He is far more in touch with rural Ireland-----

-----than the Deputy gives him credit for, given the broad tentacles his family reach out there. Deputy Boyd Barrett raised the same issue with An Bord Pleanála, and the same reply applies.

No.

My reply to Deputy Cian O'Callaghan applies to Deputy Boyd Barrett's question as well.

There has been a well-documented viability gap between the delivery cost of eligible apartments and the open market sale price of the apartments. This is preventing many apartments from being built. There is a significant issue in the cities in particular. We want to enable affordability for people to be in a position to buy. The beneficiaries of this grant will be members of the general public, who will now be in a position to buy apartments in city schemes, and the apartment supply sector, which can bring stalled…

Generally, the intention of the extension of the 9% VAT rate until February 2023 is a good thing for workers and employers in the hospitality sector because this sector took a significant hit during Covid-19 over two successive years. In respect of joint labour committees and proper pay, I accept fully the Deputy's point about ensuring good-quality pay in that sector as well. This will be necessary because of labour shortages in that sector. More important, providing good-quality pay and conditions to people in the…

First of all, I did not bristle. That presentation of what transpired in this House is wrong. I merely made the point that in terms of-----

I did not bristle. Generally speaking, if a board is a board, it takes collective decisions. It has emerged that in respect of this issue, two members of the HSE board recorded their dissent from the decision that was taken in the minutes. I have no issues with people articulating their view but legally, the HSE board has to take a collective view and a decision on an issue put before it in documentation.

I just have. I said I did not have an issue.

The only interest I and the Government have is to provide a modern hospital and to make sure all services legally permitted in this State, for which people voted, will be provided and that the best of facilities will be provided for babies, premature babies in particular. That is the only interest we have. This has dragged on since 2013 and I believe sincerely that we need to get this hospital built. It is going to take some years to get it built with all of the procedures involved in the physical preparations and …

I will engage with the NAS on the case mentioned and alert it to the points Deputy Fitzpatrick has raised. Increased resources have been provided in this year's Estimates to the NAS in respect of increasing capacity and so forth. The objective is to get the ambulances to people as quickly as possible but issues have been raised in the House of late and I will pursue those with the service.

The Minister has responded to the industry.

He has responded to the industry. He made an initial allocation to support the industry, followed by a further initiative and he is continuing to engage with the industry. We do recognise that the pig industry is very important, with good employment. It is normally a viable industry but because of the inflationary cycle post pandemic and the war, the situation has become very difficult with input costs. That is acknowledged and the Minister has responded and will continue to engage.

First, the Cabinet did not take a decision in the past week on this before making sure there was full transparency in all the documents underpinning the Government's consideration and the decision it will take. Deputy Connolly would have been in the House asking that the Government would not take a decision before issues were made public. All of the documentation has been made public and there will be a hearing tomorrow before the Joint Committee on Health. To date, I have not heard anything that undermines the ide…

Yes, I have because it is in the public domain. Deputy Connolly has quoted-----

-----minutes of the HSE board.

I take Deputy Connolly's point but-----

I thank the Deputy for raising what is a very important issue. I certainly will engage with the Minister for Health on this because quite a number of people get very ill and some pass away through not identifying sepsis early on. Sometimes it can be too late when it is identified and this can cause terrible damage and loss of life. It is something that deserves a far greater allocation of resources.

The people of Cork might have something to say about that. We might bring President Biden to Pairc Uí Rinn and ask him if he can figure out why Kerry were so reluctant initially to come to Pairc Uí Rinn. They came and we had a great night, in any event. The 9% VAT rate is a response to the situation the hospitality industry finds itself in after a long, hard Covid-19 period in which it was hammered. The Government's employment wage subsidy scheme, EWSS, was very important in keeping a lot of hospitality sector empl…

I would not accept that. Ireland has been very strong at the UN Security Council on this. Indeed, the Secretary General has thanked me for Ireland's proactive role at the Security Council on the Palestinian question and in support of the Palestinian right to a homeland and general issues. I am not clear on the advocacy that Sinn Féin members have promoted on behalf of Palestinians when they go to America. When they meet with senior politicians in America, they are very quiet in regard to Palestinians as they make p…