I am sharing time with Deputy Harkin and we will have five minutes each. I want to ask a question and I would like the Tánaiste to respond before Deputy Harkin takes over. I want to talk about the murder of George Floyd, which has been mentioned already by a number of Members. It is a serious situation that has struck an awful lot of people, as the Tánaiste knows and as has been seen in recent days. George Floyd was one of more than 1,000 people who were killed by police in America since 2015. It is not an isolated…

It is a strange debate around this Estimates procedure. Basically, it is a historical procedure that we have here. None of the payments is current or anything like that. This debate goes on. However, it does point to a couple of matters and these have been touched on by other Members as well. It refers to the changes that will take place in the next couple of weeks in respect of the PUP and the TWSS. Maybe the Minister is in a difficult position because she will soon no longer be Minister and does not want to budge…

It is hard to follow that. Deputy Harkin and I will take five minutes each. There are two topics about which I wish to ask questions, and then Deputy Harkin will take over. Mention was made earlier of offshore wind power and its potential. The Minister mentioned a target of 3 GW by 2030. One of the biggest barriers to the development of offshore wind generation is the lack of proper foreshore legislation. I know that is not the Minister's responsibility, rather that of the Department with responsibility for the env…

I realised as I was listening to the contributions that one of the matters I intended to raise probably falls under the Office of Public Works, OPW, rather than the Minister's Department. That might indicate the problem with heritage in Ireland: much of it is the responsibility of the OPW while other areas are the responsibility of the Department and so on. I will come to that in a few minutes. Deputy Paul Murphy raised the issue of the National Famine Commemoration Day. It is vitally important and should be consid…

How can we compete with that?

I wish to ask the Minister two questions. I will use some of the five minutes and then Deputy Harkin can take the rest of the time. My first question concerns the insurance business and insurance costs. The Minister outlined in his responses earlier that he was meeting the banks and insurance companies and so on and outlining to them that he wanted them to deal with insurance costs. I was wondering specifically about people who are looking to make a claim. For example, I have one letter from an insurance company to…

Yes, but the Government should respond to business people with answers to those questions in order that they can then put those responses forward as part of the claim.

My final question concerns a totally different issue, that is, aviation fuel and the fact that it is exempt from tax. I know that now will be a difficult time for the airlines restarting, and that has to be considered, but in terms of fuel usage the airlines are very large contributors to the overall climate change issue, and that also needs to be taken into account. Now might be an opportune time to introduce an aviation fuel tax to ensure that the airlines, when they start up, start up with a realistic cost.

We are spoiled for choice in terms of bee days. The Minister has responded to questions on the July provision and said that meetings are taking place. It is vitally important that the organisations are happy with what is proposed. I hope the Department will go towards meeting that. There must also be a move to expand the July provision. Children who have special needs have been out of the school setting for so long. I hope the Minister will take that on board when dealing with the issue. Deputy Harkin referred to t…

They will be at the heart of it. Is that what the Minister is saying?

I am sharing time with Deputies Harkin and McNamara. There are two issues I wish to raise. The Taoiseach will have time to respond to my questions before we move to the other members of my group. Deputy Mattie McGrath referred to testing. It is very frustrating that consistently positive news is being given regarding testing when we know the situation is different. Like many other Deputies, I take part in Skype meetings with the HSE at which we are supposed to be given a full run-down on what is happening and get a…

I am going to ask some questions and then hand over to Deputy McNamara, with five minutes per session. I said this earlier to the Taoiseach, but it has to be said again. Regarding testing and the testing regime, we are getting fed a load of BS, as has been mentioned by other Members across the board. I think we are because I know of cases - and I have not looked for these - in the nursing homes tested on the very first day the nursing home blitz was done, when the Army went into nursing homes and did the testing, a…

If we got a result, that would be something.

I have two questions for the Minister. At the beginning of his contribution, he referred to the fact that there have been 54 deaths on the roads so far this year. That is shocking when one considers the reduction in traffic on the roads. That should be said an awful lot more. The Minister also stated that tests for drink-driving and drug-driving have increased significantly and the number of people being caught has also increased significantly. Is it the case that there is more enforcement following the increase in…

I wish to share time with Deputy McNamara.

You are leaving the best to last, as always, a Cheann Comhairle, so it is not so bad.

The debate has been very interesting. It also has been interesting to listen to the Minister's responses and those of his Department to the crisis as it has been unfolding. In his initial comments he spoke about how the bodies enabled him to prepare for and deal with the crisis very early. He said that it was through their foresight that he was able to foresee what was happening and was able to deal with it. There could be lessons for other Departments in that regard. Right through the crisis, very often it has bee…

I wish to share time with Deputy Catherine Connolly.

There is a saying that one should never waste the opportunity provided by a crisis. It certainly seems that is what the European Union is going to do throughout this crisis. The Taoiseach said earlier that what we should see coming out of this is a fully functioning Single Market. I would love to know what he means by that and if he would explain it to the House because it is a very interesting statement. What I take it to mean, and what I take the judgment of the German constitutional court to mean, is that we wil…

I want to go back to what the Minister of State said about a fully functioning Single Market. The Taoiseach mentioned that he considers that a referendum would be required to implement change to that. Does a fully functioning Single Market include fiscal powers for the eurozone? What is the Government's stance on that?