My question is about Sligo and Leitrim. While I am on my feet, the Minister might answer both together. I looked at the figures for Donegal. We are looking at 80% of homes in Donegal not being connected until 2024 or 2026. To revise, 90% of homes in Leitrim will not be connected until 2025 or 2026, 60% of homes in Sligo will not be connected until 2025 or 2026, while the figure for Donegal is 80% by 2024 or 2026. The Minister of State spoke earlier about balanced regional development; he brought it up. There is no …

Figures do not lie.

Out of 14,000. That is what they are looking for. Leitrim County Council has given a figure of 90% and I will not query its figures. The figure for Donegal came from the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan. Let us not quibble about figures. I am happy to stand over them. That is not a balance in development. It just is not.

The Minister of State cannot say that unless he can prove my details wrong. If he can, I ask him to come back to me.

He said I was getting mixed up. Same thing.

It is 5% here and 5% there, but 90%-----

If the Minister of State is telling me I am getting mixed up, he had better be able to back it up.

My time is limited so I will mention just two brief points. First, I want to strongly voice my support and call for intensive and sustained dialogue between the EU and Russia, NATO and Russia, and the US and Russia in an effort to de-escalate the current situation which is a real and present threat to peace in Europe. At every opportunity, especially at the UN Security Council, we must make our views heard loud and clear to ensure that negotiations are front and centre of all approaches to de-escalate this potentia…

I have two questions for the Minister of State. The first relates to the TRIPS waiver on vaccines and the second relates to COVAX. Have we pushed for a TRIPS waiver within the European Council and the other bodies in which we operate? If we have, what are the blockages? Rather than saying to the Minister of State that we are wrong for doing this, that or whatever, my question is how we might dismantle some of those blockages. How can we move this forward? I am interested in his view but if we had a TRIPS waiver on …

I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion, which allows us to discuss and debate an extremely important issue, which is the format of the 2022 leaving certificate examination. As a former maths teacher at Mercy College Sligo, and as somebody who corrected State exams for more than 15 years, I am not an expert but I do have some insight. We are having this debate for very valid reasons, because of the very significant disruption for all leaving certificate students over the past two years. Some students suf…

A pre-qualification tender for the provision of the Irish Coast Guard aviation service was published before Christmas. It specifies at least three bases nationally. Currently, there are four - Sligo, Shannon, Waterford and Dublin. It is absolutely essential the R118 emergency service continues to operate from Sligo Airport. For the past two years, on the basis of call-outs, Sligo has been the busiest of the four national bases, covering an area from Galway to Belfast. Sligo has a major disadvantage in tendering. Th…

How often, in recent times, have we heard the phrase "Do not let the perfect become the enemy of the good"? In many ways, I believe that this applies to the legislation we are discussing today. Much of what is in this legislation is good, and in that context I commend the Minister on bringing forward the legislation. I listened carefully to the Minister's contribution yesterday. One of the things I appreciated was the fact that the Minister gave credit to many others who had worked on this legislation before him, a…

Tonight the House is saying for the third time that the new national maternity hospital must be fully owned and controlled by the State and that it rejects any agreement with St. Vincent's Healthcare Group, St. Vincent's Holdings or the Religious Sisters of Charity, RSC, which does not achieve such State ownership and control of the facility. Deputy Joan Collins has said the Government will not oppose this motion, and I will be pleased if that happens. However, not opposing something and taking action are two very …

Thousands of words have been written and millions have been spoken, as we all try to grapple with the cruel and shocking murder of Ashling Murphy. I want to extend my most sincere sympathy to her family, partner, friends and the wider community in Tullamore. Over the last few days, many women have huddled and spoken quietly to family and friends. Many have walked silently, carrying lighted candles. Others have scoured social media for any news. This is because this tragic murder has burrowed its way into the marrow…

I am more than pleased to have the opportunity to support fully and speak on this Sinn Féin motion on gender-based violence. Like Deputy Connolly, I want to continue on from my earlier intervention today. In one of my first speeches in the House when Covid hit, I lobbied the then Minister for Social Protection, former Deputy Regina Doherty, and the then Taoiseach, Deputy Varadkar, to put in place emergency rent supplement for victims of domestic violence, women who were in abusive situations and prisoners in their …

I wish the Ceann Comhairle, all the staff and all my colleagues here in Leinster House a good Christmas. I hope 2022 will bring better times for all of us. Today we are speaking of Covid-19 and its impact. Every person I speak to is concerned about the impact on our hospitals and our ICUs. People are concerned that our health services will become overwhelmed with Covid patients. While we know that the number of patients becoming infected with Covid-19 in Ireland in the fourth wave, which we are in the middle of now…

The Minister said earlier the issue of foetal pain relief in the termination of pregnancy can be dealt with in the upcoming review. I would like some clarity on this. Will the terms of reference allow it? Will it be part of the review? That is an important question. The Minister determines the terms of reference, so he has the answer. We need a policy response on this issue. To be honest, I was not even aware of this issue until a few months ago. In my ignorance I assumed a foetus, an unborn child, would automatica…

I listened to the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien's response to the Bill and his acceptance that it can contribute to early intervention, thus supporting families or individuals who are at risk of homelessness and, by extension, helping to prevent people from becoming homeless. The Minister also said that no single action or law, including this Bill, will deal with the crisis of homelessness. I fully agree with him, but nobody has suggested, certainly not in my hearing, that this Bill is any kind of magic potion. …

The Government has placed the passage tombs in Sligo on a list of properties that are considered suitable for nomination as UNESCO world heritage sites. Earlier this year, a folio of land at Cairns Hill in Sligo was put on the market. I raised the issue locally and was told that the OPW was going to bid for the site and asked not to go public on the matter. Had the latter not happened, I would have raised the issue in the Dáil. I trusted the OPW to buy this site and thereby ensure public access to the cairns. A loc…

I thank the Regional Group for making such a comprehensive and forward-looking proposal on the real possibility of developing our offshore renewable energy resources. The proposal is visionary, but down to earth at the same time. It is visionary in that any proposal to develop more than 70,000 MW of offshore renewable energy, which would not only eliminate our dependence on fossil fuels as a nation but allow us to export huge quantities of energy to the EU, is a mega project. Equally, it is down to earth in that we…