These guidelines have come from NPHET and the Health Protection Surveillance Centre. Music, particularly singing, unfortunately, can, as a result of droplets and so on, act as a vector in the spread of the virus. It is a cautious guidance that was issued in respect of weddings. As with many other areas, our view all along in terms of the onset of the virus has been to adhere as close as we possibly can, within reason, to the guidance from public health authorities. That is the situation here.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. Back in March, admissions to St. Brigid's hospital were suspended and it was designated as a Covid-19 step-down facility. It is proposed to utilise the existing premises as a base for a newly created community healthcare network in south Tipperary, along with it serving as a base for members of a chronic disease management team with a focus on diabetes. St. Brigid's is ideally located as it is adjacent to a primary care centre. As such, the co-location of these buildings w…

-----a senior dietician, a staff dietician, administrative staff and a podiatrist. These individuals will provide enhanced services at St. Brigid's. This is a unique opportunity to change our approach to the prevention and management of chronic disease in the south east. I am happy to work with the Deputy if he has further ideas for the utilisation of the building.

This Government did not cause Brexit and is not responsible for it. We need less of the language about weak hands and all of that kind of nonsense. Brexit resulted from a decision taken by the British people. It was recommended to them by British politicians. In my view, it was the wrong move. Historically, it was the wrong move. It has implications for our fishing. If we had no deal, it would be a worse result for our fishing. We are on the precipice of a no-deal. It remains to be seen how the two principals, the …

I have met and engaged with the fishing organisations. There should be no doubt that we want to preserve and support our fishing industry in the strongest possible manner and as effectively as we can.

I do not know whether the Deputy has written formally to the HSE senior management in respect of this matter. I will engage with the CEO and relay the Deputy's comments to him. These areas are audited and evaluated. I will certainly engage with the CEO on the points the Deputy has raised with me.

I appreciate the Deputy raising the issue. She is correct in identifying mental health as a key issue and a key priority for society and for the Government. There is, and has been, an issue with the recruitment of psychiatrists, particularly in child and adolescent psychiatry and particularly in the south east. It is something the Minister of State, Deputy Mary Butler, is very possessed of. At a recent Cabinet subcommittee meeting we discussed this, specifically with regard to the issues on the recruitment of consu…

The Deputy is referring to 2005 legislation. With regard to assessments of need, we have provided additional funding in the budget. My view is we should do everything we possibly can to get timely assessments of need for children and meet our obligations in this regard. I have no difficulty supporting this.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 2 together. Under the terms of the Public Service Management Act 1997, special advisers may be appointed to Ministers and Ministers of State. The requirement for specialist policy input and advice is a matter for each individual Minister to consider having regard to the area of responsibility and the support in place in the relevant Departments. I have put in place a range of appropriate advisory supports to me in my role as Taoiseach. The make-up of my team currently comprise…

In response to Deputy Kelly, to his credit, the system was introduced by the Labour Party back in-----

It was, actually. The whole of idea of a separate office of the Tánaiste at the time was-----

I have no objection to it. I think it makes sense in terms of-----

Where there are parties with different perspectives in government, and this is a three-party coalition Government, there is a need to make sure that the policy programme, as per the programme for Government, and the perspectives of parties are brought through. In respect of the offices that have been established for the leader of the Green Party and the Tánaiste, that makes sense in terms of common purpose but also in terms of making sure the agenda is delivered upon in respect of the priorities of each individual …

Hear me out, please. It is also in terms of the person's former capacity as an adviser, when I was Minister for Health and Children. There is also a unit within the Department that has been dealing specifically with Covid, even before I came into the office, and it is being dealt with at a very high level within the Department. Obviously, NPHET provides public health advice to me and to the Government at large. In addition, various advices can be ascertained from key people out there in academia, without having to …

We have actually. An investigation is being established, and the Minister is making sure. I do not know whether the Deputy submitted his testimonies for investigation.

No, I think the investigation should happen because exploitation should not be tolerated and student nurses should not be abused and exploited. They should not be exploited, and any exploitation that takes place, I genuinely believe, should be investigated. If the Deputy has evidence of that, and I have no doubt he may have, it should be forwarded to the authorities. We will protect the nurses and the student nurses concerned, and those issues will be investigated. They need to be investigated because it is wrong a…

The old culture, and old habits, die hard. The whole transformation of nurse education is not something we should just erode and then happily go along with that, which is what the Deputy is really suggesting. He has not dealt with that question at all in any of his comments on this to date. I have to say that.

The Deputy’s speech back in 2016 meant, and People Before Profit’s position was, that the financial emergency measures in the public interest, FEMPI, should be repealed in their entirety. If FEMPI was repealed in its entirety, it would have meant that with regard to the pension reversals to which Deputies Boyd Barrett and Paul Murphy referred, those people would have got their higher pensions and would have had their cuts reversed back in 2016, not in 2021. Legally, the Minister had no choice. In 2017, this House p…

No, we cannot actually do that without undermining the entire edifice. That is the point.

Of course, the Deputy pretends that this is a deliberate and premeditated act to look after the high rollers, and he knows damn well it is not. He knows it is not. If he had his way, he would have been doing this in 2016, given that is what he proposed at that time. That is the reality.