On Deputy O'Reilly's points, the Government is very focused on skills, reskilling and investing in human capital. That applies to HGV drivers and the road haulage sector as well. I have no doubt the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Harris, and others will engage with the sector if we have to develop modules or fast-track the process to ensure we have sufficient supply of drivers. On Deputy Boyd Barrett's points, he has acknow…

We have not pushed them over a cliff. We have extended these schemes through the majority of 2021, right out to 2022.

As I said, we must also invest in the economy and get things moving, which we are doing. We are reallocating resources to support investment opportunities and create new jobs, which will help the sectors the Deputy mentioned.

First, I take the opportunity to congratulate Deputy Bacik on her election to Dáil Éireann and welcome her warmly to the House.

She has been a long-standing activist on public and social issues. I think the people of Dublin Bay South recognised that and reflected it in their affirmation of her role. I have no doubt from her previous parliamentary experience that the Deputy will add value to Dáil Éireann. I also pay tribute to her party for its success in the by-election. No doubt we will have the occasional engagement and debate on issues pertaining to society and the future of our country. Regarding Deputy McDonald's charge, her portrayal …

The Government is a year in office. It has been hit by the Covid pandemic, which resulted in 8,000 or 9,000, if not 10,000, houses not being built due to the two lockdowns. That has set us back somewhat but we are going to try to catch up as quickly as we possibly can. Anyone looking at the figures would have to come back with the conclusion that the focus is on direct builds, both social and affordable, and the State getting involved in affordable housing. Through the Land Development Agency, we are utilising Stat…

I thank the Deputy for raising what is an important issue. I take on board the comments made by Uachtarán na hÉireann on gambling advertising. As the Deputy knows, the programme for Government commits to comprehensively reforming the licensing and regulation of gambling activities and the Minister of State, Deputy James Browne, is overseeing the reform of that legislation. In particular, he is focusing on the establishment of a gambling regulator which would be focused on public safety and well-being, covering gamb…

As I said, there are two steps involved in this. We need to get a gambling regulator in place. The Minister of State, Deputy James Browne, is determined to do that. He is competent, diligent and committed to it and I have no doubt he will get it done. We will then need to have a wider debate about gambling advertising more generally. It would be useful for an all-party committee to give consideration to the issue the Deputy has raised. A relevant committee may already be in existence. I am conscious of the plethora…

The need for a national maternity hospital is without question. The women of Ireland need a modern national maternity hospital providing the best of care at a tertiary level. The current conditions are simply not good enough or tenable into the future and cannot be sustained. We need a new national maternity hospital. In terms of value for money, the procurement provisions in public expenditure will have to apply. That is why I desist from global figures and from saying it will cost this or that. It should very muc…

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. Value for public expenditure is very important. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Michael McGrath, is both keenly aware of and focused on that and has already taken a range of measures and decisions to provide for it. I reassure the Deputy that the Government is absolutely committed to the south east. That is evidenced by the overall funding that has been allocated to County Waterford under urban regeneration and our working with the council chief execu…

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue with me. However, as I have said to her previously, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the management and administration of An Garda Síochána, including the Garda estate. The Deputy will be aware the Office of Public Works has responsibility for the provision and maintenance of Garda accommodation. Works on Garda accommodation are progressed by Garda authorities, working in close co-operation with the OPW. The determination of the need for the development o…

I accept the Deputy is not grandstanding and I know other Deputies in the House raised the matter also. I get the sense from Deputies that local members of the Garda are clearly very concerned about this. The issue for the Government is that the Garda Commissioner has made a decision in respect of the new operating model and in light of this has made a decision on the capital works across three areas in that one division. That seems to be the challenge and the difficulty. They are now concentrating on an upgrade of…

In the context of the legislation pertaining to hospitality, the fundamental objective is to facilitate the reopening of indoor dining and hospitality in a safe way, in line with the advice from the national public health authorities. This is not something we would ordinarily enter into in terms of differentiating between vaccinated and unvaccinated people, but with the spread of the Delta variant, there is an obligation on the Government and on the Oireachtas to protect those who are not vaccinated from getting Co…

-----through vaccination certificates, and to restrict it to those who are vaccinated and those who have recovered from Covid The second phase is to do an assessment of the potential use of PCR testing and the third phase is to look at antigen testing. The legislation provides a framework to enable that to happen. One way or the other, we must get off the fence in this regard. Last week, people were urging us to bring forward proposals. We are now bringing forward proposals. We indicated last week that we would hav…

It is in the light of that advice that the legislation is framed. We said we would have a plan by 19 July for the hospitality sector. It is interesting that France and Greece are moving in the same direction. Ireland would have been considered an outlier ten days ago in this regard, but not so any more. Such is the fast-moving nature and evolution of Covid-19 that we must protect people. That is the context for the measures. We also need solutions to the issues that have arisen in respect of indoor dining and hospi…

The CAP has been debated in this House. Through the Chair, we should refrain from the frequent use of such language. In recent weeks, I have asked the Deputy not to keep using terms such as "Nazis" and "totalitarianism".

The Deputy did previously. He consistently makes ridiculous assertions in this House that insult and are offensive to people.

It is not my opinion. They are offensive. Do you understand what Nazism was about?

Do you understand what the Holocaust was about?

That is what Nazism was about.