I will talk to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine about the sheep welfare inspectors. I am not aware of the potential for drones to monitor sheep on the headlands. Maybe the Department can explore that as well.

I am aware of the peat slide near Meenbog wind farm, Barnesmore Gap, south of Ballybofey, County Donegal, which is under construction. The matter is being actively investigated by several statutory agencies, led by Donegal County Council. It involves the Environmental Protection Agency, Irish Water, the Loughs Agency, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, as well as the Northern Ireland Environment Agency having regard to the fact that the development is a transboundary project. A cross-Border multiagency meetin…

-----we will. Over time, the potential of offshore wind energy will outstrip onshore wind energy.

I will undertake to get a comprehensive report from my Department and the Department of Foreign Affairs on what happened. I am not in a position to make any judgment this morning on what the Deputy has asserted. People in all European Union countries are and should be entitled to protest. That said, Covid-19 places very significant restrictions on that right because it conflicts with the competing right of everybody to public health.

Our first priority is public health and protecting lives. We must never lose sight of that. I accept the genuine position that the Deputy has adopted, but we must never lose sight of our overarching objective of protecting lives and the overall economy. The fastest way to endanger the economy is to have a large increase in cases, hospitalisations and pressure on intensive care units. In its own way, this would do more damage to the economy than the restrictions. That is a very basic logical truth. We can see what i…

I thank Deputy Stanton for raising the issue. As I said earlier, the Government is engaging with Dublin Zoo and with Fota Wildlife Park. It will intervene to support the sector, particularly to keep those facilities open. I take the Deputy's wider point on board.

I agree that the Ability programme has been very effective and is an important programme. Programmes of this nature are evaluated by the line Department and the line agencies with a view to improvements and refinements. I will come back to the Deputy on the Department's position. Funding is available for disability services across the board and I have no doubt that this programme is key to facilitating access to the workplace for people with special needs.

Both cases illustrate the damage that Covid-19 can do. That is why we have restrictions. It is worth reflecting on the impact Covid-19 can have on hospital services. Hospitals have had to postpone non-essential services because of the spread of Covid-19 among hospital staff. That is an unfortunate reality. We will do everything we possibly can to provide every possible resource to Letterkenny University Hospital. The Deputy should be in no doubt about that. Anything that has to be done will be done. The same applie…

The extension of the pandemic unemployment payment to students has been a very welcome benefit to thousands of students throughout the country, understandably, because they would have lost the work opportunities which would have helped them to fund their way through college. There have been some improvements to the SUSI scheme under this year's budget. There will also be a once-off additional increase for those currently on SUSI grants to help them through this year. As for the next academic year, that will fall du…

This is a very difficult issue. I will be meeting with Mandate shortly and we will see if we can find a way to try to progress a resolution of this issue.

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I am not familiar with the details of the case. The clinical assessment and recommendations of the doctors are key. Before anyone is transferred every potential avenue of rehabilitation within University Hospital Waterford should be availed of to facilitate the gentleman's recovery or the optimal care for him. I presume the clinicians are identifying a pathway for the patient.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 3, inclusive, together. Issues relevant to the transport sector can arise, as required, at a number of Cabinet committees, most notably the Cabinet committee on economic recovery and investment. The Cabinet committee on economic recovery and investment first met on 8 July. It has met on a total of seven occasions, most recently on 5 November. The next meeting of the Cabinet committee is scheduled for 3 December. The Government continues to invest in our national infrastructure.…

It is very simple. The public health authorities are not convinced about the efficacy of rapid testing or antigen testing. There is no mystery. That has been the position from the get-go and the beginning of the pandemic. The same applies at European Commission level. There will be a further meeting on this issue this week in terms of co-ordination across Europe. There is no definitive evidence-based Europe-wide approach to antigen testing or other forms of rapid testing. I met recently with the Dublin Airport Auth…

As I stated yesterday, the pandemic unemployment payment is providing more than €100 million a week. The cost of the wage subsidy scheme will be more than €5 billion from March 2020 to March 2021. The CRSS will ramp up fairly fast as well in terms of its supports.

The national development plan is being reviewed. That will take on board the projects to which Deputy Kelly referred.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 4 to 7, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on education will have its first meeting on 26 November. The committee will oversee implementation of the programme for Government commitments in the area of education, including preparing for post-Covid education. I have had regular engagement and meetings with the Minister for Education and the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science at Cabinet and bilaterally to discuss priorities for the educa…

First, I am disappointed with the presentation made by Deputy Boyd Barrett, in which he posited the coincidence between the reopening of schools and the rise in the number of cases. He has been a long-term advocate of looking at these issues from an informed perspective. We have done our research, as have NPHET and the HSE. The level of cases after considerable testing in schools is 2% at post-primary level and 2.5% at primary level.

It is not a narrow definition at all. Equally, in terms of international research in Denmark, France and other countries, there is no evidence that schools act as a vector for the transmission of the disease. The evidence is not strong in that regard. It has been a good thing for children that we reopened the schools. We should all support that unequivocally. Being out of school will damage children in the long term. In particular, children from disadvantaged backgrounds will be damaged and they will become long-te…

-----and research and therefore there must be a good pathway in terms of their individual careers and then we can make progress.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 8 and 9 together. The Cabinet committee on Brexit and Northern Ireland was formally established by the Government on 6 July 2020, and had its first meeting on 29 October 2020. The next meeting of the Cabinet committee is scheduled to take place on 23 November 2020. In general terms, the Cabinet committee will oversee implementation of relevant programme for Government commitments in the area of Brexit and Northern Ireland and ongoing developments and negotiations. The committee oper…