He can bring forward his proposals and we will consider them.

Nothing like that has happened at all. The Government has established a housing activation office. We would be delighted to constructively engage with the Deputy and all of the Opposition in terms of how this office can work effectively. We have all seen the need to break down silos, second people and bring in expertise. We should not be referring to people outside the House by their surnames and calling people tsars and all that sort of stuff. There are no such plans to create any tsar. There are plans to create o…

The Minister, Deputy Calleary, tells me he intends to engage directly with the Minister, Deputy Browne, on planning guidelines specifically for the Gaeltacht. I will ask the Minister to engage directly with the Deputy in regard to her feedback on the issue.

The Government and I share the Deputy's view on what we are seeing in terms of the stopping of aid getting into Gaza. It is despicable and it is causing untold harm, to put it very mildly. One cannot find the words to capture how horrific the situation is in Gaza. I thank the Deputy for his comments regarding the Government's intervention on behalf of Ireland at the ICJ. I assure him that our work continues. We recently had an EU-Palestinian high-level dialogue, which was the first engagement between the EU and Pal…

I fully agree with the Deputy's description of what needs to happen. The word "partnership" is really important. We have such good examples of childcare providers across the country. We also have significant gaps in provision. I meet people who are frustrated when they hear we have reduced the cost of childcare. They say, "That is great but I cannot get a place". Cost and access, along, of course, with quality, really do matter. There are 21 commitments in the programme for Government in regard to childcare. The Mi…

I thank the Deputy for raising the important issue of pedestrian safety and the need for the Government to make sure we adequately fund and provide support to local authorities for that purpose. In recent years, there have been a number of initiatives, including the walking to school programme, where there has been a real effort to make walking routes safer, particularly for schoolchildren and others. I certainly will take up this matter directly with the Minister for Transport and ask that he gets back to the Depu…

I thank Deputy Cahill very much. I agree with him that Skellig Michael is such a beautiful treasure and an amazing place. I share his view that it is so important to support the maintenance and protection of what is a UNESCO heritage site and also to examine how we can assist tourists in getting there in an appropriate way. Therefore, I will certainly speak to the Minister of State, Deputy Kevin Boxer Moran, on the issue the Deputy has raised regarding licensing and ask that he revert to him directly.

I thank Deputy Ó Muirí for raising this issue. We do need to consider the timeline for implementation. We find ourselves in a very new trade environment and we always say we have to try to control what we can control. This is certainly something that at least merits consideration when we hear the concerns expressed. I believe this falls into that category. I am not in a position to say today what exact decision the Government will make but I can say that the timeline around implementation is certainly under conside…

I thank Deputy Ó Murchú. I cannot really win on the GAA question because by pleasing him I could offend the Minister, Deputy McEntee. There is no winning on this other than to wish everybody well. On the serious issue the Deputy raised – it is not that the GAA is not serious – on Liberty IT, the challenge there and, no doubt, the real worry and stress for workers, I too will speak directly to the relevant Minister, Deputy Burke, and ask that he keep in touch with the Deputy on it. More broadly, on the issue of arti…

On the legacy Act, the Irish Government took a case not because of pressure from any political party but because it believes in international law, human rights and the Good Friday Agreement. We took one in a very difficult situation. We did not want to find ourselves in that position, but I can report to the House very good and constructive engagement between me and the Secretary of State on behalf of our respective Governments to try to get to a better place on legacy. The Irish Government’s clear landing zone her…

As the Deputy can imagine, since both of us live in the area, I share her frustration on this. We know very well that as the review was carried out, there were some people, including in our constituency, who saw significant fare reductions, but there have also been what I regard as anomalies in that some towns have seen significant fare increases. In this regard, the Deputy rightly referred to Greystones and Kilcoole, two towns we know well. The NTA and others will tell us that the changes are broadly revenue neutr…

I know this is a serious issue and has been in Dublin Mid-West, where it seems to arise particularly as an issue. There are approximately 1,803 public health nurses employed in the HSE and we have provided funding for another 26.7 - let us call that 27 - whole-time-equivalent posts in this year’s budget. My note here tells me that the HSE is making good progress recruiting those people, has recently been given commissioning letters to fill the new development public health nursing posts and recruitment has now comm…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I am aware of the commitment that was made and the anxiety people are feeling. I do not have the information in front of me today but I will ask the Minister directly to revert to the Deputy. I will outline that the Deputy has raised the issue and the urgency of trying to resolve this matter for her constituents.

I think the Government’s position in relation to Palestine is very clear and so does the President of the Palestinian Authority, its Prime Minister and its ambassador to Ireland. Ireland stands in solidarity with the need for a two-state solution. Ireland believes in two states and we recognise the State of Palestine to keep that hope alive. We have taken a number of practical measures, that have not just been words, including, as Deputy Gogarty referenced, our submission to international courts like the ICJ, provi…

I believe very much in protest in a democracy, that is, protest obviously within the law. I also believe our gardaí generally do a very good job in this country. I am not familiar with the protest the Deputy mentioned. I truthfully am not.

If anyone has any concerns on that, there are mechanisms by which they can be raised. However, protest is absolutely lawful in this country, that is, peaceful protest. It takes place and is an important part of a healthy democracy.

I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach and other Members of Seanad Eireann. I welcome the opportunity to address the Seanad on the issues of international trade and international relations. Trade and our trading relations with partners around the world are, of course, at the core of the Irish economic model. It is not just an economic theory. It is at the core of how we see ourselves in the world. As an island people, we have always been traders. We have always looked beyond our shores and sought exchange, dialogue and in…

I begin by paying tribute to Mick O'Dwyer. It is with tremendous sadness that we learnt of the passing of one of Ireland's greatest GAA icons. His contribution to Irish sport and community life was extraordinary, particularly in his native county of Kerry, although we do like to claim a bit of him with the great joy he brought us in Wicklow and many other counties. I think of him and his family on his passing, and all of the GAA family as well. May he rest in peace. I thank Deputy Doherty for the range of questions…

I think I saw a comment from a spokesperson for the French Government today making some reference to that. I do not dismiss that but in the nearly daily conversations I have had with the trade Commissioner and those I have had with nearly a dozen European counterparts, the overwhelming majority view is to try to find a way to bring people around the table. The Deputy's question is valid. What gets the US Administration around the table? That is a judgment call that we have to work through together in the days and w…

I share the Deputy’s view of some of what we heard in the press conference in the Rose Garden, and that is what it was. One must then work through the legal detail. We are already seeing that things, which were announced as coming in at midnight last night, are not coming in until 5 or 9 April, so there is a fair bit of teasing through beyond the headline announcements. Certainly, the European Union does not impose tariffs of anything like 39% on the United States. The European Union, of which we are proudly a memb…