It is normal procedure here to allow me to answer the questions that Deputies ask. I have answered the Deputy. There is no such thing as level 2.5, as she knows well. I said earlier that NPHET advice came prior to the adoption by the Government of the new plan. The Deputy knows that. There are two issues, namely, wet pubs and people attending matches in stadia with capacities of more than 5,000 people. They are the two issues that deviate from level 2 as now adopted by the Government. That is it.

That is it. There is no level 2.5 or anything like it. NPHET will come forward with advice on Thursday and I hope and trust that the Deputy will accept whatever decisions we have to take in respect of Dublin, as per the advice from NPHET. I have already begun to see, in the question about different locations in Dublin, people trying to wheedle out of any issues that might arise. The acting Chief Medical Officer - not the Government - is very clear on the application of measures throughout Dublin and on taking Dubli…

That is the implication in what the Deputy said about localised responses. The acting Chief Medical Officer is very adamant-----

-----that the virus is throughout Dublin city and county. There is no getting away from that. The specific criteria are in the plan. There are seven or eight criteria that NPHET will use to make a decision in respect of a particular county or nationally. There are further descriptors of what those might be in terms of numbers per 100,000, the R number, the transmission of the virus in a given county and a variety of other criteria which NPHET will decide upon and advise on. The plan is very clear and there is flexi…

The alternative is Dublin moving to level 3 overnight without any advice from NPHET to that effect. That is a very serious step to take for a lot of people. We need to be mindful of that. That can await any county and, therefore, NPHET has to advise in regard to that, following on from the modelling and everything else that will be necessary to make such a recommendation to Government at a given time.

The advice from NPHET has been published today, including in respect of Dublin. NPHET will meet again on Thursday-----

In regard to Thursday-----

The Deputy has asked questions and I am trying to answer them.

The Deputy was briefed about two weeks ago.

I facilitated the Deputy.

The Deputy received a very detailed briefing, including from the HSE. The Deputy's demeanour at the briefing was much different than it is publicly. She is overstating the negativity around the testing, in my view. We want to ramp up and increase testing but it has been ramped up very significantly. More than 1 million tests have been carried out since the start of the pandemic.

We introduced serial testing programmes for the nursing homes, which has been very effective.

Will the Deputy not acknowledge that it has been effective? The nursing homes have been serial tested twice and we will do so again. Serial testing at the meat plants had to be rescheduled but it has commenced. The same applies in respect of direct provision. I agree there is huge pressure on the community side.

No it is not, it is increasing.

Last week, testing was at 15,000 per day. We will continue to increase testing and to recruit additional people. I have no difficulty with facilitating another briefing with the HSE or the CMO in relation to this plan and so on.

I have no problem with doing that.

I thank the Deputy for raising the matter and I know he has genuinely pursued it for quite some time. I spoke to the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, about this and I take fully on board the necessity to do something for taxi drivers and people in similar positions who may not have come under the ambit of the restart grant. I specifically mention people who could not be included in the rates-based system where supports could be administered in the way we did for many small enterprises and businesses. The Government is …

The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport will continue to engage with the representatives of taxi drivers to discuss measures to ease the burden on them during what is a very difficult time for them. As I have said to the Deputy before, issues arise in administering these measures to protect all involved, ensure money gets to those who really need and deserve it, ensure verification etc. That said, there is a need to assist the sectors the Deputy has identified which have not really benefited from restart gran…

The business of the House should proceed as planned. The Business Committee made a decision. I note that the Business Committee meets every week and makes a decision, but that decision is then queried in the House and a vote called on it.

This is not about the roadmap. It is about regulations that were debated last week and are being continued.