Far too many of them want to work and live in Ireland.

Therefore, my positive message to those people listening to this debate is that I want a Government that wants to bring those people back so they can build in this country, and build the homes that people need. I have always said, and I believe it to be true, that Fine Gael represents a cosseted, privileged class, and it proves me right every single time. It is the party, supported by Fianna Fáil and now the Green Party, that rolled out the red carpet for institutional investors to come in and buy up tens of thousa…

It takes some brass neck for the Government to say that it has turned the corner on housing and that its policies are working. Let us examine the facts. House prices are up and have been rising all of the time. Rents are up and have been rising under the Government's watch, month on month and year on year. Homelessness is up month on month and year on year under the Government's watch. It cannot blame the Opposition for that. It cannot blame Sinn Féin or anybody else for its failures. What the Government has overse…

Some of those in government have talked about how we should not equate a notice to quit with an eviction. That fails to understand the human consequences of what happens when a family, many of whom have been in my office, gets the letter in the door, the phone call or the email to say that there is a notice to quit. The first thing they have to do is find alternative accommodation. That the stress and anxiety this causes for families is enormous. One lady, her name is Eleanor, sent me an email yesterday. She has th…

We have called for 20,000 public, social and affordable homes to be built. That is realistic, practical and deliverable.

We told the Government that it should be building public houses on public land. It ignored us. There is a report from the Land Development Agency which states that 60,000 homes could and should have been built. However, the Government did not do that. It did not do it because it failed. We were again proven right that public homes could and should have been built on public land. Our other policies include a ban on rent increases for three years, putting one month's rent back into the pockets of renters and embarkin…

What people really need is this Government gone, a general election and a Government led by Sinn Féin.

He did, actually.

Hear, hear.

Hear, hear.

I welcome the opportunity to have a discussion on safe staffing in our hospitals. Last summer was the first time we had a serious problem in our hospitals, namely a summer trolley crisis. Before that summer trolley crisis arrived, people working in our healthcare systems throughout primary, acute and community care were flat out during Covid. There was a cyberattack and long before Covid they told us they were burned out. Along came the summer with some hope of relief for those on the front line, which did not come…

Yesterday in this Chamber, the Taoiseach said the existing cath lab in Waterford is "now open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays." He continued: The next step, which we are committed to making happen, is to ensure there is a service from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week and then to build up to a 24-hour service. Previously, we did not have the infrastructure or the staff. We now have the infrastructure. This is a very emotive issue for the people of the south east, as the Taoiseach kn…

I asked about 24-hour services.

I asked whether there has been a policy change.

I asked about 24-7 services.

There has been no policy change.

The Minister does not even have to take ten.

I welcome the Bill. Sinn Féin will support the abolition of any charges. We have long argued for the abolition of such charges we believe fundamentally in a public health service and that public health services should be free at the point of delivery and delivered on the basis of need. We are travelling in the right direction and the new public-only contract for consultants in hospitals is another step forward to building truly public hospitals where we can once and for all separate private healthcare from public h…

The Deputy jumped the gun.

The Deputy should be careful in future not to jump the gun.