I have known the Deputy for a long time. I am aware of the sincerity she brings to the issue. This is not the usual banter that goes on in here. I will meet the woman in question with the Deputy at a time to be decided next week, if we can. I will talk to the officials in the Department to see if a signal can be sent that these are exceptional circumstances. The reply provided to me indicates that there is flexibility and that local authorities can seek to prioritise allocations to households they consider to be mo…

I know the Deputy has a long-term interest in this area. She has been extremely supportive of the scheme. The basic income for the arts pilot research scheme was the number one recommendation by the arts and culture recovery task force during the Covid-19 pandemic. The task force unanimously agreed that a basic income for artists was the best way to help the sector recover after the pandemic and prevent a loss of talent to other sectors. Two impact papers have already been published by the Department, with another …

The Minister has advised me that he will meet shortly with the National Campaign For the Arts, NCFA, to hear its views on the scheme in detail. Department officials met the NCFA on 25 April last. It is important to note that the pilot is a research programme and that no decision has been taken as to the continuation of the basic income for the arts. The research evaluating the impact of the pilot scheme is ongoing. A Government decision will be required on a successor scheme. The pilot and the future of the basic i…

I, too, thank the Deputies for the imaginative legislation they have tabled. The Government recognises the importance of progressing legislation in respect of the right to repair and information on the repairability of certain products. The Deputies have outlined many examples I am well familiar with, in the sense that, when I started out in life, white goods lasted a greater length of time than they do now. The Department is already working to achieve the aforementioned aim. There are a number of key EU developmen…

I appreciate the need for progressing legislation in this area. I thank the speakers who have contributed. We are all at one in terms of its importance and we all share the same objective here. There is a significant recognition of that, particularly on planned obsolesce which all the Deputies have identified, and it is something we need to address. Developments at EU level are already addressing these issues and as such, I have to oppose the Bill at this time to avoid duplication of work and any potential issues t…

I thank the Deputy. He has always been consistent in his interest in this matter. As the Deputy is aware, Ireland has never made any claims to Rockall nor has Ireland ever recognised UK sovereignty claims over Rockall. Accordingly, Ireland has not recognised a 12-nautical-mile territorial sea around it. This remains the position of the Government, and that is well understood in this House. The Government continues to be in regular contact with the relevant Scottish and UK authorities regarding Rockall. Through this…

-----on what the value of the fishery since 2021 has been or could have been.

I am committed to finding a way forward if at all possible. I will continue to work closely with the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Simon Harris. The Deputy is right in saying that the trade and co-operation agreement has implications. It needs to be looked at again for the impact it will have in 2026. I am happy to engage on that basis and to try to involve the matter insofar as is possible in that discussion. I will raise the matter with Commissioner Šefčovič in that regard. I am happy to ha…

I welcome the opportunity to address the House on this important matter. It is a matter of record that a general election was held last November. People had their say and elected those of us who were fortunate enough to be elected. A group of like-minded parties and individuals came together and put together a programme for Government-----

-----that was aimed at addressing the important issues that face Ireland, Europe and the world at a very difficult time. Things have got complicated since. We all understand that, in the aftermath of an election, there can be a period that is difficult for parties who had sought and perhaps expected to gain more but did not. We have been there too. I know what it feels like. However, it is incumbent on all of us to try to work together for the betterment of the Irish people. There is now a challenge that is greater…

Correct.

The Deputy might need to do a bit of training himself.

We need to do a training programme all around the House.

I add my voice of recognition and congratulation on the amazing work that has been done by so many people in responding to what has been a one-in-a-hundred-year event. In the first instance I want to recognise the staff of the ESB and the local authorities and the tremendous amount of voluntary effort that was put in. However, I throw in a word of caution to those seeking to jump on the bandwagon and trying to blame all of this on politicians and on the Government. There are 15 members of the Government. While ther…

I have seen it on social media. I have seen the attacks as if it is just a Government problem.

I support what the previous-----

Sometimes the truth when it is explained-----

-----becomes difficult for the Deputy to explain, which is fine.

Deputy Paul Lawless spoke about the need to have better planning for hubs in place. I know and Deputy O'Donoghue knows there were lots of generators in the mid-west and they were rolled out to homes that needed them - where there were vulnerable patients and they were needed for the purpose of electrical equipment.

Quite frankly, I heard nobody thank anybody for that. I have seen a couple of politicians run around with one or two generators and they thought they had solved the crisis for everybody.