Disciplinary action was also initiated in respect of that.

Historically, it is fair to say the cultural norm in medicine was not to disclose openly. Over time, that has changed, to be honest to all involved, but we still have a distance to go. We learn through error and medicine is not failure-proof, although the more you create a systemic approach to medicine, the less error you have. The cult of the miracle worker or of the brilliant person was always a challenge and a cultural challenge within health. It is a system-wide approach that reduces adverse incidents, bad prac…

I thank Deputy Aird for raising this important issue and the critical economic relationship between Ireland and the United States. Not too many Deputies in the House seem to want to mention that. "Economic relationships" seems to be a dirty word. It is enormous. The European Union-US economic relationship is the biggest in the world. It cannot be dismissed. The implications of any implosion of US-European relations would be very significant for our economy, for Europe's economy and for America's economy. The Deputy…

I will alert IDA Ireland to the Deputy's comments on Laois. I know Deputy Fleming also has an interest there, as do other Deputies. Deputy Stanley has his hand up as well. I hope he keeps his hand up in respect of the economic relationship between the US and Ireland. Notwithstanding everything that has happened, there have been significant investments even since all of the turbulence. I will not name all of the companies but the bottom line is that Dublin, Cork, Galway, Clare, Kilkenny, Monaghan and Meath, just to …

I was very surprised it was not raised on Leaders' Questions.

Ar dtús báire, gabhaim buíochas le Mick O’Brien as an méid oibre atá déanta aige ar son Thithe an Oireachtais i rith na mblianta. Gan amhras, is duine den scoth é agus tá muid go léir fíorbhuíoch de. I want to congratulate you on everything you have achieved, particularly your work on the historical restoration. You have been a phenomenal officeholder here, in many ways reflecting the outstanding tradition of the usher community, which has made life so meaningful, hospitable and welcoming for all who are elected to…

I say that with a sense of humour. It is the first time, I think, that I have ever witnessed "Happy birthday" being sung in Dáil Éireann, so you have broken new ground. It appears you were a soccer referee. You would have made a great Ceann Comhairle in another life, clearly. Thank you for everything, and also to Lorraine, Michelle, Jennifer, Karl and the family. Enjoy your retirement. It is well earned and well deserved.

I appreciate Deputy McDonald raising this issue. I was surprised that nobody raised it on Leaders' Questions given the urgency of it and the importance of it. Fifty-six schemes have been completed and a further 100 schemes are at different stages of development. I am blaming nobody and have not blamed anybody other than the fact that we are experiencing severe weather events more frequently. Weather is changing and patterns are changing, resulting in very high and elevated levels of water across the land. Climate c…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. It is a very important one. I also wish to convey my condolences to the family of Martin and Sharon and those the Deputy has met . We have to prioritise victims and survivors of criminal violence and we are doing that. Deputy Bacik is a person with a significant legal background. Perhaps she and the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, could engage on the substance of her party's legislation. I will talk to the Minister in the context of her raising this and perhaps he can engage…

It is unfair of the Deputy to use the language that she has used in identifying the Government's response. The Minister, Jim O'Callaghan, has seized on this issue and the legislation is anything but the status quo . The Minister is going as far as he possibly can within constitutional limits. A complete ban or a blanket ban on the disclosure of counselling records is simply unconstitutional. That is the very strong advice from the Attorney General, and indeed other legal advice has confirmed that. The Minister is g…

It is a significant change and there are other elements of that legislation also that represent significant change from the status quo . At least that should be acknowledged. There are constitutional constraints.

I will talk to the Minister for education with respect to the college the Deputy has raised. There is a broader issue. We have dramatically increased spending for second level and primary schools in terms of investment. The national development plan represents a further expansion and increase in projects. We will continue to keep all of this under review and do everything we can to progress as many schools as possible that need extensions or completely new builds in some cases.

The Minister for Health is seized of the situation across the country, including Mayo. We have allocated significant additional resources to the Health Service Executive this year, compared with last year. Population is growing and there are lots of pressures on acute hospitals. I will talk to the Minister in the first instance with respect to the issues the Deputy has raised. Obviously, during the Christmas and flu period certain electives were postponed. We know that. That is normal. It happens when there is a pa…

I met with the Deputy, the local authorities and the tidy towns group in Aughrim. I pay tribute to them and the local authority for the exceptional response. It again underlined the importance of community-based facilities and community centres. These are two communities under enormous pressure from weather events. In this case it was not a particular river breaking its bank, rather it was all of the water coming off the mountains and hills taking roads with it. It caused danger and huge trauma and distress to a nu…

It is across the country. It is Wicklow and Wexford as well. It is a consequence of what is happening.

It will be banned in public parks, on public lands and on public roads. Coillte has a responsibility to ensure its trails, walkways and so on are not used by illegal scramblers using scrambler bikes. There will have to be a zero-tolerance approach to the use of scramblers where the public are engaged. They should be used in proper sporting facilities where they were originally meant to be used. Where I was reared we had a scrambler track nearby in Vernonmount. We never had any problems with them being used on our r…

We are rolling out advanced paramedic cars across the country. I was involved in establishing the pre-ambulance-----

I was responsible for establishing the pre-ambulance emergency council, which ushered in the new era of professional first responders that transformed the whole ambulance situation. There is a broader issue with how ambulances are deployed. The council and the national authorities responsible have a clear view as to what is the best and optimal deployment. Not everybody in this House agrees with that. We need to try to work through how it works with the ambulance authorities and the HSE and ongoing development in r…

I have not had any specific contact although I am aware of the comments by Mr. Larry Fink that Dublin could be one of a number of potential locations for Davos, or an alternative to Davos. I notice some of the officials connected to the event were less strong about it. Be that as it may, this year is a huge event for the country with the European Presidency. The European Political Community of leaders will be meeting towards the end of the year. We will have a significant series of large meetings with Heads of Stat…

The Deputy makes a good point. There has been a lot of different strategies used to get horses off roads. There is an animal welfare issue very much involved here, in addition to the danger and health and safety issues for children, young people and humans more generally. There are laws governing this but they require review and a stronger approach.