I very much welcome the introduction of the Health (Amendment) Bill 2021. Particularly with new strains of Covid-19 being identified, it is important to regulate travel from abroad. The problem with new variants is that the transition rate seems to increase dramatically. In several instances, quite a large number of people ended up contracting Covid as a result of one person coming in from abroad. This was particularly the case at Christmas. Large numbers of people came in from overseas for the holiday period and t…

I wish to raise the 24-7 helpline for people with drug and alcohol addiction. What is the status of this? It is very important because drug and alcohol addiction does not go away at 5 p.m. and there is a need for a 24-hour helpline. Some Members have raised joined-up thinking and co-operation between local authorities and the prison services. I was recently working with a voluntary group in Cork at night. We were outside the Simon Community in Cork and met a woman who had been discharged from Limerick Prison that d…

Several Members have raised the issue of people who are receiving dialysis or cancer treatment. In particular, people under 18 years of age who are on dialysis are down in vaccination category 15. While the Minister has outlined that he expects to revert within the next week, can we have an answer on this point because it has been raised consistently for the past four to five weeks? Will the Minister give us a straight answer in order that people will know what is planned over the next few weeks and months? The sec…

I thank the Ministers of State for their presentations. It is an important area, because of the huge challenges posed by Covid. There is a huge problem in respect of the financial strain placed on everyone, especially those running small businesses and those who have lost their jobs. People who have lost their jobs are worried about support for their immediate family. It is hugely stressful for young people as well. The Covid pandemic has highlighted a number of key areas for attention, one of which is mental healt…

I thank the Minister for the opportunity to raise a number of issues in this debate. An underspend of €709 million is a substantial sum of money. It also raises the issue of how we assess projects and why it takes so long for them to be assessed and approved. I especially want to address the projects identified by the Office of Public Works, OPW. It appears to be quite a slow process in the context of dealing with projects coming through. How can we fast-track some of those projects? I welcome the Minister's approv…

I thank the Minister, his Department and all of our front-line workers for their work and commitment during the pandemic. I have three questions for the Minister, the first of which is in regard to Johnson & Johnson. There is speculation that it is about to announce that it has a vaccine suitable for dealing with Covid-19. Has the Department of Health engaged with Johnson & Johnson, which has a base in Ireland, and has there been engagement by the European Commission with the company on long-term planning in respec…

I am sharing time equally with my colleague, Deputy Pádraig O’Sullivan. In the first instance I thank the Minister and the staff in her Department, as well as all the staff throughout the country for the work they have done at a very difficult period in dealing with and delivering payments to people in a fast and efficient way. While there have been glitches in the system, the staff have responded to and dealt with those glitches also. There are two areas I wish to touch upon and to which serious consideration shou…

It is questions. I thank the Minister and all of the people involved in trying to get the vaccine rolled out at the earliest possible time. Everyone involved is working extremely hard. In the South Infirmary in Cork over two days, 1,200 people were vaccinated. This included people working in the hospital sector, GPs, their assistants, ambulance paramedics and front-line workers. Vaccinating 1,200 people in two days shows the commitment given by people. People were also working on a voluntary basis. We still have no…

I very much welcome the debate on this report. I begin by suggesting that serious consideration be given to having a national remembrance day for all those who died in the mother and baby homes. It is something that should be considered over the next few months. I want to touch on one or two issues that were raised earlier today. Back in 1974, the former President and then Senator, Mary Robinson, made an unsuccessful attempt to abolish the status of illegitimacy when she introduced a Private Members' Bill in the Se…

I was advised I had eight minutes.

It is important, and I join with colleagues, to acknowledge the work of all of our front-line staff in our hospitals, nursing homes and all congregated settings. The past ten or eleven months have been a huge challenge for all of them. The commitment of each and every one of them has been tremendous during that time. It is also important to talk about the people who are not assisting the present scenario. For instance, over Christmas, a friend of mine contacted me. He had been contacted by someone who had tested po…

The Minister has dealt with many of the questions I have relating to the Munster technological university. He has already outlined to my colleague, Deputy Griffin, views on the areas in which technological universities will fit in the further and higher educational landscape, but will he make a statement on the matter?

I thank the Minister. I also thank the people involved in ensuring this merger can go forward, and I very much welcome the work that the Minister and his Department have done over recent months and years in bringing this together. It is important that we also organise and ensure we get out information to students in primary and secondary schools about the area of science and technology. We should look at getting this done in an organised way. The Cork region has nine of the top ten pharmaceutical companies and many…

It is important to emphasise the size of this new technological university. It will have over 18,000 students and 140 different courses and obviously it will expand over time. It is important that we promote it as a university and get that message across to students in the Cork and Kerry region.

I congratulate the Minister and wish her well over the next number of months. My question relates to dealing with white-collar crime and the plans the Minister has to resource State agencies and the Garda Síochána properly to deal with this growing issue.

While I welcome the Minister's statement on this matter, a recent RTÉ programme outlined where over €8 million was taken from people over a number of years, but it is only in the last two to three years that a successful prosecution was brought. That is what concerns people, that something has gone on for ten to 15 years with little or no action taken and a reluctance or inability to be able to bring a successful prosecution during that period. One of the issues is whether we have a sufficient number of people with…

I thank the Minister. I hope we do not have to look at a repeat programme like the one broadcast on RTÉ recently. The sum of €8 million disappeared and action was taken only at a very late stage. I hope we do not see that in future.

I understand it has.

I raise the matter of tackling the rising incidence of knife crime and the seizure of knives in communities across Ireland. Will the Minister outline the plans that are in place to deal with this and the changes that will be put in place to tackle this growing problem?

I welcome the reply. The figures I have received indicate a 10% increase in hospitalisation cases arising from knife crimes such as stabbings over the past two years. It is also my understanding that in 2019 over 2,000 knives were seized by gardaí but it is interesting that in the first six months of 2020, part of which involved the Covid-19 lockdown, there were 1,200 knives seized, an increase of 13%. This is of concern to me and my colleagues. My understanding is that in other jurisdictions, major programmes have…