Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will do my best to go through the questions quickly.

Deputy Mairéad Farrell raised an issue relating to the hot school meals programme. I will ask the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys, to revert to her because it falls under that Department as well as the Department of Education in terms of the rates that are paid to contractors to make sure that vital service can continue.

Deputy Shanahan has raised on several occasions the issue he addressed today. I hear what he has to say in respect of the online projects tracker. It is not designed to capture all of the investment but, rather, only that relating to projects above a certain threshold. He will be familiar with the report that is produced on a regional assembly basis, including for the southern region. In Cork, Cork County Council commissioned a piece of work to look at the totality of funding streams from national government to see if it could come to a conclusion as to how it was faring. Perhaps that is something the Deputy and I can discuss offline. I am open to new reporting channels so that we get a better handle on the proper spread and distribution of resources, which is a Government objective. If it is not being delivered, that is something we would like to address.

I will ask the relevant Ministers to revert to Deputy Costello regarding the reporting of private family law cases.

Deputy Clarke raised an issue relating to the NAS and the change to the regime in respect of Covid testing. I understand from the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, that there is a move to a system which is clinically led, based on an assessment of the need of the area.

Deputy Michael Collins raised the issue of AIB and the changes that were announced and subsequently reversed. I am not the line Minister and so did not have any involvement in that regard. The Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, has already accounted before the committee as to the level of knowledge within his Department at official level and exactly when he was informed of those changes.

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