The public health team had not recommended that the school should close. There must be a system. We have all deferred to public health advice. There is and should be local engagement between principals and public health personnel, and that improved in particular after the Hallowe'en break when the Minister with the HSE implemented a new system to bring about closer collaboration between principals and public health teams. We must ultimately defer to public health guidelines. We will continue to engage as cases like…

I said earlier that given the crisis we have in housing, it is extremely important that shovel-ready schemes are given the green light. I am not aware of the local position and I do not know why Sinn Féin is opposing this plan or the rationale behind it. I am not au fait with the specific details of every scheme and this particular one. We are in a position where we need houses built. The biggest challenge facing us over the next 12 months is not funding, resources or ideology as we are committed to both public and…

To be fair to the Deputy, he had to finish his script. The social protection budget is unprecedented in its scale. It is an enormous provision that is necessary to help people in very difficult financial positions right across the board. The budget was particularly strong in measures targeted at those most vulnerable to falling into poverty. The expansion of the schools meals programme is an example, along with increasing child dependant allowances. To be fair to the Ministers for Social Protection and Public Expen…

The future of the south-western seaboard is in renewables and offshore wind, which has the potential to create sustainable jobs well into the future. The Deputy should become a convert and support renewables. He should have a discussion with Deputy Christy O'Sullivan on such matters, as he has a genuine commitment to the climate change agenda.

That is my answer.

I know that.

The Deputy should take it handy. In any event, the Deputy raised renewables and that is my response. Renewables are very important. I am not aware of how advanced the floating LNG project is. The Port of Cork is engaged in operations and has contracts with particular consortia. I have heard talk about LNG for 20 years from different private sector operators but it has never come to fruition.

I have noticed that there is a consistent theme emanating from Sinn Féin that the Government is discriminating against people with disabilities in the vaccine sequencing but that is not true. I accept that people will engage in politics from time to time but it is not a very nice form of politics to play that sort of line. The national immunisation advisory committee recommended to NPHET a particular sequencing for who should get the vaccine first. It recommended that older people in residential settings should rec…

Obviously there are issues with SouthDoc in Blackpool but this is only Wednesday and tomorrow is Thursday; the week is not over. I will endeavour to have that timeline for the Deputies before the week is out.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 3, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on housing last met on 10 November and it is envisaged that the committee will next meet in January 2021. The committee operates in accordance with established guidelines for Cabinet committees and substantive issues are referred to the Government for discussion and approval. The committee works to ensure a co-ordinated approach to the delivery of the programme for Government commitments on housing and related matters. Significant w…

Deputies raised quite a number of questions there. Deputy Kelly, who put the original question, raised the issue of the deaths of people availing of homelessness services. That is a deep concern which is being taken very seriously by Government. It is important to note and respect the work of those in the homelessness services who have cared for these individuals and who were their friends. The impression that the majority died alone on the streets is inaccurate and unfair. It does a disservice to the work, care an…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 4 to 7, inclusive, together. The role of the social policy and public service reform division is to assist me, as Taoiseach, and the Government in delivering programme for Government objectives and public policies and services which help create a socially inclusive and fair society. Specifically, the division assists the work of the Cabinet committee on social affairs and equality and the associated senior officials' group established to oversee implementation of programme for Gover…

We will constructively engage with the Labour Party legislation which is designed to deal with the issue of dual pricing. I pay tribute to the Central Bank for its report which did not pull any punches. It is not acceptable for the insurance companies to conduct their affairs in this manner. We will constructively engage with the Labour Party on its legislation and on the customer service dimension and the necessity of public utilities to give optimal service to customers along with transparency in everything they …

-----which underpins the importance of such social provision, both in terms of our legislation and funding.

The additional €3 million is again provided because we cannot just top up statutory redundancy for one case. There has to be consistency in its deployment across the entire system. The Deputy knows that of course, but that does not interest him in terms of how he pursues these issues.

I am coming to that issue, but many Deputies have raised issues. I think I have dealt with the case of Shane O'Farrell, which was raised by Deputy Carthy. I have dealt with the issue of the student nurses on a number of occasions now. There is a review, which we want, and there is engagement between the Minister and the unions on this matter regarding the allowances. Fourth-year students are paid, as the Deputy knows. Regarding the first and second-year students, what I said yesterday and before that still applies.…

There is also an unprecedented ambition to recruit thousands of extra staff. This year alone, 1,400 extra whole-time equivalent nurses have been recruited-----

-----to the service and the entire graduate output of our colleges this year will be offered a job in our health service.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 8 to 11, inclusive, together. On 22 October last, I set out the Government's vision and priorities on shared island during an online event at Dublin Castle. More than 800 people participated online, comprising a broad range of civil society, community, sectoral and political representatives from across the island of Ireland and in Britain. In budget 2021, the Government announced the shared island fund, with €500 million to be made available to 2025, which will be ring-fenced for sh…

In response to Deputy Carthy, I was a member of the Government that negotiated the Good Friday Agreement and I know well the extraordinary work that went into it from the then Fianna Fáil-led Government and the then Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, with Tony Blair and the late Albert Reynolds with John Major before that. I know how the agreement can evolve. It has always been a regret that the Deputy's party at different times sought to undermine that agreement. Even now, it should seek to work the agreement to its fullest…