The situation is fragile, and that fragility is undoubtedly added to by the reality of increased variants. The question that arises is how we get from under this, how we carve out a pathway where we can reopen safely and where society and the economy can remain open. It is very clear at this stage that in the absence of adequate testing and tracing, a very efficient and safe vaccination programme and the necessary protections at ports and airports, we will not be in a position to reopen in a way that is safe and ca…

The efforts of people to get past this virus have been recorded. What we need now is the Government to do the right thing.

We need a full, effective mandatory system of hotel quarantine.

The Government needs to act on this swiftly.

I again press the case for family carers and the necessity of affording them a level of priority in the vaccination programme. Currently, they are identified just as part of the general population. Yesterday, the HSE published its plan for the safe return of services. It reflects the huge pressure the system is under and will be under. Therefore, the work of family carers and the value of it should be all the more apparent. They repeatedly ask who, if they fall sick or are left vulnerable, picks up their caring wor…

On the issue of provision of abortion services, it needs to be remembered that unionism can no longer be allowed to exercise a veto in the provision of these services for women yet that is what is happening. There has been a blockage. There is an active campaign by the DUP and others to prevent the commissioning of services that are necessary and to which women are entitled. Everybody from every perspective needs to ensure that those services are delivered. It would be astonishing if anyone who claimed to have any …

The fact that the committee has not met since November is alarming, frankly. It raises a question mark around the urgency and order of priority being attached to children and younger people, especially in the context of the public health emergency. I have had conversations with community and voluntary organisations that provide support and mental healthcare and related services to adults and young people. Those involved have been telling me loudly and clearly that access to care is a major problem. The 2,500 childr…

I refer to the finding of the human rights committee of the Council of Europe that sizeable numbers of local authority tenants live in inadequate housing conditions. That is putting the matter very politely. Some of the housing conditions are utterly deplorable and shameful in 2021. The finding that the State is in breach of Article 16 of the European Social Charter in respect of Traveller-specific accommodation should not come as any surprise because, of course, it is not the first time that the State has been fou…

The European Council meets this week at a time when the twin crises of the pandemic and Brexit call for a refocusing on what is required to meet these seismic challenges and to deliver solutions based on what has worked successfully in the recent past, that is, partnership, co-operation and solidarity. There is massive frustration and disappointment in Ireland and across the European Union at how the European Commission has handled the procurement and supply of Covid-19 vaccines. The reality is that the EU has litt…

The "RTÉ Investigates" programme, "Who Am I?" catalogued trauma and distress. While this generated some shock among the public, those who were not shocked by all of this are those who have lived their lives seeking the answer to that profoundly simply question, "who am I?". Those also not shocked were the State and its agencies, which have known that illegal adoption and the illegal placement and trafficking of children was an essential part of the tapestry of misery and of the brutal system to which Irish women, u…

Last week, two things happened in the world of high finance which caused understandable public outrage. First came the announcement that the Government will again allow the payment of outrageous bonuses to elite staff at AIB, a bank bailed out by the Irish people, as the Taoiseach will recall. Then, we had the news that 16 employees at Davy, many of them senior executives, had broken the rules, broken the regulations, for personal financial gain. The toxic culture that brought this country to its knees a decade ago…

Anyone who hoped that the toxic culture of greed and personal gain had been banished from financial services - from the upper echelons and the elites of financial services - had their eyes opened again last week. Davy has made it clear that this culture is alive and well. People who imagined that the culture of acquiescence in all this on the part of Fianna Fáil and successive Governments had been banished have had their eyes opened by the Taoiseach's response this afternoon. The fact is that this behaviour has bee…

Do they work in banks or in Departments? Will the Taoiseach join me in stating that Davy bringing in a third party to carry out an investigation of these matters is wholly unacceptable and insufficient and that it ought to be the Central Bank that sets the terms for such an investigation and oversees it? We need full transparency here.

Jesus.

We all know the facts.

The HSE is proposing to remove in-school speech and language therapy services from the Holy Family School for the Deaf on the Navan Road and, I think, from the deaf schools in Cork and Limerick. Whatever the merits of the new children's disability network teams for provision of these services to the general population, it is beyond belief that consideration would even be given to removing speech and language therapy services from deaf children and young people who at some stage or another in their school careers re…

I wish to raise two issues. First, I share the concerns that have been voiced here around the slowness of the vaccination programme. It is absolutely imperative we have those conversations, not just with London and the British system, but that we explore all avenues in respect of supply. I believe the issues around delivery of vaccines also need to be straightened out. I raised with the Taoiseach previously the issue of family carers and the fact they have not been afforded any level of priority. I remind him of th…

Can the Taoiseach clarify whether the British Prime Minister had given him notice of his proposal to act unilaterally and outside of the remit of the joint committee in respect of the protocol? Was the Taoiseach given advance notice of that or any indication that was about to happen? If the Taoiseach was, did he share that information with members of the Cabinet? It is imperative that we have clarity on all manner of issues but for the purposes of this discussion, on the precise actions that Government has taken in…

What conversation did the Taoiseach have with faith leaders prior to and following the publication of the commission's report into mother and baby homes? What conversations has the Taoiseach had with them in respect of the whole scenario around adoptions, including illegal adoptions and the role of various churches and religious orders in all of this? In the previous round, I put a question to the Taoiseach on whether Boris Johnson gave him prior notice of his intention to tear ahead and act unilaterally. Will the …

"I am not who I am supposed to be"; "I was robbed of the chance to meet the woman who gave birth to me"; "I don't know who I am." These are the voices of people affected directly by the scandal of illegal adoption in this State. Some will feature in an "RTÉ Investigates" documentary to be broadcast tonight. The news that the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth has confirmed at least 151 illegal adoptions at the St. Patrick's Guild adoption society in Dublin is deeply upsetting. Howev…