I thank my colleague, Deputy Wall, who has been advocating this for some time, as did his dad before him as well, and I acknowledge the work of Family Carers Ireland. This is a unique and neat motion. This is a group that cannot stand up for themselves. I was a bit disappointed in the Minister of State's response and in the Minister's response because we have discussed carers in here quite a bit. We have never really gone into the depths of discussing young carers and their difficulties - there are tens of thousand…

Yesterday, again, on "Prime Time", journalist Joe Galvin raised the issue of the Israeli company Cellebrite used by the PSNI to crack the phones of journalists Barry McCaffrey and Trevor Birney. There has been an overlap in personnel between the PSNI from that time and An Garda Síochána since then. It has also been reported that Meta, which owns WhatsApp, announced that up to 100 journalists' phones were compromised by another Israeli company, Paragon Solutions. This is right on our doorstep, up North and across th…

Absolutely. Agreed.

Agreed.

Agreed.

Really?

What about the Garda?

A year ago, a commitment was given by the former Minister, Stephen Donnelly, when he wrote to me to say that the new nursing home in Nenagh would be opened as a nursing home after completion of the 12-month contract signed with a private operator to take over the nursing home in order for it to be used as a step-down facility for UHL. I fought for this nursing home. The Minister of State knows it is badly needed in the mid-west as he is also from the mid-west. I fought for it for years because HIQA stated the old S…

I accept the Minister of State's honesty and directness in this and I appreciate his response. I have to ask, though, why did the HSE send me this response to a parliamentary question within the past few days saying it did not have a date and did not know? If the Minister of State can confirm to the House that it is happening after 12 months, which is this summer, what is going on? Why are parliamentary questions not answered honestly? The Minister of State has stated on the record of the Dáil - and I accept it - t…

I take his word that will happen. I must point out to the Minister of State that the company, Bartra, is advertising 12-month contracts for clinical nurses in Nenagh. If it is advertising for clinical nurses in Nenagh for 12 months, it must expect it is going to stay there a bit longer. By the way, at the end of this I want to see the total amount Bartra was paid for doing this because I expect it will be colossal. Why is it advertising for multiple posts in Nenagh on 12-month contracts if, as the Minister of State…

I will indeed, that is no problem.

There was astonishment among serving and retired Garda members at the Taoiseach's comments on Garda vetting last week in response to a question I had asked. To put back on record what the Taoiseach said, he asked what vetting actually means and what it actually produces. He stated, "It is quite limited in what it actually does." I have been contacted by a number of serving Garda members who have been back in Templemore and are concerned about what is happening there. In light of the Taoiseach's comments last week, …

We have a lot to get through. The CSO statistics were worrying when it came to the increase in burglaries and many other crimes. Notwithstanding this, I believe the Irish public respect An Garda Síochána and have huge support for it. However, it is a force that is in crisis. I represent Templemore. There are huge issues across the board, primarily recruitment and retention, an area which is in total crisis. Unless there are radical changes, which, in fairness to the Minister, I have spoken to him about very briefly…

I extend my very best wishes to you, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle, in your role. It is the first time you have been in the Chair while I have been present.

I am sharing time with my colleagues, Deputies Sherlock, Lawlor and Sheehan.

I thank the Independent and Parties Technical Group for tabling this very important motion on gender-based violence. I also welcome the guests who are in the Gallery. This is an important debate that raises a number of issues that need urgent and ongoing examination. Last July, my party tabled a similar motion addressing many of the same calls following the courage of Natasha O'Brien. In that motion we specifically called for a review of the practice of suspending sentences, and the criteria used for applying suspe…

You created the mess in the first place.

You crashed the whole country.

The Taoiseach was part of the Government that crashed the country. It crashed the country and he is still spouting off.

You are the tetchy one. It is you, not me. I have already got my nickname, sorry.