-----of single-use plastic and a range of other waste. Deputies Paul Murphy and Bríd Smith raised issues in respect of a four-day week. Again, I would love to see the economic model for this and a presentation on it. There is one major question that the Deputies did not put forward. Who would pay for all of this? How would all of this be facilitated? In politics we will be a long way before we get to a six-day week, never mind a seven-day week. There is a five-day week at the moment. There have been moves to try to…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 7 to 9, inclusive, together. The Mulvey report, Dublin North East Inner City: Creating a Brighter Future, was commissioned by the Government and published in February 2017. The report contained recommendations for the social and economic regeneration of Dublin's north east inner city. The report has been further supplemented by the publishing of the next strategic plan, which runs from 2020 to 2022. Both documents are available on the Dublin North East Inner City, NEIC, website. In …

Who was turned down?

Who turned down the club?

Funding has been provided to assist in the refurbishment of the swimming pool on Seán McDermott Street. Other supports are going into the area. I refer to the SWAN Youth Service, the detached youth work programme and the Green Ribbon Project, through which environmental clean-up and litter prevention measures are being rolled out. I refer also to the purchase of almost 500 laptops and devices to support students in north-east inner-city area schools with the home learning that has been ongoing during the pandemic. …

I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 to 15, inclusive, together. The Government recognises the importance of regular and open engagement with all sectors of society. As we enter the early stages of recovery from the pandemic and as we work towards reopening our economy and society we need to work together on a shared common purpose. This is particularly important as we face the enormous challenges ahead, including climate action, digital transition, disruption to the labour market and housing. There are many differe…

Deputy Gannon raised the issue of mental health and wellbeing. I agree with the points he made. We discussed this earlier in the House. Again, it is a key issue, particularly in terms of young people. Any supports we can give, we will give. We will work with the Deputy and others in respect of that particular issue. Deputy Kelly raised a number of issues. We will work with the Deputy's party in respect of the Organisation of Working Time (Reproductive Health Related Leave) Bill 2021 in relation to supporting those …

I welcome the Deputy's acknowledgement that progress is being made on dealing with the Covid crisis and that the plan is working in terms of the steady cautious reopening of society as the vaccination programme successfully rolls out with great momentum. A total of 96% of the supply that comes in is being administered within a week by the HSE. People have commented on the efficiency of the vaccination programme and how effective it is. We have been very clear consistently in our interventions since the commencement…

As I said, the Cabinet sub-committee on economic recovery will be meeting in the next number of days to discuss the national economic recovery plan. Part of that plan will focus on the digital transformation and jobs in the new green economy. It will also be focusing in on the medium-term framework for particular sectors that have suffered more than most as a result of the pandemic and factors relating to it. That means evolving the supports towards the second half of the year and a proper targeting of those suppor…

I thank the Deputy of raising the issue of housing which is the key social issue of our time and of our generation. First, there is nothing wrong with the direct-build model. I want to see more direct build and I am supporting more direct build. We are saying Government wants to develop that. The housing assistance payment, HAP, scheme the Deputy referred to has been in place since 2014. I do not think the Deputy is suggesting that we switch off that scheme right now because that would mean thousands of people who …

We have made the position very clear. There are schemes in place. Last evening a scheme went through in Fingal. It has been in preparation for quite some time. There was opposition to that, again, and that is the point. The Deputy's party opposed it.

If we keep on opposing every single housing project that comes before us-----

We have to get supply up. Everybody in opposition, including the Deputy, says this is an emergency. Yet, they seem to think we have the luxury of voting everything down at the last minute when the project is before the council and all of the negotiations between council officials and other parties have been finalised. The scheme to which I refer includes over 230 social housing units and 230 affordable homes in a housing scheme of 1,200 units. Ideology gets in the way. People say they cannot and do not want to supp…

I thank the Deputy for raising what is a very topical issue, as the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine is currently in Brussels working on CAP. Of course, this Government did not introduce convergence. That is the first point. The focus of the Deputy's contribution was on this Government. This is a centrally mandated approach across the European Union and from the European Council and Parliament. It is an EU mandated policy. In the first instance, it is a system of redistribution of direct farm payment f…

I would point out to the Deputy that 19 EU countries are fully converged right now. Ireland is not.

I know. Were it not for successive Governments, the Common Agricultural Policy would not be as central and strong as it is currently. Ireland has been one of the great defenders of the Common Agricultural Policy for many years at European Union level. We have fought, along with a few other countries, to hold the line-----

-----on food production and the Common Agricultural Policy. The Minister did not deny anything this morning. He pointed out that there is a balance. Some win and have gained on this. Quite a lot of farmers have gained and quite a number of farmers have lost out because of convergence. That is the point the Minister was making this morning.

We have got to look at other initiatives, including environmental initiatives, both to increase incomes for farming and to maintain the backbone of the direct payments system, which is key to farmers. We understand that. The direct payments system is absolutely essential as a backbone for farmers to underpin their projections and sustainability from an income perspective into the future.

I always have to fundamentally disagree with this label "the establishment". Every Deputy in this House is elected at every general election. I have equal respect for all Deputies by dint of the fact that they have been elected. It is too easy a label to throw out there and it is deliberately done to undermine people, when we have a strong, functioning democracy in Ireland compared to other countries. We also continue to reform our Parliament and we facilitate a whole range of groups in society to access parliament…

The Irish taxation system is one of the more progressive, globally. Those who earn the most, pay the most. The overall taxation framework in Germany is much more onerous than is the case here if one takes all the social insurance and contributions that have to be made into account. The Deputy is not comparing like with like there. If he is advocating that we leave the EU, I disagree with him. We have to work for a stronger EU into the future in the context of global challenges, the most recent being the cybersecuri…