Last week, the Oireachtas Special Committee on Covid-19 Response met representatives from the Irish Primary Principals' Network and the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals with regard to education provision in September. I have been contacted by a large number of special needs assistants, SNAs, who have expressed their deep disappointment and despair that they were excluded from this session. As the Taoiseach knows, SNAs have the closest contact with pupils in schools. They effectively look after the most vulnerable students in schools and to exclude them from this session was wrong and deeply hurtful to the thousands of SNAs around the country. They have asked that their opinions be taken into account with regard to the reopening of schools in September. Will the Taoiseach confirm to the House that he will work with the Minister for Education and Skills and ensure the views and opinions of SNAs will be taken into account when decisions are taken on reopening schools in September?

Last weekend, more than 60 motorhomes and caravans were located in the village of Carlingford. This was way above what is normal. I note that yesterday the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Coveney, stated that visitors should not come to Ireland unless they restrict their movements for 14 days. With respect, this type of advice means absolutely nothing unless it can be backed up by action. Over the weekend, we saw many tourists from the USA out and about in our cities and towns. I understand that in the USA, people from the state of Texas are unable to visit their neighbours because of Covid-19 restrictions, yet they can travel freely to Ireland. Will the Taoiseach confirm to the House what action the Government intends to take to ensure visitors to our island respect and obey the restrictions in place?

I congratulate the Taoiseach on getting the contractor back on the site of the national children's hospital yesterday. Will he confirm to the House whether any additional conditions have been imposed by the contractor for its return to the site? We are all aware that the spiralling costs of the hospital have gained worldwide attention. As I come from a business background, I know how projects can overrun their budgets, but what has happened at the national children's hospital to date is simply not acceptable. Can the Taoiseach inform the House of the current situation regarding costs? Are measures being put in place to ensure costs are controlled? Is the Taoiseach confident that the costs can be controlled for the remainder of the project?

Before I call the Taoiseach to respond, I remind Deputies that they can raise just one issue and not two on Leaders' Questions.

Or three.

Perhaps the Taoiseach might address one of the matters raised by Deputy Fitzpatrick. I call the Taoiseach.

It may all be under the umbrella of Covid-19 matters, by a stretch. On the first matter, I will of course speak to the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Foley, regarding the inclusion of representative voices for SNAs. I think we have more than 70,000 SNAs in our system now. Those posts sprung from an initiative I took back in 1998, when I served as Minister for Education and Science, with regard to special needs education. The objective of the Government and of the Minister is to get as full an opening and return to school as possible near the end of August.

That relates to the Deputy's question regarding travel and behaviour. If our number one priority is to reopen schools, and I believe everyone shares that as a priority, we must be extremely vigilant concerning social distancing, etiquette regarding washing of hands etc. and abiding by the public health advice. Any slippage between now and the end of August could undermine our efforts to get schools open fully.

In the context of travel, there has been much commentary concerning the number of American visitors. Our information from the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport is that the numbers coming in from the US are quite low. From the outset of the pandemic, travel has never been banned officially or per se. It has never been prohibited. The National Public Health Emergency Team, NPHET, will be giving us advice. It is meeting today and there will be a meeting of the Government tomorrow in respect of phase 4 of the roadmap. There will also be further discussions about the travel issue, which will culminate in decisions on 20 July about drawing up a green list and strengthening our presence at airports and ports in respect of inward traffic.

I have been speaking to the Chief Medical Officer, CMO. There are concerns regarding increases in the number of Covid-19 cases in the last fortnight. Congregated indoor settings are presenting a problem and having 30 or 40 people in house parties is an issue. We have to be very strong in respect of travel, especially regarding our messaging, with a view to keeping the rate of Covid-19 down. That will be our objective in the coming weeks, with the overarching considerations being to get the schools open and to free our hospital capacity to get the non-Covid strands of medicine opened up. I think I have covered that item for Deputy Fitzpatrick.

Concerning the national children's hospital, that is back now after the Covid-19 disruption. There are ongoing issues between the contractor and the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board, NPHDB. The Deputy will have seen my comments on Friday. There are mechanisms in the contract for resolving any contractual issues or any issues pertaining to claims and counterclaims.

Those mechanisms should be used. What is essential is that work continues in respect of building the hospital for the children of this nation. The children of this nation need a modern hospital. We are way behind in terms of getting that completed. From the Government's perspective, working through the board, we want to protect the taxpayer, make sure that the contract is implemented and monitor that in a robust way. Any issues should be resolved through the mechanisms that are provided for within the contract.

Deputy Fitzpatrick managed to get three for the price of one. We will not do that again. The special offer is not available anymore.

I thank the Ceann Comhairle. Only for the fact I am a pioneer I would buy you a drink.

I thank the Taoiseach because he realises that special needs assistants do a fantastic job. It is important that their opinions and concerns are given expression.

The people of County Louth, especially the Carlingford area, are concerned about what is happening at the moment. We see so many motor homes and the number of people coming to the Border area at the moment is high. It is okay for the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Coveney, and the Tánaiste to make those statements, but it is important that if statements are made, action is taken.

We all need the children's hospital. We are all talking about the children's hospital for the wrong reasons - the cost. I congratulate the Taoiseach on getting the site back up and running but we have to keep an eye on the cost. That is very important.

I congratulate the Taoiseach again and thank him for answering my three questions.

I assure the Deputy that the hospital board is keeping a vigilant eye on costs and is very much on the case in protecting the taxpayer's interests. I have to put that on the record. The board has kept the Minister informed in respect of the efforts it has been making in that regard.

There will be significant domestic tourism activity this year. That is important to weigh up. Our travel advisory is consistent. We are advising people not to travel abroad except for essential reasons. As a result there has been a significant demand on domestic facilities, including hotels and so on. Again, the message has to be that while obviously we want people to enjoy themselves during the summer, they should do so in a socially responsible way. In this phase of Covid-19, personal responsibility is essential and is key to keeping the spread of the virus down. It is a very dangerous virus. What worries me is that the age profile of new cases is going down. It is important to convey to people the serious potential long-term impact that getting this virus can have on one's health. That is why, in all of the holiday locations across the country, people should be conscious of that and behave appropriately.