How long will it take?

Is the second error connected to the first?

I will address the question, but if I did not ask the Taoiseach today a question about the leaving certificate, we would not be talking about it. That is not the way to do politics.

We would not at the time. What would have happened is the spokespersons would have heard about it at 4 o'clock. The Government should at least have had the courtesy to bring in all of the spokespeople here and to meet with them at lunchtime to explain. It would have been the right thing to do. They have all worked incredibly hard. My colleague, Deputy Ó Ríordáin, has done a significant amount of work to support the Government through this and to make suggestions. That is the least the Government should have done. I…

The Taoiseach needs to give that assurance. We must find additional places in very tight situations in that scenario. I will get to the matter raised in Questions Nos. 6 and 7. I thank the Ceann Comhairle for his indulgence. It has been an unusual day. The work to be carried out by the external company that is now coming in must not go on for too long because if it does, we could have another issue. That must not happen. I want to know the detail of the second error because it is a direct error by the Department. I…

The Taoiseach already knows.

With figures increasing over the past week in respect of Covid-19, we all know now that we are at a crossroads. I want to make a couple of points to the Taoiseach and get his response. Dr. Ronan Glynn said we are going to be living with this for the next six to nine months and that it is going to be a very difficult period. I am glad that he referred to that length of time because people needed to hear it. I have said before in this House that when Covid came, it was the best time for us, as we had spring and then …

I say the following genuinely and I hope the Taoiseach takes it in that spirit. We need a new contract with the people for the next six months broken into two blocs, as I said. It would enable the lady I mentioned to see her daughter. I welcome the Taoiseach's comments. Nevertheless I am concerned about what the Taoiseach said about non-Covid health services. We cannot have a position of robbing Peter to pay Paul. We have to diagnose people with cancer or coronary issues. Capacity issues arise because of Covid-19 b…

Yesterday the Tánaiste, the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform met with representatives of the banks. As we all know, the outcome was that payment breaks will no longer be offered to borrowers who are in trouble due to Covid. Statistics issued by the Central Bank show that more than 56,000 family homes were in mortgage arrears at the end of June. There is a code of conduct for mortgage arrears in place to protect borrowers but, as the Taoiseach will know, it is very much weighte…

Last Wednesday, 80 people were on trolleys in University Hospital Limerick. I am familiar with the hospital as it is my local main acute hospital. That is worrying. I am used to such figures in the depths of January and February but not in September. Today, the Government launched the winter initiative from the HSE. I understand it was launched late but had been ready for some time. The Government is saying there are 1,500 new beds. A total of 830 new acute beds were announced but 409 of these are actually already …

I mean no disrespect to the Minister but that is not an answer. He obviously does not have a clue. He does not know the data. This plan has been there for a couple of weeks. It has not been launched, for whatever reason, but he obviously does not know the data. There are 830 new acute beds, 63 critical care beds and 484 new sub-acute beds. Of that 830, 409 are in place; of the 63, 45 are in place; and of the 484, 395 are in place. The real figures, therefore, are 421, 45 and 89. That is information for the Minister…

Why take the question in the first place?

The Government has had the data for weeks.

Students have been in touch with me, and, I would imagine, most Deputies in this House about accommodation. Planning for the year ahead, they face very difficult choices about whether they will need accommodation because lectures are moving online. In Dublin, there are additional restrictions for universities and third level institutions. NUI Galway has confirmed that any student registered to stay in university-owned accommodation will now be entitled to a full refund if he or she decides not to go ahead with the …

I thank the Minister of State. It is a pity he did not get to hear all the contributions. I wish the Tánaiste well. The Minister of State said this is about timing. It really is because we are in the middle of a pandemic. If we in the Labour Party had not brought this proposal forward, the House would not be talking about it. The Minister of State certainly would not be talking about it. Our party has always fought for workers' rights. We will continue to do so and it will be to the fore of everything we do. We hav…

Last week, I raised the issue of the flu vaccine. I would like an update because there is serious concern among all GPs and also among many sectors of society. There are pharmacies advertising the flu vaccine online but when one fills in the form, one cannot get it. They say one will not be able to get it this year if one is not in one of the priority groups, and we all know who the priority groups are. What is the position regarding the volume of vaccine we will be getting? I have raised this issue for many months…

The point of this new unit is to help co-ordinate future social dialogue. As the Taoiseach said, the Labour Employer Economic Forum has helped with discussions between employers and trade unions during this crisis as well as beforehand. I am really concerned about the collapse of discussions in the Low Pay Commission. We all know what the Low Pay Commission is. We in the Labour Party created it through the work of Deputy Nash and others. It does fundamental work. We made an absolute commitment to bring it in to ens…

How will social dialogue work without an acceptance that low pay rates and poor conditions like the lack of sick pay, which we discussed earlier, cannot be addressed? How will all this work in the future? I am totally supportive of Patricia King, as are the Labour Party and our trade union colleagues. We need to look at how we might ensure workers' low pay will be reprioritised. There is a deeper matter here. What forums will the Government have in the future? How will it be able to engage and monitor this?

Only two Deputies asked questions.

Please bear that in mind when we are speaking.