Last September, the Taoiseach said that an evaluation of the State's Covid's response would begin early this year to consider how the country performed for the purposes of learning lessons to be applied in the future. Instead, what has transpired is the establishment of an expert advisory group whose scope is limited to the public health service. It is my strong view that there is a need for a public inquiry that is time-bound to consider all aspects of Government decision-making because there was no element of pub…

The Taoiseach’s housing strategy and policy is a fiasco and a disaster. If he was to listen to those we call generation rent and their experiences, that would be apparent to him, as it would if he was to observe the clear generation gap, the generation cleavage that exists right across this State and reflect on the fact a whole generation of people have been locked out not alone from any aspiration to own their own home, but even to afford a stable, sustainable roof over their heads. I have said this to the Taoisea…

It is disappointing that the Government has failed to hear and to respond to the reasonable request from leaving certificate students for fairness and recognise the level of disruption that they have suffered over the past two years. Here is what at least some of them are saying on social media platforms, which are the chosen platforms of this generation. Isobel stated: "I am so upset, disheartened and stressed right now I could cry." She also stated: "Just had the mental breakdown of the century to my parents." Be…

On Sunday, I had the privilege of accompanying the Bloody Sunday families as they walked the same route taken by those who marched for civil rights 50 years ago. I listened to the families recall those they lost and share their memories of that fateful day. Their pain is still very raw and their deep sense of injustice burns still. They say time heals all wounds but this has not been so for the families of the 14 innocent people shot down by the British Army on 30 January 1972. How could it? For them, the five deca…

Yesterday, I raised with the Taoiseach the out-of-control cost of living and the never-ending price hikes that workers and families are forced to endure. I must say he came up very short in terms of a complete Government plan in respect of energy cost. It seems he is either unable or unwilling to grasp the scale of the crisis that hard-pressed households deal with every day. They know - even if the Taoiseach does not - a €100 credit will barely make a dent in their colossal energy bills. I want to move on and ask t…

Greedy developers. That is how it collapsed eventually.

The Government has failed in terms of supply and affordability. Those are the facts. I will help the Taoiseach to try to absorb the reality. This image shows a storage room. This accommodation would set you back just €300 a month. That is probably considered good value in the Taoiseach's housing market. This image shows a converted hallway in Dublin. This would knock you back €910 a month. That is probably a snitch in the Taoiseach's mind. What about this image? It is from Cork. In this particular rental accommodat…

Did you live like those living in the accommodations I have described?

Stop that.

The Taoiseach correctly described the scandal of inappropriate prescribing of medication to young mental health service users in County Kerry as deeply shocking. The wider public, in particular those availing of mental health services or whose children or young people are availing of mental health services, need an assurance at this time that what happened in Kerry is not happening anywhere else to anyone else. The Taoiseach has described what happened as a systemic collapse of clinical governance and management of…

The help-to-buy scheme is inflationary.

How many?

A year has now passed since the Minister, Deputy O’Gorman, wrote to the Secretary General of the Taoiseach’s Department seeking an investigation into the leaking to the media of the commission’s final report. The failure to conclude this investigation has been described by survivors and their families as another broken promise in a long litany of broken promises from the current and former Governments. The Taoiseach’s response on this delay is not acceptable. He gave a commitment to investigate this leak. Survivors…

It was longer, and it needs to be amended.

What about the leak?

The Taoiseach is talking down the clock.

When will the investigation be completed?

When will this investigation be completed?

It is a year later.

Repeated references to Covid-19 in the Global Ireland progress report reaffirm the reality that in our interdependent world, no one is safe from Covid-19 until everyone is safe. A motion calling on the Government to immediately support a trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights, TRIPS, waiver on Covid-19 vaccines was passed by the Seanad last month. Throughout the pandemic, political leaders have correctly argued that we need to trust the science and listen to medical experts and clinicians. Neverthele…