It seems to be another day with another promise broken by the Government. There was a specific promise by the Government to investigate a specific leak of a major report on the experience of men and women who have been let down and treated badly and shockingly by the State, from the day they were born in many cases. It is so frustrating to see that damage being done again. Why did the specific investigation transition into a generalised investigation of leaks by the Government? Who made the decision to do that? How…

Who made the decision to change the investigation?

Home is supposed to be a safe place of protection and security for people. However, for thousands of men, women and children, their homes, especially during lockdown and restrictions, have been places of daily terror. In recent days, the Department of Justice has furnished Aontú with statistics on domestic violence. There has been a dramatic increase in the level of domestic violence in every county in this State. In my own county of Meath, for example, in 2021, 1,518 reports of domestic violence were made. That is…

I welcome the strategy that will be published in March but all the strategies in the world will not make a difference to the level of accommodation provided unless funding is also provided. We can stack strategies to the ceiling of the Dáil. Will the Taoiseach commit to making sure that, on the day of the strategy being published, he will also publish the funding that will accompany the strategy? It is not just domestic violence that has received a spike. Yesterday, I received information that there was an increase…

The figures are pointing to-----

Will the Taoiseach provide the House with an update on the current status of the recovery from the recent cyberattack on the Department of Health and the HSE? Has the Government quantified the cost of the cyberattack economically and, more importantly, in terms of health and fatalities in our hospital system? For example, is the number of appointments that were cancelled known? Have the delays in the delivery of health services been quantified? Before the attack, the National Cyber Security Centre, NCSC, was funded…

It has come to light that there has been a slew of racist, sexist and misogynistic tweets by the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, Doug Beattie. These tweets were shockingly derogatory, and included comments about women and Muslims. He used incredible terms about the Traveller community. I am not going to introduce the language used in those tweets into the Chamber today such is its severity. For generations, unionist politicians have spoken derogatorily about minorities, especially Catholics. Ian Paisley is on …

The issue of inflation in the State cannot be overestimated. There is a massive problem with prices increasing across the State, especially for fuel. Farmers are being hit significantly by large increases in nitrogen and input costs. The Taoiseach has indicated in a number of replies that some of that price pressure is coming from the actions of Russia and other external factors we cannot control. He has also stated he does not believe we can get a derogation on VAT to ameliorate the damage being caused by price in…

Did the Government ask the European Union?

I refer to the European Union in general.

Change the rules.

The leaving certificate year of 2022 did not have a normal two-year preparation for the leaving certificate examination. As a result, it is not fair to ask the students to sit a normal leaving certificate examination. The leaving certificate examination is specifically designed to allow for two years of preparation for it, and this obviously did not happen. Many students have lost at least three months of their face-to-face teaching and many teachers have been absent for significant periods of time during the perio…

Some 40,000 people in this State have had fines brought against them for breaching Covid-19 regulations. People have gone to jail. Many have been forced to bury their loved ones in isolation over this period. The regulations the Government created have been enforced everywhere across the country except, it seems, among the political class itself. We have this really strange situation where the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, is refusing to come clean regarding what happened within his Department. The …

-----yet we have not had the Minister come before the Dáil to answer questions.

Will the Minister for Foreign Affairs come before the Dáil to answer questions with regard to an event that broke regulations within his Department during the past 18 months?

I am looking for time to be made available.

He should come to the Dáil Chamber.

I wish to raise the issue of Richard O'Halloran. As the Taoiseach knows, Mr. O'Halloran has been in China for more than 1,000 days at this stage. He has spent another Christmas in China and is being held against his will. He is the only Irish citizen ever to be subject to a Chinese exit ban, which has been implemented upon him even though he is not accused of any wrongdoing. There is no complaint, allegation, charge or suspicion against Richard O'Halloran. He is fully co-operating with the Chinese state on this mat…

I have.

I have spoken to Mr. O'Halloran directly.