Absolutely. I forgot to say in my first answer that I will take a look at the wording of the European Parliament resolution because I am not familiar with it. However, the Deputy is right that when we talk about peace and stability in the Middle East, it is hard, or almost impossible, to have that conversation without also looking at the situation in Iran. While Ireland is neutral and will remain neutral, that means we are militarily unaligned. The principles we have in relation to international law, human rights, …

I thank Deputy Nolan for raising this issue and for the constructive way in which she has gone about it. It is a serious issue. I represent and have lived in County Wicklow all my life. I remember vividly the incident in 2023 when a farmer, Pat Dunne, was beaten up on his own land. I remember meeting with the IFA at Wicklow level and national level. This is a real issue that farmers are grappling with on a constant basis. Yes, there is a balance of rights - of course there is - and we always have to get that right.…

There is an issue here, and potentially a legislative one. That is why we should keep the laws under review. We will engage constructively on the Deputy's Bill, and on any views from the Minister for justice, the Garda and others around the law. There is also an issue of enforcement because we are seeing - I am certainly hearing it more and more - attacks on sheep and the likes. There is a sense that sometimes this is being done to intimidate people to access their land. We all live in the same country and we try t…

I know what side the Government is on. The Deputy is engaging in what our counterpart across the Atlantic Ocean would call "fake news." This Government opposed the Mercosur agreement.

No, Deputy. You had your say. Allow me to speak too. In a democracy, allow me to speak too.

This is not a kangaroo court. You speak and I speak. Thank you. You made an assertion and I am going to answer it very clearly. The Government voted against the Mercosur agreement. There was no vote yesterday in the European Parliament on the Mercosur agreement. Do you know what there should have been? There should have been a "Yes" or "No" vote. What people have done by saying to the courts, "Will you have a look at it?", is injected uncertainty for up to two years for Irish farmers and European farmers, at a time…

Do you know what vote I would have liked to take place yesterday? A "Yes" or "No" vote.

I have never needed, as a parliamentarian, the courts to tell me what way to vote.

I wanted a situation where MEPs of all sides had a chance to vote "Yes" or "No", not run off to the courts for the next two years.

Do not misrepresent our position. We know exactly where we stand. This Government has the backs of farmers but it does not believe in performative politics.

I thank Deputy Ahern for raising this issue. We are going in the wrong direction in relation to road safety. The Deputy's comments are fair. There is a whole multitude of reasons including a level of increased distraction in the car as well as more cars on our roads but there are also legitimate issues around enforcement of existing legislation. It might be useful to find a way very soon in this House to explore how best we can all assist in trying to address this issue. Of course, driver behaviour is an issue but …

It is a very fair point that the Deputy makes and I will certainly speak with the Minister in relation to it. We are all trying to grapple with this in real time. I very much respect, genuinely, Members of this House, public bodies and others that have decided to leave the platform. I can understand why they have done that. Equally and currently in this space, I have decided for the moment to stay on it because it is a pitch I did not want to leave to the malign influences. It is important that we continue to put f…

I thank Deputy Healy for raising the matter of ophthalmology in south Tipperary. I acknowledge it is an issue he has raised in this House previously. I will speak directly to the Minister for Health and ask that she examines the matter with the HSE and reverts to the Deputy.

I have consistently said on the public record that the people's democratically elected representatives across the European Union should never be taken for granted in relation to Mercosur. I have consistently said that. There has been a misrepresentation by some, although not by Deputy Lawless, that it was all about the European Council. Yes, the Council had a vote and Ireland voted "No" but there is a co-decisionmaking power and the European Parliament also has a vote. What I would have much preferred to happen yes…

I thank Deputy Dolan for raising this issue. I would point out that we have made a number of investments to try to assist GPs in making their practices more sustainable in recent times, including a relatively new revision to the GP contract and assistance in terms of staffing for GP practices. One of the models that I am personally quite favourably disposed to, and which is allowed for in the programme for Government, is the idea of salaried GPs. When students come out of medical school and out of GP training they …

I thank Deputy Currie for raising this issue. I acknowledge her work as a vocal advocate for parents and providers and for getting this whole area of childcare right. I think that with all that went on in the world, perhaps it did not get as much attention this week as it merited. We took a very significant step forward this week with the capital investment for public facilities in relation to childcare and I thank the Minister, Deputy Foley, for that too. The issue the Deputy has raised is an important issue becau…

I think the Sinn Féin proposal might be to disband Bord Bia and just let you lads run the organisation. We have a board at Bord Bia and the way State boards work is very clear. They meet, they look at different issues in relation to corporate governance and then they can provide a report to the Minister. That is happening in real time. It is happening as we meet today. I believe in due process. I believe in these issues being considered. Conflicts of interest, real or perceived, are important governance issues, abs…

I thank Deputy Callaghan for raising this issue and bringing people into this debate because this is a real issue and we want to support carers right across this country. Carers are doing incredible work. They are also saving this State an absolute fortune and I acknowledge that as well. I am pleased to say that the programme for Government commitment we have given to abolish the means test over the lifetime of the Government is well under way. The last budget saw the largest ever increase in the carer's allowance …

You mentioned a lot of counties there. Deputy Clendennen nearly jumped over the seat when you said Offaly.

You did not mention Wicklow, which I appreciate. The point is a serious one because we quite rightly have a Department of rural and community affairs and it is doing very good work. We have a number of schemes as well. There are obviously issues in areas of particularly fast-growing populations and areas of increased population density. Dublin as a city and a county, and I would go as far to say the greater Dublin area, does have particular pressures in terms of population growth as well. There is never an exact sc…