That is why we are setting up a shared island unit - to go through the nuts and bolts. What would an all-island health service look like? How would the political structures work? If we believe in the three sets of relationships there could still be an assembly. That is a longer debate. The Deputy has provoked me into saying that.

Commissions of investigation are important. The Deputy says we need more control. That is within our hands. The minute one exercises control one is interfering. The minute a Taoiseach of the day says to a tribunal that he or she will cut its resources or undermine it, the charge will come from the other side of the House that the Taoiseach is interfering and undermining an independent tribunal. I say to everybody in the House that we need to be careful when we instinctively call for inquiry after inquiry after inqu…

I accept that.

The Deputy is correct that there has been a major increase, of €20 million, in respect of the public communications campaign around Covid-19. That has to be accepted because in a pandemic, particularly a global pandemic of an unprecedented kind, comprehensive communications are vital at every step along the way. That was done and I think it worked. It needs to continue as long as we have the pandemic with us and as long as we have a need to communicate comprehensively with the public.

In terms of inquiries, I would make the point that the demand for such inquiries usually comes from the Oireachtas on behalf of the public. Once a chairman is appointed, an inquiry is independent of the Taoiseach's office in terms of the conduct of its work, but it is open to the Oireachtas or the Government, at any time, to put forward proposals to terminate that inquiry or give it a final deadline. The reluctance to do that historically has always been because people would then accuse the Government of trying to …

The matters the Deputy has raised come under the Department of Health Vote rather than the Vote of the Department of the Taoiseach. However, I am well aware of Bantry General Hospital and, as Minister for Health, I was very supportive of it. It performs a critical role for a wide rural hinterland. In regard to the appointment of an anaesthetist, the issue is not funding, as the Deputy knows. The HSE is saying that it is facing a challenge in recruiting somebody to locate permanently to the hospital, but it is commi…

The Deputy has asked a good question. It is, of course, within the remit of the Comptroller and Auditor General to review these Estimates. We have no difficulty with that and we would welcome it. The Comptroller and Auditor General reviews all Government expenditure, both by Departments and by Government agencies. In the case of the Department of the Taoiseach, there are different Votes, including for the Chief State Solicitor's office, the Central Statistics Office and the Office of the President. It is a smaller …

I will check that for the Deputy.

I echo the Deputy's comments regarding Dr. Tony Holohan. I am on the record as having recognised his outstanding contribution, which has assisted the country in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic, his calm delivery of messages to the public and his understanding of the gravity of the issue. He conveyed that very effectively. We offer him and his family our best wishes at this difficult time.

I will examine the issues raised by Deputy Harkin and revert to the relevant Departments on them.

I endorse the Deputy's comments regarding the value, importance and centrality of the CSO as an independent data-collection body. Its agenda for the coming year includes a census on agriculture and a population census. I will examine the Deputy's proposal that, if I understand it correctly, the Government should consider increasing the level of funding available to the CSO in respect of advertising its role, sending its message to the public and getting the public to respond. I will revert to the Deputy on that iss…

One of the fundamental pillars of Government intervention to date has been the wage subsidy scheme to which all parties agreed. It will be continued. The Government has made clear that there will not be a sudden cliff edge for those coming off the subsidy. Work on the wage subsidy scheme and the pandemic unemployment payment is under way n the context of the job stimulus package to be decided upon by the Government and published later this month. On the insolvency truce, as the Deputy described it, analysis is bein…

How much time do I have?

Do I have ten minutes after that?

I will go back over all the notes.

We will have to work with organisations such as Threshold to be in a position to have the capacity to support people who could be in difficulty in the months ahead with either rent or mortgage arrears, or with evictions. There is currently a moratorium on evictions and a freeze on rents. As restrictions have been lifted, issues with those will arise. As I said earlier, the ESRI report will be important in that regard and we need to work with all concerned. Much work has been done in recent years. The numbers did no…

I dtosach báire, gabhaim buíochas ó chroí le Baill Dháil Éireann as an onóir mhór seo a bhronnadh orm inniu. Nuair a bhí iar-Thaoisigh Seán Lemass agus Jack Lynch san áit ina bhfuilim anois, dúirt siad gur chóir do dhuine ag dul isteach in oifig an Taoisigh agus ag glacadh le ról chomh tábhachtach le ról an Taoisigh amhras agus buarthaí a bhreith leis nó léi. Aontaím go hiomlán leis na tuairimí sin. Seo oifig gur chóir do dhuine glacadh léi ar an gcoinníoll amháin seo - ar mhaithe le leas an phobail agus an mhaith …

B'áil liom cead a chur in iúl, mar eolas don Dáil, gur chuir mé m'ainmniú mar Thaoiseach in iúl don Uachtarán agus gur cheap sé mé dá réir. I beg leave to announce, for the information of the Dáil, that I have informed the President that the Dáil has nominated me to be the Taoiseach and that he has appointed me accordingly. The urgent and ambitious programme for Government which we have agreed requires a significant reform to the structure of Departments, as well as a new approach to how we work collectively to del…

I begin by joining with the Taoiseach and Deputies who earlier today led tributes to Detective Garda Colm Horkan in expressing our deepest sympathies to his family, friends and wider community. In the days since his murder, people throughout our country have taken the time to show their respect for him and for the forces of law and order which protect us. All who knew Detective Garda Horkan have spoken of a good and decent man, a man rooted in his community and a man rooted in the joy of sport. He was deeply proud …

Over the past three and a half months, more than 2,232 people have died on this island due to Covid-19. Our first thoughts must be with their families and loved ones, especially those of the 39 people who have passed away since this day last week. The sheer scale and pace of the impact of a pandemic such as this have not been experienced for 100 years and it continues to impact on nearly every corner of the world. When we look back at the accumulated figures for cases since early March there is no question that a s…