Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Since 2019, there has been a massive increase in fraudulent scams. I doubt there is a household in the country that has not been targeted. I have been raising this issue now for well over a year, but the Government has taken no action to address this threat. I do not understand why it is not acting on this.

Figures released today show that there was a 26% jump in fraudulent scams in the first half of last year, with victims scammed out of €8.6 million in the first six months. The Government still does not have a multi-annual strategy to deal with financial fraud. It was a key recommendation of the Hamilton report, a Government report produced three years ago. The Government still has not allowed the banks to have a shared fraud database to tackle fraudsters and protect consumers. The banks have been demanding that the Government allow this so they can share live information with the Garda regarding fraud. It is bonkers that we do not have that, and that legislation has not come from the Department of Justice in that regard. Despite the fact that other jurisdictions have taken action to sanction online platforms that host fraudulent content scams, there has been no action here whatsoever.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I thank the Deputy. I ask the Tánaiste to respond.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Why is the Government not taking any action on any of these matters that I have been raising for a year, despite an explosion in the number of scams and people having millions of euro stolen from them each year?

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I will answer that. I thank Deputy Doherty for raising the issue. He has tabled a number of parliamentary questions on this issue, and we have discussed it previously. I reassure him that there is work on the way. My Department is working very closely with the Central Bank of Ireland and Department of Justice. There is legislation emerging at EU level as well, namely, Payment Services Directive 3, and there will be enhanced authentication requirements. I will set out in writing to the Deputy a comprehensive reply on the issue.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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With respect, it is for the Department of Justice. Let us share the information about fraud.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Páirtí an Lucht Oibre.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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It is ridiculous.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Deputy, please. Páirtí an Lucht Oibre.

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour)
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I join the Tánaiste in wishing Mr. Charlie O'Leary, a constituent of mine, a happy 100th birthday.

I understand that the Tánaiste received correspondence from the British Labour Party at the beginning of September with regard to the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill that is going through the British Houses of Parliament and its implications for the Good Friday Agreement, particularly with regard to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights. Is the Tánaiste minded to respond to that letter? Does he have an opinion on the matter? Will he be raising it with the British Government?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising the question. I have asked my officials to examine the issue. Yes, I am minded to respond to the Member of Parliament in respect of the correspondence I received. The Deputy will recall that the Government has already taken an inter-state case against the British Government in respect of the legacy legislation, which has created its own challenges. We are always mindful of relationships between the two Governments and the need to keep them on an even keel, notwithstanding differences we may have. I will revert to the Deputy in terms of our considered response to the issues he raised.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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Last week, the Tánaiste said that he believes "and will be calling for sanctions to be applied to extreme terrorist settlers on the West Bank." He went further still and said that Ireland must appear to act unilaterally and introduce our own travel bans if the EU cannot agree to these types of sanctions against those settlers. I will ask the Tánaiste a very direct question and I would appreciate a direct answer. Would those sanctions, which I very much welcome, be applied to extreme settlers in the Israeli Government who have also expressed the most horrific viewpoints over the last while? I refer, for example, to Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.

Will they come under these sanctions?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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It will deal with settlers in the West Bank and not the ministers initially-----

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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They live there.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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They are settlers.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I am answering the question. Last week I saw Deputy Gannon's tweet saying I was in the Chamber for only five minutes giving a speech. I was actually here for an hour and I made a submission.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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Answer the question.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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It is a bit unfair of Deputy Gannon. It will apply to the settlers and particular settlers have already been identified at European Union level. If it does not happen at European Union level we will then consider doing it ourselves.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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Can the Government do it?

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Waiting lists for driving tests are ridiculously long. In my area, which is the worst in the country, it is over 50 weeks. Nationally it is about 30 weeks. In many cases this means jobs are lost for people who have jobs that are dependent on having a driving licence. People may have relatives they need to care for, including elderly, vulnerable or disabled relatives, and they need a driving licence because public transport is not available to move people around. They cannot do this because they are waiting for a year. Fórsa states that despite commitments to address this problem the RSA is not recruiting full-time staff and contract staff are not having their contracts renewed. It seems to be outsourcing to contract staff, many of whom are not even properly qualified. Will the Tánaiste address this is a matter of urgency?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Department of Transport has responded swiftly to alleviate the demand pressure by sanctioning the recruitment of 75 additional driver testers in March 2023. This is in addition to the 30 permanent testers who were previously sanctioned in July 2022. This brings the total number of sanctioned driver tester posts to 205, which is more than double the 100 sanctioned driver tester posts in June 2022. That said, as of 31 December the average estimated waiting time was 22.5 weeks, which is above the accepted service level agreement of ten weeks. The Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, has been in direct contact with the authority

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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It is 50 weeks in my area.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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A total of 41 additional testers have joined the Road Safety Authority. There is ongoing work and the Minister is very conscious of it and we will continue to increase capacity.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Sometimes I sit here and wonder how we can solve the climate crisis when we cannot get the Passport Office to work operatively. My office is receiving an inordinate number of passport issues. They are the same issues as I have raised previously. We have a disconnect with the Passport Office. Whether it is the Oireachtas helpline or the helpline for people who ring up, the information is different. People then go to the Garda station. The gardaí are doing their best to keep the country in law and order but some of them do not understand that a passport photograph must be signed with the application number on the back of it and it must be stamped. Families are returning to Garda stations and taking up valuable time and resources we do not have. Sometimes they have to return two or three times. I have asked previously whether we could set up a system that does away with Garda verification. We have to bring in a system that is different and that works. We cannot have the Passport Office ringing Garda stations looking for the Garda who signed the book. It is not working. I plead with the Tánaiste to address the issue before we get to the seriously busy holiday season.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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It is working. The passport service worked exceptionally well last year in terms of issuing passports in very fast timelines and in terms of responding to emergency situations all of the time. I do not think Deputy Murphy's characterisation of the service is accurate here and now today. It might have been a year ago but it certainly is not today.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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I am sorry but I have heard about eight issues in a fortnight.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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If Deputy Murphy can-----

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Part of the problem is that the Tánaiste does not want to listen.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----give me the cases she has experienced I will follow through on them and get a report back to her.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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I drove to Cork with somebody's passport because of their issues.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Let the Tánaiste respond.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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People can get a passport online very quickly. People have issues with expiry dates. My experience-----

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Can they? They cannot get a first passport for a child.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Murphy is interrupting all the time. The bottom line is that the service has improved dramatically over the past 12 months. It gave out a record number of passports again last year. If Deputy Murphy has cases I ask her please to bring them to my attention. I would like to find out about the case she is speaking about.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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There are eight.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Show them. It is the first I have heard of them, by the way.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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European farmers are expressing their anger and outrage at the way farming has been treated across Europe. Thankfully, our Irish farmers are taking to the streets this evening at 6 p.m. in Cahir in my area with regard to the blackguarding they are getting with regulation and bureaucracy and the demonising in this House and elsewhere of good farming practices. If we have no farmers there will be no food. This is the reality we will have. They are being blackguarded. The Department of agriculture is disgracefully treating farmers. There are 28,000 farmers waiting on ACRES payments. They were supposed to be paid last year. These farmers have good records with paying their suppliers. They cannot pay them if they are waiting for these grant payments. It is shocking. It is time the Government sat up and got rid of the green tail and looked after our farmers. Respect the people who provide the food for us. Respect the farm families and support our farmers. Do not be trying to extinguish them completely. We will have nothing only starvation in this country.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I do not think we are close to starvation in the country any time soon. I respectfully say regarding the European Union that we always want to try to reduce the regulatory burden on farmers and enterprise. The European Common Agricultural Policy has been the linchpin of farming in this country in terms of underpinning incomes and payments. Let us never forget this in respect of the value of the European Union's agricultural policy. We have to maintain the focus and prioritisation of this and the Government does. The Department of agriculture is very strong at European level. We have agricultural attachés in countries all over the world.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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Why will it not pay the farmers?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Department of agriculture and the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, are doing everything to support food production and the primary producers, which is important, and to make sure we open up new export markets for beef.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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You are so out of touch.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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There were 46,000 valid applications for ACRES. We decided because of the exceptional demand to expand it. This created pressures. It is a €1.5 billion flag scheme. It is a big scheme.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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Last week a Garda station in Donegal was forced to hold a man with severe mental health issues for 12 hours as there were no GPs available to assess him and sign the necessary forms to allow him to be admitted to hospital. This was not only unfair to the man being held but also to the gardaí who were unable to do anything else while this man was in their care. They were forced to ring 12 different GPs but none was available. Garda resources are very limited in rural communities so gardaí are not in a position to be tied up for a whole day trying to find a GP. It is completely unacceptable. I do not understand why there is not a system in place to ensure GPs are contracted to the Garda to ensure this service is provided when it is necessary. Will the Tánaiste ensure that instances such as this cannot happen again? Will he ensure that GPs are contracted so they turn up and no person in need of a GP to sign a form will be held for 12 hours in any Garda station?

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Pringle for raising the issue. It is undoubtedly the case that gardaí need to be able to access expert medical help if they are dealing with somebody who has severe mental health issues. As Deputy Pringle is aware, we are in the middle of a significant investment in primary care in Donegal, including multiple primary care centres and enhanced community care teams throughout the county. I will be in the county shortly to open the latest facility. Specific to the question Deputy Pringle has raised, I will ask for contact between my officials and the officials of the Minister, Deputy McEntee, to make sure the Garda has all of the healthcare supports it needs.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I want to take this opportunity to thank the Tánaiste, the Minister for Finance, the Taoiseach and other Ministers who showed massive support to my part of the country during the floods last October and for the assistance for businesses and households. The flood relief scheme needs to be expedited. What I want to bring up today is the need for the county council to be funded. A total of €60 million worth of damage was done to roads and we need funding to be released fairly soon from the Exchequer to fix these roads while we have the opportunity with the fine weather coming.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I admire Deputy Stanton's optimism in respect of the fine weather coming. I hope he is right.

Anois teacht an earraigh beidh an lá ag dul chun síneadh,

'S tar éis na Féile Bríde ardóidh mé mo sheol

I accept that the flooding did significant damage on road structures in the areas affected. I will speak again to the Minister who is responsible to see what we can do within the available Estimates to deal with the situation.

Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
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It is crucial that we remove any barriers that may hinder young people's access to politics and to the electoral process. In the words of my young Green Party colleagues, it would be deeply misjudged and even regressive to hold the upcoming local and European elections on a Thursday or a Friday, particularly a Thursday or Friday that would clash with the leaving certificate. Will the Government commit to supporting young people and their access to the electoral process and holding the upcoming local and European elections on a Saturday, to enable everyone to engage?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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First, the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications will deal with that question. I will ask him to respond. I think we are looking at some date at the beginning of June. I am not clear on whether Saturday is the best day either but we will see.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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There is real anger in Roscommon town following the announcement by An Post to close the post office building in the heart of the town. It was built in 1911 and it is 112 years old. The building means a great deal to the people of Roscommon. They do not want to see it closed or sold. It appears that Roscommon is the first county town to lose its An Post-run post office. The plan is for the service to move elsewhere, probably to a local shop or wherever the new postmaster decides. This really is not good enough.

We have seen a number of post offices being shoved into supermarkets where there is little or no privacy, usually in cramped spaces. I imagine there can be no possibility of growing services in those post offices. Is that really what we want for the An Post network? That model might suit some villages where colocation saves post offices, but I do not believe it should be the model for our large county towns, where the post office is thriving. Will the Tánaiste bring this matter to the attention of the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and ask him to engage with Members, including members of his own party who are against this move?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I know the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, has been very active and proactive in working with the Irish Postmasters Union in respect of supports for postmasters generally. I am not sure in this case if the closure was occasioned by a retirement-----

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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No.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----or whether it was a policy decision to close it. I do not know the background to the case but I will certainly talk to the Minister in regard to it.

I would have had my reservations about some colocations with supermarkets but it has worked in some areas because of the significant footfall, which means there is more access and more people use the service and that, in turn, contributes to its sustainability. I know Roscommon is a big county town and I can understand the questions Deputy Kerrane and others raise in respect of the post office closure. I will ask the Minister to come back to her.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I am again raising the unacceptable delays children with additional needs in Cavan and Monaghan have in getting appropriate follow-up treatment following an assessment of need. There are long and inappropriate delays in children obtaining therapy such as occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, and physiotherapy. We all know very well of the absolute importance of early intervention to support these children. We were told that there would be a robust international campaign to try to recruit therapists. There is a problem with recruitment and retention. I know that there is a massive vacancy rate for therapists in the children's disability network team in Cavan and similarly in Enable Ireland. We need more therapists and more timely interventions for such children. Nowadays, unfortunately, too many families are having to source treatment from private sources, which is impacting on their household income. That is driving more people to go into private practice, so we are losing those therapists from the public service.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I appreciate the Deputy raising the issue. We have had ongoing engagement with the HSE and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth in respect of this issue. There had been issues with the recruitment of therapists and the filling of vacancies in particular in paediatric services and the children's disability network teams in certain locations. The roll-out of the progressing disability services plan has been challenging in some, although not in all, areas. Other aspects of the health service tend to attract the therapists more easily than child disability services. That is an issue. We have been in discussions with the HSE with a view to trying to make sure that we get a sufficiency of therapists in child disability services.

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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I want to raise with the Tánaiste today the need for oral immunotherapy treatment for children with peanut allergies. It is an issue I have raised here previously. The potentially lifesaving drug for children in those circumstances, Palforzia, is currently not available. Could the Tánaiste's good offices help to progress the situation? While the drug is unapproved, the current advice is for children to carry an EpiPen. That is fine but if one does not have an EpiPen the consequences could be tragic. That approach is like an airline asking someone to carry a parachute rather than doing the safety checks. It is not the best approach. That drug would be really important. I have spoken to numerous parents who are very worried that their children may find themselves unexpectedly exposed to peanuts and subject to an attack without an EpiPen being available. It is very important for the Tánaiste to progress it.

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Griffin very much for raising the issue. We are fully in support of a preventative approach, as the Deputy set out. I will pick it up with the Department and see where it is at in terms of whether the company has applied, whether the health technology assessment has been done and the view of the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics on whether those things have been done in terms of funding and I will ask it to revert directly to the Deputy.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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A Government-commissioned report back in 2017 described the undergrounding of the North-South interconnector as feasible. Indeed, it said it was a credible option, but that part of the report has been ignored and, instead, EirGrid and the Government are proceeding with a plan to erect pylon-supported overhead power lines through five counties. EirGrid and its agents are currently trying to engage with landowners across counties Cavan, Monaghan and Meath but we are told that the overwhelming majority of landowners are refusing to engage. They are stating that they will not allow this infrastructure on their lands.

I want to put it on the record and to put the Tánaiste on notice that the current approach is going to lead to huge conflict with local communities and the inevitable delay of the North-South interconnector. Therefore, I ask the Tánaiste to adhere to his own party's pre-election commitments to take the concerns of landowners and local communities and force a rethink on this issue because otherwise this interconnector is not going to be developed any time soon.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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We did take that forward-----

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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No, the Government did not.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----and we did ensure a rethink. There was a review.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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There was a review of previous reviews.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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We are not doing an interview on it.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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There was a further review of previous reports. I am not sure the 2017 report is as clear as the Deputy has outlined in terms of undergrounding. EirGrid has been consistent in saying undergrounding is not feasible. We did ask for a review of that and we secured it from the Minister. We looked at what happens internationally, as well as the specifics of this case. The review has since been published. EirGrid is still engaging with farmers in the area. The project has been delayed for quite a long time. Issues will arise in that regard as well from an energy-security perspective. There are no easy answers to this right now.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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The current approach is not working.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I am not sure what proposals will work.

Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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Last week I raised the issue of the endoscopy unit in Connolly Hospital and I received a message from a frustrated member of staff. It said that Connolly Hospital does not have enough beds for the population it is serving, the emergency department is under huge pressure all the time and the numbers being returned do not reflect the true situation. The hospital is using the line that procedures are being cancelled due to the winter initiative. If that is the case, then the winter initiative has been going on since last winter. Procedures are being outsourced to other hospitals in the group. However, there are still large numbers waiting and referrals are still coming. Let us see how long this is going on. In May 2018 the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, wrote about the exact same issue that we are talking about here today. The same issues are coming up year after year. There is a problem and it needs to be resolved.

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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It is a matter of policy within our health service, and many health services around the world that during the winter surge, we prioritise people coming into the emergency department over scheduled care. It is a normal way to balance the capacity we have available and to prioritise emergency department attendances and admissions. It is done in Connolly Hospital and in hospitals around the country. It is done in hospitals around the world.

Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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That is not what is being said by the staff.

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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That is the first part of it.

The second part of it is that the Deputy is right and the staff are right to call for more capacity. We have added 1,100 extra beds and 26,000 extra staff.

Thanks to the great efforts of those staff, including, undoubtedly, the staff member referred to by the Deputy, the waiting lists are falling now. They have fallen for two years in a row, and they will fall again this year. The number of patients on trolleys is falling as well. I am not, though, for a moment, suggesting we are where we want to be. We are not.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I thank the Minister. Go raibh maith agat. We are over time.

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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There are several more years to go. Thanks to the work of our healthcare workers, however, we are now clearly moving in a better direction.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I ask the Tánaiste if he will establish a cross-government initiative to tackle unclaimed entitlements. Revenue admits that PAYE workers have left €480 million behind them in unclaimed reliefs. I estimate that the total for unclaimed entitlements for expenditure programmes is far higher, at about €1.5 billion. This is an enormous sum, more than €2 billion altogether, and these funds have been left unclaimed mostly by the most vulnerable families. I will give the Tánaiste a few examples. We know there has only been a take-up of 3% for the new GP card entitlements, 3% as well for the carer's support grant and 35% for the rent relief. The biggest of all these schemes has only seen a take-up of 25% for the working family payment. A cross-government initiative is needed, therefore, to involve the Revenue and the spending Departments working collaboratively to identify the many vulnerable families missing out on significant entitlements.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy has been a consistent advocate in this area. The Revenue is engaged in an awareness programme around people's entitlements and what they can claim. I will certainly talk to various Ministers to see whether it is worthwhile putting a cross-departmental-----

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I think it will take more than just issuing-----

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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What happens sometimes is that there can be an overestimation of what Departments might think would be the expenditure of a given programme. For example, we would argue that the expenditure for rent relief may have been overestimated. On another level, there is a lower take-up, although there might be other reasons for this situation. I take the Deputy's point that we must examine it. The problem here is that we need informed decision-making. If we are told on one level that if we bring in a tax relief it is going to cost X and the reality turns out to be much different, then there is an issue.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I will send the Tánaiste a few examples to encourage him.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Perhaps the one Department that might want to sit on it, but we might think about it, would be the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform. I am not so sure it would be so enthusiastic about the idea that we would encourage people to take up all their expenditure entitlements.

Johnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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Many parents of children with autism have contacted me to say they have major concerns that their children will not have a school place this September due to the lack of available spaces in ASD classes right across counties Meath and Westmeath. One school I contacted has three ASD classes. It feels it has done its fair share in this regard, while other schools do not have a single ASD class and, it appears, some do not have any plans to open any. Several of the parents who contacted me said it looks like their children will have to travel two to three hours daily commuting to a school with an ASD class. This is not good enough for these children who may suffer from a lack of social skills. Many have built up friendships in their own communities. One parent I am dealing with has contacted more than 12 schools and been told that each of them is oversubscribed. The fact is that numerous children with autism do not have appropriate school places for September 2024. Of the 23 secondary schools in County Meath, only 16 have ASD classes. Of more than 100 national schools, only 42 have ASD classes. Are these parents going to have a place for their children in September? An ASD class in their communities or nearby certainly must be offered to these children and their parents.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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As I said earlier, there has been a significant increase in the number of special classes and seven new special schools have been formed in recent years. I do not have the background to the specific individual cases the Deputy referred to. The National Council for Special Education, NCSE, is there. I ask the Deputy to engage with the Minister and bring to her attention the specific area concerned. All schools should be inclusive and should provide for children with additional and special needs. This is my view.

Johnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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No, that-----

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I think we have legislated for this in terms of more proactive undertakings. In many instances, it is about NCSE approval, planning, etc., in conjunction with the Department. Our objective is that every child needing a place will get a place. This means, then, that we must plan for this provision and ensure it happens, and this is what we have been doing over the last two to three years. I ask the Deputy again if he could submit the case to the Minister, if there is-----

Johnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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A lot of kids are impacted across the community. It is not just one.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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That is what I mean. There can be an area-based response if there is a problem in the area.

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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Last year, the Irish College of General Practitioners, ICGP, started a training scheme where it was bringing people in from outside the EU. More than 100 individuals joined that two-year scheme, which is intended to allow them to practise as GPs here in Ireland. In fact, in our city of Cork we now have a doctor who qualified in Ukraine working on the northside of the city providing care to people from Ukraine. The problem is that, as of January, the ICGP has abandoned the interviewing of people for the coming year in this regard because the funding for this scheme has not been confirmed. The ICGP has been asked to increase the numbers it takes in from 100 to 150, but there has been no confirmation that funding will be provided and it has put off the interview process until April until this situation can be clarified. I did get a reply from the Department but the ICGP is still telling me it has got no confirmation that funding will be definitely provided.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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What did the Department say?

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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It said it has agreed to the increase, but it has not confirmed that funding will be provided. The ICGP has abandoned its plans to interview people. We cannot afford to have this happen. We could have more than 100 new GPs coming in every year from now on under this scheme.

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy. I have to say this is news to me. I am meeting representatives of the ICGP here in about two and a half hours. I have also spoken to them on the phone regarding this scheme in respect of deploying GPs to the Iveragh Peninsula and around the country, so there has never been any question about the lack of funding. In fact, my ask of the ICGP will be to see if we can go from having 150 people on this training scheme to having 300 or 400 people participating. It is a very successful scheme in respect of people from South Africa and other places. The Deputy should rest assured that not only will the ICGP be funded to bring in the numbers of people he referred to, but I will be asking the organisation if it can double the number of those on the training course to address the shortages of GPs in some inner-city and more rural locations around the country.