referred to two cities - Sydney, where the average house price is AUD1 million, and rents in New York. The Deputy has represented what I said in a way that was not said and certainly not the way I intended it. I believe Ireland is a great country in which to live. That is not just my opinion. The United Nations, which assesses these things objectively, put Ireland in the top ten countries in the world in which to live out of 200 countries. Everyone's lived experience is different and people travel abroad for all …

Of course, it does; everyone's experience is different.

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I know he is doing a lot of work as an advocate to highlight this matter. COPD, formerly known as emphysema or bronchitis, has a considerable impact on the quality of life of patients, families and carers. The course of the disease involves ongoing medical care and, in the case of certain patients, frequent hospital admissions. It is estimated that 400,000 people live with COPD in Ireland, but only about 100,000 have been diagnosed. It is extraordinary to think t…

The idea is to manage COPD, diabetes, hypertension, heart failure, and other chronic illnesses in the community, insofar as is possible. If those diseases are well managed in the community, and they can be in the majority of cases, the number of hospital admissions will be very low. However, there will always be people who need specialist care and need to see a consultant or be admitted to hospital. It is absolutely wrong that there should be a major discrepancy in waiting times to see a specialist in one region of…

I acknowledge the situation in UHL is grave. The hospital suffers from a high level of overcrowding almost all the time. There has been a lot of investment in the hospital in recent years. The budget has never been greater. Notwithstanding the difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff, there have never been more staff. I include medical and clinical staff in that. Extra beds have been provided and there is a whole new emergency department, which the Deputy will be aware of. I guarantee that these issues and co…

Deputy O'Donoghue has made a number of allegations with regard to cover-ups and other things. I do not know if those allegations are true and I do not have any powers to investigate them. However, if the Deputy has evidence to back them up, I would encourage-----

It is impossible for me to comment on allegations of cover-ups without knowing the specifics or what evidence the Deputy has. If he has evidence to support his claims, I ask him to make it available to the relevant authorities. To clarify, in case it was not clear from my original response, I do not have and have never had any role in the appointment of hospital managers.

I am very sorry to hear that consultant in Letterkenny, Mr. Aslam, has resigned. I am sure the position will be readvertised. A hospital of Letterkenny University Hospital's size should have a good urology service. I absolutely agree with that. Again, it is very difficult for me to comment on the details of any individual's employment but I will certainly make sure the Minister for Health knows the matter was raised. Perhaps the HSE can make a statement or engage directly with Deputy Doherty.

I am very aware that rents are extremely high not just in Dublin, but across Ireland, and that we compare unfavourably with most other European capital cities.

Perhaps it is all. I am not sure about London, which is still part of Europe, although let us not go there. We all agree that rents in Ireland and in Dublin are unacceptably high. What can we do about it? A rent credit will kick in within the next few weeks. This will put €1,000 back into the pocket of the average single renter and €2,000 into the pockets of a couple. That will help. The best part of a month's rent will be back in renters' pockets within a few weeks. We are scaling up cost rental, a new form of ren…

The Government has no plans to join NATO or any other military alliance. We are involved in security and defence co-operation through PESCO with the European Union. We also co-operate with NATO through the partnership for peace and have done for a very long time. I have not seen the report the Deputy mentioned so I cannot comment on it but I will ask the Minister for Defence to come back to him directly.

I appreciate the importance of this issue but I am afraid I just do not have that information to hand. I will ask the Minister for Health or the HSE to come back to the Deputy on that. I understand he has said the recommendation is now being implemented. I do not know why that was not done previously. I will ask the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, to get back to the Deputy directly on that.

The answer to the Deputy's question is "No." We do not commonly do free votes in our system. The Deputy is an Independent Deputy and every vote is a free vote for him. Most Members in this House are members of a political party and are bound by the policies of that party, the programme for Government and collective responsibility. We allow free votes on a small number of issues, particularly relating to abortion or life and so on.

The answer to the Deputy's question is "No".

That is a very open-ended question. I will interact with the House in different ways depending on circumstances. When it comes to any international agreement that depends on the advice of the Attorney General. If the Attorney General advises that an international agreement requires a vote in the House, then of course there would be vote in the House. Some agreements - and this applies to some trade agreements - are not a national competence and are decided at a European Union level. It will depend on the agreement …

-----that I share, that the environmental protections in it are not adequate.

I do not like using the guillotine but sometimes it is necessary to get things done.

The policy tools are differential pricing, which now exists, and also the Government ad information campaign encouraging people to reduce energy use and, where possible, to use energy at times when it is more efficient. I would never tell anyone when they should or should not cook the dinner but it is fair to say that when it comes to things like using the washing machine or putting on the dishwasher, it is possible to do that in the morning or at night-time, rather than between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. The windfall tax d…

I thank the Deputy for raising the need to expand and develop our public health services in the mid-west, not only in UHL but also in the other hospitals such as Nenagh, Ennis and Croom hospitals. I am very much seized of the matter, having visited all of those hospitals on more than one occasion. I assure the Deputy it is very much on the Government's agenda for the next two years.

I am very sorry to hear about the job losses at the Butcher's Block shops and I am very sorry to hear how those people are being treated. I strongly encourage them to engage with the Intreo service and the Workplace Relations Commission as needs be. The Government is there to help and to make sure that employment rights are enforced. That means that the people affected will get their compulsory redundancy payments, even if we have to pay for them out of the Social Insurance Fund. Exceptional needs payments are avai…