They are. I would love to hear the outcome because it never seems to get mentioned or surfaced. It is just as Sinn Féin was soft on Russia. I remember that it did not accept the invasion of Crimea as the partition of Ukraine. Some of Sinn Fein's representatives at conferences in Moscow-----

Some of the representatives of the party in a Moscow conference - I think it was Mr. Ó Dubhghlais-----

He said it was justified and that the freedom fighters in the independence areas were justified in fighting “the Nazis in Kiev”.

I will have to check that out in the first instance. I remember that Ireland was one of the proactive members in getting a global tobacco treaty under the auspices of the WHO, and we would have been co-authors of that legislation and key players in getting it enacted, which was to the benefit of healthcare. In terms of a pandemic, what is required is very strong global interaction and co-ordination among all the members of the WHO, which did not quite happen at the beginning in this regard.

I think the world “mafia” should be withdrawn.

I do not think the Deputy means it that way because whatever our views and perspectives on organisations, that can in the normal case be a loaded term which I do not think is appropriate. That said, there are governance frameworks which the IABA is obliged to fulfil and comply with. The Minister will engage with the sports council in regard to this issue. I am reluctant to have Government Ministers run sporting organisations. It means there is a problem and that should not normally be the case at all. However, ther…

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I know the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, is working with the HSE on the reconfiguration of children's disability services. There are issues with how this is progressing and there is a need for a review of its impact on existing services and the need to accelerate recruitment to vacant positions. There are certainly issues on which we need to engage with the agency.

As the Deputy knows, the Government has invested very heavily in Rosslare and will continue to do so. Rosslare is enjoying a significant renaissance in that respect. It is an ill wind that blows nobody good and Brexit has certainly created opportunities for Rosslare. The investment there is positive and we want to maintain that. I accept the point about the M11 and that last phase of the road. There is a national development plan. I will certainly have a look to see what we can do to make sure it progresses.

I have a problem with that and the Minister has too because that is going to delay it another six months.

All along, people have been saying not enough is happening and it is not quick enough. We need to get the mica houses rebuilt, particularly those that are most severely affected.

The Government has been under huge pressure. It has been said we are not moving quickly enough and not getting enough stuff done in terms of process and procedures. The legislation is key to underpinning what we do. I ask the Deputy to reflect on that. There will be a Committee Stage and we have had a lot of consultation over the past six months. We need to consider this very seriously. The Deputy would be the very first guy to jump up in the Chamber in the autumn to say the Government does not have one house done.

I have already spoken in the House about the warnings about climate change, that we were likely to hit 1.5°C in the next five years, and how this is a wake-up call to everybody in the House. It means we have to continue with the carbon tax. We should do so to enable us to raise revenue to enable us to retrofit more homes to make them more energy efficient, for environmentally friendly farming and to protect against fuel poverty. Collectively, there has to be a realisation in the House this is very serious for futur…

I did not say that.

I apologise. The Minister for Transport is engaging with the private operators. I spoke to him last week about this. It is important we got public transport done. I acknowledge the implications for private operators, but the Minister is engaging with them.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 7, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on education oversees implementation of the programme for Government commitments in the area of education. This Cabinet committee last met on 13 May 2021 and discussed topics including special education policy in schools and the increased demand for places at third level in 2021 and 2022. It will meet again shortly. I have regular engagement with Ministers at Cabinet and individually to discuss priority issues relating to their Depa…

I thank all the Deputies for raising these issues. Deputy Boyd Barrett referred to the system for allocating special needs teachers and the broader issue around assessment, and so forth. My sense of this situation is that we have a more direct route to dealing with special needs in education through the National Council for Special Education. The allocation of resources happens much faster in respect of delivery in the school. The same does not apply in the health service. It seems to be far more opaque regarding t…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 8 to 13, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on health oversees implementation of programme for Government commitments in health, receives detailed reports on identified policy areas and considers the implementation of health reforms, including Sláintecare. The Cabinet committee last met on Thursday, 28 April and is expected to meet again shortly. In addition to the meetings of the full Cabinet and of Cabinet committees, I meet with Ministers individually to focus on differen…

I believe Deputy Boyd Barrett was the first to contribute on this group of questions, and he raised the issue of medical laboratory scientists. There are a number of labour relations mechanisms to deal with outstanding issues related to industrial relations pay claims and pay and conditions. It is not an issue that gets resolved in the Dáil Chamber. I appeal to both sides to engage with a view to resolving it. From experience, I believe these are never simple issues. There is always the potential for relativities t…

The Minister of State has met the school principals. There was a meeting with them recently in Limerick. It depends on how long one goes back. The programme for progressing disability services has been going on for ten years. I raised it with the disability organisations seven or eight years ago. Not too many of them raised this with the HSE at the time. Those are the facts. However, the matter has to be dealt with now. I am certainly keen to deal with it to ensure we can help special schools in the first instance …

I propose to take Questions Nos. 14 to 18, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on Brexit and Northern Ireland was formally established by the Government on 6 July 2020 and had its first meeting on 29 October 2020. The committee last met on 4 March 2021 and is scheduled to meet again on Monday, 27 June. A meeting scheduled for 29 November 2021 was postponed due to a Covid meeting. A meeting on 24 February 2022 also had to be postponed due to the convening of a European Council meeting at short notice. Relevan…