Micheál Martin

It is not, really. It is also sending a signal that we have asylum laws for people who genuinely need asylum, not for everyone who comes in. A lot of economic migrants come in who should be applying for work permits. That is the point. Deputy Lawless followed up on the costs ballooning. We have obligations. There has been a significant inflationary cycle but we are reducing the numbers in hotels …

Apologies. Deputy Connolly raised the issue of local area disadvantage. I accept his point that health figures are not as good, by definition, in areas of disadvantage. It is extremely important, both on the education and health fronts. In education, we have a successful DEIS programme. We are now looking at DEIS plus. The Minister was at the Cabinet today signalling a move to DEIS plus for areas …

I propose to take questions Nos. 13 to 19, inclusive, together. On Thursday, 27 February I met President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Shannon Airport during a scheduled stopover on his way to Washington. We had a warm and substantial meeting. We discussed the most recent developments with regard to the situation in Ukraine. I reiterated Ireland's steadfast support for Ukraine and its people as they co…

I again thank all the Deputies who contributed. Deputy Bacik spoke about the European Union membership of Ukraine. We were one of the steadfast early supporters of Ukraine's membership of the European Union, believing it would end a vacuum geopolitically, create its own implicit security for Ukraine and also enable it to be a full participant in the economic benefits and basic liberties that go wi…

It is not.

For people who live in Estonia, Poland, Lithuania or Latvia, the daily fear and number one overriding consideration is whether they continue to exist as a sovereign country, and how they protect their territorial integrity, because of what history has taught them, what they have experienced historically and what they fear. The Deputy cannot tell them what they should be afraid of, no more than I c…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 20 to 30, inclusive, together. The Government has established Cabinet committees across a range of policy areas: economy, trade and competitiveness; housing; infrastructure; climate action and energy; disability; health; EU and international affairs; justice, migration and social affairs; water quality; Northern Ireland; and children and education. Issues relating…

I thank all the Deputies who contributed. I congratulate Deputy Cleere and join him in his comments on the camogie teams from Kilkenny and Carlow. I note his heartfelt concern about Cork's defeat on Sunday and the sincerity of how he expressed it. The season is young yet. There is a theme all around the House of the need to deploy as many gardaí as possible in rural Ireland as well as the big ci…

One often wonders whether local solutions in terms of accommodation could have been resolved. I do not know but I will talk to the Minister for education about the school and what the issue is there. Is it school transport we are primarily talking about here?

They have been hit twice in that respect, both in not getting a place in the first place and then not getting transport. I hear Deputy Cahill loud and clear in terms of the need to accelerate the regeneration schemes in a variety of villages in Kerry. I think he referred to Killorglin and Dingle, and there are many more. I want to say publicly that I note his recent correspondence to me as well. …

It does not work the same way.

Ní aontaím leis an Teachta in aon chor. Níl an ceart aici. Tá níos mó déanta ag an Rialtas seo i dtaobh costas maireachtála agus an brú a ísliú agus a laghdú do chosmhuintir na hÉireann ná aon rialtas eile ar fud na hEorpa. Tá sé sin soiléir ón méid tacaíochta a thugamar sa cháinaisnéis a bhí againn an Deireadh Fómhair seo caite. Is léir sin. I disagree fundamentally with the Deputy's presentation…

I know the Deputy dismisses people on social welfare. She has just done so.

To be fair to her party, it moves along the spectrum from time to time in terms of the political narrative. The point, of course, is that what I did say was that provision has been made across the board in terms of taxation measures, the social protection code-----

-----and milestone and significant breakthrough initiatives. Every child going to school in this country now has free books.

If the Deputy had said that to me three or four years ago, she would not have believed we would do it but we did. We have also significantly expanded the hot school meal programme. These are universal, long-lasting programmes that are now embedded in the public expenditure programme. I recall the Deputy in high dudgeon when we were doing the cost-of-living packages, saying they were once-off measu…

Just because the Deputy says something does not mean it is true. What I said to her on the most recent occasion she raised this issue, when she said she had read the programme for Government, was that the whole agenda was to create a narrative and presentation that this new Government, which is just a few months old, is somehow-----

Will the Deputy allow me to answer the question without the heckling and interrupting?

I know Sinn Féin's bona fides in climate change is exemplary. The presentation of the narrative by Deputy Bacik is to characterise the Government as being somehow not in favour of measures to address climate change. Nothing could be further from the truth. The bottom line in terms of the climate action plan and the agenda ahead of us is that we are fundamentally committed to renewables and invest…

The Deputy knows that the emissions inventory report of the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, from July 2024 shows a decrease of 6.8% in Ireland's greenhouse gas in 2023 compared with 2022, which itself saw a 1.9% reduction on the previous year. This is the lowest that our greenhouse gas emissions have been in three decades below the 1990 baseline. That is significant given that in that period…

Children's Health Ireland, CHI, commissioned the audit. This is a very serious issue. It is of very serious concern to both the parents of children and to children who might now be teenagers. The audit is in respect of the period 2021 to 2023 and relates to developmental dysplasia. The decision by CHI to commission an audit was made in order to have an independent look at it and make sure that if …

Sorry, it is not your moment.

The generic letter I have seen essentially states that it relates to a follow-up to surgery at Children's Health Ireland to correct developmental dysplasia and that an audit is under way. It also states, in terms of skeletal maturity-----

Please, now. This is not about politics, Deputy.

I am not, now.