I do not agree at all with the Deputy in relation to saying we know the derogation is not going to continue. It is absolutely Ireland's position at a European level to continue to seek to maintain this derogation, and this is the position I, as Taoiseach, will take at the European Council when these issues arise. I am concerned that this is not a position the Deputy would take if she were in government, because I fully agree that we do need to improve water quality. I share the concerns expressed by the EPA that th…

I thank the Deputy for preparing one earlier. I also thank him for raising this issue, as I know he does regularly. The position of the Government now is to consider the Low Pay Commission's report, which I think was published yesterday. The Minister, Deputy Burke, and the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, will give it consideration and carry out an economic assessment. The report will be considered in the context of a range of issues in advance of the budget. We expect to be in a position to deliver the Governmen…

I thank the Deputy very much. I think the budgetary process gets earlier every year. I very much understand the serious issues raised by the INTO and I thank the organisation for doing so. From my engagement with schools, I know the cost pressures they are facing are real. The Government does, obviously, want to help support our schools. The way we will do this, obviously, will be through the budget. I think we have good form in this regard because the Deputy referred to the extra funding we provided to deal with C…

I thank Deputy McGrath for raising this issue. I join him in extending sympathy to the family of Councillor Christy Kinahan at this difficult time. I will ask the Minister for housing to specifically consider the issues he raised regarding Tipperary and the broader impact and revert to him directly.

I am not sure if I would have any success but I am happy to advocate on Deputy O'Sullivan's behalf. I congratulate the organisers of Feel the Force. I take the serious point he makes about Dunmanway and Clonakilty at a time when we are trying to encourage people to be able to use more public transport. We need to do more in particular in rural Ireland. I know the Minister, Deputy Ryan, is very committed to this. I will raise with him directly the point on the need for that direct bus service. May the force be with …

I thank Deputy Mythen very much for raising the issue and for the work he has done with the Library and Research Service. I will undertake to ensure the report he commissioned is considered by the State Examinations Commission. I will ask the Minister, Deputy Foley, to do that as well. I am conscious that we all hear in our constituencies as well about the issue of students with dyspraxia, and the issue of students with dyslexia. If Deputy Mythen wants to send me the report, I will make sure it goes to the right pl…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. If is fair comment that there are many people at work today thanks to the work he, as Minister, did on the Action Plan for Jobs and the like when this country was in the depths of recession. That effort showed how, when we put the focus on employment and enterprise, real progress can be made. I thank him for that. I made the comments to which he referred at the national economic dialogue because we need to right-size the State. I do not believe the public service is of ade…

I am not aware of the details of this case but it sounds like the school has been waiting an extraordinarily long time and there has been an extraordinarily long campaign. I will talk directly to the Minister, Deputy Foley, about it. We are very eager to support the development of Gaelcholáistí, particularly where there is such a demand. I will ask the Minister to revert to the Deputy on the matter.

I assure the Deputy that we fully support the retained firefighters and our firefighters generally. We very much value their work. It is important that the value of that work is recognised in their terms and conditions. I know of the incredible work they do in my county and across the country. Following acceptance of the WRC agreement last September, the Department of public expenditure agreed the retainer payment made to retained firefighters could be examined in the next round of pay talks. During the pay talks, …

First, I do not believe employers in cafés, restaurants and hotels, of whom we all know many in our communities, are exploiting younger people. They give them opportunities by providing them with summer jobs and part-time work while they are in college. I do not see any evidence of exploitation. The Deputy should reflect very carefully on that charge. It is a very strong charge to make against small and medium businesses in his constituency. I reject it out of hand. The Government follows process. The Low Pay Commi…

I have no doubt the Deputy will do so. I know his passion for his town of Drogheda and his passion for this issue. I will talk to the relevant Minister to see what the plans are regarding the Derelict Sites Act. I look forward to meeting very shortly with the Deputy and representatives of the community in Drogheda to talk about the task force we have discussed. We really need to finish the job in regard to Drogheda. We have had the Drogheda implementation board. I do not think the people of the town have been liste…

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I thank the representatives of Recovery Haven for being here in Leinster House today. The Deputy is right that we need to support these groups. That is why we made the relevant allocation in the budget. Without meaning to speak for Recovery Haven, my understanding is that it is asking for its funding to be increased and to become core funding in order that it can plan for the future. It certainly sounds logical to be able to give it that clarity into the future. …

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 8, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on Northern Ireland was created on 10 April 2024 and will oversee implementation of programme for Government commitments and ongoing developments related to Northern Ireland. Its membership comprises me as Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence, and the Ministers for the Environment, Climate and Communications and Transport, Justice, Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform, Finance, and Agriculture,…

I will start with Deputy Ó Murchú. I thank him for raising the issue of Lough Neagh. Before we talk about cross-Border shared island and all-island units, I was delighted to be in Omeath at a project that I know the Deputy and John O'Dowd, Minister for Infrastructure of the Northern Ireland Executive, visited recently. I believe the Narrow Water bridge project is going to be transformational for the north east of the island. I am really looking forward to seeing that under way. The Deputy quite rightly raised the i…

I said I do not think I can address that.

On the junior doctors, for clarity, I said that while it is important we all support people working in our public health service, it is not appropriate for me to comment specifically on industrial action. I would not appreciate it if people in other Executives commented on industrial relations matters in this jurisdiction.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 to 16, inclusive, together. I reported to the Dáil on 22 May regarding my recent discussions with international leaders on the situation in the Middle East. Since then, I have had calls with President Abbas of Palestine, with the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mr. Shehbaz Sharif, and with President Erdoğan of Türkiye, following our recognition of the State of Palestine. In my call with President Abbas, I informed him of the Government's decision to recognise the State of Palestine to…

We have to be very careful about that presentation by the Deputy. Somebody asking somebody to investigate somebody for something is a bit of a stretch. The President of the European Commission is not in any way, shape or form what the Deputy portrayed at all. It is important that we share the process with people in the country because there was a lot of misinformation around it during the European elections. The process for electing a President of the European Commission is as follows. The European Council will nom…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 17 to 22, inclusive, together. Ireland submitted its 2024 national reform programme, NRP, to the European Commission on 30 April. The NRP was subsequently also laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas and published. The NRP is an element of the European semester, the annual cycle of economic and social policy co-ordination among EU member states. As part of the semester, Ireland, along with other member states, has been required to prepare and submit an NRP to the European Commissi…

I will start with that point. I will certainly ensure there is continued engagement with the Northern Ireland Executive. Members of our Government have already had bilateral meetings with the Ministers, Conor Murphy and Caoimhe Archibald. We will continue that engagement. We also want to see the Narrow Water bridge come in on time and on budget. Louth County Council is overseeing that process. I particularly commend the chief executive, who has put her shoulder to the wheel over a very long period to deliver this p…