-----and the Department of Transport to establish the exact status of the project and why it is stalled, as the Deputy said it has. We will need to check that out.

I thank Deputy Cannon for the question. I fully appreciate the importance of having access to a sports hall in a school environment. We hear the point the Deputy is making about Seamount College in County Galway. I acknowledge the efforts made by him and the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, on that issue. We will raise it with the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, and respond to the Deputy with a detailed update.

I thank the Deputy. We are always open to examining new ways of making more accommodation available. Where there is spare capacity in homes, we have looked at all the different policy levers we have to see how we can encourage people to make those rooms available. As the Deputy knows, we have a very generous rent-a-room relief scheme. Up to €14,000 of income can be received tax-free. The Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys, has made a change from a social welfare perspective to ensure that people can r…

I thank Deputy Ward for raising this issue. I fully appreciate the importance of both developmental checks and the vital role public health nurses play in our communities. The issue here is not one of funding but of the recruitment of public health nurses. Efforts are under way to make progress in this regard. We have successfully recruited about 20,000 extra people across the health service since the onset of Covid-19, which is a significant expansion. It is challenging to recruit more people into some areas. I wi…

I thank Deputy Cahill for raising this matter. As he knows, the Government does not get directly involved in those matters of detail for which the HSE is responsible. We do, however, understand the importance of the issue when this happens for a patient who has been receiving medication under the medical card scheme. We have taken note of the specific issue raised by the Deputy, and the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, having consulted with the HSE in order to see what can be done in this regard, will …

I thank the Deputy. The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, has been doing a great deal of work in this area. Having negotiated several budgets with her, I know she has pressed the case for increased funding very hard. She was extremely successful in securing extra funding. Since 2021, we have provided an extra €207 million in funding. That is no consolation to anybody who cannot get the home care services they need. Last year, 20.8 million hours of home support were provided across the country and a further 109,000 …

I thank the Deputy for raising the ongoing challenges. We understand the impact these statistics have on all of the individuals and families involved. A huge amount of work is under way to make progress, in particular in UHL where we know there have been real problems. The Minister and HSE have put a real focus on the hospital and have provided supports. Nationally, we have expanded bed capacity. Ultimately, we need to do that. We have an ageing and a growing population. We have delivered almost 1,000 new acute hos…

I thank the Deputy. We have made a lot of progress for those who are eligible under the scheme. The Deputy is raising the example of people who are not eligible, but in the forthcoming year those who are eligible have reduced charges of between €50 and €75 per student with a cap per family of €125. The Deputy raised a particular issue and specific location. I take it the students are not currently eligible for the scheme and, therefore, are paying fares to private bus operators. I will ask the Minister to come back…

I thank Deputy Smith. My understanding is that following discussions with the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, approval for an offer to be made to the unions has been agreed. The proposal is that a grade of adult educator will be formally established, with a standardised pay scale aligned with the Youthreach resource persons scale. The grade will apply to tutors employed in ETBs to deliver further education and training programmes who are currently employed under a va…

All I can say is that the Minister is very much aware of the issue the Deputy has raised on a number of occasions. It is being worked on.

I thank Deputy Higgins. She is right to point to the myriad different schemes, supports and incentives now in place. It can sometimes be difficult for individuals to navigate their way through the system, even in terms of getting information, and then understanding and applying it. Sometimes, they have to look at different websites and so on. The Deputy's suggestion has some merit. We will raise with the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, whether there is a need for one central point. I would imagine that the Citizens Infor…

As Minister for Finance, a key strategic priority is a well regulated, sustainable banking and financial services sector. All viable businesses operating in Ireland should have the opportunity to access sufficient finance to meet their enterprise needs in a manner that supports growth and employment in the economy. That is why my Department has a range of measures to in place to ensure viable SMEs can access appropriate finance at a reasonable cost from both bank and non-bank sources. My officials meet the banks on…

I thank Deputy Doherty for raising this issue. As I have stated previously in the House, the position is that the formulation and implementation of monetary policy in the eurozone and the setting of official interest rates is an independent matter for the ECB. The Government has neither a role in setting official interest rates nor in setting the retail interest rates that lenders may charge on their loans, including mortgages. That is a business and commercial matter for individual lenders. As the Deputy will be a…

As the Deputy well knows, when I advocated in opposition for mortgage interest relief, it was for an extension of the relief, which was successfully secured by the then Opposition. Those are the facts and the Deputy knows that. He referred to the surplus this year, which, as he knows well, is coming from windfall corporation tax receipts, so the Government has to take that into account in the decisions we make. The commitment I have given is that in the lead-up to the budget, we will consider all the options. There…

I have acknowledged the real-life impact on mortgage holders of the changes in ECB rates. The Deputy will always quote the very highest figures and the highest examples. The same Central Bank report to which he referred also points out 40% of mortgage holders are protected because they are on fixed rates. In the various scenarios it looks at, the average impact is 13% to 16%. That is not insignificant and there are others, of course, for whom the impact is considerably higher. I accept that and recognise it, which …

I am aware of the committee’s recent examination of the section 481 film tax credit, and I understand the report was published today. As I said in reply to the Deputy earlier, when I checked online in the middle of the afternoon, it was not available, but I will read it. I compliment the committee on undertaking this work. In respect of the intellectual property rights of performers, copyright law falls within the remit of the Department of the Enterprise, Trade and Employment. Notwithstanding this, my officials ha…

I acknowledge that the Deputy has been consistently raising this and related issues, and I am happy to pick up on the work my predecessor, Deputy Donohoe, did with him on these issues. The Minister of State, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, has met Screen Producers Ireland and visited Ardmore Studios. She will, I am sure, assist in trying to bring about a resolution to these issues. Section 481 is a valuable tax relief. The audiovisual sector has performed well and we want to ensure any changes we consider will not undermi…

I give the Deputy a commitment that I will certainly read the Committee on Budget Oversight report. I am happy to engage with him and the sector to try to make further progress on these issues within the constraints that I need to live within, recognising that copyright law that does not fall within the Department of Finance. As the Deputy knows, it is within the remit of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. The EU (Copyright and Related Rights in the Digital Single Market) Regulations 2021 were sign…

I am more than happy to engage with Deputy Boyd Barrett. I acknowledge he has a track record in raising these issues. From my reading of it, in preparation for this question it seems that there has been considerable progress. There has been goodwill and considerable work has been done by my predecessor and the industry to make progress. We will see if we can continue with that work and make more progress.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I fully empathise with the terrible plight of those homeowners who are dealing with the devastation that mica has caused to their homes. I will do all that I can while I am in this office to help them and to support them. The Government response to the mica issue is led by my colleague the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien. As the Deputy is aware, a scheme of financial support to help affected homeowners has been put in place. Rega…