Did the Taoiseach ask Dr. Scally if he agrees with this?

I will raise several matters in the short space of time but I have one specific question for which I will leave time for a reply. Covid-19 has exposed many gaps in our mental health services. We always knew there were significant gaps but they have been exposed even more. I have spoken to many people but never seen such levels of worry and depression across so many different cohorts in our country. It is affecting all of us but particularly certain cohorts and I will speak about some of them. The levels of social i…

The Leas-Cheann Comhairle need not worry. I will give the Tánaiste another go on the issue. The Tánaiste's use of language was a bit unfortunate. This is not a confrontational issue and I think he misspoke when he used the word "trial". They certainly are not trials. My heart dropped, as, I think, did that of everybody in the nation who watched the video of Lynsey outside the court. It was another woman failed by the State over the misreading of her slides. She is 32 years of age. She is fighting for her daughters …

The Tánaiste needs to direct the State Claims Agency to deal with these issues quickly and more sensitively, particularly where negligence has been found. It was found in this case, it has been found in a number of other cases and it will be found in a number of future cases. We will judge the Tánaiste's words over the coming weeks and months. I have drafted a civil liability Bill but I have had no engagement from the Government. Why is this? The tribunal is a waste of time because the 221+ group will not support i…

Prior to the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, the media was briefed by the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly, that 875,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine would be approved for use and purchase by the Cabinet. Did that happen? We all know now there will be issues in the roll-out of the vaccine for those over 70 years. I am decoding what the Tánaiste said earlier but essentially we will not have the same amount of vaccine, given yesterday's decision on AstraZeneca. Was the decision made and can the Tánaiste tell the Hous…

I am talking about front-line facing people.

I am returning to the issue of quarantine. Mandatory quarantine is necessary. Quarantine at home is a waste of time. The new variants are potentially lethal. That is the analysis coming through. The Health Act 1947 actually gives the Minister quite an amount of power, if we read it. In May of last year, the Minister for Health, the Minister for Justice, the Attorney General and all other relevant Ministers agreed, as a result of a request from the National Public Health Emergency Team, NPHET, to come together to di…

Is that next week?

Will it be next week?

Are copies of the Minister's speech available?

Can we get copies of the speech?

Can we get a copy of the speech?

I have never seen this before. The real issue is-----

On the point of order, I have never seen nor heard tell of a Minister, who is a member of the Executive, sharing time with a backbencher on such an important issue. It does not bode well. Will the Leas-Cheann Comhairle rule on this matter, because it may set a dangerous precedent?

I understand what the Leas-Cheann Comhairle is saying but will she, through her office, check whether there is precedent in this regard and whether it is procedurally correct?

Will she also make a ruling in case it ever happens again?

I will just be asking questions as I will not have enough time for a statement, which the Acting Chairman will be glad to know. I will try to do a quick-fire round of questions for the Minister, if that is okay. I am not trying to catch him out as these are just straight questions to elicit information. I thought that I had six and half minutes. How many do I have?

That is not what I was told.

Okay. Can the Minister tell me how many vaccines came into the country this week? I do not want to know how many people were vaccinated as we have all of those figures.

As I have only a short time, can the Minister tell me how many vaccines arrived this week?