As I said earlier, the expert review report on nursing homes in the context of the pandemic will be on the Minister's desk next week. We will take steps to have that published and debated. That report will deal with the wider nursing home situation. In terms of the testing, if the Deputy has spoken to the Minister I am sure he will follow-up with him on the specifics of the query raised in respect of Dealgan House.

The Deputy makes a very constructive suggestion. I will work with others. It is an important point in terms of the development of community initiatives in north and east Dublin, similar to the former RAPID programmes. In other words, we need a multidisciplinary, concentrated approach to areas that have experienced significant disadvantage, in particular areas where there are low levels of school completion. We must attack this issue in a combined way involving agencies and Departments. I will examine the Deputy's p…

We hope that the commission provided for in the programme for Government will be set up in the autumn. We will not be wasting time in terms of moving to help the Defence Forces to recruit and retain staff more effectively. As Taoiseach, it is a matter about which I am very concerned and I know the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence is concerned about it as well. We intend to take a proactive approach to the matter.

That is a very fair point. I will examine the issue. Keeping people out of those services for that length of time is not, in my view, the optimal response. We have to do something in that regard.

It is a good Department. In terms of education, generally speaking my own philosophy has always been that we should be as flexible as possible to enable people complete their education because that is good for the person and for society. I cannot comment on the specifics of the case mentioned but I will have it examined. I take on board the Deputy's comments in regard to the assessment for SUSI in terms of previous income. On higher and further education, last night the Government agreed a package of measures to as…

The Deputies asked a number of questions. On the impact of Covid-19, it has been devastating on many families and sectors. Our schools closed for a number of months as a result of Covid-19 and adult disability services also effectively closed in terms of people being able to attend day centres and various other services. As we know, congregated numbers in indoor settings are problematic in respect of Covid. That said, we have to work to make such services and centres available to adults with intellectual disabiliti…

Deputy Crowe stated the project he mentioned is shovel ready. The whole idea of the stimulus plan, along with more structural issues, is to try to get as much activity going in the next six to nine months as possible. A capital programme will be attached to the stimulus plan. I hope that projects of the kind the Deputies both identified could be accommodated in that plan. That will involve the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, Irish Water, the local authority and whoever else is involved to get …

To respond to Deputy Griffin, that issue has been raised with us and the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform are alive to it. There are challenges in regard to the PUP and the wage subsidy scheme because the issue of the security of jobs is a consideration. As for the Rebuilding Ireland home loan scheme, I would like to think we could examine it in detail in terms of the potential of the individual to get over this hurdle in their current status, whether on the PUP or, more parti…

I will examine the proposals the Deputy has put forward for short-term lettings and for strengthening enforcement and sections relating to the advertising of lettings that are not compliant with the regulations.

I had a very positive meeting with the Northern Ireland First Minister and deputy First Minister at Stormont Castle on Thursday, 16 July, on my first visit to Northern Ireland since taking office. We discussed the importance of North-South and east-west relations on these islands and I stressed the Government's commitment to working closely with the democratic institutions in Northern Ireland and with the UK Government as co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement. We spoke about the progress made in tackling Covid-…

That is why we must engage constructively and in a genuine way with all concerned, accepting the reality that we are talking about two different jurisdictions, regardless of whether we like that being the case. I have been very straightforward in this regard. I will not be politically partisan in my approach to issues of the North and the Good Friday Agreement. I have made that clear to both the First Minister and deputy First Minister. I made it clear in my public announcements in the North. I do not want to be in…

I must say to the Deputy that she cannot have it both ways. I do not want to throw brickbats across the House on these matters but Sinn Féin signed off on opening Northern Ireland to 59 states for travel. The Deputy cannot blame the United Kingdom alone for that. People signed off on that in Northern Ireland and this has implications for the Republic. There are two different public health jurisdictions, whether the Deputy likes that or not.

There is no need for the Deputy to be calling in the good Lord in terms of her responses, but the reality is she cannot have it both ways. She cannot condemn the Government here for being far more conservative than what her party signed up for in the North. I have experience of North-South Ministerial Councils.

It was a very positive experience. I worked positively and constructively with ministers from Sinn Féin when I was a Minister with responsibility for education, for example, or health. I worked with the late Mr. Martin McGuinness and Ms Bairbre de Brún. I know how to handle myself in a North-South Ministerial Council. We should avoid trying to politicise this in a partisan way in advance of the meeting. Let us have respect for all who will attend. I can assure the Deputy I will be energetic. I will raise the public…

The Deputy could raise a hand.

The National Economic and Social Council, NESC, is an independent statutory agency operating under the aegis of my Department. The council analyses and reports on strategic policy matters relevant to Ireland's economic, social, environmental and sustainable development. NESC is a valuable forum where economic, social and environmental issues can be discussed between a variety of actors and Government Departments. The council's work focuses on the strategic and longer-term view and its current work programme compris…

In the first instance it is important to point out that the existing ban is by a statutory instrument and is grounded in the emergency legislation required to deal with the immediate aftermath of the outbreak of Covid-19. The legal advice is very clear. It is not legally sound, it is very open to challenge and it does not offer the protection that people suspect. It must be replaced. The legislation that will be introduced is designed to ensure tenants who are unable to pay their rents due to the impact of Covid-19…

I take issue with the Deputy's use of the word "hostile". I am not hostile to keeping rents as low as possible. We supported controls on rents in various areas. The Deputy says that now we all know better than before the election. We do not. Nobody knew about Covid-19 during the election. Covid-19 is what made the rent freezes and a ban on evictions possible in the past three months. Without that, it would be legally difficult to do what was done. It would not have been possible. The Covid-19 emergency gave rise to…

The Government co-ordination Cabinet committee was established by the Government along with nine other Cabinet committees. I am a member of the committee along with the Tánaiste and the leader of the Green Party. The Secretary General of the Department of the Taoiseach, my chief of staff and the chiefs of staff of the Tánaiste and the leader of the Green Party also sit in on meetings. The committee has had two meetings to date on 6 and 13 July. It meets in advance of Government meetings. The committee was establish…

I will deal first with Deputy Duncan Smith's questions. The reason for the Cabinet meeting delay yesterday was that we had a Cabinet sub-committee meeting on the stimulus plan involving Ministers, the Tánaiste, the leader of the Green Party and me, with a whole host of officials, in coming to the final stages of the preparation of what will be a very comprehensive stimulus plan to create jobs. I would not read anything into the fact that we had to put the meeting back. I had come back from the Dáil yesterday after …