It was not guillotined.

That is a very dishonest presentation. This Government intervened in an unprecedented way during the Covid-19 pandemic to protect workers, in the main, businesses and enterprises right across the economy to an extraordinary degree. It was the right thing to do because of the protection it gave to workers and jobs. That was evidenced by the rebound in the economy in the aftermath of the pandemic as we emerged from the emergency phase of Covid itself.

The cost of living is a very serious issue brought on by the war in Ukraine and, as economies rebounded from Covid-19, the major imbalance between supply and demand. Since the budget, we have allocated €2 billion to a whole range of measures to reduce VAT rates, for example, in addition to the decision to increase the free fuel allowance. Some €914 was paid to eligible households over the course of the winter. An additional lump sum of €125 was paid to 370,000 households and a further €100 on top of that.

We have brought in a very comprehensive range of measures on the cost of living. The Deputy knows that.

We offset it.

In the first instance, the overall homeless figures remain significantly below the peak of October 2019, but the upward trend remains a serious issue of concern for the Government. A number of factors underpin that increase. It needs to be pointed out that the current level of family homelessness at 1,080 is 34% below the peak figure recorded in July 2018. The number of children under-18 associated with these families is 31% below the peak level recorded in September 2019. This Government has introduced approximate…

We have the strongest legal advice from the Attorney General in relation to these matters in terms of advising the Government on the legal guarantees that have been given. I am not privy to the HSE board meetings. It is a new departure that we now seem to be getting into a situation where there is public discussion of the individual contributions - whether they are accurate or not I do not know - of each individual member of the HSE board if they happen to take a particular stance on a particular issue. That is a n…

What I can say is that the new hospital will have clinical, operational and financial independence and that there are a number of legal instruments that guarantee that all the services that are legally permissible in this State will be provided to the women of Ireland now and well into the future and that is important.

I understand that the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, is aware of the allegations that have been made and he understands that those allegations are denied by the board member concerned. However, a senior counsel has been appointed to provide a report to inform his consideration of the matter. Terms of reference and timelines for this report are currently being finalised. An Bord Pleanála is independent in the performance of its functions under the Planning Act. Pending t…

The Minister for Health wrote to the HSE CEO on 26 April to request that an expert team be sent to UHL to ascertain urgently what additional resources might be deployed as well as any changes that could be made quickly to alleviate the current pressures being experienced in the emergency department. That expert team began its assessment at UHL last week. A key part of the solution for Limerick is additional beds. As the Deputy said, 150 additional beds were opened in UL Hospital group since 1 January 2020 of which …

There are further plans for Limerick including the provision of a 96-bed ward block at UHL. The award of a works contract was approved by the HSE board on 25 March.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. It has been of concern for quite some time. Many in the medical and health community do not treat it separately from other conditions. I will engage with the Minister for Health in relation to the representations the Deputy has received on this and come back to the Deputy on it.

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. There are challenges and pressures at Sligo General Hospital, as the Deputy outlined. Of that there is no doubt. The HSE is working actively with sites of concern, including Sligo, to mitigate the situation. Key actions include reviewing discharges and egress options, liaising with smaller hospitals in the group to facilitate transfers, as appropriate, reviewing ED attendances, establishing alternative care pathways, as appropriate, in collaboration with community health or…

It is good that we have been in a position to reduce public transport fares as part of the cost-of-living measures. The Deputy raises a fair point and the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, has engaged with commercial operators and will continue to engage to see if some resolution can be found to this.

To be fair, reform of the carer's means test has been an ongoing issue. In budget 2022, the Government announced significant improvements in the means test for carer's allowance in recognition of the vital role carers play. The general weekly income disregard for carer's allowance will be increased from €332.50 to €350 for a single person and from €665 to €750 for a couple. That will enable more carers with modest incomes to become eligible for this scheme and those currently in receipt of a reduced payment may now…

-----it has been estimated a universal carer's payment would cost in excess of €1.2 billion per annum over and above current spending, so we have to weigh everything up in terms of all the various schemes we provide.

I do not have the background to the individual case and it is very difficult in that scenario to respond but we will certainly talk to the authorities and highlight the issue the Deputy raised with them. The Deputy may be in a position to give details of the individual case to them.

I thank the Deputy for his comprehensive presentation. The Minister, Deputy Donohoe, and his officials are engaging with the banks that have indicated their intentions to leave the market, in particular, KBC and Ulster Bank. They have recently confirmed they will provide their customers with six months' notice to close their accounts. The Minister and his officials are also engaging with Banking & Payments Federation Ireland to ensure the remaining banks are prepared to accept applications from customers who are sw…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 7, inclusive, together. I visited Washington DC for a programme of engagements, arriving on the evening of 14 March. On Tuesday 15 March, I met the editorial board of The Washington Post to share the Government's priorities and exchange views on current events, including the ongoing war and suffering in Ukraine. I attended a lunch for Congressman Richard Neal to recognise his long record as a friend of Ireland and to mark the conferring on him of an honorary doctorate from Dubl…

We consistently raised the issue of the undocumented with the President and with many political leaders in the US. I was somewhat taken aback by Deputy Ó Broin's use of the word "shallow". This has been a consistent approach by the Irish Government with different levels of the American Administration to get a change in what is fundamentally a policy issue for Capitol Hill, for Congress and for the Executive. Over the years we have sought an Irish-specific visa scheme. The bipartisan reintroduction of the E-3 visa B…