In most of the settlements there has been no admission of liability. I do not think we should be getting into this on the floor of the House, quite frankly.

Last year in Ireland, we marked 100 years as a democratic and independent state. We are now one of the oldest continuous democracies in the world and our ability to fulfil our destiny as a free and independent country has depended, in part, on freedom of expression, a free media and a strong public service broadcast sector. Public service broadcasting from RTÉ and others has been a foundation stone in our development as a democratic state and free nation. We know that has now been very badly damaged. Last week's re…

It is important to point out that there is more than one person on the executive board. In any democracy, in any decent society, as I am sure the Deputy will agree, anyone should be afforded due process. For me now to condemn en masse an entire executive board made up of several different people who had several different roles would not only be unfair but potentially would leave the State open to compensation claims under constructive dismissal. I have to be conscious of looking after taxpayers' money here even if …

I thank the Deputy. I know a lot about what happens in RTÉ. Their annual report and accounts are presented to Cabinet and, in addition, I have periodic meetings with senior people in RTÉ. I would meet the DG, maybe once or twice a year. On the existence of barter accounts, the Deputy is correct that the issue is not the barter accounts per se . Barter accounts, I understand, are used commonly across the media, arts and entertainment sector. The misuse of barter accounts for secret payments is the real issue here. C…

Public trust cannot be restored without truth, transparency and accountability. What we need now is an end to the drip-feed of information. We need all the information out there, if not today then certainly in the coming days. With transparency we have truth and then there can be further accountability thereafter. It is essential that we draw a line under this affair as soon as we possibly can because I agree with what the Deputy said around the importance of public service broadcasting, high-quality media, and hig…

RTÉ is a public body. It is also a semi-State or State-owned enterprise. A set of salary caps apply in State-owned enterprises and there is a code of practice for commercial semi-States as to how they are supposed to operate. We will have to establish very quickly whether any of the caps that exist were broken and whether the code of practice for commercial semi-States was breached. The use of contractors and consultants is done in the public, private and semi-State sectors. There are advantages and disadvantages b…

Many different things need to be taken into account when considering these matters. The cost of pensions for retired public servants is extremely high, if you think about it. They receive half their salary for the rest of their lives. When it comes to saving money and so on, all of that needs to be borne in mind. The same thing goes for redundancy and dismissal. All these things need to be examined. For exactly that reason, the Government yesterday agreed to proposals to initiate a root-and-branch examination. This…

This is an emerging situation and it is evolving. I shared two reflections in Brussels last week that I will share again. There is an issue in respect of the interplay of the executive board and the board. It is an unusual structure for a company or public body. We will have to establish whether that was a significant part of the problem. Things that would have gone to a board in an ordinary organisation did not and were dealt with at executive board level. The other issue is the interplay between commercial and pu…

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I know Deputy Cairns raised it yesterday as well. I do not want to comment directly on Dr. Fiona Kelly or Castletownbere, but I will certainly make sure that somebody, either from my office or that of the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, reaches out to her to hear what she has to say. I do know something about general practice. I am a trained, qualified GP. I worked in the public health service for seven years, including three years in general practi…

-----which creates the impression that the number of GPs is going down. It is not. Is going up, and it has never been higher.

We are working with doctors to deal with some of those issues. For example, just on 3 April, we published the terms of reference for a strategic review of general practice. That is the HSE and all stakeholders, including the Irish College of General Practitioners, ICGP, and the Irish Medical Organisation, IMO, working together to deal with some of the issues the Deputy mentioned. Yet, some of the issues are not as straightforward as the Deputy might make out. We have had some difficult experiences with registering …

Before I respond, I want to welcome two visitor groups to the Gallery. Visitors from the Deise Women's Shed are here from Dungarvan as guests of Senator Cummins. They are all very welcome. Also, visitors from the Portlaoise Active Retirement Group are here as guests of the Minister of State, Deputy Fleming. It is great to have them all in the Chamber this morning. I hope we did not disappoint. In relation to the Deputy’s question, I understand the impact mica is having on people in Donegal. It does not just impact …

It does not. I spoke with the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, and the Tánaiste this morning and I read part of her statement into the record of the House so it does not change the position.

I appreciate that going back to school is an enormous cost for parents and families and Government is acting on that. In June, we had the special child benefit payment for all families of an extra €100 per child. We have increased the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance, which is targeted at low-income families and parents. From September we are bringing in free school books in primary schools. I hope that will be a great success and if it is, we can consider extending it further to secondary schools but…

That was a statement; there was no question.

I thank Deputy Griffin for raising this important issue and for the very effective work he has been doing on the joint committee recently in relation to this matter. I am sure all of us are now receiving correspondence from former staff members of RTÉ or people who had interactions with RTÉ in the past. As is always the case with matters such as this, when people are making allegations, some will be true and can be proven, some will be true and cannot be proven, and some will not be true. That is why it is importan…

I thank the Deputy for raising this important question. I think all of us, across our constituencies, are running into the same difficulties and doing the best that we can to help parents and families who are facing unacceptable delays for assessments of needs and for therapies thereafter. The Government is fully behind the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, in her efforts to improve the situation. The difficulty we are running into is not so much a lack of political will or a lack of finance, but being able to fi…

I will certainly speak to the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, about it. If we can help, we will. The Deputy mentioned a number of items. I will get my office to liaise with her and with the Minister of State about the case she has raised.

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue of Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill again and for very much keeping it on the agenda of the Government and this House. The Government has consistently said that this Bill is not fit for purpose in its entirety. We remain deeply concerned about the shutting down of all other avenues to truth and justice, including inquests, police investigations, ombudsman investigations, as well as civil cases, as the Deputy outlined. I have raised the issue with Pr…

I am very sorry to hear about that gentleman's experience and I hope he makes a good and full recovery. We are continuously investing in and expanding our ambulance service. The Deputy mentioned that the man was airlifted to a hospital. Twelve years ago, there was no helicopter ambulance service whatsoever. Now, we have two, and we are continuing to invest in first responders, ambulances, ambulance stations and helicopters. I know we have more to do in terms of investment, and that is planned. There will also be oc…