People out there do not believe in that. I genuinely think-----

I am open to proposals and ideas that will work, but not this-----

Deputy, you are not the leader. You were not appointed leader by the politburo so just back off.

I thank the Deputy for raising this profoundly serious issue. I have read the executive summary of the report - the preliminary section of it. It is shocking and very serious. What happened is unacceptable. It represents a damning indictment of the service. The first principle of medicine is to do no harm. Children were harmed by a complete failure of clinical performance and oversight and by the entire management of the service. As the Deputy has outlined, the treatment of 227 children was deemed risky by the repo…

I am open to discussions with the Deputy and others regarding the best way forward here. I have a sense that over the last ten to 15 years there has been investment in child and adult mental health and that certain services developed in certain areas. From just observing, it seems to have never reached the optimum levels that we would all have understood would be the case when we started down this road of creating genuine child and adolescent mental health services. It must also be said that there are many good pra…

Yes, that aspect will be pursued. That is what I mean by "end-to-end".

Again, people at different times can distort what gets said. I warned against a wage-price inflationary cycle, but not against wage increases, which have occurred in the Irish economy and that have been linked with productivity and other factors. The latest data from the Central Statistics Office, CSO, show that average hourly earnings rose 3.8% in the third quarter of 2021, from a year earlier, and were up 7.6% from their pre-pandemic levels in the third quarter of 2019. We could go through the annual average wage…

What I say is that we are not cutting any wages; wages are increasing. The Deputy asked about inflation.

The figure I was quoting was 3.8% in the third quarter of 2021 from a year earlier. That was the rise in earnings then. Wages were up 7.6% from their pre-pandemic levels in Q3. The average inflation for that period was about 2.4% and actually was -0.3% throughout 2020. However, the Deputy is correct. We all accept that the CPI prices were up by about 5.5% in December. Electricity prices are up 22%. We know that. Gas prices are up 28% and home heating oil is up 53%. Petrol and diesel are up 34%. Food prices have not…

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I would point out that close to €10 billion in total between European Union and Exchequer funding will support over 120,000 farm families over the next Common Agricultural Policy period between 2023 and 2027. The Minister, Deputy McConalogue has worked very hard on behalf of Irish farmers to get the best package possible in the context of the common agricultural strategy over the next number of years. In addition to that, close to €4.5 billion has been paid out to farmers s…

I do not doubt the seriousness of the issue that the Deputy has raised. It is very serious. It has to be dealt with on a Europe-wide basis. The Minister is engaging with the European Commission and his colleagues at the European Agriculture and Fisheries Council to see what can be done. In addition, we have, through the carbon tax revenue, ring-fenced significant funding for a new ambitious agri-environmental scheme to be rolled out under the next Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, programme. That new agri-environmen…

As I said earlier in reply to Deputy Shortall, this is unacceptable. A full nationwide audit of compliance with CAMHS operational guidelines by all CAMHS teams will happen. Furthermore, a prescribing audit will be conducted in each of the 72 CAMHS teams nationally. The Government is then going to look at any further measure that is required in the overall situation.

I think we need to get a sense of balance and proportion here as well. It is a very serious matter.

It is very serious for a number of reasons. It should not happen-----

-----and the Minister for Foreign Affairs has communicated that to the Russian ambassador very forcefully, making clear that this is unwelcome and should not happen, notwithstanding any technical legality. The impact on the ecosystem in terms of biodiversity, fishing grounds and our whole marine life is a huge concern to our fishers. There is absolutely no necessity for this. It does connect with the overall increase in tensions and the overall militarisation along the Ukrainian border, which is destabilising. In t…

We will engage with our fishers as well in this respect. Our fundamental priority-----

Will the Ceann Comhairle hear me out, please?

I am sorry, but Deputy Kelly is gesticulating at me there. I think that safety is our overall objective. I will discuss the issue with the Deputy further.

First of all, last year there was not an enormous number of affordable homes completed.

The target this year will be approximately 4,000. Again, that will be challenging because we had to get a lot of legislation through the House in respect of affordable housing. The Deputy knows that. There was a lot of debate here to give the underpinning to the Land Development Agency, LDA, and other measures. The Deputy talks about affordability. We did extend the help-to-buy scheme and thousands and thousands of people have had their capacity to buy houses enhanced by the help-to-buy scheme, which many Members o…