With all due respect, I do not take lectures from anybody on that issue.

I went beyond what most people wanted done at that time and did it-----

-----in the interests of the survivors of industrial schools. I put a historian into the Department of Education at the time to go through all of the archives and to make them available to survivors in regard to their personal records. Some of them only saw them for the first time when they went to Athlone to the Department of Education and Science.

We are not going to seal these records either. That is not the agenda. Let us not try to undermine the good faith of people involved. The Minister is not trying to do that. Deputy Cairns knows there is an issue. The issue is if he does not act the records disappear for all time. That is his problem.

That is the issue.

The more fundamental issue is what one does with the records and how one releases them. The Deputy knows-----

I have no agenda to try to suppress records. Please do not suggest that.

May I-----

On a point of order, there has been a constitutional issue about access to records for a long time that predates this issue. People who are long-time Members of this House know that. The previous Minister for Children and Youth Affairs did not resolve it. There are two steps. We need to preserve the records in the first instance and ensure they do not get into jeopardy or get lost. That was the objective of the former Minister. The second step is how we make the records available to those who need them.

I am for that.

I am asking the House to not try to undermine people's bona fides. I am not trying to seal anything. I have no interest in sealing any of the records.

I deal with people just as the Deputy does. I deal with people who want access to these records.

The Deputy should stop taking the high moral ground and saying that others on this side of the House, because we are in government trying to do the right thing, are somehow trying to undermine people's access.

On the lockdown, the measures are very clear in terms of what is essential and non-essential work. That will apply. The Garda, as in the case of the previous lockdown and under the level 3 restrictions, has operational discretion but the situation is clear. We have allowed construction and manufacturing work to continue and there is a list of exemptions. I am not, on foot of every questioner, going to add or subtract from that list. The optimal way to resolve this matter is through talks to try to get something sor…

I am very well aware of the situation and I thank the Deputy for raising it. The Minister is very possessed with the issue. Discussions took place recently between the Departments of Employment Affairs and Social Protection and Public Expenditure and Reform, which has a key role in this matter as well given concerns previously that there may be knock-on implications arising out a mechanism to deal with this issue. Those discussion are still ongoing. I will keep the Deputy informed.

I appreciate the point Deputy McGrath has made. Again, the difficulty with lockdowns is that they are crude and blunt instruments designed to reduce congregation and people gathering. Recommendations come from NPHET on the variety of measures that are required. We try to be as judicious, effective and compassionate as we can. One can always go through each individual setting. If we look at it in isolation or from the perspective of that setting, one can make an argument. However, it is the cumulative impact of all …

Thank you for that lead-in, a Cheann Comhairle. First, level 5 is difficult and very challenging. It is a lockdown. Everyone says it did not happen in their place. I do not know where the virus starts. If one was to add up the list of all the places where it did not happen, one would be hard pressed to find where the virus begins. The virus spreads from people to people. Public health advice is that the less social contact we have, the better all around, especially now because there is such high community transmiss…

I have no doubt. I am not casting any aspersions on the people who ran them, in fairness.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 5, inclusive, together. The National Economic and Social Council is an independent statutory agency operating under the aegis of my Department. The NESC is a valuable forum where strategic policy matters relevant to Ireland's economic social, environmental and sustainable development can be analysed and discussed between a variety of actors and Departments. The work of the council focuses on the strategic and longer-term view. It recently agreed a new work programme comprising …

On the climate Bill and a just transition, the Bill is transformative. It should be welcomed by the Opposition and Deputy McDonald's party, Sinn Féin, although I know they have issues with the climate change agenda, have taken a negative stance on the matter and are somewhat in denial about it in reality. As for the just transition, we moved in respect of the midlands. The Government provided €20 million for the first retrofit scheme, with quite a number of counties affected by the decisions relating to the peat-bu…