Deputy Doherty has made allegations in the Dáil.

My motivations have been repeatedly challenged. I point to the track record I have and the Government has in supporting families-----

That is the action we have taken.

I will not comment on the affairs of any one particular company because its tax affairs and profitability are matters relevant only to it. The key point in regard to what Deputy Paul Murphy has just said is the thousands of people such a company employs. My guiding principle in the development of the wage subsidy scheme and the work we are doing is to protect those jobs, the families who depend on them and the future existence of such companies so that they can continue to employ people. That is the purpose of the …

The whole purpose of the wage subsidy plan and the changes we intend to make to it is to keep people in work. The other issues to which the Deputy has referred are best dealt with in other Government policy decisions. The purpose of the wage subsidy scheme is to keep people in work and to ensure they have a job in the future. More than 400,000 of our citizens have kept their jobs and have a good chance of being able to keep them in the future because of this scheme. That is what it is doing. As important as these o…

I am pleased to present to the House the annual adaptation transition statement on the policy measures adopted by the Office of Public Works during the past year. Deputies are aware of Ireland's history of flooding, including the widespread severe floods from rivers and turloughs over the winter of 2015 to 2016, the flash floods in the Inishowen Peninsula and in Mountmellick, County Laois, in 2017 and the floods along the River Shannon earlier this year. Deputies are also aware of the OPW's catchment flood risk ass…

I listened to what Deputy MacSharry had to say about Sligo Garda station and the different issues that have been raised with that. I am not in a position to give the Deputy an update on the matter in the Dáil this afternoon as I am primarily in here to answer questions on flood risk management but I know this is an important matter and I will follow up on it with the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Flanagan, and with the different Members who Deputy MacSharry has referred to in order to clarify where that…

That is done by the Office of Public Works in conjunction with the Government Department that is responsible for that building.

I can get the information on the cost of recent retrofitting for Government buildings and supply it to the Deputy but it is not available to me now.

I take the Deputy's point. A lot of work is under way on the retrofitting of Government buildings. As the Deputy said, if we have a need and a duty to retrofit, for example, housing for which the State has a responsibility, there is an equal need to retrofit other buildings for which we are responsible in order both to save money and to reduce the harm they could do to our environment. I will write back to the Deputy with the figures for the cost of the programmes that have been put in place to date and of the prog…

Perhaps in the time left to the Deputy he could restate the full list of projects on which he wants updates in terms of potential costings and timelines. I think we have them all noted, but if he could read them out again we would be very happy to share that information with him as well as the engagement the OPW has had with his local authority. I have seen at first hand the impact of flooding in my constituency and community and I well understand the concerns he has raised. If the Deputy restates the projects on w…

Please.

If all those projects are listed in the CFRAM programme, and I assume nearly all of them are, that means that this Government and, I believe, future Governments will be committed to their delivery. I think the things that are more likely to cause a shift as to when they will happen are the tendering and planning processes for them and the number of different stakeholders who, quite correctly, want to share their views on projects such as these and the knock-on impact that has. In my experience of dealing with these…

I thank Deputy O'Rourke for his questions. The OPW remains committed to how we can mitigate the risk to our natural heritage and heritage sites by flooding that is arising now or that could happen in future. If Deputy O'Rourke has any particular sites or projects in mind, he should share them with me and we will give him an update on them. Deputy O'Rourke asked about the contribution of the OPW. I believe the most significant contribution the OPW makes to the issue that Deputy O'Rourke is raising regarding the inap…

I will come back to the Deputy on the plan for Tara. I will ask the OPW to meet local authority officials and local representatives to discuss the linear cycleway in Ashbourne. I am aware of the project and I know there is considerable local support for it. It could be a great amenity. I will ask for that to happen.

I thank the Deputy for his various questions. It is great to hear his acknowledgement of all the work being done by his local authority in dealing with the various flooding risks in his constituency. He detailed as well as I could all of the work that has been done to deal with the flood risks associated with the River Shannon. A great deal of funding and collaboration has gone into trying to reduce the future risk of flooding. It is great to hear from the Deputy the impact that has had. Of the two questions the De…

I have met the insurance sector. I met all of the CEOs of our insurance companies this year. I met Insurance Ireland a number of weeks ago. I had another meeting this morning with the Alliance for Insurance Reform. In those meetings, all of the focus was on the cost of insurance and some other policy areas. My understanding, though, is that there has been a definite increase in the cost of paying out for flooding across the country as the frequency and severity of those floods have increased over time. In terms of …

I spoke to one of the OPW commissioners about this matter this morning. As the Deputy knows, given that we both represent a constituency adjacent to the Phoenix Park, the current state of play is that both main gates are open, which means the park is being used for access in the way the Deputy described. The OPW is considering a number of options where the gates and parking are concerned. It has informed me that the kinds of issues it is seeking to deal with fall into two groups. First, we have a hospital, the Gard…

I cannot confirm that the action has been completed but I know that work was undertaken to deliver it. I will write to the Deputy with a full answer to her question.

I am not aware that the OPW is looking to take any further action in respect of the Phoenix Park in the way the Deputy has described. In terms of the processes that are necessary for the OPW to go through in order to do the kinds of things the Deputy has noted, it is required to make everything public. Doing so can lead to better evaluation and scrutiny of what the OPW is looking to do. Anything it seeks to do that requires planning permission has to be done in a very public and transparent way. However, there are …