I thank the Minister for her response and for her movement on this since Committee Stage. The difficulty is that we cannot draft an amendment that creates a charge on the Exchequer; we have to go through this rigmarole of putting down these nonsensical amendments. In fairness, the Minister is acknowledging the issue and putting a mechanism in place. I ask the Minister for an assurance that we will get sight of this report when it is completed and when she has considered it. No matter what the decision is, I ask the…

I congratulate the Minister on his work and on that of the Irish team in progressing the issue of loss and damage, which is a very positive and very significant aspect of the negotiations. It is imperative that we are seen to deliver on that. It must not just be governments that deliver on it but also the big polluters out there. The oil industry and the airline industry also need to deliver. There is a misconception among the public that what happens at COP relates to the implementation of targets and all that is …

There is nothing more frightening than watching someone gasping for their breath. Despite the fact that we live on a windswept island off the west coast of Europe, every day four people die in Ireland due to poor air quality. Two of the key underlying statistics when it comes to these threats are, first, that one in five children in Ireland has asthma and, second, that one in 13 adults has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, COPD, which is the disease that makes it hard to move air and in and out of the lungs. W…

Before the pandemic, respiratory consultations made up 15% of GP attendances. While respiratory diseases account for less than 6% of inpatient discharges, they account for more than 12% of the bed days used in our hospitals. The developments in the CDM programme are welcome for people with conditions such as asthma and COPD but the difficulty is what happens when GPs makes that referral, because people end up in an Eircode postcode lottery. There is a stark contrast in the number of people waiting more than 12 mont…

The Acting Chairman ought not encourage the Deputy.

The main reason I wish to speak on the legislation relates to patients with long Covid, many of whom are young with no underlying health conditions. They are presenting with prolonged multi-system symptoms that are impacting on their daily lives, affecting their ability to work and causing significant disability for some. Long Covid is having a significant impact on our labour force. An Australian study produced on long Covid indicated that even low rates of Covid-related permanent illness or disability could lead …

Vicky Phelan was a unique individual and someone who will leave a lasting impact throughout our country and society but in her own words to each and every one of us in Dáil Éireann, she said: I don't want your tributes. ... I want action. I want change. As we know, the Patient Safety (Notifiable Patient Safety Incidents) Bill was initiated in the Dáil on 5 December 2019 to provide for mandatory open disclosure, placing a legal obligation on doctors to explain a mistake to a patient impacted by that mistake. The Bil…

Some 247 months ago Margaret Best and I attended a meeting with the Taoiseach and his officials at the then Department of Health and Children regarding the introduction of a no-fault vaccine compensation scheme. Over the past two decades, while Governments have been committed to the introduction of such a scheme in the interests of both public health and the individuals concerned, we have always remained one report away from action. We now have claims related to adverse reactions from the Covid vaccination programm…

Last month, I was honoured to be elected Chairperson of the Inter-Parliamentary Union working group on science and technology. That was thanks to the Ceann Comhairle’s original nomination of me to that body and I want to thank him for that. The goal of this working group is to build bridges between science and parliament at a global level and to serve as the parliamentary global focal point for issues related to science and technology. The working group comprises 21 members of parliament from across the five contin…

The OECD report on reducing Ireland's transport emissions talks about deep transformation that needs to be reflected in our spatial and transport planning, which we all know needs to be built around real investment in rail. Yet in the first major rail carriage investment under the Minister's tenure, Galway city has been ignored and Athlone, which is supposed to become a new city with three major rail lines, gets just one morning train to Westport and another one from Tullamore.

The OECD report says that deep transformation in Ireland means promoting development within our cities. However, this is being ignored west of the Shannon in the expansion of our rail services by Irish Rail. While I welcome the additional morning service to Mayo, why was the Galway to Athlone rail line ignored? This is despite Galway city being choked with traffic and despite the outer ring road in Galway being long-fingered again. This is despite the Government allocating €3 million to provide a passing loop at Or…

The first step that could be taken is to utilise the existing rail network in the west. I want a commitment from the Minister that we get our fair share of the 41 new carriages that are coming on track. I want a commitment from him, in the first instance, that we will get two new rail sets based in Athlone, the city-designate that everybody seems to be forgetting about, including one that shuttles between Galway, Ballinasloe and Athlone, connecting passengers with the Dublin-Mayo rail services, but also providing c…

If the Minister does not intervene, it is not going to happen. It needs direction.

All we want is our fair share.

Una is a 66-year-old pensioner who, despite working all her life, is in receipt of a non-contributory State pension of €242 per week. She has been refused the medical card because she receives a net income of €1 per week on top of her pension for the rent of a field. Her next-door neighbour gets €11 per week more by way of a contributory pension yet qualifies for the medical card. This is all because the income limits for the medical card have not increased since 2005, when the Tánaiste was just 26. By January, the…

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to raise this important issue. I raise the issue of two girls, aged nine and 11, who urgently require access to assistive technology for the visually impaired so they can access a full education. As the Minister of State is aware from previous correspondence, despite extensive difficulties relating to their vision, both girls have a difficulty in accessing the assistive technology they require as a result of their visual impairment. These young girls have been denied …

This is not a reflection on the Minister of State, but a reflection on her officials and the response she has given me. I gave notice two weeks ago. This issue was selected two weeks ago for response. It is a very specific case. I gave the correspondence reference in the Topical Issue notice I gave. I expected a detailed response on this particular case. The Minister of State is correct that yesterday the principal of the school and the mother were contacted, 14 months after the applications went in. It is not good…

I acknowledge the support of my colleagues in the Regional Group. The reality is that many patients with long Covid are not being believed. The motion provides some official acknowledgement that they are being listened to. In fairness to most Deputies, they have not recognised this issue to date because patients have not come to them directly. I want to thank Cáit Nic Amhlaoibh and, in particular the library and research service for its support and for performing significant background research over the past year t…

It is important that we have a debate in the House on COP27 but we must not focus only on the issue of mitigation, where the focus is at present, but also the issue of adaptation. In my constituency, families face being washed out of their homes due to the threat of flooding. I raised this with the Taoiseach recently and called for the establishment of a task force in which departmental bodies and Government agencies would come together to address the legislative weaknesses outlined by Roscommon County Council in c…

-----throughout this country. We need to have a thorough debate on this in the House.