We have a licence for which the majority of people still pay, despite all the difficulty in RTÉ and Sinn Féin's view is that the funding situation will be improved by the abolition of a charge that most people, albeit reluctantly, are still willing to pay. I do not understand that approach or why it would improve where we are. I have heard again and again the case for credible, long-term funding for RTÉ and other public media. It appears that we would be moving away from that, if we were to get rid of a charge that…

I am happy to answer Deputy Pringle's question, but I have a question from Deputy Durkan.

I will raise some key points about the progress the national development plan, NDP, is making for the people of County Donegal. I highlight where we are with the national broadband plan. At the moment there are 20 connected remote working hubs in County Donegal. I point to the upgraded N56 in County Donegal, which was reopened following an investment of more than €100 million and I understand the road project also contains progress on viewing points and walking and cycling routes. We have published an NDP progress …

I was not claiming to have delivered the projects myself. I want to make that clear. I just stated that they are examples of projects that the NDP has delivered over a number of years. Work remains to be done on the N56. I heard what the Deputy said about that. I will quickly list other projects that are under way across the county, such as different residential care facilities at different locations from Letterkenny to Ballyshannon to Falcarragh Community Hospital, to Buncrana and Dungloe. Social housing projects …

I will certainty keep that in mind. Every TD always makes the case for investment in their county and constituency but I am particularly aware of the funding and infrastructure needs Donegal has and the challenges it faces in making sure the road infrastructure and public transport links are in place. I have heard the Deputy make the case over many years that they are not. We will continue our efforts to increase capital funding in our economy. I accept there is a need for that funding to be spent in a way that ben…

I thank the Deputy for raising an important issue for me. Expenditure profiles for 2024 were completed by all Votes in February and submitted to my Department. Performance against these profiles is used in-year to monitor the expenditure position and details are published monthly in the Fiscal Monitor. At the end of the second quarter of 2024, gross voted expenditure stood at €47.1 billion. This demonstrates the significant investment the Government continues to provide across the public service to protect living s…

I monitor it. Every month when the figures come out, they are given the utmost attention by my Department and me and they form the centre of engagement I have with other Ministers and which my officials have with other Departments. The profiles only become of real use from March, April or May onwards because at that point we are able to see if Government spending is in line with the projections shared with us by Departments. The majority of Departments tend to be in line with where we expect spending to be in our b…

That is being done by the Department of Finance at the moment. It reassesses twice a year its tax forecast for the years ahead. A big part of that will be the corporate tax forecasts, which have a big impact on overall tax figures. The final update for this year will be on budget day.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 46 and 67 together. I thank the Deputy. The main way we have of addressing the challenges to which he referred is through the pay agreements that are in place up to 2026, aiming to bring forward wage increases of more than 10% over a two-and-a-half year period. That will be accompanied by the continued investment the Government will put in place in building new homes, in making sure those who are working in our country, particularly working within our public services, have a better …

Of course I accept and am aware that we have many cases across our public services of patients who are being let down and of constituents who are not receiving the attention and care we believe they should. However, the analysis the Deputy put forward, that this is due to our inability to recruit and keep staff, is completely at odds with the reality of what has happened in the growth of our public services. In 2015, we had 301,589 whole-time equivalents working within our public service. By the end of last year, t…

It is growing, and we are able to recruit and keep people.

I never said it was hunky-dory. The Deputy should not put words in my mouth.

I never said that. I acknowledged, stood up and said the Deputy was raising real issues but he should not put words in my mouth or suggest for a moment that I am not taking seriously the issues he is raising. What I am simply saying is that creating the image that our public services overall cannot get and keep people is wrong. It is wrong to say that. The wages we are now offering in the public service are a combination of the increases we have been able to provide, and public service agreements, one after the oth…

The wage agreements we have brought in. The Deputy has always said they are not enough.

He has always said they are not enough. We are now paying our public servants, across many parts of our public services, wages that are easily comparable with what is available in other parts of Europe, and in many cases ahead. I want to make that case regarding the scale of and funding for our public services.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 47, 65 and 68 together. The employees of agencies funded under section 38 of the Health Act 2004 are classified as public servants. They are subject to the standard salary scales for the health sector as well as having access, in the main, to a public service pension scheme. The employees are included in public service employment numbers. Accordingly, staff employed by section 38 organisations benefit from the terms of public service agreements negotiated between the Government as a…

Yes, I am taking Questions Nos. 47, 65 and 68 together.

I was involved in this issue when it was dealt with in the Workplace Relations Commission last October. I was involved in the agreement that was reached to provide three different instalments to get up to 8%, with the final one due on 1 March 2024. My understanding is that all the staff employed in relevant organisations should have received their pay increases. That is my understanding. On foot of this matter being raised with me this evening, I will raise it with the Ministers, Deputies O'Gorman and Donnelly, and…

I move the following Further Revised Estimate: Vote 29 — Environment, Climate and Communications (Further Revised Estimate). That a sum not exceeding €1,206,640,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2024, for the salaries and expenses of the Office of the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications including certain services administered by that Office, and for payment of certain grants and that a sum not exceeding €…

I join Deputy Bacik in offering my condolences on the death of Tommie Gorman. I only met him last Monday night. I cannot believe this news. I hope we will have an opportunity to say more at a more appropriate point. To deal with the substantive and important issue the Deputy raised, the State is intervening through the labour relations institutions that it has at its disposal. Engagement took place through the Labour Court yesterday. Contingency plans are a matter for Aer Lingus and its owner, IAG. They are also a …