I agree with the previous contributions. This is a €1 billion investment that the State will be making. It is incredibly important for the women of Ireland that this is done correctly. I welcome the fact that the documents were published last night. It would be worthwhile to provide some time to enable Members and the general public to take a look through them to see whether any issues arise. It is very important that we have a debate on this matter, if not this week, then next week. It is crucial that such a debat…

Today the Taoiseach has repeatedly said that concerns around the national maternity hospital have been comprehensively addressed and that without question legal guarantees are in place. But that is not entirely correct because there are still many concerns. In fact, two of the experts on the HSE board expressed concerns about the legal framework in place and as a result of those concerns they dissented from the vote. Those two experts were Professor Deirdre Madden who is a professor in law, and I believe is the onl…

-----and the governance control of the proposed maternity hospital?

Will the Taoiseach agree to meet with these experts-----

-----or for the Minister for Health to meet with those experts to hear what their concerns are-----

-----because they cannot get them on the public record, and to address those concerns?

Sorry, Ceann Comhairle. Thank you.

In a similar way that the Taoiseach cannot second guess the decisions of the St. Vincent's board.

I thank Sinn Féin for moving this motion. It is an important discussion and I was hoping we would get some clarity on the issue of the turf ban. Nothing but confusion has been generated in the media by Ministers and Government representatives in the past fortnight. It has fuelled fear for many people in rural Ireland regarding what is going to happen to their ability to burn peat for fuel this winter. Looking at the Minister of State’s proposed amendment, there seems to be no real clarity as to what is happening. T…

I welcome the opportunity to debate the carbon budgets in the Chamber. I am always quite torn when it comes to these kinds of debates because I understand the commitment parties like the Green Party in particular have had over many years on climate and environmental issues and the role that party has taken in the current Government in pushing for and driving many of the changes we need to see. I am also torn because as a parliamentarian, a scientist and a mother, Deputy Leddin is right that I want to see the Govern…

Did the CCAC get that number wrong? Is it not 5.7%?

I am happy to allow the Deputy respond.

It is not an interpretation. It is a fact. That is what the CCAC said.

Okay, so the organisation that deals in science, which is what Deputy Leddin said at the beginning of his contribution, is now interpreting. This is what the budgetary process has come out with. We had debates on this matter at the joint committee and I and other members of that committee repeatedly raised our concerns about it. Unfortunately, however, our concerns were not taken on board. In terms of what we need to do, we can have all the plans we want, we can have carbon budgets, the climate action plan and the …

I welcome the opportunity to discuss the key issue of the childcare sector and I thank Sinn Féin for tabling this motion for debate. For years, parents, children and early years and childcare staff have been let down by successive Governments, which closed their eyes and ears to the significant investments the sector required. It will be difficult for our system to catch up. Covid was an eye opener in terms of exactly how important this sector was to the economy. It had often just been seen as an issue for young fa…

I do not think the Minister gets it. I do not think he quite understands the impact that this fuel and energy crisis is having on individuals. A man contacted my constituency office this week. He is a cancer survivor and has diabetes. He made the choice to pay his electricity bill rather than buy the food he needed. He ended up in hospital as a result of a hypoglycaemic attack. That is what people in our country are facing. Rather than the Minister talking to the CRU and asking it to consider measures that are alre…

The regulator needs 60% more staff than it has at the moment.

We do not have time.

I would like to take this opportunity to briefly raise the issue of the new national maternity hospital with the Minister and the language that is being used surrounding the debate at present. I want to get on the record how disappointed I am with the language that the Minister, in particular, has used over the past few months in relation to the concerns that have been expressed by women in Wicklow, across this country and, indeed, in this Chamber. Referring to these concerns as "malicious", "misinformed" and "misl…

I suggest the Minister checks his Facebook page.