I thank Deputy O'Callaghan for the question. I acknowledge this is an issue he has been rightly pursuing in this House for a period of time. The Deputy commended his colleague, Deputy Rice, the Cathaoirleach of the Oireachtas health committee. Deputy O'Callaghan will understand and appreciate I want to commend my colleague, the Minister for Health, because while I agree sometimes with Deputy O'Callaghan's analysis in terms of the destination we want to get to, it would be unfair to say that we have not seen an extr…

I fully agree with the Deputy. Let me be clear that the HSE has confirmed that any additional payments to consultants on that public-only consultant contract, POCC, contract relating to the service level agreement ceased at the start of the year. There are some consultants who do not work on a public-only consultant contract. It is important in winding down a long-standing arrangement and an agreement that that is done in a safe manner and that is the intention. However, it is ending because we are pursuing Sláinte…

Deputy Nash really does not like burgers, but we will get to that in a second. This Government has taken a number of actions in endeavouring to assist people. We should remind ourselves that in the country we live in, there are over 2.8 million people who got up and went to work this morning - the highest number ever. Figures from the CSO show the average weekly wage is now over €1,000. Yes, we are living in a time of huge global uncertainty but, thank God, we have resources as a country to intervene. The Deputy as…

-----with €48 million being the cost for hairdressers - the beard trimming. This will benefit. There are over 150,000 people working in the hospitality sector and, I will be very honest, this is not about reducing the cost of a cup of coffee. I am not going to lie to anybody here; it is not about that at all. This is about supporting employment. It is about saying to the coffee shop owner, restaurant owner and pub that might do a lunch in rural Ireland that we are helping them by reducing their tax bill because the…

I said to the Deputy earlier, and I am happy to say it again, that I do not doubt his bona fides or that of his party in wanting to support small businesses. I do not doubt that at all. We just have a different policy approach to this. I also made this point, and I will make it again, that we had an election. In that election, I stood in coffee shops, restaurants, pubs that served food and hotels, and I said to people that if they voted my party back into Government, and the Fianna Fáil party did the equivalent, we…

I join Deputy O'Flynn in extending my sympathy to the friends, family and fellow sisters of Sr. Colette Hickey. What an incredible age and, indeed, an incredible life of service and impact on people, particularly in Cork. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam dílis. I thank the Deputy for extending his sympathy to her in the House. I thank Deputy O'Flynn for raising this issue. I do not dispute that it is serious. One reason we decided that for the very first time the Minister of State with responsibility for older people s…

I largely agree with the Deputy's analysis. We are still seeing the scars of that financial crash, where people who lost their home at a certain age are now ageing. We have to be prepared. That is one of reasons we are doing a specific body of work led by the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, which will come to Government shortly. Alongside the reasons the Deputy pointed out, we are also seeing a significant increase in life expectancy, which is largely a good thing for society, but also a change in our demograp…

I thank Deputy for the work he is doing and for highlighting this. I welcome the people with us today and their heroic actions. I thank the Deputy for highlighting that too. I take seriously the point the Deputy made about lifeguards. I live on the coast as well, in Wicklow. In all weather, but particularly in this weather, people tend to flock to the beaches and flock to our seas. There is a legitimate issue around lifeguard numbers and the likes. I will certainly talk with Government colleagues in relation to tha…

I do not want the Deputy getting the wrong idea that I went to Raheny and did not invite him. It was a Fine Gael members' coffee morning. I was not sure whether the Deputy was ready for that invitation.

To balance my comments - what was the name of the-----

I met Conor in a good coffee outfit outside Raheny United.

They were very pleased to see the 9% VAT rate coming in next week. They spoke fondly of the Deputy too. The issues the Deputy raised are serious and I take them seriously. We are seeing bathing water quality continuing to be high overall nationally. Around 98% of our sites are meeting or exceeding the minimum standard. That is good. They are EPA figures. It does not take away from the Deputy's point in relation to Dublin Bay. The work of the Dublin Bay task force matters to all of us. I look forward to the outcome …

I thank Deputy Clarke for raising the issue of the cost of living. I am slightly surprised she did because I was wondering cá bhfuil Mary Lou this week. I happened to see online that she is over in the United States at a Friends of Sinn Féin talk tonight. You can pay $250 at 6 p.m. to be a champion for change and she will throw in a free T-shirt-----

Pardon me?

No, I was just wondering where the Leader of the Opposition was.

I was wondering where the Leader of the Opposition was this week-----

----- to find out that when Sinn Féin is lecturing us in here in relation to the cost of living, it is charging $250 and throwing in a free T-shirt at a fundraiser.

The leader of Sinn Féin should be in this House doing her job.

The leader of Sinn Féin should be in this House instead of charging $250. This Government has a proud track record when it comes to supporting people. The package we put in place, which Sinn Féin voted against, reduced the cost of diesel and petrol and-----

-----reduced inflation by 0.6%. We expanded the fuel allowance-----