I thank Deputy Canney for raising this important matter, which is obviously a cause of concern for small businesses. I will ask the Minister for Finance to take a look at the issue and to revert to the Deputy directly. In the summer economic statement published today, we have indicated that approximately €1.4 billion will be available for new tax measures in the forthcoming budget. We will look at the matter in that context.

There is certainly no need for Cara Dermody to wait at the gates of Government Buildings to see me. I have already met her in person and I will meet her again. I want her to be able to enjoy her summer, as I want all children to be able to enjoy the summer. There are very important issues in respect of assessments of need. Cara has already helped to bring about some significant changes including, as I have just mentioned, the decision taken with the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, to provide extra money amounti…

I will check in directly with the Minister for agriculture on this but my understanding is that the Department has appointed UCD's Professor Paddy Wall to lead a task force aimed at addressing the serious traceability issues identified in the "RTÉ Investigates" programme and, indeed, the approach to approval of such facilities in the future. My understanding is that the expert from UCD, Professor Paddy Wall, is leading a task force. I will get the Deputy more information on that and she will be able to see whether …

I, too, welcome Mr. Guerin and some of his colleagues to the Dáil. I begin by reiterating my appreciation, and the appreciation of the Minister for Justice, of the important role played by barristers and solicitors in the administration of criminal justice. We made some progress on this last summer with the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and she secured €9 million to make progress on restoring criminal legal aid fees. There was a 10% increase in that regard but I know there is more work to do, as does the Minister. We w…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I have not forgotten that I want to meet with him as Chair of the disability matters committee. I thank him for the work he does with the committee across government in a range of areas. The Ministers of State, Deputies Rabbitte and Naughton, are very much appraised of the issues he raised, namely, recruitment and retention, services, the multi-annual funding and that issue of planning around school places. Changes and reforms are under way in the Department of Education i…

I thank Deputy Daly. I will follow up specifically with the Minister for Justice regarding the community engagement superintendents for counties Longford and Mayo, to which he referred. More broadly, we are beginning to see progress on recruitment of gardaí. I do not have the figures in front of me but a class of about 157 went into Templemore in recent weeks. A new class goes in every three months, approximately, with a class coming out around that time as well. The Minister for Justice and the Minister for public…

I thank Deputy O'Sullivan, who has taken a particular interest in this issue during this Dáil term. I will ask the Minister for Health specifically in regard to the drugs he mentioned, which seem to be in the process for a long time. The Minister and his Department have been working on access to orphan medicines but I will ask him to get the Deputy the most up-to-date information.

We are currently considering how to sustainably fund public service broadcasting. That includes RTÉ, which does a good job on public service broadcasting. It is not the only outlet that does public service broadcasting. With the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, we are considering what a sustainable model of funding for public service broadcasting looks like. We expect to make a decision on that this month.

The truthful answer is that I would like to see a decision made on this very shortly. I was inquiring about this myself only in recent days. The Minister of State, Deputy Lawless, now has responsibility for this in the Department of Transport. I will ask him to engage with Deputy Cullinane directly. My understanding is an updated submission from Waterford Airport was received by the Department on 23 April. Some detail remained outstanding until 27 May. Further detail was provided last week, on 2 July, and Departmen…

I thank the Deputy for raising this serious issue. I assure him that nobody wants anyone to lose their sight. There is no political division on that; everybody wants people to keep their sight and to be able to access cataract treatment. I am inquiring about this matter, which raised with me in the Dáil last week. I have asked for an update on it. I expect to have that very shortly. I will get the Deputy an update on it this week.

I thank Deputy Wynne for raising this issue, which I will talk to the Minister for Health about. I remember the Spinraza issue, so I want to get myself up to date on this. I will ask the Minister for Health to come back to the Deputy directly on what I know is an important matter.

I thank Deputy Harkin. I definitely want to see this sorted, as does the Minister, Deputy Humphreys. I am relying on my note, which indicates that the Labour Court did not specify the grades. However, let me check based on what the Deputy has said, as I accept she said it in good faith. I am aware that the independently-facilitated talks were led by Kevin Duffy, the former and very respected Labour Court chair, and commenced on 26 June to discuss the implementation of the Labour Court recommendation concerning pay …

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 7, inclusive, together. There are a number of proposals for constitutional reforms under consideration. However, no final decisions have been made as yet by Government on the timing of any such referendum. Some of the proposed constitutional reforms arise from the programme for Government, such as housing and extending the franchise for presidential elections to Irish citizens living outside the State. Other proposals, such as the EU Agreement on a Unified Patent Court, arise f…

I will take these questions in the order they were asked. Deputy McDonald raised the franchise for the presidential elections. I have not had an opportunity to comment on this since I became Taoiseach. I am in favour of this proposal and acting on it. The Deputy is right that the programme for Government contains a commitment to that. In line with that commitment, the Government restored the Thirty-ninth Amendment of the Constitution (Presidential Elections) Bill 2019 to the Dáil Order Paper. The date for holding a…

To Deputy Ó Murchú, I thank him for his points specifically in relation to the affordable housing scheme in Dundalk, the criteria around it and the anxiety felt by people in relation to the housing crisis. I undertook to come back to him on that, which I will.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 8 to 15, inclusive, together. The Government continues to prioritise and progress the shared island initiative. Our commitment is to work with all communities and political traditions for a shared future, underpinned by the Good Friday Agreement. On 20 February, the Government announced the largest ever package of funding for cross-Border investments. This included a commitment of €600 million for the A5 north-west transport corridor and for progressing linked road projects in count…

That is okay.

I thank colleagues for raising a number of issues. Without commenting on individual decisions of the courts, it is absolutely the case that the epidemic of violence by men against women and attacking women does not stop at any border. I say in the spirit of co-operation that there is more we can do on the island together. I know we will have willing interlocutors in the Northern Ireland Executive in relation to this matter. I am not making jibes at Deputy McDonald, but we do engage in politics on occasion, which I …

I propose to take Questions Nos. 16 to 19, inclusive, together. I attended the summit on peace in Ukraine hosted by Switzerland on 15 and 16 June, together with over 50 other world leaders and over 100 countries and international organisations. As world leaders gathered for this important summit to talk about peace, Russia continued its relentless attacks on Ukraine, including the targeting of civilian infrastructure. The summit agreed a joint communiqué which was signed by most countries participating. This import…

First, I sincerely welcome that everybody in this House who has spoken clearly condemns the horrific actions of Putin. I accept that, I acknowledge it and it is important that we say it, particularly after the horror of the children's hospital. I do want to acknowledge that. To be clear, I do not expect the Deputy to follow what I say at these summits, but I did very clearly say in my contribution on behalf of Ireland that I felt we could not sit at a peace summit at which Israel was present and ignore the humanita…