We can investigate ourselves to the end of the world.

With regard to the cable car I will again speak to the Minister, Deputy Humphreys. At least it is a start. I would like a whole new service there. I would like a whole new ferry. I am determined to do this. I believe it is being judicially reviewed at present as there is some objection to what I believe are good proposals to provide a proper modern cable car facility. There are great opportunities there. It should be developed in the fullness of time. This is my view. With regard to the waiting lists for children, …

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 12, inclusive, together. Through the Government's shared island initiative, we are engaging with all communities and traditions to build consensus around a shared future and to deliver tangible benefits for the whole island, underpinned by the Good Friday Agreement. The shared island dialogue series is a key part of our approach, bringing together more than 1,300 civic leaders so far from across all communities, traditions and regions to discuss how we can work for a shared fut…

To put the historical record correctly, the word “idly” was never used in that particular statement. Deputy McDonald raised the first question, although it was not specifically on the shared island and was on domestic violence and the statutory provision for paid leave. The Minister, Deputy Roderic O'Gorman, is committed to that and has made commitments in that regard. He will follow through on that and I want to assure the Deputy of that. Deputy Haughey raised the issue in regard to the ESRI and its work on educat…

On the health services, which were raised by Deputy Brendan Smith, I visited Altnagelvin recently. The work that has gone on between North and South has been very effective, in particular the huge funding that went into the capital provision for the comprehensive cancer care centre there. With regard to Deputy Smith's point, when I was in Altnagelvin I met an individual who had travelled from Donegal having suffered a heart attack. He had stents provided very quickly in Altnagelvin and was out the following day. In…

There is no need to be so catty or cynical about it.

It is not dropping. I have been involved since I was Minister for Health. I want to be positive about this. We need others to participate in this. We need the Northern health authorities to participate in this. We had participated in this through investment and, likewise, the Northern Executive in the past agreed on a cardiac service for children and that there would be one national centre on the island because the volume of patients matters in services of that kind. I think we can do more in respect of health serv…

On the health front, we are moving to a situation where, increasingly, all of the tertiary hospitals and other model hospitals are State run, funded and controlled. That is where it is heading because of the complexity of health. In my view, that is the way it has to go on the health side. Deputy Paul Murphy spoke about his campaigning for People Before Profit in the election and said that from his perspective, people are furious with the absence of any movement on the cost of living by the Executive and the main p…

Is féidir liom bualadh le gach aon duine. Bhuail mé cheana féin le Conradh na Gaeilge.

Braitheann sé ar an dialann ach beidh mé sásta.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 13 to 22 together. The Government recognises the importance of regular and open engagement with all sectors of society as we tackle the many economic, social and environmental challenges facing the country. In particular, the Government has been working to strengthen social dialogue in a range of areas, including the national economic dialogue which will next take place in June, the National Economic and Social Council, NESC, whose shared island report I launched recently, the Natio…

Regarding Deputy McDonald's point, I will revert to the Tánaiste in relation to that. We all of course want workplaces that are free of violence and harassment. A whole raft of legislation is already in place on our Statute Book dealing with harassment and violence in the workplace and to protect employees. Sometimes the various declarations passed by international organisations have wide-ranging implications which must be examined in considerable detail before they end up on the Statute Book here through legislati…

A Cheann Comhairle, a Chathaoirligh, President Zelenskyy, Ireland is resolute in our solidarity and support for Ukraine. We thank President Zelenskyy for his heartfelt, honest, clear and, indeed, historic address to our Parliament this morning. The strength of his commitment and that of the people of Ukraine to his country and to restoring its place as a free, safe, democratic and independent country within the community of nations is both humbling and uplifting. We heard grave testimony from President Zelenskyy th…

A Cheann Comhairle, a Chathaoirligh, President Zelenskyy, Ireland is resolute in our solidarity and support for Ukraine. We thank President Zelenskyy for his heartfelt, honest, clear and, indeed, historic address to our Parliament this morning. The strength of his commitment and that of the people of Ukraine to his country and to restoring its place as a free, safe, democratic and an independent country within the community of nations is both humbling and uplifting. We heard grave testimony from President Zelenskyy…

First, the Deputy did not actually call for anything of the sort that I proposed in the House yesterday in terms of the comprehensive approach I and the Government want to take to what is, without question, a very serious issue for the Irish economy and the European economy. That is manifested in the main at the moment by inflation. I said yesterday that we have had two, if not three, shocks to our economic model. The first was Brexit. We dealt with that, as a country, as best we could. The second was the pandemic,…

The way the carbon tax was structured benefits those on the lowest incomes, as the Deputy knows. That is the factual position and the research shows that but I know that evidence-based research is not the Deputy's forte in matters of this kind. That is what the research shows.

That said, we are conscious of the impacts of the carbon tax. That is why the fuel allowance has risen so dramatically-----

-----and we have extended it significantly. It is also why we want to enable people to retrofit their homes, to develop energy efficiency to reduce costs

The approach I suggest is a broader one which has to involve engagement with our social partners. It is not just about one single measure every week as we move along. That cannot be the way we react. We reacted intelligently, effectively and fast as a country to deal with the pandemic's impact on the economy. The pandemic brought about the greatest decline in our economy since 1939 in 2020, a recession.

We bounced back because of intelligent policies.