-----or any further engagements between the Minister and the respective partners in education. I understand, however, the need for clarity and certainty for the students in terms of understandable worry, anxiety and stress levels. That is absolutely clear. The Minister is also clear on that front. I am not in a position to give the Deputy a date or timeline for this particular process to be brought to a conclusion. I ask him to accept our sincerity in understanding the need for providing certainty and clarity as qu…

First, I agree wholeheartedly with the overarching principle that the Deputy has articulated on the need to eliminate all forms of violence against women and to create the policies and the mechanisms for the delivery of those policies to achieve that. As I said, the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, has been working, to be fair, over the last 12 months on an overarching national strategy for domestic violence, sexual violence and gender-based violence more generally. That should be completed by early March. In …

On the latter point, I agree about the need for additional places and that we need to do it as quickly as we possibly can. We have had three Departments, namely, those responsible for housing, children and justice, in this system and that is not optimal. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has largely provided for the refuge places to be developed through the new capital assistance scheme, CAS, and so on. Too much has depended on groups coming to the Government or authorities saying they want t…

-----and the capacity to deliver in the classroom. That is the key.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I welcome the report from the Northern and Western Regional Assembly on vacancy and dereliction based on its analysis of the region. I did not realise Deputy Naughten had written a chapter in the Housing for All strategy but he is correct about the section that deals with the issue of vacant houses. There is a particular need, through a towns first policy, to get vacant or derelict houses back in play and to reconstruct them and enable their reconstruction. There are a num…

I agree with the latter point in terms of those in nursing homes being able to make their houses available for rent. There have been issues - these have been argued to and fro - in terms of protecting people and safeguarding the rights of those who may be in nursing homes. That said, the overarching priority now is housing and the provision of all available units for the purposes of housing. Work is under way to resolve that issue.

I want to give due respect to those who raised issues as well, perhaps in the order that they raised them.

In response to Deputy Mac Lochlainn, that report is quite damning. I do not think we can change the order this week. As the Deputy knows, there is a wider issue of legacy. There was also the commemoration of the Teebane massacre last week and the relatives there are looking for closure, with no one brought to justice there. The issue of "Person K" clearly requires focus of attention. Therefore, I do not have an issue with a debate but I think we have to be even-handed in terms of the legacy issues because there hav…

On Deputy Mattie McGrath’s point, again, the best place for consideration of bail laws and the various issues he has identified and highlighted would be the relevant Oireachtas committee because, by definition, those are issues that we need detailed consideration of and reflection on. Many Members in the House would like to examine those issues but would rather do it in a detailed way. Maybe the relevant committee could take up that challenge in the first instance. Again, we have a fairly packed agenda this week an…

As I said earlier, we could have a broader debate on legacy generally. Collusion between British security forces and loyalism is, unfortunately, not new. We know about it, and there have been various investigations and inquiries. The panoply of intelligence operations in Northern Ireland, not just in loyalism but also in its relationship and engagement with republican paramilitaries, has been well-documented. Operation Kenova is ongoing. Many people lost their lives as a result of that level of activity and engagem…

The Government acknowledges the contribution of our healthcare workers in particular and of all workers across the economy during the Covid-19 pandemic. They have faced many challenges and have risen to the task, especially in our health services among those caring for patients on the front line. There have been a number of waves since the original one, namely, the Alpha wave, the Delta wave and now the Omicron wave. Time and again, front-line services have been put under enormous pressure. We have given detailed c…

The public holiday broadly recognises everybody-----

-----and then there is a tax-free recognition payment of €1,000 for-----

Additional funding was provided this year-----

-----to Tusla. I will ask the line Ministers to engage with the Deputy to work through the details of that and to look at the areas the Deputy can identify to them where supports are required.

I will revert back to the union that has been representing the workers. This issue has not been raised with me but I will follow it up.

Quite a number of Deputies, including the Ministers of State, Deputies Butler and James Browne, have been in touch with me on this issue and the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Deputy Naughton, is also dealing with it. An absolute minimum number of aircraft is specified to be on standby for coastguard aviation tasking. That is a minimum requirement and bidders can propose more. The Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, are very conscious of the over…

As I said earlier, the Minister for Education is meeting the advisory group on State examinations tomorrow, which is important. She will discuss this issue with parents, students, teachers, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, NCCA, and the State Examinations Commission, SEC. It is important that we provide clarity and certainty as soon as we possibly can.

I will engage with the Minister for Justice on this. I am aware that there were issues around those raised by the Deputy but it is not for any want of effort by the Department of Justice. I will take the matter up with the Minister and the Department.

Inflation is a concern. The European Central Bank has indicated to us that it regards it as a pandemic-fuelled inflationary cycle internationally and that it still believes it will be short term. Legislation for the €100 rebate is expected very shortly, within the next number of weeks.