I want to raise the issue of narcolepsy. Following an alleged bad batch of the swine flu vaccine a decade ago, over 90 people have taken claims against the HSE. They claim this bad batch resulted in them developing narcolepsy. Four of them are from my own County Tipperary. Narcolepsy is a chronic neurological disorder which impairs the brain's ability to regulate its sleep-wake cycle normally. The State brought the first claim to court before settling. This cost the State approximately €10 million, which was a mult…

It is hard to outdo the Deputies Healy-Rae.

I welcome the Minister of State. I wish to speak today on horticultural peat harvesting. This sector makes a major contribution to the Irish economy. There are 6,600 people directly employed in this industry and a further 11,000 in indirect employment. Many of those jobs are in the midlands, which have been particularly hard hit by industry closures and growing unemployment. In 2018, the horticulture industry had a farm gate value of €437 million. It had exports valued at €229 million. Its employment value was just…

I welcome the Minister of State's reply in which there was recognition of the significant importance of the horticulture industry and the need for peat as a source of raw material. I welcome the formation of the working group and I hope a common sense solution can be found. It would not make sense from either an economic or environmental perspective to import peat into this country.

This budget was delivered yesterday in the context of two of the greatest challenges our economy ever faced, that is, a hard-deal Brexit and a Covid pandemic. The Ministers, Deputies Michael McGrath and Donohoe, have managed to come up with a seriously progressive budget. This budget will save lives and save livelihoods and, most important of all, will give our people confidence to face the future. This budget invests in every Department - health, housing, education, justice, mental health, jobs, businesses, studen…

We are facing into the season of long winter nights. With the restrictions that will be in place because of the virus, there will be no card games or bingo or plays in local halls. People's mental health and well-being will come under huge pressure. I ask the Tánaiste to consider extending summer time this year. This would theoretically bring the spring evenings sooner. We would have an extra hour of light in the evenings, which I think would help people's mental well-being. Older people would be able to stay outsi…

In 90 days, the UK will be outside the EU Single Market and the customs union. This is going to have very significant implications for every business that moves goods to and from Great Britain. Even if a free trade agreement is concluded between the EU and UK, there will be significant and enduring change. Not since the economic war of the 1930s will Ireland have been deprived of access to the UK market. We have spent centuries feeding and watering the UK market. It is our nearest market and the one we depend on an…

I also want to raise the issue of school transport, which Deputy Mattie McGrath referred to earlier, and a family affected by it. Michael O'Brien has a daughter who is 12 years of age and who is recovering from leukaemia. The school bus stops outside her door but she is refused a seat on the bus. We have 14 other students in that area who have also been refused school transport. There are numerous examples in County Tipperary where Bus Éireann has refused to provide transport for children for school. The single par…

This appeal Bill is long overdue. The industry is in an absolute crisis. It is unacceptable that mounting issues discussed here today and the ones I will touch on shortly have been allowed to develop to this level of crisis. The forestry industry will not even hit 2,000 hectares of planting this year. This is less than a quarter of the envisaged targets that we need. Nurseries, timber contractors, planters - the entire industry - are in agreement that forestry works are in a state of complete and utter stagnation. …

The Bill is being introduced so that we can try to clear the backlog in licensing applications that have gone for appeal. Deputy Fitzmaurice's amendment is in that spirit. I put it to the Minister of State that we have to clear this backlog of appeals. The Minister of State should give consideration to setting up a farmer's charter, like what has operated in the past for different farm schemes in place. The charter put strict timeframes in place for payment dates for different schemes. I sat on the body operating t…

In less than 100 days, the UK will be outside the EU's Single Market and customs union. From 1 January next, how we trade with the UK will be dramatically different. Even if a free trade agreement is concluded between the EU and UK, there will be significant and enduring change. Being prepared for customs formalities and a new trading relationship is critical, especially in the area of agriculture. The value of Irish agrifood products is strong and they are central to our export industry. In 2019, the sector repres…

I wish to highlight a glaring issue regarding the appropriate treatment for individuals with serious mental illness in our criminal justice system. I want to draw attention to a particular situation where an individual is clearly a danger to himself or others, often family members. The person obviously cannot be held in custody once his or her sentence is served but often he or she is diagnosed with a mental illness that is not considered serious enough to move him or her to a mental health facility. Instead, judge…

I have a number of different issues relating to transport and Covid to draw to the Minister's attention. The first of these is coach tourism. As part of the July stimulus, private bus operators were provided with a package of €10 million. The Minster for Public Expenditure and Reform had a meeting with me and representatives of the Coach Tourism and Transport Council of Ireland, CTTC. Coach tourism is a vibrant and highly successful industry in Ireland. As a result of the lockdown and the impact the pandemic has ha…

I congratulate the Minister on the success of the renewable energy support scheme, RESS 1. Having spoken to people involved in the production of community-based renewable energy, I have learned that the reviews of the process were positive. This should be acknowledged. However, I am asking today for certain changes to be made to how RESS 2 should operate to ensure we are supporting 100% community-based renewable energy projects as best we can. Such projects assist in the production of renewable energy in Ireland th…

I have spoken to a number of paramedics in my home town of Thurles regarding a lack of resources in the south-east area that is resulting in a drainage of ambulances and paramedics from the Thurles area, where they are needed. The ambulances in Thurles are based in the town with the intention of responding to emergency calls locally. I will give the Minister of State an example of an average day for a paramedic in the Thurles area to explain to him why the service, as it stands, is totally unacceptable. During one …

I thank the Minister of State for his answer. Unfortunately, it is not what we see happening in reality in my home area. The second obvious issue I want to address is response times. The ambulance services are under pressure to meet a 90-second turnaround from when the call comes in to getting an ambulance on the road. It appears little thought has been put into where that ambulance is coming from. Surely, we must look to see how long an ambulance takes to arrive at a call, not how quickly it can be put on the road…

I raise the issue of University Hospital Limerick too. The severe pressure on the hospital from serving the entire mid-west region is evident today. Some 62 patients are lying on trolleys in hospital corridors and management has taken the decision to cancel all elective procedures as a result. That is bad enough in ordinary times but in the Covid scenario that we are now living in, it is utterly unacceptable. I ask that some of the €600 million that was announced yesterday, as we are heading into the winter flu sea…

It is clear from the July stimulus package that the Government is dedicated to investing in key projects and supporting workers and businesses. An historic level of expenditure will see the State spending approximately €87 billion in 2020 as part of this package. This is aimed at injecting much-needed money into our economy by supporting workers whose employment has been affected by Covid-19, providing supports for businesses to keep them operational during the lockdown and investing in large-scale infrastructure a…

I want to start by immediately raising the case of Alan Clifford, which has been brought to my attention by his mother Kathleen. Alan attends an adult day service in Nenagh, run by the Daughters of Charity. Since 3 March of this year, Alan has had no access to services whatsoever as a result of the Covid-19 lockdown. His mother Kathleen is Alan's sole carer and she was left in a situation of having to seek out different sorts of help from friends and leave from work to take care of her son, while also trying to jug…

I thank the Minister of State for the manner in which she has settled into her new portfolio. She has really hit the ground running, particularly in the area of mental health. I would like to highlight the work she has put into ensuring Thurles will have a Jigsaw centre open by the end of the year. This facility will provide a face-to-face service in Thurles which will be accessible to all young people who live, work or attend school or college in County Tipperary. In addition to this there will be online support a…