That is the record of his party in Northern Ireland. Whether it is Covid, employment, poverty-----

-----he only has reasons to be ashamed of his party's performance in government.

May I make a point of order?

About two weeks ago, the Government decided to pause making a final decision on this matter. I think that was a sensible approach. It allowed people to ask questions and, in many cases, to get answers. It allowed for transparency and the publication of documents. It allowed for some people to be reassured and also allows us to consider what additional safeguards we might be able to add to the Government decision next Tuesday. I expect there will be a Government decision on the matter next Tuesday, but we will see h…

As the Deputy knows, the entire St. Vincent's campus is owned by a secular non-profit company, a charity. It has been very clear with us that it does not wish to sell the site. If the site were at the edge of the campus, like the BreastCheck building, it might sell the site as it did in the case of BreastCheck. It is very clear that this site is in the middle of its campus and it does not want to sell it. That would mean we would need to go down the route of a CPO. It would mean they would withdraw co-operation fro…

I thank the Deputy. I appreciate the fact that he gave us some notice that this question would be raised because it allowed me to get some further information. Generally speaking, what the Government does is to provide funding to local authorities, charities or housing bodies either to build or purchase a house, and adapt it for people with disabilities. It makes much more sense, on many levels, that we would purchase a house and adapt it for people with disabilities or alternatively build a house from scratch, whi…

I cannot commit to an audit but I have heard the Deputy's call for one and if he can pass on more information about the particular property he mentioned, we would be interested to know what happened and why. In total, €96 million is available under the capital assistance scheme for housing and that can be accessed by approved housing bodies for housing for people with a disability. Funding for people with disabilities is integrated under the social housing capital delivery schemes, such as the capital assistance sc…

I thank the Deputy. I appreciate that the issue he is raising is that of waiting lists at Letterkenny hospital and the waiting times for people who live in Donegal. He is also raising the wider issue of hospital overcrowding. I do not have updated information on Letterkenny with me so I do not want to give the Deputy information that may be incorrect. However, I can speak about the general picture in relation to what the Government is doing to reduce waiting lists. We do acknowledge that there are far too many peop…

It is an enormous challenge to recruit and retain healthcare staff, including doctors and that is not unique to Ireland. That is very much a global phenomenon. There is not a health service that I am aware of, certainly not in Europe, that does not have a difficulty recruiting and retaining staff. There is much more demand for healthcare than there are qualified doctors, nurses and midwives in the world. That is why, just like lots of other countries, we rely so much on people coming from overseas to help to staff …

This is an important issue and I appreciate that Deputy Doherty and his colleagues have raised it previously. I do not have an up-to-date report on that but I will make sure that I get one from the Department of Health and that the Deputy gets an update either today or tomorrow.

While the Coombe Women and Infant's University Hospital is not currently processing cervical screening samples for the CervicalCheck programme, current services are not affected as an alternative laboratory is able to provide testing for 100% of samples. CervicalCheck is currently up to date with invitations for screening and by the end of 2021, it had screened the same amount of people as in any other two year period, notwithstanding the cyberattack and the pandemic. A sum of €20 million has been committed for the…

In case Deputy Murphy had not noticed, a large number of banks are leaving the country. At the moment, tens of thousands of individual customers and business customers of Ulster Bank and KBC are trying to find a new bank. Among the reasons those banks are leaving the country is that while they can make profits here, they actually would make more profits for their capital in other countries. That is one of the stated reasons they are leaving Ireland. It is true that interest rates are higher in Ireland than in other…

I appreciate this is an important issue in Waterford and the south east. The Deputy will be aware of the work being done to construct and fit out the second cath lab in University Hospital Waterford. Obviously, when the laboratory is ready staffing it will be a challenge. Finding staff to staff two cath labs 24-7 will be a real difficulty. It is in large cities and it will certainly be a difficulty in Waterford too. I cannot make any commitments of the nature the Deputy requested. I do not have the authority to do …

It is increasingly understood that with heart attacks, or myocardial infarctions, the time period that is most relevant is the point from which the person starts to experience symptoms, rather than the 90 minutes from the time the call is made. There is a better understanding of that in recent years. I appreciate the comments the Deputy made but perhaps the best place to raise this matter would be during health questions with the Minister, or perhaps as a Topical Issue matter.

I understand it is intended to publish the new strategy on 21 June. I take Deputy Connolly's point entirely that a strategy on its own is not enough, the strategy must be implemented and implementation in the past was fragmented. The Minister is very keen to establish a new dedicated agency to deal with the matter of the epidemic of gender-based and sexual violence. She believes the best way to do this is under a new agency, which she intends to bring forward.

Hepatitis C is a very serious illness that has affected a lot of people in Ireland, including women and, in particular, people who suffer from haemophilia. Thankfully, hepatitis C can now be cured. There is a tablet for it that eliminates it from your system. It is an extraordinary miracle of modern science that this is now possible and available. It appears, however, that there is a new form of hepatitis in the world. It is not hepatitis C. We do not know exactly what type of hepatitis it is. I am sad to report th…

Medical scientists are an essential and crucial part of our health service. The Government appreciates the work they do in our laboratories and other facilities around the country. They may not be seen by patients very often but without them, there would be no patient care. It is essential that we support them in their work and recognise their role. The issue raised by the Deputy is an industrial relations matter and there are mechanisms by which disputes such as this can be resolved. These include the Workplace Re…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The Government is very concerned about incidents of knife crime in Ireland. I am aware of the sad case of Jennie Poole and extend my condolences to her family and friends. As a member of the Government, I have not seen that legislation yet. I am not sure what its status is or whether it has been published. I do not think it has been published yet, but once the Government sees it, we will be able to give it consideration. We are certainly happy to take on board any helpful …

I thank the Deputy very much. I know this is a very important issue in Clondalkin. Deputy Higgins also raised it with me and the Minister, Deputy Coveney, has been to visit the project in the past. I am sure we will find a mechanism to fund the project so that it keeps going. I am not sure whether that will be done through the local authority. I know that in my part of Dublin, Fingal County Council funds such projects, so perhaps the local authority is the solution. However, we are happy to work together to try to …

-----because nobody wants to see the project close.