Overall, with regard to the allocation of resources and recruitment, there has been very extended financial provision, both last year and this year, for the acute hospital service. An increase in capacity has been provided for across the country. I do not have the specifics for Sligo hospital. Close to 4,500 staff were recruited in the HSE this year, and over 6,000 were recruited in 2020. Between the two years, about 11,000 have been recruited. A significant number of additional nursing and medical staff are includ…

Again, figures are being plucked out of the air and tossed about the place in the context of the mica scheme. My understanding is that a house of the size just referred to could be entitled to up to €300,000 for a rebuild, plus the €20,000 for rent and storage. This is a very expansive scheme, and is much better than the previous one. We have listened and taken on board a range of issues that homeowners brought to our attention through the working group. The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland will be updating i…

I fully appreciate the issue raised by the Deputy. I am aware that the Minister of State, Deputy Joe O'Brien, is working on this. We are considering ways in which we can give additional supports to the community task forces. The Deputy is correct in identifying the huge scourge and devastating damage being done to many families, particularly young people, because of the proliferation of drugs, including cocaine, which is being used far too extensively across our society. Drugs are being peddled by drug gangs for en…

I will talk to the Minister for Transport about that. There should be consultations between Transport Infrastructure Ireland, if it is responsible for that stretch of road, and the community groups representing the residents and the general community. That is how the matter should be progressed.

That is unfair on the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan.

He is very focused on this issue and genuine about the wider issue of drug abuse and the development of a drugs strategy, which will involve and-----

-----has involved community groups and the community inputs. That is critical to the ground-up approach to dealing with this scourge, as I referred to earlier, and will inform the strategic framework.

I dealt with this earlier at some length during Leaders' Questions. The Deputy may not have been in for that. I will give the Deputy a word of advice. He may not have intended to imply this, but anybody with Covid should not be in school, so any child with Covid should not be-----

You cannot be in school with Covid. We accept that.

In all our exchanges throughout the pandemic I accept that the Deputy has a unique insight into and a unique perspective on the pandemic right across the board. This is a new one on me, but I just wish to make it very clear that anyone who has any symptoms at all, not just Covid symptoms, should not be in school.

I hope the Deputy agrees that the public health advice is that people should wear masks. Pragmatism has to obtain-----

I know Deputy Healy-Rae is a good friend of the Minister, Deputy Foley. Maybe he could have a chat with her.

I have answered the question. I answered it earlier.

Additional resources have been allocated in the form of additional therapists being recruited. We will continue to prioritise this because it was an initiative of the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, that led to a rapid decline in waiting times for assessments of need. There had been very long waiting times for them.

The next stage is, having reduced significantly waiting times for assessments of need, that there has to be a corresponding reduction in intervention wait times, with intervention coming soon after the assessment is made in order to help children with particular and additional needs. I accept that point. We will-----

I do not have the background to the case but, from what the Deputy has said, the person in question should get a medical card.

There is ample provision in the policy framework for that person to get a medical card.

Yes.

That sort of detail is an issue that has to be worked through between the Minister, the Department and the county council involved. If the Deputy has raised the issue with the Minister, I am not clear on the response he may receive. I will follow that up with the Minister.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 6, inclusive, together. The National Economic and Social Council, NESC, advises me on strategic policy issues relating to sustainable economic, social and environmental development in Ireland. The NESC work programme includes work in five areas. With regard to shared island, NESC is undertaking a programme of research covering a range of issues, including economy, regional development, poverty, mental health, climate, biodiversity and well-being. It will produce a comprehensive…