Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Cyra Cahill is three years old and is in need of services. Her mother, Charlotte, has spoken out publicly about her because she is desperate to secure those services. Cyra had an assessment of needs last year but there was no psychologist present. As the Taoiseach is aware, the HSE approach to assessment of needs was ruled by the High Court last year to be in breach of the Disability Act 2005. This means the assessment received by Cyra was invalid and she has been put back on the waiting list. Cyra and her mother have been told her assessment of needs will not be completed until 2024. I cannot overstate the desperate state of this child and her mother.

Of course, Cyra is not on her own. More than 4,500 children are currently awaiting assessment. The HSE is legally obliged to provide that assessment within six months, but the average waiting time is 16 months, with many waiting much longer.

What can the Taoiseach say to Cyra? When will the Government fulfil the legal obligation to these children and ensure that they get their assessments within the prescribed timeframe?

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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Hear, hear.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. As I said yesterday, in the context of Cyra and all the other Cyras out there, we have secured €11.5 million to address the backlog relating to assessments of need. We are looking to put in place regional assessment hubs in order to clear the backlog at haste. This will enable children to get timely inventions. It will also return us to the position set down in the Disability Act, which states that we should work within a six-month timeframe. Furthermore, we know the old assessment of need was not working. We know the preliminary team assessment was challenged in the core system. We have received from the HSE its third iteration. We have sought independent legal advice on this matter, which I hope to be able to publish in the coming weeks.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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On International Women’s Day, we should recall that many women lack support from employers when facing difficult issues around pregnancy loss and reproductive health. To address this, two years ago today, we publish the Organisation of Working Time (Reproductive Health Related Leave) Bill 2021 to provide up to 20 days paid leave for women who experience early miscarriage and up to ten days leave for employees undergoing IVF treatment. The Government initially expressed openness to this Bill in the Seanad but we were very disappointed when our amendments to the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022, which would have given effect to our legislation's provisions, were not accepted. The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth is undertaking research into the issue of early miscarriage leave, but the Government is running out of time in bringing in this much-needed legislation. I ask the Taoiseach that the Government take on our Bill in order to ensure leave is provided, particularly to women employees at such a difficult time when they are enduring early miscarriage or pregnancy loss. Currently, there is no provision in our law for any sort of leave entitlement.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I know there are some employers who already offer early pregnancy loss leave and, indeed, some that offer it to fathers as well as mothers experiencing this. That is a very good thing. We have introduced sick leave, as of 1 January 2023, that is any form of medical leave, once there is a doctor's certificate that can cover treatments, such as IVF and early pregnancy loss, but I appreciate these are discrete issues. The difficulty that the Government is running into is that there are a huge number of different proposals for various new forms of leave. The Deputy mentioned two forms of leave. There is also bereavement leave, for example, which involves unpaid leave but not paid leave. We have a series of different proposals for different forms of leave, in addition to different forms of payment associate with that leave. The Departments of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth are coming together to examine the issue in the round in order that we get it right. We must also take into account the costs for employers, which are not irrelevant.

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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Today is International Women’s Day. We know that women disproportionately adopt caring duties in the home. We also know the State's supports for carers are utterly threadbare. There are now 700 vacant posts in the children's disability network teams, CDNTs. Not one of those teams is fully staffed. Despite all the promises made by the Government to improve services, fewer therapy hours were delivered last year compared with the year before. The situation is getting worse, not better. Children with disabilities, and their families, must battle from the day they are born. It is shameful that their biggest battle is often with the State in the context of trying to get basic services, such as an assessment, essential therapies or even a school place. This abject neglect has disastrous consequences. The opportunity for early intervention is missed. Children's development is limited and they are prevented from reaching their full potential. When will the State stop failing women and their children? When will the CDNTs be fully staffed?

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I, too, acknowledge the role of carers, who are predominantly women, on International Women's Day. As already stated, I have a plan with the HSE on how to address the backlog relating to assessments of need. This will ensure the CDNTs can focus predominantly on the delivery of interventions. The Deputy is quite right in what she is saying. We have 707 vacancies. The funding is there to fill those posts. To be fair to the HSE, it has started to use international recruitment. That option was not there this time last year, but it is there now. We are looking at putting in assistant roles. The opportunity to do so was there this time last year, but it is there now. We are looking at bringing on board behavioural therapists and music therapists. We are also expanding the role in order to have a complement of staff and that it will not just be services such as occupational therapy, speech and language therapy and physiotherapy that will be on offer. It is about expanding-----

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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There are 700 vacant posts.

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I am aware of that. We are aiming to fill those.

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Much and all as the announcement of the referendum on equality issues, which is to be held in November, is welcome on International Women's Day, there is a deep irony in the fact that the Government announced earlier today a referendum to remove from the Constitution the insulting provision to the effect that a woman's place is in the home is also to be held. This announcement comes a day after the Government lifted the eviction ban thereby denying thousands of women the right to be in their homes. Anybody who listened to the interview on "Morning Ireland" this morning or saw the "Prime Time" programme last night should be utterly ashamed of the fact that the county we live in could do that to women. It is highly ironic that the announcement in this regard has been made on International Women's Day. The Taoiseach has to justify what has happened. How can he say on the one hand that the Government is going to remove insulting words from the Constitution but that, on the other, it is going to allow evictions to remove people from their homes. Thousands of some with children have nowhere to go.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I would see that differently.

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Of course you would.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The decision we made is to have a referendum to modernise our Constitution. Homelessness affects men and women alike. In fact, there are more men than women who are homeless. Homelessness affects younger people and older people. It also affects people from all sorts of walks of life. It is very much a stain on our society. It is not simply a gender issue, and that should be acknowledged. It is important to bear in mind that in some cases you will see women moving into certain homes when they become vacant. Women are coming back from abroad. I refer, for example, to nurses coming back from Australia and doctors returning from Dubai and other places. These people will be able to move back into their own homes, which is currently not possible. We will also see many of these properties going to first-time buyers. Approximately half of first-time buyers are women. There are two sides to this from a gender point of view.

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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The Taoiseach really does not get it.

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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I refer to housing and the Croí Cónaithe scheme. That scheme is fantastic and is beginning to take off and bring houses back into use. There are a number of issues around the scheme. First, the rule that a house has to be vacant for two years is causing a problem, especially in cases where people have passed away and the house is being passed to a family member. Some of these houses are in disrepair and need to be done up. That is something which must be looked at. The other problem relates to the 30-year rule, namely, that the house involved must have been built in or before 1993. There are unfinished houses in rural areas on which construction began during the boom. These unfinished dwellings are blocked up, and the need to be brought into use. I ask that this matter be looked at as well.

My final point relates to the extension of the scheme to include houses that may not be for first-time buyers or that may not be primary residences. These may be second houses on family farms that are vacant and that could be brought back into use for rental purposes. Will the Taoiseach consider reviewing the scheme in the interests of increasing the supply of housing?

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The Croí Cónaithe scheme is going really well. There have been more than 1,000 applications across the country from people seeking grants to allow them to being old buildings or homes back into use. This is really positive and we are very encouraged by it. The figures relating to the scheme are not counted in our new housing statistics. They should be because a home brought back into use is a new home in my view. The Minister is committed to carrying out a review of the scheme this year. He will look at the issue of homes being brought back into use for rent because that would be valuable and helpful. We have come across people who own three or four derelict properties and who would like to sell one or move into one and rent out the other two. That does not seem like a bad idea. This is something the Minister will examine. We will also look at the two-year rule. However, with any scheme, no matter how good it is, there are people who will try to abuse it. We do not want to create the situation whereby people are incentivised to leave properties derelict in order to avail of grants at a later date. We have to bear that in mind as well.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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The waiting time for driving tests in Clonmel, County Tipperary, is approximately 29 weeks.

In Tipperary town, the waiting time is 13 weeks. Candidates who have failed a driving test automatically receive an email invitation to book another driving test once they have waited the required amount of time, or must resit the theory test, which can mean a wait of a further eight to ten weeks. The Road Safety Authority, RSA, does not operate a situation whereby candidates can avail of cancelled appointments. The waiting times are a huge frustration to everybody, including people arriving to work for multinational companies and especially young people. As they complete their college year in April or May, many of them want to be able to drive to summer jobs. This is a big issue that needs to be dealt with. It is impeding their ability to work, go to college and drive socially. It needs to be dealt with.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy. I acknowledge on behalf of the Government that the waiting times for driving tests are too long. They are averaging at 20 or 21 weeks across the country. The service level agreement says ten weeks, so nobody should have to wait more than ten weeks for a driving test appointment. The reason the delays are happening is because there has been a 30% increase in applications for driving tests. Levels are now 30% higher than even before the pandemic period, and there is backlog related to that too. We are increasing the number of testers from 100 to 130, which is a 30% increase that will get us on top of the backlog. I guarantee we will get on top of it. A bit like the work permits and passports, it will take a bit of time but we will do it.

Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent)
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According to a leaked discussion paper reported in today's The Guardian, the one based in Manchester as opposed to the one based in Nenagh, the EU is close to a landmark agreement to procure arms for Ukraine. In the first instance, this will be done through the European Peace Facility, funding for which is being increased from €3.5 billion to €5.5 billion. An additional €1 billion is proposed specifically for the purchase of 155 mm artillery rounds. Twenty-five of the 27 EU member states have indicated an interest in, or support for, this. Is Ireland one of the 25 indicating support or one of the two that is not? If we are getting involved in it, how much Exchequer funding will be expended on buying armaments for the Ukrainian armed forces?

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I will have to check with the Tánaiste before informing the Deputy of the exact up-to-date position. This is something that is in development and under discussion at the moment. We are already a part of the European Peace Facility. We already contribute to it and that money is used to help Ukraine in the war effort but we have said specifically that we will not allow our contribution to be used for offensive weapons. We are happy to contribute to the fund when it comes to medical equipment, armour, rations and defensive equipment but we believe it would be a breach of our policy of neutrality and non-alignment if that money were to be used for offensive weapons. Perhaps to some people that is Jesuitical or is an Irish solution to an Irish problem but that is the position we are maintaining and from which we will not depart.

James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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I wish to ask the Government about the national car test, NCT. There is a backlog of almost 400,000 vehicles nationally as a consequence perhaps of serious mismanagement within Applus+ and also in respect of RSA oversight of the NCT. Has the Government a plan to deal with this? Is it looking at potentially terminating the contract when that window of opportunity arises to allow for a review of the system for NCT in Ireland? Many people now on the road are technically driving vehicles that do not have NCT certification. Those people have to wait for significant periods for a test. For others, their NCT certification has expired, which is technically an offence. Will the Government examine this and try to fix it?

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I appreciate this is a real problem. It is coming up in my constituency office. There is a delay in NCT tests. We are working with the contractor to get on top of it. I do not want to say anything about renewing or terminating contracts here that would not be right, but I will ask the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Deputy Chambers, or the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, to come back to the Deputy with an update. It is something we are aware of and are working on.

Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party)
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I want to ask about the roll-out of solar panels for schools, which was announced in the budget last year. It is a sensible measure to assist schools with their energy costs, to provide lighting, to power whiteboards etc and to heat meals under the expanded hot school meals programme. When I visit schools and am asked when they will get their solar panels, what should I tell the teachers and pupils?

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this really important question. I want to see solar panels on the roof of every school and I believe the Government should fund it, in the same way we have funded broadband for every school. The future is digital and green. It may be more about hearts and minds than watts and megawatts, but hearts and minds count, as I think we will all agree. We are very keen to have solar panels on every school. The Departments of Education and Environment, Climate and Communications are working on this at the moment. They are developing a scheme to fund solar panels with an output of up to 6 kW in schools. The Ministers, Deputies Foley and Eamon Ryan, hope to announce the scheme as soon as possible. They expect the scheme to commence later this year. It will be a multiannual programme. The important first step was to establish the level of existing insulation in schools and a capacity survey is nearly complete. A positive announcement will come soon from the Ministers, Deputies Foley and Eamon Ryan.

Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein)
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The national sports policy clearly includes a commitment to carry out a nationwide audit of sports facilities, whether publicly or privately owned. Despite the commitment, little or no progress has been made at Government level. Last November, a temporary stand at a League of Ireland match was evacuated due to wear and tear. League of Ireland club infrastructure is way below where it should be. That highlights the need for a sports facility strategy. Is this Government committed to carrying out this audit? If so, when will it materialise?

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy. The short answer is that the Government does remain committed to carrying out that audit. I appreciate it is overdue. It is an important piece of information that we need because when it comes to processing and deciding on sports capital grants, it would be good to have a better picture of where there are already facilities and where there are deficits. That is why it would be useful to carry out this audit. I do not have a timeframe on when it will start, but I will ask the Minister of State, Deputy Thomas Byrne, to correspond directly with the Deputy on it.

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I express the deep frustration, anger and disappointment that has been expressed to me by the staff of Davitt College in Castlebar over the pausing of the building programme at the school. A commitment was given to the school two years ago that the accommodation issue would be prioritised to facilitate the growth in numbers if it increased its cap to 170. The school did that but the Government commitment has not been fulfilled. The school was informed on 30 January that the building programme has been stopped to allow for a review. The proposed state-of-the-art extension has since ground to a halt. The only additional classroom space the school has received is four Portakabins. What do we need to do to get the project developed for the staff and students of Davitt College, as was faithfully promised to them by the Department of Education last September?

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Dillon for raising this important issue and for advocating on behalf of Davitt College. I can give him the assurance that we will sort this out. There are a number of school projects across the country, including in my own constituency, that either have planning permission or have already gone to tender and the tender has been awarded. We have run into a difficulty. The Department of Education is doing a brilliant job at building new schools and extending others. Because of the increase in construction costs, the money has begun to run out. We are going to have to allocate additional capital to it and the Ministers, Deputies Donohoe and Foley, and the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, are working on the details of that. We should be able to sort it out before the Easter break.

Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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Most people embrace science and understand that we need to respond to climate change. I have switched to organic farming. I used a train and bike to get here today. However, we want to ensure that the seismic changes we are making as a country are not punitive to rural Ireland. Proposals have come out in recent months about cow culling, penalising car ownership and tapering back the likes of Moneypoint power station in Clare. The measures need to be timely. It should be more carrot than stick when it comes to rural Ireland. What will the Government do to protect rural Ireland so that we are not tone deaf to the people of Ireland who do not have a Luas or DART in front of their homes?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. As he knows, this Government is committed to rural Ireland. There has been unprecedented investment across the country in various ways. Local Link has been expanded to provide much-needed infrastructure and transport services for people living in rural Ireland. That is something I am obviously very conscious of as the Minister for Rural and Community Development. I will continue to work with my colleagues across the Government to ensure that rural Ireland gets the service it deserves as people who live in urban areas.

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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1 o’clock

Last night, RTÉ broadcast an edition of "Prime Time" that dealt with the issue of older people who lost their lives in nursing homes. We heard harrowing accounts from relatives of the residents of a home in Cork who lost their loved ones without seeing them. Mams, dads, husbands and wives died, many of them on their own with nobody to hold their hands, while family members looked on through windows. Obviously, that was traumatic for all of the families involved. My party leader and I wrote to the Taoiseach a number of weeks ago and asked that he convene a meeting of all party and group leaders on the scope of any public inquiry. We also asked him to engage with care champions and advocate groups representing and campaigning for the families of people who passed away. Will the Taoiseach commit to arranging a meeting of all party leaders to agree the terms of reference and scope of any public inquiry? Crucially, will he agree to meet with representatives of the family members and loved ones of those who passed away?

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue, which Deputy O'Dowd has also raised on a number of occasions. I once again commit to the establishment of an inquiry this year to examine how the pandemic was handled in Ireland. This will not only examine the health aspect and what happened in hospitals, nursing homes and testing centres and with vaccines, but also the wider economic and social management of the pandemic. It will provide an opportunity to learn lessons from our experiences in dealing with the pandemic and will help ensure we are better prepared and in a stronger position should another pandemic or emergency arise. In conjunction with my Department, the Department of Health is examining what other countries have done in this respect. Any review must include the experience in nursing homes. That is only appropriate. We already instigated an independent examination of the management of Covid-19 in nursing homes very early in the pandemic, namely, in May 2020, after the first wave. We will of course consult with other political parties and advocacy groups on the form the inquiry should take. We believe the first step will be a scoping inquiry similar to that carried out in respect of the banking inquiry many years ago. We will be in contact with parties and advocacy groups about that.

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the commitment the Taoiseach has reiterated this morning. The fact is that 24 residents died in St. Mary's community nursing unit in the first phase of the pandemic in 2020. A protected disclosure was made and was discussed by the HSE at a meeting held on 14 May 2020. The minutes of that meeting show that advice was given to take emails relating to that review and investigation off the system. The investigation team requested the permission of the HSE to investigate the letter I sent it on this matter. The HSE refused to give that permission. It is extremely important that the people who wrote this particular letter in regard to St. Mary's are interviewed and the letter discussed as part of the Taoiseach's inquiry. Only an executive summary of the report has been published. That is only 17 pages of a 500-page report. All of that report needs to be published. It was delayed for more than 12 months for reasons I am unable to fathom.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Last week, the HSE published a summary report on the investigation into the protected disclosure made into the handling of Covid-19 in St. Mary's Hospital community nursing unit. During the period in question, 83 of the 146 residents were confirmed to have tested positive for Covid and, sadly, 22 died as a result. I do not know why the report has not been published in full. There may be a good reason for that. I will check and come back to the Deputy on that. It is important to recognise the role played by the discloser in raising these issues as well as the context of the time and the unprecedented challenge faced by health and social care teams, including the staff at St. Mary's Hospital. The investigation has upheld five of the 12 areas of concern raised by the whistleblower but has not upheld the other seven. It is important to bear that in mind. People will make disclosures, raise issues and make allegations. Sometimes all of these are upheld and sometimes they are not. Sometimes some are while others are not. That is why it is important that we carry out proper examinations and investigations.

Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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I raise the issue of rural crime in my constituency of Tipperary. Unfortunately, rural crime is starting to increase. There have been a number of highly publicised incidents in the southern part of my constituency. The weekend before last, a constituent of mine noticed suspicious behaviour in her area and rang a Garda station that is supposed to be manned 24 hours a day. Unfortunately, her phone calls were not answered. We have no chief superintendent in our county. For a county the size of Tipperary not to have a chief superintendent is absolutely ridiculous. We are now seeing the impact of the lack of resources because we do not have someone to voice our concerns to the Garda Commissioner. We are most definitely feeling the impact of the lack of a chief superintendent in our county. I urge the Taoiseach to talk to the Commissioner and to ask him to revisit the decision to take a chief superintendent out of our county. We have a very large county that runs all the way from Lorrha to Carrick-on-Suir. The lack of a chief superintendent is highlighting itself in the context of the scarcity of Garda resources in our county.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The Government is committed to building safer and stronger communities across Ireland. For that reason, we allocated funding in the budget to recruit 1,000 gardaí this year. We believe this will be more than enough to cover retirements and resignations. The deployment of gardaí and the location of senior gardaí is a matter for the Garda Commissioner rather than the Government, which is as it should be. However, I will mention this issue to the Garda Commissioner the next time I see him. I do see him quite regularly.

With regard to Tipperary in general, there is an issue with the building project at Clonmel Garda station being delayed because it is part of a public private partnership, PPP, project. That is an issue of concern to Deputy Cahill and also to Senator Ahearn and Deputy Lowry. That is something we are working on. The development is tied up with a PPP project. We are examining whether we can separate it out and get work at the new Garda stations in Clonmel and Macroom under way as soon as possible.

Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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We are now half a year deep into the highest homelessness figures in Ireland since records began. Local authority emergency homeless accommodation is at capacity. All nine providers in Clare are full. Every month there are 30 more new presentations to homeless services. On numerous occasions, I have requested that the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, employ a strategy similar to that of the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O'Gorman, and to undertake a large-scale building programme of modular homes and the use of a statutory instrument to grant planning and zoning exemptions to get units on stream as quickly as possible. So far, I feel I have been ignored. In the eyes of the public, the announcement made yesterday showed true apathy. I am looking for two things from the Taoiseach today. Will he acknowledge that we are drowning and are in the grip of a housing emergency? Does he agree with the large-scale building of modular homes by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage?

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I absolutely agree that we are experiencing a housing emergency in Ireland. That is why we have taken so many emergency actions down the years and in the last few months to try to deal with it. However, describing something as an emergency does not, in itself, change anything. You have to take actions. That is why we built more social housing last year than in any year in my lifetime or the Deputy's, since 1975. I am sure we will break that record again this year. We are using modern methods of construction including modular housing to provide housing both for people coming from Ukraine and for people who are on the housing list, including homeless people. That is something we are going to do. However, I need to be honest with the House. We have looked into this in detail and, while we are going to use modular housing and modern methods of construction, they are not a quick fix. You still need a site serviced with electricity, utilities and roads. You need to order the modular housing and it needs to be built and delivered. There are even technical issues including the need to make sure there are no bridges that are too low on the route from a factory to a site. There are a million things that complicate this, but we are doing it. It is not a quick fix, however.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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I return to the issue of nursing homes and last night's edition of "Prime Time", which showed half of residents, 24 of them, dying in a very short period, the nursing home failing to put in protections in the context of disease control and the staff and residents contacting State agencies but not getting responses. Emails were going back and forth but actions were not being taken. These were mothers, fathers and grandparents and the State agencies did not work in a timely manner to save their lives. Many feel that if this happened to any other group in Irish society, there would have been an outcry from the Government. We have had nebulous statements from the Taoiseach regarding an inquiry but no details about when or the terms of reference. Will he nail down when this will happen and what the terms of reference will be and make sure that these families get truth and justice?

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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Everybody agrees that the pandemic bore down hardest on people living in nursing homes. Unfortunately, we lost a great number of people in nursing homes as a result of Covid.

I suppose what was so disappointing about what was outlined last night is that was during the third wave of Covid, we had the vaccine in place, we had routine testing every two weeks and we had put in place infection prevention and control measures. I have met those families from Ballynoe and I know how distressed and upset they are, but it was a very difficult situation. At that time, all over Ireland we had unprecedented numbers. I remember at the time we had more than 300 nursing homes with a Covid outbreak. We had outbreaks across all our acute hospitals and we simply did not have enough staff.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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Seventy thousand people signed up to Be on Call for Ireland.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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The Minister of State, without interruption.

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I look forward to the fact that we will have a review of what happened during Covid. One of the measures we put in play - it was the former Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, who put it in play - was the expert panel report in relation to nursing homes and there were short-, medium- and long-term recommendations in that. We are following to the letter in relation to Covid response teams on the ground.

There was a huge amount of additional capacity provided. Some €149 million was available for Covid outbreak assistance. We are still providing free personal protective equipment, PPE, to every nursing home in Ireland. It has cost the State €79 million to date. The State reacted, and reached quickly.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I thank the Minister of State.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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This is a question about investigation.

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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We all prioritised-----

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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The Minister of State is out of time.

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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-----across the Department, across the HSE and across Government to make sure that those in nursing homes received a vaccine first.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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There are three Members offering and I ask them to put their three questions as briefly as possible.

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I would like to raise with the Taoiseach the matter of the N2, Ardee to Castleblayney road scheme, which is a critical piece of infrastructure under way by Monaghan County Council. The design process commenced in 2018. We have spent €5 million on it to date. Some €600,000 was allocated to the project this year for 2023 which Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, stated was intended to meet current project commitments but due to the ongoing changes within policy and design standards, additional design works are required. The project team indicated it will take up to an additional €600,000 - which means half again - to finish phase 3 of the design process. They have sought clarification from the TII. I am asking the Taoiseach that he put his full force behind it. It is a critical piece of infrastructure and Monaghan County Council needs clarity on it as soon as possible.

Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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The Government has handed over the provision of sewerage and water services to Irish Water and the long-awaited Kilcummin sewerage scheme is now under way. It is in the Lough Leane catchment. We all welcome this. Some €9 million is to be spent.

The problem now is that Irish Water is deviating from what Kerry County Council, the local authority, always did. It is looking for €4,000 per household for connection. This was always placed at the roadside boundaries free of charge to entice people to connect.

Work has begun. The road closure is in place until the end of September. The trench is open and it is 6 m and 7 m deep in places. It makes perfect sense to leave out the connections now as the work is progressing and that is what I am asking about.

Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy.

Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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The purpose of the scheme is to enhance water quality, prevent pollution and prevent polluting the Deenagh River and the beautiful lakes of Killarney with algae blue. The full capacity of this scheme, which is paid for by public money, will not be realised if all the residents do not connect to the scheme. I would ask the Taoiseach to talk to Irish Water about this. There is €9 million. Surely another couple of hundred thousand euro that it is trying to get from the residents is not practical.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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Yet again, I have to raise with the Taoiseach the scandal of mothers who were prescribed Epilim - the valproate scandal. An inquiry was promised, as the Taoiseach will be aware, more than two years ago. Last week, we saw yet another multi-million euro court settlement in regard to this. Can the Taoiseach please give these families a timeline for when this inquiry will start? They have waited far too long. They have waited decades for this to happen. To leave them hanging on like this is grossly unjust. It is injustice on top of injustice. Can the Taoiseach please tell me when will the inquiry start?

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I am afraid I do not have a date for the start of the Epilim inquiry. I understand that a number of cases have been settled in the courts but that is a separate matter from the inquiry. I will check in with the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, and ask him to give the Deputy an update on that.

On the Irish Water issue, I note this was on a Topical Issue matter last night. The Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Malcolm Noonan, has committed to following up with the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, on that and I will ask him to contact Deputy Danny Healy-Rae about that as well.

On the national roads programme, I appreciate Deputy Niamh Smyth's advocacy for Cavan and, indeed, for Monaghan and for Meath. We have roughly €500 million a year for the roads programme: approximately €250 million to maintain and upgrade the existing roads; and €250 million for new projects. It is not always possible to fully fund every project every year. When it comes to that region, Ardee is a priority. Slane is a priority, so is Clontibret to the Border. The whole thing links in with the A5 - a really important project for the whole country, not only for Cavan and Monaghan. What we have committed to is that if money becomes available during the year as some projects may not proceed, it can be reallocated. That may be possible for that project at some point later in the year.