I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 2 together. Under the terms of the Public Service Management Act 1997, Ministers and Ministers of State who regularly attend Cabinet meetings may request the approval of the Government to appoint special advisers. The Act also provides that other Ministers of State may also appoint a special adviser. The requirement for specialist policy input and advice is a matter for each individual Minister to consider, having regard to his or her area of responsibility and the support in …

Not on advisers. I never did that.

It was a separate issue.

It is extraordinary the degree to which Deputies will come to the House and take whatever they read in the newspaper as fact, as the Deputy has just done. I thought she was paying attention to the press conference this morning, but she clearly was not because that question was asked. There are no separate briefings for the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste. As the Tánaiste stated, he was briefed once by Dr. Ronan Glynn in the past while, at a half-hour session, and then he had another briefing with the head of the modelli…

The Deputy did not.

She does not ask questions; she deliberately makes assertions to create a propaganda spin, and she is good at it. Moreover, the Sinn Féin Party is no stranger to special advisers. It invented the whole concept to an extraordinary degree in the Northern Ireland Executive, where it has SPADs, as the Deputy calls them, all over the place. We saw the trouble they got the party into in respect of the debacle over the fuel scheme and so on. Third, the Deputy has some neck to talk to people about incoherence when Sinn Féi…

I have answered the questions. To respond to Deputy Kelly, the concept of special advisers is not new. We have three parties, and an office has been established for the leader of each party within that to ensure that the Government can get the programme for Government implemented. That is the origin of special advisers, which the Labour Party, to its credit, brought in when Dick Spring became Tánaiste after the 1992 general election.

He was the first to bring in a special office of the Tánaiste, which is what is happening on this occasion. I think it is important and it will happen into the future, of that I have no doubt. It happened in the previous Government, where Independent Ministers had special advisers. The concept and the numbers of special advisers are not new. As a three-party Government, the respective parties are very focused and the advisers' role is to deliver the programme for Government issues. While I do not want to go into th…

I think the Deputy fought hard for one eventually, particularly as a Minister. There will not be a school and advisers will be appointed to some Ministers of State.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 3 to 6, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on health was established by a Government decision on 6 July and held its first meeting on 28 July. It will meet again in the coming weeks. It will oversee implementation of programme for Government commitments in respect of health, receive detailed reports on identified policy areas and consider the implementation of health reforms, including Sláintecare and the development of mental health services. In addition to the meetings of …

On face masks, let us give the people of Ireland credit. Everybody in here talks about confusion. There was no confusion among the people when we brought in regulations to make mandatory the wearing of masks on public transport and in shops. As Taoiseach, I pushed hard to make that happen. The compliance rate is 90%. Last April, only 16% of people were wearing masks. That is the answer to the far right. I agree with most of what Deputy Barry said in terms of the far right. The Government has nothing to do with it. …

The Deputy stated "interests of private profit are allowed to interfere" but that would be the antithesis of what is envisaged. The oversight committee is to be headed by the Secretary General of the Department and it involves other Departments. This is to ensure the process is practical. I will give an example. There was a furore in the House when NPHET advised we should enforce a provision to allow people to enter people's homes to control the numbers in a household. Everybody opposed such a suggestion, saying th…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 7 to 12, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on economic recovery and investment has been established and first met on 8 July. It has met on a total of four occasions, most recently on 2 September. The Cabinet committee will meet regularly but the date of the next meeting has not yet been confirmed. The membership of the committee comprises the Taoiseach; the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment; the Minister with responsibility for climate action, commu…

Deputy Boyd Barrett was first with his query on taxi drivers, the Covid-19 pandemic unemployment payment and the temporary Covid-19 wage subsidy scheme. I have spoken to the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection. Certain social protection measures allow her to help out people in certain sectors such as the arts, and she has been in contact with them. As I said to the Deputy earlier, a broader approach is under consideration. That work is being carried on between the relevant Ministers in preparation…

-----in relation to the M20. It is committed to and it will be going ahead. In response to Deputy Whitmore I repeat my answer to Deputy Kelly. NPHET has advised that people in Dublin should not travel outside of Dublin if possible. Obviously people who commute for work will continue to do so. The full value of the temporary Covid-19 wage subsidy scheme should be paid to employees, and I will look into the issue concerning Aer Lingus raised by Deputies Mick Barry and Paul Murphy.

The foundation stone of any agreement and of the conduct of negotiations rests on mutual trust. No one party to any agreement can unilaterally undermine or deviate from it. I have been very clear about that in statements I made this morning at a press conference on Brexit readiness for the entire country. The unilateral nature of this decision by the British Government does undermine trust. The withdrawal agreement is an international treaty and it is binding. Ireland is with the European Union on this. As far as w…

The Deputy is wrong in her analysis when she speaks of lateness and all of that kind of stuff. She should not seek to try to divide the House on the very fundamental matter of our commitment to adhering to international agreements. I am as resolute as the Deputy or any other Member, as is the Government, in terms of international treaties. What we do not do, though, is react in a knee-jerk manner to any particular move in the middle of negotiations. We are clear about the withdrawal agreement and the Northern Irela…

It makes a lot of sense. One does not just jump into something.

I have a lot of experience of negotiations-----

One must allow things to evolve. The British Government has taken this decision unilaterally and it is very serious. The stakes are very high. They are very high for people out there and for jobs, the economy and employment. That is why I believe the action taken by the British Government is very serious. It undermines trust, which as I said at the outset of my contribution, represents the foundation stone upon which negotiations are conducted.