We have increased the fuel allowance by €5. We have also extended it to more than 50,000 households, including people on the working family payment – the clue is in the name: the working family payment. Some 460,000 households will now benefit from the fuel allowance, more than a quarter of the households in the country. That is a practical measure that we took in the budget. On top of that, to answer the Deputy's question directly, we have taken a very specific measure against the energy companies and price gougin…

-----for those on renewable energy.

Deputy Gould, maybe one day they will give you a go at Leaders' Questions but today it is Mairéad so please let her do it. To try to help people with the cost of energy, we have applied a zero rate of VAT on the installation of solar panels, something people look for. We have reduced the rate of VAT on low emission heat pump heating systems. We have increased the number of additional needs payments. Energy costs are real, absolutely, and that is why we took a number of practical measures to help people in the budge…

That is just not true. I just told the Deputy what we are doing. She asked a very important question on a very important issue. The whole assertion of her question and the premise behind it was that we did nothing on energy. She stood up, and the record of the Dáil will show it, and said we did not reduce tax. I am telling her that we reduced value added tax on energy bills for the next five years in the budget. That is an error – one cannot use the L word in here, but it was the first mistruth the Deputy told. Sec…

I want to address the Deputy's first point on Donaghmede. I join with her in rightly acknowledging the very difficult, challenging, stressful and sometimes dangerous environment in which our care workers find themselves. None of us can fully comprehend the most horrific, tragic and saddening situation care workers endured yesterday. I want to join with the Deputy in paying tribute to them. I also agree with her that there will, obviously, need to be full answers and transparency in relation to all the procedures an…

I assure the Deputy that there is an urgency on our part in this regard. I agree with her - I do not want to say it is not just a social issue because social issues are important - but it is also an economic issue that there are people at home today or who are changing their working hours or working arrangements, not out of choice but out of a lack of access to childcare in a way that works for them, their working patterns and their lives and families. It is a social and economic issue that disproportionately impac…

I have never heard the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, trashing anybody; it is generally not the way he operates. The issue is very important. The Deputy asked me to try to untangle it. In my mind it is quite clear. The Taoiseach, the Government, Members across this House and people across the country are very committed to the issue of climate action. I was sitting here beside the Taoiseach when he delivered his budget speech. I read at the time some of the coverage of his comments from his meeting at Stripe and so forth…

I need to get the Deputy the exact figure, which I can do once I leave the Chamber, but yes, we will hit the target. It is an important target. I acknowledge the important role that the Deputy's part played in government, including the former Minister Eamon Ryan, as he was at that time. We are committed to it and on track to hit that target. I will get the Deputy the number for the specific allocation. We are at crucial moment in relation to climate action. There is a need to accelerate and pick up pace. There is a…

The Deputy raises an interesting point. He has raised somewhat similar points about inheritance tax and the likes in the past as well. It is about fairness and equality in how our tax systems, schemes and the likes treat people. It is a debate that is genuinely worth having and it is certainly thought-provoking. It is quite a technical and complex area. Obviously Deputies do not have to give notice of the issues coming up on Leader's Questions, so allow me to do my best on it. Should we have a conversation about it…

Like I said, these are debates worth having because the composition of families and households has changed significantly in our country in relatively recent times. Sometimes schemes and legislation can take time to catch up with that changing reality. These are always issues that we, as legislators and policymakers, should scrutinise. When that opt-out was ended quite a number of years ago, long before my time in government, the grounds were also expanded to include more categories through which more people could b…

That is a new one for me but I will take that away because we need new, novel and important ideas. I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. My comments relating to Donaghmede stand in the sense that it is a deeply tragic, upsetting and a very serious incident. It merits full investigation in the first instance by the gardaí and that is under way and more broadly regarding safeguarding protocols. I join with the Deputy and everyone in thinking of the staff and the very difficult situation they endured and those wor…

The Deputy has never been lacking in ability to get attention but it is good to have him back in this House. I am glad he is back safe and well. I thank him for his kind words for our Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW and I am pleased to see the progress. I had the chance to speak to both Deputy Heneghan and Deputy Ó Muirí last night regarding some of the progress being made in Clontarf and we need to see a lot more of that. On the private wires Bill, let me ask the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, to come…

I thank Deputy Farrell for raising this issue. It is horrific to hear of anyone experiencing that. The Deputy said that she has heard of another case today but she said that she has heard of many cases. I will ask the Minister for Finance to consider this matter to see what further safeguards are needed regarding this and also how we can get beyond people talking to bots when they are looking for information. I will ask the Minister to come back to the Deputy on this matter.

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter on behalf of Willow and her parents. The Minister of State with responsibility for disability, Deputy Naughton, is sitting beside me. She is very happy to talk to the Deputy about this. I am pleased that Willow finally got her assessment. In the budget last week, we significantly increased the money to use private capacity for assessments but I acknowledge that is for the assessment. There is then the issue of accessing the therapies. We have seen a very significant increa…

Yes, is the short answer. I go further than that and say we would be interested in working with the Deputy and across the House in relation to this. I am conscious that this is an area in which the Deputy has expertise and a significant background. It sounds like she met a number of other experts too. I am very concerned about this area in terms of the impact on our democracy, on our children and on public safety in general. Social media and digital media is a good thing but the regulation is not where it needs to …

I am a bit frustrated by this myself as I am often asked this question and I have to give the same answer. The Minister of State, Deputy John Cummins, has responsibility for this and is doing very good work on it. I am very grateful to him for that. We need to see these guidelines. I have to be honest that when we see the guidelines not everyone will be delighted with them, I am sure, but we still need to provide a degree of clarity as to what the planning landscape looks like from a guidelines point of view in ter…

I thank Deputy Collins for raising this matter. I want to pay tribute to Vera Twomey because if she was watching this she would be the first to say that she and I had a very testy relationship at the start. However, I very quickly realised that Vera was a mum who would do anything for her child. I think of poor Vera and the late Ava today. They changed Ireland in terms of the reforms that were brought about. I remember signing the licence for Ava to get access to medicinal cannabis in order to bring her some degree…

I know Deputy Daly has a professional background in this as a doctor, which is important to acknowledge. The Minister's only interest, and I know it is that of the Deputy and everybody in the area, is the safety and well-being of expectant mothers and their babies. We all share that view and we all want to get that right. I remember the Walker report. I think I was the Minister for Health at the time when it was commissioned. It was seen as an important and seminal moment and it does need to be fully implemented. I…

I thank the Deputy for bringing up this issue and her ongoing work on this with the Minister, Deputy Peter Burke. I thank the Minister for his work on this as well. The programme for Government is very clear on this. It says that the Government will "Ensure sufficient employment permits to support the agri food sector including the equine, dairy, horticulture, fish and food processing industries". We have given a commitment to do more to assist this industry by making sure there are sufficient employment permits. I…

It is breaking my heart to think about all these schools, which were in my constituency before Wicklow was carved into two. The Deputy is minding them in the Wicklow-Wexford constituency until we are one day reunited. Tinahely National School is a school I know well. I will certainly work with the Deputy and Mr. O'Connor constructively on this matter. I will ask the Department and the Minister to come back to the Deputy. Coláiste Bhríde in Carnew is a large and growing school. I am aware of its expansion in recent …