I emphasise to the Deputy that, as would be usual, the investigation was carried out by the Department. I was not involved in conducting it, directing it or influencing it, nor was the then Taoiseach. It is important to make clear, although it should be self-evident, that any process such as this should be allowed to be conducted without any interference or otherwise in the process. Given the cross-cutting nature of many issues the Government considers, it is important to understand that there are often numerous De…

Tógfaidh mé Ceisteanna Uimh. 12 go 14, go huile, le chéile. The economic division of my Department assists me and the Government in developing and implementing policy across relevant areas, including economic growth and job creation, infrastructure and housing and climate action and social dialogue. The work especially focuses on the deliver of commitments in the programme for Government and co-ordination of issues that cut across multiple Departments. The division also supports the work of the Cabinet committees o…

I have no objection if the Deputy wants to take three minutes.

Once again, I thank the Deputies for their questions. Deputy Boyd Barrett raised the issue of ride sharing. Perhaps I can give some assurance to taxi drivers in that regard. It is something we have all used when we were abroad. Generally speaking, it is a good service. I have used Uber, Bolt and Lyft. With one exception, I found the service provided to be good. However, I have concerns around deregulation. First, it would mean drivers are not vetted or regulated, at least by a public authority, and would mean that …

I thank the Deputy. I take this opportunity to note the passing of Michael O'Regan. I know his friends, colleagues and the people of Kerry, who will be well familiar with the Dáil hour programme on the radio, will mourn his loss. I understand there will be a moment of silence at the end of Leaders' Questions to pay our respects to him and his family and colleagues. On the Deputy's question, as I said before, we need full information and clarity from RTÉ. The drip-feed of revelations which has been happening for far…

I thank the Deputy. The Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, met the director general on the day the McCann report was published. That report dealt with the voluntary redundancy schemes of 2017 and 2020. Yesterday's meeting between the Minister, the DG and the chairperson was in relation to termination packages. We need all transparency on this to the extent that is possible within the law. There are many recommendations in the report of the Future of Media Commission. These are very good recommendations, and we are …

There are people behind her who have sued RTÉ and taken a lot of money out of it, which is ultimately taxpayers' money, as the Deputy has pointed out.

That is a real concern. We see all over the western world democracies being undermined by governments that want to control the purse strings around the media. I would be really concerned if we were to go down that route.

Yes.

The Deputy started the question by referring to the annual report card on Government performance that the Children's Rights Alliance produces. This is an independent body and issues its report card every year. It might be useful for people to know that of the 16 measures the Children's Rights Alliance rates the Government on, our grades are up in four, the same in 12 and not down in any category. It is important to put that fact before the House. The impression the Deputy created would have somebody outside believi…

I thank the Deputy. It is a little bit of stretch for her to accuse me of spin when she is quite the Social Democrat spinmeister herself. She is the one who brought up the Children's Rights Alliance report, not me, and she did not acknowledge that of the 16 areas under which it assesses us, our grades are up in four and down in none. Of the 16 areas, there are no fail grades but there is one area in which we are deemed unacceptable. That relates to children in adult psychiatric institutions-----

-----and we absolutely take on board that criticism. In terms of a date for the report, I do not have it but I will check with the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and come back to the Deputy as soon as I can.

I thank the Deputy for raising the really important issue of stroke on Leaders' Questions. I know the topic has been raised previously but not for a long time. We all know the extent to which stroke affects people and their families. We know people who have died as a result of stroke, people who are surviving with the effects of stroke or who are at risk of stroke. We have a national stroke strategy, which runs to 2027. It aims to modernise and reform our services in line with the Sláintecare policy and to deal wit…

I thank the Deputy. I assure him absolutely that stroke care and treatment form an area in which we will continue to invest. We will invest more this year and indeed in the coming years. Somebody who has a stroke today in Ireland is 40% more likely to survive it than in 2011. Since 2011, we have gone from tenth place to fifth place in the EU 18. This is one of the many areas where we see patient outcomes improving in Ireland and overtaking those in the rest of the European Union and, in particular, the United Kingd…

I thank the Deputy for raising the important issue of the St. John of God Community Services and for contacting me about it during the week, as other Deputies did. Everyone here is aware there is a dispute between the HSE on one side and the board of St. John of God on the other. Both sides are putting their best foot forward and negotiating hard so that we can come to a resolution. What happens in that scenario is that service users and their families get caught in the middle. It has caused a huge amount of unnece…

The Deputy can be assured that along with the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, and the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, I am working hard as Taoiseach to make sure this matter is resolved as soon as possible. As I mentioned earlier, the CEO of the HSE met with the board on Sunday. A proposal has been made to St. John of God that includes additional funding and a pathway to deal with legacy deficits incurred by the organisation. The HSE and St. John of God continue to work towards a positive resolution. The significant…

I propose to take Question Nos. 1 to 5, inclusive, together. I can assure the House that the State’s security is a priority for the Government and, in this context, I would emphasise that we already have in place functioning services which carry out significant and important roles in protecting the State and the people, notably An Garda Síochána, the Defence Forces and the National Cyber Security Centre. Much of the security-focused work our services do is, of its very nature, covert and simply cannot be elaborated…

I thank the Deputies for their contributions. I want to put on the record that the Irish authorities have been very successful in recent months in stopping drugs being smuggled into the country. I want to recognise the contribution of An Garda Síochána, the Defence Forces and the Revenue Commissioners, which work in consort with counterparts in other parts of Europe and around the world. By acting on intelligence, they have stopped a lot of illegal drugs coming into the country in recent months. They deserve our co…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 6 to 16, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on EU and international affairs oversees the implementation of programme for Government commitments and considers policy matters in relation to the European Union and international issues. It most recently met on 4 December, when it looked ahead to the EU-western Balkans summit which took place in Brussels on 13 December and the meeting of the European Council on 14 and 15 December. As I have reported to the House, the December mee…

I thank Deputies for their questions. In response to Deputy Alan Farrell, I have received an acknowledgement from President von der Leyen of the letter I co-wrote with Prime Minister Sánchez but I have not received a detailed reply from her as yet. The matter was taken up by the Tánaiste at the Foreign Affairs Council meeting on Monday and there was a discussion about it among the foreign ministers so we have successfully put it very much on the agenda of the Foreign Affairs Council. High Representative Josep Borre…