The question we are all asking is, who knows what is going on in RTÉ, does the Taoiseach know what is going on in RTÉ, and if he does, can he shed some light on it for the rest of us? We are nearly three weeks into this debacle and the national broadcaster still cannot even get its story straight. If RTÉ's screenwriters were writing the script of this as a drama, one could imagine that it might be rejected as being too far-fetched. Last week, my colleague, Deputy Catherine Murphy, asked RTÉ's chief financial office…

It is important to highlight as well is that at home, from speaking to people at the weekend, everybody is talking about it in their kitchens, in the supermarket and everywhere people go. Two messages really came through to me. The first is the outrage and the confusion at the public service broadcaster. Of all the organisations that know about holding people to account, this kind of drip-feed of information is quite surprising to most people. The other message that echoed was an appreciation for having public serv…

Amendment No. 1 is about inserting "concluding year" in respect of different residents of institutions from "hospital", but creates a cut-off point based on information that is incomplete. Senator Boylan highlighted better than any of us could how problematic this amendment is, but tonight marks the end of an incredibly disappointing and infuriating journey for tens of thousands of survivors of mother and baby homes. This redress scheme is flawed, callous, inhumane and discriminatory. Even at the last hour, there i…

The Bill has changed, however. It is a new Bill.

Is it the procedure that we do not get to vote on the Bill?

Is that the case even if the Bill has changed?

I extend my sympathies to the family and friends of Andrew O'Donnell and Max Wall who, like many teenagers, were on their right-of-passage holiday after their leaving certificate when their lives were so tragically cut short. Their deaths in Greece are every parent's worst nightmare and a devastating blow to everybody who knew and loved them. I welcome today's announcement that the Government is finally going to deliver on its promise to provide free GP care to children aged six and seven next month and that it has…

The only option was for it to be extended for a year. What is the Government doing to increase capacity and help hardworking and exhausted GPs such as Dr. Kelly who are providing such a valuable service?

Today I want to talk about Ivy. Ivy was born with cerebral palsy and also suffers from hip dysplasia and neuromuscular scoliosis. In 2016, when she was 13, Ivy was told she would need spinal fusion surgery at Temple Street. At that point the curvature on her spine was 30 degrees. Years passed but there was no surgery. As the curve in her spine increased, Ivy endured excruciating pain and discomfort. Unlike other teenagers, she was unable to meet her friends and socialise. By 2019, her deteriorating health meant she…

I thank the Minister for his reply. The problem is that children with scoliosis and their families have heard all these assurances previously. As I said, in 2016 they were told that no child would wait for more than four months for treatment. It is frankly disgusting that in a country as wealthy as Ireland we have children who are effectively being tortured like this. The curve in Ivy's spine increased by more than 100 degrees over the time she was waiting for surgery. It is almost impossible to imagine that kind o…

The climate and biodiversity crises are the single biggest threats to the world and to farming, but not in the way that this motion would have us believe. The only way farming will remain a viable livelihood for generations to come is if we take immediate measures to safeguard and protect our natural environment. The politicians who wrote this motion and those outside the Chamber who are pushing the same anti-environment narrative underestimate farmers. We desperately need to open up the conversation about the futu…

I return to the €120,000 in secret payments made by RTÉ to Ryan Tubridy between 2017 and 2019. It is not acceptable that we are being told it could be another month before we have any clarity about how those payments were made. It is impossible to understand how RTÉ thought that would fly. For a start, if RTÉ identified that €120,000 over and above his published salary was paid to Mr. Tubridy, how can it then claim ignorance as to how those payments were made? How did RTÉ even identify the amount of €120,000 in the…

It is now six days since we first learned the bombshell news of RTÉ's secret payments to Ryan Tubridy. Incredibly, we are still waiting to find out the most basic information. For instance, we do not know how the entire €345,000 in excess payments was made to Mr. Tubridy. How is that still the case? How can the national broadcaster, which is in receipt of €200 million in State funding annually, not know how it funded secret payments to its highest earner? RTÉ has been aware of this issue since March, three months a…

The organisation was aware of this for three months but it has yet to explain how money was paid between 2017 and 2019. That is where the questions arise. It gives me no pleasure to stand here and criticise RTÉ. It is an organisation that has been responsible for excellent public service broadcasting. The vast majority of its staff are modestly paid and work incredibly hard but this saga has tainted the organisation. Trust with the public and its staff has been shattered, the Government and the Opposition have been…

I ask the Minister to outline the steps being taken to support rural post offices.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit. Everyone can understand what he says about size, distribution and so on, but it does not take into consideration the importance of post offices, particularly in rural areas, in providing financial independence to many people and vulnerable groups, older people and people with disabilities, in terms of paying bills and accessing their own finances. In addition to that is the profound impact when a post office leaves a small town or village. It is often part of the heart of a comm…

The €10 million per annum is very welcome. Everybody recognises that. Does the Minister of State recognise it is too little, too late for the ones that have closed? It is harder to reopen something after it has closed but is there recognition that they were a vital part of the community that should never have gone? Does the Minister of State have an ambition to reopen those post offices in areas where people do not have them any more? The impact of that is still being felt, particularly by older people in rural are…

EU nature restoration hangs in the balance. It is unclear at this stage what the ultimate law will look like after the final vote was postponed at the EU environment committee this morning. If it is undermined, there will be plenty of blame to go round. The Minister's party's coalition partner, Fine Gael, has been among the chief critics of the proposed law. Instead of supporting the measures, the Taoiseach has slated them. He has propagated fears that farmers will be forced to rewet their land as part of the law. …

I thank the Minister for his reply, but he has again made clear one of the major problems we face, namely, that there is no shortage of supportive rhetoric from the Government but very few results. We are repeatedly told the Government is committed and has passed one of the most ambitious climate action laws in the world. However, we are missing all of our targets. Our emissions are going up. Our rivers and lakes are choked with pollution. Our biodiversity is in crisis. More than half of native plant species are in…

All the targets have been missed.