I will be sharing time with Deputies Donnelly, Butler and Murnane O'Connor. I thank the Minister. I will take five minutes, three of which I will use to ask questions, leaving two minutes for the Minister to respond. My focus will be on the mental health, disability and intellectual disability sectors. I pay tribute to all of the front-line staff working in these sectors as well as to families and carers. I also sympathise with and offer my condolences to those families who have lost loved ones since I spoke here l…

Within the Department.

As mental health spokesperson, I pay particular tribute to those front-line staff working in our mental health facilities and sympathise with and offer my condolences to those who have died since I last spoke in this Chamber. I will focus on what is sometimes referred to as the third and fourth wave in any pandemic, which has a particular impact on the mental health of our society and individuals. A report by the WHO's mental health department warned of another looming crisis. Its director stated that "the mental h…

I am glad of this opportunity to speak on the issues of housing and local government and I want to start by commending the staff of Wexford County Council on the phenomenal work they have been doing in the community in recent weeks. I will try to keep my contribution to two questions. We had a housing crisis before Covid-19 came along. That housing crisis is still there and it will be there after the Covid-19 crisis. What steps will the Minister be taking to ensure that housing is prioritised when the lockdown is b…

In those circumstances I will ask my questions as quickly as possible but they will probably not have much context. My focus is on mental health and the issues of disability coming out of Covid-19. Covid-19 is now our new reality and will be for the foreseeable future. We are already focused on the immediate Covid-19 curve and flattening it, but there is another curve that is rising, and that is mental ill health. This curve too needs to be flattened. The fallout of this pandemic will be experienced long after Covi…

We are in the Dáil today to discuss the Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Covid-19) Bill 2020. The challenges we are facing as a nation are truly extraordinary. We in Fianna Fáil will support the Bill but not without questioning or without seeking to amend, although we will do so in a constructive and positive way. How we respond to this crisis will determine the outcome. We need to act intelligently, systematically and based on science and the advice of our public health experts. Only by working together …