We have received advice from NIAC, which has been the system from the outset in respect of recommendations on vaccination. The European Medicines Agency, EMA, is recommending the five to six-month interval and nothing lower than that. The EMA has recommended that anybody over 18 may get it. In addition to prior recommendations, NIAC has recommended a booster dose of an mRNA vaccine in order of priority for healthcare workers, those aged 16 to 59 years with underlying conditions as listed in table 5.a.2 of chapter 5…

I know that. The intervals of five or six months are as recommended so far.

I take the points raised by the Deputy. The hospital currently employs staff of approximately 1,280.6 whole-time equivalents, with more than 200 additional contracted services staff. A significant overseas nursing recruitment campaign is being actively progressed by the Saolta University Health Care Group with the intention of having significant additional nursing resources coming into the service within the next three months. Interviews are ongoing and it is expected the first group of nurses from this process wil…

The Deputy is correct in saying Brexit is the fundamental cause of many challenges and remains problematic in causing supply chain disruption, increased costs and charges if products come from third countries outside the European Union via Great Britain, for example. People may not be aware of those costs initially. I have no difficulty with the Deputy's points and perhaps the relevant Oireachtas committee could give consideration to proposals. I will speak with the Minister in respect of consumer protection in thi…

I agree with the Deputy's comments on the length of time it is taking to get planning decisions and major infrastructural works done in the country. To that end there is a major review under way and over the next 12 months something that would ordinarily take three or four years will be done in one year. That will be led by the Attorney General and take in the entire planning code in order to get a more streamlined system. There was a specific point around timelines and the Minister for Housing, Local Government an…

To be fair to the Minister of State, Deputy Mary Butler, about 5 million extra additional home care hours were secured in last year's budget. The waiting times went down and the flow through the hospitals was significantly improved and enhanced. The issue now is to get workers. The funding is there-----

You fast-track and accelerate the work permits system, and you liberalise it.

Health is included in respect of that and bringing people in to meet the-----

I will check that again. Three priority areas are health, construction, and technology.

As the Deputy knows, the Commission on the Future of the Defence Forces is currently meeting to consider the organisation of the Defence Forces into the future. I will revert to the Minister on the question asked by the Deputy. There have always been exceptions pertaining to Defence Forces personnel in a range of areas because of the nature of their work and service to the State. I will come back to the Deputy on this.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue in the House. I am not aware of the background to this case. I will raise it with the Minister for Defence in the first instance and endeavour to get the background to the case, and ensure that justice is applied and fair and due process is applied. The allegations the Deputy has made on behalf of the individual are serious. The situation merits investigation and resolution in a sensible and proper way for the individual concerned.

No.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 4, inclusive, together. Last week, I had a series of phone calls with the leaders of the Democratic Unionist Party, DUP, Sinn Féin, including the deputy First Minister, the Ulster Unionist Party, UUP, the Social Democratic and Labour Party, SDLP, and the Alliance Party to discuss the ongoing talks on the Northern Ireland protocol. I emphasised that the ongoing talks between the EU and UK should be given every chance to succeed and the European Union's commitment to addressing g…

I thank all the Deputies who raised questions in respect of the meetings I had with Northern party leaders. Deputy Richmond raised a number of points relating to the prospectus of the unionist parties in regard to the protocol and so on. I think it is fair to say that all parties, although I do not want to go through each individual conversation, favour continued access to the European Single Market as beneficial to jobs, employment and businesses in Northern Ireland. That is an important point in the context of th…

The Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth made a comprehensive announcement earlier in respect of both an action plan and a payments scheme for all residents of mother and baby homes and county homes-----

It does include an enhanced medical card.

We will have to get this reconciled-----

-----in respect of the medical card being available-----

-----on the same basis as the Magdalen laundries. That is my understanding, but I will get this issue checked for the Deputy.

Let us be clear, however, that this is an €800 million package, which is being allocated in this regard. I do not want to monetise it, but the action plan is important. Turning to information, the legislation on information and tracing is still before the House. I think it was published on 9 May and it is still at the pre-legislative scrutiny stage. We must move it on and onto Second Stage and then Committee Stage. A significant number of people are waiting for that legislation in respect of accessing information a…