-----the Deputy should be in no doubt about the Government's commitment to the security of energy and protecting people across the board.

It is not an issue-----

-----of rolling out red carpets to anybody.

That is just classic political sloganeering, which is the hallmark of the Deputy's approach to every issue.

As the Deputy will be aware, the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, met public representatives from the area recently-----

-----in respect of the plans for Dean Maxwell. The HSE has produced its set of proposals in regard to the nursing home as well, and the Minister for Health is certainly taking on board the views that have been articulated but wants to create a sustainable and viable future for that centre in Roscrea. He has met local representatives as well as Members of this House. The Deputy is well aware of what is going on.

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. The issues that have arisen surrounding the charity, Inner City Helping Homeless, need to be examined and dealt with. I understand legal processes are under way in respect of the future of the organisation. It operated outside of the scope of mainstream homelessness services provided by local authorities and voluntary NGOs, which are subject to a range of oversight arrangements and standards. That is an important point. In the context of the homelessness issue, t…

The Deputy has raised a very serious issue. The first case, when I read up on it and so forth, went to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, GSOC. The existing mechanisms and investigative authorities have not been in a position to bring this to what one would anticipate the conclusion should be. Governments do not engage in the operational side of prosecution and so forth, but this matter raises very serious issues on which I will be consulting with others in terms of how to deal with them. However, there is an…

We have to be careful. Some people keep second-guessing public health advice. The bottom line is that the schools have fully reopened safely after the summer break. From the start of the pandemic schools have consistently operated on the basis of public health advice, and it has been a consistent principle that the Minister for Education and the Department of Education operate in accordance with the public health advice that is given at any point in time. Following a review, NPHET has recommended that from 27 Septe…

That is my observation on it. The Deputy is entitled to raise questions. I fully understand that, but there is a balance here. I would argue that accepting the public health advice has worked so far in dealing with that.

All the Deputy's colleagues in the constituency have raised this issue consistently. I know the Deputy is a tremendous supporter of the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and all his policies.

Nílim ag magadh. I will follow up by saying that the Deputy will be glad to know that he is an enthusiast for bypasses.

This is a very important issue and the Minister for Health is committed to progressing that legislation. I will certainly raise the urgency of the issue again.

I accept the bona fides of Deputy Flaherty on this issue of the impact of just transition on commercial rates in Longford and Offaly county councils. The Lanesborough plant in Longford accounted for 15% of the rates base while in Offaly the Edenderry and Shannonbridge plants together accounted for almost 25% of the local rates base. In recognition of this, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, provided compensatory funding in 2021 equivalent to 100% of the rates that would…

I note the Deputy's comments in respect of Mr. Pádraig Ó Céidigh and we wish him well in that role. He came to it through the Public Appointments Service process and has a deep commitment to the region and to aviation. The Government has provided substantial supports to airports and airlines, particularly through the EWSS programme and through capital investments in airports. We are looking at further measures to see what we can do to underpin the return of growth to the aviation sector because connectivity is key …

The legislation has been published. As this is something that had been going on for years, on becoming Taoiseach I insisted that with the help of the Office of the Attorney General we would get it drafted and dealt with. It has happened and it has been published. I appreciate the Deputy's point. It is open to every Oireachtas Member to get this Bill through now in a timely manner. That is a matter for the Oireachtas. We will work with the Oireachtas to do that. I support the Deputy's point that it needs to get thro…

Perhaps I might come back to the Deputy on that. I have a note on Gaeltacht learning periods and the grant that was funded by the Department of Education up to the 2012-13 academic year. The rate of the reintroduced student grant for 2021 has been set at an average of €650. I think that is different from the issue of the Deputy is raising, which relates more to the allowance for teachers in Gaeltacht schools.

I thank the Deputy for raising the case of Kate Mynard from Dunmanway and the issue of access to a particular treatment and a particular drug. I will investigate this to ascertain the availability of that, the position of the treating consultants, whether the company has applied under the existing processes and so on. I will talk to the Deputy in more detail about it.

Whenever such an issue arises, I work with the Department of Education, the Minister for Education and the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, to deal with the issue. I do not know whether any specific primary schools have applied for an ASD unit. I ask the Deputy to give me further details on it. That would be the normal route. The NCSE would assess the demand in given areas and would approach schools with a view to providing ASD units. There is no issue with resourcing ASD units. A total of 269 addition…

The Deputy is referring to the updated guidelines.