-----to take on the might of Dublin and the big cities. In any event, we will work on that. In response to Deputy Murphy, I believe that local authorities should be far more active in the pursuit of CPOs on derelict sites. There is the Derelict Sites Act. Some complain that it is not strong enough. I have never bought into that. I have always sensed that in a lot of local authorities there is a degree of inertia around pursuing implementation of the Derelict Sites Act. There should be dedicated teams actively pursu…

In response to Deputy Geoghegan, I met with David McRedmond recently. We are making progress. The interdepartmental group will, I hope, bring proposals soon and I will bring that to the House in due course before the recess.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 15 to 25, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on Northern Ireland was created on 18 February 2025 to oversee implementation of relevant programme for Government commitments and ongoing developments relating to Northern Ireland, Irish-British relations and the shared island initiative. As well as considering issues relevant to the Government’s position as a co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement, including our role in Good Friday Agreement institutions such as the North-Sou…

I thank all of the Deputies for raising their various issues. On the work of the shared island unit, Deputy McGreehan mentioned Greenore Port. The first port of call - excuse the pun - should be to the Department of Transport. The shared island unit is not there to replace existing funding streams or strategies but to develop connectivity at structural levels, community levels, between local authorities and so on. I will talk to the Deputy later about the specific issues there. Ports policy is covered by the Depart…

Let me finish, please.

Regarding the legacy Act in general, if we could be, and if we in the Republic were, satisfied that there would be reciprocity in terms of information and so forth on both sides - people are seeking information from the Republic and the Government in the Republic in respect of a number of cases, including the Kingsmill case, and we co-operated on the Kingsmill inquiry, and we now have a memorandum of understanding with regard to the Omagh inquiry - I believe that the broad nature of legacy needs to be dealt with on…

Let us discuss it. Maybe half of it does not suit and, therefore, there were no calls from the Opposition for a debate on Kenova. We do need totality on legacy if we can. I go back to the Eames Bradley report. There has never been a successful approach that enjoys everybody's participation-----

-----in respect of legacy. There are aspects of the legacy Act that we do not agree with and are seeking to change. There is ongoing engagement between the Northern Ireland Office and our Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The Cabinet sub-committee has discussed this and the prospects of whether we can get a joint approach in respect of legacy that would be endorsed by both Governments. This work is currently under way. On the other issues that were raised about the Good Friday Agreement, and to respond to De…

Shared literature and poetry on the curriculum, North and South, is also something we should do. There are cross-Border benefits with taxation. Deputy Ó Murchú asked about this. The inter-sectoral ministerial meetings are dealing with those issues. The Minister for Finance, with his counterpart in the Northern Ireland Executive, have had discussions. Taxation is a challenging and complex issue, as I am sure the Deputy is aware, but it is a pressing one for workers North and South. There are significant anomalies th…

Ar dtús báire, aontaím go bhfuil sé seo an-phráinneach agus gur ábhar buartha é. Is olc an scéal é an rud atá ráite ag an Teachta McDonald. Is é an príomhrud ná go mbeidh an audit cuimsitheach agus go mbeidh sé againn chomh luath agus is féidir. At the outset, this situation is extremely serious and has necessitated an external audit. That is the first point. For any child to go through surgery is in and of itself a trauma. For parents it is also a trauma. If it emerges that children went through surgery that was n…

I hope it will be sooner rather than later to help deal with the concerns and anxieties, but also to deal with the issue itself.

It is regrettable the Deputy would seek to politicise the issue, as she is attempting to do. The first people who should always be contacted in a situation like this are the families who are affected. That is why correspondence goes from the authorities - in this case, the hospital authorities, that is, CHI - to the families. That is as it should be. They should not be hearing about it in a piecemeal way or whatever because, first and foremost, they need full transparency.

Second, the Deputy must know in her heart it would be unacceptable to try to release piecemeal and case by case in this case. The sensible thing to do is wait. It is frustrating that people have to wait, but we have to wait for the full audit. I know the Deputy is well aware of all this, but it does not suit in terms of the politics of it.

The bottom line is that a draft report gets sent to all who have been involved.

The feedback has come back.

The audit will have all of that information available for everybody.

That is the proper way to do this.

I disagree fundamentally with Deputy Bacik's analysis in terms of housing policy more generally. Fianna Fáil and the previous Government did not double down on the policy of the last number of decades. The bottom line is, in 2023, for example, we saw the highest level of delivery of new build social housing since 1975. That is not doubling down on previous policies. It represents a step change in the building of social housing, which has happened over the past three to four years. The Deputy cannot deny that. We ha…

You did.

In the past three or four years, the then Government, and the Fianna Fáil Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, gave power and resources to the Land Development Agency. Its work is under way.