I now call on Deputies whose names were carried forward from yesterday.

Almost 1,000 farmers have not been paid their basic payment scheme payment because the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine states it is awaiting a software update to allow it to finalise their applications. This is unacceptable. It is not an acceptable reason not to pay the farmers a payment that has been due to them since 16 October. Farmers are depending on it to pay for rations, to pay contractors and to live. The Taoiseach should investigate this and get the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to make sure that his Department pays the more than 1,000 farmers who are awaiting their basic payment scheme money.

On the same issue, farmers' incomes, we were advised yesterday on "RTÉ News" that there may be a two-way ban next year on a wide range of foods, including sausages, mince and prepared meals, moving between Great Britain and the island of Ireland. Industrial sources have warned that the problem could result in major disruption to existing meat supply chains between the island of Ireland and Great Britain and could reduce the price of cattle with immediate effect. What action did the Taoiseach take yesterday, last night or this morning in this regard? How are the Ministers for Agriculture, Food and the Marine and Foreign Affairs addressing this problem, which is of massive concern to the farming community of Ireland?

That was not exactly the same matter but the Taoiseach may address the two matters.

On the first matter, I will talk to the Minister for Agriculture, Food at the Marine about the delay in payments because of a software update. I take the Deputy's point that there should not be delays of this kind in respect of payments to farmers who need the income.

On the question raised by Deputy Danny Healy-Rae, Brexit is not good news. It has created many challenges. The issue the Deputy referred to is due to different stances being adopted by the various parties to the negotiations on Brexit and the operation of the protocol to the withdrawal agreement. There have been technical discussions. Technocrats have been involved in trying to iron out details of that kind. The story is not over yet and the negotiations are continuing. We have an input in that regard through the joint committee in relation to the operation of the protocol relating to Northern Ireland and the Republic. We will obviously seek to prevent what the Deputy describes from materialising. It would be damaging.

The long-running saga concerning access to medicinal cannabis for sick adults and children goes on. It is a cause that has been championed by Vera Twomey on behalf of her daughter Ava and thousands of others in the country. I have always maintained that where credit is due, it should be given. I will give the Taoiseach credit today because he has helped Vera on more than one occasion over the past few years to jump the huge hurdles in her battle to gain access to medicine for her daughter and others. Unfortunately, this cannot be said for the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, who is running a mile from this serious issue. Can the Taoiseach guarantee that the arrangement for the delivery to Ireland of medicinal cannabis products can be made permanent with the appointment of a distributor or whatever measures are necessary to provide security of supply in the future for Ava Barry and many more who need this medicine to save their lives?

This has indeed been a long-running saga. I have worked with Vera Twomey and others on an ongoing basis in regard to this matter. To be fair to all concerned, including the Minister for Foreign Affairs and others, an arrangement had been made to facilitate the distribution of medicinal cannabis, from Holland to Ireland, during the Covid-19 pandemic. That has been facilitated by the State. Obviously, after Covid - we all want to get to a post-Covid world - measures will have to be adopted to facilitate the distribution in Ireland of the various medicinal cannabis products in order to prevent families from having to travel abroad. People obtain different types of medicinal cannabis from various distributors or manufacturers. That is important as well.

I thank the Environmental Protection Agency for the fine work it has done in the context of its report on the condition of our environment. I take some encouragement from the progress being made on greenhouse gas emissions. However, the report shows broadly that we have a huge amount of ground to make up. At a time when Covid dominates and many of us are re-evaluating our priorities, it is crucial that the Government also re-evaluates its priorities in this regard. I would like it to be essential in the new national economic plan that is to be published shortly that we secure a major commitment to State infrastructure for offshore development, waste infrastructure, which is deficient in Ireland, and water infrastructure, which needs to be developed. I draw the Taoiseach's attention to slippage in respect of some of the actions in the climate action plan, particularly regarding the maritime Bill, wind regulations and the rolling out of electric vehicle chargers. It is understandable that there has been a delay because of Covid-19 but we need to get these back on track.

I have taken a personal interest in the Marine Planning and Development Management Bill. I have been working with the Minister concerned and the Attorney General to get that complex legislation, which has been around for a bit, published and on the Statute Book because it is central to realising the economic potential of our seas and so forth. The Deputy is correct that the State will prioritise because the legislation is also key to offshore development. We regard offshore wind as a key factor in the future economic development of our country and also in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The Deputy is correct regarding waste infrastructure. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform prioritised water infrastructure in both the July stimulus package and the budget and will continue to do so.

This is because it is very important infrastructure for economic development and in terms of environmental protection and quality of water.

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett is next. The Deputy is not lost for words, is he?

I was not expecting to be called, but it is fine.

I am hoping to be called. Will Deputy Boyd Barrett hurry up?

We are carrying Deputies forward from yesterday.

The issue of online content moderators needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency. It might be of interest for the Taoiseach to know - and I will ask him a little more about this later - that in the United States, online content moderators did not go into work at all between March and October because of Government restrictions there. Here, they have been working in large workplaces for the past number of months. To my mind, this is in complete breach of the level 5 restrictions. The Taoiseach will be aware that former members of this group of workers are taking legal cases here and in the United States over the post-traumatic stress disorder they suffered as a result of the content they dealt with for Facebook and others in outsourced, badly-paid jobs. Is this issue on the Taoiseach's radar and does he intend to address it?

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. It has not been raised with me previously. If he wants to make a submission on it, he should do so. I will check it out further to see what the situation is in respect of online content moderators.

I have been contacted by the parents of a two-and-a-half-year-old boy who has been on the waiting list for an assessment for autism for 12 months. They have been told he will have to wait a further six to eight months for this. This child is practically non-verbal. He needs speech and language therapy immediately but he cannot access it until he is assessed. The parents have been told that some staff are still redeployed to contact tracing, which is adding to the delay. Another parent was in contact. Her son is six years old. He attends the local school with an attached autism spectrum disorder unit. He was receiving services from Enable Ireland until he turned six. Then he had to return to the HSE list. He has been told that he will be waiting for services for five years. These families cannot afford to pay for these services privately and they should not have to contemplate doing so. The Minister of State with responsibility for disability services, Deputy Rabbitte, has indicated that she will ensure no one has to wait longer than six months for an assessment. I welcome that, but the first family will have been waiting 18 to 20 months before they get the assessment. Moreover, assessments need to be followed up by immediate access to whatever therapies are required.

Will Deputy Tully submit the details of that to the Minister of State? My understanding is that there will be some capacity to support parents to access services privately, if they can. I do not believe in this rule that has applied within the HSE and in bureaucracy to the effect that because a person has not had an assessment he cannot avail of therapy services. Some common sense and cop-on need to be applied. A student does not have to wait for assessment in the education environment and provision can be made.

I am unclear about why the six year old to whom the Deputy referred had to leave Enable Ireland services and go back to HSE services. Again, I do not know the individual details. My view generally is that all service providers, including the HSE, exist to look after children. Advocacy for children should be centre stage. All agencies and services should work together and co-ordinate to ensure that children get the services they need.

I spoke to the Taoiseach yesterday about the hospitality sector. One fact for the Taoiseach is that from March until today, 0.002% has been the outbreak rate in the hospitality sector. The Irish Hotels Federation statistics are available. Every minute and every second that the Taoiseach takes before he tells them will count. The Taoiseach should give the statistics on the level that people can start ordering food. It will be at a certain level if we sustain this level. Those in the sector want the Government to address them now. The Government should stop acting like this. I said it yesterday. It is like if people do secret Santa. The Government should tell them that if we are at 100, then we are going to open. The Government should give them the statistics now. The figure of 0.002% is the figure provided by the Irish Hotels Federation. It covers the period from March, when Covid-19 first arrived.

First, the statistics do not show that. International data shows hospitality can be problematic. Those are facts and data.

I am talking about Irish statistics.

Irish data will also show a story relating to Irish hospitality or certain elements of it.

Will the Government publish the data?

We will.