What about the contaminated beef that came in?

What about the ten tonnes of cocaine that came into Spain from Brazil, disguised as beef?

Then why is it not complying? Why did it not comply previously? We have examples from December.

I have great respect for the Chair but I do not like the answers I am getting. We are being misled in this House.

But it is not coming in like that and you know that.

You are sacrificing the Irish farmer.

When the multinationals go, what happens then?

You failed the fishermen and now you are failing the farmers. That is what you have done.

I had no idea.

He did not say it when he was here.

I start by wishing everybody in the house a happy new year. On Monday, 12 January, The Echo, a Cork local newspaper known to the Taoiseach and me, reported dozens of early childcare facilities closing across Cork. In fact, 130 facilities have closed in the past five years in Cork and that is echoed throughout Ireland. Providers are warning that Government funding levels, statutory burdens and staffing pressures are making the sector financially unviable. Many parents are losing places, not just in Cork but across t…

Looking at this Bill, the four pillars of it are a new tax, a full ban, 40 new enforcement posts, and an annual cost of new inspection powers. I would have preferred the Bill to go into more detail about the power of the inspection, what we are expecting from that and the costs surrounding it, but I am sure it will be fleshed out later. I am sure the Minister of State will address it as time goes on. Like my colleague, Deputy Mark Ward, said, there is no town, village or city that has not seen a huge influx of thes…

Section 39 workers are some of the hardest workers in our society. Their work in the health and social care system involves providing round the clock care and support to people with complex medical needs, protects the most vulnerable and gives them complete dignity yet they are treated as second-class workers. They are doing the same work as HSE colleagues but are often lower paid, have weaker conditions and are outside the pay restoration grants to public servants. As a result, predictably, there is a high turnove…

I have been here for the entire debate. I have heard from the Minister and from all sides of the House. I accept the Minister's explanation that there was a private service, that some pharmacists were giving out a free service and that others were charging to the Government with an incorrect charging rate. I accept all of that. However, what she has told the House is an indictment of the Government. It knew this was happening back in September, when it went into negotiations with the pharmacy union. The Government …

Last June, I said something that many people across this country already knew. Whistleblowers in Ireland are not protected. In fact, they are destroyed. The Tánaiste stood up in this very House and told it our laws are among the best in Europe. He said the Government values these people. Since then I have sat with countless whistleblowers, well over 50 of them, from every corner of the public service, from civil servants to local authority staff, nurses, Defence Forces personnel, people in universities, people repr…

There is a seat on this side of the House for Deputy McGuinness.

On 12 November, the Taoiseach told this House that legal advice states a Minister cannot read protected disclosures. That claim has caused real alarm throughout the country because if a Minister cannot read protected disclosures, the Minister cannot verify whether the Minister is being misled. It is an extraordinary position for this Government to have in a system that has repeatedly accused, attacked and retaliated against whistleblowers. A recent case shows that danger exactly. For decades, a cash-based duty exch…

Does the Minister stand over the Taoiseach's statement of 12 November?

Legal ambiguity protects the powerful. Clarity and accountability protect the Republic. I will put the questions to the Minister again because he has not answered them. Is the Government satisfied that the legal advice given to Ministers on protected disclosures is accurate, lawful and compliant with both the EU Act and the Act in the Republic? Does the Minister stand over the statement, made by the Taoiseach on 12 November in this House on receiving protected disclosures under section 8, that Ministers cannot even…

Will the Minister please inform the House when the Government first received reports indicating that the anti-malaria drug Lariam, mefloquine, was associated with adverse side effects? When did the Department of Defence become aware of that? Can the Minister also confirm whether Lariam was issued to all personnel of all ranks, and not just the privates or the NCOs? I also note that the Taoiseach has travelled 20 times in the last ten months-----