It is outrageous carry-on but it is nothing new from the Deputy. I say again for the record what I said earlier, namely, under no circumstances would I ever authorise any breach of patient-client confidentiality or the collection of dossiers on people or children in terms of their rights. The opposite is the case in terms of my political record. I fought for children's rights from the very beginning. Since I became a councillor or a Deputy, that is what I have been about in politics, with varying degrees of success…

No one can justify in any way the breaching of patient-client confidentiality.

It is incredible that the Deputy can stand up and speak in the manner in which she has done. This is exactly the scheme that was designed in the North, to which Sinn Féin was a party and which it implemented. The latter is a scheme based on age. We are taking medical and clinical advice in respect of this change. We want to vaccinate people as fast as we possibly can. We are in the middle of a pandemic. Higher volumes of vaccines are coming in. We want to make sure that the most vulnerable of all workers and key wo…

We have established a senior officials group under the stewardship of my Department to consider the policy implications of such certificates. On the technical side, we are progressing work to make sure that we develop a technical solution that would be interoperable with an EU-wide system for certification, once a person has received a vaccination. The EU is also talking about negative PCR test results and evidence as to whether a person has recovered from Covid. The policy implications are, as the Deputy stated, m…

That is a fair point in the context of the beginning of the next academic year. The target is to administer the first dose of the vaccine to 80% of adults by the end of June and that 70% will be fully vaccinated by the end of July. By July and August, therefore, we will be dealing with the latter end of the vaccination programme. With the supplies coming in we are in a good position to achieve that. The more important point is that those who are older or who may be vulnerable due to particular conditions - I refer …

To be fair to the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy O'Brien, the protection of tenants has been a cornerstone of his policies so far. He has brought in very strong protective legislation, obviously, within the bounds of what the constitutional framework permits. We are obliged to operate within constitutional parameters in the context of what we do. The Minister has pushed matters to the limit in terms of the degree of protection he can provide and that he will continue to provide even in …

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. As he pointed out, the main construction contract was awarded and the second cath lab is included in the programme for Government and the resources provided. The current funding, in terms of the recruitment of staff and so on, will also be provided with regard to ensuring the successful operation of the cath lab and the vital diagnostic services it will provide. HSE estates has also confirmed that the equipment for the second cath lab will be of the same type as that in th…

-----and into the future. We will continue to engage with all of the Deputies on the issue.

I thank the three Deputies for raising the issue. Deputy Cahill has been speaking to me about this issue on an ongoing basis and articulating his concerns. There is a balance to be struck in terms of objecting to significant facilities. People have rights to object but on the other hand the increasing use of judicial review is something on which we, as a society, will have to reflect. There is an independent planning process. It is rigorous and it should be respected. There is a growing sense that the judicial revi…

In respect of Deputy Connolly's remarks, I regard them as somewhat disingenuous. Politicians are elected in general elections. People elect politicians. I have been elected in quite a number of general elections. That is what I go by; nothing else. We are in a parliamentary democracy. People may not like us sometimes but that is acceptable. I salute and respect anybody who goes before the people in elections and gets elected because that is fundamental to what we are about as a society and has been since the founda…

We most certainly are discussing it. If she goes through the Order of Business for the past number of weeks she will see sessions on vaccinations, mental health and Covid, childcare and Covid and education and Covid. It is extremely disingenuous to suggest that once a month would be some sort of a commitment on Covid when the reality is we have been discussing Covid day in and day out in this House and at committees of the House also. That is the case. I have met groups which represent the zero Covid philosophy and…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 6, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on education oversees implementation of the programme for Government commitments in the area of education, including preparing for post-Covid education. This Cabinet committee last met on 17 February and will meet again shortly. I have regular engagement with the Minister for Education and the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science at Cabinet and individually to discuss priorities for the educati…

First, in terms of the issues raised by Deputy Kelly in relation to special education, I will have the issue of developing schools and special needs provision looked at again, to ensure that there is an adequacy of provision for children in that context. On the issue around the Beacon Hospital, what happened there was a fundamental breach of trust in the administration of vaccines. It was wrong and against the prioritisation that had been laid down, that the most vulnerable should get the vaccines first. In our dem…

Deputy Paul Murphy raised a number of points. The NPHET recommendations we have adopted are, in effect, to have a very slow, steady and safe reopening and to give people some relief in respect of, for example, the 5 km restriction and other matters. We have dealt with outbreaks in meat plants. From the Deputy's political perspective, he can identify meat plants as the great evil. As far as we are concerned, they have been dealt with and there is antigen testing and serial testing in place. There is also support for…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 7 to 14, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on Covid-19 was re-established by the Government on 29 June 2020 to continue to assess the social and economic impacts of the potential spread of Covid-19 and oversee the cross-Government response. The committee met this week on Monday, 29 March. The date of the next meeting has not yet been set. On 23 February, the revised plan for managing the virus, Covid-19 Resilience and Recovery 2021: The Path Ahead, was published. The plan s…

I thank the Deputies, who have raised a range of matters. Deputy Barry again raised questions relating to public and private hospitals. We live in a country where people have choices. I support as strong and well-resourced a public health service as possible and will continue to do so. That is why record funding was provided this year to the HSE to develop, advance and expand the public health service system. That is my commitment to that. I have condemned what happened at the Beacon. It was wrong in terms of perso…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 15 to 19, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on health oversees implementation of programme for Government commitments in relation to health, receives detailed reports on identified policy areas and considers the implementation of health reforms, including Sláintecare. The Cabinet committee last met on Monday, 14 December and will meet again shortly. In addition to the meetings of the full Cabinet and of Cabinet committees, I meet Ministers on an individual basis to focus on…

I find some of the rhetoric here extraordinary. I take it Deputy Tóibín realises we are in a global pandemic. No Government premeditatedly decides to reduce cancer services. The Deputy should get bloody well realistic. Excuse me, I should not use the word "bloody" but I genuinely think it is a bit much. We want to provide the maximum level of cancer services. There have been backlogs because we are in the middle of a global pandemic, which has had a terrible impact on front-line healthcare services. The national ca…

Deputy Kelly made a very fair point about the reduction in HPV vaccinations. That is a very important issue on which I will revert to him. I will engage with the HSE in terms of the catch-up, perhaps utilising other agencies. Again, all hands are on deck in terms of the vaccination and will be in respect of GPs in particular.

Hopefully, pharmacists will also be involved as we move more into critical mass vaccination. I take the Deputy's point. The HPV vaccination is extremely important and Laura Brennan's legacy must be honoured in that respect. I take that point. Deputy Boyd Barrett raised the issue of pathways for those studying for a PhD in psychology. I am certainly of the view that we must do everything we possibly can to facilitate better progression through postgraduate education, particularly for people from disadvantaged financ…