I move: THAT it is expedient to amend the law relating to customs and inland revenue (including value-added tax and excise) and to make further provision in connection with finance.

There were a lot of questions there, all very valid, and I will do my best to answer them as best I can in the time allowed. First, however, I join the Leas-Cheann Comhairle in paying my respects to Tom Burke, who was a truly fine man. He was one of the first people I met and got to know when I became a Member of this House. He was a feature of Irish politics and photojournalism, and I was really sorry to hear yesterday that he had passed away. I extend to his family and friends the Government's condolences and tho…

The budget for the health service this year is €22 billion. It is the biggest health budget we have ever seen in the history of the State. When I was Minister for Health, it was €14 billion. It is 50% higher now than it was then, and more than double what it was when I was practising as a doctor in the public health service. Money is certainly not the issue any more when it comes to our health service. As the Deputy pointed out, some of the money will even go unspent this year. There is no lack of money and no lack…

The Deputy is a former trade union negotiator and he understands negotiations, as do I. It is deeply unhelpful when someone on one's side - we were team Ireland on an issue like this - makes concessions on one's behalf. It is exactly the same thing for a shop steward or trade union official going in to negotiate with an employer and somebody from his or her team starts making concessions before they are agreed. It is deeply unhelpful and it was damaging. That is my assessment of the situation and I stand over it. T…

The Minister, Deputy Donohoe, both as finance minister and as head of the Eurogroup, handled these negotiations very well and has made sure that we got the concessions and protections we wanted. Had we folded earlier, as Deputy Nash perhaps would have done were he in government-----

-----I do not think the Minister would have been able to secure the reassurances he has secured in the past couple of weeks because significant efforts were made by other countries to get us into the tent and we had our price for that. As regards the Cabinet meeting today, the most recent projections I have seen - they may have changed - estimate, and it is only an estimate, that we would lose in the region of €2 billion a year in revenue. However, nobody knows that for sure. Nobody predicted that after the most re…

I thank the Deputy. I believe taxes should be low, simple and fair. That goes for workers and companies. I am not sure if the Deputy believes taxes should be low, simple and fair. Perhaps simple and fair but not low. I believe that should apply to companies and workers alike. I hope that when it comes to budget day the Deputy will vote in favour of tax indexation, for example, where we raise the credits and bands so that people are protected from the effect of inflation on their pay packets. Our position is one of …

The reality of these negotiations, and I have been following them closely for a long time now, is not how the Deputy has presented them or sees them. Large and wealthy countries are looking for more revenue and they want to take it from smaller countries like ours. In the negotiations, the UK made sure that the City of London was protected and would not see some of these applications applied to it. Some of these countries had their research and development tax credit system protected.

The US ensured that the EU dropped its digital tax proposals. That is the reality of what has been happening. As a small country that relies a lot on multinational investment, we had to protect our interests and seek guarantees and protections. We did exactly that. It is what any right-thinking Government should do. I agree with the Deputy on one point. The offering from multinationals is, and always has been, about more than tax. It is about talent, infrastructure, and access to the European Single Market and the …

The estimate not from me, but from the Department of Finance, is that increasing corporation profit tax in Ireland will result in a reduction in revenues. That is because investment, capital and wealth are mobile in the international world that we live in.

I thank Deputy Lowry for raising the issue the lack of insulin pumps and the recruitment of three additional dieticians, which was sanctioned nine months ago in UHL. I am advised that the University Limerick Hospitals Group recognises the need for additional resources within its adult diabetic service. This issue is a focus for the University Limerick Hospitals Group and it is committed to improving the service for its patients. Developing services around insulin pump therapy and structured education requires them …

I cannot begin to understand the frustration patients must feel if they are not able to get access to modern treatment such as this, and the anger they must feel when they see people receiving this treatment in other regions and it is not available in their own. I do understand this. What I can say from the Government's point of view is that funding has been allocated to University Hospital Limerick to hire the additional specialist staff that are needed. We are committed to getting the service up and running. I ce…

I thank the Deputy. I am pretty sure that is not what I said but it may be a representation or an interpretation of something I did say. I spoke to the Minister for Finance this morning. He will be in a position to present to Cabinet this afternoon. One of the things we have sought is the ability to continue to charge the 12.5% rate to small and medium-sized companies with a turnover of less than €750 million. The Minister informed me today that we have received assurance that we can do this.

My preference is that the site would be used for jobs-rich investment. That would be an advanced building solution or if somebody wants to establish a factory or a business centre there. That would be the preference given that the previous IDA Ireland site, with which the Deputy is familiar, already accommodates data centres. That would be my preference but I will very much be guided by IDA Ireland in this regard. My understanding is that its intention is that it will be used for an advanced building solution and t…

That is a budgetary decision and I am not in a position today to comment on what is or is not in the budget. Certainly the Minister for Finance will consider any proposal made in the context of the budget and the Finance Bill that will follow thereafter.

I acknowledge the fact that many students are struggling financially, whether due to the cost of rent, utilities, food, fees or other items for which they have to pay. The main way we assist students is through the student grant system. More than 75,000 students receive a grant. The grant levels are under review in the budget. In recognition that some students are facing real and serious hardship, the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Harris, has doubled the student…

The Minister, Deputy O'Brien, is working on proposals for the Government on an enhanced scheme to assist people whose homes have been blighted by mica. As part of this he is considering whether a national scheme might be preferable to a county-based scheme for exactly the reasons the Deputy has enunciated. In these circumstances it would be a national scheme operated by the Housing Agency rather than schemes operated by local authorities. If a house is affected by mica or pyrite it is affected by mica or pyrite and…

I thank the Deputy. As the House will be aware, businesses are reporting labour shortages across the economy at the moment in retail, hospitality, logistics, agriculture and food. This is a real problem. A number of different things are driving that, ranging from the impact of the pandemic to how it is much harder for people to travel into the country, or at least it was until a few weeks ago. With the phasing out of the pandemic unemployment payment and travel restrictions being removed, we will see that labour sh…

I thank the Deputy and that Bill is on the priority list for publication this session. There were some delays; it involves the transposing of an EU directive and involves the making of some changes both to ComReg and the remit of the Competition Act but it is on the priority list for publication this session and I expect it will be published then.

Can I ask the Deputy to repeat that question, please, as I did not hear him?