If we want to have remote working, then we must have all of the boxes ticked so that we can facilitate it in the fastest possible timeframe. I would urge that these technicalities would be resolved. They can be resolved.

I thank the Minister of State for the work she and her Department are doing in dealing with the whole challenge around mental health services. It is important to pay tribute to all the staff in all our facilities in the State for their dedication and commitment during this particularly difficult time due to Covid-19, and their ongoing work in dealing with the new demands. We are coming from a situation where over the period from 2012 to 2020, the budget for mental health increased by 46%. It shows that we were comi…

I thank the Minister. This plan gives confidence. The words I would use are “Build back better.” That is the challenge we now face. In 2012, more than 50,000 people were leaving the country per year. We faced up to that challenge. Over the following years, up to 2019, more than 400,000 new jobs were created. We have the ability to face the challenges posed by Covid-19. In the public sector, there is protection that does not exist in the private sector. Therefore, the supports we have now put in place and that have …

I thank the Minister and all those who are involved in the roll-out of the vaccine. It has been most successful. First, I have received quite a number of emails from pregnant women who are attending Cork University Maternity Hospital, some of whom have been advised that it will be at least six to eight weeks before they receive the vaccine. I understand that those who are 32 weeks' pregnant are currently being vaccinated and the programme is working backwards. It is a great concern for those women, who are going th…

The question was about people who are not on any list. Has contact been made with the various agencies that provide support to such people? They are undocumented migrants. I seek clarification in this regard. I wish to raise another issue concerning the case of a person who is working with the blood transfusion service. That person registered for a vaccination appointment in February 2021 and still has not received an appointment date. There does not appear to be a mechanism available to try to get such people vacc…

I want to raise the role of the Residential Tenancies Board in the registration of landlords. In 2016, a total of 29 people were prosecuted for not having their properties registered. That dropped to only ten last year. In the area of my constituency around UCC, a survey done by the residents association, which examined the records of 242 properties, found that 142 of the properties had tenants in them but were not registered with the Residential Tenancies Board. We had a lot of problems during the summer months la…

I thank the Minister for setting out in detail the reasons new legislation is required to deal with Covid-19. In March and April 2020, legislation had to be introduced to give powers to the Government and the Minister to bring forward the necessary regulations. This legislation was required to have careful and planned management of how we would deal with the Covid-19 pandemic. At that time, thousands around the world were becoming seriously ill and dying from Covid-19. Some of the provisions of the 2020 legislation…

I thank the Minister for all the work he has done on the UN Security Council over the past weeks. It is also important to acknowledge the work done by Ireland's UN permanent representative, H.E. Ms Geraldine Byrne Nason, for her work and the work of her staff. Gaza is a stretch of land the same size as a stretch of land from Cork to Youghal. Gaza is 41 km long and 10 km wide, with 2 million people locked into it. Can one imagine if 2 million people were locked into that block of land in Ireland? The blockade by Isr…

I thank the Minister of State for bringing forward the Bill, which I very much welcome. I also join in paying tribute to all those working in nursing homes, the staff, care assistants, the people who provide the meals and the management in all the homes across the country. It has been a very difficult 18 months for everyone. The current scheme provides that 80% of the person's income goes towards nursing home cost. If they are the owner of a dwelling house, it is 7.5% per annum for a maximum of three years, so the …

I very much support what the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, set out. It is important to realise that the reason for the housing challenge in this country is that the number of people working here has increased by over 400,000 since 2011. The housing market does not respond immediately to demand. From the time of identifying a site to putting in planning and going through the planning process to building is approximately three years. For the market to respond to demand takes anything up to three to four year…

In 2016, I introduced the Civil Law (Missing Persons) Bill 2016. There is one part of the jigsaw missing in this area, namely, a central database for unidentified human remains that are found. We have had a number of cases in the past few years, such as the recent case of the late Denis Walsh in Galway. Mr. Walsh's remains were found in 1996 but the family was not informed until 2021 - 25 years later. There was also the case of the late Aengus Shanahan in Limerick, whose remains were found in 2001 and whose family …

I thank the Minister for the information he has given us this evening and the work he is doing. I have had many pregnant women on to me asking who they should contact about the vaccine. I have letters from both GPs and maternity hospitals stating they have got no information on this. People are anxious as there are more than 40,000 women at any one time who are pregnant. Clarification needs to be given on this. Will the Minister give some clarification on this issue this evening? A study in UK shows that the condit…

I thank the Minister of State for her presentation. I join with my colleague in congratulating the Minister, Deputy McEntee and her husband, Paul, on the birth of their son this morning. I will raise my concern about the number of people who are bed-bound. I was given figures at a meeting of the Joint Committee on Health three weeks ago which indicated that 1,600 bed-bound people had received vaccination and that a further 300 were awaiting vaccination. Those figures seem to be totally incorrect. How did we arrive …

My understanding of recent reports is that a glut of vaccines will be available in the United States, with 800 million doses in total from start to finish being available. Has there been engagement with the US authorities on accessing this supply from the US? I understand Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccines will be available. Will there be engagement on this issue? The next issue I want to raise is with regard to maternity services. There are still a lot of complaints from women in hospital maternity car…

I thank the Minister of State for her presentation this morning and I thank all my colleagues who have contributed to the debate. It is extremely important that we have a detailed debate on this issue on an ongoing basis because mental illness is not like any other illness. It is something that can continue on for people and it is not easily resolved. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought forward new challenges in that people are adversely affected by their loss of business, loss of jobs and new challenges within their…

Last week, I raised the issue of long Covid and did not receive a written response. Could I have a written response on the plan the Department and HSE intend to put in place to deal with this issue? I refer to the Sláintecare report on elective hospitals for Cork, Galway and Dublin. The plan has been totally and utterly watered down. Covid has clearly illustrated that there are not adequate facilities to deal with a pandemic. A report was produced in Cork in 2015 which clearly set out the need for a new hospital. A…

I have three questions, the first of which is on long Covid. It has now been established that as many as 5% of people who contract Covid will suffer from long Covid. In Ireland, that represents more than 12,500 people. More than 60 clinics have been established in the UK. What work has been done by the Department and the HSE on planning for the opening of clinics dealing with long Covid? I published a Bill dealing with the regulation of homecare providers. What progress has been made in putting in a legislative str…

I would appreciate an answer to my question about a review of lockdown arrangements regionally. The same point was raised by Deputy Eoghan Murphy but there was no reply on it. It is important that there be clarification in this regard.

I welcome the announcement this morning by the HSE that it has acquired a hotel in Blarney to convert into a 60-bed community nursing home. This is a very welcome decision and I very much support it. On the issue of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, I refer to the commitment given at the health committee several weeks ago that more than 400,000 doses of the vaccine would be made available by mid-April. Can the Minister clarify in writing how many doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be made available in the nex…

I thank the Minister, his staff, all of the HSE personnel and the GPs who are working very hard in rolling out the vaccine. There are two issues I want to raise. Although it is a bit down the road from being delivered, the first issue concerns those in category 4, for example, patients on dialysis and people on chemotherapy treatment, who were brought from category 7 to category 4. I want to know which facilities will be used for the roll-out of the vaccines for them. There is a lot of confusion. The GPs do not kno…