The last pay agreement not only kept up with but exceeded inflation, particularly for low-paid workers. Of course the Government is anxious to enter into public service pay negotiations. We have made it very clear we want to engage in public service pay negotiations with the unions. I do not believe there is any need for balloting or work to rule. Negotiations without preconditions should commence with the objective of achieving a public service pay agreement for all public service workers, just like on previous oc…

What does the Deputy mean? The bottom line is we want to enter into a public service pay agreement. We are putting substantial funding aside in the budget towards a public service pay agreement. The unions know this deep down, or the leadership certainly knows it.

Is Tommy in receipt of a free fuel allowance?

He is. That could be organised. Surely if we take the totality of the fuel allowance and the increases, it is approximately €1,000. I have often thought social protection could connect the fuel allowance to arrears and to the companies to clear arrears, or to go through Money Advice and Budgeting Services, MABS, or some facility to help people like Tommy deal with arrears and get rid of them once and for all. If he is a vulnerable customer, as the Deputy has said, and I have no doubt he is, he will not be cut off. …

I do not have the background to the case. I presume the NCSE is working with the school on this.

But you see you-----

I do not have the full background. The Deputy has not said it or not, but it seems to me the NCSE is engaging with the school. Is it about teaching resources? How many times do I have to say it? We have expanded resources. We have put €746 million into this.

We are willing to commit the resources.

I do not think that is a fair assessment of it. I do not know the specifics of it. The NCSE is of course prepared to support the placement of a child in a school with whatever SNA or teaching supports are required, or what the physical capacity of the school needs. It could be the case the school would not get the physical thing straight away in terms of a new class or whatever, but at least if the provision was made in terms of teachers and SNAs-----

I regret there is a work-to-rule commencing tomorrow. I do not believe there is a need for a work-to-rule to agree on this. I have serious questions about the entire process in terms of the balloting and so on like that of members, if I am honest. The Government is very clear, as it has been in recent years since I became Taoiseach and before. Public service pay agreements have been agreed by successive governments, negotiations have always ensued and, rearticulating what I said earlier, the Government is open to c…

We are probably less brilliant than we were, as opposed to dumber and dumber. We are very high-up there. One wonders is that related to the advent of social media in terms of reading, literacy skills and numeracy. It is extremely important that AI and all of that, while very important, does not take away the capacity to reason, be creative and be original in one's thinking and analysing of the world and of issues and so on like that. There will be continued investment in education. The primacy of maths, English and…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 12, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on Northern Ireland oversees implementation of programme for Government commitments and ongoing developments in relation to Northern Ireland, Irish-British relations and the shared island initiative. Areas of discussion also include the annual United Kingdom-Ireland summits and their agreed UK-Ireland 2030 programme of work, and the continued roll-out and development of the investment, research and dialogue strands of the shared is…

I thank all the Deputies who have spoken. Deputy Paul Murphy spoke first. Some people may have used that term "mob" but the vast majority of people have not. The vast majority of people realise the enormous generational trauma that people in Garvaghy and Drumcree have gone through over the past three decades in particular. That is the motivation to prevent us having to go back to that type of trauma ever again. We have engaged with the British Government. We have let it know our view as to what has happened but als…

They are not, however, and never will be. The Good Friday Agreement was an enormous leap forward in that respect. Deputy Devlin made a point about engagement. I was at Comhaltas's Fleadh Cheoil in Belfast only in August. It was an extraordinary success. Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann managed it very sensitively and, in fact, embraced all traditions within the celebration of Irish traditional music, including Loyalist bands, the Ulster-Scots dancing tradition and so on. That shows positively what can happen with consta…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 13 to 24, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on the European Union and international affairs was established by the Government on 18 February 2025. It meets quarterly, in advance of regular European Council meetings, and as required. Its role is to oversee implementation of programme for Government commitments in relation to the European Union, including Ireland's Presidency of the Council of the EU, and international issues. The Cabinet committee on European Union and inter…

To Deputy Paul Murphy I would say that neither I nor the Government wants any applause. We just want balance and an acknowledgement that we have been the leading government in Europe, along with Spain, in supporting a Palestinian right to self-determination and in opposing the Israeli genocide in Gaza and what is amounting to ethnic cleansing in the West Bank. On the humanitarian side, we have been strongly supportive. We have provided over €134 million in support for the people of Palestine since January 2023. Tha…

My understanding is that officials from the Department of foreign affairs and from the embassy have attended the trial. However, I will check that again with the Minister for foreign affairs. Certainly, there was an offer to visit those who are detained. They offered to visit and so on. I am not sure what was the response to that. I will check with the Minister. On the football matches against Israel, the FAI has sought, through UEFA and otherwise, to exclude Israel from all competition. That would be the desirable…

As I said earlier, we are pursuing that through the European Union. The advice from the Attorney General is very clear that implementation is impossible.

Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked about co-operation between the EU and Canada. What we are looking at here is a closer relationship between the two, with a significant pivot by Canada to Europe because of its trade issues with the US. It is a good idea to have second level participation in Erasmus+. I met with Prime Minister Carney after the state of the union address by President von der Leyen. He certainly is very keen to strengthen the relationship between Europe and Canada. I hope he will be here in November for the …

Come on, Deputies.