I am just dealing with the people in the Chamber who have questions.

We are now back to Carlow.

We move back to Question No. 66.

I recently attended an agricultural meeting to discuss the draft EU nature restoration plan, which proposes the restoration and rewetting of approximately 700,000 acres of drained peatlands. Even if we restore all the available Bord na Móna and Coillte lands, we are still looking at approximately 500,000 acres to be restored and rewetted by 2050. This is enormous. It is the biggest land use change we could possibly imagine in Ireland. It would cover, for example, approximately 80% of all the agricultural land in Sl…

Do we get extra time here or do we just keep going? Just over six months ago 50 consultants from Sligo University Hospital wrote to the Minister for Health to highlight the severe pressure being experienced at Sligo University Hospital. Just one sentence from that letter basically says it all. It sates, "We have never seen the demand on our services so high nor the morale of our staff so low." According to the consultants there, Sligo University Hospital routinely has hospital bed occupancy over 110%, often with 30…

The Minister of State quoted many figures. One was the €443 million to cut waiting lists by 10%, yet since the beginning of the year, as I said a few minutes ago, waiting lists have increased by 3% in the Saolta region. Some 3,400 people have been added to the main hospital waiting lists in the region since the start of the year because the shortage of beds is so severe that severely ill patients are admitted and essential surgical and other care has to be cancelled. The Irish Hospital Consultants Association is no…

The next slot is for the Labour Party. Deputy Howlin has six and a half minutes.

I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion about escalating food costs and out-of-control grocery bills. When we spoke about Europe Day, many Deputies said most people would not even know it was Europe Day, whereas everybody knows what we are talking about this evening because food inflation affects every single family. However, it has a disproportionately negative effect on those on low incomes or welfare payments and, crucially, people with disabilities, who face an extra cost of a minimum of €9,000 per a…

The Select Committee on Health has completed its consideration of the Regulated Professions (Health and Social Care) (Amendment) Bill 2022 and has made amendments thereto.

Is the Bill opposed?

Since this is a Private Members' Bill, Second Stage must, under Standing Orders, be taken in Private Members' time.

Once again, I raise the issue of the lack of delivery of balanced regional development, specifically in the northern and western region. Once again, I use the statistics compiled by the European Commission and the analysis of those statistics by the Northern and Western Regional Assembly, which does sterling work not just in analysing the problem but in proposing solutions. The assembly has produced two reports this year - the first on regional GDP data and the latest using EUROSTAT statistics relating to 2021 - so…

The Taoiseach would be right if we were talking about Irish regions but I never mentioned the comparison with Irish regions. I mentioned the comparison with European regions when we speak of GDP. Yes, our GDP figures are skewed here, but not across the EU. We are 52% of the European average. I am not even talking about how far behind we are being compared to the southern, midlands and eastern regions. The Taoiseach knows that we have a real problem. It is not just GDP. Look at the European Commission report on the …

Figures do not lie.

I want to draw the Taoiseach's attention to a crisis in childcare provision, specifically in south Sligo. Many constituents from Tobercurry, Gorteen and other parts are genuinely distressed by the lack of childcare provision in the area. Existing providers have long waiting lists and some of them have been closed for two years. This should not come as any surprise, given the results of the SIPTU Big Start on early years staffing survey, which clearly illustrates that low pay and high staff turnover, which are core …

The Good Friday Agreement signed in 1998 has provided a basic infrastructure within which we on this island can build and sustain peace. The institutions created by the Good Friday Agreement are largely political. Many are not functioning now, and that is a huge loss. These institutions provide a framework within which we can find ways to live together on this small island. Of course we recognise our differences, but we do not allow difference or division to set the political, social or economic agenda. I will not …

I want to raise a really important issue for many people, particularly those with disabilities, which is the need to find a way to reopen the hydrotherapy pool in Cregg House, Sligo. Pre Covid, this hydrotherapy pool was utilised full-time but it closed at the beginning of Covid and never reopened. In the meantime, Cregg House was sold but the new owner has indicated that he would have no problem in coming to an arrangement with the HSE to use the pool. We urgently need to put such an arrangement in place. I have b…

I will reiterate some of the questions I asked earlier and speak to what Deputy Howlin said. He talked about the temporary state aid framework that is now in place to help European companies. That is partly a response to the Inflation Reduction Act in the US. I do not expect to hear from the Minister of State about any policy discussions he might have had with the American President last week but that is an absolutely crucial issue for European business, and particularly for Irish business, when it comes to decarbo…

Once again we are debating the critical situation that many families and individuals find themselves in when it comes to putting a roof over their heads. It is truly frightening for many people and families. They are fearful, even if they do not have a notice to quit. They are worried that if one arrives, they will have nowhere to go. In my own constituency of Sligo-Leitrim the CEO of North West Simon Community, Mr. Noel Day, said that homelessness in the north west has increased by over 50% year on year, from 2022…

In accordance with Standing Order 80(2), the division is postponed until the next weekly division time.