I will not turn this into a political issue. It is too sensitive. It was actually quite upsetting last night. I spent hours talking to people. I could have spent weeks talking to them. They are being let down. The families are run off their feet. Every one of the service users has regressed. The progress they have made has stopped. In many cases they now have new issues. I looked at the Minister's statement last night. In fairness, Ailbhe Conneely, on RTÉ's "Morning Ireland", told a very good story on it. The Minis…

Under the programme for Government, there is a commitment to establish a sectoral task force on the new national economic plan. It is a very sad reflection of the programme for Government that there is literally nothing in it on workers' rights. An issue of deep concern, as the Tánaiste is well aware because it is now his area of responsibility, is the High Court judgment in regard to sectoral employment orders. We in the Labour Party have produced a Bill to reinstate those orders for the electrical, construction a…

The programme for Government contains a commitment in respect of ensuring that sufficient supports will be in place for mortgage holders who have repayment difficulties. I am conscious of all of the Taoiseach's commentary on this matter while he was a member of the Opposition. The Government of the Central Bank and the European Banking Authority have clarified that interest does not have to be charged on 80,000 mortgages where a payment break has been taken due to Covid-19, once the amount concerned is less than 1%…

The Minister got it wrong.

I thank my colleague and newly appointed and excellent spokesperson, Senator Rebecca Moynihan, for putting this motion together and I also thank my colleague, Deputy Ó Ríordáin, for working on it with her. I wish the Minister, Deputy Darragh O’Brien, and the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, the best. Trust me, I know how difficult their challenge is. Given the previous comments on what Fianna Fáil has done in regard to housing during its terms in office in recent decades, particularly the comments of Deputy D…

The Taoiseach has probably had the shortest honeymoon period of any incoming Taoiseach in the history of the State. It lasted about two hours before some of his colleagues started turning on him. That has continued for the last week and a half, even up to today. I appreciate that he is only a week and a half in the job but he is not a newcomer to politics. He is one of the most experienced people in the House. There is, therefore, a reasonable expectation that he will hit the ground running and provide stability an…

I am delighted that the Taoiseach referenced so often in his reply that not one hour has been wasted. He has been very focused. He has gone into an awful lot of detail, he said it numerous times, and specifics. In that context, I want to ask him one question. There are hundreds of thousands of people worried about their livelihoods. The Government has its July stimulus coming forward. As policymakers and as legislators, we do not have the information we need to plan for this crisis. The Central Statistics Office re…

The programme for Government includes a commitment to prioritise the consolidation of the existing road traffic legislation to rectify anomalies. I would like the Taoiseach to deal with the issue I am about to raise fairly quickly because there is a significant anomaly as a result of Covid. All driver licences and learner permits which expire before 30 June have been extended by a further four months but full licences that expire from 1 July onwards have not been extended. All learner driver permits that expire bet…

It is an anomaly. A former Member of this House raised it.

I thank the Taoiseach.

I congratulate the Minister. It is pretty rare that a spokesperson moves straight into being a Minister, particularly one taking over from his neighbour, so there is an additional dimension there. I wish him the best. We in the Labour Party will support him during the pandemic and when we agree with him. When we disagree with him we will oppose him. I very much welcome the fact that he will do questions and answers. That is a good change. I also welcome the precedent he has set here with various Deputies, starting …

The Labour Party will oppose both nominees for Taoiseach before the House today. The nomination of Deputy McDonald comes before this House without, unfortunately, a scintilla of evidence of a rational, thought-out programme for Government that could seek to attract the votes of a majority in this House. Sinn Féin is simply going through the motions of appearing to be interested in government. The truth is that today's nomination is not backed up by a real attempt to negotiate a programme for Government. Sinn Féin's…

I am sharing time with Deputy Ó Ríordáin. I want to congratulate formally the Taoiseach on his appointment. It is an extremely special day, particularly for his wife, Mary, his children and wider family, and definitely his community. During his contribution earlier I could feel from the emotion in his voice how important his community is. I am sure he is looking forward to getting back among them in the coming days and I wish him well, sincerely. The Taoiseach brings huge experience to the role given the length of …

I again want to state my solidarity with all the workers who are doing such amazing jobs. I witnessed it again directly this week. Our condolences to all of those who have lost loved ones. I have six questions for the Taoiseach, some of which I would say will require only brief answers. I will put them to him and give him time to answer. I want to start by complimenting the Taoiseach, which is rare in this House. It is not always the case that Governments listen to Opposition parties and take on board what they are…

It is a week since I asked the Minister the following question so I am sure he has the answer this week that he did not have last week. I was deeply worried by that but I told myself that the Minister has been working hard so I should give him a chance. In the phases outlined by NPHET, the analysis shows that the team and the Government make decisions based on five criteria, one of which is secondary morbidity and mortality. I asked the Minister last week what modelling the Government has done that it can share wit…

I am very concerned for two reasons. First, criteria have to be based on something. This fifth criterion, what is it based on, if the Minister can actually tell us? He has made decisions but he cannot tell us what quantitative or qualitative data he is using to make such decisions. That is very worrying. These are the five criteria locked in stone, and for this one we have no quantitative or qualitative data that the Minister can share. Second, on the HSE plan, why are we waiting? This has been going on for a month…

I agree.

Is that definite?

In the case of University Hospital Limerick, the situation is awful. Some of my questions on cervical cancer have been asked. The Minister knows I wish to know when the tribunal will start. I have spoken to all the advocates and I do not buy the plan to bring back screening. It does not make sense to delay cervical cancer screening until the end of the month and I see no reason it has not already commenced. Clinicians have told me there is no reason. I quoted Dr. Doireann O'Leary earlier. GPs can do smear tests and…

I want to acknowledge the families who have lost loved ones in the last week and also workers. I have five questions for the Taoiseach, the first of which relates to workers. As of 26 May, more than 32% of Covid cases here have been healthcare workers, which is worrying. We are an outlier. ECDC analysis shows the infection rate among healthcare workers in the US is 3%; in China, it is 4%; in Italy it is 10% and in Spain it is 20%. I accept these rates could have changed since that date but they are the rough figure…