No sooner did we get some light at the end of the tunnel in respect of Covid than the B1617 variant appeared on our shores. My home is close to Limerick city. The number of Covid-19 cases in Limerick has increased, with 272 new cases diagnosed in the past week. We do not know how many of those cases involve this variant. Up to Friday last, 73 cases of the B1617.2, commonly known as the Indian variant, had been detected in Ireland. This is just a snapshot of the situation over the past number of weeks because it tak…

I am the most pro-vaccine person the Minister will ever meet. I have a track record to show that. The HSE has done an incredible job under very difficult circumstances, many of them outside its control. However, the real issue I am raising is based on the UK study and the sequencing that has been done. The UK has much more data than us, as the Minister rightly said. Those in that age bracket, based on the analysis that has come from our closest neighbour, will in a few months' time have the lowest level of protecti…

I raise the issue of the surface of the M7 motorway. Over the weekend, there were again a number of accidents on the M7 between Nenagh and Birdhill. I have raised this issue multiple times with the Minister. I have, in fact, raised the issue with multiple Minsters for Transport. I have raised the matter in this Chamber with a Minister for State with responsibility for transport and I have raised it with Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII. There is something wrong around Annaholty, where sinkholes were discovered…

In the last few minutes, The Irish Times journalist Conor Lally referred to Bloomberg reports that those who have hacked into the HSE system are threatening to publish a mass amount of data online by next Monday, 24 May. The Minister may not be aware of this. What are we doing to prepare for this? The Minister, Deputy Ryan, organised a meeting yesterday with key Departments, and I thank him for that, but we all need to see a plan. What are people who are watching today, or those working for the HSE, to do when they…

It is five days since the ransomware attack was revealed. This is escalating into a pretty serious national security crisis and I am not sure it is on the radar to the level it should be. This morning when I was driving up to Dublin, one of my local GPs got in touch. One of his patients had been contacted by a medical organisation from outside the State with all his details as regards a procedure he needed and his medical history. This organisation knew, in effect, exactly what he required medically and was offerin…

-----is available online? All this needs to be dealt with very quickly to give people guidance.

That is not the issue.

I am asking the Taoiseach to give people comfort. That is all.

I take an interest in this. Before I was in politics, I worked as a manager in IT services. I asked those questions about Windows 7, working with some other people, purely because there was a huge risk. Following through on that risk, I understand exactly what the Taoiseach is saying about the volume of information he can give. As for the public's comfort, however, I am sorry but there is not enough information out there. I have two questions. First, will the Taoiseach give some sort of indicative timeframe or a pr…

They should have an avenue to go through internally with concerns about their personal data.

Will it be weeks, months or years?

I asked about a helpline.

Not everyone can do that.

The Taoiseach should set up a helpline.

I also raise the issue of Shannon. I live very close to it in my corner of Tipperary. The fact of the matter is that the baseline of traffic growth in Ireland and the volumes, taking 2013 as a baseline, is that 96% of all growth has been in Dublin. That is the real issue here. I have two questions for the Taoiseach. As to the €150 million ISIF loan, all other countries which gave state aid to airlines put conditions on this funding to protect workers and jobs. What conditions were put on this €150 million to protec…

Germany and Spain have protected the jobs.

What are the conditions?

There has been no chairman for a year.

There has been nobody there for a year.

Has the Taoiseach discussed the crisis in the Middle East with Ursula von der Leyen? We are all deeply concerned. I see that she put out a tweet saying that she was very concerned about the situation in Israel and Gaza. It stated: "I condemn indiscriminate attacks by Hamas on Israel. Civilians on all sides must be protected. Violence must end now." There was no mention, however, of the horrendous acts being carried out by Israel, which is killing so many innocent children in Gaza, children who do not have anywhere …