Has the Deputy asserted criminality?

The Deputy seems to be asking me whether-----

-----there was, in my opinion, criminality.

I want to know what the Deputy is saying. She needs to make up her mind.

She needs to call it out and stop trying to be a bit-----

I have asked the Tánaiste that question and the answer was "No" and that he had not done something like this before or since. As far as I am concerned, the most important thing when something like this emerges is that there is full accountability to the House. That was my main concern on Saturday. To be fair to the Tánaiste, he had no issue whatsoever with coming before the House to address the issue and to answer any questions that people may have in this regard. It is of a different order to other incidents. I do…

I answered the question on the Tánaiste, who made it very clear to me and the leader of the Green Party, Deputy Eamon Ryan, that he did not do something like this before or since. We take it from this that this applies to his advisers as well. He did not authorise any other type of action like this one relating to the GP contract. I was not a member of the previous Government. It is an important point to make. I am not answerable for the previous Government's behaviour. We had many policy differences and we fought …

That seems to be the implication - were to take upon themselves the obligation to start sanctioning members of previous governments for decisions they took. The decisions taken by any government must be accountable to the people in a subsequent election, and indeed that is the way it works. That is a general point I have to make.

I thank the Deputy for his constructive raising of this issue and his questions. I accept fully his broad thesis regarding the need for Irish-specific research. I read the article to which Deputy Naughten referred regarding Dr. Paddy Mallon. I think it was in the Sunday Independent on Sunday, and concerned the need to do some more work on the specific data emanating from Irish sources. That work is under way in my Department in respect of doing more detailed statistical analysis of a range of variables concerning t…

I accept Deputy Naughten's point about the need for research to inform future actions. With regard to the tools and what is being done in Europe, in many ways we have been ahead of what many European countries have been doing in dealing with the second wave. When I met with EU Heads of State and other Prime Ministers, what they were calling lockdown was our level 3, which was the closure of the hospitality sector. Some countries are just about doing that now, whereas four or five weeks ago we were dealing with that…

There are two dimensions to the points raised by the Deputy, which I thank her for raising. The first relates to the overall issue of connectivity in rural Ireland and the roll-out of the national broadband contract. It is no longer a plan. The contract was signed with National Broadband Ireland, NBI, in November last year and a copy of the contract between the Government and NBI was recently published in line with a previous commitment by the Government. The Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications, De…

The restrictions on the marts mirror exactly what happened between April and 8 June during the first phase of Covid-19 restrictions. While it posed challenges, people managed to get through that. We are saying that for the six weeks of level 5 restrictions, it is important that we work to try to get through them, notwithstanding the challenges that they present. I do not understate those challenges but it is important that we work collectively to get the case numbers down, and this is the most effective way to do i…

Ba mhaith liom comhghairdeas a dhéanamh le gach éinne a ghlac páirt in eagrú an 1,000ú imleabhar agus leis na scríbhneoirí go léir a chuir tuairiscí na Dála le chéile ar feadh na nglúnta. Is cuimhin liom, fadó, nuair a bhí mé i mo mhac léinn, rinne mé roinnt taighde agus bhain mé an-tairbhe agus an-taitneamh as a bheith ag léamh an méid atá sna himleabhair seo. I thank all involved. Sometimes, perhaps, generations of people do not realise that the cornerstone of our democracy is the written record of the Dáil. It i…

We are endeavouring to be helpful. The Chief Whip's proposal is a genuine attempt, which I thought, to be fair, Sinn Féin was accepting until Deputy McGrath spoke. His contribution seems to have been a catalyst for Sinn Féin to harden its position. Two hours is a lengthy enough process. I think that is fair. The Chief Whip made the proposal in good faith and I hope the response to it will be in the same vein.

That is the longest ever round.

I point out to Deputy Boyd Barrett that the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, and her Department have been in constant engagement with the partners in education, including the trade unions, regarding the continued opening of schools to ensure that children do not fall as long-term victims of this virus and that we protect them in every way possible. The best way to do that is to have an enhanced learning environment. Obviously, schools must be safe for all those working in them. Public health teams, working wit…

I do not mean that in any disparaging way; it is just where we are. The Business Committee could usefully look at that. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae has made a reasonable argument in asking if we can get more reasonable timelines into this. I take his point in that regard.

We are sticking with the existing order as agreed.

Again, there is a lengthy session, but at the end of the session we will have an hour and a half to debate a Private Members' Bill, the Education (Admission to Schools) Bill. Generally, with Bills like that, people can raise issues that broadly apply to education.

The Finance Bill will be taken on Thursday. We have Leaders' Questions, Questions to the Minister for Rural and Community Development, Questions on Promised Legislation, the Finance Bill and the Topical Issue debate, which Deputies feel is very important. Then we will have the Education (Admission to Schools) Bill. It is due to finish at about 7.30 p.m., which will probably be 8 o'clock on Thursday.