First, I thank the Deputy for raising this very serious issue. I am aware an "RTÉ Investigates" programme due to air this evening will focus on the St. Patrick's Guild illegal birth registrations. The illegality of what took place is shocking, particularly for those affected. I refer to the trauma, anguish and hurt that people are now experiencing as a result of this unacceptable practice. What happened was wrong, plain and simple, and completely unacceptable. Enormous trauma has been placed on people as a result o…

The Deputy knows that the Government is bringing in such legislation and that our legislation has been fully and comprehensively informed, from a legal perspective, by the Attorney General. I ask the Deputy to wait for the Government legislation to be published and I ask that all parties in the House, in a spirit of co-operation, would work on that legislation. It is being formulated to give access to birth information, birth certificates and very basic information in terms of identity to which every individual and…

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. Without question, the vaccination programme and its roll-out are critical parts of the wider strategy to deal with the pandemic. The vast majority of people in Ireland are adhering to the guidelines and restrictions. That is having an impact in getting the hospital and intensive care unit, ICU, numbers down and reducing community transmission as the vaccination programme is being rolled out. The national task force and the HSE are publishing data on vaccinations. The key is…

The current figures that have been released show we are above the EU average with 8.3 doses administered per 100 of the population. As of 27 February, 435,895 Covid-19 vaccines had been administered. Some 294,550 people have received their first dose and 141,345 people have received their second dose.

We are on target to substantially administer the first dose to 72,000 over-85s by the end of the first week of March and arrangements are being made to vaccinate homebound elderly people in conjunction with GPs and local community teams. That will be followed with the subcohort of people aged between 80 and 84. By the end of this week, approximately 1,200 GP practices will have participated in the vaccine programme.

Yes, I know that. The vaccines are being administered as we receive them. The chairman has been publicly saying that.

The chairman, Brian MacCraith, and Paul Reid have said this publicly on a number of occasions. We have said as soon as we get vaccines in the aim is to use them.

The aim is to use the vaccines within the week.

I thank Deputy Bríd Smith for raising the issue. In the first instance, it is not the Government's intention to go to war with anybody. I acknowledge the workers have been critical to the development of water services and that through their dedication and commitment they have developed water services on which so many of us rely today. A significant number of stakeholders are involved in the delivery of water, principally the workers themselves, the local government sector, ICTU, relevant trade unions, Fórsa, SIPTU,…

There will be no coercion. That should not be asserted. There simply cannot be coercion. The Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 provides that local authority staff who are subject to a service level agreement with Irish Water would transfer to Irish Water should the agreement end. The existing terms and conditions of these staff are protected under the Act in such circumstances. In outlining its expectations about the next phase of transformation, the Government fully respects these terms and conditions, which can onl…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I thank the Defence Forces for the essential and extraordinary role that they have played in the pandemic, especially in testing and tracing, and stepping up to assist with the quarantine system and vaccinations. Their logistical support has been consistent throughout the pandemic. The issue that the Deputy raises has come up on a number of occasions. He referred to Deputy Nash's parliamentary question and the reply. I will try to clarify it for the Deputy and maybe make s…

I thank the Deputy for his comments. These Supplementary Estimates are discussed by the relevant select committee and approved by the Dáil in the normal way. Appropriations-in-aid cannot be used as additional expenditure on the Vote under public accounting procedures. The Deputy raises an interesting point which we can pursue to see what potential there is. Also, as the Deputy knows, we have established an independent commission on the Defence Forces which is due to report by December this year and perhaps this iss…

Before we started the Chief Whip told me that we have full agreement from the Business Committee and that there are no issues with the Order of Business. That did not last 60 seconds but what intrigues me is that on the schedule for this evening, at 5.54 p.m., is statements and questions and answers by the Minister for Finance on the banking sector, with 135 minutes provided for the debate. What are the Deputies on about? It is provided for on the schedule but the Deputies all get up and say, "Shock, horror, we nee…

-----to help to ensure that indigenous Irish SMEs and corporates can access capital markets to fund their future growth plans which will underpin Ireland's economic recovery as we emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic. The decision is good news for Fexco, which is an important employer in the south west. It can use the proceeds it receives to continue to grow and innovate in financial services and maintain employment in the region. It has been a leading employer there for quite some time. The standard remuneration arra…

That is just unacceptable play acting. The Minister for Finance is a very authoritative Cabinet figure in the context of finance and banking. He has responsibility for policy in that area and it makes absolute sense and logic that he would present on this issue in the House this evening. The Deputy is just playing politics. This had been agreed at the Business Committee and it is the same carry on week after week, with sloganeering, branding politics and trying to place people in particular pigeonholes to suit the …

We will deal with it, and we will not be afraid to make decisions in the interests of employees.

I again take issue with the language being used by Deputy McDonald. To suggest that a deserving group like family carers is being ignored is again playing politics with the vaccination programme. The national immunisation advisory committee, NIAC, has consistently advised the Government regarding the prioritisation of groups that should be vaccinated. It is based on those who are the most vulnerable and at the greatest risk of becoming severely ill or dying from the disease. NIAC will continue to advise the Governm…

The behaviour, as revealed, is unacceptable. The regulator has acted has acted in a very firm and decisive way. A severe penalty of more than €4 million has been imposed. The regulator's decision is significant and it will have an impact on behaviour. It is deeply disappointing that such behaviour happened in the first instance. We will work with the Deputy on any additional measures he thinks may be necessary. We will work with him and others in order to see what more can be done to this disincentivise such behavi…

I heard the comments of the Minister for Finance this morning and I thought they were strong. His response to this is important in terms of identifying the role of the regulator. There has been a tendency in this country to set up independent regulation, but then we do not allow the regulators to do their work.

My view is very consistent. CETA is absolutely in the interests of the workers of and enterprise in this country. It is also in the interests of a country which exports the vast majority of the goods and services it produces. We are an open, exporting country that depends on multilateralism and open and free trade. The legal advice I have received on this and the clarification by the European Court of Justice states that the claims made against CETA regarding the investor courts are not sustainable. The European Co…