For July. Obviously, that is an important start, but what we need to know then is where we stand in the following months. Getting that age cohort vaccinated is going to be key to ensuring that we can have a safe reopening everywhere, which we all want to see. It is important to outline not only information on those vaccines but also on the supply chains for the coming months. When the Government comes back with its plan for reopening – let us hope it is a plan for everybody – it would make sense that it be underpin…

We are in a race between the variant and the vaccine roll-out. We all want the roll-out to win. Yesterday, the Taoiseach stated that more people needed to be vaccinated more quickly. I agree and we all want to see that, but where is the plan? People were looking for a plan for an accelerated vaccine roll-out yesterday, but we did not see it. For the past number of weeks, we have been looking to have statements on the roll-out with the Minister in the Dáil. The Government did not provide the time. We have been calli…

I commend the Minister on bringing forward this legislation. I also commend everybody involved in putting in place over recent weeks the infrastructure that has allowed outdoor hospitality and outdoor dining to become a reality. Any of us who have walked through the streets of Dublin, Limerick, Waterford, Cork or any city, town or village, will have seen the pop-up infrastructure in place and people dining outdoors in a controlled environment, which is always better than uncontrolled environments. It is a very welc…

I commend the Social Democrats on tabling this motion and for giving us the opportunity to discuss this issue. I discussed this privately with the Minister a number of weeks ago and have raised it a number of times in the Dáil and at meetings of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health. In recent months the Minister has given us some assurances, as he would see it, regarding religious ethos in the context of the management and running of the new national maternity hospital but those assurances were not strong enoug…

The Tánaiste said in response to a previous question that he is concerned about the ownership of the land for the new national maternity hospital and so am I. He said he is concerned about governance issues and so am I. We both want a resolution. He mentioned the gifting of the land to the State. Why is that not an option or solution? If the Religious Sisters of Charity are prepared to set up a private company with a 99 year lease, because they say they want a completely hands-off approach, then why not gift the la…

I have previously raised with the Minister a number of issues relating to the fishing industry in County Waterford, primarily in Dunmore East. I want to revisit those issues today and highlight the requests of the fishing industry in the county. During our last debate on this matter, I invited the Minister to visit Dunmore East to see the opportunities that exist to restore the village to a thriving economic hub and revive the fishing industry. I again invite him, especially now that restrictions have been eased, t…

First, I wish to thank the Independents who have brought forward this motion. I wish to commend the motion and its three main demands, namely, that there must be an immediate step change in the implementation of the national maternity strategy, including a comprehensive, time-bound, fully resourced implementation plan for full implementation by 2026; that immediate action is taken on the eight recommendations from HIQA's overview report of its monitoring programme against the new standards for safer, better materni…

I want to speak to amendment No. 3. In February and March of last year, we were all confronted with a pandemic and a deadly virus that none of us at the time understood and we did not know the full extent of the damage that virus would do. It has been an horrendous time ever since, during which the State and every other country has had to deal with a global pandemic, where a large number of people have lost their lives and a lot of damage has been done socially and economically, and to people's mental health. Nobod…

Belfast International Airport was closed to international travel.

I am sharing my speaking slot with my colleague. My time is short and as the Minister knows, I like to use it by putting questions directly to him. I acknowledge and welcome the fact that half the adult population will have received its first dose of a vaccine by the end of this weekend. It is good news. There was a Government target of 80% of the adult population having received its first dose by the end of June. Will that target be achieved? What is the target for ensuring 80% of the adult population will have re…

I acknowledge it is good news that by the end of the weekend 50% of the adult population will have received its first dose. However, the Government target was very clear. It was repeated time and again by the Taoiseach and Tánaiste that 80% of the adult population would have received its first dose by the end of June. Here we go again with more problems on the supply side. Can the Minister outline to the House why we are now seeing difficulties with the Janssen supply, as well as ongoing problems with the AstraZene…

I thank the Minister for that update. I ask that he provide us with a full written report on those figures. It is not good news that we are seeing problems on the supply side again. It is unacceptable that the Janssen targets will not be met and that at best it is only going to be half, and there are problems with AstraZeneca as well. Of course, while we can celebrate the 50% number being achieved by the weekend, it was a Government target, repeated time and again by the Taoiseach and Tánaiste, that 80% of the adul…

I welcome the opportunity to have a debate on this issue. As long ago as last March or April, the National Public Health Emergency Team, NPHET, and public health officials were making the case for mandatory hotel quarantine and mandatory PCR testing. All the while they were making that case, most of us, albeit not all of us, in the Opposition were calling for the public health advice to be implemented in full. The reasons we gave for this at the time were that mandatory quarantine would be helpful in containing the…

The Taoiseach will be aware that the Covid-19 pandemic has had a serious impact on all health services. Oncology services have been very badly hit. There has been a drop in cancer screening, cancer diagnosis and cancer treatment. A red flag has been raised this week by Professor Seamus O'Reilly, who stressed that delays in the identification and treatment of cancer can lead to increased mortality. For every six months that there is a population-wide difficulty regarding diagnosis, it leads to increased mortality ov…

I want to move on with the debate and allow the Minister to make a contribution but I have a quick point. There was a briefing for Opposition health spokespersons on this Bill because the health committee was asked to waive pre-legislative scrutiny. In that briefing, the officials made us aware that the Department and the HSE became aware of the need for new legislation as opposed to a resolution of the Dáil some time back in March or April but it was only last week when we first became aware that the Bill was requ…

At this point, I am not in a position to indicate whether Sinn Féin can support the Bill because it very much depends on whether the Minister will engage with the Opposition on amendments. The last time that similar legislation was brought before both Houses of the Oireachtas, no Opposition amendments were accepted. Not only were they not accepted, most were not reached because very limited time was given on Committee Stage. I have already had conversations with our whip, and I am aware that the issue was raised at…

Mandatory hotel quarantine and PCR testing are and were essential tools to prevent the importation of new and existing strains of the virus. The public health advice on both has been clear for the best part of a year. As my colleague, Deputy O'Rourke, said it was something the Government came late to the table with, despite not only the public health experts in Government and those advising Government, but those outside of Government, asking the Government to move much quicker in this area. Nobody wants any public …

I am sharing time with Deputies Patricia Ryan, Martin Kenny and Martin Browne. Yesterday, I outlined what the various sections of the Bill did and my views on those. I now wish to deal with some of the recommendations of the review of the fair deal scheme. The Government needs to consider these. The review made 32 administrative recommendations, but there has been no update on their implementation. Thirteen pricing recommendations were made and we need a report on their implementation. Twelve recommendations were m…

I commend the Minister for State on bringing forward the Bill. I am sharing time with Deputies Patricia Ryan, Martin Kenny and Martin Browne. I welcome the Bill, which introduces a three-year cap on assessment of transferred assets to protect the viability of family farms and businesses. Section 3 sets out how a successor is appointed to assets and puts in place rigorous safeguards to ensure it is for the purposes of running a family farm or business. Section 5 sets out how the HSE will determine eligibility for th…

As the Ministers know, I prefer to use my time to ask questions. I join both Ministers, especially the Minister for Health, in stating that those responsible for this attack are utterly contemptible. They have brought many elements of our health services to a standstill at a very critical and crucial time when, because of the Covid pandemic, many elements of healthcare were paused or suspended. The latest National Treatment Purchase Fund figures for wait times showed that just under 900,000 people in this State are…