The motion tabled by the Deputy's party's called for an extension of the commission to review the destruction of the audio tapes and then to allow for the salvaging of remaining testimony. Overnight, the Minister has indicated that he is in a position to salvage the tapes and that back-up tapes have been found. I did not hear his speech earlier but he indicated that to us yesterday and has said that in a statement. That is significant in the context of the motion tabled this morning. It also talked about the archiv…

That is why we took the position we took in respect of the motion this morning.

Our deepest sympathies go to all those, particularly the family and relatives of George Nkencho, in terms of what happened in that tragic event in Hartstown. Any fatal shooting of this kind is deeply distressing for all and for the entire community. The local community experienced real trauma as a result of this event. Such incidents, thankfully, are rare in Ireland but this will be fully investigated independently. GSOC has confirmed that it has begun a criminal investigation under section 98 of the Garda Síochána…

Prioritisation is always key to any workload in any of our organisations.

I thank the Deputy for raising that issue. His colleagues have raised it a number of times previously. There is an issue to be examined. I will certainly talk to the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, about it in terms of the application of the Local Government Fund in respect of Galway city and Galway county.

I have been a long-term supporter of CE schemes in whatever position I held, particularly when I was in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. I preserved them and gave additional supports in particular to those over the age of 55. I was the first Minister to bring in the scheme for those over the age of 55 to give longer terms for people on CE schemes. My view is that CE schemes are essential to underpin communities and should not be seen just as a labour market intervention but rather as a community …

I will follow that up with the Minister for Education. I understand the point the Deputy is making. I do not know why they have not responded yet but I will come back to the Deputy on it.

I welcome this opportunity to speak about the New Decade, New Approach agreement of January last year, restoring to full operation the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement, including the Executive, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the North-South Ministerial Council. On 9 January 2020, on behalf of the Irish and British Governments, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Simon Coveney, and the then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Mr. Julian Smith, published the New Decade, New Approach agreement as…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I have received very moving correspondence from Mike Molloy. As Deputy McDonald said, he wrote the moving piece about a year trapped in fear. It brilliantly and emotionally captured the enormous stress and strain being felt by family carers and those who care for their loved ones, which in Mike's case is his mother who has Parkinson's disease. Obviously, because of Covid-19 and the ease with which it spreads, those carers must be extremely careful in their lives so that th…

I genuinely regret the politically-charged manner in which the Deputy is presenting this issue. I did not think that the Dáil on its own was going to decide on who gets vaccinated first, in a political way. To juxtapose the vaccination programme so far with suggesting that 500,000 people are the "forgotten people" is wrong. No one here wants to forget anybody regarding vaccination. The Government's agenda is to vaccinate as many people as quickly as we possibly can, which is dependent on getting the requisite volum…

I thank Deputy Shortall for raising the issue. When the pandemic began, testing and tracing capacity within the country was virtually non-existent, in terms of the requirements to combat a pandemic. It was literally built from scratch. The Deputy is correct that for quite a number of years there has been a lack of resourcing of public health medicine in general. The Deputy will know that from her own time in government as well. I support what she has just said. In my view, very rapid progress has been made in devel…

The Deputy is correct that this has been going on for 15 years, but this is the first Government that has allocated the necessary funding required to action it and to give concrete reality to all of the reports and aspirations. This Government has decided to do that and this Government has allocated the funding. The issue now is structure, framework and how it is done for the future. It must be done properly with a view to making sure not only that we have a heavily resourced service, but also that we have a very w…

I thank the Deputy for raising a very important issue, one on which I share his thoughts. He knows that as a humble Cork man, I have always been a great admirer of the literary creativity and innovative character of Kerry people. I have been in awe of the genius of the Kerry DNA for a long time, as a neighbour across the county bounds. The Government has a target of 255 direct builds in County Kerry and 70 leases for 2021. If the Deputy can go back to Kerry County Council and it can do more, I will talk to the Mini…

I thank the Deputy for his affirmation of all those who work in the housing department in Kerry County Council and in the construction industry more generally. Yesterday I met representatives from the industry to discuss the degree to which they have developed innovative approaches to safety in the workplace, particularly during the Covid pandemic. The return-to-work protocol became the benchmark for other sectors. The unions were particularly proactive in that regard and made a very positive contribution to that f…

Aontaím leis an Teachta maidir leis an méid dímheas a léiríodh do na máithreacha agus na leanaí a bhí sna tithe seo i rith na mblianta agus ó thosach. Is olc an scéal é ar fad ar fad agus níl aon dul as sin. Dá bhrí sin, caithfimid uile ár ndícheall a dhéanamh sa lá atá inniu ann ardmheas a léiriú do na máithreacha agus na leanaí, agus gach aon ní gur féidir linn a dhéanamh. Sin an fáth go bhfuil an tAire ag déileáil leis na grúpaí atá ann agus leis na daoine atá fós ag maireachtáil chun cóir agus tacaíocht a thabh…

I do not know how it happened.

I should not, actually.

I am not a member of the commission. The commission decided to do this and I do not know why it did so. It is making assertions that it did this on the basis that it guaranteed anonymity to those who came forward. No member of Government was involved obviously in the commission's work, as the Deputy knows. That is important, because the impression is being given that the Government could do something now about how the commission operated; it cannot. What the Minister has done is written to the commission. The commi…

I am very surprised by the commentary and assertions of Deputies Mac Lochlainn, Duncan Smith, Cian O'Callaghan, Boyd Barrett, Tóibín and Mattie McGrath that somehow Government is invoking Covid-19 as a basis for the two-day sessions in terms of the Dáil. That is not the case. Some of those Deputies would be very quick to attack Government for ignoring public health advice and health and safety guidelines. My understanding is that the Business Committee, collectively and irrespective of party, has been advised on pu…

The Government has not ordained this or imposed this.