Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 26 Apr 2023

Vol. 1037 No. 2

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation

Deputy Claire Kerrane

Yesterday, young people from across Ireland, who are involved in Macra na Feirme, began a 14-hour walk to Government Buildings from Athy. They are taking a stand for rural Ireland. For many of us born and raised there, there is nowhere else we would rather live. In fact, there is nowhere else we see our futures. Macra, in its campaign, is raising eight key issues around access to affordable housing and to healthcare and also the issue for young farmers about quotas on accessing supports. Today, young people are sending a very clear message to this Government. We are telling it we want a future in our rural communities and the Government must act to make that happen.

Clearly, rural Ireland has been let down. If it had not been, Macra would not have been doing what it did yesterday and what it is doing today. How does the Taoiseach intend to respond to the really determined and ambitious demand for change from this generation?

The Taoiseach

Alongside the Minister of State, Deputy Heydon, and the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, I will meet with Macra later. I would like to be able to meet their members at the gates but, as the Deputy knows, I will be in the Chamber until 3 p.m. or so. However, I will meet them to discuss their ideas and suggestions this afternoon and will be happy to greet them in Government Buildings and not for the first time.

In the round, rural Ireland is doing okay. Why do I say that? I say it because of the census. The numbers, which have only come out in the last couple of months, show the population in every county in Ireland is increasing. Not a single county is seeing a population decrease.

Deputy Claire Kerrane

But the services are not-----

The Taoiseach

That is important and it goes against the false narrative that Sinn Féin tries to put across regularly. We know from the CSO figures that unemployment in every county in Ireland is close to an all-time low.

(Interruptions).

An Ceann Comhairle

The Taoiseach without interruption.

The Taoiseach

The Ceann Comhairle knows why they interrupt me. It is not because I am saying things that are not true. The population in every county is now increasing. There are no exceptions.

Deputy Mary Lou McDonald

So Macra is wrong.

Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin

The FAI has commissioned a report into the horse and greyhound racing fund. Apparently, the report states that as a country we have spent €1.5 billion on this fund over the past 20 years, of which €1 billion has come from a direct levy on betting and €0.5 billion has come from the Exchequer. Some 80% of that goes to the horse racing industry and 80% of that is spent on prize money. Effectively, the vast bulk of this €1.5 billion spent in the last 20 years on the horse and greyhound racing fund has been spent on prize money.

Meanwhile, we send athletes to represent this country internationally, who play week in, week out in pathetic facilities. We are sending a team to the World Cup in July and August this year who play week in, week out in substandard facilities.

I am asking the Taoiseach, and I see the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine is here, if he will commission a review-----

An Ceann Comhairle

Time is up.

Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin

------into the horse and greyhound racing fund because I do not think the level of funding we give it stands up to scrutiny.

The Taoiseach

I just do not agree with the Deputy’s approach to this. I would not pit sport against the equestrian industry in Ireland. We have increased funding dramatically for sport over the past couple of years and we will continue to do so. There was a time when the budget for sport in Ireland was something like €7 million. It is now around €150 million and we will continue to invest in sport. However, I do not think the Deputy should pit sport against the equestrian industry. The equestrian industry in Ireland – horse sport, racing, stud farms and so on – employs tens of thousands of people.

Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin

Not according to this report.

The Taoiseach

It is worth about €1 billion a year. I think it is wrong. If the Deputy wants to do it down, he can do it down but he should not try to pit it against sport. That is not fair.

Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin

Will the Taoiseach not do a review?

Deputy Holly Cairns

Members of Macra na Feirme marched to the Dáil overnight. They are protesting because they are concerned about the future of rural Ireland and the future for young farmers. I was a member of Macra and I share their concerns. Young farmers are an endangered species. We know generational renewal is a massive issue but there are so many issues that need urgent action. It is not a false narrative that there is a chronic shortage of affordable housing, a chronic shortage of healthcare services and an almost complete absence of reliable public transport options. The viability of many farms is also under threat.

We know that climate change is one of the biggest challenges we face as a society and that farmers and rural communities will be among those most impacted by the damage caused by the climate crisis. Where is the support for farmers to help them withstand this existential threat? Government assistance is piecemeal, short term and threadbare. When will the Government take the issues facing rural Ireland seriously?

The Taoiseach

As I mentioned earlier, I look forward to meeting Macra representatives later this afternoon. We need more young farmers. We have lots of farmers in Ireland who are in their 60s and 70s often because they do not have a successor. I would be interested to hear from Macra representatives the ideas they have to improve succession because we need more young farmers. We are about to enter a decade of major change in agriculture and land use and we need young farmers to lead that. I look forward to talking to them about that today.

However, one thing I can assure the young farmers who are on their way to Dublin at the moment is that so long as this Government is in office, all the schemes and tax breaks that exist for young farmers will be protected. They do not have that guarantee from a left-led government.

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

I have raised, and indeed have campaigned for some years on, the plight of people studying psychology and trying to get doctorates in psychology. We have a chronic deficit of psychologists in terms of assessments for children with special needs in education, health and in many other areas.

In fairness, the Government responded to the campaigning of psychologists by announcing funding for counselling psychologists who had not been funded and who were paid shocking fees - €10,000 and sometimes €15,000. However, for some of those counselling psychologists who were depending on getting that funding this year, it now turns out that it will not arrive until next year. Some of these people are working two jobs while studying or on placement and are not getting paid for that. They are in very significant debt. They are asking that the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, would ensure that the funding comes this year and not next year.

Minister of State at the Department of Health (Deputy Mary Butler)

The Deputy is quite right. In the last budget, the Government provided €750,000 from the mental health budget to support counselling psychologists. As we know, clinical psychologists were already funded but counselling psychologists and educational psychologists were not. When I met with the psychologists' association it pointed that out. Under my remit as Minister of State with responsibility for mental health, I was able to secure €750,000 to support counselling psychologists. My budget does not extend to the educational psychologists. That comes from the education budget. I am glad to get the opportunity to clarify this.

We are in talks with Trinity College Dublin and the HSE. With that €750,000, I will be supporting first, second and third-year students who start the academic year next September. You have to start some place.

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

What about now?

Deputy Mary Butler

That is what I have decided to do. We are working with the psychologists, Trinity College Dublin and the HSE to work out the details.

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

It is not fair to leave people in debt. What about people now?

Deputy Cathal Berry

A number of referendums are planned for a single day in November, which I support. Should we have an additional two referendums on that day? The first is on the rapidly rising population in Ireland. There is a constitutional requirement for a Deputy for every 20,000 to 30,000 people. In 20 years' time, if the projections are correct, we could have 200 Deputies in this Chamber which is unsustainable. November is an opportunity for us to get ahead of that trend.

Second, there is a constitutional cap of 15 senior Cabinet Ministers. That has meant that some Ministers have a wide variety of portfolios, which are unrelated. The Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, is a classic example of this. Should November be an opportunity to increase slightly the number of Cabinet Ministers to improve governance?

In combination, both these proposals would drastically reduce costs to the taxpayer. I would be grateful for the Taoiseach's thoughts on that.

An Ceann Comhairle

That was a very thoughtful sentiment, Deputy.

The Taoiseach

I thank the Deputy for a thoughtful question and for what I view to be two very valid suggestions. The population is increasing and, therefore, the Dáil will continue to increase in size. At some point, we will have to put a limit on that. I do not think the figure of 180 is too big, but the figure of 250 would certainly be and 200 would probably be as well. As Government has expanded and does more and more, we probably are stretched with Ministers having to carry multiple briefs which would not have been the case in the same way in the past. However, this kind of issue probably requires cross-party discussion. Perhaps we should do that. I would not rush into a referendum on any kind of political reform without knowing that there is a decent level of consensus. However, it is a good suggestion and I thank the Deputy for it.

Deputy Mattie McGrath

The president of Macra na Feirme has written to every Member of the Oireachtas. Its members' two days of action are based on what they have asked for. Their action is grounded in a desire for young people to have a vibrant and prosperous future in rural Ireland. We love rural Ireland, we want to live in rural Ireland and we want our children to have a future in rural Ireland and in rural communities. That is what they want. They do not want quotes from the recent census. They want the Taoiseach to meet them. The Taoiseach either agrees with what they are saying or he does not. With the flight of the Taoiseach's lieutenants from rural Ireland - they are hanging up their boots - I do not think he has much confidence in rural Ireland either. Macra na Feirme is a vibrant organisation that has done wonderful work over the last 79 years and they have walked 79 km from Athy to commemorate that. They are being demonised, as farmers in general are, for everything. We look at the unjust transition that happened in the midlands and the bogs. They are looking at this as well. They see farmers being demonised, blaggarded and blamed for everything. They want to play their part regarding climate change, but they want a secure future and not to be banished to hell or to Connacht.

The Taoiseach

As I mentioned earlier, I will meet with a delegation from Macra na Feirme later this afternoon. I have read their statement and the eight points they are raising. I look forward to the meeting.

Deputy Marian Harkin

I want to draw the Taoiseach's attention to a crisis in childcare provision, specifically in south Sligo. Many constituents from Tobercurry, Gorteen and other parts are genuinely distressed by the lack of childcare provision in the area. Existing providers have long waiting lists and some of them have been closed for two years. This should not come as any surprise, given the results of the SIPTU Big Start on early years staffing survey, which clearly illustrates that low pay and high staff turnover, which are core to the shortage of places, are also central to finding solutions.

A recent emergency meeting was held in Moylough. That meeting recognised the increased work that the Government is doing for the childcare sector, but that this is not solving the current dire situation. Local solutions are being proposed. They are community led and parent led. Will the Minister work with local communities to provide an interim solution?

The Taoiseach

The Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman, is working on this. There is an increased demand for childcare, which is being driven by three things: an increase in population; an increase in the number of parents who are working; and the fact we have reduced the cost of childcare. Those three things together have led to an increase in demand. We need to cater for that. The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, is working very hard on it.

Deputy Patricia Ryan

It pains me to have address the Chamber about such a personal issue, but I wish to bring up a recent attack that was carried out against a member of staff in my constituency office. During this incident, a 999 call went out to An Garda Síochána, while continued attempts were made to de-escalate the situation. The difficulties that have been experienced by the 999 dispatchers to obtain local assistance is very concerning. Equally concerning is the Government's continued failure to provide adequate mental healthcare services to those who need it most. For clarity, this was a connection to the mental health services. It is unacceptable that those who are pleading with the HSE to be admitted to mental health services are instead left to fend for themselves. This highlights the urgent need for this Government to increase funding to mental health services, as well as increased ambition in resourcing and recruitment for An Garda Síochána. What actions are the Government taking to improve mental health services and gardaí emergency response capacity?

The Taoiseach

I am very sorry to hear about what occurred in the Deputy's constituency office. We are doing exactly those things. There was funding this year to recruit 1,000 gardaí. The mental health budget is now well over €1 billion per year. Not that long ago, it was barely €800 million. We are doing those things. As long as there is no fundamental change in economic policy or economic philosophy, we will continue to be able to fund it.

Deputy Pa Daly

Unemployment rates in north Kerry are 9% higher than the national average. It is very high on the deprivation index. However, some organisations on the ground are working in the communities, such as the Listowel Family Resource Centre, which provides parenting classes, family supports and community education. The community centre in Listowel is building networks from Ballyheige across to Knocknagashel to address the intended rise in population where there will be double the number of people over the age of 65 and quadruple the number of 85 year olds by 2040. However, there is a problem with recruitment and retention. The community centres state that wages are locked at 2008 or 2009 levels. Will the Taoiseach commit to increasing them to the 2019 voluntary pay guidelines? If he is expanding the family resource centres, will he commit to a minimum core funding of €166,400 so they continue their good work in the community?

The Taoiseach

I might have to come back to the Deputy on that, or ask the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, to come back to him on the issue directly. The Deputy said that unemployment in north Kerry was slightly or somewhat higher than the national average, but at the same time he said there was a crisis in recruiting staff for a service. There is a certain disjoint there-----

Deputy Pa Daly

There is a loss.

The Taoiseach

However, we will have to come back to the Deputy on this issue.

Deputy Colm Burke

I want to raise the issue of home school tutors. At the moment, they are regarded as self employed, yet they are paid by the Department of Education. They are on a category S stamp in relation to the social services. They are not entitled to get any benefits during the school holiday time period. It is my understanding that a number of cases are before the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC. It is time for the Department to deal with this issue and to treat them as employees rather than as being self-employed, in the same way as what has happened with RTÉ and many other organisations where people were being treated as self-employed contractors. In fact, these people are working full-time for the Department.

The Taoiseach

I am afraid I am not across the detail of the issue. We might have a chance to speak about this later. There is a scope section in the Department of Social Protection which generally makes the determination as to whether somebody is or is not self-employed.

I have a note here on adult education tutors in education and training boards, ETBs, but I do not think that is the issue the Deputy is raising. It is more a matter of home school tutors. Is that right?

Deputy Colm Burke

Yes.

The Taoiseach

I will speak to Deputy Burke about this issue later today.

Deputy Gino Kenny

A number of weeks ago, Deputy Wynne, who is a Deputy for Clare, and I visited Patrick Moore in Limerick Prison. Patrick is a father of two. He was sentenced to five years in prison and his crime was simply helping people with medicinal cannabis. We spoke to Patrick and his wife. It was very moving to hear that Patrick has been in prison for that time because he helped others. There was a change in the law in 2019 around the medical cannabis access programme. Fewer than 30 people can get access via a prescription. This programme needs to be expanded so that people do not have to go to people like Patrick, be sent to prison or, even worse, go without.

The Taoiseach

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I will have to ask the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, to come back to him on this issue. There is a medical cannabis programme, as the Deputy knows, but there are still differing views in the medical profession in particular as to the clinical efficacy and appropriateness of prescribing cannabis. That is part of the issue. Supply is another issue.

Deputy Cathal Crowe

I have an unusual question. Today I have brought a petition from County Clare, which has been signed by 113 family descendants of the late Peadar Clancy, who was a great Irish patriot. These are the signatures of grand-nieces, grand-nephews, great-grand-nieces and great-grand-nephews. There is a Sinn Féin cumann in Ennis, County Clare, that uses his name without family consent. They have written to the Sinn Féin headquarters and they have been flatly ignored. Commemoration has to be done with the consent of families. We cannot just pick names out of the air and claim lineage that does not exist. We cannot exploit history for one's current political programme. We have to respect families and we have to respect the dead. I submit this petition today to the Leader of the Opposition. I do not know if there is whole lot that can be said in this Chamber, but perhaps she would like to comment.

An Ceann Comhairle

I do not see how that is a matter for Questions on Policy or Legislation.

The Taoiseach

That did not stop anyone else, a Cheann Comhairle, in fairness to Deputy Crowe. In fairness to Deputy McDonald, it would be out of order for her to respond to the question, but I know she is a making statement later on the Good Friday Agreement, so perhaps that will be an appropriate opportunity for her to respond to the petition and Deputy Crowe's appeal.

Deputy Marc MacSharry

There is an unintended consequence of one of the State's welcome actions to accommodate refugees fleeing war-torn Ukraine. I refer specifically to the tax-free payment of €800 to landlords. The issue is that houses which ordinarily may come to the open rental market, particularly in parts of the country not like Dublin, where rents are especially high, are exclusively being devoted for rental under the Government's tax-free refugee scheme. Given the extraordinary shortage in rental properties and the exponential increase in eviction notices, and in order to address in some way the discriminatory situation this has created, will the Government introduce a tax-free allowance of €800 per month for all residential rental income so that Irish citizens, too, can have the opportunity to secure a home to rent?

The Taoiseach

I thank the Deputy for the question. He raises a valid concern. I would respond in two ways. One is that, while you can receive €800 a month for taking in somebody from Ukraine, you cannot charge them, say, €1,000 and get €800 tax free, so that has to be borne in mind when we talk about these things. It is €800 tax free but you cannot charge anything at all, let alone any more than €800, which would not be the case, obviously, for a private landlord.

The whole issue of how small landlords, in particular, are taxed is a live issue. We have given a commitment as a Government to this House and publicly that there will be tax measures for small landlords in the budget, but the Minister for Finance is keen to get that right and to look at in the round, in the context of a wider tax package, and we will be able to put those proposals before the House in October.

Deputy Martin Browne

My question is for the Minister of State, Deputy Butler. I want to raise my concerns about the future of St. Patrick's Hospital in Cashel and the services currently operating out of there. We submitted parliamentary questions on numerous occasions and were told money had been ring-fenced for the hospital but now, after four years, some bright engineer has decided it is not big enough for the 60-bed unit. It looks as though the Government is telling us to look elsewhere and not to worry about St. Patrick's Hospital, but we have seen this before and had a similar response in regard to St. Brigid's hospital in Carrick-on-Suir. It is being closed by stealth.

I want the Minister of State to produce minutes of a meeting to show why the St. Patrick's site is not good enough for the 60-bed unit for which the money was ring-fenced. We asked about engineers’ reports for St. Brigid's hospital, the Owenacurra Centre and Clifden hospital, but there do not seem to be any. If engineers are taking four years to decide a site is not big enough, I think it is time the Government changed its engineers. Any smart engineer, having looked a site, will be able straightaway to tell you whether it is big enough. Will the Minister of State produce minutes of the meeting at which a decision was taken that the St. Patrick's site is not big enough, and an engineer's report to that effect?

Deputy Mary Butler

As the Ceann Comhairle will be aware, in early 2016, a capital programme for older persons' residential centres was developed by the Government to replace, upgrade and refurbish care facilities at approximately 90 locations throughout the country, and this is happening all over the length and breadth of the country. The Deputy will be aware that one is under way in Clonmel, with a new community nursing unit-----

Deputy Martin Browne

We welcome it.

Deputy Mary Butler

-----comprising 60 beds, and also a crisis home for mental health patients with another ten-bed unit-----

Deputy Martin Browne

Cashel will be moving to Clonmel. Good woman.

Deputy Mary Butler

If the Deputy will please allow me to answer, he referred to the unit in St. Brigid's hospital in Carrick-on-Suir having closed but he forgot to mention that 24 people are now delivering services in St. Brigid's.

Deputy Martin Browne

The beds are gone, so.

An Ceann Comhairle

Deputy, please.

Deputy Mary Butler

In regard to what the Deputy raised, I think he is missing the point. Under the capital plan, a new community nursing unit, CNU, is going to be built in Cashel. If HSE estates decide the current site that was recently identified is no longer suitable, that is completely within its remit. I cannot discuss any new site at the moment because it is commercially sensitive-----

Deputy Martin Browne

Because there is none there.

Deputy Mary Butler

-----but to reassure the Deputy, a new community nursing unit with 60 beds is being developed for Cashel, County Tipperary.

Deputy David Stanton

Probably the biggest and longest awaited project in north Cork is the Mallow relief road. The then Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Donohoe, gave the go-ahead eight years ago. A total of €1.2 million has been expended and a huge amount of work has been carried out. The next step was to go to An Bord Pleanála, which required €1.4 million this year and that was expected. At the last minute, that funding was pulled. There is consternation, upset, anger and puzzlement in Mallow. Will the Taoiseach find the €1.4 million to allow this to go to An Bord Pleanála, where it will probably languish for another year but at least it will be moving?

The Taoiseach

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I understand he raised it in the House yesterday evening as well. I appreciate the frustration of people in Mallow and the business community there. The Government is prioritising bypasses as part of the national roads programme and this is a bypass. We have about €500 million a year for the national roads programme, comprising about €250 million to improve and maintain the roads and about €250 million for new projects. It is never the case that every project can be funded every year, but we have agreement across government that if savings arise during the course of the year, because some projects do not proceed for some reason or another, they can be reallocated. Certainly, this road is on the agenda, and so is the N4 to Longford. If we are able to find savings during the course of the year, they can be reallocated. I cannot promise that now but I will work on it.

Deputy Darren O'Rourke

By the Government's own assessment, anything above €92 per megawatt hour for wind- and solar-generated electricity can be considered a windfall gain. Last July, Irish renewable energy companies were paid €182 for wind and solar; in August, €204; and in September, €341. By any measure, these are supernormal windfall profits, but here is the problem. The Government's windfall tax will tax none of these supernormal profits because the cap on market revenues will apply only from December 2022 to June 2023. Other countries - France, Belgium, Austria and the Netherlands - have recognised the madness of this and will tax, using a mechanism outside the EU regulation, more of the 2022 profits of renewable energy companies. Will the Taoiseach's Government do the same?

The Taoiseach

I thank the Deputy. We will certainly examine that. The legislation is only being drafted at the moment. The plan is to have the legislation through the Houses by the summer recess and to impose the tax both in September 2023 and September 2024 retrospectively on profits made, but we will certainly examine the starting point. The legislation is not yet agreed by Cabinet, so I will give the Deputy's suggestion some consideration.

Deputy Peadar Tóibín

Many people will be shocked by the abortion review report released today. The Government persuaded many thousands of people to vote for the abortion referendum on the basis there would be some safeguards for children, yet five years later, it looks like the Government is going to wash away the remaining safeguards. Last year, there was an enormous jump in the number of abortions that happened, with a 25% increase. Approximately 8,500 unborn children were aborted last year, which is an incredible figure, nearly three times what it was in 2017. Since the legislation was brought in, 25,000 unborn children have been aborted, the equivalent of 1,120 classrooms of children. It is catastrophic for each one of those children. It now looks as though the three-day wait, which has saved thousands of lives, is under threat and the ability of the majority of doctors to refuse to carry out abortions on the basis of conscientious objection will be threatened. The Taoiseach said in this Chamber that he accepts that “the unborn child is a human life with rights." Is his Government about to delete the few remaining rights unborn children have?

The Taoiseach

I thank the Deputy. I think he is jumping the gun a bit here. The review was commissioned by the Government, as we were mandated and required by the Oireachtas to do. I thank Marie O'Shea for the thorough job she has done. The report is only being published today and people will have a chance to read it. In fairness to her, she has done a very thorough job. All that the Government has decided is to refer the operational aspects to the HSE for implementation and the proposed legislative changes, not proposed by the Government but by the reviewer, to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health for further consideration. We have made no decision whatsoever on any of those legislative proposals. It will now sit with the Oireachtas committee. It will have a chance to consider it and make a report back to the Government, and we will consider it then.

I would anticipate, not for every party but certainly for my party and I think for Fianna Fáil and perhaps Sinn Féin and other parties as well, that this will be a free vote and a vote of conscience for people.

It will not be the case that it is the Government but, like I say, we are pushing many steps ahead here.

Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan

It is that time of year again. The school transport deadline is this Friday. I welcome the enhanced programme we have run since Covid began. We have extended the programme. I also welcome that the extension for the eligibility, from closest to second closest school, is to be maintained in this year's programme. However, the full review is not complete and will not be complete in time for September's intake. It will allow anomalies, such as the lack of a school bus, for example, from Watergrasshill to Fermoy, persisting and leaving 50 children without the opportunity to get on a bus every morning to go to school. In light of the review not being fully complete, will temporary consideration be given to routes where a demand or business case can be made to populate a route or prove its viability?

The Taoiseach

I thank the Deputy. We have made a lot of progress on school transport in recent years. We reduced the cost considerably for parents, which has been very welcome, particularly in rural areas, and increasing numbers of children now qualify for school transport.

I did not realise the deadline was Friday. It is that time of year again already. I imagine many constituency offices will be very busy. What I will do with the Deputy's suggestion is make sure the Minister, Deputy Foley, is aware of it and perhaps have her contact the Deputy directly and engage on it in that way.

Deputy Mairéad Farrell

On a point of order, will the Taoiseach clarify when an Teachta Niall Collins will be making a statement in front of the House and if he will be answering questions? At this point-----

An Ceann Comhairle

That is not a point of order.

Deputy Mairéad Farrell

-----it is being reported in the media that-----

An Ceann Comhairle

I do not know what that is.

Deputy Mairéad Farrell

It is reasonable for the House to be informed, if it is already being reported by media.

An Ceann Comhairle

Deputy Collins, as I understand it, but I have not read it yet, has written to me seeking to make a personal statement. I will have to consider that and see what time can be made available in the context of the week's schedule.

Deputy Paul Murphy

Will it not be on Thursday afternoon when the Ceann Comhairle invites him?

An Ceann Comhairle

It might be. If that is what the Deputy wants, we can consider that.

Deputy Mairéad Farrell

Will it include questions?

An Ceann Comhairle

A personal statement never includes questions. If the House wants these matters to change, it should change the Standing Orders. All I can do is implement the Standing Orders as produced and as they have been here of long standing.

Deputy Paul Murphy

Will the Ceann Comhairle make sure we get lots of notice for it?

Deputy Mairéad Farrell

It is helpful when Deputies are made aware in advance of these-----

An Ceann Comhairle

People will be made aware.

Deputy Mairéad Farrell

-----because sometimes it is not as clear.