Jan O'Sullivan as well. We had an interesting presentation by Deputy O'Dea last week and, in his inimitable way, he brought home the importance of getting that project done but also the importance of wider issues of economic development in the Moyross area and greater opportunities which, through the urban regeneration and development fund, URDF, and other initiatives Government will undertake, we will be in a position to provide.

About 60% of those travelling are returned Irish holidaymakers. There is a sense that €500 is not a sufficient disincentive to travel abroad. That will be increased. The Government is considering increasing that to €2,000 to act as a significant deterrent to people travelling because all non-essential travelling should be avoided. It is the intention to bring forward legislation for approval to Cabinet next Tuesday to deal with mandatory quarantining. If it can be done before that, every effort will be made to that…

We are not rushing through CETA. It has been in provisional operation for three years, since the Commission signed it, and it has been of considerable benefit to quite a number of Irish companies that export goods and services to Canada, which underpins jobs in Ireland. That dimension of the debate should be articulated a bit more publicly because it is getting no airing. As a country, we are an open indigenous economy that exports most of what we produce in both goods and services. The investment court issue would…

This global pandemic has caused enormous stress, anxiety and strain on people generally, and no more so than on younger people in terms of the degree to which their lives have been upended. The routine pattern of life has been completely disrupted. Particularly in the context of this year's leaving certificate, given that the students lost some months last year and have lost some this year, it has been a particularly stressful and an anxious time for them. Last year, we had similar levels of anxiety and stress. It …

The Minister is engaging with all the partners. It is the correct way to do this so that when we make an announcement, it will have been thought through and there will be clarity for the students. There has been reform of the leaving certificate over time and that should be acknowledged. There will be ongoing reform of the leaving certificate. Its one greatest strength is that it is impartial and it avoids subjectivity.

The Government does not benefit from reduced emissions; society does. We are all the Government, at the end of the day. The State is the taxpayer and represents all citizens. It is part of the social contract that we improve the environment and the climate for all of us, and improve our quality of life. In the context of the remote working strategy, everything will be looked at in the round, that is, pros and cons, benefits and burdens on workers, to see how we can alleviate the burdens and costs. There are many pl…

I have to disagree with the Deputy. It is not worse than it was. I do not know how he can say that because I am told the final three months of last year had the highest number of new licences issued of any months in 2020, with almost 900 new licences issued. Licences for a felling volume of some 2 million tonnes were issued in that time, which was 40% of the output for the year. This improvement continued strongly into January, which looks to have been the strongest month for licensing in 18 months. Coillte is the …

I will discuss this issue with the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, who will engage with the commission. The commission is independent but, on the other hand, the point in the context of the 2004 legislation, which provides for the preservation of records, is a fair one. That issue needs to be reconciled and sorted.

I understand the issue raised by the Deputies but we are in the middle of a global pandemic. There is no easy answer to this. Provision was made for people who need tests for essential purposes and those involved in essential services and so forth. Additional staff have been hired. Some 40 temporary driver testers have been hired and 36 who were approved for retention were rehired in 2020. Further recruitment is going on. Waiting times have increased significantly. According to the Department, people applying today…

I accept that the Deputy's thinking has evolved significantly regarding the issue of travel, and I think that would be true for most Members of the House. The Deputy, as early as last November, was clear that the return of people to Ireland to meet their families was something which should be welcomed and facilitated. I think she used the phrase "For them, coming home this Christmas is an essential journey". We have learned clearly with the variant now that the situation is much different and far more perilous in t…

There are compelling legal reasons it is not possible to do what Deputy McDonald is suggesting. That is particularly the case in respect of Irish citizens coming into the country. Regarding having the capacity to home quarantine or, indeed, to self-isolate, those people must be facilitated in that context as well. There are legal issues in this regard as well. We have our Constitution, which has a clear framework concerning personal liberties and freedoms. Balancing is required, therefore, in respect of getting som…

That is an important input. Having said that, we are willing to work with other Members of the House in getting procedures which are as robust as possible, because I believe in prolonged suppression of the virus and in getting the numbers down to the lowest level possible and keeping them there. I will work with people in achieving that objective.

I disagree with the Deputy's assessments of the Government's responses to the pandemic. We are in an unprecedented era of the most draconian measures regarding people's movements and personal liberties that we have ever experienced. We are in this situation because of a global pandemic. That is in respect of the level 5 restrictions which we now have in operation regarding people's personal movements. We now have Garda checkpoints at airports restricting people and penalising those in breach of the level 5 regulati…

How do we police someone in his or her bedroom?

I ask the Deputy to answer that question in the context of common sense and practicality around enforcement. That said, the public health advice on the specific circumstances of cases will apply to people as they apply across the board. They are very clear issues. There is a balance to be struck in us getting it right around personal freedoms, legal enforceability and sanctions. We are taking comprehensive legal advice on this as well as ensuring that we get the numbers down for travel into the State and that there…

In response to the issues, I have outlined that this will be a very severe regime for the quarantining of people. It involves the quarantining in hotels of people from certain countries where there is a particular concern around the importation of the variant and home quarantining of Irish citizens and people more generally, with follow up in terms of enforcement.

With respect, the Deputy is a very late convert to zero Covid. The Deputy has been see-sawing around the place from the Opposition side.

It is true, and I can point to some of the Deputy's contributions on that.

The Deputy certainly did not oppose the lifting of the measures at the beginning of December. The Deputy certainly did not oppose them in the Dáil-----

I want to say, if I am allowed to speak, that people have adhered-----