That is not good enough. We do not know what we are-----

I welcome an Teachta Boyd Barrett back to the House. His return is great news. Workers and families in this State are under savage pressure. They are being hit from every direction: soaring rents, sky-high energy bills, rip-off groceries, childcare that costs more than a mortgage, and insurance premiums that are through the roof. Yesterday’s Future Forty report from the Department of Finance clearly sets out how housing costs have skyrocketed in line with a cost of living that has spun out of control. Everywhere pe…

Neither I nor my party will take lectures from Fianna Fáil on economics. It crashed the economy and made people's lives a misery. They lost their homes and jobs. The Minister is in no position to come in here and lecture anyone on economics. When he talks about platitudes, I am talking about people who are making tough choices, such as what bills they pay. It is a reality facing those families. The Minister can come in and talk about Sinn Féin, Sinn Féin and Sinn Féin, but he should talk to the people listening who…

It is all Sinn Féin's fault. We have been in Government, not you. Own your own responsibilities.

The Minister is avoiding answering the questions for ordinary working families because he has no answers.

I want to raise an urgent issue that has arisen in relation to the Irish Coast Guard air search and rescue service. I met with crew representatives from across the State yesterday, including pilots and other crews, who raised serious safety issues and fatigue issues. This is down to 24-hour shifts where a greater portion of their shift is now being classed as "on standby" time. They are not on standby, they are on site, they are in work and in a state of immediate readiness. They also argue that the Irish Aviation …

I welcome the Minister and the Minister of State. Men's health is not a topic which gets proper attention. There is a silent crisis in men's health which is devastating families and communities across the State. Both the Minister and the Minister of State are correct to appeal to men to look after their health, to seek support, to get checks and to make sure that if there is a difficulty they go to a GP and so on. It is also the case, however, that far too many people generally, but particularly men, in relation to…

Hear, hear.

A lot of issues have been raised by my colleagues, particularly by Teachtaí Mac Lochlainn and McGuinness, in relation to quotas, an existential threat facing fishermen and European and State policy. I support all of that and all the points that they made. I wish to concentrate on infrastructure because it is important. The Minister visited Waterford recently. One of the points of the discussion was Helvick Harbour. The need to the develop those harbours is quite clear to anybody who is looking at this. We in Sinn F…

Hear, hear.

Hear, hear.

Hear, hear.

The people I give credit to for delivering enhanced cardiac services for Waterford are the people of Waterford, who several times took to the streets in their thousands and had to force this Government, kicking and screaming, to deliver those services.

Simon Harris's record as a Minister and a leader is not one of competence, vision or progress. When I think of Simon Harris, I think of broken promises to children with scoliosis and spina bifida, compounded by false hope and children left in pain. Under Simon Harris's watch, children with chronic conditions and disabilities have been failed and let down time and again. Under Simon Harris' leadership, in place of a solution for these children was a long road of delayed care and poor health outcomes. In 2017, when h…

I raise with the Taoiseach again investment for Waterford Airport. It is something I have raised with him dozens of times. The airport's management has always made well-researched, very detailed propositions to Government on the need for the runway extension. Is the Taoiseach aware of a new consortium or investor that is prepared to put €30 million, it seems, on the table? Has he been briefed on that? In the past there was an ask for Government funding, which it seems will not be needed if this proposal is genuine.…

The Minister for Transport.

What is going on in the area of health? We are 24 hours on from the budget and it is impossible to know where any of the money announced in it will be spent. What is clear is that the vast majority of the additional funding announced yesterday for health is for existing levels of service. I spoke with senior officials in the Department of Health. They informed me that this is down to the Department of public expenditure and reform and how it presented expenditure booklet relating to the budget. People are asking wh…

-----and shame on the Government for not providing that detail.

My first question relates to the need for a public inquiry into spinal surgeries for children with scoliosis and spina bifida at CHI. I note the Minister met Harvey Morrison Sherratt's family with the Tánaiste recently and it seems a commitment was given to an inquiry. Will the Minister inform the House as to what form that inquiry will take and what her view of the timeframe will be in the terms of reference?

There are different models but it is important that this is an inquiry. That is what families are looking for. Obviously, there are different types of inquiries. We have seen in the past where inquiries were promised and they end up being reviews and investigations, very similar to the Nayagam review which is ongoing and still has not been published. This inquiry has to be comprehensive. It has establish all of the facts. It has to look at the full range of services and it has to achieve accountability, wherever th…