There was consultation, which has been laid before the House and also approved by the Seanad. If one considers the Maritime Jurisdiction Bill, which will come forward along with the maritime area planning Bill and the national marine planning framework, NMPF, this Government is, for the first time ever, transforming the regulatory and planning framework for the proper utilisation and protection of our marine resources. It has not happened before and I want to get on with it. For God's sake, how long has the marine …

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 7, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on Europe oversees the implementation of programme for Government commitments on the European Union and related issues. It last met on 22 March 2021 in advance of the meeting by videoconference of the members of the European Council on 25 March. It discussed the agenda for the European Council, including Covid- 19, the Single Market, industrial policy, digital matters and the economy, relations with Russia and relations with Turkey.…

Deputy Boyd Barrett raised the decision by the Saudi Arabian authorities in respect of Abdulrahman al-Sahdan. I will pursue that. There are a range of issues around human rights and freedom of assembly. I will discuss the matter with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and our ambassador will engage to support the avoidance of what would be a very severe penalty and the release of the individual concerned. A new development, although not unprecedented during the last year or so, is the degree to which Deputies accuse …

On this occasion, the model that has developed-----

If I may just make my point, the model that has evolved has resulted in unprecedented production of vaccines in record time.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 8 to 15, inclusive, together. The current Citizens' Assembly on gender equality was established in January 2020 and, following delays caused by Covid-19, resumed its work with online meetings in October last year. The assembly adapted its methods to comply with public health guidelines. The results of the assembly's voting on key recommendations were announced on Saturday, 24 April. Its final report, which will set those recommendations in context, is expected in June. The assembly …

The Deputy needs to talk to HQ.

There are many questions there and in the time I have left, it may not be possible to respond to every question. Deputy Kelly began on Article 41.2. It is not the first time that proposals on deleting that have been tabled and I would be interested in pursuing that. Its practical application no longer exists and it does not operate in practice. Working in collaboration with the Oireachtas, I think the Government would be in a position to pursue that issue and to assess the recommendations generally from the Citizen…

The future of education will be broad based and will involve a range of issues.

I do not want to be seen to be ignoring the issue Deputy Tóibín raised and I am aware of it. There are very concerning circumstances surrounding the case in question and I will certainly see if I can examine the latest position with regard to the report.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 16 to 23, inclusive, together. I marked St. Patrick's day with our friends in the United States with a programme of virtual events. The focal point of the programme was the traditional political discussions and meetings with President Biden, Vice President Harris, Speaker Pelosi, and the Friends of Ireland caucus. In these meetings, I discussed Ireland-US relations, and the importance of the transatlantic relationship and economic ties. We discussed facing global challenges together…

It is $1.8 trillion.

First, Ireland has shown moral leadership on this issue and so has Europe. There have been many simplistic conclusions drawn here, which are not merited and do not stack up. Europe has led the charge in terms of vaccine production and export for the entire world. A month or two ago, Deputies in this House were criticising Europe in terms of its slow distribution and manufacture of the vaccines. The reality is Europe, through its pre-purchasing agreements, has done an awful lot to ensure proper research and producti…

I am answering the Deputy. It is not as simple as the slogan.

Unfortunately, too many Deputies reduce everything to a slogan or sound bite. It is not that simple and the Deputy should not pretend it is that simple either. One of the largest manufacturing sites is in India. AstraZeneca has been manufacturing in India and India has put a ban, of necessity, on any export from India. Earlier in this period, Europe thought it would be getting vaccines from India. Now we have to do everything we possibly can to help India. We are sending out materials etc. We will do whatever we ca…

There were 11 or 12 questions, or maybe more, asked. It is impossible for me to give any form of reply to this kind of scenario. That is merely the system as it has been developed.

I have to disagree with the Deputy's presentation of the issue. Fianna Fáil has been in a coalition Government with the Fine Gael Party and the Green Party for ten months, having been out of government for ten years. We have made housing a major priority of Government, with our colleagues. The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, has applied great energy to a range of measures designed to deal with the housing issue and homelessness. The photograph the Deputy referred to is a…

I will put straight questions to Deputy McDonald. Why does she continue to oppose housing projects? Why does she continue to oppose schemes and initiatives that would give young people an opportunity to own their own homes? You keep on opposing such initiatives and undermining them all the time. There is complete incoherence and inconsistency in the Deputy's approach to housing. She ignores the fact that this year the allocation for social housing was the largest ever. Over €3.3 billion is being allocated to housin…

First, we should acknowledge that the vaccine programme has been very effective. The only qualification we ever put in terms of the roll-out of the vaccination programme was one of supply. It is well-known that we have had difficulties, in particular with AstraZeneca, in terms of supply and consistency in matching commitments to deliver with the delivery schedule and the actual supply of the vaccines. Overall, 1.238 million vaccines have been administered. It has had a significant impact on the incidence of the dis…

Absolutely not. It has nothing to do with the performance of the Minister, Deputy Donnelly good-----