A person does not have to walk very far from here to see the scourge of homelessness in the city of Dublin. Indeed, anyone can go into any of our cities or towns throughout the country to see that this is a reality. Rents are sky-high and housing is unaffordable, especially to younger people and people on average or lower wages. The Taoiseach was in government ten years ago. When he was in government he and the Administration of the time wrecked the housing market. The then Government created a property bubble that…

Yesterday the Government signed off on an obscene €81,000 pay increase for a top civil servant which will see the incoming Secretary General in the Department of Health earning €292,000 a year, or ten times the salary of a nurse starting out on the front line fighting Covid. There was no process or rationale for this obscene pay hike. At the time the Government said it was necessary in order to attract the best and the brightest to apply for the post. Lo and behold, the best and brightest were there all along under…

The easing of restrictions and the reopening of society open up an opportunity to reset the economy and to rebuild in a way that represents a necessary departure from Government policy thus far on the Taoiseach's watch and from the approach of previous Governments. This will, by definition, mean a more active State with more intervention and less sitting on the sidelines. I raised the area of housing with the Taoiseach earlier, which is essential, including the rental sector, and also the affordability of accommoda…

I will be sharing some time with Deputy David Cullinane. At the beginning of this debate the Minister for Health described family carers as the "backbone" of caring in our State. I will put on record some of the words of the backbone of care in our State: I am so fed up and worn-out from fighting for the basic rights of my daughter. With so little support, I live in a constant state of distress and worry for my child. I regularly cry myself to sleep at night. I do not get a break but I am at breaking point. Who wil…

Friday is World Autism Awareness Day. This marks a moment when we should be focused on raising awareness of the challenges facing those on the autistic spectrum and discussing how best to support them. Instead, we find ourselves discussing again how badly the State treats and fails children with additional needs. Yesterday, we heard the harrowing story of a seven-year-old called Lexi Forde, whose parents have been told she will have to wait until 2026 for school-age support. They said they have been left crying and…

As I said, on the very day this programme setting out these shocking revelations aired, families were before the court bringing the State to account for a failure to provide places for their children at school. Let me repeat my branding of the practice of compiling and holding files and dossiers on children with autism and their wider families by the HSE, the Department of Health or any other organ of the State for the purposes of facing off legal challenges as absolutely scandalous and shameful. It is a practice t…

The Taoiseach relies heavily on the report that he cites. Can he confirm that this report will, in fact, be published? I thank the Ceann Comhairle for turning off my microphone.

I asked three specific questions.

I am not sure that it is appropriate for a Government Deputy to speak, mar dhea, on behalf of everybody in the House when it is abundantly clear that the will of the House is for statements from the Ministers, including previous occupants of the Department, to establish facts, publish the review report to which the Taoiseach referred earlier, for us to have full disclosure of the facts and to have an assurance that the families and children on whom these files are held have actually been informed of that fact and h…

I want to raise the change the Government has made to the vaccination plan, as announced yesterday evening. This is both a huge and an astonishing decision that was made without prior notice and, it seems, without any consultation with the groups of front-line workers who will be affected by it. It has come as a great shock and has caused great anger for SNAs, childcare workers, teachers, gardaí and workers in retail that the Taoiseach has now decided they should not be afforded some level of priority in recognitio…

In July last year, my colleague, Deputy Quinlivan, was told by the Taoiseach that he hoped to give a timeline for the rolling out of a new redress scheme for the victims of historical abuse in day schools. I am sure, or at least I hope, that the Taoiseach is as frustrated as I am that the Department of Education's review of the ex gratia scheme appears to be stalled. That frustration is nothing by comparison with the deepened hurt and anger felt by the survivors of Creagh Lane National School at the lack of progres…

I may have skipped the queue as I believe Deputy Paul Murphy is next.

It is just to keep us right. I thank the Deputy. There is a move to age-based vaccination and the Taoiseach drew a parallel with the North. Sadly, I wish we were in the same position as those in the North, where vaccination is moving ahead at pace. Of course, the Taoiseach is aware there is an occupational element to that scheme. It is why, for example, carers got priority and have been vaccinated in the North. The occupational logic was applied in the correct decision to vaccinate healthcare workers - those on the…

I too refer to the plans for a safe return of health services, as published by the HSE. I specifically focus on cancer services, which will not be fully restored until the end of the year, with 90% scheduled by the end of September. All of this is reliant on a successful vaccination roll-out. We cannot afford to miss these targets. The prioritisation of early diagnosis and screening services is central and the Irish Cancer Society has made a call for additional investment and workforce planning to increase low take…

The meeting of the European Council which took place last week was a crucial moment in the European Union's battle with Covid-19. Over the course of the past year, the virus has wreaked havoc across member states. The economic and social devastation caused by this pandemic has been severe. The people of the EU and Ireland have experienced months of hardship. They have endured lockdown and massive disruption to their lives as they adhere to public health restrictions in order to curb the spread of the virus. The mis…

I acknowledge my colleague, Deputy Ó Snodaigh, for moving the Bill. The debate on the Bill has adequately reflected the really important place that Moore Street occupies in the story of our country. The years of neglect and abandonment by the State have not diminished its aura or its legacy for our people, notwithstanding the reality of the dereliction and grime and, as one Deputy described it, it being used as an outdoor lavatory from time to time. Notwithstanding that, it is a place at the very heart of our count…

We again find ourselves at a crossroads in our long fight with Covid-19. After three months of living under level 5 restrictions - our third lockdown of this pandemic - people are understandably fed up and many of them are angry and frustrated. Thousands have not seen a day's work in a year. Many have not seen family or friends in months and small businesses are either closing or struggling to survive. It is fair to say that people have made huge sacrifices to suppress the virus following the dangerous position we …

The task now must be to reopen as safely as possible, as soon as possible, and ignoring the need for a proper quarantine system jeopardises all of that.

It is time to get this right.

By pushing ahead-----