That would be my advice to him from a health perspective, so I will have to refuse that request.

We have Topical Issue matters. That might be an opportunity to raise issues. Deputy Bacik raised the planning issue again, as did Deputy Cian O'Callaghan. Two weeks ago there was a lot of pressure on the Government to declare a housing emergency, to accept that there is a housing emergency and to accept that it is urgent. This is a minor amendment which enables us to get houses built more rapidly on public land that is already zoned for housing. Local authorities are getting help as well because the Minister has al…

Everybody says they want something "but". The "but" always comes in and it means "Can you delay it again?".

The Water Environment (Abstractions and Associated Impoundments) Bill was first published in 2004, so we can hardly be accused of rushing it.

We are discussing a range of issues with regard to the cold snap. Deputy Barry has proven himself to be individually robust in the context of that cold snap because on Saturday afternoon I was walking up Oliver Plunkett Street and a rough cacophony of sound emerged from the sidelines, and who was it but his good self, lambasting the Government out on the public streets. When he saw me his voice went up in intensity, blaming the Government for all our ills.

Deputy Barry is fortunate to be blessed with mental telepathy as well because, today at Cabinet, the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, brought forward measures to deal with pay-as-you-go meters and he brought forward funding-----

-----to enable that issue to be resolved. I will ask him to communicate with the Deputy on the details of that.

Deputy Mattie McGrath raised the issue of migration and it is an issue of finding time within these two-and-a-half days to debate it. It is a packed schedule-----

-----today, tomorrow and Thursday.

I do not think the Deputy really wants to be here on Friday.

Was that proposed at the Business Committee?

Generally speaking, one of the big regrets of the whole Brexit saga has been the degree to which proper thinking of the impact on Northern Ireland was never really carried out. We are living with the situation ever since Brexit and it has had a negative impact on the overall sets of relationships in respect of Northern Ireland. The British Prime Minister, when I last met him, as well as everything we have heard from his office and from the secretary of state for foreign affairs, indicated a view to getting this res…

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. It will go to Cabinet next week. It is an enormously detailed plan. The challenges facing us in respect of achieving our emissions targets are extraordinary. A wide range of measures must be taken by every sector in society to deal with climate change. There will be ample time in this House early in the new term to debate the content of the plan. More than just debate, we need a collective resolve to implement the plan because it is extremely challenging.

I thank the Deputy for raising an important issue and making a fair point. I will follow up with the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage in respect of the changes she seeks.

We have bitten the bullet at this stage in terms of the measures that have been brought to the Cabinet today by the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, which specifically targeted those on pay as you go. It is a good measure that is designed to target a group that is not captured by the other significant range of payments that have been made through social protection and other measures. People will not be cut off during Christmas week.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. To be fair, the Government has been very supportive of the hospitality and tourism sector over the past two and a half years, making unprecedented interventions during Covid-19. There was the reduction in the VAT rate to 9%, which has also been advantageous to the industry. The Government will give all of these issues due consideration across all Government parties in 2023.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. We met in the office some months ago where we discussed these issues. It is not acceptable and I have said this repeatedly. I have convened meetings with all the relevant Ministers in the areas of education and health. There is an issue with the roll-out of the progressing disability services programme. That had an impact, in my view, on the availability of therapists in special schools and therapists more generally, which is patchy across the country. There is not a suffi…

They should not be excluded.

There is a wider issue with dental services more generally. The fault is not all on the side of the State. We have to look radically at this to make a broader provision for people, particularly children with special needs. They should be prioritised in any service. There has been a long-standing, ongoing issue which includes industrial relations issues, pay issues and so forth. We have a highly privatised dental service more generally. It seems to me that the capacity within the public service to deliver services o…

-----notwithstanding the fact that more money has been allocated. There needs to be very serious engagement on that issue.