I regret that some game-playing is going on.

This was all agreed at the Business Committee and the Government is standing by what was agreed there. Deputy Whitmore made a fair point. During Leaders' Questions, I referenced the fact that about 1,900 people turned up for their first dose of a vaccine at the weekend and the majority of those would have been from migrant communities.

It is testament to the efforts of the HSE to reach out to minority communities and those communities that may not have enjoyed the same confidence in the vaccine in the beginning that they are starting to turn up because of those efforts.

It is worth bearing in mind that the total economic supports provided by the Government to date are in excess of €20 billion. This does not include in excess of €2.8 billion in tax debt warehousing or the €1.5 billion in loans supported through Government schemes, such as the credit guarantee scheme. The employment wage subsidy scheme has, to date, granted payments of more than €5.5 billion and PRSI credit of almost €865 million to 51,760 employers in respect of more than 687,600 workers. To date, €704 million in t…

Yes, but it has to be done in a routine way and not in reaction to symptoms. That is the key point. The concern of the Chief Medical Officer is around the use and overuse of antigen testing. When people are symptomatic, they should get PCR tests straight away. By the end of September, more than 100,000 antigen tests were used in agriculture, for example, in food premises and so on. The higher education sector has used approximately 22,000 antigen tests and in acute hospital settings, which have PCR tests, about 3,0…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. A number of Deputies on all sides of the House have also raised it with me. I will certainly have the matter examined and will engage in getting some resolution to this. I take the points that have been raised as fair.

The Government has decided to keep everything under review but I will make a point in respect of pandemic unemployment payments. Taking the hospitality sector, for example, there has been a consistent response from that sector, as well as from retail, that it is finding it difficult to fill vacancies. One would like to think that notwithstanding the impact of the measures we took last week in terms of hospitality-----

I did not say that. I ask the Deputy not to put words in my mouth and to let me finish. I am just talking about hospitality workers for the hospitality sector, in that there should be an absorption capacity within the totality of hospitality to deal with anybody in that sector who may be looking for work. In terms of bespoke areas, we have provided supports for the entertainment and music sector and will continue to look at bespoke ways to help specific groups that may be affected. However, schemes such as PUP and …

No, it is not unlawful. It is within the parameters of state aid. Generally, the State airports - and they are State airports - are important to the country's connectivity. They are not just specific to one local area. Dublin and Cork airports are part of the Dublin Airport Authority, DAA. Shannon Airport has its own governance structures but it has a reach to the entire west. Knock Airport has also been supported and there has been other support for other regional airports-----

There have been a number of issues with Waterford for quite some time, to be fair, which predated this Government. Previous Governments provided supports to Waterford-----

It is not fair to juxtapose one against the other. The reason it was the fastest runway project was the management there took a decision, rather than spending years and trying to do it while business was open----

-----it decided to close the airport and get it done in three months. That worked and it is worth it for other people to watch them in terms of getting projects done quickly.

I will not interfere in the operations of Cork County Council. That would be totally wrong. Has the rate been struck? I did not pick that up.

I cannot interfere. That is that.

The Government's main focus is on drawing up a scheme to comprehensively deal with issues for householders who have been affected by mica. Parallel with that, we are looking at accountability and at which legal mechanisms may be available. The Deputy refers to a public inquiry. That would take a minimum of five or six years and would not deal with the immediate issue, knowing how things happen.

The HSE has conducted an incredible number of PCR tests. There were 207,000 PCR tests in the last seven days. That indicates the pressure on the system and the level of infection. If people are symptomatic, they should simply stay at home. The HSE is doing everything it can to increase capacity further. It has brought in additional private sector capacity to add further to the HSE's core capacity. I will relay the Deputy's concerns to the HSE.

Yes, it can. We do everything that we can to support University Hospital Limerick. It is acknowledged that the hospital is under much pressure. There are high numbers with Covid in Limerick, which manifest in hospitalisation rates, especially in the intensive care unit. The high numbers are getting attention from the HSE. We are looking at what resources and innovation we can provide to take pressure off the staff and try to help.

I understand that the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage has been alerted about this and about issues with a number of defective units other than those affected by mica. It is a general concern for the State. I cannot yet give a timeline on the working group but I believe it is close to finality. The Minister will publish that.

I will come back to the Deputy about the exact timelines. I do not want to pre-empt it.

How many evictions have there been?