It is a bit petty that the Minister does not share the-----

I do not need to be corrected. I know how the Dáil works. Accountability and good governance have always been at the fore of any debate about the health service. There is much great work is done by our front-line workers who strive every day to do their best. The efficiency with which many in the health service work, particularly in overcrowded emergency departments and under-staffed wards, is genuinely never credited. Unfortunately, that good work is often overshadowed by colossal waste and mismanagement across th…

Over the last number of days, the South East Economic Monitor published its report, which showed a stagnant economy across the south east. There are very worrying figures in that report, which comes from a group of academics in the South East Technological University. One of the issues they cite is a lack of public investment in infrastructure. It is not that difficult to understand when there is no funding for the N24 this year and no funding for the N25 Waterford to Glenmore road, which should have got funding. T…

It was a hole in the ground for ten years because of the Government's failure.

Read the monitor report.

I will send the Taoiseach the replies to the parliamentary questions I got on capital funding-----

-----for the hospital and the university.

The Taoiseach will see that we are at the bottom, unfortunately.

Sinn Féin held nine public meetings on the issue of endometriosis over the past number of months. I attended some of those meetings. I was shocked when I heard a lot of the stories told by women. I listened carefully and watched as many of them cried in the presence of family members. The collective trauma in the room caught me by surprise. The message from these women of feeling ignored and dismissed and being offered substandard care was truly shocking. Also shocking was the number of women who told me they had t…

Never have I seen a debate where the Ministers' speeches were so far removed from the reality of women and their experiences. I watched as women in the Public Gallery got very angry when they listened to the Ministers' speeches. Many of them were in tears, and rightly so. For so long, these women have felt ignored and dismissed. I wager that they feel ignored and dismissed by the Minister's responses this evening. The Minister said in her opening statement that women are cared for at the most appropriate level of i…

I do not know any woman who would choose to go abroad for invasive treatment by choice. The reason they go abroad is that the specialist treatment the Minister spoke about simply does not exist. What we are calling for in our motion is a centre of excellence supported by regional centres where women can get gold standard treatment. Women travel because the gold standard is not available. The Minister was accused earlier of gaslighting women. I have to say I stand over that because that is how those women will feel.

I will take all the time. That is great. I commend the Labour Party on tabling this motion.

Sorry, the Social Democrats. They have given us an opportunity to have this discussion. If you talk to anybody in the real world, the cost of living is one of the biggest issues impacting workers and families. People are paying huge amounts of money on mortgages, rents, childcare and insurance costs. Almost everything is going up. That includes the price of groceries and food. It seems everybody is aware of this with the exception of the Government. It is unbelievable to people that while prices are going up, the G…

I have raised with the Taoiseach dozens of times the need to fund the runway extension at Waterford Airport. Every time I raise it, he says he is supportive and that it is in the programme for Government but there is deep frustration in Waterford as we watch on and see funding given to Dublin, Cork, Shannon, Kerry and Donegal airports, while Waterford is left behind. Last June I was told in a parliamentary question response by the Minister for Transport that all the information needed was with the Department and Mi…

It has been six years.

Six years.

It was signed off on in 2019.

Six years later, here we are. It is not good enough.

I welcome the review report. I also want to take the opportunity to thank the Minister of State for the work done to provide additional special classes in County Waterford. We had a number of debates in the House over the last number of months and the Minister of State committed to improving services. It has to be said, additional classes were made available. That was a very important development for many parents whose children will benefit from those classes. I thank the Minister of State for his engagement and de…

We have a long way to go, although I acknowledge the work the Minister of State has done in the area of additional classes.