Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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I remind Members that questions and answers on Questions on Policy or Legislation are limited to one minute. If Members cannot make their points, they are asking their questions at the wrong forum. I call Deputy O'Rourke.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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The Government committed to 400 new special classes for September. Over 300 have been sanctioned at this stage, and that is welcome, although very few of them are ready. The related major concern is that 400 new special classes will be far too few. By how many, the Government knows but will not tell us. It is reported that we could be 200 classes or 1,200 places short. It is simply unconscionable that 1,200 children would be left without appropriate school places. Representatives of the Department of Education told the Committee of Public Accounts that a memo would go to Cabinet to provide extra school places. When will that happen? Will every child have an appropriate school place come September?

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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Some 420 new special classes have been sanctioned. There will be more. Our objective is obviously that every child will have access to an appropriate school place. There has been exponential growth in the past two years, and the decision by the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Moynihan, and the Minister, Deputy Naughton, to extend the deadline has resulted in applications from a higher number of children than was anticipated. We are now working flat out to meet that additional demand, which is far above what applied, for example, last year.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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I commend the amazing Lelia Doolan, the long-time neutrality activist and human rights campaigner. She is outside the gates of Leinster House right now having completed a mammoth 220 km walk from Shannon Airport. Lelia is 91 years of age and has been walking in a gentle, peaceful protest for a fortnight. She is protesting the use of Shannon Airport by the US military. She has asked for a meeting with the Taoiseach and Government TDs. I think she is right. I want to express the support of the Labour Party for her. As we all know, and as we have seen in recent weeks, Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu have unleashed a rain of death and destruction across the Middle East. They have launched an illegal war. The Government has so far failed to condemn that war. The commander-in-chief of the very military forces that transit through Shannon Airport threatened just last week to wipe out an entire civilisation in Iran. That was genocidal rhetoric. Will the Taoiseach meet Lelia Doolan today as she comes to Leinster House? Will he stop allowing US military use of Shannon Airport in the face of the war-mongering we have seen? Will he guarantee that the US military and, indeed, Israeli forces are not benefiting from the use of Shannon Airport?

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I was not aware that Ms Doolan is seeking a meeting. I will see what I can do.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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I will bring that back.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I have the greatest of respect for her, given her views, commitment and perseverance. It was an extraordinary journey to make in the context of her views on Shannon Airport. However, we need to be clear that Shannon Airport is not a US military base. Spain and Italy have US military bases, but Ireland does not. We need to be very careful that we do not mischaracterise Shannon Airport. That would damage the airport. I have concerns in that regard. Throughout the war in Gaza, there have been attempts to mischaracterise Shannon Airport as some sort of military base. It had no role, good, bad or indifferent, in respect of Gaza, nor does it have a role in respect of the war between the US, Israel and Iran.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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We are doing a number of things. We are recruiting more therapists. We are changing the system. There were too many therapists involved in the assessment of need process and not enough in the provision of therapy services. We are also creating a new school-based therapy service, starting with special schools. There will be speech and language therapists and occupational therapists in the special schools and we will extend that into the mainstream as we progress. The Minister for education received funding this year from the Government with a view to implementing in-school therapy services in our special schools and we hope that the first phase of that will conclude in the next school year. We are committed to doing that and to building it up. That will be key because it would mean regular interaction for children with particularly severe needs on a regular basis with speech and language therapists.

Brian Stanley (Laois, Independent)
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Four short months from now, the scramble for school bus places will start again. There is going to be a shortage of drivers, as has been the case over the past two years. I welcome the announcement by the Government over the Easter period that it will allow those aged up to 72 to drive eight-seater vehicles. I take that to mean that there will be eight seats plus the driver's. Some companies use such buses, particularly for children with special needs. I acknowledge that this is a small step in the right direction. It is a very small step, however. The Government needs to go two steps further. It needs to be practical. It needs to allow such drivers to drive buses with up to 16 seats. It should also bring the age limit up to 74 or 75, provided there is a strict medical test, which has been announced. I heard the Minister say two weeks ago that such tests will take place twice yearly. The Government has built that in, and it deals with the concerns around health and ability. Extra drivers will be needed in September. Laois has lost several drivers over the past two years because when they hit 70 years of age, they are gone.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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The Taoiseach to respond.

Brian Stanley (Laois, Independent)
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We need to put in practical, sensible steps-----

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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I thank the Deputy. Point made. The Taoiseach to respond.

Brian Stanley (Laois, Independent)
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-----and move two steps further.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I advocated strongly with the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, and the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, although it was the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, who responded. This is a matter for CIÉ and Bus Éireann. They have responsibilities too, and the board has responsibilities.

Brian Stanley (Laois, Independent)
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The Government writes the cheque.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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We write the cheque, but when it comes to health and safety and the protection of children, there are balances. The buck stops with the company, if we are honest. I hope that this initial breakthrough, whereby up to eight children can be driven by people up to 72 years of age, will be expanded. Perhaps we will learn lessons from this and see how it works, with a view to being in a position to expand it.

Michael Collins (Cork South-West, Independent Ireland Party)
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I want to concentrate on the senior management in SouthDoc and their appalling treatment of a doctor and her patients in Clonakilty and its surrounds. Dr. Fiona O'Reilly has run an excellent practice in Clonakilty for many years. For health reasons, she is unable to do SouthDoc hours. Instead of SouthDoc working with Dr. O'Reilly, it has decided, in its wisdom, to punish her and her patients. Today, if you ring SouthDoc with an out-of-hours emergency, you are asked who your doctor is. SouthDoc will not attend to you if you say that you are a patient of Dr. O'Reilly. It will direct you to 112 or 999, or to an overcrowded accident and emergency department. This happened recently to a 16-year-old and an 84-year-old, among others.

SouthDoc has written to Dr. O'Reilly's patients - I have such a letter with me - telling them not to call if they are ill. This is nothing short of bully-boy tactics from SouthDoc management. It could well lead to a loss of life. I ask the Taoiseach to intervene on behalf of every patient in Clonakilty who is under the excellent care of Dr. O'Reilly and to demand of SouthDoc management that the people of west Cork be treated like every other person in the country and be entitled to out-of-hours medical services if they are required.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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The Taoiseach to respond.

Michael Collins (Cork South-West, Independent Ireland Party)
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An inquiry needs to be set up-----

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Thank you, Deputy.

Michael Collins (Cork South-West, Independent Ireland Party)
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-----as to who made this shocking decision.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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First of all, I introduced SouthDoc to west Cork, so I am a great believer in SouthDoc and that whole model. I thank Dr. Fiona O'Reilly for the work that she is doing. We are not responsible here in the Dáil for every management decision at local level or in the various co-ops. This is the first time that the Deputy has brought this to my attention. The Minister is here as well and she will follow up on the case.

We should avoid language like "bully boy tactics" because the Deputy is impugning the character of people in management in a given organisation. It is not the kind of language-----

Michael Collins (Cork South-West, Independent Ireland Party)
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That is not good enough.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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It gives licence to people to do things. We need to watch our language when we are talking about public servants.

Michael Collins (Cork South-West, Independent Ireland Party)
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That is not good enough.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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That is all I would say now.

Malcolm Byrne (Wicklow-Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I am sure the Taoiseach agrees with me that the men and women of our fire services, defence services and the Garda provide vital services to the State and to all our communities. In a welcome move two years ago, the retirement age for people in those services was increased from 60 to 62 years. I know from responses to parliamentary questions that 122 personnel in the Defence Forces and 112 gardaí have since remained in the force beyond the age of 60. Can we look at extending this further? It is a particular issue. I could not get the figures for the fire service, but this is being asked for in the fire service. If someone wants to work and can pass the tests that are required for their fitness to work, they should be able to continue to work. There is incredible institutional memory among these people. They can contribute in an enormous way. Is it possible for us to look, having done the extension from 60 to 62 in 2024,-----

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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The Taoiseach to respond.

Malcolm Byrne (Wicklow-Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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-----at allowing continuing past that age limit?

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. It is interesting that more and more people now want to continue their careers into their 60s. That is a positive story about lifespan. We are living more healthily with a better quality of life. As the Deputy is aware, the legislation allowed it to 62 years. He is ahead. He has all the detail. As he said, 112 gardaí have availed of the opportunity to continue working since the September 2024 increase to the mandatory age of retirement from 60 to 62. The Garda Commissioner may, with the Minister's consent, go beyond that age of 62 for retirement. To date, the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, has already consented to a number of such requests from the Commissioner and will continue to do so when requested. However, I will talk to the Minister. What the Deputy is saying is a good idea.

Malcolm Byrne (Wicklow-Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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And for the fire services.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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For the fire services, we have had 629 new recruits since the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, agreement of 2023, but-----

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Thank you, Taoiseach.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----I am generally in favour.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Time is up.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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We have to reflect the-----

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Deputy Joe Neville.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----increased lifespan with increased working time and give that option to people.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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The Taoiseach and Deputy can engage further. I call Deputy Joe Neville.

Joe Neville (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I note the Minister is here. As the House knows, there is an urgent need to address the issue of GP access across Ireland. Last night, I spoke on the Critical Infrastructure Bill. We need to view GP care as critical infrastructure in its way and incentivise its creation and extension. I see this in my area of Kildare North, which is one of the hardest places in Ireland in which to get a GP, where people move into the county from other areas and are stuck using the GP from those areas before they can access new ones in north Kildare. I have met doctors in my constituency who want to extend their practices and others who want to set up new practices, but we need to make it financially feasible. In the upcoming budget, will the Government put in place a refundable tax credit for a significant percentage of set-up costs or extension costs for premises fit-out, medical equipment and digital systems to assist in setting up and extending GP services?

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Neville. He highlights an important thing, which is the practicality of setting up and extending GP practices. The State supports GP practices to the tune of approximately €1 billion per year. However, we need more. In the Deputy's area, where there has been particularly concentrated population growth at a quick pace, more GP practices are needed. I will discuss the idea of a refundable tax credit with the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance. We need to look at every creative way to expand GP care. We are trying to recruit GPs to the HSE, but the State and private GP practices have a direct relationship - an important symbiosis - and we need to look at every lever we can use to increase GP capacity, either by extending or setting up new practices. I will discuss the Deputy's suggestion of a refundable tax credit with the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance for the upcoming budget.

Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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I attended a protest in Dungarvan on Sunday, which was one of many that took place across the State. Hauliers, farmers, fishers and rural contractors, such as agri-contractors, were present, but people from other walks of life were also there protesting against the fuel cost increases and about the need for action. There were older people who were rationing heat; families who were making the invidious choice between putting fuel in the car, paying off some of their electricity bill arrears or feeding the adults in the family; disabled people who were struggling to get to appointments and keep their homes warm; and students and apprentices who told me they were borrowing money to put fuel in their cars to get to their training centres or colleges. What will the Government do for those people? The 10 cent announced yesterday is not anywhere near enough and the fact that home heating oil has been left out of the package in any meaningful way is nowhere near enough. We need action to look after all sections of society who are suffering and hurting because of the fuel cost crisis at the moment.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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First of all, it is 32 cent on diesel that the Government has reduced prices by, and 27 cent on petrol. If the fuel package scheme is taken along with the green diesel reduction, you are up to 20-plus-----

Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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It is not reflected in the-----

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Sorry, Deputy.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy described it as 10 cent. It is 32 cent. If we can have factual analysis, that would be fine. If we did not do it, petrol prices would be 32 cent higher now. Sinn Féin has voted against reductions twice now. The key is that we have to-----

Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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That is not true.

A Deputy:

It is true.

Joe Neville (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Shocking.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----provide measures, as we did in the budget, to try to cushion, first of all, low-income groups. We felt we had to target prices there. The child support payments and so on were significantly increased, and we will in the forthcoming budget have a very strong focus on the cost of living. We will try to do it in an embedded way, not as just a one-off, but we will examine all options.

The Deputy mentioned third level colleges.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Thank you. I call Deputy Aisling Dempsey.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister, Deputy James Lawless, has done a lot in terms of access.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Thank you, Taoiseach, but time is up.

Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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Borrowing money to get to college. For God's sake, Taoiseach.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Deputy McGuinness, your time is done. I call Deputy Dempsey.

Aisling Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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I wish to ask about Boyne Community School in my hometown of Trim, which was granted an extension well over a decade ago now. The Department is well aware of the situation and the need for the school to grow. It is so aware that it has granted 24 prefabs over the years to accommodate the growing school community. A few years ago, a site was purchased for the only girls secondary school in the town and the Gaelscoil to co-locate on a state-of-the-art campus. It somehow has jumped ahead. It is at stage 2B, whereas the Boyne Community School languishes at 2A. My question is really about the policy around the school building list. It is not transparent. If a school goes on that list, why it is not done in the order it goes onto it?

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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First of all, I thank the Deputy for her long-standing advocacy and work on this project. It is a large-scale project involving both refurbishment and extension of Boyne Community College. It is actively progressing through stage 2A, with work ongoing. As the Deputy knows, stage 2A involves a design team, developing designs, full cost planning of the campus project, and preparing documentation to facilitate the lodging of statutory approval applications to Meath County Council as part of stage 2B. There are complexities on the site in terms of design. Work is ongoing to bring this stage to a conclusion as soon as possible. The Deputy is correct that significant modular accommodation has already been provided to the school. The next step is obviously to complete this stage 2A process. The issue then from a funding and policy position is to get it funded once we get through stage 2A to stage 2B. That is an issue that the Government is considering more generally in respect of school accommodation. A number of projects have been sanctioned, but there is a big-----

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Thank you, Taoiseach. Deputy Keira Keogh.

Keira Keogh (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Will the Taoiseach advise me of any supports for ferry operators in light of the increased operating costs due to the fuel crisis? I am thinking of the ferry operators operating ferries to Clare Island, Inishturk and our other islands. As we know, ferries are vital to get islanders to their healthcare appointments, education and other things. I welcome the packages for farmers, hauliers, contractors and so on, but we also must look at ferry operators. Government policy recognises the importance of sustaining island life, but recognition will not be enough here. We must engage with ferry operators, listen to them and make sure that we provide practical and sustainable solutions to make sure it does not affect the islanders.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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To be fair, the Minister, Deputy Dara Calleary, alerted all of us to the ferry companies operating to the islands when we were discussing the package at the weekend. It will be covered under the transport package. The Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, will ensure the ferry companies operating to the islands are covered.

I appreciate the Deputy raising the question because it is an important one and Government was very happy to be in a position to do that. It is an important form of connectivity to our islands, which are a treasured part of our heritage, but also people need these ferries as their lifeblood.

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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I agree with Deputy Byrne when he spoke about firefighters and the need to be able to work beyond 62. A firefighter, a retained station officer, spoke to me recently and I think he has written to the Taoiseach. He is about to turn 62, so that is an issue we need to resolve.

I want to bring up the issue of Scoil Bhríde in Sheelagh. I was in it in the last while. It has been engaging with the Department for a number of years. In 2022, there was a new teacher. In 2024, an autism class and another teacher were added. Then the school got another one because its numbers have risen. It is on the Border and the school has done huge work in getting more children from the wider area in. You are talking about a staff of three becoming a staff of ten in 2025, but you are also talking about classrooms, one where there are two teachers and 40-odd students along with a whole pile of other issues. We really need to see when we will get additional accommodation, be it even modular.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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It is a specific school project. Obviously, it has grown very fast from what the Deputy is saying. Has it gone from a three-teacher school to a ten-teacher school?

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Ten staff, including SNAs.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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There are special classes and so on. We have a very large school expansion programme on the way. Huge funding has been allocated to it. I will alert the Minister to the fact the Deputy raised it here this morning.

Mark Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Every day, housing is the biggest issue in my office. Today, I want to talk to the Taoiseach about social housing income limits. It was in January 2023 that the then Minister for housing announced new limits for social housing. In my own area of Kildare, the limit went up by €5,000. That was the first time in ten years. It was also mentioned then that there was ongoing work to look at income limits.

The reason I raise this today is over the past number of weeks, I have had a number of cases where people, upon review by Kildare County Council, have been struck off the housing list. One of the biggest issues is the working family payment, which is included in that review. As we all know, that is for the lower paid. In my opinion and the opinion of many, it should not be included in that review. Can the Taoiseach tell us whether the social housing income limits be reviewed? Will they be upgraded? Will the working family payment be excluded from that assessment into the future?

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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First of all, I will engage with the Minister in respect of this issue. I have in the past. It was increased, I believe, two or three years ago.

Mark Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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It was in 2023.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I am sympathetic to an increase in the threshold because there is a cohort of people working whose income limits are not high enough to sustain a mortgage or cannot get a mortgage and who would like the opportunity to access social housing. We need to try to seek ways to accommodate people in that cohort. I will talk to the Minister about that. We have an open view on it.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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I call Deputy Coppinger. My apologies, as I had skipped her.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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That is okay.

Before the break, I raised at Leaders' Questions the toxic, misogynistic culture in the National Ambulance Service and I have spoken further to workers and clients of the service, including another worker who was raped and sexually assaulted and whose career was ended by complex post-traumatic stress disorder as a result. Inappropriate conduct and grooming on the degree course in Tallaght between older tutors and younger students reported to me. Very worryingly, two people have told me about the unnecessary use of 12-lead electrocardiograms, ECGs, on female patients deemed attractive. In other words, you have to pull up a woman's clothing to put these leads on.

I have been told that men are gods in the National Ambulance Service. The bullying and harassment procedures are not followed. It is not good for men either. A noose was left in a colleague's locker after they had just dealt with a suicide case. This is a very dangerous environment. Will the Minister investigate this?

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy and acknowledge the number of times she has raised different issues in different sectors in relation to misogyny and questions of harassment. I want to make it very clear as the Minister for Health that in every healthcare setting, all people are to be protected and respected - men, women, people of any race and people of any gender. People are to be respected in all contexts. While I do not want to speak about any individual cases on the floor of the Dáil as Minister, as the Deputy will understand, I very clearly hear what she is saying in the case of all workers. There are close to 170,000 people working in the healthcare sector in different ways and every one of them is deserving of respect and dignity in their workplace, as every other person is.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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Will the Minister investigate?

Eoin Hayes (Dublin Bay South, Social Democrats)
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Let me express my deep gratitude and support for An Garda Síochána for clearing the disruption and blockades last week. On 17 December, the Taoiseach told me in this Chamber that it was "not fiscally sustainable" that the Government change any of its spending plans in order to accommodate basic, targeted measures to help with winter fuel costs. Now, we see a raft of measures costing way above the meagre ask I was making at that time for a winter emergency payment for disabled people.

Of the €750 million in fuel packages announced over the past four weeks, less than 10% was targeted at the most vulnerable population in a fuel allowance extension. The package is welcomed but let me ask the Taoiseach something directly. If this package is fiscally sustainable, in his words, why is the payment for disabled people not fiscally sustainable? I never accepted that logic. Will the Taoiseach explain to me why he is so against targeted payments yet he is willing to give massively bigger amounts away in universal measures? Will he now support the Social Democrats' proposed €400 energy credit for all households earning less than €70,000?

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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We actually did do targeted measures. The fuel allowance in the first package-----

Eoin Hayes (Dublin Bay South, Social Democrats)
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Less than 10%.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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Sorry, it is not less than 10%, actually.

Eoin Hayes (Dublin Bay South, Social Democrats)
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It is.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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No. The bulk of the last measure is for the general reduction of excise on diesel and petrol, which will impact on everybody. That is far greater than the €100 million package for agriculture and €120 million for transport. By the way, transport is the lifeblood of everybody. We are not doing haulage for the sake of hauliers alone. We are doing it because we want to get goods and services across the country. We want to put stuff on supermarket shelves. We want to export goods that are produced by workers.

It is a bit inaccurate, to be polite, to do these simplistic calculations. Food production is very important for the economy. Both food and production and the haulage industry are engines for all of us to keep our economy going and workers going to work and so on like that.

Eoin Hayes (Dublin Bay South, Social Democrats)
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That is not going to pay the energy bills.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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We are working on the cost of disability issue in terms of the budget.

Naoise Ó Cearúil (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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The school transport scheme is a vital support for families across the country and demand has grown sharply in the past number of years. There is a planned increase in fees in September. First, I ask for this to be reconsidered. Second, another issue around it is that for families living just inside the distance threshold, they have to apply for concessionary seats, pay the full free up front and still have no guarantee of A place. There is an additional issue with this. One family came to me and told me their child had a valid medical card and they were still required to pay because the exemption did not apply to concessionary applicants. It creates a gap where financial needs are recognised but not reflected in the fee structure. I ask that consideration be given to changing this and for a reconsideration of the planned increase in fees in September.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I will talk to the Minister concerned. We are looking at an additional €700 million increase in the current budget of the Department of education. It is largely around increased teacher allocation. That is over and above the budget that was passed only in October last. School transport costs will increase very substantially because the numbers are increasing all of the time but I will talk to the Minister. I will talk specifically about that issue of the distance threshold for the concessionary applicant and ask the Minister to engage with the Deputy on it. I will talk to her as well.

James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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Over the past week, there has understandably been a lot of focus on the blockades of the refinery in the Taoiseach's own county, the blockades of the port and the blockade of O'Connell Street that lasted for days. Does the Taoiseach agree with me that when it comes to the policing of blockades, there must now be a zero-tolerance approach. It cannot be the case that O'Connell Street, the main thoroughfare of our city centre, could be blocked off. People were refused access to the Rotunda Hospital. I received phone calls in my office from people who had missed exams. The level of disruption that was caused cannot be tolerated.

What we saw from the Garda when it carried out its enforcement actions in all of the places I have just mentioned was very limited conflict and a very positive outcome. As we look and review the situations that took place over the past week, can the Taoiseach agree that there will be a zero-tolerance approach and when it comes to blockading and the prevention of public transport such as the Luas and buses, this simply cannot be tolerated in a democracy?

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I do not believe the main street of the capital should be shut down for a week. I do not believe motorways should be blockaded for a week because it is an infringement on a basic human right - the right of free movement.

It is a very basic right. I have problems with that form of protest. I have articulated that from the very beginning. It is regrettable that others in the House cannot accept that the right to free movement should not be restricted by self-appointed groups. There are legitimate ways to protest - no issue with that - but the idea that you cannot drive on a motorway because of a blockade is a terrible restriction. I read in the newspaper this morning that a mother of a child with a life-limiting condition had to cancel a hospital appointment in Temple Street because of the blockade and conveys. That is not acceptable. There was a cancer consultant who spoke to a friend of mine. The consultant spent a week counselling cancer patients whose appointments for chemotherapy had been postponed. The cancer patients were worried about not getting that appointment, is it going to grow, etc. There needs to be some balance here and we need to have a discussion and some consensus as to what is right and what is wrong.

Carol Nolan (Offaly, Independent)
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Having spoken to many farmers, there is deep scepticism about the Department of agriculture's capacity to deliver timely payments under the Government's €100 million fuel subsidy support scheme for farmers, agricultural contractors and fishermen and fisherwomen. The reason there is scepticism is that there were significant delays in payments under the agri-climate rural environment scheme, ACRES, which left many farm families waiting months. I have seen one family left waiting a number of years for an ACRES payment. Obviously, this money was promised and they had budgeted for it. It was not an isolated incident. Farmers have had long experience, unfortunately, of the Department announcing schemes with great fanfare only for there to then be delays and chaos. Will the Taoiseach confirm that additional staff will be allocated to the Department of agriculture to ensure that these payments will be made in a timely manner?

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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There had been issues with the administration of ACRES, which is a €1.5 billion scheme. By the way, a lot of the funding from this Government for ACRES comes from the carbon tax. It is 60% funded by the Government and 40% by the European Union Common Agricultural Policy.

I would take the Deputy's point. The Minister is doing everything he can to improve and enhance the administrative capacity of ACRES. The scheme that is announced is an important scheme of €100 million in value. There has to be a degree of working out of that both in terms of farmers, usage of fuel - some categories of farming have a higher usage of fuel than others - and then the farm contractors as well. We are fully aware of the need to have a seamless and a proper delivery system in place.