We are going to have to work through this. As I said last week, we are in a transitional phase on this.

The CO2 monitors are recommended for schools. The working group has recommended them. The Minister has committed to providing CO2 monitors to schools across the length and breadth of the country. I have not seen the reply the Deputy referred to, so I do not know the context in which she is quoting the figures.

I have not seen it. I have spoken to the Minister about this. CO2 monitors are important and the Minister is committed to providing them to schools. That is it.

I appreciate the motivation and intention of the Deputy in this regard. Generally speaking, the response has been very positive in respect of applications for the Janssen vaccines at community pharmacies. That is the feedback we are receiving. There has always been a difficulty in endeavouring to differentiate between one sector or group and another. The key issue here is that the roll-out of the vaccination programme in community pharmacies is going very well. Within that framework, it should be possible to cover …

I regret the degree to which the Deputy has personalised this against the Minister of State, Senator Hackett. It is all wrong to refer to her destroying Irish forests. The Deputy should really cop on.

The Minister of State is doing the opposite. She wants to facilitate, streamline and get things moving in forestry. However, there has been a situation going on for quite a while, as the Deputy knows, because of objections that happened prior to the legislation being passed last year. We are very conscious that we need to move fast to get more houses felled, sorry, trees felled and new tress planted as well.

The Deputy knows that a huge number of additional staff have been allocated to the Department in that respect, including ecologists, forestry inspectors and administrative staff.

The last three months of 2020 were the highest months for licence output, with approximately 900 new licences issued. Licences for a felling volume of some 2 million tonnes issued in that time, which was 40% of the output for the year. There are improvements happening but they need to happen more quickly.

A total of 1,700 licences have issued so far this year-----

-----and the output is increasing week by week.

Through the Chair, is the Deputy comparing Belarus to Ireland?

I asked the question through the Chair-----

-----because there was a reference made to civil disobedience. I accept the Deputy's clarification. It is an important clarification because, obviously, we are not, in any shape or form, comparable to the Lukashenko regime. In terms of the Parliament, we want to achieve a balance here. There are people arguing for more liberation and saying we are closing down too much and have not opened fast enough.

On the other hand, we have to work through the public health advice we receive. It is in order to try to implement that public health advice in the context of facilitating the reopening of hospitality, and trying to get a balance in all of that, that the legislation is coming forward. That is what we are endeavouring to do.

The Deputy has outlined what is a very significant issue. It goes back, as he knows, to the United States applying a 25% tariff on steel originating from third countries back in 2018 and the European Union responding in terms of its market. This has been exacerbated by Brexit, with the UK becoming a third country since 1 January and being subject to EU safeguard measures. The measures that are in place allow for the importation of steel from third countries by way of quotas determined in line with traditional volum…

In that regard, officials in the Tánaiste's Department have routinely raised the issue with Commission officials-----

-----and will continue to do so. They will engage with the industry and representative groups on the matter and keep engaging with the EU officials-----

-----regarding the operation of these safeguard measures.

That kind of sums up the shallowness of the Deputy's presentation. What he is saying is absolute rubbish. We are not ceding anything, particularly in respect of fishing rights. We are ceding nothing. It is just another game, is it not? It is just another slogan and just another approach, and it is consistent with the Deputy's approach on everything. I engaged with the fishermen of Ireland and their representatives. I am serious about it and I am going to do everything I possibly can to help fishers in this country.…

I agree with the Deputy regarding what he has said. As he is aware, the Department of Social Protection suspended the issuing of letters to customers whose public service cards, PSCs, were due to expire from 20 March because of the closure of the Department's offices under the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions. However, an agreement with the National Transport Authority, NTA, and transport providers is in place to ensure acceptance of expired cards in the interim for those availing of free travel. The Department has s…