I will certainly raise the issue at Cabinet. It is discussed in Cabinet meetings in the ordinary course of events but I will raise it again when Cabinet meets on Friday or Tuesday. As we know, the number of people who are homeless has fallen by approximately 20% in the past year. Now, that is only 20%. It means for every five people who were homeless there are now four. It is going in the right direction but it is not enough. Notwithstanding that, there seems to be an increase in the number of people availing of ho…

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. This is something that has been on the minds of many people in our country in recent weeks and months, including parents who are worried about their children and individuals who are worried about their reputations. It is true that social media has been a great innovation. Like all technologies, it comes with positives and negatives. I believe that in many ways social media has changed our lives for the better but it has also changed our lives for the worse. It al…

The Deputy is spot on. Public figures, whether in media, sport, politics or business, have to have a thick skin. Public figures put themselves out there and have to accept that they are going to be criticised in a way that average or everyday people would not be, but there is a limit to that. Cyberbullying, whether of children, adults or public figures, is wrong. The best thing we can do to counteract it is to apply a basic principle. Is what is said something that would be tolerated if it happened in the public sq…

It is important to say at the outset that people have a responsibility to repay their debts. If people borrow money, they have a responsibility to pay it back. That is true for mortgage holders, farmers and business people. If people do not pay back their debts, they are causing social harm. Farmers not paying back their debts means that is harder for other farmers to get credit and that they have to pay higher interest rates when they do. Business people not paying back their debts also has an effect in that it wi…

Regulations and protections are in place. Perhaps those regulations are not strict enough or those protections strong enough, but we are of course always open to hearing proposals that might strengthen protections for borrowers or the regulation of financial institutions. We have done that in the past and it is something we remain open-minded about into the future. It must be borne in mind that all of these circumstances and individual cases are different. Often, the story which we hear is not always the full story…

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. Like her, I think there will always be a role to play for nursing homes. We want more home care and more people being able to stay in their homes for longer and that is the plan and the direction of travel. This is why so much additional funding has been provided for home care in recent years with a 40% increase in the past couple of years and a further increase next year. There will always be people who need a nursing home and who need residential care and this …

The Government acknowledges that nursing homes have been badly affected by Covid, that income is down and that costs are up. In response to that, we established a Covid-19 temporary assistance payment scheme. That was set up back in April. Applications opened on 17 April. The core concept of the scheme is that the State will provide additional funding to nursing homes that require it to contribute to their additional costs associated with Covid-19, and to the costs of dealing with mitigation and outbreak management…

For my own part, there are not any more records other than those that have been put in the public domain already and have been flashed all over the Internet. I provided any records that I have. Any records that are held by the Department of Health or the Department of the Taoiseach I do not hold. It is normal practice that when Ministers leave Departments, they do not take their records with them. The records stay with the Department. Any records would be held by the Department of the Taoiseach and the Department o…

We all appreciate the extra work student nurses have done during the pandemic to help us increase our health service capacity. In recognition of that, many student nurses were taken on as healthcare assistants during the first wave and were paid for that purpose. It is important to acknowledge that generally, students are not paid across the public service. Medical students, trainee gardaí and teacher trainees are not paid. Student nurses in their final or pre-registration year are paid because they are different a…

Our objective is to ensure that people who are homeless receive wraparound supports, regardless of whether they are accommodated in hostels provided by NGOs or by private providers. Those supports are obviously easier to provide in accommodation provided by an NGO or a charity than in private accommodation. When these private providers are used, it is probably out of necessity because there is no alternative available. I will ask the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy O'Brien, to contact th…

Everyone who works in our health service puts themselves at risk of contracting Covid because of their work, as do many people beyond it. It is not just nurses but also doctors, cleaners, caterers and anyone working in a hospital, including therapists. Many people who do not work in hospitals do so as well, such as people who work in retail and transport. We need to acknowledge that many people are more at risk than those who can work from home because they deal with other people. That is not just the case for nurs…

There will be a meeting of the Cabinet sub-committee on Covid today and a Cabinet meeting tomorrow. After that, we will be able to make a decision on what can and cannot reopen in December. No decisions have yet been made about restaurants, pubs or hotels at this stage. Whatever happens, we will make sure financial supports like the employment wage subsidy scheme and the Covid restrictions support scheme, CRSS, remain in place for businesses that cannot open. As Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, I will…

I know that Tipperary town needs help. It is a town that needs to be reinvigorated and revitalised. The Deputy has raised this with me many times, as have Deputies Lowry and Cahill and Senator Ahearn. Going back to my time in Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, there was funding for a one-way system to the town which did not get approval. Now there is talk of a ring road. We have set up the task force, and I am glad to hear that it is doing good work. I will mention the matter to the Minister, Deputy Ryan a…

I am advised that legislation will be ready at the end of December, that is, in the next few weeks. There is an unfairness in the fair deal scheme and how it treats farm assets and the assets of small business. We want to make that change and make the fair deal fairer for those who own a business or farm. I appreciate this new legislation has been promised for a very long time. I know the Deputy will not believe it until he sees it but I am advised it is only a matter of weeks away at this stage.

I appreciate that the shortage of secondary school places in east Cork is a burning issue, as it also is in my constituency. It is a feature in several parts of the country where it is not always possible to provide a child with a place in their school of first choice, but it is always possible to provide a place in a school not too far away. I do not know the details of the particular schools mentioned by the Deputy but I will see the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, tomorrow, and let her know that it was rai…

I think we all agree that prisoners should be treated humanely, especially those who suffer from mental illness. I do not know the answer to the Deputy's question about the task force but I will certainly raise it with the Minister for Justice and ask her to provide him with a written response.

I have also received some complaints on the same matter. It is more one for the council than central government. I think everyone appreciates why the cycle lanes have been put in place. We want people to cycle more and, at a time public transport is advised against for public health reasons, we want to facilitate more people to cycle. However, there must be proper consultation with local communities, which does not always happen. We have had some difficulties with traffic in the Phoenix Park, and with cycle lanes i…

This is a long-running issue and sore. It ongoing for 15 years by now. I would also love to see a resolution. It is the case that CE supervisors are entitled to the State contributory pension, as everyone else is, but they are not entitled to a public service pension. The reason for that is, first, they are not public servants, they are not employees of the State even though the body that employs them is funded by the State and, second, they have not been paying a public sector pension contribution throughout their…

I thank the Deputy. I am afraid I do not know the details of the issue he has raised, but I will take it up with the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Daragh O'Brien, and ask him to reply to the Deputy directly.

I will certainly mention the fact that the Deputy raised this matter to the Minister when I see him later. However, we generally prefer that social housing, particularly housing held by AHBs, not to be sold off. That stock should remain as public housing for reasons the Deputy will understand. Selling off public housing stock will leave less for people in need of it. However, I appreciate that people who have lived in those homes for 20 or 30 years want the right to own them. It is a case of trying to get that bala…