Alongside the Minister of State, Deputy Heydon, and the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, I will meet with Macra later. I would like to be able to meet their members at the gates but, as the Deputy knows, I will be in the Chamber until 3 p.m. or so. However, I will meet them to discuss their ideas and suggestions this afternoon and will be happy to greet them in Government Buildings and not for the first time. In the round, rural Ireland is doing okay. Why do I say that? I say it because of the census. The numbers, whi…

That is important and it goes against the false narrative that Sinn Féin tries to put across regularly. We know from the CSO figures that unemployment in every county in Ireland is close to an all-time low.

The Ceann Comhairle knows why they interrupt me. It is not because I am saying things that are not true. The population in every county is now increasing. There are no exceptions.

I just do not agree with the Deputy’s approach to this. I would not pit sport against the equestrian industry in Ireland. We have increased funding dramatically for sport over the past couple of years and we will continue to do so. There was a time when the budget for sport in Ireland was something like €7 million. It is now around €150 million and we will continue to invest in sport. However, I do not think the Deputy should pit sport against the equestrian industry. The equestrian industry in Ireland – horse spor…

It is worth about €1 billion a year. I think it is wrong. If the Deputy wants to do it down, he can do it down but he should not try to pit it against sport. That is not fair.

As I mentioned earlier, I look forward to meeting Macra representatives later this afternoon. We need more young farmers. We have lots of farmers in Ireland who are in their 60s and 70s often because they do not have a successor. I would be interested to hear from Macra representatives the ideas they have to improve succession because we need more young farmers. We are about to enter a decade of major change in agriculture and land use and we need young farmers to lead that. I look forward to talking to them about …

I thank the Deputy for a thoughtful question and for what I view to be two very valid suggestions. The population is increasing and, therefore, the Dáil will continue to increase in size. At some point, we will have to put a limit on that. I do not think the figure of 180 is too big, but the figure of 250 would certainly be and 200 would probably be as well. As Government has expanded and does more and more, we probably are stretched with Ministers having to carry multiple briefs which would not have been the case …

As I mentioned earlier, I will meet with a delegation from Macra na Feirme later this afternoon. I have read their statement and the eight points they are raising. I look forward to the meeting.

The Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman, is working on this. There is an increased demand for childcare, which is being driven by three things: an increase in population; an increase in the number of parents who are working; and the fact we have reduced the cost of childcare. Those three things together have led to an increase in demand. We need to cater for that. The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, is working very hard on it.

I am very sorry to hear about what occurred in the Deputy's constituency office. We are doing exactly those things. There was funding this year to recruit 1,000 gardaí. The mental health budget is now well over €1 billion per year. Not that long ago, it was barely €800 million. We are doing those things. As long as there is no fundamental change in economic policy or economic philosophy, we will continue to be able to fund it.

I might have to come back to the Deputy on that, or ask the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, to come back to him on the issue directly. The Deputy said that unemployment in north Kerry was slightly or somewhat higher than the national average, but at the same time he said there was a crisis in recruiting staff for a service. There is a certain disjoint there-----

However, we will have to come back to the Deputy on this issue.

I am afraid I am not across the detail of the issue. We might have a chance to speak about this later. There is a scope section in the Department of Social Protection which generally makes the determination as to whether somebody is or is not self-employed. I have a note here on adult education tutors in education and training boards, ETBs, but I do not think that is the issue the Deputy is raising. It is more a matter of home school tutors. Is that right?

I will speak to Deputy Burke about this issue later today.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I will have to ask the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, to come back to him on this issue. There is a medical cannabis programme, as the Deputy knows, but there are still differing views in the medical profession in particular as to the clinical efficacy and appropriateness of prescribing cannabis. That is part of the issue. Supply is another issue.

That did not stop anyone else, a Cheann Comhairle, in fairness to Deputy Crowe. In fairness to Deputy McDonald, it would be out of order for her to respond to the question, but I know she is a making statement later on the Good Friday Agreement, so perhaps that will be an appropriate opportunity for her to respond to the petition and Deputy Crowe's appeal.

I thank the Deputy for the question. He raises a valid concern. I would respond in two ways. One is that, while you can receive €800 a month for taking in somebody from Ukraine, you cannot charge them, say, €1,000 and get €800 tax free, so that has to be borne in mind when we talk about these things. It is €800 tax free but you cannot charge anything at all, let alone any more than €800, which would not be the case, obviously, for a private landlord. The whole issue of how small landlords, in particular, are taxed …

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I understand he raised it in the House yesterday evening as well. I appreciate the frustration of people in Mallow and the business community there. The Government is prioritising bypasses as part of the national roads programme and this is a bypass. We have about €500 million a year for the national roads programme, comprising about €250 million to improve and maintain the roads and about €250 million for new projects. It is never the case that every project can be funded …

I thank the Deputy. We will certainly examine that. The legislation is only being drafted at the moment. The plan is to have the legislation through the Houses by the summer recess and to impose the tax both in September 2023 and September 2024 retrospectively on profits made, but we will certainly examine the starting point. The legislation is not yet agreed by Cabinet, so I will give the Deputy's suggestion some consideration.

I thank the Deputy. I think he is jumping the gun a bit here. The review was commissioned by the Government, as we were mandated and required by the Oireachtas to do. I thank Marie O'Shea for the thorough job she has done. The report is only being published today and people will have a chance to read it. In fairness to her, she has done a very thorough job. All that the Government has decided is to refer the operational aspects to the HSE for implementation and the proposed legislative changes, not proposed by the …