I had a very good meeting with the new consultant surgeon who is heading up a paediatric spinal surgery unit, Mr. David Moore. Deputy McDonald may have met him. He is a very accomplished individual and I must say that I left the meeting with a great degree of confidence in terms of the work that he is undertaking. I will have to come back to the Deputy directly, and will do so today, on the two specific questions she asked. I am very clear on the second opinion and on the ability to access treatment abroad. On the …

Deputy McDonald raised an important issue there and I was getting an update on Tori Towey at the same time. I apologise if I did not do her question the justice it deserves and I am happy to come back on it. On Deputy Bacik's point, the Child Law Project has done incredible work in shining a light on what is extraordinarily difficult, and it should be doing that. I am very eager to meet with the project. I am very happy to meet and to find a mechanism to ensure that its work can continue.

I will absolutely commit to doing more than one-off payments for people with disabilities across a range of areas. I am now chairing the Cabinet committee on disability, which met again last week. Myself and the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, and the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, have met with a number of advocacy organisations in recent weeks. On the specifics of payments, I have to leave that for the budget but I can say, and I say it to be helpful, that I can produce data to show the Deputy that the biggest c…

I am not disputing that but I just want to make the point that we genuinely have, from memory, more than 200 vacant funded posts currently. We are working intensively with the HSE. I met the chief executive of the HSE on this last week to discuss how we can improve recruitment and retention to our CDNTs, but also how we can grow the therapy places in our colleges. I will send the Deputy a note on those actions.

I thank Deputy Murphy for raising this issue, which he has raised in this House previously. I will ask the Minister for communications to specifically revert to him on the points he made today.

I thank Deputy Murphy for raising this matter and how it impacts people in Kilmore, Wellingtonbridge, Gorey, Marshalstown and other parts of her constituency. I am actually due to have a meeting on school transport today with relevant Ministers. I will specifically raise the issue of school transport alleviation support and revert to the Deputy directly.

I thank Deputy McGrath for raising the issue relating to Dundrum House Hotel and the views of his community on it. I will raise it directly with the Minister for integration, Deputy O'Gorman, and ask him to come back to the Deputy on his request for a meeting.

I thank Deputy Harkin for raising this matter. I am aware that the INMO has raised it with the HSE and that the HSE is engaging with the Department of public expenditure and reform. It seems to be an anomaly. Not to be dismissive of it, but I think a solution should be found. I will seek an update on it from both the Department of Health and the Department of public expenditure for the Deputy.

I thank Deputy O'Dowd for his kind words and good wishes in terms of my engagement with the British Prime Minister next week. I see this as a moment of reset for Anglo-Irish relations and I take my responsibility as co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement on behalf of the Irish Government very seriously, as I know Prime Minister Starmer takes his responsibility as co-guarantor of that agreement for his Government. I too welcome the appointment of Hilary Benn, a politician who is serious and of substance and knows…

I thank Deputy Gould for raising this important matter. It is not a question of the Government coming in here and saying, "We are doing a wonderful job on this", nor, I hope, is it a question of the Opposition coming here and just saying, "You are doing a terrible job on this", like a Punch and Judy show. It is a reality of outlining to the Irish people, including the people of Cork, the steps we are taking to try to move beyond the housing crisis, and I have outlined what those plans are. We have published a plan …

I thank Deputy Smith for raising this issue. None of us can comprehend the agony the Tighe family must be experiencing since Jean went missing in Portugal on 17 July 2020. She was reported missing, I think, by her boyfriend at the time. The family had not been contacted regarding her disappearance and in March 2021 they lodged a missing persons report with An Garda Síochána. I understand that Portuguese police have been investigating her disappearance but that sadly no strong leads have materialised as of yet. A me…

I acknowledge on the record of this House Deputy Kerrane's work on Ms Towey's case and helping to bring her home. She contacted me and the Department of Foreign Affairs directly and worked diligently behind the scenes. Gabhaim buíochas léi. On the issue of home care, I will get a specific update from the HSE on the situation the Deputy is seeing in her constituency and ask the Minister for Health to revert to her.

I was listening to some discussion about this matter on the radio the other day. Growth in the sector can clearly be seen. I recently attended the announcement of Diageo's climate plans with the Minister, Deputy Peter Burke. The company wants to make its plant carbon-neutral. Diageo was talking about the substantial growth it has seen in the non-alcoholic beer sector. It makes sense from a health point of view and I assume it also makes sense from the point of view of business diversification. I will certainly ask …

I will try to help because I have heard the Deputy raise this issue in the Dáil before and am conscious that it cuts across the remits of a number of Ministers and Departments. When I was answering on this matter in the Dáil the last time, I quickly became aware that it did not come down to any one Minister. Perhaps my office and I can play a part in trying to compile an update on the timeline for each of the workers impacted for the Deputy because I am conscious that this has been going on for a long time. I will …

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. It is obviously a very distressing case for that poor family and the three children. I will talk directly to the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and Galway City Council about the status of emergency accommodation in the city and what more we can do and then revert to the Deputy.

I thank Deputy Kenny for raising the issue of the community hospital in Ballyshannon and the fact that there are unoccupied or unused beds in that new facility.

It is. I will speak directly to the Minister of State, Deputy Butler. She is obviously familiar with the situation because she was at the opening with the Deputy. I will ask her to come back to him directly and to see what can be done.

We are all almost duty-bound to name our local radio stations now. Not for the first time in this House, Deputy Michael Healy-Rae seems to be more familiar with the detail of some matters than I am. Let me assure him and, more particularly perhaps, radio broadcasters and the like that the Government has not yet made a decision. The Government intends to make a decision this month in regard to funding for public service broadcasting. I will make sure the serious views the Deputy reflected on the importance of local …

I have two quick matters to raise. I am conscious that not just my colleague but my friend Deputy Simon Coveney, the former Minister, has announced his intention not to seek re-election to the Dáil. As in the past in this House, when people announce their retirement, I want to thank him for his service to his constituency of Cork South Central, to his party but most importantly to his country. Even people who have different political views across this House would acknowledge the very serious body of work he did on …

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 5, inclusive, together. I attended the 41st British-Irish Council summit, hosted by the Isle of Man, on 21 June. The Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, represented the Government at the summit dinner the night before. The council welcomed the restoration of the Northern Ireland Assembly, Executive and the North-South Ministerial Council and the return to the British-Irish Council of the First and deputy First Ministers. It is important and positive that all three strands of the …