The purpose of the review is that recommendations are made. Those are then studied, you decide which ones to accept or not, and then act from there. That is how a review works and how it has always worked.

The Deputy should be aware of that. On the wider issue of homelessness, as I have often said, homelessness is a stain on our society. It is something I and others find deeply shameful. It happens for all sorts of reasons. Of course, a big part of the context is the housing shortage, which makes the situation so much worse. However, other factors are involved, for example, mental health issues and addiction. Family breakdown is one of the biggest causes of homelessness. Increasingly, homelessness is driven by migrat…

-----in the first place, and then getting them out of homelessness as quickly as we can. However, it is a complex issue with lots of different issues to be teased out. I met a homeless family in my constituency only a week or two ago. I am doing my best to help them out. Homelessness can mean different things. They are in a two-bedroom apartment that is provided by the council. They do not have to pay any rent for it and they have turned down several offers of housing because they did not find it suitable. That is …

-----are doing. In relation to thalidomide survivors, there is a process of engagement currently under way with at least some of the survivors of thalidomide, although there are different groups and many different individuals involved. Progress has been made with respect to the provision of health and social care assistance to respond to the current and future needs of thalidomide survivors. The Government is committed to focusing on the needs of survivors now and into the future. I want to pick up on something Dep…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 5 to 13, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on health last met on 19 June and is currently scheduled to meet next on 24 July. The Cabinet committee on health oversees the programme for Government commitments relating to health and receives detailed reports on identified policy areas. It considers the progress of health reforms including Sláintecare, the reform of disability services and the development of mental health services. The Cabinet committee also maintains an overvi…

I will have to beg indulgence and forgiveness from colleagues as I was not able to take everything down as quickly as I was asked questions. My officials are keeping an eye on this and will come back to Deputies with written replies where I am unable to give a verbal reply. In response to Deputy Barry's initial question, I am genuinely sorry to hear about his constituent's experience. The policy we have set out in Sláintecare is that nobody should have to wait more than ten to 12 weeks to see a specialist if they n…

I do not know exactly what the individual circumstances are that the Deputy mentioned, but if she wants to send me the details I will certainly make further inquiries about them. Deputy Gino Kenny raised the Citizens' Assembly on Drugs Use. When it makes its recommendations, they will be considered in good faith by the Government. As with the review that Deputy Bríd Smith mentioned, there is no obligation on the Government or the Oireachtas to accept every recommendation that is made. That would not be right. What …

Indeed, the union side is very much against the idea of being forced to agree to something, because it wants to be able to have a ballot, etc. The same would apply to shareholders and a board. I did not quite catch Deputy Ó Murchú's question, but I will come back to him by correspondence.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 14 to 16, inclusive, together. Requests for the use of the ministerial air transport service are made by Ministers' private secretaries to my office and are dealt with, in the first instance, by the staff of my office. Requests are examined by staff with regard to the need for and the purpose of travel, the destination, the availability and the suitability of other travel arrangements and other logistical details. Any necessary clarification or further information is then sought at …

First of all, I join Deputy Boyd Barrett in congratulating Jack Marley, our first heavyweight boxer to qualify. I saw him on the news last night and was really impressed to see that so many of our athletes are qualifying at the moment. The rugby sevens men and women have qualified, and boxers and others have qualified too. We provide a significant amount of State funding for sport. We provide funding through national governing bodies. In the case of boxing, that is the Irish Athletic Boxing Association. That fundin…

I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter again. The revelations from RTÉ last week are deeply unsettling and have shaken public trust in what is an important institution. We want to see trust restored quickly because we need to have a strong and effective public service broadcaster for our State. It is important once again to acknowledge that the vast majority of staff in RTÉ would have known nothing about this and certainly did not benefit from it in any way. The relevant Minister, Deputy Catherine Mar…

I thank the Deputy very much for his questions. I acknowledge what he is saying about double standards in RTÉ, with people at the top applying one set of rules to some among them and a different set to others in the organisation. I want to point out two relevant facts of importance. From the information we have to date, of the top ten or top 20 personalities in RTÉ it appears that only one received a clandestine payment. It is important that we do not cast aspersions on the other nine or ten people who could be des…

I thank Deputy Bacik. In my view, the people who are perhaps most hurt by all of this are the public, the vast majority of whom dutifully pay their licence fee every year when some people around them do not. Many people who have paid their licence fee every year for ten, 20, 30 or 40 years are extremely annoyed, quite frankly, about what has transpired. I acknowledge, of course, that the general staff in RTÉ feel harmed and hurt by this as well. There are industrial relations issues within RTÉ, as there are within …

We will certainly give that consideration. As I said, the terms of reference have yet to be agreed by the Government. The more that is included in the terms of reference of any review, the longer the review will take. As I have also said, it is better to do it properly and thoroughly than to do it quickly and not well. Regarding self-employment, which is an area I know well from my roles in the Department of Social Protection, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and having been an employee, an office…

I thank Deputy Naughten for raising this important issue, and I know it is one that we will all be familiar with in our constituencies, where parents come to us and tell us about the challenges they have in securing necessary assessments and treatment for their children. We are committed to finding and implementing real and tangible solutions to enhance services to meet properly the needs of children with additional special needs. As we all know, children with complex special needs access therapy services through t…

I thank the Deputy for his suggestion and I will certainly ask the CEO of the HSE and the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, to examine that. Certainly, the Government has no principled objection to part-time contracts. We issue them all the time across the public service. It does not always result in a net increase in the number of people working in these roles, because once offered, some full-time people go part-time, so there can be gains and losses on that. It is certainly something we are willing to…

I acknowledge the basic point the Deputy started off with, which was how important social connections are. In this very online and digital age, it is still all the more important that we meet each other, see other people, meet, embrace, shake hands and have shared experiences whether that is attending matches, concerts, agricultural shows and other events over the summer. Those things are really important for people's sense of community and mental health. They do not always have to be paid for and they do not alway…

I appreciate that it is an important issue but the Deputy did not put forward a proposal or action the Government should take. In fairness, Deputy Naughten did with regard to his question on disability services as did Deputy Bacik regarding her question on RTÉ. Deputy Pringle has not put forward a solution. The Deputy has been very critical of the Government, hoteliers and everyone and of me personally but he did not put forward a constructive solution so if he has one, he should put it forward and we will give it …

As the Deputy knows, both today and tomorrow, RTÉ executives and board members will be before committees. I see no reason why they should not put any information in respect of that payment in the public domain as soon as possible. I do not understand why it should take four weeks for the Grant Thornton report to be completed. However, there may be good reasons that I just do not know about. It is important that the question be put to RTÉ's representatives at the committee meetings today and tomorrow.

I thank the Deputy very much for her question. We already have legislation protecting workers from victimisation in the context of trade union activity. We are developing new legislation to put into our Irish law the EU directive on collective bargaining and national minimum wages. I will not be writing to any Russian oligarchs, quite frankly,. I certainly will not be writing to one who is not the majority owner of that particular company.