----- with a certain degree of arrogance-----

What you are saying is, "We know best. Don't be-----

-----stupid over there, and, please, come with us." That will not work. If you are trying to score points off people, it is not going to work.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. At one level, the National Ambulance Service and pre-hospital emergency care have been transformed over the past 20 years in terms of the professionalisation of emergency medical technicians, EMTs, and of the level of response in general. There has been significant investment in the service. This year, €8 million has been allocated for new service developments, for 180 additional posts in the service and for increased capacity for aeromedical services. As of 30 August last…

To be fair, we are talking about 430,000 urgent and emergency calls in 2024. That is the scale of this issue. It is a 32,000-calls increase, or an 8% increase, on 2023. The Deputy has done the statistics. Performance is improving with 72.5% in 2023 to 73.2% against a 75% target for life-threatening cardiac or respiratory arrest. We have to look at alternative care pathways as well. The Deputy mentioned the rapid response car. I have had experiences myself where that has been far more effective and fast in cases tha…

I welcome all those who have come from Limerick and from the Greybridge vintage club. I mention vintage clubs all over the country, which do a lot of charity. We all have experienced that in summer festivals or whatever. They bring a bit of excitement, colour and novelty to events and, in the process, raise significant funding. We thank them for that and the work they do. I will not be able to join the run in Limerick closer to Christmas but I will do a swim on New Year's Day.

That is my commitment. I am not going to dive into the ocean with a tractor. It is wonderful and reflects the very strong value of community in the country. I acknowledge that. In the context of the cost-of-living crisis, the Government has taken a lot of measures that I outlined in response to an earlier question, particularly in terms of supporting families and increasing the child support payment by €16 for a child over 12 and €8 for a child under 12; extending the fuel allowance to the working family payment, w…

I am coming to it. The Deputy did mention the cost of living. Just as he dealt with the question, I will reply to him in like fashion. What we did in the budget in raising public expenditure was to invest in services that matter to people, so we prioritised disability, child poverty and infrastructure for more roads, rail, buses, schools and healthcare facilities across the board. That matters to people. In fairness to the Deputy, he left Fianna Fáil a long time ago and is now an Independent. His concern for our me…

I would just make the point-----

I have just answered it - with the laws that are in place. The law is the law.

That is it. I admire the Deputy's commitment to vintage clubs, men's sheds and women's sheds. I have had a spin in Jack Lynch's car myself. We have enjoyed all of that. The juxtaposition of vintage clubs, men's sheds and women's sheds with the presidency and the rules that apply perplexes me-----

-----but it is a very novel way to come around the subject matter. The law is the law. People are entitled to vote in whatever way they wish and if that means deposits or whatever are returned, so be it. I do not think people vote on that basis.

First of all, Ireland's whistleblower protection framework is governed by the Protected Disclosures Act 2014. There are set frameworks - legal and so on - in terms of governing the handling and management of protected disclosures. That Act was significantly strengthened by the Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Act 2022. This legislation commenced operation on 1 January 2023. It gives effect to the European Union whistleblowing directive. It provides protection against penalisation of workers in public and private s…

-----provide for a statutory review of the Act to be commenced not later than five years from the date of the Act. That review is due to commence in 2027-----

-----and a public consultation will be carried out prior to this review.

Two things. First of all, in terms of Covid-19, the Government has established an evaluation of the management of and the State response to Covid-19-----

-----which was an unprecedented public health event across the world that had the most significant and severe impacts on societies and on people. The more fundamental objective has always been to try to protect and save lives. People acted in very good faith to do that. I just want to make that point. What we are reluctant to do is add a new layer now because this will go on forever. I do not mean that in any disrespectful way. There has to be a system to deal with protected disclosures. We cannot add new layers. I…

The last thing we want is more and more public inquiries, including statutory-based public inquiries, which can go on for years. That is not satisfactory either.

I think the Minister for Finance announced this quite some time back. It is part of a regular review of the LPT. The Minister has worked extremely hard to make sure that any increases will be modest, particularly in terms of the valuations and so on. He did that a number of years ago and effectively managed it. Remember that the revenue goes to improving and enhancing services that people in this House come in looking for every single day. It is a balance. We have been warned, the Government has been warned, that i…

Yes, women will be able to travel abroad.