Gillian Toole (Meath East, Independent)
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Go raibh maith agat. The Irish people have endured an incredible amount in the last five years. Every virtue has been tested in some extremely positive ways and, sadly, some negative ways. Lives have been changed irrevocably. To advance, we must reflect, review and learn. We must rethink our duty to future generations.

First, we had two intense years of SARS-CoV-2, Covid-19. It is worrying that the Covid evaluation committee has not yet met to carry out a most important and urgent review of practices to inform all our Ministers. WHO delegates voted to accept the WHA pandemic treaty on Monday last, giving, in my opinion, worrying powers to the organisation over and above individual EU member states. We have extreme healthcare waiting lists impacting children's developmental checks, assessments of needs, anxiety in teenagers, absenteeism from schools and anxiety, loneliness and isolation in older people. All these factors are known contributors to chronic disease now and in later life. There are elevated presentations of cardiac and oncology issues. What will the impact of long Covid be on future healthcare policies and costs?

The second crisis was the energy and cost-of-living crisis. The damage to the pipeline caused energy costs to skyrocket and exposed our energy deficiencies. While renewable sources of energy are welcome, they are charging ahead in the absence of clear guidelines and balanced regional distribution. This is impacting our tillage farmers and calling into question our future food security.

The third area of change has been migration. Travel broadens the mind and the emigration of our talented young people has always been encouraged through mixed circumstances and emotions. We know we have serious shortages in areas of critical skills and active recruitment is ongoing. We are now at a point, though, where waiting lists for healthcare, schools and housing are causing tensions to run high. Let us be honest. Local authorities, for example in County Meath, are only now carrying out settlement capacity audits for social infrastructure and the other areas. Immigration, therefore, must be a fair and just system, taking account of a community's capacity to cope.

The programme for Government states clearly that the Government will address these areas and will consult with communities, which is to be welcomed. We have that old Irish seanfhocal, doras feasa fiafraí, the door to knowledge is questions, but asking questions has been a negative in recent times. I have been branded far right on occasion for asking questions. I am "far fairness", just for the record.

I put the question that I submitted in advance. What plans are being compiled, have been worked out, in accordance with the programme for Government to improve the intra-departmental communication, inter-departmental communication, collaboration, cost-benefit analysis and planning of all Departments for the benefit of citizens, present and future?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for her question. Her taking us through that is a reminder of the scale of challenge and crises that not just Ireland but the world has gone through. If any one of these things had happened in somebody's lifetime in the past, it would have been viewed as extraordinary. We have had financial crises, the global pandemic, the impact of Brexit on our country, very significant migration flows and, of course, war on the Continent of Europe again. We are living through truly extraordinary times which, of course, brings challenge. I also welcome that we have an independent Covid evaluation which is very important. Even though I can point to the fact that I am proud of a lot of the work this country did - I do not mean the Government, but the people of Ireland, including clinicians - of course we always have to better prepare, evaluate and be best prepared for the next pandemic. That can only be a good thing.

On the Deputy's comments on migration, I always say and I believe that we need a fair and firm system. The Irish people are fair and want to be compassionate. We know the benefits of migration. This country is better as a result of immigration. The Deputy referenced hospital waiting lists. I shudder to think how high they would be if we did not have so many people coming from abroad, working in our health service, including in our hospitals. The same is true right across the economy and I know the Deputy knows that too. At the same time, we have to know that there are rules, that the rules are applied and that systems are efficient. Deportation is a part of any system. If somebody does not have a right to be here, they need to be asked to leave in the first instance and they have to leave. That is an important part of the integrity of any migration system.

The Deputy's broader point is a good one. With so many crises and challenges that face our world, including our country today, not working in silos is really important. Not just this Government, but governments in general are designed with the department of this and the department of that and everybody works in their own way. We have been working very hard to try to breakdown those silos and see how Government can collaborate more across important thematic areas. I give the one example of infrastructure delivery, which I know is an important issue in Meath and across the country. Setting up a new unit in the Department of public expenditure and reform to drive infrastructure delivery will be really important. For similar reasons the housing activation office is also important. As I said earlier, we cannot get into "pen pals international" where State agencies just keep writing letters to each other. We need to second people from the ESB, Irish Water and the local authorities, and get them around the table together in a housing activation unit and ask, "How can we get that site over there which could have homes for young people who want to get out of the boxroom?" How can we get those homes built and build them more quickly? Government is making a number of efforts in line with the programme for Government to try to accelerate delivery particularly in the area of infrastructure. That new infrastructure delivery unit along with the new housing activation office are two practical examples of how we move forward.

In the brief time available to me, I want to reference the child poverty unit, a crosscutting unit that enables us to look at the issue of child poverty and recognise it does not fall into any one Department but many Departments and many State agencies pulling together.

Gillian Toole (Meath East, Independent)
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I welcome the infrastructure cross-departmental committee, the housing activation office and the child poverty unit - tús maith leath na hoibre. I think we can do better and can aim higher. We owe that to the people of this country after their endurance and forbearance over the last five years. Several times at the Business Committee, I have raised the topic of migration, something that merits urgent positioning on the agenda. We can take County Meath, for example and crosscheck what has been happening versus what is in the programme for Government. That programme commits to "Give greater lead-in time to the opening of new facilities, allowing for enhanced and effective local communication... meaningful consultation with local communities and plan more effectively." A simple let-down in that process, which is what is playing out, is causing tensions in the area. I would see that as a priority area for inter- and intra-departmental communication.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I accept the challenge that Government must always do more on communication and talking to communities because if we do not, misinformation and disinformation spreads mostly by elements of the far right who come to our communities, spread their lies, spread their fear and sow division. We have all seen that happen. I, as a centrist politician, have always believed that the centre must get involved in the migration debate because otherwise we leave a vacuum that is filled often by the far right with misinformation.

We have been dealing with an emergency situation with a war on the Continent of Europe in Ukraine. We have been trying to provide assistance to more than 100,000 people from Ukraine who have come here at various stages and have been welcome as they are fleeing war and fighting for democracy and freedom back in Ukraine. On top of that, we have broader migration trends. Having said that, in this Government with its renewed mandate, we need to try to move beyond that emergency, build on the good positive pillars of work put in by the Minister, Deputy McEntee, working at a European level, using chartered planes for deportation where appropriate and giving people faster decisions on the right to be here, now having a Minister of State, my colleague, Deputy Brophy, in the Department of Justice, working with the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan. This will be an important area of priority for the Government in trying to show a way forward with a greater reliance on State facilities rather than taking facilities like hotels that may have been commercial or valuable to a community.