I have not yet read the report to which the Deputy referred but we can, of course, allow time for a substantive debate on this issue. The Chief Whip will engage with the Deputy in this regard. It may not be possible to have the debate in July given all the emergency legislation that has to be got through to facilitate the economic recovery and so on. However, that report and the wider issue certainly needs very detailed consideration because it has created a lot of suffering and undue trauma for many people.

That review will commence shortly but I will come back to the Deputy with an exact timeline. Underpinning all of this is the role of carers in our society and their centrality in assisting people and communities. Recognising their role will be a key part of the implementation of the programme for Government.

Both I and the Minister for Health are on record as saying that private hospitals should not be profiteering out of Covid-19. What the Deputy is referring to are excessive charges and they are wrong. I will talk to the Minister for Health with a view to engaging with the private hospitals in regard to this practice.

My understanding is that the task force reported the week before last. There is no question that Covid-19 has had a devastating impact on aviation. I have read the figures and reports in regard to Shannon. As the Deputy said, the incredible drop in traffic volumes and so on is devastating for the airport. The Government is very conscious of the wider aviation challenge. In terms of regional policy, the role of airports like Shannon in the regions is critical. There is an enormous challenge for our airports and airl…

I am not in a position to sanction grants for specific community centres, but the wider point made by the Deputy is valid. One of the reasons we are creating the idea of a community centre fund is that, historically, sports and other organisations had access to funding, but community centres often had difficulty accessing funds outside of local authorities which might provide some funding. It has always proved very difficult for community centres in general to access a direct channel for applying for a capital gran…

I thank the Deputy for the question. I am conscious that Deputy Bríd Smith raised this with the outgoing Taoiseach, now Tánaiste, Deputy Leo Varadkar, some time ago in the context of the significant impact on women, particularly those on maternity leave, that Covid-19 has had, especially with regard to access to the normal supports such as childcare, baby groups and so on that was denied to mothers during this critical period. Admhaím go bhfuil agus go raibh brú ar na mná sin filleadh i gcomhthéacs an choróinvíris.…

It is our intention to do the right thing but to do it in a considered way. It is not as simple as the Deputy has outlined and there are both legal and policy complexities with it. The estimated cost is €78 million and it would affect about 24,500 women. That is being considered by the relevant Departments. I do not intend to come in here and say what might be popular or just give a simple affirmative response. I want to see a considered response from the Departments concerned. It will come to Government and obviou…

I do not accept the Deputy's analysis of the first week of the Government. He can talk about internal party issues pertaining to certain individuals but my focus has been unwavering since I was elected Taoiseach. That focus has been on policy and substance from the beginning. We have an extensive legislative programme for this month, as the Business Committee is well aware. I would say that the programme is unprecedented in terms of the amount of legislation we will try to get through the House in order to deal wit…

Again, the Covid figure is the one I take as my yardstick in terms of the unemployment rate and the reality of the situation for many people. Of course, in the context of those supports, the jobs stimulus programme will focus on that area and on the wage subsidy scheme, which has protected thousands of jobs. We can get into all sorts of statistics, but it remains unclear how many companies will be viable over time. Many companies have been and are being protected by the wage subsidy scheme. Part of the July stimulu…

I empathise with much of the Deputy's comments about the challenges that faced the nursing home sector at the outset of Covid-19. I do not believe it was adequately prepared at that time to cope with the pandemic. Much has been learned since. The expert panel has been set up by the previous Minister and I understand it should report within the next fortnight. It will be an important basis on which to evaluate policy in the next number of months. There is comprehensive testing in nursing homes now. In one nursing ho…

On the specific response to the issue of the temporary assistance payment and the funding issue, we have to accept that when a global pandemic of this scale emerges, which is once in a hundred years, lessons have to be learned from it. There should be comprehensive reviews of everything that took place, but with a view to learning lessons and not trying to damn people or apportion particular blame. The exercise has to be about learning lessons, because if it happens again, we need to be able to respond better and m…

Debenhams has treated the workers very poorly and in a very shabby way and it is wrong to do so. The Deputy is correct that the company has availed of the legal framework within the Companies Act in regard to insolvencies, winding-up and so on, to leave the workers extremely short. The State will have to do its bit to provide, within the legal framework, what it can in terms of statutory redundancy, but it is unacceptable. In my view, the legislation will have to be re-examined in terms of the devices that companie…

Again, I am not going to raise expectations that one cannot deliver on in terms of interfering in the liquidation process or making interventions that could not be legally sustained. For the existing workforce, the liquidation process and how we can leverage the remaining assets to secure the rights of workers is a challenging and complex issue, as the Deputy knows deep down. I accept his bona fides in respect of what he wishes to happen on behalf of the workers and understand where he is coming from in that regard…

I beg leave to announce, for the information of the House that after I had informed the President that Dáil Éireann had approved my nomination of Deputies to be members of the Government, the President on 27 June 2020 appointed them accordingly; that, on the same date, I nominated Deputy Leo Varadkar to be the Tánaiste and assigned the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation to him; that, on the same date, I assigned the other Departments of State to the other members of Government as follows: Department …

I am of a view that parents should not have to go to court to get the most basic rights for their children. There have been issues ever since that Act was introduced in 2005. I understand that some sections of that Act remain to be commenced regarding children with special needs. The allocation of resources in education does not always depend on that assessment of need having taken place but it is nonetheless obviously desirable for parents to have an assessment of need carried out so that the best health and educa…

I will bring the matter to the attention of the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport.

The Deputy has helpfully highlighted the anomaly and asked for it to be addressed and resolved. From what he is saying here, it would make sense to do so but I will have to defer to the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport in this regard to take the necessary measures to deal with the anomaly.

As I said earlier, the Ministers with responsibility for various aspects of this are engaging about the matter. It is somewhat more complex than has been presented, with regard to both policy and legal implications. I appreciate that there is a time issue. The Government will come back with a response as soon as possible.

The legal framework relating to the experience of Debenhams workers and the behaviour of the company involved will be examined. The Deputy said that consultation has to be meaningful and it does have to be meaningful. We will look at the other aspects that the Deputy highlighted, such as full access to the books and all relevant material for workers concerned, as the Deputy articulated.

All efforts will be made to avoid a no-deal Brexit. The situation with negotiations between the European Union and British Government is difficult. I spoke to the British Prime Minister and we both agreed that there was a need to comprehensively deal with the issue in a way that would involve a comprehensive free trade agreement and would be of benefit to Europe, the United Kingdom and Ireland, and that it was not desirable to have a poor Brexit or a no-deal Brexit. We also emphasised the need to implement the prot…