The first point is that ESB is a State company and is owned by the people of Ireland. Second, it is making very significant investment in projects now and for the future that will need to be financed by borrowing, and the debt already accumulated by ESB is quite significant. It needs profits to enable it to meet debt obligations and to ensure its capital expansion plans in future can be realised. One of the most important matters for us will be energy security. The question of the amount that can be returned on a d…

The energy security issue is very important given what is going on.

I thank the Deputy for his question. He might also have picked up on the latter part of my commentary where I indicated that our immediate focus should be on the current war in Ukraine and the humanitarian crisis flowing from it, as well as the need to direct all our policies and energies to that. I am somewhat concerned as we need a united approach in the country on how we deal with Ukraine. People have different perspectives on military neutrality and how security policy evolves, and I am simply saying that one m…

I thank the Deputy for raising those very important matters, particularly with respect to the undocumented Irish. I will certainly raise that with President Biden. It is subject to the domestic political environment and realpolitik in US politics. I will also meet representatives of Friends of Ireland in Congress and I look forward to engaging with them on the matter. It was very unfortunate what happened to that E3 visa Bill on the last occasion. We will continue to pursue those issues.

Yes, efforts are being made on that front. In the initial phase, the Government was determined to give cash aid to trusted international agencies such as the Red Cross and UN agencies, and €20 million has now been allocated for humanitarian assistance. A further €10 million was allocated through the European Peace Facility in respect of non-lethal supplies to be sent to Ukraine. A pledge register has been established by the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy Roderic O'Gorman,…

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I am conscious of the fact it is under investigation by the PSNI. We do not have jurisdiction over the PSNI so there would be practical difficulties in what we can do here. I will reflect on what the Deputy has said and see how best we can go about raising the issue.

The decision was taken based on an extensive procedure under the Arterial Drainage Act and associated legislation which involved the engagement of an environmental consultant, public consultation and engagement with other relevant bodies, including the OPW, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, and the National Parks and Wildlife Service. This decision was not taken lightly. As the Deputy knows, there has been a significant increase in judicial reviews and other legal challenges to a range of in…

Making such a provision for everybody in the State regardless of geographical location in cities and towns would be a very significant expansion, the impact of which would need to be fully researched. There are discretionary medical cards available and measures were taken in respect of a terminal cancer diagnosis. That discretion should be applied in cases that are presented to the health authorities.

I take Deputy MacSharry's point. It is a matter of the instruments that are available to us. There is an issue with VAT. If we bring it down significantly on a temporary basis, we could end up with a much higher rate once the temporary situation is over. We have concentrated on the measures we can do within the various frameworks and legal situations. That is a cut of 20 cent and 15 cent per litre on petrol and diesel, respectively, and 2 cent per litre on marked diesel. This is on top of the last measure. About €8…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 3, inclusive, together. Relevant issues arising in regard to Brexit and Northern Ireland are regularly considered at meetings of the full Cabinet. For example, the Cabinet considered two comprehensive memorandums on North-South co-operation and the shared island initiative in December. The Cabinet committee on Europe also discusses related matters and that committee met last Monday. In addition to the meetings of the full Cabinet and of Cabinet committees, I also meet with Mini…

On Deputy Richmond's points, in essence we welcome the fact that the EU–UK joint committee, co-chaired by Vice President Šefčovič and the UK Foreign Secretary, Ms Liz Truss, met on 21 February. We also welcome the continuation of the technical talks and the meeting yesterday of the Specialised Committee on the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland. At the meeting, the EU and UK reiterated the importance of further engagement with business groups, civil society and other stakeholders in Northern Ireland and commi…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 4 to 11, inclusive, together. Ireland's well-being framework is the result of a programme for Government commitment to develop a set of well-being indices to create a well-rounded, holistic view of how Irish society is faring. This will help us to do things differently and place an emphasis on quality of life issues, as we recover from the impacts of the pandemic, and sustainably rebuild and renew our economy and society. The framework aims to provide a joined-up way of considering …

I thank the Ceann Comhairle. The first question related to the setting of policy and budgetary priorities. The well-being framework will ultimately help to inform policy, the budgetary framework and budgetary initiatives. Deputy Mairéad Farrell specifically raised the issue of Brain Awareness Week being next week and the issue of Alzheimer's, dementia and so on. I believe the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, has made a significant difference on that issue. She worked hard on it while in opposition and met all the …

I will come back to the Deputy on wards of court. He raised an issue. I will talk to the Minister for Justice, who has responsibility over that area. As to the point raised by Deputy Barry, again, on excise duties and the cuts we have made------

I am not in a position now to say what inflation will rise to. I know there have been various scenarios around that but it is going to rise because of the war, on top of the rate of 5.7% in February.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 12 to 15, inclusive, together. The national reform programme is an important element of the European semester, the annual cycle of economic and fiscal policy co-ordination among EU member states. As part of the semester, Ireland, along with all other member states, prepares and submits a national reform programme to the European Commission each April. This provides an overview of economic reforms and policy actions under way in Ireland, including in response to country-specific reco…

I am very struck by Deputy Boyd Barrett's comments.  He said that the EU wants to use the war in Ukraine as an excuse to militarise and increase defence spending.

No disrespect, but what planet is the Deputy on?  War has happened.

Russia has invaded Ukraine in a savage way. It is bombing civilians. It has torn up the multilateral rules-based order with no regard for UN universal values of territorial integrity, sovereignty and democracy.  Russia is afraid of democracy and wants to kill democracy in Ukraine. Deputy Boyd Barrett is saying that Europe is using this as an excuse to militarise.  Europe did not want this war.  The European Union did everything it possibly could to prevent this war as did President Macron and Chancellor Scholz.  Wh…

There is a vulnerability now in the security architecture of Europe.  Germany believed in trade and in good relationships with Russia over a long period of time, certainly since the early 1990s, and had been very consistent in that.  Unfortunately, I do not believe that has been responded to by the Russian Federation over time. The latest manifestation of that is the wholesale war on Ukraine.  We already had a taste of it in 2014 with the invasion of Crimea. People like the Deputy and others in this House were very…