It has been corrected.

From both the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Harris, we have heard lots of fine words from the Government benches. There is a lot of talk about the things that have been done. I will not gainsay that some of what the Government has done has been important. Some of that came about because of Opposition pressure and public pressure, but no doubt there was motivation from people in government to do the right thing as well. However, much of what we have heard tonight is dancing around the issue. This motion…

I move: That Dáil Éireann: recognises: — the crucial and vital role that carers perform in supporting their loved ones; — that many carers are struggling financially and are receiving payments which fall way below the established Minimum Essential Standard of Living (MESL); — that carers do their work with extraordinary dedication and deserve respect, and recognition; and — that the Carer's Allowance means test currently excludes thousands of carers, and results in many other carers receiving reduced and inadequate…

We might be joined by Deputy Mairéad Farrell. If we are, I will give way.

In response to the speeches of the Ministers of State, while I appreciate the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, is doing Estimates, it is a pity she was not able to pop in for some of the debate, in particular in relation to the delay in threshold increases. Sinn Féin would have gone a lot further, committing €100 million to significantly increase the thresholds, than the Government did with a commitment of approximately €11 million. It is regrettable that the Government is delaying it until the middle of next year. Ther…

The Taoiseach will be aware that there is a great deal of ambition and appetite for improved public transport in Cork but confidence in the system is unfortunately being seriously undermined. Our office is inundated with constant reports of buses not turning up or turning up an hour and 15 minutes late on services that are supposed to run every 20 minutes. Even with the timetable being reduced because the bus company could not meet what the NTA had set out, we have still seen buses running late and people being iso…

On Monday, it was announced that the tender for the Cork event centre would have to be reopened and retendered. It is eight years and four taoisigh since the sod was turned on the site. It was turned by Enda Kenny eight years ago, in February 2016. The people of Cork are fed up and really exhausted by this farce. It really is a farce at this stage. Regarding how we go forward, what kind of tender will there be? Will it be an open one? Is it possible to recoup the €1.5 million already spent on the project without a …

The question will arise in the coming weeks as to whether the Irish people and those who need housing can afford another few years of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. I am convinced they cannot. I am relieved that there is a viable alternative. I am passionate and committed to the vision Deputy Ó Broin has put forward on this because, for the first time in many years, it offers a pathway forward to truly affordable housing. The fact is that for people of my generation, that is becoming further and further out of reach, p…

The trolley crisis has become an all-year scandal on the watch of this Government. A total of 98 patients were counted by nurses on trolleys and chairs at Cork University Hospital this morning, many of them elderly and quite unwell. This is a record, according to the INMO. A total of 118 were counted at University Hospital Limerick, which continues to be a disaster zone. In the five budgets under this Government, it has failed to tackle overcrowding in our hospitals. Níl an Rialtas tar éis aon dul chun cinn a dhéan…

I wish to flag an issue with the Minister of State, which I have raised previously with his colleague, the then-Minister of the Department and now Taoiseach, Deputy Harris, in relation to the craft certificate. Since the craft certificates have come on stream, I have been dealing for almost one year with an issue a constituent of mine, Paschal Ryan, has in this regard. When he applied for his craft certificate, it was brought to his attention, or at least it was put on the record, that he had not passed an exam 38 …

I bring to the attention of the Minister of State six blocks of flats in the Togher area. They are all of the same type, and I will come to that in a while. These flats at Cherry Tree Road, Hazel Road, Sycamore Place, Maple Place, Togher Road and Clashduv Road were built in the 1970s by what was then Cork Corporation. The flats are part of a very strong community in the Togher area, but on several occasions in recent years I have had discussions with residents and my colleagues, former councillors Orla O’Leary and …

The response identifies something I have already acknowledged-----

-----in terms of the internal work. We informed residents about this. However, this is tinkering around the edges until the fundamental issue is grasped, and I urge Cork City Council to grasp it. I also believe, however, that one of the obstacles to this is the lack of a clear funding stream for the regeneration of flat complexes. Obviously, general funding is available for maintenance and so on and the council has its own resources but these are expensive jobs. Windows can be replaced, plumbing can be fixed and so…

That will not be fixed as an "as and when" issue. There are still issues with cold, damp and water. I hope the Minister of State will bring this matter to the Minister. I will certainly continue to raise it because the tenants of these flats deserve a lot better than what they are getting at this time.

This afternoon, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO, is picketing outside Cork University Hospital, CUH. Its members are seriously concerned about the situation we are facing into this winter. Yesterday, in October, there were 73 patients on trolleys in CUH and nine patients on trolleys in the Mercy hospital. There was an increase of 50% in the number of people on trolleys between August and September. The INMO is telling the Government that it is "obstructing safe staffing in a way that is simply irre…

Is buiséad agus cáinaisnéis é seo a léiríonn easpa físe, nach bhfuil uaillmhianach agus, i ndáiríre, nach bhfuil aon chruth air. Tá sé gan tuairim nua mhór agus gan phlean mór agus nach mbeidh aon rian de nó tionchar aige go fadtéarmach. Budget 2025 has shown us that this Government is out of time and out of ideas to fix the problems in our society. I have heard the Government try to take the narrative or the rhetoric of the future in terms of the budget, but the truth is that the legacy of this project will disapp…

Make or take?

We have had this discussion time and again, and several words emerge time and again. Recognition and respect are a great deal of it, but not just recognition and respect. The fact is that when one looks at people in poverty or at risk of poverty in Ireland, three categories of people, namely, people with disabilities, single parents and carers, are consistently up near the top. I commend the Regional Group on the motion. It is a very good motion that we will support. Countless speakers have identified the significa…

The Minister will be very familiar with some of the commentary that has existed for years around the HSE and the health service. The kind of things one hears when in conversation with people is that there is too much administration, there are individuals with clipboards and things like that. Some of that commentary is unfair and maybe people do not necessarily understand that a person with a clipboard might have a very clinical job to do. The perception is nonetheless of a system that is not quite delivering, for t…

Emergency accommodation is an issue that has been brought up with me by a number of groups. There are pilot programmes running in some areas of the country through which people who are living in emergency accommodation are able to get free travel. Very often, they are provided accommodation that is very far from areas where there might be schools, etc. It is a significant constraint on their ability to access schools, services and so on.