I thank the Deputy. We are making good progress in implementing the action plan for insurance reform, which is something I am personally committed to. As Tánaiste, I chair the ministerial committee which oversees its implementation and I am determined as the Minister responsible for business but responsible also for consumers to see the cost of insurance falls for businesses, motorists, homeowners and everyone else over the coming year. The personal injury guidelines are in place, as acknowledged by the Deputy. The…

A nine-month timed amendment does not mean that nothing can be done for nine months. That is certainly not my interpretation of what a timed amendment means. It is prudent to ask the Central Bank for a view on the legislation. We have accepted legislation Deputy Doherty has proposed on consumer contracts and we are open to accepting the legislation he is proposing now. However, as is the case with any legislation that affects financial services or industries such as insurance, we are required to get the view of the…

Once again, I congratulate the Deputy on her election to Dáil Éireann. Her arrival in this House is long overdue.

It might be said that she played the long game, and sometimes that is the most successful strategy to adopt. I am also very pleased as a Trinity graduate to welcome her to the House and sorry to lose her from the Seanad's Trinity constituency. I am sure there will be an interesting contest for that by-election. I believe it has already begun. As for the wider issues, as Minister for Health, one of the things I am very proud and privileged to have been able to do was to make sure that Ireland for the first time had …

Even the Catholic Church would consider it a long time.

It is important to say that negotiations are still under way and are about to resume soon. We are not ruling out CPO as an option but we need to understand that the outcome of a CPO process is not guaranteed and would certainly result in delay, with additional costs, if it is successful, on top of those the Deputy mentioned. Sometimes the perfect is the enemy of the good, and we need to have an open mind as to what the best option is with regard to the governance arrangements, the lease arrangements around the land…

I think we will all agree our healthcare workers have done an amazing job throughout the pandemic so far. We can be very proud of our public health service. It is much maligned and has its imperfections, but the pandemic has proved to us that it is much better than many people believed it was, and it really stood up and scaled up in the way we asked it to during the pandemic. While all public servants, including healthcare workers, have received modest pay increases over the course of the pandemic, I do not think t…

I agree with the Deputy's sentiments and will certainly discuss them with the Ministers for Public Expenditure and Reform and Health, but I will restate what I said earlier. This pandemic is not over. We are heading into a difficult couple of weeks when the number of cases will soar and those of hospitalisations, ICU admissions and deaths will increase, sadly. People who are unvaccinated are more at risk in the next few weeks than at any point since this pandemic began, and we need to get that message across to peo…

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue, about which she feels very sincerely. I know her passion for this issue, which she has raised previously. However, her comment about the Government was a bit unfair. We live in the same country as her, get elected by the same people as she does and talk to people on the ground every day just like she does. It is unfair to make comments about other people in this House in that way. We are all elected and we are only elected precisely because we engage with our con…

The Government is very aware that there are serious issues with the licensing of forestry operations that are having a negative impact on the sector. This is as a result of necessary changes to the appropriate assessment procedure due to the European Court of Justice and Irish rulings relating to the protection of Natura sites. We are dealing with these issues robustly and a number of urgent steps have been taken to resolve them. These include the implementation of the Mackinnon report, which is well underway throu…

We could all engage in cheap shots in this House.

As I say, we can all engage in cheap shots in this House and question each other's motivation. I could point out that this morning, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Minister of State, Deputy Heydon, were here for an hour and a half and took questions on any issue people raised such as agriculture, farming, fishing and forestry yet not a single Rural Independent Group Deputy turned up to ask those Ministers any questions. I could say that this-----

The list of submitted questions is there.

People had opportunities to intervene. As is often the case, I am being shouted down because the truth hurts.

The truth hurts.

I join the Leas-Cheann Comhairle in expressing my thanks on behalf of the Fine Gael Party and the Government to all the staff of the Houses of the Oireachtas and of the convention centre for their work over recent months in what have been unprecedented times, trying to operate across several different sites both virtually and in person. As the Leas-Cheann Comhairle said, the Dáil is going into recess but we are certainly not all going on holidays. The Oireachtas will continue to function. Offices and Departments wi…

It is a pleasure to be here, in Dublin Central. The convention centre is not quite in Dublin Bay South; it is just north of the Liffey.

I know the feeling; it is hard to know where one is at times given the amount of changes we have had to make. I will check up on that issue. As the House will be aware, the legislation links future rent increases to the consumer price index, CPI, but it is not retrospective. Legislation of this nature cannot be. I understand the point of the Deputy is raising and I will get advice from the Minister as to whether what she describes is legal.

Before we rise, I express my thanks to Deputy Cairns for facilitating the Minister, Deputy McEntee, through a pairing arrangement during her maternity leave. I know she is grateful for that, as we are too. Let us ensure in the next Dáil session we put in place some more permanent arrangements. In future I hope many more Cabinet Ministers will give birth while in office. I look forward to seeing the Minister, Deputy McEntee, return in October or November. I will follow up the issue with the HSE and the Minister for …

I neglected to acknowledge the Labour Party for facilitating a pairing arrangement with Deputy Dillon. Deputy Dillon had a baby last week and I insisted that he take his two weeks paternity leave. I am grateful that the Labour Party is covering for that. I point out to Deputy Paul Murphy that our low corporation profit tax rate is one of the reasons we receive so much in corporation profit tax. We take in about €10 billion a year in corporation profit tax, which is roughly double what the average European country t…