I did not raise these issues, Deputy McGrath. Others did, and I am entitled to respond to the assertions that were made by Deputy Boyd Barrett. I am simply saying that the bulk of Thursday's business is to do with Covid issues relating to mental health, children and childcare. After those debates will be the resumed Second Stage debate on the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) (Amendment) Bill 2020, and the Order for Second Stage and Second Stage of the Air Navigation and Transport Bill 2020. There will al…

I accept and believe there is a need collectively all round for calm, cool leadership. Certainly, we responded quickly on Friday evening when the Commission made, in my view, a mistake in terms of dealing with the AstraZeneca vaccination supply issue via the protocol and Article 16. To be fair, as soon as I engaged with the President of the Commission she responded quickly and reversed the decision. To me, it was a demonstration of the goodwill of the Commission. There is a genuine desire on behalf of the Commissio…

The period in May was during the interregnum Government and the last Government as it dealt with the pandemic. As we know, through the summer months the numbers were low. Most of the representations in this House were with a view to relaxing restrictions and opening up. The overwhelming number of calls in the House were to do just that. Deputies were concerned about airports, airlines, employment and so on. Legislation will be introduced quickly and it will be brought into the House.

It will improve this and give greater capacity. I appreciate Deputy Kelly's offer to facilitate the speedy passage of this legislation through the House. In fairness, the Deputy has indicated that he will do so.

Of course I will alert the Minister to the comments and the request of the Deputy. I wish to make the point that sustained action has been taken in respect of homelessness and the provision of emergency accommodation. The numbers are coming down. Obviously, we want them to come down further. Certainly, we want to create sustainable housing alternatives for people who are homeless in this country. That is our commitment and objective under the programme for Government.

On foot of recommendations from the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan, the intention is to legislatively provide for no more new exploratory licences in respect of fossil fuel. That is a groundbreaking and significant decision, the first of its kind. I do not in any way question the credentials of the Minister when it comes to dealing with this issue in a comprehensive way. There are clearly legal challenges in respect of any existing licences that have been issued.

In Deputy Boyd Barrett's land, everything is simple and straightforward.

Without question this is a significant milestone in policy terms and a welcome one. Deputy Boyd Barrett should welcome it and not seek to undermine the Minister's objectives in this regard.

The HSE deserves considerable credit for ramping up a very significant testing and tracing capacity, with up to 150,000 tests per week now. I recall people articulating loudly not so long ago for 100,000 tests per week. I stand to be corrected, but my understanding is that 137,000 were conducted last week. However, the Deputy is correct in saying there has been a resistance from the clinical and public health perspective to antigen testing. It is fair to say that those in clinical and public health see PCR testing …

The Deputy needs to change his tone. His continuing relentless hostility is regrettable to have to witness weekly, but that is the way he operates and that is his entitlement. I have refused to meet no one. The Deputy keeps coming in here every week saying I am refusing to meet somebody. I have refused to meet nobody. Obviously, with Covid, we cannot meet people physically.

We can meet people virtually, and I know that Deputy Cahill and others would facilitate that meeting tomorrow morning or whenever else. Deputy McGrath cannot keep on attacking people in a very nasty way left, right and centre and then expect-----

The reluctance, from what I can surmise and gather from the discussions I have had, is that NPHET believes the PCR test is gold standard. It believes a lot can be missed through antigen testing. That said, it has now advised that it can be used in outbreak settings. I know that the Deputy chaired the Special Committee on Covid-19 Response, which I presume discussed this, zero Covid and the whole range of issues that were brought before that committee-----

-----throughout the summer. I do not accept the Deputy's point that there is a conflict of interest between being chair of NPHET and being director of the National Virus Reference Laboratory, NVRL. To be fair to all concerned, everybody has come together in different contexts to help the country defeat and suppress Covid-19. We should accept people's bona fides in that regard. There is a reluctance within the political sphere and within the Government sphere to override this kind of-----

I am not an expert on testing or the most-----

No. They have their experts. We cannot just pick and choose à la carte . There are structures within the country and clinical and public health advice and-----

Maybe the Deputy's party could do something as well. Maybe it is time for Sinn Féin to help and assist in truth recovery in respect of the terrible atrocities-----

Why is it shocking? Why is it shocking that the relatives of those who were murdered in Kingsmill should get transparency and some truth as to what happened?

I did not interrupt. I listened and I wish to respond. It is a genuine response. The Deputy generically calls it "the conflict" as if the Provisional IRA and the Provisional movement had absolutely nothing to do with it. "People got killed by accident" seems to be the assertion in the lovely and articulate way in which this is put, but we know the reality-----

I know that, and we will do what we can. As a Government we have played our part through the setting up of the Smithwick tribunal of inquiry and we will do more if necessary to bring truth through to what happened, but the Deputy's party must also do more.

My response is that I have no difficulty meeting any groups, and I have met them in the past, but I do get tired of those who do not come to the table and I believe genuinely that the Provisional movement has not come to the table on many atrocities that were committed in the past. That needs to happen too. In response to the question about the protocol, yes, there has been subsequent engagement between us and the Commission on making sure this does not happen again and on whether sensible, common-sense modificatio…