There have to be procedures and protocols in place. The Deputy must accept that.

It is a target and objective of the Government to reduce gender pay inequality. There should not be that level of inequality in terms of payments in public and private sector employment. We will continue to work to reduce that differential. It should not be there. In terms of student nurses, negotiations have been ongoing for some time. They were successfully concluded in the first phase between the HSE and the INMO in respect of payment to student nurses, particularly fourth year student nurses who were in clinica…

I appreciate the issues involved and Mr. Wall has raised them on a consistent basis. We should publish the report. The HSE's clinical advisory group was reconstituted in 2019. The Deputy is correct that it has given certain advices. The Government will act on those advices. Some of them are long-term and others are medium-term in nature. In the interim, the Government will honour what is in the programme for Government. I will deal with this and have further engagement with the Minister and the Department of Health…

The issue is receiving the urgent attention and ongoing engagement of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Minister for Health. The Chief Medical Officer has been consulted with regard to any risks that may or may not be there in terms of mink farms in Ireland and Covid-19. My understanding is that a policy position was adopted by the previous Oireachtas to phase out mink farming in Ireland. That is something we intend to progress.

Sorry, the HSE deals with this issue. I do not know whether the Deputy has contacted the HSE or not about it but he might give me the details and I will follow it up for him. There are many contract tracers out there now and there has not been an issue to date in terms of people being paid.

There is no agenda not to pay people. I am sure the Deputy will accept that. Send on the details to me, please, with the 15 names and I will follow it up.

All of these deals predate the current Government. That is the first point I will make. My understanding is that the issue relating to the Department of Health is going before the Committee of Public Accounts, which is the proper forum for it to be debated at. As Taoiseach, I do not get involved in every single operational contract or procedure that Departments conclude or engage in on a weekly or monthly basis. We do not operate on that sort of basis.

There are proper procurement policies that are meant to be adhered to by the State and I think it is important that the proper procurement policies are adhered to and are followed. I have no doubt the Comptroller and Auditor General will examine this situation and identify what has gone wrong. Furthermore, I will obviously follow up with the Department to ensure that whatever is due to it is secured.

There will be. The commemoration unit in the Department has been engaged with the Gaelic Athletic Association. My understanding is there will be a commemoration on 21 November, obviously with Covid restrictions attached, to honour and commemorate Michael Hogan.

The Deputy asked about Michael Hogan and I am just giving the response. We were due to have a State commemoration in Cork in respect of a number of events, particularly the burning of Cork. Unfortunately, Covid has impacted on this. We hope to do it in early December when level 5 restrictions, hopefully all going to plan, will be scaled down and we will exit from level 5. I believe in commemoration. I believe in doing it properly and doing everything we possibly can to inform this generation and future generations,…

I am aware there have been issues in regard to people on the pandemic unemployment payment and the wage subsidy schemes making mortgage applications. The Minister for Finance and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform have kept in regular contact with banks about their approach to the loans situation in general during Covid-19, particularly during the severe lockdown phase. We have asked and put it to banks that they should respond in a sensible and appropriate way, and give every break they possibly can to…

The Government has given approval to the Minister for Finance and he will be bringing forward amendments, as I understand it. He will clarify and confirm this in the Finance Bill. The amendments will deal with that judgment in order to, in the first instance, enable current applications that are delayed to be dealt with expeditiously and quickly. Then, outside of that, he is undertaking a review of the entire scheme to see if it is fit for purpose in terms of its restrictive nature at the moment, and whether it can…

The Deputy might give me the details of the situation. No teacher who is working in a school is on the pandemic unemployment payment.

That is a separate issue that relates to teacher allocation in regard to pupil enrolments at the beginning of September. I will engage with the Minister for Education on this. During Covid-19, as much discretion and flexibility as possible should be shown by the Department of Education in regard to DEIS schools in particular, and in regard to enrolment and teacher allocation, particularly given the year that is in it.

That is not an answer to what I said yesterday. It is not a cogent answer. There is no logic to what Deputy Paul Murphy is saying. Is he saying that, in every liquidation, the State should step aside when there is a dispute?

That is what the Deputy is saying. That is part of the problem with this - people presenting it as a very simple thing that can get solved simply if the State just removes itself as a creditor. If we did that in every situation, the State would be broke in double jig time. There would be no need for redundancies, no need for statutory schemes and no need for employers to honour any of their obligations. We would incentivise a whole range of behaviour that would be unacceptable. That said, I take on board what Deput…

The Government has made it clear that access to personal records is there under GDPR. The mother and baby homes report will be published. The Minister is giving it consideration and a comprehensive response to that will accompany the publication of the report. The Government outlined that in its comprehensive statement of two weeks ago on a whole range of issues. We intend to do so when that response is prepared and the report is published. It will be soon and will deal with a whole range of issues that have been r…

The achievements of St. Brigid's are outstanding at national, European and world level. I have a particular interest in boxing and in doing everything I can to support amateur boxing in this country. I have asked the Minister of State with responsibility for sport to give particular attention to this sport. He will liaise with the Deputy if she sends the details of the club on to him and will see what we can do. I do not know the local circumstances that caused the premises to be closed but working with local autho…

IDA Ireland works independently at one level. The Government has given it a regional mandate to work with companies that are investing in Ireland to move outside the cities where possible. Obviously, Dublin will get the lion's share of foreign direct investment because of the attractions of a capital city for inward investors, particularly digital companies and so forth. However, IDA Ireland is well aware of the desire of the Oireachtas and of the Government to spread investment as much as possible. We will continu…

Dr. Colm Henry was on the national airwaves this morning explaining and outlining the flu vaccine programme. There has been a substantial uptake of the vaccine this year. The pharmacies concerned should communicate with the HSE on whatever issues they have in terms of the distribution of the vaccine. I have no doubt that pharmacies in general are well aware, as are general practitioners, of the HSE programme. I will alert the HSE to the point the Deputy has raised.