Regarding palliative care provision in south Tipperary and the south east, I am told there are two clinical nurse co-ordinators for children with life-limiting conditions in the south east. They support the provision of safe care in the home. They are working to ensure a care plan based on patient need is in place in each case. However, there is something amiss here. We need a sustainable long-term solution for the provision of paediatric palliative care services in south east. I am told that is under development a…

Thanks very much, Deputy. There are a lot of vacant homes around the country. The Deputy sees them on his travels - I see them on my travels as well - around the country. That is particularly the case in more rural areas like south Kerry. Our colleague, Deputy Griffin, has documented this and photographed it. He has done a whole dossier on it, which he has shared with me. Deputy Healy-Rae is essentially making the same point. The number of homes that are habitable is relatively low, but they do exist. Regarding the…

I do not think that a CPO should ever be the first option, but it should be an option that we have if people refuse to sell or bring a property into use and sit on a derelict property for years. That is why we have the fund to do that. Some local authorities have led the way on that. Others have been far too slow. The whole issue of vacant properties is a very interesting one. The Government published a really good vacant homes strategy not too long ago. It points out there are roughly 160,000 vacant properties - v…

I thank the Deputy. It will absolutely be survivor centred and survivor led, but it will be chaired by a judge or retired judge. Very simply, the timeline is as soon as possible. In fairness to the Tánaiste, though, he wants to engage with the people most affected by this before coming up with terms of reference and committing to a timeline. I think that is only reasonable. There certainly will not be any delay due to a lack of urgency or political will, but it is important we engage with all of those whom we need …

I have not yet received the report. I understand the Minister for Health has received it in recent days. The normal process would be for him to consider it, to bring it to Cabinet and to publish thereafter. I anticipate it is only a matter of weeks, but I do not know for sure. I have not seen any proposals to establish a special committee on the matter.

I take on board the Deputy's point that we have a health committee and that a special committee is perhaps not necessary. I have not heard anyone, at least in government, make that proposal yet.

I fully concur with everything the Deputy said and with her sentiments. We made a decision at Cabinet on Tuesday to publish the report and agreed there would be a statutory inquiry chaired by a judge or former judge. The Tánaiste is committed to getting that up and running as soon as possible. It requires a motion in the Dáil. Ideally we would like to have that done and the inquiry up and running before the summer recess. He is keen to engage with Women of Honour, women and men of honour and the different represent…

I do not know if the Government has any influence on Corrib Oil. I do not think I have ever had any engagement with the company. Legislation to strengthen people's right to be represented by a trade union is planned. It derives from an EU directive on minimum wages and collective bargaining. We have set out a roadmap to do that, but the legislation will take some time. It is absolutely the intention to have it done by this Government and this Dáil.

The EU Unified Patent Court is now up and running and we are keen for Ireland to be part of it. It requires a referendum and, as we all know, referendums in Ireland are not straightforward and can often lead to extraneous arguments being thrown into the mix and so on. We are keen to get it right and win it. It is a simple question. Do we want to join this court or not? The treaty is already operating. There is no question of renegotiation. We will have a referendum on it. We have not yet decided whether it will run…

This matter has been raised with me by Senator Ahearn and Deputies Lowry and Cahill. It pertains to two Garda stations, namely, new ones that are needed in Clonmel and Macroom. They are very much needed. They are part of the PPP bundle with the family law complex in Dublin.

If we stick with that, it will take forever, so we are examining unbundling it, which would allow us to go ahead with the Garda stations in Clonmel and Macroom quite quickly, certainly in the next year or so. We are working out the details and legal issues that relate to doing that. It requires bringing forward some spending, but if we take a long-term view, it would be cheaper to do it sooner. It requires the reallocation of funding which we are working on at the moment. We will have a meeting on it tomorrow, so I…

I thank Deputy Feighan for raising this important issue. In part because of full employment and the fact there are more people at work in Ireland than ever before, there is no sector of the economy, whether public or private, well paid or poorly paid, that is not struggling to recruit and retain staff currently. Childcare and early years education is one of those. To help with the issue, the Government has put in place a new employment regulation order for childcare professionals and early educators, which gives th…

I meet the Minister, Deputy Ryan, once or twice a week. I guarantee the Deputy that the road programme often forms part of our conversations and discussions. It is not a secret that I am more enthusiastic about new road development than perhaps he is. It is good to have different views and parties within a coalition.

To answer the Deputy's question, which relates to several national road projects, roughly €250 million is allocated every year to maintaining national roads and another €250 million a year to upgrading and improving them. It is never possible to fund every project every year. Regarding the N2, funding is in place this year to progress the Ardee bypass and Clontibret to the Border, which is important for the A5 link-up, which we are also cofunding. Funding for other sections can become available throughout the year …

In my constituency, we established an aonad, which is a Gaelcholáiste unit within an existing secondary school. It was the first time we had one in all of Dublin 15. It has been a great addition to the area, because we had two Gaelscoil, but no aonad or Gaelcholáiste. If one takes Dublin 2, 4, 6 and 8 together, that is a considerable population. I am sure the Deputy is correct in that there would be a demand for a Gaelcholáiste or an aonad lán-Ghaeilge, at the very least. I am inclined to agree with the Deputy on t…

It is a fair question. I do not know the answer. I know it was not me, but I do not know the answer. The PSA falls under the remit of the Department of Justice. Thus, I will ask the Minister for Justice, Deputy Harris, or his team to get back to the Deputy within the next week with an answer.

I thank the Deputy. I will have to come back to him with a more detailed reply. We have made considerable process in the context of onshore wind. A huge amount of our electricity, nearly 30% or 40%, is produced by means of onshore wind. We will be going offshore much more, in addition to Arklow, but it is important that it is plan-led and that we have the grid and consents. This is quite a technical area. I understand it, but perhaps not as well as the Deputy does. What I might do is come back to the Deputy in writ…

Any terms of reference can only be approved by the House, but I can absolutely give the assurance that the Tánaiste is going to engage with the Women of Honour, who helped to bring this to light in the way they did and campaigned on it, and with the Men and Women of Honour, which is another group, RACO, PDFORRA and retired members. He is very keen to engage with all of them, to come up with terms of reference which will be put to the House.

I agree. It is extremely important that people, especially young people, have the freedom a driving licence gives them. That is especially the case in more rural areas where it is much harder to get around if someone does not have a driving licence or a car. My understanding is that there has been a considerable increase in the number of people applying for driving tests. It is approximately 25% or 30% higher than it was pre pandemic. As a result of this, we have hired 25% or 30% more driving testers. A bit like th…

Tógfaidh an tAire Stáit, Teachta Butler, an chéad cheist. In respect of the other two questions, on modular builds and rapid builds, the first phase is under way. There should be people starting to live in the first 500 to 700 in the next few weeks. Some local authorities already use modern methods of construction. Fingal is one of those. We do not currently have any plans to take a stake in any of the building companies involved. The Deputy indicated that she is going to talk to the Minister for Housing, Local Gov…