Let me clarify the speaking rules. The Minister of State has two minutes.

I have no problem with a Christmas greeting as long as it is done within the time limit.

I thank the Minister of State. She will get a chance to come back in.

I wish the Members, the Ministers and the staff a happy Christmas. Nollaig Shona daoibhse go léir agus gach rath oraibh sa bhliain nua. I have seen first hand the work the staff on the ground have done behind the scenes. Maybe in the new year we might begin to look at the hours, which are inhuman for the staff, not to mention Deputies and Ministers. It is something we should consider.

Deputy, speak to the motion.

The motion is very broad but it is not that broad.

I want to remind Members of the motion, notwithstanding the breadth of the motion.

I hear the Deputy's point but it is nowhere in the motion. He has made his point and I ask him to address some aspect of the motion.

Táim ag roinnt mo chuid ama le Deputy McNamara. I thank the Rural Independent Group for tabling this motion. I am conscious that I am making my contribution in the context of 2,134 deaths, 77,000 confirmed cases and we are still in the pandemic. I pay tribute to the people of Ireland who have led us, as they usually do and politicians follow. I hope that we have learned to take transformative action from Covid, although I have no belief that we have because I think we are heading back to where we were. I am not sur…

The Deputy is eating into his colleagues' time.

There can be no point of order.

We are eating into the time of the Deputy's colleagues.

We may have done the Taoiseach out of some time there but, in any event, we will move on.

I thank the Taoiseach. We are now eating into the time of the next questions.

I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 37 and the name of the Member in each case: (1) Deputy Willie O'Dea - to discuss the appointment of a provisional liquidator to the Arcadia group and the impact of job losses Limerick city; (2) Deputy Neale Richmond - to discuss the status of funding for the Dundrum community cultural and civic hub; (3) Deputies Mattie McGrath and Matt Shanahan - to discuss the impact of the permanent closure of St. Br…

The Taoiseach has indicated that he wishes to make a statement, pursuant to Standing Order 55, in relation to Mr. Alan Shatter.

I have discretion in this matter if the Deputy wants to make a quick contribution. I will allow party leaders to come in.

I am glad to have four minutes to address this matter. I will speak slowly to let the figures sink in. The outpatient waiting list for orthopaedic services at University Hospital Galway includes 6,487 patients. Some 80 of those have been waiting for more than four years. Some 292 patients have been waiting for between three and four years. The inpatient waiting list has 1,390 patients. In a letter dated 11 December I made representations for a specific patient and raised some general points. The specific individual…

I will take the two paragraphs at the end of the Minister of State's statement, because that is the only part of his reply that addresses the question. I accept his bona fides. Covid-19 has nothing to do with this. How the replacement of two modular theatres has taken from September 2017 until the end of 2021 should be the subject of an inquiry. A brand new hospital could have been built in that time. There is something seriously wrong. The Minister of State mentioned the NTPF. Not a single patient on these waiting…

I am not sure if my colleague is here so I will take the ten minutes. I would happily take the Government time as well if I could because this is quite complex legislation. The manner in which this is being put through is quite unacceptable. I do not sit on the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage and I have done my best to come to terms with this Bill in the short time we have. To waive pre-legislative scrutiny for such complex legislation is unacceptable, and to then go to the Seanad and not …