I have spoken to the Minister for Health about this issue. It is a supply issue. It is not just an issue pertaining to Ireland but is a global supply issue. I have made it clear we will do everything we possibly can to secure additional supplies because it is very serious and not acceptable at current levels. I will ensure the Minister keeps in touch with Deputy Higgins about the matter.

All the recommendations of the pensions commission are integrated. One cannot cherry-pick them with the ease with which the Deputy has just done. There are significant cost implications also. The report was published in October 2021. I note that in Northern Ireland, the Deputy's party supported increasing the pension age to 66, so there is somewhat of an inconsistency in Sinn Féin's approach in this House and in the North. Equally, in the North the Deputy's party recognised the challenges around pensions provision …

-----and supportive measure in addition to the State pension.

I will ask the Minister to go back and formally check that with the Department and we will come back to the Deputy on the matter. Generally, the Government has taken a very significant initiative on wildlife, particularly with the creation of a new agency in the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, and a significant expansion of resources and staff. We are very anxious about the protection of biodiversity, which is central to this. As I said yesterday in the Dáil, we all, collectively, have to get a grip on t…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I extend my deepest sympathies to the family of Lisa Thompson following her horrific and barbaric murder. I do not believe there is any toleration of such barbaric acts in this House or in society. I genuinely do not believe there is any tolerance threshold for such violence at all. Very significant new measures have been brought in in respect of sentencing, Garda powers and the Garda being in a position to bring many people to justice for the commission of these horrific …

I am very familiar with the Irish Men's Sheds Association and the very many different groups I have met across the country. I pay tribute to the work they do and the camaraderie, the collegiality, the ending of isolation and so on, which are very positive community developments. Local authorities assist such sheds on the ground and various groups across the country. Each has different regional, location-specific services and approaches. The answer is "Yes". I think the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Her…

I do not accept the basic proposition that the Deputy has put forward in respect of what has happened at An Bord Pleanála in terms of every live file, for example, being considered. I dealt with this earlier in a reply. The individual concerned - the deputy chairman - has acknowledged what he has said was inadvertent, but there are other issues. The Minister has appointed a senior counsel to look into those investigations. I do not think that case, in terms of the context of An Bord Pleanála, is comparable to the o…

In response to Deputy Danny Healy-Rae, funding has been provided for home help. The service has been dramatically expanded and increased by millions of hours by the Minister of State, Deputy Butler. There has been an issue in terms of recruitment of staff. If the Deputy has specific instances where staff are available to care for people, I ask that he forward them to the Minister of State, Deputy Butler. I am sure the Minister of State will take those up with the Deputy. Like the Deputy, we want to get to the botto…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 10, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on economic recovery and investment first met on 8 July 2020. It has met a total of 19 times, most recently on 28 March. The next meeting is scheduled for 16 May. Membership of the committee is comprised of the Taoiseach; the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment; the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, and Transport; the Minister for Finance; the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform…

I thank the Deputies for raising those issues in the broad context of the economy. There were quite a number on housing and energy. In the first instance, the Housing for All strategy has a suite of measures, not one set of measures. There is a very strong focus on social housing and a target for 2022 of 9,000, with the aim of getting to approximately 10,000 per annum over the next five years and beyond. There are further targets for affordable housing, cost rental and private housing. As regards LIHAF funding, the…

Over the last ten years we were not building enough houses so we have to rapidly increase and then consistently have an output of housing of 33,000 to 35,000 per annum for the next ten years. That will enable us to provide younger people, in particular, with affordable houses to rent or buy. In response to Deputy Barry, I often thought he might have kissed the Blarney Stone when he first arrived from Dublin to Cork because he has what the Blarney Stone mythically gives one when one kisses it. The closure of post of…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 11 to 19, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on environment and climate change oversees the implementation of the ambitious programme for Government commitments on the environment and climate change. The Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021 sets out Ireland's key climate change commitments. It sets challenging carbon reduction targets for 2030 and the statutory commitment of achieving a climate neutral economy by 2050. The next step in the process w…

Who? Is it private operators?

I thank the Deputies for the issues they raised. Funding has been provided by the Minister to increase the capacity of An Bord Pleanála. Along with the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Attorney General, I was determined, coming into office, that we would get the Maritime Area Planning Act 2021 passed so that the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority could be established to deal comprehensively with applications for offshore wind development. That is extremely important. All Deputies raised t…

My point is that we are not going to be able to retrofit houses-----

-----in the future to the scale we want if we do not have revenue. We will not get environmentally-friendly farms or protect people from fuel poverty if we do not have revenue. That motion was on the issue of turf, which can be resolved, and carbon tax. Parties like the Social Democrats, which talk about climate change, voted for that motion.

No, but on the Private Members' motion. The point I am making is that future generations will not forgive this generation of politicians if we do not deal comprehensively and urgently with this. There will be significant challenges. We are up against it in terms of meeting the targets that have been set.

We must tackle it on all fronts. It is not an ideological issue. Human behaviour must really be the way to deal with it.

In terms of the climate action delivery board, we now have the Climate Change Advisory Council, which will report annually in respect of the targets Government has set and the targets set under the Climate Action and Low-Carbon Development Act. The delivery board will be reporting quarterly. There is no need for it to do the work of the Climate Change Advisory Council in respect of its annual report, which will be the key report in respect of the delivery of the climate action plan and the targets within the legisl…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 20 to 26, inclusive, together. The Government agreed on 8 February 2022 to the establishment of two citizens' assemblies, one dealing with the issue of biodiversity loss and the other dealing with the type of directly elected mayor and local government structures best suited for Dublin. The inaugural meeting for both assemblies took place on Saturday, 9 April 2022. The terms of reference, as set out by the Oireachtas, call on the assemblies to conclude their deliberations within eig…