Hear, hear.

Some 97 people are on trolleys in the University Hospital Limerick emergency department today. It is a disgrace. It is indefensible and a poor reflection on us as a society. It is an indictment of our health service and our Government. In spite of tens of millions of euro being spent building modular units and additional accommodation, there is a situation in Limerick where there are more people from the mid-west on trolleys than anywhere else in the country. I want to know why. Is it a lack of funding, resources, …

I would like to put on the record our thanks to the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, for finally agreeing to meet with the Irish Thalidomide Association. They requested a meeting almost two years ago, when the Minister first took office. He agreed to the meeting, but it was cancelled. A number of my colleagues have put in requests for that meeting to be rescheduled. I welcome the confirmation that the meeting will now take place. I sincerely hope it takes place urgently because we are all fully aware of the distr…

Like all other Members, I too wish to express my sympathies to the family of the late Ashling Murphy. The manner in which she died was brutal and horrific. There are societal challenges and issues that need to be dealt with. This Chamber needs to lead in terms of the conversations that need to happen, but also the actions that need to be taken. That is important. It is all very well talking about it and expressing shock and so on, but we actually need to deal with it and take action on it. I look forward to the deb…

I echo everything Senator Seery Kearney said, which she articulated very well. This is my first time engaging with the Minister in the Chamber. She is very welcome and I commend her on the work she is doing. I commend also the education committee on this important work led by my party colleague, Deputy Kehoe. There are many lessons to be learned from Covid. One lesson I hope is learned loud and clear is that the first cohort who should have been brought back to school was those with disabilities who need special in…

I acknowledge the Cathaoirleach and wish him a very happy Christmas. I thank the Clerk and his team for the great work they do, and all the great people in Leinster House who do so much for us. I also thank all our colleagues across the House. Since we resumed meeting in person we have got to know each other a lot better. The work we do here is absolutely fantastic. It is going to be a difficult Christmas because Covid-19 is still with us. We all have to be cognisant of the fact that we are still living in a pandem…

As always, the Minister is welcome to the Chamber. She is heading up a Department known as "Social Protection", with the idea being that we protect our people at a time in their lives when they need us. Thousands of people never thought they would have to engage actively with the Department during their healthy working lives until 18 months ago when they were let go from work because of the pandemic. They engaged with the Department and were supported. That happened because we as a nation believe in looking after p…

Yesterday, 14 December, was National Irish Sign Language Day. We should always celebrate that day because this House, under the Cathaoirleach's leadership, was responsible for the Irish Sign Language Act, which was signed into law on 24 December 2017. During the pandemic, we saw, front and centre, how important signers are. I offer a shout-out to the people who work in sign language, train our signers and use the service. I previously raised the situation where people in rural Ireland pay more for their train and b…

I endorse all that has been said by the Minister of State and Senator Clifford-Lee. It is because of this virus the Government has to bring in restrictions. I take great heart from the research made available yesterday which states that following on from what has been articulated in terms of the difficulties and challenges that this new variant is causing, 80% of people have altered their behaviour, changed their plans and propose to reduce the number of people they will meet over the Christmas period. The people o…

Everything we do in this House has to be predicated on human rights. It is very difficult to bring through legislation that in any way impacts on civil liberties, but the reality is that we are in a health emergency. We are in a pandemic the likes of which has not occurred previously in our lifetime or that of previous generations. As I understand it, the last pandemic dates back over 100 years. Hopefully, it will be a long time before this occurs again. I believe the Irish people understand the reasons for this me…

There is merit in what is being proposed here regarding oversight and the availability of information. The more information people have, the more informed they are about why decisions have to be made, the purpose of those decisions and the effect they will have. Information is powerful and no organisation should ever be afraid of sharing as much information as possible. I believe there will be a public inquiry into the handling of the pandemic. That is only right and proper because if we do not learn lessons about …

The Minister of State is very welcome to the House. I will take this opportunity to wish her all the very best for Christmas. I hope she will get a bit of a break. This Bill is legislation that comes before us annually. There are always little bits and pieces of it that change. I agree with my colleague and friend, Senator Boyhan, in wanting to know a little more about the stamp duty levy reduction. I was not aware of it but if it saves a few pounds for people it has to be good news. It is coming in during quarter …

Will the Minister of State keep us posted on this issue?

I thank the Minister of State.

On 30 November I stood in the House and called for all the resources of the State to be deployed to deliver the third vaccine dose, also known as the booster. I looked for pharmacies, especially those in rural areas, to be facilitated to open late, for the Defence Forces to be used where appropriate and for any possible resources needed in order to get booster jabs into people as quickly as possible. This happened in Israel and that country has a completely different narrative in terms of a third or fourth wave whe…

I commend the people in the emergency services today who are going out and risking their lives. They are doing so to save lives and to keep our communities safe. On 4 January 2014, the west coast of Clare, including my parish and Lahinch, was ravaged by the sea. Damage to both public and private property amounted to millions of euro, but thankfully we rebuilt. We have one of the best rock armoury systems available, after millions of euro of Government investment following the damage of 2014. As a country, we need t…

Hear, hear.

I welcome the Minister to the House. As he knows, there is a storm hitting County Clare now. It is at its peak as we speak. I hope Lahinch will be spared the drumming it got back in 2014, simply because of the €12 million invested by a Fine Gael-led Government in the rock armoury. We are now in a far better position to weather the storm than we were. The lesson is that Ireland is an island nation. Investing in coastal protection is necessary. In this regard, we need to think in terms of investing billions rather th…

I commend Senator O'Loughlin for this excellent initiative. As somebody who shares the panel with us, I know the Cathaoirleach is very much committed to achieving as much as we can for the community that elects us to the Seanad. It is very appropriate that the Minister of State is here. We have been in government for a year and a half. During that period of time, we have seen the package of benefits for councillors and the Moorhead report. The additions have come about because the Minister of State has been complet…

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, to the House on International Day of Persons with Disabilities. I thank her and acknowledge the enormous work she is doing as Minister of State with responsibility for people with disabilities on behalf of people with disabilities in this country.