The 60- to 69-year-olds are a group I have raised many times in the House in regard to the length of time they had to wait for their second vaccine. They now have to wait another five to six months to get their boosters because they were in the category that received AstraZeneca. What comfort can the Tánaiste give people in that category, as everyone else gets boosters over the next three weeks, regarding the efficacy of their vaccines and how the boosters that are given to them will not discriminate because of the…

Because of Article 41 of our Constitution, the only fully legally recognised family is that created through marriage. We know that does not reflect the reality of modern Ireland, in which there are more than 150,000 cohabiting couples. To recognise the modern family unit fully, we need a change in the Constitution. Furthermore, the Tánaiste will be aware, since I have raised the case here on numerous occasions, of Johnny O'Meara from Tipperary, whose partner Michelle died and whose family was left without any entit…

I ask this in jest, of course, because we are not of the same generation, but when was the last time the Taoiseach or any of his colleagues was in a night club?

Yes. We know from yesterday that the Government's definition is unknown. After yesterday, there has been a lack of consistency, as I am sure the Taoiseach is aware. Many people have been in touch with me, my colleague, Deputy Sherlock, and all of us about what was announced. It is unworkable and incomprehensible. The Government should have consulted in advance. The cart was put before the horse. A number of weeks ago, we were one of the few parties in opposition that supported the extension of the regulations, so w…

Ask it.

I respect that the Government got this recommendation at the last minute, but it did not have to make the decision. It could have waited, consulted and then come forward. The regulations that will have to be introduced must place a greater emphasis on certification - almost a reboot, as others have said - but also concentrate on ventilation. While I respect the fact that the situation has changed in the past week, I find it difficult to explain to the public how we got to this point. Is it because of vaccines not w…

In the middle of a pandemic we are facing into a crisis with the volume of nurses we are going to have. A report on student nurses has been lying on the desk of the Minister for Health. It was carried out by Sean McHugh. It has been there since August. When will it be published? The review looked at existing allowances to student nurses, the pandemic placement grant and pay for fourth-year nurses and midwives. Nurses who are qualifying and intending to emigrate have been in touch with me and my colleagues. They are…

I want to ask the Taoiseach about a rather sensitive and emotional issue regarding a young boy named Adam Terry. He is from Whitechurch in Cork. Adam and his mum, Christine, had to go on Claire Byrne's radio show with the reporter Brian O'Connell again yesterday to tell the horrific story of the pain Adam is experiencing as he waits for the complex scoliosis surgery which he was promised for the past four years. I am also aware of a ten-year-old boy named Senan. He and Adam share the same interests - trampolining, …

"It is a genuine scandal how many services which children rely upon have failed in recent years. The situation is by some distance worse than it was before. One look at the waiting list for scoliosis illustrates this". Those were the Taoiseach's words in 2017. I could also read others, but I will not bother. The former Minister, Deputy Harris, made a commitment regarding four months that was not honoured. It was that there would be a list and children would be prioritised after four months because of the complexity…

I thank the Deputies for staying. I appreciate it.

I was just about to compliment him. The Minister is one of the three party leaders and, before I start, I wish to point out that the way this budget was leaked and the process by which that happened are insulting to this House and to the Irish people. It has to stop. Everybody may have been doing it, but everybody knows it has to stop. Ultimately, we are the representatives of the people. The farcical situation whereby we have the documents in the House and the Ceann Comhairle quite rightly says we cannot leave unt…

No, he has not told me.

Sorry, I was genuinely not aware of that. However, we still need to know the information. Other Departments have told us how many gardaí, teachers and SNAs they will have. If the Government can figure out the pupil-teacher ratio for our schools, it should be able to understand the staffing ratio needed for hospitals, including how many ICU beds they need. Obviously, we need to take on board the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO, statement that 90% of nurses are facing burnout. More than 900,000 people ar…

The Deputy has the wrong Minister and the wrong timeline.

I am going to give the Minister another go at this question. As the Minister will be aware, the march for maternity is being led by Linda Kelly, who is somebody I know really well. It is desperate that they have to do this. I have been raising this issue. I think I was first to raise it well over a year ago when a good friend told me about how she got very bad news on her own and then had to drive home from the hospital. That hospital still has not pushed back all the restrictions. I have a very simple question for…

It never was but it is not acceptable to the point of being ridiculous.

Can the Minister only ask?

Before I begin, I wish my good friend, Vicky Phelan, all the best given the news she gave us over the weekend. I am sure everybody in the House is thinking of her; I know I am. Obviously, there was fanfare yesterday in Cork. It was a great local occasion for the Minister, the Taoiseach and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. I have been around when a number of these plans have been announced. I was probably involved in some of them. I have, however, never seen a launch of a national development plan, wh…

-----because he will have to qualify on two levels whether these projects will go ahead. All the backbenchers will, therefore, be getting fairly shifty with him. There are two flagship projects in the 2018 national development plan, which I looked through yesterday. They appear to have been abandoned. One is the M20 motorway, which the Minister has been questioned about and refused to answer, and the other is the MetroLink. In 2018, both of these projects were listed for completion in approximately five and a half …

I read the document and I also looked at the one from 2018. Contrary to what the Minister said, it said the road between Cork and Limerick will be a M20 - not a N/M20. That qualification came in yesterday. That is a very big change for the people of Buttevant, Mallow and Charleville, from potential bypasses around their towns, about which the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, often talks, to having a motorway which will go from Cork to Limerick. The components of NIFTI, as the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, has brought in…