I thank the Deputy. I agree with him that this will not happen of its own accord. The Government has signed up to this. The legislation is in place and we will all have to work together to meet this goal. There are dedicated recruitment and promotion competitions targeted at Irish language speakers. As the Deputy has rightly said, this in itself is not enough. Last year, PAS held general Civil Service competitions for individuals with fluency in Irish for clerical officer and higher executive officer level. Today P…

I thank the Deputy. There will be. This is the process that is set out in the legislation for which the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, has taken responsibility. The core point, which the Deputy has acknowledged, is that the number of Irish speakers applying to join the Civil Service is quite low. This in itself is a problem we need to address. I have been looking at the figures. To give context, when comparing the most recent analogous general Civil Service competitions undertaken by PAS at clerical officer lev…

I thank Deputy Dillon very much for his question. The update to the public spending code in 2019 combined, with lessons learned from domestic projects and international best practice, highlighted the need for more structured scrutiny of major public investment projects, particularly in the areas of planned delivery, costings and risk. This is to ensure that Government is making decisions with a full picture of the proposal, its costs, risks and benefits. The revised national development plan, NDP, pledges to restru…

I again acknowledge the Deputy's continued interest in the Crossmolina flood relief scheme and, indeed, that of Deputy Calleary and others. It is a scheme that the Government is committed to advancing. I acknowledge the great work of the OPW on this project. As the Deputy will be aware, the specific role I have lies in either giving or not giving consent in respect of projects. I expect to receive a recommendation very shortly on this specific project. I assure the Deputy that as soon as I have a recommendation, I …

I again thank the Deputy. I want to reassure him that we have a very sharp focus on project delivery across Government. We have agreed a new national development plan with a total of €165 billion in funding out to 2030. I want to see that money well spent on the projects that we all want to see advanced over the next number of years. Ensuring that we have the appropriate checks and balances in place from the taxpayer's point of view is important. However, it is also important that we keep projects moving and achiev…

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I wish to highlight the ongoing work within the Government and the HSE to address what is an important issue across society. As the Deputy is aware, the Government is committed to establishing a new statutory scheme for the financing and regulation of home support services, which the Department of Health is developing. It is the view of the Government that many older people want to stay in their own homes instead of going into a long-term accommodation setting. I…

I assure the Deputy that the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, is working on the legislation on the important issue of oversight. She is examining the HIQA report the Deputy referred to. The Minister of State will engage directly with HIQA on that. She will not fall short in taking the necessary steps to ensure there is a proper system of regulation and standards are upheld at all times. While I note the points the Deputy has made, we have seen a significant increase in the actual hours provided. The Minister of St…

I thank the Deputy and wish to convey condolences from the Government to him, his party and the families of the late Liam Kavanagh and Toddy O'Sullivan, who represented my constituency with distinction for so long. Both of them were Labour Party stalwarts and great servants of their constituents and of their party. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a n-anamacha. I thank the Deputy for raising the issue of the Dean Maxwell community nursing unit in Roscrea. He is correct that I am familiar with it. It was while I was in oppositi…

Each long-stay setting is different so the position that HIQA and the HSE adopt is particular to each. Therefore, the answer I am giving relates specifically to the Dean Maxwell. The HSE is in constant contact with patients and their families so they can receive updates. It is important that reassurance be given that no resident will be asked to leave the Dean Maxwell in advance of 1 January or shortly thereafter, as I understand it-----

There is a commitment given by the HSE to continue to admit residents unless it is instructed otherwise by HIQA. It is important to be clear on that caveat and qualifier. If a direction is issued by HIQA, that will need to be complied with. We take the HIQA reports and regulations extremely seriously. They are there to protect standards and safeguard residents and staff so it is important that points made and issues raised be addressed. I look forward to the development of an agreed plan by the HSE. I will certainl…

I thank the Deputy. I acknowledge the work that he continues to do on this issue along with Deputy Cahill and Councillor Michael Smith, who has rightly been acknowledged for his work. It is important to highlight what has been confirmed today, which is that the Dean Maxwell can continue from today to admit new residents. That is a significant and important development. The HSE has made that decision. It is subject to caveat in the sense of HIQA instructing it not to do so. It is important that we work to address th…

The Deputy rightly highlighted the HSE's plan and intentions, which are to develop a larger short-term respite care facility for north Tipperary and to retain the current day services, to include dementia services. The Deputy is correct in making that point, but the Government, through the work of the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, will engage further with the HSE and meet with the HSE and the relevant officials early in the new year, working together to come up with what we hope will be a revised plan, which th…

It is a hat-trick for the Premier County today. It is good to engage with Deputy McGrath. The Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, has had ongoing engagement with representatives of the sector and, in fact, her officials met with them again yesterday. The Minister attended the meeting along with me and the Tánaiste on 6 December. The MEAI, to which the Deputy referred, was in attendance at that meeting and fully participated in and spoke at it, so there has been and continues to be ongoing engagement. The Minister, D…

I should say that the Minister for Social Protection was the person who recognised that there was a need to reopen the PUP, has always been at pains to say that we have to look after the people who are most in need and are the most impacted by the restrictions. I think it is important to put that point on the record. The PUP is open for people to go back on it. People who came off it previously can go back on the PUP. Those who did not return to work continue to receive the PUP at the rate of €250 per week and can …

The Government absolutely acknowledges that many individuals and families are under pressure at this time, particularly with rising fuel costs and electricity costs and so on. It is important to say that the measure we agreed at Cabinet on Tuesday to provide a rebate or a discount, as such, of €100 off every domestic electricity bill is in addition to the targeted measures that were introduced in the budget last October. Unusually, those changes in respect of the fuel allowance and indeed, in relation to the means …

It is important to say that the updating of the technology to take account of the booster dose should be done at a time when people have had the opportunity to have that dose. We are now at a point where around 1.3 million booster doses and third doses for the immunocompromised have been administered. We are going to accelerate the roll-out of the booster vaccine significantly. The Deputy will be aware of what the Taoiseach has announced in relation to the extended opening hours of the centres, for example, and the…

I have had a fair bit of engagement with the Minister for Education in relation to this issue in recent weeks. The minor works grant is normally paid in November or December. It is normally at a level of around €30 million for primary schools, as the Deputy has acknowledged. What was announced and paid out is a sum of €62 million, which is more than double the grant in total. The €30 million element of it - let us call it the normal minor works grant - is the 2021 allocation. It is not an advanced payment of next y…

I will ask the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, to come back to the Deputy on the specific issue of the ownership. I reiterate the point that has been made by the Minister and others in recent months, which is we will only be investing in a new hospital once we have absolute assurance that all legal services available in the State will be provided in that hospital and that it will be free of any religious ethos or influence in this regard. This is the absolute bottom line of the Government in this regard. A substantial a…

I thank Deputy Lowry for raising this issue. The Government has announced the reinstatement of the enhanced rates of the EWSS, which is a very important support for the hospitality sector and all other sectors. There are qualifying criteria because this is taxpayers' money. In essence it relates to a 30% reduction in turnover relative to a reference period back in 2019. The EWSS remains open for new entrants until the end of the year. It is open to any participant to add new employees at any point until then. The p…

I have given the chequebook for transport to the Minister, Deputy Ryan, and it is a large chequebook because he has a budget of €35 billion out to 2030 for transport-related capital projects. The national development plan is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every project that will happen in the coming decade. It is a high-level budgetary framework for our public capital investment plans over the next period of time. I am aware of the calls and the need for a bypass of Tipperary town. Deputy McGrath has made…