I am not currently considering such issues. Various issues have been raised. Many have been addressed through the wage subsidy scheme and I have dealt with many of them in the House in recent weeks. The issue of workers with underlying health conditions having to return to work has not developed in the way the Deputy may have feared. If she has evidence to the contrary, I ask her to send it to me and I will look at it. Our response to the virus was put together at speed. It is benefiting more than 400,000 citizens.…

That is a very good question. The European Commission is a number of weeks away from presenting proposals to the European Council or to finance ministers on this topic. Obviously there is a lot of merit for us if the GNI approach is used because in many ways that offers a more accurate picture of how our economy is actually performing. However, because a paper has not been tabled and we are not even at the point of informal consultation with the Commission on how performance will be measured, I cannot answer the De…

There have been discussions about the budgetary rules, and the escape clause of the Stability and Growth Pact has now been triggered. My expectation is that almost all, if not all, countries will be in a position whereby their deficits are considerably above what would be expected in normal times under the terms of the Stability and Growth Pact. There has not yet been a discussion regarding the normalisation of those rules again because we are a long way away from that point now. In any discussions that are happeni…

In regard to the first part of the Deputy's question, Project Ireland 2040 currently has a budget and an implementation board that is chaired by the Secretary General of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Secretary General of the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government. They are considering, insofar as they can, what are the consequences of Covid-19 for current major construction projects. On the one hand, those in the construction sector are saying they are able to get back to wor…

I thank the Deputy for those questions. I will deal with the maternity leave issue. I explained earlier that I am considering options to see whether we can resolve this matter because the legislation as drafted was absolutely seeking to treat everybody equally in a time of great need. In all of the different issues now being raised regarding the operation of the scheme, please let us also recognise that well over 400,000 citizens are now availing of the scheme. If they were not, the companies for which they work mi…

I thank the Deputy. I will speak about the role of the State in respect of an issue such as this. I also want to appreciate the huge amount of stress that has been caused to all who worked in Debenhams by the decision that has been made and how understandably angry and upset those workers will be at the very sudden loss of their jobs. It is, however, the case that we cannot intervene directly as politicians in issues like that. We do have the Labour Court and Workplace Relations Commission. We have all of the organ…

I am saying that over time, we will not be able to continue the level of borrowing that we have. What the Deputy will therefore want is for taxes to be increased by that amount and I would contend that such a tax increase will have other effects in our economy that I think it is in our interest to avoid.

I thank Deputy Naughten for raising those points. The Deputy has acknowledged the work under way on the maternity leave issue that has arisen due to the implementation of the wage subsidy scheme. I am examining if we can resolve that. As I said to Deputy Catherine Murphy, my preference is to address this through the administration of tax law rather than having to look at other policies that need to be changed. In my experience, once one gets into changing other areas of policy, it creates issues that may slow down …

I have had two meetings in recent weeks with representatives and leaders of the different credit union movements. I found these very helpful and I plan to have another meeting in the coming week or two. I heard from them some of the concerns raised by Deputy Naughten. The Deputy will appreciate that some of the issues they refer to are regulatory matters on which I am not the decision maker. They are decisions that are made by the Central Bank of Ireland. I have passed on to the Central Bank some of the issues that…

Respectfully, I am not in a position to give the commitment the Deputy wants to changing primary legislation. I will have to see what he is looking for first and I am sure he will share that with me. I believe that the legislation we have in place regarding how our credit union sector is regulated is very proportionate and fair. On the comment he made about the culture of the Central Bank, I have to firmly disagree with him. The Central Bank of Ireland recognises the really valuable role our credit union movement p…

I thought it might be something different.

The Deputy raised issues around the banks with me a number of weeks ago and I met the CEOs of the banks again, along with the Taoiseach, a number of days ago. I want to re-emphasise to the Deputy that it is critical that a number of things happen during this period. First, if breaks are being entered into, as they are for over 40,000 loan owners, everybody must be clear on what that break entails, so that those who are receiving the break and those who are administering are completely clear on what their commitment…

I will have to write back to the Deputy on many of the points he raised because we have run out of time. I will, however, comment on the one matter he said might be outside my responsibility, Skellig Michael. I had the opportunity to visit it at the end of last year so I know how amazing the location is. As somebody who just about got to the top, I can see, in fairness, why the OPW made its decision. I know how steep it is at different points but I will pass on the Deputy's concerns to the OPW and ask it to make a …

It is about to be discovered.

I can understand why the Deputy is raising this issue on behalf of his constituents. As I understand it, he wants me to reply with answers to those questions. Is that right?

I understand. Some of those matters were raised with us by the Alliance for Insurance Reform, and I dealt with those issues with the alliance. Subsequently, I wrote to the insurance sector asking for a response to particular issues that were raised with me, some of which were touched on in the communications the Deputy has just mentioned. If he gives those communications to me, I will see if I can give clear answers to those matters.

As the Deputy will know, decisions on the taxation of aviation fuel are made at an international and a European level; they are not a competence we have here in Ireland. I would, however, be cautious about this. Looking at where we are at the moment, when it is possible on public health grounds to allow aviation - business travel and then tourism travel - to happen, and we will be guided by the public health advice, that will make an immense contribution to where we are economically and a vital contribution to lots…

I hear what Deputy Harkin stated regarding the maternity leave and, in particular, the second point she made. The reason I was careful not to commit to a review of maternity leave as a way of dealing with the issue the Deputy raised is because I am aware of the first point she made. This is an urgent issue and I know it is more likely that we will find a resolution of it within the tax code as opposed to having to look at other things. As stated, I am not saying there is one there at the moment that we have establi…

Considerable protections are in place and have played a role in over 80,000 mortgages being restructured. They have played a role in over 80% of those who are involved in those restructured mortgages and who are meeting new loan terms. For those whose loans have been sold, the protections they have now are unaffected. That said, if we are at the point where a property is being sold, then clearly the procedures and rules in place have not yielded resolution of the issue in a way that works for the person concerned. …

Before I begin, I would like to offer my condolences to those who have lost loved ones as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. I pay tribute to our public servants, healthcare professionals, carers and shop workers. I acknowledge the remarkable solidarity shown by the overwhelming majority of Irish people towards their own families, friends and neighbours, but also towards strangers and the broader community as a whole, over recent weeks. I welcome this opportunity to present the stability programme update to the Hou…