On 3 November I asked a parliamentary question on the need for the establishment of a co-ordinated response team to ensure a consistent approach to Covid outbreaks, but when I received a reply on 21 December in advance of the current surge in infections, the HSE was silent on its establishment. In the first week of January, there were 158 outbreaks in our hospitals. Last week, we had a further 37 new outbreaks. Our hospitals should be about making people better, not about picking up a virus that could be deadly. Th…

First, I acknowledge the role my former colleague, Katherine Zappone, played in supporting the commission throughout her term of office, which was not easy at times. Most important was her engagement, in a respectful manner, with the survivors and their families. History will show that the Independent Ministers in the previous Government fought against the systemic bias towards sweeping issues under the carpet and just hoping they would go away. This is, at least in part, the reason we ended up with the institution…

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this very important issue. A very serious situation has arisen as a result of the continually rising waters of Lough Funshinagh in County Roscommon, with three homes and farmyards under imminent threat of flooding. There is a risk to a total of seven homes and six farmyards due to the elevated levels of this turlough. As of 4 January 2021, levels are 1.75 m higher than on the same date last year, which was itself a record level. The bulk of the winter rainfall has yet to co…

Minor works are no good here. I ask the Minister of State to take the six suggestions I have put to him back to the Minister and to feed them into the meetings that are going to take place next week. The Minister of State represents the Green Party and a senior Minister of that party, Deputy Eamon Ryan, is here as well. There is something their colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, can do regarding this issue. Prior to 2015, the turlough flooded to predictable levels in winter and drained in the summer. …

Last June I wrote to the Minister's predecessor pointing out that Portiuncula University Hospital, Ballinasloe was in a desperate situation because it has lost 10% of its acute hospital capacity due to Covid-19 configuration. The hospital was very proactive. It put forward two very specific proposals. The first was to develop two separate modular buildings, one for an accident and emergency department that could segregate Covid and non-Covid patients. The second modular building was to take the outpatient departmen…

I thank the Minister. I turn to the vaccination issue. First, as he knows the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is likely to be approved at the end of this month but we need to see that particular vaccine distributed in advance of the EU approval to GP surgeries so that the administration of the vaccine can take place the following day. Can the Minister assure me that that will happen? Second, by the end of February it is hoped we will have four vaccines in use. Three of them will require two shots but today we are still …

The fact is that we are using sheets of paper to record vital data that are needed to track adverse reactions. I took this issue up with a predecessor of the Minister, the current Taoiseach, 18 years ago and the Minister is telling me that we still do not have an IT system in place. When will we no longer be using pen and paper to record the numbers of patients being vaccinated? As the Minister knows, some of our hospitals complained in the past that they did not have enough bins available to them for PPE. There ha…

I welcome the high-level meeting between the Tánaiste and the enterprise agencies regarding the town of Ballinasloe. It now needs to be followed by a determined effort by all of the agencies, especially the IDA, to promote the town and what it has to offer. I ask the Tánaiste to ensure that a co-ordinated marketing strategy is put in place for the unique IDA site in the town which has a large, State-owned land bank and is the only such site in the country with access to water, wastewater, gas and fibre in abundance…

I thank the Tánaiste for his response. I will bring him back to the comments he made last Friday after the meeting. He specifically referenced the IDA lands in Ballinasloe. There are 50 acres of land available there. Will the IDA acquire those lands which are currently in the ownership of the HSE? Will the IDA build an advance factory on those 50 acres rather than relying on the local community to try to fundraise to build an advance factory there? Will the Tánaiste direct the IDA to develop a marketing strategy fo…

I will again bring the Tánaiste back to the comments he made last Friday. He stated on the local radio station that the 50-acre site is underutilised. That is not in the ownership of the IDA. Will the Tánaiste ask the IDA to acquire and market the site? I welcome the fact that we are going to have a new regional enterprise plan. I suggest that Roscommon and east Galway should form part of the midlands enterprise strategy, given that Athlone is designated as a growth centre and that we saw the closure last week of S…

Every week at least one convicted sex offender comes to the attention of the Garda because they are not living at the address they have given to the authorities. In most instances, this is the only condition with which they have to comply due to our so-called sex offenders register following their release from prison. The fact is that the sex offenders register is little more than a fig leaf. It is only when a convicted offender comes to the attention of the Garda for some other reason, they are charged with a brea…

On Thursday's business, I wish to record again my objection to the very truncated debate that will take place on Covid-19. My colleague has already raised a very significant issue regarding indemnity. The fact is that the total allocation per Deputy is a sum of 54 seconds to discuss probably the most significant vaccination programme ever to take place in this State. We will now have a void in terms of the House sitting before the vaccination programme commences to allow anyone to throw out any information they may…

The Taoiseach knows with the rolling out of the vaccine programme that informed consent will be vital. Where older people in nursing homes may have dementia, for example, or where some older people may be unsure if they will avail of the vaccine, will the Taoiseach assure the House that older people will not be told that access to visitors is dependent on them availing of the vaccination programme and that there will be proper informed consent in the administration of the vaccine in nursing homes throughout the cou…

Is the Taoiseach going to answer the question?

How are we going to deal with informed consent?

We do not have any other mechanism to raise such matters.

I have been at this for 18 years.

I thank Mental Health Reform and Dr. Philip Hyland of Maynooth University for their assistance in drafting the motion. The Leas-Cheann Comhairle will want to join me in thanking the mental health staff who are working in hugely trying circumstances in our services across the country, and particularly in our acute services. I know this issue is close to the heart of Leas-Cheann Comhairle, as it is to mine. I wish to raise two specific issues, the first of which concerns young adults. This group has been disproportio…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this legislation. At the outset, I wish to ask the Minister and her Department what they have got against the fourth child in working families. I put this point to the Minister's officials when I spoke to them earlier in the week. Is it the case that when the Minister was in the schoolyard years ago, a fourth child pulled her pigtail or something? It seems there is an agenda at present because every child under the social welfare system where the parent is in receipt of a socia…

I addressed this issue on Second Stage. Will the Minister clarify the position on expenses? I am aware that she intends to bring forward a statutory instrument to deal with expenses that would be taken into account when coming up with the income calculation for musicians. Can she give an indication of what type of expenses we are talking about? When will that statutory instrument be laid before the House and be available to committee members?