It is not about me. It is about the Palestinian people and what actions we take that are most impactful and effective for the Palestinian people. That is what will guide our response on these issues. We are working with other countries to see whether we can get a critical mass of a number of countries together to pursue this agenda. There is a commitment in the programme for Government that relates to judgment issues. The occupied territories Bill will not pass muster because it is an EU legal competence. This is t…

The option of taking it into public ownership is not on the agenda. Our major concern is with the impact on staff and their families. This includes 650 staff who are employed directly by the company in Navan, but also staff in companies impacted that have contracts with Tara Mines. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, met the management team from Tara Mines last week. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and officials, along with Enterprise Ireland, are engaging with the company to try to work out what assis…

So long as the Minister does not fly any herself.

I take it that the Deputy has asked the gentleman to refer this to An Garda.

Has it been referred to An Garda?

It is not his own business. The Deputy has raised it in the House and if fraud is alleged----

-----and if interference with Revenue is alleged, it should go to An Garda. I say that generally because the key to the future of the country is that our institutions that are charged with properly investigating issues do their job and then we will have less need for inquiries that go on for six or seven years and cost an enormous amount. Project Eagle and the Siteserv investigation went on for I do not know how long. We need to back up capacity behind the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement and An Gard…

The Government has allocated exceptional resources to increase staffing at An Bord Pleanála. Recruitment is under way and, in fact, quite a number of people have been recruited. The challenge will be to recruit a sufficient number of specialists in different areas into An Bord Pleanála. As the Deputy is aware, an interim board was put in place, with Oonagh Buckley appointed as chairperson, and there has been a significant increase in planning permissions granted. There has been a 38% increase since the beginning of…

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I am familiar with the area and met representatives of Cobh chamber of commerce last year in respect of this. This is a key objective. In terms of the reclassification of the road as a national route, I am not clear that it is - excuse the pun - the route to go but I will check it.

What we need to do is to find a way to allocate funding to upgrade this road because the current situation will not be tenable over the next decade. We have to get some route, some way, to try to get this road upgraded.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. It is clear from this morning's questions that the lead-in to the budget is well and truly under way, and we have maybe three months to go yet. This issue was raised yesterday evening at our parliamentary party meeting. The Deputy made a fair point and I know the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, is examining the situation. Obviously, it is in the mix but there are a lot of other issues in the context of the Estimates and there will be bilateral discussions between the Dep…

I am not familiar with the background to the case. I am familiar with the territory and the landscape in Rosscarbery, which is beautiful. I do not think RTÉ should ever assert squatter's rights over any person's property. That is not normally the way State agencies conduct their behaviour. There is normally engagement with landowners and agreements are arrived at. However, I am not familiar with the background so I cannot comment on the situation one way or the other.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. It is a matter of concern and I will revert to the Ministers for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform and Finance in respect of what we can do to support the task forces and what route we can take to provide resources to enable them to retain staff.

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I know the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, is very seized of it. Again, there is an issue around availability of respite care and maximisation of resources, both staffing and in terms of additional capacity being provided, in both respite and residential care. We will respond to that in the context of the forthcoming Estimates.

As I said in answer to an earlier question, the Minister has engaged and the Government continues to engage. There was a meeting and there is ongoing engagement with management and unions also. The Government is working to see what it can do, within state aid parameters, to facilitate an earlier reopening of the mine. The situation is very challenging and very serious for the workers, of that there is no doubt. We will do everything we possibly can to be of support and assistance, as I said earlier.

The Minister has been very focused on this issue. He announced a scheme related to defective apartments, with a timeline that has a long duration back. It is a very comprehensive measure. The Government supported that recommendation from the Minister in a decision. The issue now is to work through that decision in terms of providing a structured way of getting apartments refurbished and people supported in that refurbishment.

I will talk to the Minister about the issues that have been raised, but very comprehensive resources have been agreed by the Government to deal with this issue, particularly apartment defects. More generally, the Government has committed in the territory of €4 billion to €5 billion over time to deal with mica, apartment defects and other defects. The issue is one of developing the capacity to respond in a meaningful way and getting the work done.

I am a very strong believer in the work of the alcohol and drug task forces and I have visited several of them. We will be of a positive disposition in allocating additional funding. An Estimates round is now under way across different Departments, so this is an issue we will prioritise.

The Deputy has been very consistent on this, and I appreciate his work. People might not have been as aware of the phenomenon without it. I have become increasingly aware of it and I will talk to the Minister for Justice. We need to reflect on the trend the Deputy has identified, which can result in a significant denial of access and rights. From a more holistic perspective in respect of children, parents and families, we do need to reflect on this. I thank the Deputy for his consistency in raising this issue and I…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. As of 31 May 2023, the strength of the Permanent Defence Force stood at 7,764 personnel while in 2022 it was 7,966, in 2021 it was 8,456 and in 2020 it was 8,568. The current establishment of the Defence Forces is 9,500. I note that the Deputy requested a further breakdown of these figures by branch and I have arranged for a table with these details to be provided to her. Sanction has recently been received for 100 extra positions to facilitate the implementation of the Re…