Yes.

May we stop the clock, Ceann Comhairle, please?

How can the Taoiseach's stand over people being taken into the Garda College in Templemore without being vetted? People who were not vetted went into the Garda College towards the end of last year. They are being trained and this is costing a significant amount of money. They have access to all facilities, to guns, to the armoury and to a lot of information, but they were not vetted. This was done in order to massage the figures relating to the intake of gardaí last year. It was done at the very end of the year. Pr…

How can the Government stand over the intake in question when the people involved were not vetted. We do not know if they will ever become gardaí. What is the Government going to do about this?

Does the Taoiseach agree that they should be vetted?

Should they be vetted?

If you are going to Templemore, surely you should be vetted.

Just bypass vetting.

Just bypass vetting.

I offer the Minister of State my best wishes. I specifically ask him to do one thing. Will he ask the RSA if it assesses the pass-fail rates in test centres and of testers? I am talking about an issue that is raised in my office all the time, including last week and the week before - 30 or 40 times - whereby one tester has a massive fail rate. How is that possible? I have tried to raise the matter but have got nowhere. I have heard of numerous people whose cars failed the test three times. When they drove up the ro…

I wish the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, who I know has a very special interest in this area, well. I also wish the Minister, Deputy McEntee, well. In the very short amount of time available to me, I want to make just a few points. When I started off in politics, approximately 20 years ago, the number of people who came to me about this issue was minuscule. Now in my clinics, I must deal with eight stages when it comes to interventions for children with autism. Primary education is around stage 4. The volume …

Before I commence, I wish to formally wish the Minister the very best of luck.

I have already done so informally. He is very capable and very knowledgeable on his subject matter. I look forward to working with him, as does the Labour Party, across a wide range of issues. This is probably the least contentious issue related to the Department that we will discuss in the Chamber. I hope that, starting afresh, the Department will be far more transparent and open and that the Minister will take proposals, ideas and information from myself and other Opposition speakers seriously and in a way that i…

In reply to a recent parliamentary question, the Minister for Health told me, regarding the HIQA review of the creation of a model 3 hospital in the mid-west, that the decision would be made this May. I cannot comprehend why we need HIQA to do this review. It is as clear as the nose on my face we need another model 3 hospital with an accident and emergency department in the mid-west. There is a review of the NDP. Will we have to wait for that review? The reply said a decision will be made in May. Will that be honou…

I will start by wishing our usher, Mr. Tony Maher, the very best for the future in his retirement. I thank him for his courtesy to all of us in the House and in the Labour Party down through the years. I also thank him for his constant help and guidance throughout those years. We wish him the best in his retirement. The real work now starts with the grandchildren. He will be wishing he could come back in here in a couple of weeks time, trust me. The very best wishes from all of us. I am sharing time with my colleag…

Hear, hear.

Well done.

A Cheann Comhairle, on a point of order.

A Cheann Comhairle, you read into the record earlier details relating to your decision.

We need to know when your decision is going to be made.