We talk about spin and we all have our own perceptions of spin. The Deputy just did a bit of spinning when she said I was putting more responsibility on children. I did nothing of the sort. I acknowledged the challenges that faced children, what they have done to date and how difficult it has been for them.

The Deputy is no exception in the House either, in terms of having the capacity to spin. I did not interrupt her. The point I was making was that children and young people have gone through an awful lot in this pandemic. Their quality of life has been in many ways reduced by the pandemic. It is the Covid-19 pandemic that is driving all of this. Those in the engine room have to keep going to protect people. We do not have the luxury of doing all the comprehensive evaluations people would like us to do. We are mindfu…

As I said yesterday, this was robustly debated at the time for a considerable length of time in terms of issues leading up to awarding of the contract, the best way to do it and so on. It was done transparently. The Deputy referenced yesterday the memorandum from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform that was published at the time. It was weighed up at the time and we had our view. I was in the Opposition. The contract has been signed and the key issues now are to get delivery in terms of the broadband pl…

I have.

I thank the Deputy for his comment. His point is valid. The advice from the national immunisation advisory committee, NIAC, is that it strongly recommends that children aged five to 11 years with an underlying condition, living with a younger child with complex medical needs or living with an immunocompromised adult should receive the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer-BioNTech. This should be offered in parallel with booster doses for those of all ages with underlying conditions. Its idea is that that should not…

That is what they are going to do. I think they will take on board what the Deputy says.

The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage has already committed in that regard, particularly in terms of students and so forth. He is very actively considering that and, I think, he already has proposals developed in regard to helping people, in the first instance, not to have to commit too much in advance and to get their deposits back.

Again, as has been announced, the rate of payment of the PUP will be linked to prior earnings. All individuals, including the self-employed and students, who lose their employment on or after Tuesday, 7 December because of the effects of the new public health restrictions are eligible. The PUP will be available for self-employed workers, such as taxi drivers, if they lose their jobs as a result of the latest restrictions. There is also a provision whereby self-employed workers such as taxi drivers can earn up to €9…

Real progress has been made on resourcing home care hours. As the Deputy will know, about 5 million additional hours were provided in 2021-----

-----and these will be maintained in 2022. There is an issue with securing workers. The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, is working on this with the sector. In the medium term, the issue is improving conditions and so forth but, in the immediate term, it is how we can make it more amenable for people to come into the sector. It is not an issue of resources any more; it is about securing the necessary workforce to provide for the demand out there.

The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, does have a moral compass. I do not think the Deputy should suggest anything to the contrary. The number of people waiting for home support across different categories has reduced from over 9,000 at the start of 2020 to approximately 5,300 at the end of September 2021. The issue is recruitment of additional home support workers. That is the issue. Everything that can be done will be done. Demand has increased but resourcing has also increased. Significant additional people have…

There is no lack of urgency and no lack of empathy in terms of the situation that certain sectors of our economy find themselves in because of the restrictions relating to Covid-19 and the impact of Covid-19 on their particular sectors. It makes a lot of sense, however, as we move from wave to wave and different phases of this pandemic, to adjust the mechanisms we have at our disposal to support people. One can do the overall broad economy but as I said yesterday, a range of sectors have come back very strong in th…

I agree with the Deputy, who has made a fair point. We need to work on adaptation more aggressively. I will check the current status of the national coastal change management strategy. We have to prepare. In the past two days, we saw the benefit of preparation and planning by our emergency teams and the different Departments, agencies and local authorities. When things go well, the debate is always, "Should we have done X, Y and Z in preparing?" The inevitable debate is now happening but the bottom line is that I h…

First, to be fair to the HSE and everybody, we are doing 225,000 PCR tests a week now. I remember the hue and cry in here more than a year ago when 100,000 tests were being done. We are now at 225,000 and the target is to get to 250,000. Within that framework, obviously, the HSE will do everything it possibly can to make testing more accessible to people. That can be challenging in terms of logistics and getting the right locations. I will take on board what the Deputy said and communicate it to the HSE.

I said earlier in reply to a question by Deputy Boyd Barrett that the PUP will be available to self-employed workers such as taxi drivers if they lose their job as a result of the latest restrictions.

There is also a provision whereby self-employed workers such as taxi drivers can earn up to €960 over an eight-week period and still receive the PUP. There is flexibility for self-employed workers to carry out some limited work and still avail of the PUP.

Sometimes the manner in which the questions are being put suggests we are in lockdown. We are not. Our economy is the fastest growing economy in quarter 3 in the entirety of Europe. Large sectors of the economy are at full throttle. The point I am making is that things are not at a standstill. That makes it more challenging.

It has not entirely dried up. Obviously, there has been an impact on hospitality in terms of all the cancellations.

That affects taxi drivers and, therefore, they can apply for cover.

Children in school is a priority, as everybody agrees. In terms of the development of the child, that development is optimal when he or she has the capacity to go to school. The overriding objective of the Government is to keep our schools open and have children enjoying education in school. Obviously, Covid has impacted on children and created anxieties and pressures. The manifestation of that has been seen most recently in the advice to wear masks. The next phase will be vaccinations. I pay tribute to principals,…