We have provided for mandatory quarantining for those from Brazil, South Africa and other countries, as designated by the public health advice.

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue and I offer my sincere condolences to the families of all those who were bereaved at Ballynoe nursing home. I understand that the particular outbreak the Deputy is referring to commenced on 8 January, which resulted in all 47 residents and 29 staff testing positive for Covid-19. Tragically, 21 residents died associated with that outbreak. As the Deputy has said, Ballynoe nursing home is one of a chain of nursing homes owned by the CareChoice group. In line with the national …

There is no excuse for poor communications between a nursing home provider, management and staff, and the relatives of residents. That should be an obligation of the provider. The provider should ensure there is such communication. Part of the HIQA inspection framework will encompass that dimension of that. That is important. We need answers in relation to the specifics here in this case. We need to evaluate how the nation responded to the pandemic. Deputy Barry's point about private sector provision and public sec…

I thank Deputy Naughten for raising the issue. I acknowledge his long-term interest in this issue and the measures he has taken in the past in different capacities to deal effectively with it. The Deputy is correct in saying that illegal dumping is a scourge on the landscape and offenders should and must face the full rigours of the law. Penalties for illegal dumping are significant. There is a maximum fine of €5,000 on summary conviction and-or imprisonment for up to 12 months, with a maximum fine of €15 million i…

I know the Minister is anxious to progress the legislation, resolve this issue, give capacity to local authorities to use the latest technologies, with respect to the right to privacy, to deal with illegal dumping, and use the full range of anti-dumping measures available to the Government. Working with community organisations across the country, additional funding was allocated through the anti-dumping initiative. That was a further €3 million, which will facilitate approximately 300 projects across the country in…

As I said last week, the timing of business and the amount of time the House sits are not determined by the Government. They are determined by public health advice. That was made clear last week, and health and safety-----

I am talking about the length of time the Dáil sits. There are constraints on what can be debated and what can be facilitated within the time constraints provided as a result of public health advice in the context of Covid-19 and the health and safety advice that the Oireachtas provided - not the Government, not my office, but the Oireachtas. Also, I understand there were communications from staff associations as well. We are in a difficult wave of Covid-19 with the new variants, so that is probably without questio…

The Minister for Health will be in here all week on the quarantining Bill. The demand from - maybe not Deputy McNamara - most Members of the House has been for this Bill to be introduced and for this issue to be dealt with as expeditiously as possible because people want a mandatory quarantining regime to be put in place from a legislative perspective.

I am open to the House in relation to the timelines for the Bill. I understood this was an agreed process and that people were anxious to get this through but the Whip may want to discuss the issue with others. I am not going to be accused of guillotining legislation of this kind but there is a time pressure on this. Let us be honest about that. People may have different views on the legislation but I believe it is proportionate, balanced and grounded in public health. There are protections in it from a civil liber…

There is pressure on it, of course there is.

Immediately after the legislation is passed, we will have to work up the regulatory framework and get it up and running. The legislation is key to enabling one to do that. With regard to Deputy Paul Murphy's point, there is no blind eye being turned to meat plants. That is not the case at all.

We debated this on Leaders' Questions and the Deputy's view is that there should be a longer lockdown. That is what he would prefer, without question. This week, the quarantining legislation is the priority. Last week, the Minister for Health and his Ministers of State were before the House. Every week, issues pertaining to Covid have been debated in the House. My understanding is that there will be additional hours next week, as Deputy Ó Lochlainn said. I think the Business Committee is considering that matter and…

The Government is motivated primarily and solely by the needs and concerns of the survivors, and to do right by them. That is informing the Government's policy and its response to the commission's recommendations. The Government is focused on delivering on those recommendations, as is the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, particularly in the context of the information and tracing Bill, which we are anxious to have before the House as quickly as possible. The interdepartmental group is working on the historical recognition…

During Private Members' business, Members can bring forward legislative proposals. It could have been brought forward, published or engaged on last week. What is important is the Minister's statement regarding the retrieval of the tapes and the potential for the tapes to be available. There is more work to be done. In my view, the bona fides of the Minister cannot be questioned with regard to doing right by the survivors. I heard some of the contributions and it is wrong to cast aspersions or to try to create a div…

I regret to have to say this but I must ask the Deputy why she is playing politics with this.

No, it is not right to seek political advantage and say one is for every group to go up the list, and so on. I understand the position relating to carers like everyone else in the House. I stated that NIAC advises the Government. We can make inputs and engage in consideration but NIAC advises, that is the point I made last week. The correspondence in question relates to adults with underlying conditions. Deputies raised genuine concerns about conditions such as cystic fibrosis and Parkinson's. People felt that thos…

We are not asking for-----

People should respect NIAC. We are no experts.

I will have to check into that.

The matter has not come before Government in terms of any formal decision to be made. The Government has not dumped anybody. I will check this out and see what the process was or what happened. I will revert to the Deputy.