I thank the Deputy for raising this matter, which he rightly raises on a regular basis. What I said, and now repeat, is that the Government made a decision to proceed with the scoping inquiry as a response to the views of the Oireachtas. That was a decision made by the then Government. I know everybody in this House will join me in sending our condolences to the O'Farrell family on the tragic loss of Shane. As the Deputy is aware, retired Judge Gerard Haughton was appointed by the then Minister for Justice in 2019 …

I am not sure of the Dáil rules regarding what can be said on matters like this.

I will just be careful in my role. With regard to the factual position, Judge Haughton was asked to carry out a scoping exercise. The terms of reference of that exercise were settled in July 2019. The judge's remit was to advise the then Minister for Justice and now myself as to whether there were any circumstances surrounding the death of Shane O'Farrell that warrant further investigation or inquiry beyond what has already been carried out; whether any inquiry is necessary into the systems and procedures for the s…

I cannot imagine the grief or pain of the O'Farrell family on the loss of their son. I again express my condolences and those of the Government to that family. I know the Deputy is not impugning anyone's integrity but we did ask a retired judge, a person of integrity, to do as the Deputy has suggested, that is, to examine all of the circumstances and to advise me as to whether there are other areas that warrant further investigation or inquiry. I have that report and have sought legal advice on it. The O'Farrell fa…

I thank the Deputy for raising this because it provides me with an opportunity to update the House. I am examining the issue raised in a recent court case very carefully. Government approval has been provided for the drafting of heads of Bill to provide for an amendment to the Children Act 2001 to ensure there are sufficient alternative sentencing options to fully and partially suspended sentences. This legislation is being prepared. The amendments are intended to maximise the alternative sentencing options availab…

The short answer is that it can and should. I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, and I came together on this issue with the Garda and with student unions to roll out an awareness campaign. I now intend to work with the Garda and student unions to do the same again. It is absolutely horrific when this happens to people. It is really important that people are aware. The Deputy is quite right to say that people in the industry need to be aware of their responsibilities and have aware…

I can assure the Deputy at the outset that one letter is a moment in time but everybody in government, across every Government Department and every State agency, is supporting the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth in the incredible challenge of trying to find accommodation, including in my own two Departments. All student accommodation is being offered again during the summer period to help people. The Department of Justice is offering the Thornton Hall site. We have managed to prov…

I thank Deputy Aindrias Moynihan for raising this important matter and keeping in contact with my office about it. This has been a stressful and worrying time for students and staff in the Munster Technological University campuses in Cork. I thank all of the staff in MTU for the incredible and tireless work they have put in over the past ten days in very difficult circumstances. We need to be clear that cybercrime and cyberterrorism are ever-present and growing threats to the safe operation of our institutions. The…

I do not truthfully know the answer to the question on whether this was the first attempt to get into the system. I will try to get it from MTU if it is aware of it. The status of the attack is that the damage is now done and data have been taken. It is now about forensic analysis and providing information to people. The work is ongoing, with the forensic analysis under way. I am pleased the college is back open and I commend MTU staff and students in this regard. A huge body of work went into it. Impacted staff an…

I thank the Senator for raising this important matter. As the Senator knows and as I conveyed to the House earlier, it would not be appropriate for me to provide details on or make reference to specific projects but I can only imagine the difficulty and challenges for workers, as Senator Gallagher outlined. I think of them and their families. I understand his request for clarification for them. It seems to me that a number of the issues raised may be relevant for certain labour rights bodies, other organisations, w…

I thank the Senator. I will certainly undertake to liaise with appropriate colleagues in the Cabinet, as I know the Senator will do. I will certainly be happy to help facilitate it, as appropriate. What motivated my decision to seek Government approval to close the immigrant investment programme to new applicants, effective from the close of business tomorrow, Wednesday, 15 February, was very clear, emphatic advice to me from officials in the Department of Justice to the effect that the scheme has served its purpos…

I thank Deputy Conway-Walsh for the question. As I know the Deputy is aware, the Higher Education Authority, HEA, has now completed the first stage of an expression of interest process for higher education institutions interested in building capacity in dentistry, pharmacy, medicine, nursing, and veterinary medicine. The second stage of this process has now commenced with the recent announcement by the Higher Education Authority of the appointment of an expert advisory panel to review the opportunities for new prog…

I accept the Deputy's challenge. When I became Minister, the view, not just in my Department but also in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, was that we had enough spaces, which I thought was kind of crazy. The only place providing veterinary medicine at the moment is University College Dublin and, as the Deputy quite correctly said, as we have discussed on many occasions before, quite a number of Irish students are studying abroad. By way of example, 208 Irish students are enrolled in a veterinary …

We will get it right because I would imagine the best people to tell us what is needed in terms of veterinary qualifications are the chief veterinary officer and the Veterinary Council of Ireland and they are on the panel. I would not be so rude or arrogant to suggest that I or indeed other individuals with views on this outside the House know better than they do. I have very clearly outlined in the answer that there is an accreditation process. Even after the HEA process does its work, there is still an accreditat…

As I am conscious this is the first time we have had an opportunity to take questions on fees in college since the passing of Deputy Ó Ríordáin's colleague, and our former Minister for Education, Niamh Bhreathnach, I take this opportunity to pay tribute to her and extend my condolences to her family, friends, to her Labour Party family and to the Deputy. Anytime we talk about fees, I am conscious of her very strong legacy. While the Deputy and I might debate how best to get there, we share a view that we need to do…

I take the point the Deputy has made. In an ideal world this is an area I would like to move on. I am constrained by the decision that we made to hinge this on the free fees initiative. I must be honest; a number of students fell outside the qualifying criteria, namely, students attending private colleges or colleges that do not qualify for free fees or who repeated a year in the same course or a different one. It is a thread that if I pull has more budgetary consequences than one might think looking initially at a…

I am uncomfortable with how repeat students in general are treated by the system because there can be a whole variety of reasons somebody starts one course and wishes to move to another. That is life. Things can happen in somebody's family life and in terms of health. There are reasons people have to move. I have an openness on that. I spoke about a once-off reduction of €1,000, which is true. We have made a permanent reduction of €500 in fees for anyone earning less than €100,000 in terms of family income. That is…

I am happy to come back on that issue and engage with the Deputy. There needs to be absolute clarity on that. I want to deal with the student accommodation question first. I am actively aware of and working to address the difficulties faced by students. While I understand the Deputy's question refers to a lack of agreement on Government support, I have to make the point that this is the first time in the history of the State that the Government has intervened directly, for better or worse, to part fund, with taxpay…

The rent-a-room scheme is included in the rent credit.

On-campus college accommodation is included and everybody else needs to be registered with the RTB. That has always been my understanding. I am happy to clarify that and work through that with the Deputy. That was certainly my understanding but I am very happy to seek clarity that my understanding is correct but that has always been my understanding concerning the rent-a-room scheme. Landlords need to be registered with the RTB for very good reasons, including the protection of tenants. An issue raised with me by U…