The Minister of State and I soldiered together and campaigned in respect of many local issues in Waterford. It is a bit surreal to see her sitting across the floor now and holding ministerial office. I take this, my first opportunity in the Chamber at least, to commend her on her appointment and to wish her well. It is very telling that everybody who spoke tonight referred either to direct personal experience of cancer or to the experience of a family member. This shows the stark reality that cancer is a major scou…

I thank the Ceann Comhairle. I will be supporting this Bill, and as previous speakers have said, I would not be supporting it if the sunset clause was not in it. The Minister herself acknowledged that it is not desirable that we would have to bring in emergency legislation to deal with these situations. We must, however, go back to first principles. The public health guidelines are drafted by experts, clinicians and people who better understand the virus than I and the vast majority of people in this Chamber do, an…

I am delighted this matter is being taken in the last week of the Dáil session because a decision will have to be made quickly on this important development. It is an iconic development on the North Quays of Waterford. Anyone who is familiar with Waterford will know the South Quays is where most of the development is. The North Quays has been underdeveloped for a long number of years. It provides a tremendous opportunity for positive development and there is a plan to transform the North Quays that, in turn, will t…

The Minister of State's response is a bit disappointing because there is nothing new in this that was not included in responses to parliamentary questions by anyone who has been raising this issue in recent years, except from the part stating that a new economic appraisal was submitted by the council which is now being evaluated. I do not know how many evaluations, economic or otherwise this project has had. I know there is deep frustration by those involved locally, including those on the council, that time and ag…

Yes, there are two speakers. I am sharing time with Deputy Mark Ward. We will take ten minutes and five minutes. I will use four minutes to put questions and will give the Minister four minutes to respond. I will then use two minutes for a supplementary question. I am all in favour of political solidarity in dealing with this crisis in healthcare and with Covid-19 care. That political solidarity has to be underpinned by real solutions. If I was a doctor, nurse or patient listening to the Minister's speech today, I …

I will allow the Minister to continue.

We are under time pressure and I do not want to take from my colleague's time. We do not need the Minister to come into the Chamber and agree with us for the sake of agreeing with us. It is okay to agree with us but we need action. The two big challenges facing this country are the economic challenge and the health challenge. We have an economic plan but not a health plan. Today, nurses, doctors and consultants will go into hospitals really stressed, trying to make sure that people can be treated. The Minister talk…

Who would have thought the most oppressed section of Irish society in terms of pay was three junior Ministers? It beggars belief that the Government would bring forward this proposal. The Minister is a former Minister for Health. Doctors and especially nurses, to whom all of us have rightly paid tribute over the past weeks and months and who have done Trojan work keeping us safe and operating on the front line of our health services, had to fight the Government tooth and nail for every single pay increase they have…

This is my first time, as the Sinn Féin spokesperson for health, to exchange with the Minister for Health. I wish him well. There are significant challenges in healthcare that we, collectively, have to deal with in the coming weeks, months and years. We will support the Bill and have supported its quick passage through the Houses. Nevertheless, given the crisis in both primary and community care and acute care settings because of Covid-19, and the need to deal with Covid care, non-Covid care and what many are now c…

A question was asked earlier about the timelines for the implementation of the various measures but we have not got them. I refer to the different categories of those under the age of 12 and people over the age of 70, as referred to by Deputy Gould. When will the measures come into effect? We are passing the Bill today and, as the Minister noted, we have all been contacted by constituents who are watching what is happening. They want to know when this will happen, so the Minister might respond to that. Other Deputi…

All Opposition parties supported the speedy passage of this legislation because there was an expectancy that its provisions would be implemented very quickly. When the Minister took to his feet to respond to the Second Stage contributions, and in one of his first replies on Committee Stage, he stated that this was the first step from his perspective in implementing Sláintecare and referred to himself and others being contacted by those over the age of 70 and others who want this matter resolved. There was a clear e…

This section deals with increasing the age from six to eight. I referred to it on Second Stage, and it is a response that I would like to hear from the Minister also. Notwithstanding the timeframes, I am concerned about the response he just gave. I understand that there is a process but I expected that process would have been well under way before he brought the Bill before the House because expectations have now been raised. The quicker that he can expedite that process and come back with timeframes the better bec…

I thank the Minister for his response. I do not doubt his sincerity for one second or the wisdom of what he has said about taking a phased approach to ensure we have the necessary capacity. However, people listening will be concerned when they hear phrases like "phasing in", "consultation" and "engagement". They will fear that this will take an awfully long time to happen. In his last remarks the Minister referred to the extraordinary job GPs have done in recent months at the front line of Covid-19. I have spoken t…

We know the Bill is not going to commence any time soon. We want to work with the Minister in delivering all of this. The point I was making earlier around putting more capacity into GP services is that even when we get to the point where we can implement these provisions, I am not convinced the capacity will be there. At a time when we are trying to deliver Sláintecare, increase GP access and convince people that this actually can be done - many people are sceptical that we can deliver universal healthcare given t…

After the last economic crash, a lot of companies treated their workers disgracefully. We saw the Vita Cortex workers in Cork and their heroic struggle and protest. We saw the Waterford Crystal workers, who were dragged through the courts for their pension entitlements. We saw it with Game, La Senza and many more examples of workers who were treated in a shameful way. Then along came Clerys and it was clear again that corporate greed was at the heart of what happened. There was a tactical insolvency involving multi…

It is not agreed. We were notified only a couple of hours ago by the clerk to the Business Committee that the statements on health scheduled for Friday in the Dáil will now be taken next week. That is unacceptable. It is because of legislation in the Seanad. We cannot have the Dáil's business rescheduled because of the work of the Seanad. The Seanad has to look after its own business. I cannot see why both cannot be accommodated on Friday. All the unions which represent front-line health workers were before the Cov…

With due respect, it is not that it is earth shattering.

People prepare, as the Taoiseach knows-----

-----to be here on certain days. We are as busy as the Taoiseach is and everyone in the Chamber has his or her own work. When we are told that the Minister for Health will attend on Friday, he should be here on Friday. All we are asking is whether the business can be rescheduled so that both sittings can be accommodated. We accept that the Seanad has to do its work and pass legislation, but to just put our business off on Friday willy-nilly and with no consideration for anyone else is unacceptable. It is the first …

No.