First, we all condemn what was an appalling attack on Tom Niland. It represents a terrible cruelty, viciousness and savagery that we should not tolerate in our society. My understanding is that there are 292 members of An Garda Síochána in the Sligo division. Our numbers might differ; we have to correlate them. I will come back to the Deputy in that regard. There are 189 members in Sligo county, specifically, and approximately 57 vehicles in its fleet and so forth. The first point I will make is that it is an opera…

I thank the Deputy for raising that specific issue. I will revert to the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to make sure that people get what has been allocated, notwithstanding the mechanisms they have in place.

In short, yes. I spoke to the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, with regard to this. In the next while, pending the establishment of an agency, this is a very serious issue. That list is priority urgent needs in certain counties and certain areas. I would like to accelerate the provision of refuge places, using local authorities in the interim, while we get more national structures in places to simplify and streamline the provision of refuge places and centres. The current…

Again, these are issues with which the Department is dealing on an ongoing basis. There is quite a range of schools at different stages in terms of construction of new schools or extensions and so forth. I will raise the issue with the Minister.

I do not think it is for the Taoiseach of the day to be allocating SNAs to different schools across the country. I understand the school may have particular concerns with regard to its specific situation. The National Council for Special Education, NCSE, advises on these matters. I do not know whether the Deputy has contacted the NCSE.

There are 3,500 schools in the country. I do not think it is feasible that the Oireachtas is going to have to deal with every individual school application.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I brought the House up to date on it twice yesterday.

I will not go through the whole thing but a lot of progress has been made. The most recent meeting was on 26 or 27 January and both sides are reflecting on that discussion. The matter is progressing and we want to see it brought to a conclusion as quickly as it can be.

I appreciate the Deputy raising this issue in respect of people's concerns regarding the report of the Commission on Pensions. That report went to the Oireachtas committee and Deputies and Senators made inputs there. The Commission on Taxation and Welfare is now meeting and reflecting on the report of the Commission on Pensions and the Government will look at the matter in its entirety when it comes back before Government.

There has been a commitment already in regard to prescribing and so on nationally as well as to a national review in respect of the degree to which CAMHS centres across the country are compliant with the guidance that has been issued to them. The first and immediate priority is to look after and work with the families and children who have been harmed in respect of what transpired in south Kerry regarding CAMHS and to engage with the families of the children to make sure they get the right treatment from now on and…

I cannot yet give a timeline for the introduction of legislation to establish an agency to bring together all the various strands and deal with the wider issue of violence, including sexual violence, against women. That is one aspect of it. We will work with the Oireachtas committee. Obviously, in advance of seeing recommendations, I do not think it is wise to commit to implement them. We have not seen those recommendations yet and we have to allow that process to happen. We are committed to the recommendations con…

Aontaím leis an Teachta agus admhaím go bhfuil ról faoi leith ag cúrsaí teanga agus cultúir ó thaobh sláinte na tíre. I accept his basic point and will refer it back to my officials and the group that is involved in drawing up the well-being framework. It was a joy to witness Ballygunner win on Saturday. I am not so sure the Ballyhale supporters were as overjoyed. I suppose Ballygunner did to Ballyhale what Ballyhale did to St. Thomas's. The game illustrated the value of community and that the whole well-being issu…

I will talk to the Minister of State, Deputy English, about that. I am not aware of the Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath, vetoing anything. I will discuss it with him.

I will examine the matter but I want to give the Deputy an illustration. When the county managers came to me many years ago regarding Spike Island - I believe Senator McDowell was the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform at the time - Cork County Council did not hang around and was not worried about the cost implications of taking over the site. It saw the potential in it, took it over and it is now a major visitor attraction. I said to Deputy McNamara previously that Clare County Council needs to get on w…

I do not believe those classes should be phased out across Ireland. We need more preschool interventions, not fewer. I am not aware of the national policy background to this, if that is indeed the case or what the specifics are regarding this school. I have had a number of specific queries today in respect of SNAs and so on. The State drew up a White Paper on this way back in the context of the Department of Education dealing with preschool special needs. I will have a look at the matter.

The Minister of State, Deputy Fleming, has been working extremely hard with other Ministers in respect of insurance costs more generally. I am not aware of mass closures of indoor sporting or play areas. However, there are issues. There are challenges as a result of high insurance costs. We are working hard to get those costs down. If the Deputy has specifics, we will take them from her and pass them on to the Minister of State who is dealing with this matter.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 10, inclusive, together. I spoke to the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, by telephone on Wednesday, 24 November, when we discussed the Northern Ireland protocol. I also congratulated him on the successful hosting of COP26 in Glasgow. We briefly referenced the latest developments on Covid-19. I welcomed the continuation of the talks between the European Union and the United Kingdom on the implementation of the protocol. I said that it was essential that these lead to substantive p…

Deputy McDonald raised a range of issues, primarily in respect of the ombudsman's report, which Deputy Haughey has also raised. It was shocking behaviour, as Deputy Haughey described it. The ombudsman described collusive behaviour - collusion, essentially - in the use of agents and weapons, including the handing back of weapons to loyalist paramilitaries. I have indicated a specific response to the ombudsman's report. The broader issue of legacy is one that we continue to work on, with both the British Government a…

There are more than 100,000 Russian troops on the border of Ukraine. Ukraine should be entitled to its self-determination. I do not believe it is justifiable to have so many troops on the border with Ukraine-----

-----and such militarisation there. I hope this continues to de-escalate. We do not want war. Above all, the people of Ukraine do not need war, destruction or conflict. Dialogue and diplomacy are extremely important. It is not in any way accurate to suggest that NATO is beating the drums of war here. NATO does not want war. The European Union does not want war and the member states of the European Union do not want war, at all. That is clear. People are anxious about the security architecture around Europe-----