The Minister, who has just left the building, is aware-----

You are fairly ratty this morning, Acting Chair.

Will the Acting Chair stop the clock? I was about to address the Minister but he has left the building. Perhaps he has gone for coffee or something. He cannot be too concerned about the pre-winter crisis in hospitals across the State. I was going to say to him that we are already seeing worrying cutbacks in patient services, even ahead of the winter surge, and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda is certainly no exception to that. In recent weeks the emergency department there has experienced delays and overcro…

As my colleagues said, Sinn Féin will be supporting this Bill because we recognise the importance of digital transformation in the healthcare system to improve patient safety, modernise the health service, improve accountability and efficiency and provide value for money. The Bill is a very watered down version of what we need, which is to provide basic shared care records that we are told will be built up into a fully digitised system. The HSE was due to start the digital transformation process in 2015, almost ten…

As my colleague has explained, Sinn Féin will not be opposing the Bill, which will remove both the mandatory life sentence for murder and the minimum custodial period for capital murder for people who are under the age of 18 when they commit the offence. We support legal certainty in sentencing, particularly in cases such as the one that has resulted in this legislation and related to a gangland murder. Fine Gael in government has had the justice portfolio for 13 years and still cannot get a handle on sentencing. P…

I know but this is interlinked in some way.

I will continue a bit more and perhaps the Leas-Cheann Comhairle will see the link. The Government’s approach has had disastrous consequences and has caused upset for people coming into the country seeking protection, as well as for people in local communities in some cases. The Government has approached the issue by throwing money at the situation, with millions of euro flowing from State coffers into the hands of wealthy property owners who are lining their pockets as a result of the crisis. It has always been th…

As regards the ban, it relates to circumstances in which the wearing of a mask is intended to intimidate. I am not sure what is actually meant by that. It is obviously a completely subjective and meaningless test. There is a grey area regarding what constitutes a mask in the first instance. I have seen exemptions mentioned. Surely, anyone wanting to cover their face with a scarf or a medical mask can achieve the same effect without falling under the law. It is completely pointless. The Government is bringing in law…

I raise the serious issue of dereliction in the town of Drogheda. There are more than a dozen buildings crumbling on the main thoroughfare in the centre of town. An historic building had to have a public safety notice served on it on 7 June. It caused disruption in the town centre for motorists, pedestrians, businesses, etc. The scale of dereliction in Drogheda would suck the life out of any town. People are just at their wits' end with it. The removal of the borough council from Drogheda has taken away any sort of…

There have been very serious challenges to the tourism industry in recent years, in particular during Covid-19 and with the use of tourist accommodation to house asylum seekers. Businesses are grappling with the cost of doing business, energy prices, food prices and the cost of rent. It is a very difficult time for many. While I take the point made in the motion that our VAT rate may be high when compared with other European countries, I am not sure an immediate blanket reduction in VAT is the answer. We need to tr…

I will raise the current situation in Drogheda for the simple reason it highlights some of the Government's failures in dealing with immigration. The Minister is more than familiar with the problems the Government has caused there. The two main hotels in the town are being used to house refugees and international protection applicants. That is a loss of more than 60% of accommodation beds in the town during the past two years and Drogheda is the largest town in Ireland. It is disastrous for Drogheda, for local busi…

This is a straightforward question. Will the Minister comment on her plans for reform of the licence fee?

As the Minister knows, the issue has been rumbling on for years. We have had plans and reports, including Government-commissioned reports, but it appears there has been no political will to make a decision. The Minister initially rejected the Future of Media Commission recommendation. She certainly was not decisive on it, but it seems the recent scandals in RTÉ changed her mind. We have waited and waited for the RTÉ reports to be published. The Minister has committed to making a decision prior to the summer recess.…

Did the Minister say she was awaiting the implementation plan and that it is due before the end of June? I am seeking clarification.

If that will be at the end of June and the summer recess is to begin on 11 July, what will be the timeframe for the introduction? I am a tad confused in that, while the Minister has said publicly she is in favour of direct Exchequer funding for RTÉ, the thinking of her political opponents is certainly not in line with hers, as I noted at the committee meeting we had yesterday. My question concerns the timeframe between the end of June and 11 July, when the Dáil is to go into recess, and the opposition the Minister …

Not at the committee meeting on this issue yesterday.

What about the decision?

I ask the Minister if she can outline any plans, including any additional funding, that will be made available specifically to Drogheda to ensure the survival of the tourism industry in the area, given the loss of tourist accommodation in the town in recent years.

The Minister referred to the €10 million support scheme that is open. That is a mere drop in the ocean compared with what is actually needed. That is for the entire country. The Minister is aware that Drogheda has lost its largest hotel, the D Hotel, and that is the second hotel it has lost. I hope she is aware that the number of bedrooms available for tourist accommodation in the town has been reduced by 61% since 2022. There is a total capacity of just 91 beds in the largest town in Ireland. When we talk about to…

If accommodation in Drogheda has reduced by 61% and we are left with only 91 tourist accommodation beds, that is a problem caused directly by Government policy. We need the Government to revitalise the town, attract investment and solve the accommodation issue that is crippling tourism in the town. Love Drogheda BID had asked that the Government work with stakeholders in the town to fix this. It asked for the Government to establish a dedicated revitalisation task force for Drogheda that can help focus investment i…