I am not going to ask a question about gardaí because this opportunity needs to be used to address a matter that has been kicked around the houses. The Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, says it is the responsibility of the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Regina Doherty. She tells me it is the responsibility of the Minister, Deputy Flanagan. I refer to the extension of maternity leave and benefits for women who are being forced to return to work. These women have recently had babies and ha…

I am sorry, but I would like the answers now.

If the Minister answers the question about the extension of maternity leave, I will take a written answer to the one relating to the Miltown Malbay centre.

The Minister is eating into Deputy Barry's time.

I hope it is positive news. That would be great.

Yes, with Deputy Paul Murphy.

I wish to raise the recent CSO statistics with the Minister. The CSO identified a slight decline in cases of the virus in cities but an increase in the number of cases in urban towns. It examined the figures for counties like Cavan and Monaghan. The number of cases hit its peak in April when Cavan had a high of 182 cases per week and Monaghan recorded 176 new cases per week. According to the CSO, this may have reflected "the move out of the cities and into independent urban towns". Obviously, there could have been …

Yes, please. I have a minute and a bit left.

In the few seconds remaining I would like to ask if the case I have made about the study in the US and the statistics coming from the CSO are a cause of concern to the Minister given his responsibility for rural affairs, if not for meat.

That is not the case.

I am sharing time with Deputy Paul Murphy. I want to raise a specific aspect of this crisis and its effect on aviation, namely, the present rush by Ryanair and Aer Lingus to cut wages, lay off staff and implement widespread redundancies. I am aware that much of this is not necessarily the responsibility of the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport but it is the responsibility of the entire Cabinet. The speed and scale of the assault on workers in the aviation industry is particularly acute. This week, Aer Ling…

It is disgraceful.

I am angry. I am not sympathetic.

Is Deputy Eamon Ryan not performing?

Okay.

That is because he will probably be a Tánaiste or something. We are all licking up to the Deputy.

No, thanks. I am on the left side of him. I get ten minutes, do I?

Okay. First of all, I want to repeat something that has been said here all day. There have been many Members denying in this House that there was a concerted campaign by the Government - some members of the Government and some Fianna Fáil backbenchers - to create this mythical cohort of workers who are doing much better on the pandemic unemployment payment than they were before when they were working. One particularly notorious low-paying employer talked about workers having won the lottery. Like much of the former…

I understand that. The Minister gave me an extensive answer, and what she is saying now is written in that answer. I accept the women can avail of compassionate leave, parental leave and all sorts of things and that they can jump through hoops but I am going to argue with her strongly that we have extended, changed and adjusted legislation in this emergency for all sorts of things, including planning and employment law. We can do this. What is happening is passing the parcel because the Minister for Finance said to…

I am sharing time with Deputy Paul Murphy. If we run out of time, I will accept written answers from the Minister. Earlier I heard one of the Fianna Fáil Deputies say it is impossible to get everything right during a pandemic. Nobody doubts that, but I wish to talk again today about how wrong we got the care of our elderly. Yesterday showed me that the model of an overwhelmingly private care service for the elderly has utterly failed us. Where did that go wrong? It started with a political and policy decision of Fi…