I do not know the position, but I will find out and get back to the Deputy with some more detail. We both agree that we want to see solar panels on the roof of every school, if not every public building, in the country. That can only help to reduce energy costs and emissions. It will be really powerful at winning hearts and minds in favour of investing in solar energy.

I thank the Deputy. I am not entirely sure. The matter has been over and back between the different Departments involved. There are some outstanding issues to be resolved. I will check with the responsible Ministers and come back to the Deputy with a further reply.

I thank the Deputy. As he will be aware, people who work for section 39 bodies are not public servants. They are not Government employees-----

-----so they do have different terms and conditions, even when they are doing the same job. As we know from the hospices, we have successfully brought a number of hospices from section 39 to section 38 status. When you do that, it turns out to be much more complicated than people think. While some people may have lesser terms and conditions, others will have better terms and conditions. There are also different pension arrangements. It is never quite as straightforward as it may seem. Removing the autonomy from tho…

I appreciate that many children have been waiting a long time for orthopaedic surgery. There is considerable investment in this area. Money has been set aside by the Government specifically for investment in orthopaedic services. Additional theatres have been provided and a whole new hospital will be handed over to the State and in commission next year. That will make a huge difference. Additional consultants are being hired too. I will ask the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly, to come back to the Deputy with a…

It is worth pointing out that the carer's support grant is in place as well. That is not means tested. The carer's allowance is means tested. We have relaxed the means test and are changing the pension rules in order that carers who are in receipt of the allowance can receive the full State pension. We are going in the right direction. The referendum, if passed, will protect all of that because there will be constitutional protection for carers for the first time. It will also put an onus on the Government to conti…

It is a very good idea that every student in transition year, fifth or sixth year would be trained not just in first aid but also basic life support. That can be done in one day and would certainly save lives and reduce the impact of injuries. I know what will be said to me if I discuss the matter with the Department of Education and the Minister, Deputy Foley. I will be informed that there is a long list of many things that people want to add to the curriculum and have children do at school. The contents of that l…

I thank the Deputy very much. I take the opportunity to again acknowledge that the cost of business in Ireland is very high and is rising. That is due to a number of factors, namely, higher labour costs, the energy crisis, the costs of supplies and materials and the withdrawal of temporary Government supports. The latter have to be withdrawn at some point and cannot go on forever. Businesses are closing, but others are also opening. The closure rate, at about 50 per 10,000, is around the long-term average. We have …

That is a good question. It will have to be pretty soon. In order to have the referendum in the first ten days of June, we will have to publish the legislation soon. I think there is a draft floating around, so I would say it will happen in the next week or two.

Unfortunately, as Deputies will be aware, we have a shortage of gardaí all over the country. I was in Blanchardstown Garda station in my constituency in recent days. Blanchardstown station is located in the very big Dublin metropolitan region, DMR, west district, which has approximately 50 or 60 fewer gardaí than it had when Garda numbers peaked in 2020. Those numbers fell off when Templemore was closed during the pandemic. We would have 1,000 more gardaí today if that had not been the case. We are recruiting again…

We do not yet have a date set for that.

I propose to take question Nos. 1 to 3, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on the economy and investment was re-established in January 2023. It met twice last year, most recently on 16 November. The next meeting of the committee is scheduled for 15 February 2024. Membership of the committee comprises: the Taoiseach; the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and for Defence; the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, who is also Minister for Transport; and the Ministers for Finance, Pu…

I thank the Deputies for their questions. I join Deputy Dillon in complimenting the IDA on its success in securing investment and good jobs for Ireland. Again, over half the investment is occurring outside Dublin. I would like to see that figure rise further in the coming years and I have said that to the IDA board. I will follow up about the Castlebar advance building solution with the CEO of the IDA. I understand there has been a difficulty securing an appropriate site. That was the last update, but I will seek a…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 4 to 8, inclusive, together. I participated in the western Balkans summit which took place on 13 December in Brussels. The meeting brought together EU leaders with their counterparts from six countries in the western Balkans, namely, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, and Serbia. On conclusion of the summit, the EU and the leaders of the six western Balkan countries signed the Brussels Declaration. This reaffirms the EU membership perspective of th…

I thank the Deputies for their questions. Prime Minister Orbán of Hungary did not use his veto to block talks with Ukraine on membership. In fairness to him, he made his case and made it very strongly. He could have vetoed it but chose not to. It is unfair to mischaracterise him because by not using the veto he allowed European countries to proceed with the majority decision. He was not willing to do that as regards the budget. I hope we can come to a solution on 1 February. If we have to, there is a workaround. Th…

-----allowing the Palestinian Authority to take over Gaza with international support. That would then lead to talks not just on a two-state solution but on wider mutual security for the region. If we are serious about stopping this conflict and ending this 75-year cycle of violence and terrorism, that has to be our priority. However, we will of course take our role under the various international conventions seriously. The Attorney General will be in the Hague in person on 22 February to give Ireland's intervention…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 to 11, inclusive, together. Through the shared island initiative, the Government is engaging with all communities to build a consensus around a shared future, underpinned by the Good Friday Agreement. The Government has so far allocated almost €250 million from the shared island fund. This includes contributing to the expansion of higher education infrastructure in the north west, with funding for a new teaching building at Ulster University in Derry, and progressing the Ulster Ca…

I thank Deputy Farrell for raising the shared island youth forum. It has been a really good success. I had a chance to meet with them in Dublin a few months ago. It brings together 80 young people between the ages of 18 and 25 who are meeting over the course of a year to set out their vision and values for a shared future. There are 40 young people from the North and 40 from the South, and there is balance in terms of gender, ethnicity, community, faith and other identity diversities. The forum focuses on five them…

I attended a meeting of the European Council on 14 and 15 December in Brussels. The agenda covered the Middle East, Ukraine, EU enlargement, the multi-annual financial framework, security and defence, migration, COP28, EU-Türkiye relations, the fight against antisemitism, racism and xenophobia, and the EU strategic agenda. In his contribution to today's debate, the Minister of State, Deputy Burke, will provide further detail on enlargement, security and defence and migration. I will deal with all other issues. At o…

I do not like to see investment funds buying up family homes en masse . I know the Deputy does not either. I have said that before. However, what she has represented in the Dáil today is not the full story. As is so often the case, she has engaged in a degree of misleading behaviour. The Government did change the law. We changed the law back in May 2021 after the events in Maynooth the Deputy has described. That change prohibited the bulk-buying of houses and duplexes by a single buyer and also allowed local author…