I thank the Deputy for raising the question. I do not have an update to hand, but I will speak to the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, later today and I will ask her to come back to the Deputy directly.

When the State, through a local authority, buys a property from a landlord, we need to ensure that the building is up to code because ultimately this is taxpayers' money. As the Deputy mentioned, there may be some circumstances where the defects are so minor, they could be repaired and some flexibility should be shown. I am happy to raise it with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. If the Deputy has a specific example to share with me, that would also be helpful.

I have been delighted to see the progress on the Macroom and Ballyvourney bypass. I remember sitting in Deputy Creed’s office in Macroom maybe ten or 11 years ago as Minister with responsibility for transport trying to get that project started. It shows that sometimes these projects take time, and I am glad it has been completed under this Government and this coalition. I do not know the details of the safe access the Deputy mentioned but I will make inquiries with the Minister for Transport and directly with Trans…

I thank Deputies for their questions. I signed off on a response to Deputy Nolan’s letter the other day but perhaps it has not made its way to her office. I can confirm 14 private nursing homes closed in 2022, six have closed in 2023, and a further four which are currently active have notified their closure in 2023. Four new centres opened in 2022 and two in 2023. In 2022, there was an overall net increase of 112 registered beds. In 2023, there has been a net increase of 222 so far. That is private nursing homes. I…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 9, inclusive, together. The social dialogue unit, part of the economic division of the Department, co-ordinates and assists the Government's overall approach to social dialogue. This includes the labour employer economic forum, LEEF, which engages with representatives of employers and trade unions on economic and employment issues insofar as they affect the labour market and which are of mutual concern. The most recent meeting of the LEEF took place on Monday, 3 July. This prov…

I thank the Deputies for their questions. As regards Tesco workers, pickers and drivers, that matter was not discussed at LEEF. Individual disputes rarely are discussed at LEEF but sometimes they are touched on. There are mechanisms for disputes to be resolved, such as the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, and the Labour Court. I would encourage Tesco to sit down with Mandate. Provided the workers want Mandate to represent them, Tesco in those circumstances should sit down with Mandate and discuss any issues tha…

As regards pay-related benefits, I am a supporter of that. The Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys, is too. We do want to introduce it.

We could not introduce it for just one employer or one set of employees. That would not be fair. We should bring in pay-related benefits. There are disputes about it, by the way. I think it makes sense. The more you pay in PRSI, the more you should get back out. Other people take a different view and think that is inequitable. In particular, people on the left oppose that concept. I do not. I hope we can get that done, but it would not be possible to do it for one set of employees. That just would not be fair. It h…

It is a fair question, but I just do not know exactly what happened, and I am loath to comment on something without knowing the facts. There may be a different side to the story.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 to 13, inclusive, together. The role of the Department is to assist me as Taoiseach and the Government to ensure a sustainable economy and a successful society, to pursue Ireland's interests abroad, to implement the Government's programme and to build a better future for Ireland and all its citizens. Staff employed in the Department of the Taoiseach are aligned to existing Civil Service grades and paid on the appropriate pay scales, which are published on gov.ie . The following t…

I thank the Deputies again for their questions. If they look at pay for public servants in Ireland, whether it is in the Civil Service or the wider public service, it does compare favourably with other European countries. Of course, you have to adjust it for tax and the cost of living, but even so, public servants in Ireland are relatively well paid compared with Northern Ireland, Britain, France, Denmark or Italy. It is important that we recognise this. It is only possible because of the economic policies that hav…

There are several EU reforms. I am not sure which one the Deputy means.

I do not know if that is going to happen at all. I will have to revert to the Deputy.

There are a few different reforms being proposed. The Secretaries General of Departments are paid at three levels. That is something I did not know about until recent months. I am glad to say that, even though I have served in government for quite some time, I have managed not to take an interest, or get too involved, in how much individuals are paid in Departments. I do not think that is a role for politicians. They are graded at three different levels. That is now being reviewed, particularly given that the spec …

I propose to take Questions Nos. 14 to 16, inclusive, together. The State litigation principles mark a codification and public statement of best practice in the State’s conduct of litigation. They were approved by the Government on 30 May. The 15 litigation principles were drawn up by the Attorney General following consultations with senior legal staff in his office on the advisory counsel side, in the Chief State Solicitor’s office and in the State Claims Agency. It should be noted that many of them are already ap…

With regard to what Deputy Jim O'Callaghan said earlier, I agree we should make some effort to make people more aware of the principles that have been set out by the Attorney General and agreed by the Government. This is being disseminated among Government bodies and agencies. There are plans for seminars. Perhaps this needs to be done more widely. The State certainly does not always get it right in its litigation strategies. It loses cases from time to time. I agree that the perception of the State being an aggres…

I am not commenting on that because I do not know enough about it and they may or may not be misread. I do not know that.

I do not know about that.

The courts found in one case that they were misread so far.

I do not think that has been a finding in all cases. Maybe it has been a finding in a number of cases. I do not know about the particular cases to which Deputy Tóibín is referring to.