I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I do not wish her to think that my inability to reply today is in any way disrespectful. I just want to get her an accurate answer. There have been a number of meetings of the interdepartmental group, which is based in the Department of the Taoiseach. I think, from memory, it met as recently as last week. We eagerly await the implementation plan coming to Cabinet. I will get the Deputy a definitive timeline. I am extraordinarily committed to all the major recomme…

I thank the Deputy. This is my first time interacting with him so I offer my congratulations on his election. If the Minister had done anything other than what he did yesterday, it would have been irresponsible. Establishing an external review is exactly how to achieve what the Deputy wishes to achieve in terms of clarity in the roles of the Department and the Arts Council, and the timelines and interactions between the two. I am conscious that former Minister, Catherine Martin is no longer a Member of this House. …

I thank the Deputy and welcome his colleagues from Cork North Central to the Dáil. The Government is proud to be in a position to invest significantly more money in sports infrastructure for all the reasons outlined by him, including the importance of health and well-being of our people, and the great progress we are seeing in competing in international events such as the Olympics. I am not across the detail of the Mallow swimming pool but will inquire with the Minister for sport and ask him to write directly to th…

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I have heard of the concern the issue is causing in his community and in County Offaly.

It is causing concern in Laois and Offaly. I will ask the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, as the Minister with responsibility for this area, to engage directly with the Deputy.

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue and for his persistent work on the matter on behalf of the people of counties Longford and Westmeath. Last year in Longford and Westmeath, more than 660,000 hours of home help were delivered. That was more than 51,000 hours ahead of target. Funding has been provided for this year to at least maintain that level of service. I am pleased to tell the Deputy that a recruitment campaign is under way in Longford and Westmeath for healthcare support assistants. So often, as the Dep…

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. This Government is determined to work on an all-island basis on many issues. It makes sense to do that. I have already been to Belfast and met the First Minister, Deputy First Minister and other political leaders. The programme for Government specifically commits very substantial additional funding to grow shared island projects in the years ahead. I am pleased the Deputy referred to Magee College. It will be an incredible investment in education and third level education i…

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue of audiology services in Cork. I am informed there are two factors particularly impacting the waiting lists in Cork. One is demand in our ageing population. That is something we should be able to plan for. The second is a specific issue regarding recruitment pressures. The Department of Health and the HSE are working together to remedy this with a new national hearing care plan. The Minister for Health established a working group to develop that last August. It is jointly ch…

The Deputy made a very good point. We need to reflect on some of this again. Stoves would have been very helpful in many houses during the recent storm. We have to show more flexibility rather than ideology when it comes to delivering these initiatives. We have a climate emergency. We are deadly serious about making progress on it but when people are willing to do their part to help with their homes, we have to meet them halfway. It is a very big upheaval in someone’s home, particularly at an older stage of life, a…

I congratulate and thank Blanchardstown Centre for Independent Living for the excellent work it is doing, which is demonstrated by what the Deputy outlined in the huge increase of the numbers of people using the service as well as the huge increase in the services provided including transport. I take the point about the need for the State to follow that up with an appropriate level of investment. I will ask the Minister of State with responsibility for disability and the Minister for Health to come back to the Depu…

I thank the Deputy and I thank Tina for raising the case of her son, Michael Joseph. While I am pleased to hear he is doing well in playschool and so on based on what the Deputy said, he rightly used the word “hurdle”. As a mother she has got over one hurdle in the assessment of need and now there is the worry of the next thing. We need to do much better at breaking down silos for people with disabilities, particularly children. It will be an absolute priority in the coming time. With regard to Michael Joseph’s spe…

I was very grateful to have an opportunity to meet those people in Clonmel. The sincerity of their feelings was very clear to me and I fully accept their bona fides. A pause needs to be placed by the Department on the situation regarding Ukrainian accommodation. I made this very clear. What I mean is the idea of uprooting children in the middle of the school year is not acceptable. Second, the idea of their having a conversation about the conversion of the Ukrainian facilities into IPAS facilities without having a …

I addressed this matter yesterday. I also note what the Ceann Comhairle has said in recent days and very much respect that. What I want to say, to be helpful to the House, is a disciplinary process will commence. I do not want to say anything that in any way cuts across that or, indeed, impedes on people's privacy and the need to respect the person's privacy in terms of the woman here as well, but I expect the highest standards to be upheld and I expect all of these issues to be considered as part of that process. …

I will try to get the Deputy some specific information on the cost of that attack to Ireland from an economic point of view. The issue of cybersecurity is taken extraordinarily seriously. The Deputy will note in the programme for Government our plans to relocate cybersecurity to the heart of the Department of Justice, which, I think, is appropriate, and also for the Government to produce a national security strategy for Ireland within the first six months in office and establish a new national security committee. C…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I am aware of his passion in the area of active travel on behalf of his constituents and, indeed, the benefits that it brings in terms of the climate and the capital city. I have looked into this matter. What I have basically been told is that one of the reasons for the larger budget in 2024 than in 2025 related to a specific scheme called the Fairview to Amiens Street cycle route, which is part of the Clontarf to city centre active travel scheme. That project alone accoun…

I thank Deputy Ó Snodaigh. I myself visited the Digital Hub in recent years and I am aware of the excellent work it does in the community in the city and the positive impact it has had on job creation over a long number of years. I will get the Deputy an accurate answer to the question as to where its future lies in terms of the various organisations involved and I will ask the relevant Minister to come back to him directly.

I am pleased that Gaelscoil Phádraig is making progress in its building needs but I take the point that a school needs teachers, which is a vital component of any school. I can imagine the stress that it is causing for the principal and others there trying to fill those vacancies. I will ask the Minister, Deputy McEntee, to look directly at the issue the Deputy has raised on behalf of the school in terms of whether there is a temporary solution to allow the hiring of substitutes and retired teachers and she will re…

I thank the Deputy for the constructive suggestion. It is what many people right across the country are asking, namely: can we pull everybody together and get all the levers that are necessary to address what is still a housing emergency in Ireland? The new Cabinet committee on housing will meet for the first time under this Government next week, I think, on Monday. We are also committed to publishing a revised Housing for All plan as part of that and we can take that suggestion on board. The Deputy is correct. Who…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 2 together. I thank the Deputy. I wish him well in his new role and look forward to working with him and other members of the Opposition constructively at an important time in the world for Ireland's position on a range of foreign affairs matters. I am conscious we are meeting against a backdrop of great fragility when it comes to the ceasefire, and I know that all sides of this House will agree on the importance of the ceasefire being maintained. It was long awaited and quite…

I welcome Deputy Kenny. I share Deputy Ó Laoghaire's sentiments on the need to step back from the brink in protecting the fragile ceasefire in place. We will have an opportunity to engage on that shortly. To be clear, the Government and I, as the Tánaiste and leader of my party, still believe in legislating in relation to trade with the occupied territories. We gave that commitment during the election. In fairness to the now Taoiseach, he was clear at the foreign affairs committee, which the Deputy was probably at,…