I will come back to the Deputy on each of the specific matters, including on the agriculture point he made.

Yes, we will provide that mandate. Deputy Kerrane is right to highlight this issue. These health and social care workers and others carry out an invaluable service. Our health, social care and disability services are so reliant on it. I would point out that we have made several advanced steps on this issue, including the October 2023 agreement the Deputy referenced. State agencies have worked with service providers to administer the associated pay funding adjustments. The Government offered a further 8.5% increase …

I thank Deputy Bacik. I agree with her comments regarding the dire humanitarian catastrophe. That phrase does not even capture the sense of destruction and loss of life, of home and of dignity that people have experienced in Gaza. I think all of us are united in working on that. I want to see what more the Government can do to help with the upscaling of humanitarian aid and assistance to the people of Palestine now and in standing by UNRWA at this challenging time too. On the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied …

I thank the Deputy for raising this extraordinarily important issue. It is one we have worked on across the House during the last period of time, including publishing an ambitious domestic, sexual and gender-based violence strategy, which was led by my colleague, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and establishing a new agency, called Cuan, to drive this zero-tolerance approach. When I was the Minister for Justice, I had the absolute honour of meeting Jennie's brother, Jason. He has rightly, as the Deputy said, been cam…

It must be highly insulting to Independent TDs who are democratically elected in their own right, just like Deputy Murphy, to be referred to by someone else's surname. I think the Deputy should really stop that sort of carry-on.

No, sorry-----

There is no need for a back and forth. The last time I checked, they were called the "Regional Independents". The Minister of State, Deputy Seán Canney, sits with us in Cabinet and the Minister of State, Deputy Grealish, as well. I see Deputy Toole up there and I saw Deputy Heneghan earlier. I have also seen the Minister of State, Deputy Moran, the soon-to-be Minister of State, Deputy Harkin, the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Healy-Rae, and Deputy Danny Healy-Rae. Deputy Murphy could actually recognise them as …

Does the Deputy get one question or is this just to barrage me?

I thank the Ceann Comhairle. The next thing is this. The deals, if the Deputy wants to call them that, are called the "programme for Government". It is published on gov.ie . It will be implemented in full over the course of five years. There are no other deals and we look forward to advancing it.

It is the regional Independent group----

I am sorry. The groupings are for the Deputy, actually.

Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the regional Independents, the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Healy-Rae, and Deputy Danny Healy-Rae.

I thank the Deputy very much for the question. I will ask the Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW to revert on the specific project the Deputy referenced. I will point out that the OPW has assured the Government it has taken steps to enhance its own governance procedures to ensure that value for money is achieved in the delivery of projects. The Government is committed to achieving value for money in all public infrastructure projects and our programme for Government made a commitment to ensure that t…

It is extraordinary.

I thank the Deputy for his inaugural comments in his new role as a TD for Wicklow-Wexford. I wish him well and look forward to working with him, being from the neighbouring constituency of Wicklow. He is right that the previous Government and our colleague, the former Minister, Stephen Donnelly, showed great leadership on the issue of vaping in bringing forward very important and progressive public health legislation on this. The new Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, and the Government are committed to …

I congratulate the Deputy on her election to the Dáil. I wish her well. She is right to highlight the issue of University Hospital Limerick. It is a major issue for her constituents and for people in the mid-west more broadly. I could quote figures showing the increased budget, the increased staffing and the increase in beds that have taken place, but I accept there is much more to do. That is why the previous Minister for Health, as the Deputy's colleague Deputy Cullinane will know, asked HIQA last year to lead a …

I thank Deputy Ó Fearghaíl. It is good to see him back in his role of advocating for his constituents in Kildare South. I join with him in expressing sympathy to the family of the Aga Khan on his passing, and to the community he led. The Minister, Deputy Heydon, and I discussed this only yesterday. Tributes have been led by our President and throughout the country in acknowledging the huge philanthropic contribution of the Aga Khan. We think of him and his family at this very sad time. I thank the Deputy for raisin…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. It is not the first time that he has passionately raised the importance of the northern distributor road. The proposal was established in the Cork metropolitan area transport strategy, CMATS. It is seen as an absolutely essential or, in the words of the strategy, a "critical enabler" for its delivery. My understanding is that the road only emerged as a proposal in CMATS, which was finalised in 2020, and was therefore not part of the current national development plan. Howev…

Those words were clearly anything but what the Deputy has termed them. As she has rightly said, if the Deputy reads the programme for Government, and she referenced it, it commits the Government to working with the sector through the mechanisms that are available to progress the issues. As I said to her colleague Deputy Kerrane when she raised this matter, we have seen the interim agreement in October 2023. We have seen State agencies work with service providers to administer the associated pay funding adjustments.…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I know it has been a source of huge frustration, annoyance and anger for people who want to know when this will become available. Budget 2025 announced the intention to fund the medicine cost of hormone replacement therapy products prescribed to women to help to manage the symptoms associated with all stages of menopause. This is for women who have been prescribed HRT by their healthcare provider. It applies to those products reimbursable by the HSE. The measure is not int…