We will have that quite soon. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, is working on heads of the Bill and we hope to have that enacted next year. I was not going to bring it up, but I do agree with the Deputy. People are entitled to sue the media if they so wish, but they do not have to. There are other ways to seek redress, one of which is a complaint to the Press Council of Ireland. That is the appropriate course that people should follow. To see a Member in this House not just suing a major newspaper but also personally s…

I will have to check up on that. The former Minister of State, Deputy English, had done a lot of work on it and was very advanced on that legislation to give the people to which the Deputy referred at least a say, and they should have a say. I do not know exactly where we are with that, however. I will check with the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, and Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, and come back to the Deputy.

I thank Deputy Shanahan for raising this very important issue. We have very serious problem in this country with gambling addiction and it is getting worse. Of course, it has been amplified by the fact that it is so easy to gamble online and make purchases online. As the Deputy knows, the Minister of State, Deputy Browne, is currently bringing that legislation through the House. I am not sure exactly what the situation is with the banks and the blocks the Deputy mentioned, but I will make inquiries with the Ministe…

It is extremely disappointing for our farmers and our food industry that a case of atypical BSE has been detected. We export over 90% of the beef we produce, so our reputation for safe and sustainable production is crucial. The animal was ten and a half years old and was identified during the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine's ongoing systemic surveillance of fallen animals. The animal did not enter the food or feed chain so there is no public health risk associated with this occurrence. Atypical BSE …

I thank Deputy Burke for raising the Cork elective hospital again. It is an issue he has been campaigning on for quite some time. The Government has identified St. Stephen's Hospital as the preferred site for the new elective hospital for Cork. It is now in planning phase and developing detailed project briefs, a procurement strategy and pre-tender business case for all the elective hospitals. I am advised the appointment of an integrated design team is under way at present and will be in place in early 2024.

The Deputy can be sure both the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, and the Minister of State, Deputy Heydon, will be very proactive on this and indeed the Tánaiste is in China as we speak. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has to submit an epidemiological report to the Chinese control authority, which it will assess before deciding whether the suspension can be lifted. The Department has commenced the investigation and will work to provide this information to the Chinese authorities as soon as possible.…

The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Coveney, has been allocated €250 million to establish a scheme to help businesses with rising costs to cushion the blow of rising costs and to enable them to retain their staff. To put it in context, €250 million is twice the amount claimed under the temporary business energy support scheme this year, so it is a very substantial allocation. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, and the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, are working on the detail of the scheme so th…

We are confident we will have the memorandum and the terms of reference to the Cabinet in the next couple of weeks but then we will need to approve people to serve on the panel, to be the chair and to serve on the inquiry. We hope to make progress on that quite soon. There will be a public element to it and nursing homes will be covered. It will, of course, be complicated in certain circumstances such as where litigation is under way. I am not sure it will be able to undertake inquiries where other inquires are hap…

I appreciate the Deputy is being very clear that she is referring here to professional commercial cyclists and not everyday leisure or commuter cyclists. It is something that should be considered and I will speak to the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, about this in the context of our road safety committee. I do not make a commitment either way but it is something to which we can give some consideration.

If we are talking about the same tax, the liability has been deferred by a year because we appreciate some changes have to be made to it as some anomalies have arisen that were not anticipated. We have given An Bord Pleanála a lot more work to do and there is a lot more building going on in the country. That is great but it means there is even more work for it to do from the private sector as well. Recognising that, it has been provided with lots of additional resources. There are now 15 board members. They can mee…

I really admire the work that the Order of Malta does around the country. I know it has a particular presence in Castlebar. The application would be a matter for the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, and her officials to assess but I can mention it to her and I will do so.

I agree there is a gap there and we need to give foresters and potential foresters the confidence they need to plant the trees we want them to plant. We are all aware of the problems that have occurred in recent years. Some €10 million has been provided to owners of ash plantations affected by ash dieback. More recently, a new reconstitution and underplanting scheme, RUS, was introduced in 2020. As of 4 October, the native tree area scheme is open for applications. It will allow farmers to plant up to 1 ha of nativ…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 12, inclusive, together. The next meeting of the Cabinet committee on housing will take place on 27 November. The committee works to ensure a co-ordinated approach to the implementation of Housing for All and programme for Government commitments regarding housing and related matters. Housing for All is now in its third year of implementation. Next week, the Government will publish the second annual update of actions under the plan. In undertaking this review, we have committed …

I thank Deputies for their contributions. I join Deputy Dillon in welcoming the approval of more than 100 new social houses in Mayo. We are seeing very good numbers now in new social housing provision. We will probably build more new social housing this year than any year since the 1970s. It looks like the 2020s will be a record decade in terms of public housing provision in the history of the State. I agree with the Deputy that there needs to be a greater focus going forward on affordable purchase provision and co…

When it comes to Croí Cónaithe, that is going very well, with approximately 4,000 applications submitted. We will review the process. It is still a new grant. We want to make it as simple as possible so people can draw down the money as quickly as possible but we need safeguards as well because ultimately, this is taxpayers' money. There will always be issues and we have to make sure that we have checks and balances. Deputy Boyd Barrett again mentioned the issue of the social housing income thresholds. They have be…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 13 to 17, inclusive, together. I took part in an extraordinary meeting of EU leaders by video-conference on 17 October, convened by President Michel following Hamas’ attack on Israel on 7 October. At the meeting, we reaffirmed our statement of 15 October: condemning Hamas for its brutal and indiscriminate attack; acknowledging Israel’s right to defend itself, while reiterating the importance of ensuring the protection of civilians at all times in line with international humanitarian…

I thank the Deputies for their contributions. I thank Deputy Haughey, in particular, for his remarks, and concur with the general spirit of them. The proposal for a peace conference was an issue made by President Sánchez of Spain, but has now been adopted as a European objective. Ireland will support and assist that in any way we can. That offer to do so has been made openly. In relation to Ukraine, I am hopeful that at our December meeting we will be able to agree to open discussions on accession both with Ukraine…

I think we have sent a very clear message in this regard and will continue to do so. Whether that message is heard or not, of course, is not something under our control. We do not have any evidence that Shannon Airport is being used to transport weapons to Israel, and we have a system for approving and refusing the transport of weapons. In terms of the matter that Deputy Murphy-----

-----has raised, he has had a chance to look at things. I have been in the Chamber so the answer that I gave him is the same because I have not left the Chamber in the last couple of hours, but I will get advice on the matter. It may be the case that a referral has already been made and that an investigation is already under way. I honestly do not know and will have to check up on those things. In response to Deputy Tóibín, the fact that there is no evidence of progress yet does not mean that you give up.

At some point there will have to be peace talks.