It has also invested in Drogheda, and progressively, as the Deputy said. I do not have the background to the meeting next Monday. However, I will check with the Minister regarding the up-to-date position.

The scheme is being examined by the Ministers for housing and public expenditure. As I said earlier, there will be clarity on this next week, when I expect an announcement in respect of the scheme.

The prime focus has to be on tenants, not necessarily on landlords. We just had a debate about value for money and waste. However, when a Minister is taking a few weeks - I am not saying Deputy O'Dea is saying this; I am just saying it to the Opposition - to see whether the scheme can be retargeted or fine tuned in order to make it more targeted for vulnerable and needy people, there are those who say we should plough ahead and do what we are doing already.

I agree with the Deputy. Every effort is being made by the various State agencies to restore services. I have met with most of them - Uisce Éireann, ESB Networks, EirGrid and so on - in the context of getting power restored as quickly as possible and also in terms of the restoration of communications networks. More than that, we need to invest in areas in terms of the social and human networks that were so indispensable to people during this storm. Much of the investment in sporting facilities and local community g…

Glacaim go bhfuil deacracht ann gan amhras. Nílim cinnte gurb í stailc an tslí is fearr chun é seo a réiteach. Bhíos ag labhairt leis an Aire, an Teachta Calleary, faoi seo ar maidin. Bhí an tAire ag Ard-Fheis Chonradh na Gaeilge i rith an deireadh seachtaine agus bhí daoine ag caint faoi. Beimid, agus tá súil agam go mbeidh an Tánaiste, ag déanamh ár ndíchill chun feabhas a chur ar an scéal. Tá a fhios agam go bhfuil deacracht faoi leith ann.

The Deputy has raised this issue previously. Again, I do not intervene in every single case. The Minister with responsibility obviously assesses the situation in different locations. I will certainly alert the Minister that Deputy Lawless has raised the matter.

The Bill is being currently. Some 450 homes are under construction or being refurbished at the moment.

Yes, but there are 450 under construction. That is a significant number. We have to keep ensuring that there is momentum behind this in terms of getting houses refurbished, rebuilt or whatever. This is a hugely resourced scheme. The Government has committed enormous sums of money towards it, and correctly so. If the Deputy is saying there is an insufficiency in terms of the scheme, Donegal County Council will have to deal with it.

It is my understanding that there is a High Court action, in which the judge-----

I know, but it is not the Government's fault that we lost. The previous Government had decided-----

I agree with the policy. I was going to make the point that because of the High Court decision, the Department said it had to be exhaustive in terms of the second consultation to make sure that it would not fall foul of another court decision in the time ahead if someone challenged it. It was concluded last summer. The consultation is over now. My view now is that we need to move ahead and get this done. I will come back to the Deputy on that.

I propose to take Questions No. 1 to 11, inclusive, together. The Programme for Government 2025, Securing Ireland’s Future, recognises the importance of Cabinet committees to the policy development and oversight work of Government and commits to the establishment of a reformed structure of Cabinet committees. The Government followed through on that commitment, part of which was the establishment of the Cabinet committee on water quality to co-ordinate water quality improvements across all sectors. The membership wi…

I thank the large number of Deputies who tabled questions on this issue. Quite a substantial number focused in on the nitrates directive to begin with, for which I thank Deputies Cleere, O'Meara, Dolan, McCormack, Cahill and Scanlon. The establishment of the Cabinet committee demonstrates the Government's commitment to addressing water quality improvements across all sectors. Obviously it is more than just about the nitrates directive. Key supports have been provided to farmers through schemes such as the targeted …

I propose to take Questions Nos. 12 to 29, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on health has been established and is due to meet soon. The Cabinet committee will oversee: implementation of programme for Government commitments on health; receive detailed reports; identify policy areas; and consider health reforms including Sláintecare, reform of the public health system and preparedness for future health threats. It will also receive reports from relating to programme for Government commitments in the areas o…

Or we could just join you in prayer.

I thank all the Deputies who have raised issues in the context of the health committee. Deputy McDonald raised the issue of access to general practice and primary care services in Dublin 1. Deputy McGrath raised it in respect of Cork and Deputy Moynihan in respect of Dublin Mid-West. The outgoing Minister increased significantly the number of places for the training of GPs. My understanding was that for every GP retiring now, there will be two in training but there is an interregnum period where there are gaps in t…

If we go forward to the budget for 2025, the initial allocation has been set at €25.75 billion. That is an increase of approximately €1.2 billion on last year. These are huge sums of money. That is why I am surprised by strike action in that context.

There is absolutely no moratorium on staff. There will be an increase in staff of over 3,500 whole-time equivalents in the health service. We have to also look at innovative ways of getting value for that money. People spoke earlier about scanners and so on in an art gallery and created a huge stir - rightly so - over a figure of about €100,000. We are talking about €25.5 billion here. That will go up again before the year is out and again in 2026 and 2027. There is more to be done in health - do not get me wrong -…

There absolutely is not. There is an issue, either in terms of the management of all of this or getting value for money for all of this. There is a role for the Oireachtas as well because people will condemn, give out and criticise but, equally, people then also look for more money. There are a number of strands to this. Deputy Bacik raised the shortage of public health nurses. Again, there are issues in terms of recruitment or proper follow-through and retention in the public health area. Deputy Coppinger raised t…

I cannot pre-empt what HIQA will recommend. It will depend on the recommendation because I know there is a lot of demand for additionality in the mid-west more generally. On Deputy Cahill's question, there is a great team at University Hospital Kerry. His proposals are fairly significant in terms of investment and capital. We will engage with the HSE in that respect, particularly to get what is in the pipeline delivered. That is important. I dealt with Deputy McGrath. Deputy Catherine Ardagh raised the powerful rol…