It is not so long ago.

I move: “That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I am not surprised the Government has indicated that it will oppose the Bill. The previous Government signed up to Sláintecare a number of years ago. I was always suspicious of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael signing up to a plan that delivers universal healthcare and seeks to streamline and reduce waiting lists. I contrast that ambition with the evidence of almost 1 million people currently on some form of waiting list, if we include acute, community, diagnostics and so…

If I was in government and was handed a script like the one the Minister of State was expected to deliver this evening - I assume by officials in the Department, but I do not know who crafted the speech - I hope that I would say, "No thank you, I am not going to read that out." It was embarrassing in the context of the reasons given for opposing this Bill. It is embarrassing for one simple reason, namely it is what the Minister of State and the Government signed up to. It is what we all signed up to when we agreed …

I have attended dozens of meetings with parents of children with disabilities throughout the State. They are heartbreaking meetings because the parents are trying to do their best for their children. It strikes me that what really drives them mad, and I do not blame them at all, is hearing the Government say you do not really need an assessment to access services and you can access services without an assessment. Most of the parents I meet at these meetings do not get services. The services are almost non-existent.…

It will not be lost on anybody that this Government wastes no time whatsoever in showing up for those at the top. It does not waste a second when it comes to big tax breaks for corporate landlords, developers and banks. However, when it comes to children with disabilities, the Government comes in, as the previous Minister did, and talks about "complexity". The word "complexity" is actually shorthand for Government failure because this issue is not as complex as the Government presents it. In 2005, a previous govern…

I welcome the opportunity to set out Sinn Féin's position on gender identity and trans healthcare. I welcome all of the guests in the Public Gallery as well. Too many trans people in Ireland are being left waiting years for care. This is not about numbers or statistics. It is about people's lives, well-being and dignity being put on hold. The delays, the uncertainty and the sense of being bounced around a system that is not fit for purpose cause real harm and distress. We cannot, should not and will not stand over …

I move: That Dáil Éireann: notes that: — the Irish Coast Guard's search and rescue (SAR) helicopter service serves a vital role in saving lives at sea and supporting emergency responses across the State; — SAR air crews are required to work 24-hour shifts, yet these shifts are being recorded as only 16.5 hours of duty time under Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) approvals; and — this under-recording arises from "factoring" schemes, normally applied only to standby or reserve crews, which reduce a full 24-hour continuo…

Hear, hear.

Both Ministers of State who spoke gave good impressions of Pontius Pilate. Both washed their hands of any responsibility when it comes to the safety of crew and fatigue management. You cannot outsource this to the Irish Aviation Authority. Yes, it is the regulator but the Government has political responsibility and it is letting down all those valuable search and rescue crew who have been raising fundamental issues in relation to how their time is clocked and reported by the authority. I want to close this debate b…

I also lend my support to the previous topic that was raised. The fact that the N24 was not funded for this year is a disgrace, given that the preferred routes were in place.

In fact, the only funding that was given from the Government this year was to buy out the contract of the company that actually did the work on the preferred route. There are real concerns that this vital road is now being put on hold. The Waterford to Limerick road really needs to be improved. Deputy Conor McGuinness and I, and all the Oireachtas Members from across the affected counties, will continue to raise this to ensure that it gets proper funding next year. Today, we are here to raise very important issues …

I think the Minister of State is conflating fatigue risk management systems with accounting of hours. Crews would say they are two completely different things. Of course there should be fatigue risk management systems but this is counting one quarter of their hours as rest time. The Minister of State acknowledged in his response that these crew had to remain on base and were ready to be deployed at a moment's notice. The Minister of State said that this was a HR issue, was not for the Department, and was between th…

I have brought forward a plan for healthcare. I will send it on to you.

I move amendment No. 1: In page 3, between lines 17 and 18, to insert the following: “Report on profits, rising costs, and potential impact of removal of private practice from public hospitals 3. The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 33: “Report on profits, rising costs, and potential impact of removal of private care from public hospitals 33A. (1) The Authority shall, before and by 31 July 2026, prepare and submit a report to the Minister for Health having— (a) undert…

What we were looking for was a report that would look at a number of things. If the Minister looks at what the amendment actually calls for, it is for the preparation and submission of a report from the Minister for Health, having undertaken a review of the current profit rates of health insurance providers. The Minister will have noticed over the past year that most of the private providers have increased their premiums. One of the reasons they give, similar to what we are seeing in the public health service, is h…

It will be a long night.

We have seen over the past ten years real improvements in healthcare technology, which are bringing tremendous benefits for patients and real opportunities for more care at home. I am sure Deputy Harris saw some of that when he was Minister for Health, and some of that evolving. However, it has changed and expanded exponentially over the past four or five years. We now see the HSE rolling out virtual wards and virtual beds where patients can be monitored at home. All of that is for the good. The issue Deputy Dohert…

Maybe next year?

This is an annual Bill that renews the risk equalisation mechanism, which supports the community-based health insurance market. Obviously, I recognise the fact that many people rely on health insurance, so for that reason, we will be supporting the Bill. However, as in previous years, I will be critiquing what I see as a two-tier system and an insurance market system that I fundamentally do not agree with. Many people take out private health insurance because they feel they must. There are some people who will take…

Respectfully, the Minister seems to have missed the point of the Bill. He has argued that victims who have reason to fear for their safety following the release of a convicted perpetrator have several legal avenues available to them to seek protection. The problem is that for many victims, those legal protections, as the Minister called them, are simply not fit for purpose because they force the victim to go back to court, retraumatise that person and put the onus and responsibility back on the victim, which is wro…