Is that a "Yes" or a "No"?

When the Taoiseach meets with Children's Health Ireland, CHI, it will confirm for him that 649 children are waiting for scheduled or elective orthopaedic surgery, 56 of whom have been waiting between one and four years. I invite the Taoiseach to confirm for the House that he will instruct the Minister for Health and the HSE to release the necessary funding as a matter of urgency to ensure that this list is cleared and these children have the care they need. I also wish to raise the issue of St. Brigid's District Ho…

Tell the HSE that.

The Taoiseach is aware the DUP continues to boycott the North-South Ministerial Council. As has been said previously, the party leadership continues to issue threats to the North's political stability. I am sure the Taoiseach will agree that these actions do not serve anybody in the North well. What is his view on, and the Government's response to, the DUP's boycotting of the North-South Ministerial Council? What recent engagements have the Taoiseach or officials had with their British counterparts in respect of th…

The Taoiseach notes the Secretary General's work on the national memorial and records centre. This is an important commitment by the Government and its delivery will ensure that Ireland meets its moral and human rights obligations to the women and children who endured institutional abuse overseen by the State. The Government's action plan for mother and baby home survivors commits funding to support this process. Will the Taoiseach confirm the budget allocated for this year and next? Will he state when he expects t…

The Government's decision that students will not have choice this year for their leaving certificate is appalling. It is a massive mistake not to allow a hybrid or blended model and not to give a choice to students between traditional exams and calculated grades. Furthermore, the way in which this decision was communicated was equally awful. It was cynically leaked to the media late last night. Stressed-out students who had waited for months for the Government to make a decision found out through social media or fr…

What students have asked for and a point on which they have been consistent was choice, which meant a choice between a traditional exam in whatever form and calculated grades. That was deemed appropriate and necessary last year because of the Covid disruption and the truth is that this year's leaving certificate students have been similarly disrupted. There has been significant disruption to the learning of fifth-year and sixth-year students. If the Taoiseach listened to what students were telling him, he would be …

It has also had a deep effect on so many of them personally. They have asked the Government to simply be as fair with them this year as it was with students last year. I appeal to the Taoiseach again. This is the wrong decision and I invite the Taoiseach and the Minister to reverse it in the interests of those students.

There are options.

Deputy Ó Laoghaire has written to the Minister.

Deputy Ó Laoghaire is our spokesperson on education.

There are assessment tools that are used in the North.

But the Taoiseach is not the Minister for Education.

The Minister for Education has the options.

That is correct.

It is done elsewhere.

Assessment tools.

They are given a choice.

The Taoiseach is out of line with fairness.

The Taoiseach met with the Women of Honour group yesterday. They had hoped to convince him that Government is taking the wrong approach to cases of rape, sexual assault, bullying and harassment of women within the Defence Forces. Sadly, however, they were left feeling deflated and disappointed following the meeting. The group are correct in saying that the review that has been proposed by Government is flawed and entirely unfit for purpose. Their call for an independent statutory inquiry that is removed from the De…