I thank the Deputy for his gracious comments regarding the Minister of State, Kevin Boxer Moran, which were echoed by a number of other Deputies this afternoon. He was an incredibly energetic and dedicated Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW. He made an enormous contribution to address the issue of flooding and in reducing the risk of flooding. Much of the progress we are discussing today is due to his efforts. On the Deputy's question regarding coastal erosion in Donabate and Portrane, the OPW has an…

I do not know the details of the planned consultation but I imagine the OPW will want to ensure the voice of the local community is heard. When the consultation is being designed the Deputy's point will be borne in mind. Where a local community is not aware of what is happening and does not have an opportunity to have its voice heard this creates difficulties further down the line.

I thank the Deputy for her questions. I know that all of the projects to which she referred have been a cause of much local debate within her constituency. The OPW does its best to get the balance right between facilitating public consultation and debate and delivering projects to reduce flooding and the risk of flooding. Both of those objectives also have public support. I know from engaging with the OPW that it wants to ensure we make more use of our natural habitat and assets in reducing flooding risk, but there…

I will follow up with the OPW on that question. I am sure it has used the approach the Deputy has described on many occasions. I will share that information with her. The OPW tries to adopt a whole-of-government approach in many different areas and on many different challenges. The difficulty it has is in managing the issue of flooding and floodplains on which citizens live. Those homes were built because that kind of approach was not used in the past. The OPW is doing its best now by making flood maps publicly ava…

I am not sure. In fact, I doubt the OPW has information that is so specific to the use of concrete in construction work it has done. I will certainly ask. I can guess where the Deputy is coming from but I am not sure the OPW will have that information.

I thank the Deputy for his various questions. As he will be aware, the first public consultation for the Ballinasloe flood relief scheme took place in March and it is hoped to complete the feasibility study for this project and bring the scheme to public exhibition in the third quarter of next year. Subject to the consent process under the Arterial Drainage Acts, it is currently estimated that construction will begin in early 2023 and it is anticipated that the work will take around two years to complete. That is w…

If the Deputy lists the particular road projects he is referring to and makes that information available to me, I will come back to him with an update. On Lough Funshinagh and the difficulties with turloughs, the OPW has provided funding to Roscommon County Council to explore whether any feasible engineering options are available. The OPW expects a final report from the county council on those options in the near future.

I imagine that if the Minister of State, Kevin Boxer Moran, is listening to this debate, he is listening rather ruefully given the amount of recognition he is receiving here this evening for all his great work. The interdepartmental group meets regularly. It was chaired by the Minister of State, Kevin Boxer Moran.

I do not know when it met last. It is a fair question to ask. I will find out and share that with the Deputy. I will get the OPW to write to her with that information. Are the minutes available for it? They are internal minutes and I imagine they are available in some format for the Deputy if she wishes to see them. The proof of how active that interdepartmental group has been is the large array of projects we are discussing this evening. In my years of sitting beside the Minister of State with responsibility for t…

-----of the interdepartmental group.

I am just going to answer the next question from the Deputy. The next question put to me by the Deputy was on the status of the coastal strategy. At the end of last year a group was put together to deliver that strategy. The group is chaired by the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government and the Office of Public Works, the OPW. I will come back to the Deputy on the status of that work.

I am not aware of the status of that post. I will find out for the Deputy and I will write to her.

I thank Deputy Harkin. The Deputy heard my response on Sligo Garda station. I know where the building is. I have not been in it but clearly the kind of debate we are having about it here today would not be happening unless the building itself needed an awful lot of change. I heard what all of the Deputies had to say about that. Deputy Harkin referred to Jamestown. I am not in a position to respond to the very specific set of questions the Deputy put to me on that. I will write to the Deputy to give her answers to t…

I move the following Revised Estimate: Vote 37 - Employment Affairs and Social Protection (Revised Estimate) That a sum not exceeding €16,298,646,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2020, for the salaries and expenses of the Office of the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, for certain services administered by that Office, for payments to the Social Insurance Fund and for certain grants and that a sum not exc…

My understanding of the format is that I am not making a statement at this point and that it is up to other Members to make statements or put questions to me.

I thank the Deputies for their questions. I will respond to the ones that were most common from all the contributions and deal with the other questions via correspondence. Several speakers raised the issue of women who were on maternity leave and are now looking to come back to work and access the wage subsidy scheme. I want to confirm to the House that I aim to bring a proposal to the Cabinet tomorrow to resolve that issue. It was absolutely my intention to ensure all were treated equally in front of the wage subs…

I thank the Deputy for raising those different questions. Regarding the future of the wage subsidy scheme and the pandemic unemployment payment, it is precisely because of my recognition of the challenges to which Deputy Doherty refers and the number of citizens who are facing those challenges that I played a role in introducing these schemes. I played a role in increasing the value of the pandemic unemployment payment and we introduced a wage subsidy scheme that is capable of supporting citizens at a time of need.…

The issue of those who are working in the Gaeltacht and what has happened to them, because students will not be able to spend any time with them this summer, has been raised with me by the Minister of State, Senator Kyne. I have visited the Gaeltacht and seen at first hand how important school programmes are for the Gaeltacht and employment in those communities and how central they are to local employment and community life. I understand the needs referred to. The Minister of State, Senator Kyne, has raised the mat…

I thank the Deputy for his questions. First, I will say a word about the proposals brought forward by the European Union yesterday. I think they are really important. They build on the work that was done by finance Ministers of the European Union and also the initiative that was launched by France and Germany last week. In addition to the reasons the Deputy touched upon regarding the Union's ability to fund, either by grant or loan, the kind of things that we need to change in our economy, both because they are a p…

I will come back to the question on Debenhams if Deputy Sherlock and others raise it.