We have seen heat pumps with a take-up of only 30% of the targets, with only 47% of a take-up in local authorities. If we want clean, cheap energy for the many, not the few, and we want to see a permanent reduction in the cost of living and with regard to energy in particular, then we have to do things differently.

From the Department's hospital productivity dashboard, we know that the specialty that has seen the largest increase in waiting times over the past three years has been breast surgery. From parliamentary questions we have asked, we are aware that for breast cancer patients for whom surgery is the first treatment there is a HSE commitment to treatment within 20 days. Over the past eight years there has been a sustained and dramatic drop in meeting that target. In 2017, just over 10% did not get timely treatment but …

For the past two decades we have seen some very significant improvements in cancer care in this country but there is a very real and very well-founded concern now that cancer care outcomes may regress if the current trend in the delays in care continue. We have an excellent framework in terms of the deadlines that have been set down within the NCCP with a 95% target of ten working days for an urgent referral and 20 days for where surgery is required. We know, however, that this is so patchy, as the Minister herself…

I very much share the Minister's concern but I know, for example, that there is an MRI scanner in a major hospital for which they cannot get access to the post because there has been a suppressed post. I can talk to her afterwards about this. There is also the reality of the very significant inequality for some women out there. Research published this year by the National Cancer Registry Ireland shows that 41% of women from deprived backgrounds have a much higher risk of death within five years of diagnosis compare…

I welcome this new community pharmacy agreement. We have a particular problem in Ireland whereby allied health professionals have not been able to operate to the top of their licence for many decades, whether that is a physiotherapist within a hospital setting or indeed a pharmacist within the community setting. While this agreement makes progress in this regard, it could go much further. A second issue with regard to healthcare is that we have a lack of timely access to GPs in our community. It is no surprise that…

I very much welcome the Bill and thank our colleagues in the Social Democrats for bringing forward an interesting approach to ensuring transparency. It is an understatement to say it is a real pity that the Government is opposing the Bill. The reality is that the State is handing over billions of euro every year to developers in this State in respect of Part V housing, affordable purchase houses, cost rental and acquisitions. However, yet we have no clear oversight as to whom we are engaging with or, indeed, an abi…

I do not doubt all the efforts the Tánaiste and Government are making on the European and world stages to use every sinew of influence and diplomacy to stop the slaughter in Gaza, to call out the outrageous expansion of the illegal settlements and to call for the protection of the Irish citizens on the humanitarian mission on the Sumud flotilla, including Sarah Clancy, a constituent, and two Oireachtas Members. There are many others on that flotilla who all need the support of the Irish Government. I also do not do…

I second this motion and pay tribute to my colleague, Deputy Wall, and the rest of my colleagues for bringing it forward. Almost 250,000 children in this country live in poverty. That is one in five children living in poverty. That is a damning indictment of a Government of a country, which this year can boast that among EU member states it has the healthiest set of public finances, the highest rate of economic growth, the highest rate of domestic demand, the lowest rate of harmonised index inflation and a general …

I very much welcome today's statements. There is an irony that so much effort has gone into trying to reduce smoking rates in this country over the past two decades. We proudly talk about the smoking ban in commercial places. A lot of money has been spent by the HSE. There is a target for 2025 of a rate of less than 5% of the population smoking, but we know approximately 18% are still smoking. All the while, when the focus has been on that, the Government has taken its eye off the ball regarding a very serious and …

As has been said previously, there is a 17-year-old boy in the Mater in a critical condition because of a vicious stabbing on Sunday night. Earlier this year, an 11-year-old was stabbed by another school pupil and the horrible reality across many of our communities is that knife crime and the carrying of knives is very real. Unfortunately, in the communities I represent in the inner city, there is somewhat of a siege mentality among some young men who feel the need to carry a knife. The response to date has been ab…

Obviously, the Minister of State is hearing a lot of stories today about the failures within the school transport scheme. Every year at this time of the year, we sound like a broken record relaying these stories to the Minister of the day. As my colleague, Deputy Wall, relayed, it seems this year is the worst year we have seen in a long time. I wish to relay the story of Jade Black and her son, Rocco, to the Minister of State. Rocco is 16 and attends St. Michael’s House. They live in the north inner city in the mid…

Every single year, there seems to be an issue with the school transport scheme and a last-minute collapse in arrangements. As a public representative, I am fairly fed up at this stage. There was a review last year, but things have not improved. In fact, in my view, it has never been worse. This issue does not just affect the child but also the family. I know of a family who were told four days before 1 September that they had no arrangement in place. The mother had spent 17 long years at home caring for her child a…

I very much welcome the fact we are having this debate today, and I very much welcome the words and intent in the national human rights strategy for disabled people. Of course, it is about the timelines and the resources, and we have yet to see any detail on these to implement and make good the fine words in the strategy. I want to raise a number of issues with the Minister. Her Department will have to take much more aggressive and leading role in effectively trying to make real, and make good on, these promises, s…

Hear, hear.

I am sure the Tánaiste saw the Minister for justice's comments yesterday on a case being taken by the Irish Refugee Council in respect of how refugees, those seeking protection in our State, are being treated. Those comments were absolutely outrageous. They were deliberately designed to inflame tensions, to further the tropes that are out there and to pit refugees against homeless people. The most despicable thing is that this is not a once-off. We saw the gleeful tweets about deportations and the tough language la…

-----who are feeding that poisonous anti-immigrant sentiment. That has to end. People in here need to show leadership and speak to the realities.

No, this is important.

People's lives are at stake here. What the Minister for justice said yesterday was absolutely disgraceful. I hope the Tánaiste will now reflect what the Government thinks.

I extend a sincere welcome to the Young Scientist winners. I sincerely thank Deputy Stanley for his motion. The reality is that public dental services in this country are on the brink of collapse. We know there has been an almost 40% drop in the number of dentists participating in the dental treatment services scheme over just five years. The number of directly employed HSE dentists has fallen by about one third since 2009. When we think back to those awful years post the recession, there has been no investment by …

When I was reading the substance of this Bill today, my overriding sense of it was that the one consistent feature of the health service over the past 20 years is change. Since the Health Act 2004 there has been so much chopping and changing with regard to our health management system. Some of that was out of necessity. There are some very real questions as to the timing of this Bill, particularly given that we are only a few months into the new regional executive officers, REO, structure. The question has to be as…