Hear, hear.

The future for older people is ageing in place and ageing at home and I welcome the Minister of State's commitments in that regard. I will comment on the criticism by nursing homes of the regulator, HIQA, and the Department of Health. They claim there is over-regulation. I have examined the homes that have closed recently. Fire has been a big issue, in that fire hazards cannot be, and are not being, dealt with. There are governance issues that are not being addressed. There are significant concerns about infection …

-----red-risks homes where there is a risk to the safety, health and welfare of people. It is right those homes are brought to account and, if necessary, made to account for what they are not doing.

Hear, hear. No compromises.

The vast majority of the 8,600 citizens who died from Covid were over 65 years of age. Very frequently their passing was a matter of great upset and trauma for everybody concerned, most of all the families, who could not be present because of the nature of the illness. We promised in our programme for Government to establish a commission on care to assess how we care and to examine alternatives to care for older people, both at home and in nursing homes. Is this a priority? What is the timeline to commence this ver…

This is a very important debate on which we must seize the opportunity to bring about change. The way older people are treated in our society is not great and has disimproved, not least as a result of what happened with Covid. We still await the announcement of the inquiry into the deaths of all those people, the majority of whom were aged over 65, who died of Covid, mostly in our nursing homes. A total of 37% of those deaths were deemed to be excess deaths, that is, deaths of people who would otherwise not have pa…

There have been 84 independent reviews and investigations carried out by the HSE into acute and community operations since January 2019. The HSE took over the running of Dealgan House during the Covid outbreak where 23 people died. Will the Taoiseach support them and insist and ensure that they get closure by having an independent investigation into why these deaths occurred and why the HSE took over the running of that home? It is essential that it happens. On the question of costs being too high, which has been r…

I congratulate the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs on his new appointment. I welcome the outcome of the negotiations by successive Ministers and our Government in ensuring that there is no hard border on this island, that we protect the all-island economy, that there is unfettered access in Northern Ireland to European Union markets, that we protected the Single Market and that we continue peace and stability and the good things about the Good Friday Agreement. The problem is that unionists need to be con…

I agree with everything the Minister said. Again, I compliment the way we are all working together in the South and in the EU. Like the Minister, however, I have met unionists and listened to them. They are exceptionally clear on the issue that there is a serious power vacuum in the North and it remains unfilled by people who support democratic politics at the moment because the DUP is not going into the Executive. I urge that we in the South go the extra mile as best we can, accepting that it is up to the European…

IBEC's recent report was very clear about the huge success of the economies North and South since the Good Friday Agreement and the substantial benefit peace has brought to this island and the great growth. The report compared 18 different areas in Ireland, North and South, and in the UK. It made a surprising point that the greatest benefit outside London has been to people living on this island North and South. The Minister rightly points out that there has been substantial economic benefit. We need to impress mor…

While I welcome the significant increased supports in the budget, including the reduction in taxation, the increase in social welfare payments and expanding the fuel allowance and making it easier for people to access, there is a significant problem for what we call the “working poor”, such as people who are on tracker mortgages. I have a constituent whose mortgage has gone up by €60 per week, which he cannot pay. Even though he is a single earner, he has three young children. He is benefiting in many ways from the…

I very much welcome the decision by the Department to build a new library in Dunleer. I welcome the decision of the Minister working with the county council. The former Bank of Ireland branch will be occupied by a new and, I hope, expanded library for the community. It is badly needed. I ask the Minister to expand on this.

The Minister has it exactly right. The Department's policy of using vacant buildings in small rural towns, such as Dunleer, a growing rural town, will make a significant difference and show increasing confidence in the community. They already have a library service in what was the old railway station. Hopefully, when they move out of there and into the new library, which I appreciate will take some time, we will have a new railway station in Dunleer, a town that is rapidly expanding. There was further news there on…

Louth County Council confirmed in August that it is exploring that option, which is very important. It is through local authorities and Departments working together and bringing on board the community that they will restore vibrancy and dynamism to villages and towns that had lost it in the past. The Minister's Department has been particularly active in looking after smaller towns with a population under 10,000. This is a good start to a new Dunleer. The need for the new railway station, which may be under the remi…

Absolutely.

A major transport capital project in my constituency, the Ardee bypass, has been held up for more than a year now because of a High Court action. The case does relate to environmental issues. It is important, though, that projects in the plan should be pushed forward. If there needs to be special sittings of courts or special courts to deal with issues concerning environmental and other climate change issues, then these should be set up urgently. The people of Ardee are faced every day with very large heavy goods v…

Deputy O'Rourke has mentioned families living in energy poverty. I have tabled another question, Question No. 96, on this issue. Families are living in caravans as permanent residents. On the coldest nights of the year, they cannot benefit from the €200 electricity payment. I have asked the Minister to look at this. Perhaps he can answer the question now. It is unacceptable that the poorest people in the coldest dwellings or in caravans cannot benefit from the payment. It is unacceptable on these appallingly cold n…

I also want to be associated with the mark of respect to the family of the late Seán Rooney who died serving the peace process in the Army. This is very sad day. I want to raise a point about the four schools in Ardee, three of which have DEIS status. One of them, Scoil Mhuire na Trócaire, had its appeal for DEIS status refused. This outcome means the 288 girls in this school are excluded from additional education supports and, indeed, school meals. These benefits apply to the other primary schools in the town of A…

Huge resources have been given to the hospital. Since 2015 the number of beds has gone from 357 to 478. A total of €60 million has been spent. It is wrong to say the hospital is under-resourced. It is not. Nobody is applying for the jobs that are being advertised. This is the difficulty. We need to examine the management in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital and Our Lady's Hospital Navan. Can a new synergy be found in terms of corporate governance and medical governance to allow patients to be kept in Navan and dealt wit…

I welcome the Minister of State’s comments on the updated ambulance bypass protocols. I do not doubt the credibility or the integrity of that decision, nor do I doubt that it will include patients who are critically or seriously unwell or whose condition is likely to deteriorate. This is not a matter of closing the accident and emergency department in Navan. It is a case of moving seriously ill patients to the appropriate place. I welcome that. I also welcome the Minister of State's comment to the effect that the M…