I thank the Deputy for raising what is a very important issue. I will engage with the Minister for Justice on this with regard to the reforms that are required and I will revert to the Deputy.

We certainly do not. The Deputy should look into his own party

Context is everything. I do not think anyone is glorifying organised crime. It is not on that the Deputy has suggested Deputy Cowen or anybody was glorifying organised crime. That is just not on. For whatever cheap political points the Deputy wants to score, it is just not on to be suggesting that. We could all throw things back with regard to glorifying criminality, murder and mayhem. The Deputy should look into his own cupboard and be a bit more-----

Drug crime is one of the worst horrors to visit an individual, community or society. We have to deal with drug abuse, drug trafficking and criminality around drugs in a multidimensional way, first, with regard to those who suffer from addiction with a healthcare-based approach. With regard to criminals we should take a very strong justice approach involving the Special Criminal Court and every arm at the disposal of the State to put those people behind bars. Criminals should be put behind bars. People who peddle dr…

I accept the points the Deputy has made on the need for widespread coverage of the National Ambulance Service. Other Deputies have raised this in the House. The facts of the matter are, as the Deputy has said, overall investment is now €200 million. This is up from €170 million in 2019. Approximately 2,000 people are employed in the National Ambulance Service, which is up 16% in the past five years. That said, issues have been raised with regard to geographic cover. HIQA and others have analysed this. People like t…

The overall public health message is to reduce socialisation more generally in society and not in any specific way. We can all give instances when one is questioned about hundreds of different types of events and so on. The bottom line from the Chief Medical Officer, CMO, and NPHET is to reduce socialisation. Some hundreds of thousands of people under the modelling could get Covid-19 in the next month, in December, but they have not got it yet, so it can be avoided. If we can avoid substantial numbers getting Covid…

Yes, Deputy, and I was not able to pick up everything that he said. We want to get extra bed capacity into Limerick and I will engage with the HSE in respect of any blockages. It will have to be built or developed which will obviously take time.

I will talk to the HSE in respect of that because historically there has been an issue in Limerick. It got its new accident and emergency department but it needs-----

I am answering the question. The hospital needs additional bed capacity. We are willing to provide it. Funding is there and we need to get on with it.

My view is that the entire senior management should be concerned about voids and vacant housing. Is that the issue? Fine, but it is much more than just having a vacant housing officer. The entire corporation and local council should be seized with the need to get houses back into service as quickly as they are vacated. That is why we provided substantial funding in the July stimulus. We have brought 6,000 houses back into play that were void in the 18 months since we have been in office. These are the facts and I a…

As the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, is in the House he will deal with this matter.

Deputy Carthy has omitted to point to the fact that this went the whole way to the highest court of the land, which took decisions which resulted in the situation that we are in now. Court decisions and litigation have led us to this unsatisfactory situation in respect of the importation of peat. I accept that it does not make any sense on any yardstick that peat should be imported. I have spoken to all the Ministers involved and there will be engagement between all of us, which I will ensure as Taoiseach, and that…

As the Deputy is aware, we have expanded use of antigen testing. Close contacts are issued freely.

They are issued free antigen tests. There will be another 300,000 or 400,000 people, potentially, over the next while who will develop Covid-19 and there will be a whole range of close contacts. The issue is that we have expanded its use in many different sectors including through close contacts, as advised by public health. The Deputy is well aware that public health has over time had a very-----

The medics are of the view that antigen testing has a role but it is not the silver bullet role that some people will advocate. We have made progress on this and we need to make more.

In response to Deputy Browne, first of all the degree programme is vital. It has been the most transformative thing we did in terms of professionalising the EMT profession, and I was involved in it. The professionalisation of the sector is the most effective thing we have done in terms of pre-emergency care. As I said, I have heard what people have said in terms of individual examples which are constantly quoted. I cannot delve into every individual case which may potentially point up a systemic issue that the ambu…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 3, inclusive, together. The national risk assessment provides an opportunity to identify and discuss significant risks that may arise for Ireland. Since it was first published in 2014, it has provided an overview of strategic risks and has highlighted risks such as Brexit, housing and pandemics. The process is designed to ensure a broad-based and inclusive debate on the risks facing the country. This includes publishing the draft for public consultation. There are also opportun…

I thank the Deputies for raising those issues. In response to Deputy Paul Murphy, big tech companies meet Ministers regularly. They are responsible for thousands of jobs in the country, which should be acknowledged. I note the Deputy rarely acknowledges it in correspondence. That said, there must be meetings with such companies and they should be transparent. There is no issue, in my view, with meetings. They have to be. That is how I approach it. I do not know the full background to the circumstances there. As a M…

It should be clear who was there. Deputy Brendan Smith made a very fair point on the all-island approach to the pandemic. There should be an all-island approach. For example, it would have been far better if Covid certs were part of an all-island approach. The party opposite, Sinn Féin, opposed the Covid certs here and has opposed them in the North. A cross-Border approach to hospitality would have made much more sense. The Deputy is right to point out that, epidemiologically, animal health is viewed on an all-isla…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 4 to 7, inclusive, together. I attended a meeting of the European Council on 21 and 22 October in Brussels. The agenda covered Covid-19, energy prices, trade, external relations, migration and digital transformation. We also had a discussion on the rule of law in the European Union. We discussed Covid-19, with a particular focus on vaccination rates across the European Union in the context of rising infection rates in many member states and tackling disinformation about the pandemic…