That will be considered. The scheme referred to by Deputy Kelly is being looked at. There is also the broader issue of how we sustain our hospitality sector over the medium term, acknowledging and accepting that Covid-19 will have a significant impact on our economy for the full 12 months of 2021. If we accept that it has a specific impact on the food, accommodation, beverage and hospitality sector, then we have to look at other ways of helping the sector and the enterprises to come through, to preserve as much emp…

I thank the Deputy for raising the issues. A strong, vibrant and independent media on all platforms is central to our parliamentary democracy and to freedom of speech. The Future of Media Commission is platform agnostic in that sense. It is not taking a preferential view of one platform over another. It is being asked to look at public service broadcasting into the future and how that should be underpinned, public service media, which are important, how to ensure ring-fenced editorial independence into the future, …

The commission has a very wide agenda already and it would not have been correct to include defamation as well. Defamation in itself can be complex and needs a separate process involving the Department of Justice and Equality, the Minister with responsibility for media, Deputy Catherine Martin, and the Government as a whole. Defamation needs to be reviewed and we will follow through on the programme for Government commitment. The Deputy said that some social media platforms do not generate content but quite a lot o…

Yes but I just wanted to say that the commission deals with that. It also deals with the financial underpinning of media into the future and the changing media landscape. Public service broadcasting is still a very important part of that, as is local radio. We have seen the best of the media during the pandemic itself, which should reinforce our commitment to do something about the financial underpinning of all of that because the current licence fee and collection regime is not fit for purpose. That will be the bi…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I have the photographs here that the Deputy sent to my office during the week. They are quite shocking in terms of the appalling levels of dumping in which people are engaging. Illegal dumping is an attack on our society, our communities and our pristine landscape and there should be zero tolerance for that type of behaviour. The fines are quite significant for those found to be responsible for the unauthorised disposal of waste. There is a maximum fine of €5,000 on summar…

I agree with the Deputy in terms of the appalling impact illegal dumping has on our community, our landscape and the environment, and it needs to be dealt with in an uncompromising way. However, the laws are strong enough in that area, for example, under current waste legislation vehicles involved in the carrying out of suspected unlawful waste activity can be seized and, if it is successfully prosecuted, such vehicles can be disposed of as the competent authority sees fit. This morning I asked the Minister respons…

First, as I said yesterday, this act was wrong, in my view. I am very clearly of the view that such iconic historic buildings and locations should be preserved or, at a minimum, incorporated in whatever developments are taking place. I instanced the Moore Street development and the discussions that took quite considerable time and involved Deputies from all sides of this House, including Deputy Eamon Ó Cuív, who was particularly effective in that process, to be fair, and an outcome was achieved. Given the significa…

Yes, the Department of Education and Skills has, I understand, found two errors in the leaving certificate 2020 calculated grades. My understanding is that the Minister for Education and Skills will be making a comprehensive statement today on what has occurred, the measures taken to rectify that, the re-checking of that process and bringing in independent external evaluation. Above all, we need to make sure we can ease as much anxiety as possible in regard to the students.

Our priority has to be the students themselves in terms of how they receive this information. Students may receive grade upgrades for some of their grades as a result of these errors, and they have to be communicated with first.

I support the Housing First strategy. I also note the initiatives taken by the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government to date, particularly with regard to the 2,500 voids which will be brought back into use as a result of an initiative under the July stimulus package. Although I do not have the exact figure with me, a significant number of these properties will go to homeless people. The call for housing initiated by the Minister primarily aims to see whether councils in Dublin and across the country c…

My colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, who has responsibility for the postal sector, has met both An Post management and the Irish Postmasters' Union, IPU, and will consider the content of the IPU's report as matter of urgency. As the Deputy knows, An Post has a strategic plan for the medium and long-term future. This covers the period from 2017 to 2021. In order to implement the plan, the cost of which was estimated at €150 million, the Minister for Finance provided a loan of €30 million to the comp…

I appreciate the Deputy's question. The HSE has already commenced a recruitment campaign for 700 swabbers and 500 contact tracers as part of its plans to expand and increase permanent capacity within the testing and tracing system. The call initiative which the Deputy referenced yielded some results but perhaps not what had originally been expected. Of those who came forward, not all were suitable for particular positions in clinical settings or in the wider health service. I have no doubt that the HSE will use eve…

It is not a sham and it is not shambolic. The Deputy should not say that.

I do not know about the individual case the Deputy has spoken about. I can check it out for him. If he sends me the details we and the HSE can track down what went wrong or find the explanation.

If the Deputy watched the RTÉ bulletins last evening, he would have seen that the amount of testing going on is far-----

RTÉ cannot be turned off.

The Deputy should not advocate for that.

The volume of testing being carried out is far in excess of the volume carried out in the earlier period of the pandemic. The capacity has expanded and grown to try to meet the increasing demand. The testing system is meeting demand, unlike other systems in Europe. Covid is very challenging.

We need to avoid the kind of language the Deputy has used in condemning the people involved.

Admhaím go bhfuil an-chuid gheallúintí tugtha maidir leis an mBille seo. Is é an tuiscint atá agam ná go mbeidh leasuithe don Bhille ag teacht os comhair an Rialtais an tseachtain seo chugainn. Mar is eol don Teachta, ba mhaith leis an Rialtas an Bille a threisiú. Le cúnamh Dé, beimid in ann an Bille a fhoilsiú agus a thabhairt os comhair na Dála laistigh de choicís.