In many ways that is the point. This is a Parliament, not a kangaroo court. While the Deputy is a Member of Parliament and I am too, he does not have the authority to decide who has committed a crime and who has not. Nor does he have the authority to investigate it. If an allegation is being made of a criminal nature, there is a proper process by which an investigation can be carried out and a prosecution carried out if warranted. It is not for the Deputy to do that. That is not his role. We are a democracy. We do …

I also welcome the fact that motor insurance premiums are continuing to fall. I think they have fallen about 40% or 50% from peak now. I would like to see the same happening when it comes to business insurance. Employer's liability and public liability have not come down and that is disappointing. The fact that there are so many uninsured drivers on the road is a cost for everyone, because the cost gets loaded on to the motorists who do pay their insurance and that is not fair. I am not sure if there are additional…

I am pretty sure the carbon tax increase in May does not apply to petrol and diesel, it applies to solid fuel and kerosene. I will double-check on that.

On special provision for students who have epilepsy, it is an important issue and I thank the Deputy for raising it again. It would be a matter for the State Examinations Commission and for the Minister, Deputy Foley. I will ask her office to contact the Deputy directly. I appreciate the exams are coming and it is important to make provision for people. There is an investment programme for fire stations. I do not know where Clonakilty is on it but I will ask the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, to come back to the…

I move: THAT provision be made in the Act giving effect to this Resolution, in the manner and to the extent specified in that Act, to provide for the charging, in accordance with regulations made under that Act by the Minister for Justice, having consulted with the Garda Commissioner and with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, of fees in relation to the provision of vetting services by An Garda Síochána.

Tógfaidh mé Ceisteanna Uimh. 1 go 9, go huile, le chéile. Our national security is always a primary concern for the Government and we are carrying out substantial work in building and sustaining our security and capabilities across several sectors, including justice, defence, the economy, energy and cyber. The continuing threat from republican paramilitaries is a priority and our authorities continue to work closely with their counterparts in Northern Ireland and Britain to counteract it. The security environment t…

I thank Deputies for their questions. At the outset, to be very clear, the Government has no proposals to apply for NATO membership or join any military alliance or mutual defence pact. I am happy to give that assurance in the Chamber today. We are, however, a NATO partner for peace, we are involved in the European Union's battle groups, and we are part of the European permanent structured co-operation, PESCO, arrangement. The events in Sudan demonstrate why it is particularly important for a small country like Ire…

I am not familiar with that EU funding so I cannot answer the question.

On briefings for Opposition leaders, I can ask my Secretary General to carry out a review. As things stand, security briefings, even for Ministers and the Taoiseach, are given largely on an ad hoc basis. We do not have a formalised structure like that in other states. We need to consider that. We also need to consider the associated rules and what the consequences would be if there was any breach of confidentiality regarding any security briefing. All these matters would have to be taken into account.

In my experience, one thing that never leaks is anything to do with national security. Were that to change, there would have to be very serious consequences. On Deputy Brendan Smith's comments, I absolutely agree with what he had to say about republican and loyalist paramilitaries. He made a valid point on Garda resources for the Border counties. We need to take into account the fact that paramilitaries are still active. However, there are no plans at present for any new barracks to be constructed.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 to 21, inclusive, together. The Cabinet Committee on the economy and investment was re-established in January 2023 and is due to meet on 25 May. The committee has a function similar to that of the Cabinet committee on economic recovery and investment, which met six times during the course of 2022. Membership of the committee comprises the Taoiseach; the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and for Defence; the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications and for …

Given the limited time available to me, I will focus in my reply on matters relating to the economy and investment. There were some questions about the tech sector. The assessment I gave many months ago was that I thought the tech sector was down-sizing or re-sizing by about 10% or 15%. This is not too far off the mark. It comes after a period of rapid expansion. Tech companies that expanded rapidly over the past three years are now re-sizing or down-sizing by about 10% or 15%. In the medium to long term, this is a…

For the record, I answered questions earlier on the Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins. That last lot of questions was supposed to be on the Cabinet committee on economy and investment. I think the Deputy is abusing the procedures of the House and is abusing privilege.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 22 to 30, inclusive, together. I attended the meeting of the European Council on 23 and 24 March in Brussels. We discussed Ukraine, competitiveness, the Single Market, the economy, energy issues and external relations. Leaders met with United Nations Secretary General António Guterres. In our meeting with him, we discussed the impact on global food security of the Russian blockade of Ukrainian ports. We also discussed climate action and the need to restore momentum towards achieving…

On Deputy Durkan's question about the earthquake in Turkey and Syria, it is fair to say there was much consensus around the table at the European Council that the efforts we are making to assist both Turkey and Syria were the right ones. However, there was a definite degree of frustration that we were not able to get access to northern Syria for reasons linked to the conflict in that country. In terms of the acquisition of new aircraft, a new aircraft is on order from the Air Corps. I am not across all the details,…

I thank the Deputies. On Deputy Bacik's question, I join with her in commending the work of An Garda Síochána, the Director of Public Prosecutions, and the courts. As the Deputy said, it is five years since there has been a murder in Ireland linked to a feud involving serious organised crime gangs. Please God, this will continue. I am aware the gardaí have done phenomenal work in that regard as have the prosecutors and the court. Two convictions have been secured this week. There was one acquittal, which was not th…

Housing is my priority and is a priority for the whole of the Government. I can absolutely guarantee that. We appreciate that the country is in the middle of a very deep housing crisis, a housing emergency that affects people in lots of different ways, including younger people and not-so-young people struggling to buy their first home, people paying high rents and people who are experiencing homelessness. It affects people in all sorts of different ways. The numbers that were published yesterday show real progress.…

I will tell the Deputy what is happening in the real world. Last year, about 30,000 new homes were built in Ireland. In those homes are real people, with 30,000 families living in a home that did not exist last year. It is the kind of house-building we have not seen in this country in a very long time and we are going to build on that. Last year, more new social housing was provided than in any year in decades - something Sinn Féin was not able to achieve in Northern Ireland when it was given the chance and held th…

----and that is why I will oppose its motion this week.

No, I do not accept that. We are making real progress and we need to build on the progress that has been made to date. These are ambitious targets. Let us not forget that we met our key target to build more new homes of different types last year. We built roughly 30,000 new homes in Ireland last year, exceeding our target. It should be borne in mind that this does not include student accommodation or derelict homes being brought back into use. We exceeded that target last year and we are working towards meeting it …