Again, for the information of the House, we hired an extra - and I mean extra - 1,019 medical and dental staff last year. We hired an extra 2,100 nurses and midwives last year and an extra 929 health and social care professionals. Yes, there are lots of people coming and going - we have an international labour market when it comes to healthcare - but we are doing pretty well in terms of recruiting extra staff for the health service. The HSE will be allowed to hire an extra 2,000 staff overall over the course of thi…

I thank the Deputy for his interest and knowledge on this matter. It goes without saying that the greatest drug of use and misuse in this State is alcohol and it is legal. It is associated with public order offences, child abuse and violence against women. It is associated with acute disease and chronic disease. It makes mental health worse. It is associated with suicide, public order offences and major road traffic accidents, yet we would never consider criminalising alcohol in Ireland because we know it would not…

I used to be a sceptic of citizens' assemblies, but over the past five or ten years I have become a fan of them. They can be really effective. We do not always accept the recommendations, nor do we have to, but we always consider them. When you put in front of 100 citizens all of the evidence, all the experts and all the advice, sometimes they come up with very good recommendations. As I say, we do not always accept them although we often do. We are the Legislature. We are the ones who actually make the decisions i…

I have to be honest - I am quite disappointed in the question the Deputy asked. I can see the faces of many people around this House, who I think agree with me. I think the killing and the death of Ashling Murphy was one of those events that really touched the nation. I remember it so well. I remember the outpouring of grief for that young woman who was killed in the way she was. I remember the anniversary only a few weeks ago. I really think that to connect that to a debate about international protection and migra…

It is really wrong. The evil person who killed poor Ashling Murphy was an EU citizen who had been in the country for the best part of ten years, working and paying taxes. That is how he acquired his rights to social welfare and other things. Sadly, he turned on that girl, for whatever reason he did, and killed her. To connect that to international protection and refugees coming to this country, whether they are genuine or not, is really wrong. Really, Deputy, do not bring our country down into that spiral. Please d…

Sadly, people from all sorts of backgrounds and of all sorts of genders, races, religions and colours commit crimes. To conflate crime and violence against women, in particular, with migration is profoundly wrong and profoundly dangerous.

Yes, you did.

Yes, you did, Deputy.

In relation to-----

In relation to the Deputy's remarks about me, I have engaged in this debate. I probably engage in it every other day in my constituency, in this House and in the media. Only a few weeks ago, I wrote a detailed article, published in the Sunday Independent , setting out what our immigration policy is and was, what the facts were and what they were not. I will keep doing that, but I need a bit of help. I need a bit of help from people in this House-----

No, you are not. Sorry, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle.

There were just under 500 people on trolleys in our hospitals this morning, which is a high number and is not acceptable. It has a significant impact on their patient experience and also makes things very difficult for staff. Thankfully, most of those patients will be in beds by this evening. The level of overcrowding we have seen in our hospitals this January, thankfully, is considerably lower than was the case in previous Januarys, in part because of the additional resources provided by the Government, including …

I will certainly commit to engage with Dublin City Council alongside the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, in good faith on this. Living in Dublin city, as the Deputy does, I see how slow regeneration has been, whether it is in Dolphin, Donore Road, Emmet Road,-----

-----Pearse Street or Oliver Bond. It is a good example of why the State does not always do things better. Sometimes it takes longer and costs more. If it was done by the private sector, these would all have been built a long time ago. I know it is not as simple as that. I will commit, in good faith, to engage with the new city council CEO on it.

The cost of doing business in Ireland is very high and it is rising. We acknowledge that. Some of that is down to increased labour costs, increased energy costs, the increased cost of supplies and also the withdrawal of some temporary supports for businesses that simply cannot go on forever. There are things the Government can do to help. We will inject over €250 million in the form of grants into small businesses between now and 31 March to help them with cashflow. We are also looking at what we can do around tax …

I am familiar with the issue. I remember it coming up before Christmas. I do not have an up-to-date note on it, so I will ask the Minister for Education's people to get in touch with more detail.

The school transport review will be coming to the Cabinet shortly and will contain proposals to improve the situation. I know this is a major issue around the country, particularly in August, when TDs from all over the country get on to me about it. I will look again into the issue of drivers not being allowed to continue driving up to the age of 72. We allow people to be GPs and do all sorts of other things until they are 72, so I am not sure why that is not the case for drivers if they are medically fit. I do not…

I will check into it again. I know this is not the first time it has been raised in the House. What has been suggested might be part of the solution to the driver shortage. If I remember correctly, the last time I looked into the matter, I discovered it is not actually a Government rule but a CIÉ rule linked to terms and conditions within that agency, which might then be linked to pensions issues and so on. When it gets into that, it gets very complicated. However, I do promise to take it up again and see if we can…

I am not familiar with those cases or how many there were but I will certainly look into it. I know there are cases that were litigated and it was found the existing article did offer very little protection to women in the home. The main purpose, however, of the change we are making is to recognise care in our Constitution. At the moment, care is not recognised. The duty of women in the home is recognised in our Constitution but carers, male and female, within the family do not have recognition and do not have prot…

I absolutely concur with the Deputy. There are better ways to spend €3 million of the education budget than by sending out payslips to teachers and staff. Whether it could be repurposed for school buildings, special needs or other things, that is not for me to decide here, but the Deputy's basic point is fundamentally correct. This is something the Minister, Deputy Foley, will want to engage with the teachers' unions on.