The Security Council has been paralysed for over two decades now. The situation has changed utterly. Where a country invades a European country, just as Russia has invaded Ukraine, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of young people, the devastation of civilian infrastructure, the destruction of energy infrastructure, and the freezing of the people, the Deputy is saying it should have a veto on where our peacekeepers should go. Cop on.

The Deputy's assertion about my statement in China is incorrect. He should look at the transcript of it. I said on that occasion that progress had been made on the insertion of safeguards into the Mercosur agreement. Safeguards were introduced by comparison with where things were over a year ago. Significant safeguards were introduced. That is all I said, and that needed to be acknowledged. I also said we had deep concerns in respect of Mercosur beef standards and referred to looking for further measures. The agric…

I thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue. Clogher House is a day activation unit premises based in Rathcorrick, County Cavan. The HSE advises that there is a comprehensive submission for capital funding for new day services and for premises to replace Clogher House, in line with the national HSE new directions policy for adult day services approved in 2024. HSE disability services and HSE Dublin and North East capital and estates concluded a tender process for a leasehold site in Cavan, which was ap…

I thank Deputy Ellis and I fully appreciate his anger and that of the community he represents. Other Deputies have communicated that to me as well. First, the existing legislation is strong and needs to be implemented. If there is a need for further legislation, we will gladly work with the Deputy in that respect.

We will pursue that. We will work with the Deputy and others in the House-----

-----if there is a necessity to strengthen the legislation. The new Garda Commissioner spoke to the Minister for justice this morning. The Minister rang him and met him to discuss this. The issue of enforcement will be intensified in respect of scramblers.

There is a pursuit policy there and obviously there are balances in regard to protection of lives and so on. I fully understand where the Deputy is coming from and the anger he has articulated on this.

I thank the Deputy for raising what is a very important issue in respect of CIÉ pensions. He is correct; an agreement was arrived at. I have spoken to both Ministers. My understanding is that nothing is holding it up and the Minister for public expenditure is clear that he wants this delivered. I will get full clarity and precision for the Deputy in relation to that but I am pursuing it as well.

I thank the Deputy. It is a very sizeable and important town. Thankfully, we are getting numbers through Templemore with good flow and recruitment. I will talk to the Minister for justice in respect of the presentation the Deputy has made today to see what we can do to get that to a 24-7 service.

We have to spend responsibly but I get the Deputy's point.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. At one level it is complex but, at another level, it is straightforward, if that makes sense. There are issues there. We will talk to the Minister and the HSE to see if this issue can be satisfactorily resolved, averting any necessity for further industrial action. We appreciate the work that is being done there.

Over 240,000 people who are currently renting will not have their tenancies impacted by these measures.

That is an important point. I welcome the fact that the Deputy is at least the first person on the left to welcome the rent price register. Listening to everybody else, you would imagine Armageddon was about to befall us and there was nothing at all to be recommended. This Bill fundamentally strengthens rent protection and protects renters much more effectively than anything that has gone before this legislation. The catalyst for this was the recommendation by the Housing Commission for the reform of the rent press…

We want buildings brought back into use as quickly as possible. We have the living city initiative and so on. With the greatest respect, we have given clear policy directions to public agencies but, as Taoiseach of the country, I cannot start arbitrating on every single building in every single area across the country. I am sure the Deputy will appreciate that. They should get moving on it and get it sorted.

No, of course not. They should get it resolved.

Refusal of what?

I cannot be interfering in every single local authority in the country in respect of every procedural vote they have. We need to have some degree of balance in the House. I am not in the business of running Donegal County Council.

I do not mean that in a facetious way but it is a fact. I am not aware of the precise nature of what transpired but the entirety of the council is made up of councillors democratically elected by the people of Donegal. Councillors take decisions on a regular basis, either weekly or whenever they meet. We have to have some balance on the separation of responsibilities - I will not say powers.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 12, inclusive, together. I attended the G20 leaders’ summit in Johannesburg, South Africa on 22 and 23 November last. Ireland was among a small number of guest countries invited by South Africa to participate in the G20 during its Presidency, the first time for Ireland to do so. I take the opportunity to again thank the South African Presidency for this invitation and for facilitating our engagement at all levels over the course of its 12 months in office. The G20 brings the wo…

I thank all the Deputies for raising these issues. This was the first time ever Ireland was invited to be a participant at the G20. It is interesting some people questioned whether I should attend. We have a strong pro-development agenda in Ireland through our development aid programme across different Departments but mainly delivered through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and through Irish Aid. Within that is a strong financial provision and policy around women and girls in conflict and domestic abuse…