The report of the Business Committee has been circulated and may be taken as read. Are the proposed arrangements for this week's business agreed to?
An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business
They are not agreed.
I call Deputy Doherty.
Go raibh maith agat a Cheann Comhairle. Late last night, in an attempt that now characterises this Government's approach to accountability, we had the internal report into the rule-breaking champagne party in the Department of Foreign Affairs given to the media. This is an internal report that did not even interview the man in charge. Why? Because the Minister ensured the terms of reference he drafted ensured he was outside the scope of the review. This is typical of a Minister who is out of touch, who has been at the helm for too long and whose judgment has been called into question more and more often. On the media this morning the Minister, Deputy Coveney, said he is accountable to this House and it is here he will answer questions. Will the Taoiseach move swiftly to ensure the Minister comes before the House this week to make a statement and answer questions on this affair?
I call Deputy Boyd Barrett.
Since we agreed the Order of Business last week we have had the really shocking announcement of the Government's bloody-minded insistence on going back to a traditional leaving certificate, which ignores the clear call of leaving certificate students for an alternative. Before that decision is finalised we need to have a serious discussion in this House, because there are alternatives. I heard the Taoiseach say earlier that we have not outlined our alternatives. Give us the chance to do so in the House this week. We have set out clearly our view the leaving certificate should be scrapped and that it is an unfair gatekeeping exercise limiting access to higher and further education. Let us discuss that. Has the Government looked seriously at it? Has it looked at expanding the places in further and higher education to do away with the need for the pointless-----
I thank the Deputy; his time is up.
-----and stressful leaving certificate.
His time is up.
Will the Taoiseach allow for a debate on the leaving certificate and the options and alternatives for students?
I understand we will have question time with the Minister for Education this evening. I call Deputy Michael Collins.
I thank the Ceann Comhairle. We saw last week that the military exercise by the Russians off the south-west coast of Ireland was moved outside the exclusive economic zone, EEZ, only after the intervention of our fishermen with the Russians. We need a full debate on this issue in the Dáil on how, as with Brexit, our Government stood idly by while these fishermen's lives and livelihoods were in jeopardy. It is astonishing, to say the least, and has left the nation in hysterics, that the country's political system failed the fishermen and they had to go out there themselves and sort the issue out. Will the Taoiseach allow us to debate where the Government went wrong on this issue this week in the Dáil?
I call Deputy Naughten.
I will be brief, a Cheann Comhairle. There is huge anxiety out there among leaving certificate students. The way they were informed last night, namely, via social media, was not the way they should have been. This Chamber, Dáil Éireann, should have a proper debate. Let the Minister for Education come and outline exactly the detail that has been presented to her and let us explore some of the practical options that could ease the anxiety for students. As I said here last week, we should be looking at an alternative model that is neither the current approach or the hybrid one but one that eases the anxiety of students. We should be given the opportunity to have that debate.
I thank Deputy Naughten. There is nobody else. I call on the Taoiseach to reply.
First, Deputy Doherty has called on me, I think, to instigate an independent investigation into what happened in the Department of Foreign Affairs when we won our seat on the UN Security Council.
I am satisfied with the investigation that has taken place and I will not be doing that. While I was not in government at the time, I have been very clear since this event was brought to my attention that it was wrong and should not have happened. Those involved have apologised. I am genuinely taken aback by Deputy Doherty's tone and attitude on this matter. He is the deputy leader of a party that invited almost 2,000 members and supporters onto the streets of Belfast and then to a political rally, in essence, in Milltown Cemetery at a time when the ordinary men and women he spoke about-----
The Taoiseach is comparing a funeral to a champagne party. Scandalous.
(Interruptions).
The Taoiseach, without interruption.
-----that is, everybody else on the island, were limited to 30 people at a funeral.
The Taoiseach will stand over any Fine Gael-----
Sinn Féin had people lining the streets in uniform, while the ordinary men and women Deputy Doherty talked about were distraught because they could not attend the funeral of their loved ones.
The Taoiseach will stand over any crony appointment, or any pay raise or whatever it takes-----
The Deputy's party was being investigated by the police for four months-----
-----but he will not actually do the decent thing.
-----for breaches of the criminal law.
That comment should be withdrawn.
The point is that everybody with eyes in their head could see what happened. That funeral took place only weeks after the event Deputy Doherty is raising such a huge issue about. To the best of my knowledge-----
Is the Minister coming to the House?
-----the Deputy and his organisation have never admitted that they were wrong in what they did, but they lecture everybody else. There is one law for Sinn Féin and a different law for everybody else when it comes to this.
(Interruptions).
Will the Deputies please let the Taoiseach respond?
How long is the Ceann Comhairle going to give him to respond? He has not responded. He is talking about the funeral of somebody who passed away two years ago.
I do not like having to do that.
No. The Taoiseach actually took plenty of joy in that.
The Deputy keeps going on. I do not like having to do that.
The Taoiseach does not care that there is a grieving family in the middle of this.
I do care.
The Taoiseach's attempt to compare a champagne party with the funeral of a friend is disgraceful.
It is shameful.
It is.
(Interruptions).
Can we all hold on a minute? I said last week that if this constant interruption continues, I will suspend the House. If Deputies want me to do so, they should continue to interrupt, but I think we will do the courteous thing and hear the Taoiseach out. He has three minutes in which to respond.
The Taoiseach made a very provocative statement, in fairness. It was an outrageous statement. What does the Ceann Comhairle expect us to do?
It seems the only people who can call foul, criticise or say others have created a scandal are those in the Sinn Féin Party. I am telling home truths.
If the Taoiseach wants to go into the muck-----
I do not like doing it. I have to do it.
-----he should expect to be rebuffed.
What went on in respect of the Department of Foreign Affairs event was the wrong thing to do. Those involved are public servants involved have given long service to this State. They have admitted they were wrong and have apologised for one minute's breach of the social guidance. It pales into insignificance by comparison with what Sinn Féin organised. That is the bottom line. That is what I am saying and that is all I have to say about it. I am not revisiting the issue any more. I ask Deputy Doherty not to be so hypocritical in his response.
(Interruptions).
In response to Deputy Boyd Barrett, there are questions this evening-----
Can we get an answer to the question?
The Deputy should resume his seat.
On a point of order-----
There is no point of order.
-----will the Minister come to the House to answer questions? This is the House that keeps the Minister accountable.
The Deputy should resume his seat.
The Minister for Education will be in the House this evening-----
We need a specific discussion on this.
-----to answer questions on the leaving certificate. We will talk to the Whip to see if, at some later date this week, a debate can be organised on the leaving certificate. I take Deputy Denis Naughten's point that a debate, where people can bring their different perspectives to the table fully, would be useful and important. I have no issue with that. The Minister will be in the House this evening to answer questions and, I presume, there will be a number of questions on the leaving certificate.
(Interruptions).
Deputy Michael Collins raised the issue of the work of our fisherman in respect of their diplomacy with the Russian ambassador. I understand that one of the key fishermen involved thanked the Minister, Deputy Coveney, for his intervention. Apparently, they were at one regarding the successful outcome of the representations made by the Minister and our fishermen.
I have a point of order. This is not to be provocative, but I-----
There is no point of order on this matter.
There is.
No, there is not. The Deputy does not decide whether there is a point of order. I do. There is no point of order.
Can we get clarity? Is the Minister to come to the House?
I have no power or authority under Standing Orders to direct the Taoiseach to give the Deputy any particular answer.
Can I ask the question again because the Taoiseach answers-----
Does the Deputy want to change Standing Orders? We have conducted-----
We are supposed to hold the Minister to account.
Excuse me. We have done our business in accordance with the procedures set down. The question now is whether the proposal for the week's business is agreed to.
(Interruptions).
I would like clarity on whether the Taoiseach is going facilitate the Minister coming to the Chamber or not, because he avoided the question.
No, no.
Has the Taoiseach agreed to a debate on the leaving certificate? I want clarity on that.
He said he would talk to the Whip with a view to organising it.
Yes. I will arrange it with the Whip.
On the same point, has the Taoiseach agreed to the Minister for Foreign Affairs coming in to answer questions on his role?
I said that we are not revisiting the issue as far as I am concerned.
It is not agreed.
The report stands.
The Minister will not come to the Chamber to answer questions.
Regardless of the Minister does, the report stands. It is not being revisited.
It is not about the report. Will the Taoiseach facilitate the Minister coming to answer questions in this House, which he said on "Morning Ireland" he would do?
If he does, that is fine.
Please, Deputy. It is as clear as day that the Taoiseach is saying: "No, the Minister won't be brought in to answer questions on this matter." That is what the Taoiseach is saying.
Is the proposal for dealing with this week's business agreed to?
It is not agreed.
Question put: "That the proposal for dealing with this week's business be agreed to."
The Dáil divided: Tá, 26; Níl, 18; Staon, 0.
Tá
- Bruton, Richard.
- Burke, Colm.
- Byrne, Thomas.
- Canney, Seán.
- Carey, Joe.
- Carroll MacNeill, Jennifer.
- Chambers, Jack.
- Cowen, Barry.
- Durkan, Bernard J.
- Farrell, Alan.
- Flaherty, Joe.
- Flanagan, Charles.
- Fleming, Sean.
- Haughey, Seán.
- Higgins, Emer.
- Martin, Micheál.
- McAuliffe, Paul.
- Murphy, Verona.
- Naughten, Denis.
- O'Connor, James.
- O'Dowd, Fergus.
- O'Gorman, Roderic.
- O'Sullivan, Christopher.
- Ó Cathasaigh, Marc.
- Richmond, Neale.
- Smyth, Ossian.
Níl
- Brady, John.
- Cairns, Holly.
- Collins, Michael.
- Daly, Pa.
- Farrell, Mairéad.
- Gannon, Gary.
- Harkin, Marian.
- Kelly, Alan.
- Kenny, Martin.
- Mac Lochlainn, Pádraig.
- McDonald, Mary Lou.
- Mitchell, Denise.
- Mythen, Johnny.
- Nolan, Carol.
- Pringle, Thomas.
- Ryan, Patricia.
- Smith, Duncan.
- Tully, Pauline.
Staon
Tellers: Tá, Deputies Jack Chambers and Marc Ó Cathasaigh; Níl, Deputies Pádraig Mac Lochlainn and Denise Mitchell.
Question declared carried.
There are 17 questions listed for Questions on Promised and we have 20 minutes. If Members limit themselves to 30 seconds for the question and 30 seconds for the answer, we will probably get through them all. If they do not, we will not get through them.
The Taoiseach met with the Women of Honour group yesterday. They had hoped to convince him that Government is taking the wrong approach to cases of rape, sexual assault, bullying and harassment of women within the Defence Forces. Sadly, however, they were left feeling deflated and disappointed following the meeting. The group are correct in saying that the review that has been proposed by Government is flawed and entirely unfit for purpose. Their call for an independent statutory inquiry that is removed from the Department of Defence is warranted and is in the best interests of truth and justice. They said they tried to persuade the Taoiseach of this necessity, but that he was not for turning. That is most unfortunate. These women have been to hell and back. They cannot and will not tolerate a whitewash. I want to invite the Taoiseach to establish the independent investigative process that is necessary.
I thank the Deputy for raising question. I had a good meeting yesterday with the Women of Honour group. I am also open to meeting with other stakeholders and other groups with whom the Minister for Defence, Deputy Coveney, would have met in relation to this. They have been through a lot of trauma. There is no question about that. They are clear that they want cultural change within our Defence Forces in relation to assault as well as in the hierarchical nature of our Defence Forces in terms of how complaints are dealt with, particularly those that involve violence against women, sexual assault and the subsequent isolation of women who raise issues and who are then not considered for promotional opportunities and so on. Essentially, because they raise issues, they effectively get punished. That was the basic tenet of the presentation.
The review currently being decided on by Government is independent with a judge independent of the political system.
The Taoiseach’s time is up.
A statutory inquiry has not been ruled out. I have made that clear. We have had examples in the past where scoping reviews proved effective. Eventually, if the Government takes a decision to go down that particular route, this work will be important.
The Taoiseach’s predecessor, the current Tánaiste, set up a Cabinet subcommittee on national security, but the Taoiseach got rid of it. Why did he get rid of it? Recent events have shown us the real and serious concerns we have as a nation in modern times about security in all its facets. I say, “Well done” to Patrick Murphy and all his colleagues in west Cork for what they have achieved over the last number of weeks. However, we cannot outsource our security, whether that is online, offline, on land or on sea. We cannot outsource it.
The cyberattack on the HSE has shown our digital weaknesses. The Taoiseach set up a senior committee on national security, which does not have the Minister for Defence, the Minister for Justice, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Taoiseach or the Tánaiste on it. The Taoiseach got rid of the Cabinet subcommittee on security. When will the report on the Commission on the Defence Forces be published? Will he, on the foot of my request now, re-establish the Cabinet subcommittee on security?
I hope the report will be brought to the Government shortly. That will be an important report for the broader defence and security debate that we need in this House in respect of the modern threats to any country that are not just military but, as the Deputy said, are in the realms of cybersecurity, terrorism and so on.
There are significant issues on which we have to deliver. I did not get rid of any committees-----
You did. It does not exist anymore.
-----and we established a range of policy committees.
That is just a fact.
Please, Deputy.
I have regular contacts-----
It existed as part of the previous Government and does not exist in this one. That is just a fact.
The bottom line is that we are briefed on national security issues but there is a need for broader debate.
The programme for Government committed to reviewing the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 in 2021. This deadline has already been missed. I welcome the appointment of an independent chair for the review but there is still considerable confusion about the nature of the process and its timeline. All we have heard about is the very limited budget of €60,000. We need a real review that examines the lived experience of women who have been forced to travel abroad for care, who have had to wait unnecessarily for three days and who faced other barriers, as well as the experiences of service providers. The programme for Government also commits to establishing exclusion zones but the spring legislative schedule shows that the Bill introducing safe zones has not moved forward in the past year. Instead, the Together for Safety group is working with Senators to progress a Bill in this area as the Government is failing. What is the status of the repeal review and the Government's plans on safe access zones?
I thank Deputy Cairns for raising this important issue. As part of the first phase of the review, information and evidence on the operation of the Act will be collected from women who used the services and from health professionals who provide them. The views of the public will also be sought. There will be three elements to the first phase of the review, including public consultation, and a detailed examination of the views and experiences of service users, women and their partners. Research to inform the service users strand is being carried out by Dr. Catherine Conlon, who is progressing a large qualitative study to investigate unplanned pregnancy and abortion care. This study was commissioned by the HSE's sexual health and crisis pregnancy programme and will generate an in-depth understanding of the experiences of women who have accessed abortion care services since the commencement of the Act. A request for tenders to carry out research into the views of service providers has been published on e-tenders. The objective of this strand of the review is to ascertain the experiences of service providers in delivering the services for termination of pregnancy in the community and hospital sector. The second phase of the review will be led by an independent chair. I will ask the Minister for Health to engage with the Deputy on the issue and I will talk to him about the points she has raised.
I raise the matter of orthopaedic surgery waiting lists. I am not sure if the Taoiseach saw the reports over the weekend about a little girl called Ava Cahill. She has spina bifida and has been waiting more than a year and a half for corrective surgery. You would need a heart of stone not to be moved by Ava's situation. There are other children like Ava in Ireland waiting for corrective surgery. There is a crisis at the moment in orthopaedic surgery. Even the top leading surgeon in the country has said that the care provided is inadequate. He spoke with huge passion at the Joint Committee on Health last November about children who are suffering unnecessarily. The Government has a responsibility to address this with resources and not let these children suffer needlessly.
I fully accept what the Deputy is saying about orthopaedic waiting lists, particularly for children who require surgery, be that for spina bifida or scoliosis. Very substantial funding has been provided. Covid-19 unfortunately had an impact on waiting lists in 2020 and 2021 but there are plans to increase capacity in the existing orthopaedic centres and at Cappagh, the national orthopaedic hospital, to support paediatric orthopaedic services. That will form part of the 2022 waiting list action plan. We are going to have to concentrate very quickly on those who are waiting too long for urgent surgery.
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy McConalogue, is travelling to Ros an Mhíl to announce a very welcome €25 million investment to help capitalise on our massive offshore energy opportunities. While the Russians are holding the EU over a barrel regarding gas supplies, thus taming the EU approach not just to Ukraine but to war games off our own coast, we in Ireland are sitting on enough offshore electricity to power more than 64 million homes across the European Union. As I pointed out in our Private Members' motion that was unanimously adopted by the Dáil on 8 December 2021, unless we take a strategic approach to developing all our ports, we will never maximise this opportunity or drive down the cost of electricity for Irish families. When will the Government establish an offshore renewable development authority to drive a fully co-ordinated national action plan for our offshore energy sector?
The Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communication, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and the Government as a whole, are very conscious of the extraordinary impact offshore wind can have on the economy of the west and in meeting our energy needs into the future. We could become a net exporter of electricity and energy into the future, with the use of hydrogen as well. There is very significant potential for the west coast, south-west coast and east coast with regard to the exploitation of wind into the future. Without question, the Ukrainian-Russian situation and the current crisis in energy prices reveals the need for more renewables and for us to do more on the renewable front. Looking at a European map, it is very clear that we have to do more on renewables and that is the entire focus of the Government right now.
Last Friday Bridie Roycroft, postmistress of the ever-popular Ballydehob post office, posted a statement on social media stating that the sorting of post by postmen and postwomen in Ballydehob, Schull and Goleen post offices was now being moved to Skibbereen after decades of being done locally. This is another loss of income for postmasters in rural communities, who will lose a big chunk of their income. These postmasters tell me daily when I meet them that they are already struggling to keep their doors open. Postmasters in rural communities are on the verge of closing their post offices, have now lost another source of income from the post-sorting side of their business and are dealing with an increase of 15 cent in the price of a stamp today. What percentage increase to their income will these postmasters receive to keep their doors open in rural communities?
I do not have the specific details about the Ballydehob post office but it is the Government's objective to do everything we possibly can to support post offices across rural Ireland, and also to bring more Government activity and services to rural Ireland. That is manifest in the huge investment in hubs to facilitate remote working, SMEs, entrepreneurs, start-ups and so on. There are challenges but I will inquire with An Post in respect of the specifics the Deputy has raised.
I raise the shock announcement of the loss of 80 jobs at the B. Braun facility in Collooney in County Sligo. This is a hammer blow for the workers, their families and the entire community in Collooney, which is about 1,700 or 1,800 people. B. Braun has said it will retain a specialist research and development unit in Sligo so this may present an opportunity to resource and grow the research and development part of the business. There are also opportunities with linkages to the new Atlantic technological university. I ask the Taoiseach to raise this matter with the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment as he has a responsibility to help ensure, first and foremost, alternative employment opportunities for those who lost their jobs, as well as support for growing the research and development part of this business.
I thank Deputy Harkin for raising this issue. I am deeply saddened by the announcement from B. Braun that it will be closing the manufacturing side of its Sligo facility. Our hearts and minds are with the employees and their families at this very difficult time for them. B. Braun has provided enormous employment opportunities for Sligo and this will be devastating for the community. The Government and IDA Ireland held close consultations with the site management, who strove to find alternative solutions. However, such solutions could not be found, leading to this closure. As the Deputy noted, the firm is going to keep the research and development team of 11 employees and has stated that further investment in the area will be potentially coming further down the line. We have invested €13.7 million in IT Sligo and the Collooney to Castlebaldwin road also represents a very significant investment. Advantio announced in January its plans to open its European cybersecurity headquarters in Sligo. We will do whatever we can to help the workers secure alternative employment and to get alternative employment into the sector.
Today the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth is discussing surrogacy which is very important issue. We do not have a roadmap for those who become parents through surrogacy and we do not have the correct status. A mother told me she had to sit in the carpark of a children's hospital while her young child was inside as she is not recognised as the child's legal guardian. Surrogacy advocates ask that children born here are legally recognised, but, and this is important, it is a separate issue to those who will become parents in the future through international surrogacy. They must also be legislated for. We need to look at how we can separate these two issues. It does not fall under the remit of the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, but the Departments of Justice, Health and Transport. Will the Taoiseach tell me when the special joint Oireachtas committee on international surrogacy be set up? It is urgent.
I thank Deputy Murnane O'Connor for raising a very important issue. I understand the concern of parents and the need for recognition of Irish citizens born through surrogacy and the rights of parents in that situation. Legislation is being developed by the Minister for Health to come before the House and it will be published shortly. The special Oireachtas committee will be established with the objective of the topic being debated by all Members of the Houses to try to arrive at a consensus and conclusion on it.
It is important that we have to go back to the outdated leaving certificate this year. While I accept it is very hard to deliver a fair system when one does not have a consistently applied source to standardise teachers' assessment results, we must learn from this experience and embed within the two years of the senior cycle credible projects in order that continuous assessment can occur within the leaving certificate and we can have a hybrid system in 2023 and beyond. Reform of the leaving certificate started in 2016, but we have yet to see a published roadmap for it. We need to move on because apprenticeships and the CAO are moving on and the leaving certificate cannot be left behind.
I agree with the need for reform of the leaving certificate. It has been reformed incrementally over the years, long before 2016. There are the leaving certificate vocational and applied programmes. The Deputy is right that we need more continuous assessment and more project-based work to be assessed. Covid has taught us that assessment, along with other forms of written exams and so on, is a viable and valid way of doing things. We cannot do it on the fly coming out of Covid, but Covid has taught us it can be done. The Minister will have proposals on reforming the leaving certificate into the future and the opportunity should be grasped once we emerge from Covid. I am 100% on that.
Does the Government have plans to revise the cross-border directive or the planned healthcare scheme when it is applied to the North? Recently a woman contacted me who requires two knee replacements. She has been advised that she will have to wait for at least two years in the public system here for an operation. When she inquired about having the operation in Derry, she was told she would be approved by the HSE for just over €11,000 for the operation, but it costs in excess of £12,000, which equates to more than €14,800. That is a difference of €3,800 per operation and more than €7,600 in total. It is beyond her capacity and that of most ordinary people to pay that amount.
We would much rather see the public system here being able to accommodate all patients, but that will not happen any time soon. Instead of having people waiting in agony for years, is there a possibility the prices here can be reviewed to bring them into line with what is being charged in the North or vice versa?
The directive became redundant because the UK left the European Union and the Government, through the Minister of Health, then initiated a process whereby we would fund and support operations through a North-South arrangement in lieu of the directive. I will check the specifics of the cost and so on, but my understanding was there was a relationship between the HSE and the hospitals concerned in the North. I will check that out.
The waiting list for home support services in County Wexford stands at 644 families, with another 227 families waiting for increased supports. Home support, as I am sure the Taoiseach will agree, is one of the most important life-changing services the HSE provides to families and their loved ones and lifts people out of a world of anxiety and worry. A report was completed for home care service for Wexford in 2021, with plans to implement the recommendations throughout 2022. Will the HSE provide copies of this report? Does the Taoiseach know whether resources are allocated to cover the recommendations contained in the report?
I will follow that up with the Minister in respect of funding for the home supports.
What is the Government's view on the suggestion which has been widely canvassed that an elective-only hospital be established in the mid-western area? The reason for that, which we all witness every day, is the chronic shortages and overcrowding at University Hospital Limerick which is always at or near the top of the trolley count. On a few occasions recently, it ran out of trolleys, which is indefensible. The simple reality is that the medical facilities in the region are insufficient to cater for its population. We do not have enough beds.
I have sympathy for what the Deputy said. The Sláintecare report identified three elective hospitals in Galway, Dublin and Cork. There is merit in an elective-only facility in the mid-west to free up the hospital for trauma and other tertiary treatments. It is the way to go.
A number of Deputies remain but we are out of time. I ask that they use 30 seconds per question.
I warn the Taoiseach that the dental services in Louth and Meath have collapsed and the number of patients helping General Medical Services, GMS, patients has fallen from 61 two years ago to 22 today. Thousands of people cannot get an appointment, their teeth looked after or their oral hygiene checked and worse, there is no option to redirect them anywhere else because there is nowhere for them to go. It is extremely urgent. Only emergency appointments are available to people now. They are being provided by the HSE dental services. The problem is that special needs services and children's services suffer as a result. It is a huge crisis which needs Government intervention now.
I wish everyone a happy St. Brigid's day. I welcome the pandemic bonus payment. However, when will it be made and will the Government commit to including workers in organisations funded under sections 38 and 39 of the Health Act 2004 and those in receipt of carers allowance?
I will return to the Women of Honour. How can the Taoiseach proceed with a so-called independent inquiry where the terms of reference have not been drawn up the Dáil or the women who courageously came forward and made known what they had suffered? They also pointed out that all the previous reviews and policies had utterly failed to protect women and men in the Defence Forces. The Taoiseach will now proceed with an apparently independent inquiry, which it is not, in which the women have said they will not be participating. Does that pose a dilemma for the Taoiseach?
The programme for Government set out the need to expand primary and community care. The Irish College of General Practitioners has proposed that a high-level working group be established within the Department of Health, taking into account the ICGP, the Irish Medical Organisation, IMO, the Irish Medical Council and all of the relevant stakeholders, to develop the expansion of primary healthcare and community care. Will the Taoiseach support the proposal on the establishment of this high-level working group?
Two rounds of discussions have been held with the Irish Dental Association, the most recent of which was on 17 December, when the Department and the HSE outlined provisional proposals to invest additional resources to the scheme, including €10 million provided in the budget, on top of the 2022 Estimate allocation of €56 million. The Department is anxious to move the process on in the interest of patients and hopes to meet the Irish Dental Association shortly to try to progress matters.
Deputy Patricia Ryan raised the issue of when Covid payments would be made. The HSE is operationalising and working on the payment of the recognition payment to the workers.
Deputy Connolly raised the Women of Honour group which I met yesterday. There were other groups of women serving in the Army and in the Defence Forces that met with the Minister, Deputy Coveney, as well as other representative organisations. They may have slightly different perspectives on the independent review that has been announced. I had a relatively lengthy discussion yesterday with the Women of Honour group.
It is independent in the first instance. It is an independent judge with assistance from a senior counsel and also Ms Jane Williams, who has a very good record from a human resource perspective. The discussion ranged over a number of issues. Importantly, if we go back over a number of statutory inquiries that were held, the better ones benefited from scoping work that was done in advance. We have not ruled out a statutory inquiry.
It is important the Minister has an obligation to make sure the current situation is optimal for the protection of Defence Forces personnel right now. This review can come up with valuable recommendations in that regard.
In response to Deputy Colm Burke, I would support the proposal on the establishment of this high-level working group. I will discuss the primary healthcare and community care high-level group with the Minister.