Peter Burke

I thank Deputy Moynihan for his question. My Department is continually monitoring the labour market and the impact of artificial intelligence. We have a number of relevant pieces of research I can cite, including research from the expert group on future skills needs published last year, How AI is transforming the Irish Labour Market. This work highlights the speed at which Ireland is moving in rel…

We are working very closely with all our skills partners and enterprise agencies to ensure training is being delivered in the key sectors that are at risk, namely, graduates, as well as particular cohorts of the employment market like ICT, professional services and legal and financial services. We have a huge amount of skills upgrading to do in those areas. Take the IDA for example. We set out an …

We have updated our digital and AI strategy, which has 80 deliverables, while working right across our skill partners to ensure our citizens are getting that transformational training that makes those jobs sticky. We also have done a huge amount of work on establishing our national skills observatory with the Minister, Deputy Lawless, and his Department of further and higher education to profile t…

I thank Deputy Doherty for his question on an area which is very close to the concern of the Government, which is energy affordability in our country and the ability of households to pay. Something the Government keeps a very close track of is those who are in arrears for 90 days. It is a critical component that shows stress over a period of time. I want to outline what the Government is doing to…

We are acting right now at a record level in the economy, supporting people at the fuel pumps and through reductions in electricity VAT rates. We are supporting people right across the economy to ensure they are not cut off. The Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, has met with all the energy companies and given the Government an assurance that anyone who works with energy companies in relation to th…

We have always acted in the past and we will continue to do so to protect the most vulnerable in society.

I thank Deputy Cian O'Callaghan for his very important question. I fully share the concern he has raised. That is why we have set about conducting an investigation in the Department of enterprise to impartially ascertain the evidence, working with the European Commission and the Swedish authorities, which came forward with additional evidence in the past ten days. We are also working with Aughinis…

I will. I said that we are carrying out an investigation to get the evidence. As a Minister, I cannot make a decision without impartial evidence before me. We are working with the European Commission, which is the competent authority in this regard, to essentially recommend sanctions to the Department of enterprise and the Government. We are the enforcement authority. We carry out the execution of…

Yes, we have spoken to the Ukrainian Government and we have asked it for the evidence it possesses regarding the allegation that is before us. It is currently engaging with the Department in relation to that. That is why I said our investigation is very wide-ranging. It is a genuine investigation to get the evidence. I am working with the Swedish authorities on evidence that has come forward as we…

I thank Deputy Murphy for his question. I am a firm believer in Sláintecare. It is one time when the Oireachtas came together and charted how health policy evolves irrespective of the change of Governments that we have within the country. First of all, the Deputy is quoting from a leaked report, which I have not seen and have no knowledge of. The Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, comm…

First of all, I reiterate I have not seen the report. I do not know when it will be completed. I do not know what version the Deputy has that has been leaked. I do not know whether the Minister has received it yet. The Minister for Health commissioned this report and asked for an investigation into the practices at CHI to ensure there was equity of treatment of patients. The Minister asked for thi…

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I am aware of the many community groups up and down the country that give so much to organising festivals that benefit the wider community and attract significant numbers of visitors to rural areas. A number of Members put queries to me on this issue during the week. The Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, has been doing a lot of work with a numb…

I will revert to the House on this matter. This year, we are under significant pressure in terms of our budgetary perspective. However, we may be able, over the coming years, to look at what is needed to keep running these established festivals and how we can support them. I can commit to having a look at that in the next couple of years to see what my Department can do, together with the Minister…

I thank Deputy O'Sullivan for his important question. We have about 300,000 people in Ireland who are living with rare diseases - about one in seven of the population - which is very significant. We have made commitments in the programme for Government and we are working with the Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, whom I know is very committed in this area. One of the critical areas we …

I will raise this issue with the Minister of Health. As the Deputy pointed out, she is committed and has been meeting families on this. In budgets between 2021 and 2025, an additional €158 million was made available for new drugs and of the 263 new drugs, 72 were new drugs that were licensed in that regard. We also have the rare diseases strategy from 2025 to 2030, which the Government is working …

I thank Deputy Doherty for this important question. It is an area on which I can empathise. Many community groups have given so much of their time to bring in festivals that contribute to the local economy. I spoke with Barry O'Neill about the Rory Gallagher festival earlier this week and the concerns he has, some of which the Deputy outlined. I have to be careful about what I can do as regards co…

No one in this House, in any political party or none, wants to see any child in poverty or deems it acceptable, might I add, that any child would be in poverty. That is why we are doing everything we can as a Government to ensure we are assisting. Let me demonstrate some of the facts. First, regarding the target, in figures produced by the CSO, we have reduced child poverty from 8.5% in 2024 to 7.…

I appreciate the Deputy's contribution. I will raise the matter with the Ministers for education and children. As a Government, we really need to ensure that children get access to early intervention. I know the July provision has been a huge success but we have to do better. I will take the Deputy’s contribution and bring it to the attention of both Ministers.

The Deputy has a significant concern in relation to his constituent who is absolutely waiting too long. I will raise the issue with the Minister for Health. However, we have done a huge amount in relation to primary care improvements and reducing waiting lists. We have had an intervention specifically to reduce waiting lists. I will raise this specific issue which the Minister for Health and bring…

We have had a very strong response to immigration with the asylum and migration pact, which this House has adjudicated on and voted on, and which the Council of State has also adjudicated on. We are now very clear in terms of processing applications quickly in a 12-week period-----

-----ensuring that we have a very strong robust network throughout Europe to deal collectively what immigration. One thing I will not do is lean into people's fears like the Deputy is. I will not validate prejudice like he tried to do.

What I will do is work to ensure-----

I will work with the Minister for justice, Deputy O’Callaghan, and the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, to ensure that we have a firm immigration system-----

------that we have a fair immigration system and one that is hard on traffickers and smugglers, and where we decide the policy ourselves.

I thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue for his area. I will raise it with the Minister in question. I do not have the knowledge of the specific issue in question but will raise it with the Minister and get her to revert to him directly.