I do, but I am bound by Cabinet confidentiality and I am not in a position to discuss them with the Deputy until they are agreed by the Cabinet next Tuesday. The Deputy knows that well, so he should stop the theatrics. The Government is making progress on housing. It is not enough, and I accept that. Family homelessness is at its lowest level in five years. The Deputy did not acknowledge that. Individual homelessness is at its lowest level in four years. The Deputy also did not acknowledge that. We are now in a pos…

I thank Deputy Kelly for sharing that story. Often, it is only when we look at individual and real life examples that we understand how our policies and laws affect people and, sometimes, how they must change. I express my condolences to John, his family and the wider community in Nenagh. If I understand what Deputy Kelly said correctly, John does not qualify for the widower's pension, which is a social insurance based payment, because it only applies to people who are married. They were not married. As every Membe…

Social protection is an area that is very much defined in law and by regulation. There is little or no discretion for Ministers in that regard, with the exception of exceptional needs payments. He might have already applied for that, but perhaps not. That might be one option as an interim solution. Without knowing the details of the case, I do not wish to comment on it in detail, but it appears that he will qualify at some point for the one-parent family payment, which will provide a payment for him and his dependa…

I thank the Deputy for his questions. The Government is committed to a two-state solution in the Middle East of a democratic Israel living side-by-side with a democratic Palestine, peacefully co-operating together. Like the Deputy, I have been to the region, have met people who are Israeli and Palestinian and I admire their culture very much. It is impressive to see the state that has been built down the years by the Jewish people in Israel and all of us abhor Hamas and what it has done in terror and in the violati…

I thank the Deputy again and I welcome his criticism of Hamas and of its ideology. I note that he has yet to say anything about the other occupations that exist around the world and I often wonder why so little is said about them and so much about this particular one. That does not, however, in any way take away from the fact that what is happening in Israel and what the Israeli Government is doing are indefensible. As I said earlier, annexation, expulsions, plantations and the killing of civilians must be roundly …

The Government is engaged in a huge programme of capital investment in public infrastructure under the banner of Project Ireland 2040. It is €10 billion a year, money which we may struggle to spend this year because of the delays in construction but still a massive budget of €10 billion a year. It is the biggest ever investment programme in public infrastructure, creating jobs all over the country and providing new public infrastructure for citizens. It is social housing, for which there is a budget to provide 9,00…

I broadly agree with the remarks of the Deputy. We do, of course, have systems to monitor capital spending, not just the Committee of Public Accounts but also the Comptroller and Auditor General, although that is largely retrospective, and also the Project Ireland 2040 delivery board. There are mechanisms in place. Could there be greater transparency or can they be improved? I think they can and I would very much welcome any suggestions from the Deputy in that regard.

The Deputy makes a very good point and suggestion. We released a plan to have an outdoor summer and that may have created issues that need to be dealt with. Local authorities are providing more bins and public toilets. I welcome that. We need more of that from local authorities. As regards gardaí, the budget for the Garda and the number of gardaí have never been higher. We are at record levels in terms of the size of the Garda force and that allows for more outdoor gardaí and a more visible presence through the sum…

I can confirm that the Government target has not changed. That target is that 82% of adults should either have had one dose, be fully vaccinated or have been offered a vaccine by the end of June. I was speaking yesterday about the possibility of opening the portal to all adults before the end of June so everyone will be able to book their appointment. They might not have the vaccine by the end of June, but they will certainly have their appointment for it in early July. That may well be achieved because the vaccine…

I will ask the Minister for Finance to give the Deputy a more detailed reply on this, but my understanding from the Minister is that Home Building Finance Ireland, HBFI, was established to do exactly that. It provides finance, which of course has to repaid, to large, medium and small builders to help them fund the construction of new homes for people to buy. My understanding is that there may have been only one case, or a handful of cases, where HBFI invested in a build-to-let investment such as the Deputy describe…

We have passed some extraordinary laws in this House and signed into law some extraordinary regulations I never thought we would because of the pandemic. We have curtailed people's freedom in a way I never thought we would in the past year or so and we have given the Garda powers to do things I never thought we would give it the power to do. However, this is an unprecedented situation. This is a pandemic and it is not over yet but, in my view, the sooner we can expire those laws the better. I want to see people's i…

I agree we need to resolve this issue quickly. Many people in Ireland feel that they can neither plant nor fell a tree. That situation cannot persist for too long. We need the timber for construction and we need to plant more trees in order to help us meet our climate ambitions. The Government accepts that an appropriate assessment procedure is needed for forestry-related licences and we support the ambition of Project Woodland. We continue to implement the Mackinnon report and will continue to uphold the objective…

I appreciate this is an ongoing issue causing much distress to mothers and their partners. The national guidance is that partners should be able to attend the birth of their child and the 20-week scan, and should have full access to the neonatal ICU if there are any problems after birth and their child has to be there. It is still possible for hospitals at local level, for their own reasons, to introduce tighter restrictions, but they have to explain why they are doing that. It is not good enough for them to say th…

I cannot give the Deputy a commitment right here right now but I will certainly speak to the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, about it. I am familiar with the issue with pyrite and mica. Pyrite occurred in my constituency and people were included in the assistance scheme. I have been in houses with mica in them in Donegal and I worked very hard with the former Minister, Deputy Joe McHugh, to get that scheme in place. If the situation is the same for people in Sligo as for…

I remember when the vaccine programme started in January, the Deputy raised this issue and was of the view that the racecourse would be a better site for a vaccine centre than the Radisson Blu Hotel, because the latter is hard to access. I am advised that the vaccine centre will move out of the Radisson Blu Hotel, which will go back to being a hotel, and will be relocated to the Limerick Racecourse, which will be more accessible to people, particularly those who do not have access to a car. I do not know the arrang…

This matter was discussed earlier. To recap, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, has made a clear and strong statement on this matter on behalf of the Government. We will use our influence on the UN Security Council, which will meet on this quite soon. The Israeli ambassador has been called in for some very difficult discussions with the Minister. We intend to co-ordinate further action at an EU level.

There is a dispute under way between dentists and the HSE and the Department of Health in relation to the DTSS. That is causing a break of services in some parts of the country, including, I understand, County Laois. We are keen to have that issue resolved as soon as possible and have the DTSS restored. I will inform the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, that the Deputy has raised concerns in relation to Laois.

The original plan was, as the Deputy described, that Danu would move into part of Riversdale Community College temporarily and a new building would be built either for the school or for Danu. I still think that is the right response and I know the Deputy and all the Deputies in the area do too. I still think that is the solution we will work towards and I am working with the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, and the ETB on that. The school is being very generous in allowing Danu to move in to part of the school bu…

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I am not familiar with the details but I will inform the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, that the matter was raised on the floor of the Dáil and ask her to communicate with the Deputy directly.

The Government is committed to a two-state solution in the Middle East - a peaceful, democratic Israel living alongside a peaceful, democratic Palestine. We are committed to recognising Palestinian statehood at the right time, when that state is established, following agreement to establish it. That is the position of the Government currently.