I thought the request made by Deputy Mac Lochlainn related to the regulations that are being renewed this evening-----

-----to continue the level 2 restrictions and which were the subject matter of comprehensive debate and a vote last week in the Dáil.

It happened. There was a big debate last week. It would be very unusual to be debating regulations weekly.

These are public health measures that must be introduced this evening and continued in accordance with advice from NPHET. I presume all Members wish for the Government to follow the advice of NPHET and implement the regulations. I have no issue with the broader plan being debated. That is a fair point to make. The Business Committee has set parameters in respect of the Order of Business for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, as it is entitled to do. We would welcome a debate on the Covid plan for the next six months.…

That is very constructive.

As I said earlier, the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, met with the representatives of the taxi drivers last week and he has indicated that he will continue that engagement with them. I also made it clear that there is no question of taxi drivers not having access to new bus lanes. The Minister was very clear on that to me this morning. In my replies earlier to Deputy Boyd Barrett, who had raised the matter in Leaders' Questions, I also indicated that the Government was disposed to looking at aspects of the interventi…

At the outset there was a delay in terms of the vaccine and production of it. I will come back to the Deputy with a substantive response on the issue he has raised.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The Minister of State with responsibility for European affairs, Deputy Thomas Byrne, spoke with his Greek counterpart on 9 September, immediately after the fire and offered Ireland's full solidarity and support. The Greek Government has requested assistance from its European partners in dealing with the immediate humanitarian need. Without question this tragedy has highlighted the need for urgent action on the part of the EU to address the current migration situation in th…

Four.

Sometimes proposals are presented as if they are simple to do but the idea of increasing social insurance contributions from all employers in order to cover the failings of some raises its own questions. There is also the issue of retrospection in terms of how one could apply any funding that would be raised in the future on foot of legislation passed here. These issues are being examined by the Department with responsibility for business, enterprise and innovation, led by the Tánaiste but they are not simple. The …

We can cherry pick and pit one activity against another-----

The provisions in levels one to five of the plan are informed by public health advice, particularly with regard to controlled and uncontrolled environments. Essentially we are talking about a combination of measures designed to reduce social contacts and limit congregation as much as possible while allowing for a reasonable quality of life in the context of sports, arts and so on. That is the overall principle. People will always look for subsets of this or that category but the overarching point is that NPHET and …

It is open to new applicants to the end of December. Given the trajectory of the virus and what happened in Laois, Offaly and Kildare recently, local restrictions could be put in place which could necessitate a reduction in economic activity, resulting in people being out of work. Therefore, we felt that such people should be entitled to apply for the PUP in respect of measures mandated by Government on foot of public health advice.

I said that the Deputy had not acknowledge it in his speech.

It is the function of Opposition sometimes to run with the hare and hunt with the hound but I do not know what they want at the end of the day. Sinn Féin's position was that socioeconomic profiling should be dropped but that there should be a standardisation process. I take it-----

My point is that it cannot have each-way bets on this. Standardisation is important. It is very difficult for individual students in their individual circumstances, and I acknowledge that. We do not have an ideal situation in that we did not have a written exam and we did not have the normal leaving certificate, which always has standardisation, although it is not as visible in the normal presentation of exam results every year. Because of Covid-19, we have had a unique situation, which has proved very challenging …

Again, the operation of the testing system in terms of locations and centres is organised by the HSE. I will communicate the Deputies’ representations in respect of their towns and their constituencies. The testing programme has been expanded very significantly over the summer and the number of tests has been significantly ramped up as well, which is not being acknowledged but, nonetheless, is a fact, particularly in terms of the serial testing programme, which has been very effective in nursing homes and other loc…

First, the 2,000 people were paid for by the Irish taxpayer.

Sorry. The cross-border directive was something we entered into under the EU. People have availed of it and the taxpayer has refunded them - that is the scheme. The Deputy and his colleagues have put on the buses and have run a great old operation for quite some time. The most important-----

If Britain leaves the EU, Britain leaves the EU. Does the Deputy understand that? Cross-border directives may no longer apply to it. I think that what is more important is that we improve capacity in our own system in terms of cataract-----