That is an interesting idea. Advertising does work. Otherwise, companies would not spend so much money on advertising, nor would we as politicians. However, I am not sure how I would feel about restricting advertising of holidays abroad, certain foods and so on. I am not sure we would want to get into that space-----

-----but it is certainly something worthy of debate.

We are looking at it and taking it very seriously all the time. We have full employment now in Ireland - probably beyond full employment at this stage. There are more vacancies available than there are people with the skills to fill them. We see that in the public sector and the private sector. We see it in all parts of the country. We see it in jobs that are well paid and jobs that are poorly paid. It does challenge us to do a number of things: train more people, allow people with skills to come here with work per…

The DEIS programme has been hugely successful, and a number of schools in my constituency benefit from the additional resources that come with it, and they need it, given the disadvantage in the area. I am not an expert on it at all. I know there is a special arrangement in the north-east inner city. There is also DEIS band 1 and DEIS band 2. I will certainly let the Minister, Deputy Foley, know that the matter was raised and ask her to reply directly to the Deputy.

I do not think I can instruct the Minister for Transport, either legally or politically, but I know this issue has come up a number of times. My general view when it comes to these matters is that, if someone is fit and healthy enough to work for longer, he or she should be allowed to do so, but I think there may be insurance issues when it comes to bus drivers. I will certainly let the Minister know the issue was raised again.

It must be a very difficult decision to have to make if you are a dual player. Which set of team mates do you disappoint and which set of supporters do you disappoint when games clash like that? Needless to say, as a Government, we are not involved in scheduling any of these matches, but it is a reasonable issue to raise. I will certainly let the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, know it was brought up in the Dáil and he might revert to the Deputy directly.

Not really. It is very clear. We are participating in PESCO. We are founder members of PESCO. We had a referendum on the Lisbon treaty. People voted for it. I was proud to lead us into PESCO during my first term as Taoiseach. PESCO is the European structured co-operation on defence and security. We are not going to join NATO, but NATO is made up of many countries that are allies, for example, EU states, the UK, the US and Canada. We co-operate with them through the Partnership for Peace and have done for more than …

I will ask the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, to reply to Deputy Stanton’s question on AI. Regarding Deputy O’Sullivan’s question on home tutors, I was not aware of that issue. I will certainly speak to the Minister, Deputy McGrath, about it. It sounds like a Revenue decision. I will make inquiries and get back to the Deputy as soon as I can. To Deputy O’Dowd’s question, the discussions on the end-of-life hospice unit in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital go back to my time as Minister for Health, so I am frustrated th…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 5, inclusive, together. The overall responsibility for the public service modernisation, development and reform functions is vested in the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform. This has been the case since the transforming public services programme office was moved to that Department from the Department of the Taoiseach back in 2011. Better Public Services, a new strategy for public service transformation to 2030, was launched by the D…

I thank the Deputies. On the addiction sector and services raised by Deputy Gould, I am very familiar with these as well. I have often visited the Coolmine Therapeutic Community which is based in Blanchardstown but now has facilities in other parts of the country as well. I am very aware of the work it does. It is work that can really turn people's lives around. I have had an interest in the area for a long time, going back to my time as a practising doctor. Responsibility for it does not fall under my remit; nor d…

Certainly, that should be the case. Deputy Murphy raised the issue of RTÉ and climate. RTÉ covers climate a lot. Maybe it does not cover it on “The Late Late Show” but it does so often on the website and on the news and in many programmes dealing with the issue. Coverage is generally by George Lee who covers it very well and passionately. The issue of Ireland’s spend on healthcare was raised. It is the case that spending is now much higher than it used to be. When I was Minister for Health, which is not all that lo…

I propose to take question Nos. 6 to 12, inclusive, together. The Department of the Taoiseach is continuing to help advance the programme for Government commitments. The priorities set out in the Department's Strategy Statement 2021-2023 reflect the role of the Department to assist me as Taoiseach and the Government to ensure a sustainable economy and a successful society, pursue Ireland's interests abroad, implement the Government’s programme and build a better future for Ireland and all its citizens. Both the sha…

Deputy Gould spoke first and raised the issue of domestic and gender-based violence. I once again put on the record of the House that this is a major priority for the Government, and especially for the Minister for Justice, Deputy Helen McEntee, who takes the lead on this and is very passionate about it. What we are doing is reflected in a range of policies and legislation, as well as unprecedented increases in budget allocations. Last year we published our five-year ambitious zero-tolerance strategy with funding o…

Yes, I can certainly ask for that. We will be doing the end of second quarter report on Housing For All in about two weeks' time. Perhaps we can include it on that. In Fingal, my own county, it is about 200. There is a good chance we will exceed the target of 1,500 for this year. Whether all those purchases are signed and sealed by the end of the year is a different question. It may well be more than 2,000. I believe it has been a successful policy. It is my understanding that wage theft is a criminal offence under…

I propose to take questions Nos. 13 to 19, inclusive, together. I attended the 38th British-Irish Council summit, hosted by the Government of Jersey on 15 and 16 June. The theme of the summit was Building for the Future: Green and Affordable. I detailed the Government’s work to promote sustainable and affordable housing under Housing For All, including in relation to skills, affordability, and vacancy. More broadly, I updated the council on my recent EU and international engagements, including the European Politica…

Deputy Haughey asked whether any progress has been made in recent weeks on the restoration of the institutions in Northern Ireland, the Assembly and the Executive. The truth is that nothing, or very little, progress has been made. Engagement continues between the DUP and the UK Government. The Tánaiste met with the party leaders. Sir Jeffrey Donaldson will be in Dublin shortly for engagements. We are all still talking but it is fair to say that very little progress has been made at this stage. The hope is that the …

I thank Deputy McDonald for raising this important issue. I think we can all agree that it is a hugely distressing and shocking affair that strikes terror into the heart of anyone living in a nursing home or anyone who has a loved one in a nursing home. These are supposed to be safe places and they almost always are, but in this instance, that clearly was not the case. It is important to say that the man who committed these assaults is now in prison and is serving an 11-year sentence. He is in prison because of the…

I thank the Deputy. At this point, we will do this as soon as possible. I do not want to give a firm timeline here in the Dáil and then not be able to honour it because of factors outside our control, but there is no time to waste here. We have existing patient safety and safeguarding legislation, but clearly it should be strengthened and updated. We will get this done as soon as possible. I should put on the record of the House that the HSE's adult safeguarding policy includes a zero-tolerance approach that requir…

I thank the Deputy for his questions. Context is important. The public want to know the full facts. It is fair enough to criticise the Government for the housing budget not having been spent fully last year. I do not think it is fair, though, not put this into context by saying the budget for housing was the largest ever last year and will be the largest ever again this year. The budget for housing has more than doubled in the past couple of years. This is an important contextual aspect and an important fact that s…

I do not seek to justify it. I explained to the Deputy what the major cause was and what we are doing to make sure there is not a recurrence of it this year. I do not dispute any of the facts the Deputy put across, but they are not the full facts. As a party, the Social Democrats preach honest politics, but that requires context and the full facts. Last year, 30,000 new homes were built, more than any year for a very long time. When my party came into office, only 7,000 new homes were being built. There has been a …