Will the Taoiseach answer the questions?

I want to ask the Taoiseach about the ICU beds in our system. The Minister for Health confirmed in recent days that we have 255 ICU beds in the system, which is half the European average per head of population and 15% of the ICU bed capacity in Germany, for example, We are an absolute outlier in this critical resource. In 2009, an independent report found that the public health service needed to increase ICU bed capacity by 45% yet since then capacity has fallen rather than grown. There is confusion within the hosp…

Similarly, I want to raise with the Taoiseach the lack of pace with which his Government has responded to the economic crisis. Deputy Boyd Barrett quite correctly raises the case of the taxi drivers, but I can cite a more general example in the credit guarantee scheme, which represents a vital lifeline for business as the economic crisis has deepened. We made the case for the removal of the 50% portfolio cap for this guarantee scheme for small and medium enterprises a full two months before the Government relented …

I raise with the Taoiseach the issue of the British Government's clear intention to renege on the Irish protocol. As the Taoiseach will know, the protocol was secured after a very long negotiation. It represents the bare minimum required to protect Irish interests. It is essential to protect our economy, to ensure no hardening of the Border on our island and to ensure our peace agreements are protected. As the Taoiseach will also know, it is binding under international law. Today, legislation will be published. The…

Anyone who has even a passing interest in British Governments, but particularly those of a Tory variety, will understand that this is not a new departure. Sadly, it is not a new departure for Boris Johnson and his administration to walk away from prior commitments, including those held within international treaties. In this instance, the protocol is a settled matter and the withdrawal agreement is a settled matter. It is connected to but very much distinct from the negotiations that will, as the Taoiseach said, go …

I will say again that in the Taoiseach's conversation with him, he needs to dispense with diplomatic niceties and to set out the position very clearly to him. The Taoiseach might also remind him that the North voted to remain.

Now, not alone are they proposing to walk away from binding international commitments but yet again they are turning their faces away from the democratic decision of people on our island. These stakes are very high for all of us and we cannot afford to have hesitancy or any lack of forcefulness and rigour in dealing with Boris Johnson and his administration.

That does not make any sense.

No, no-----

I recall the Taoiseach steered the ship-----

That is what has happened.

I would like the Taoiseach to clarify the nature of the referendum on housing. Will the Taoiseach clarify that it is a referendum on the right to housing? That matter was clouded and fudged by the Government. It is fair to say that the record of this Government and the previous Government that the Taoiseach was part of through confidence and supply has been nothing short of disastrous. It has left an entire generation locked out of home ownership and many people struggling with exorbitant, outrageous levels of rent…

This is not, in fact, a new departure for a British Government. Departing from agreements struck and made is pretty common practice but what makes this different is the public way in which it has been presented. The Secretary of State came to the House of Commons and said that the British Government would breach international law. It is not so much that the British state has never breached international law - for goodness sake we know its track record in this country - but that it is doing so openly and brazenly in…

Is that the Taoiseach's answer?

That response makes no sense.

The UK is publishing the legislation today.

The Taoiseach is taking a very laissez-faire approach.

I want to raise two issues with the Taoiseach that I believe need to be top of the agendas of the committee on Europe and the Government. The first relates to the cost of insurance in Ireland compared to its European neighbours. The Taoiseach will know that, for the past two years, my colleague, an Teachta Pearse Doherty, has challenged the insurance industry for its rip-off practices. It is fair to say that he has been a thorn in its side. The report published today by the Central Bank is absolutely damning in its…

This morning, the striking Debenhams workers occupied stores in Dublin and Cork. They did so after more than 150 days of campaigning for fair treatment from the company that has treated them in an appalling manner. The company, as the Taoiseach knows, simply shut up shop and left workers high and dry. Initially, they were left with only basic State supports and the prospect of statutory redundancy. I am sure the Taoiseach understands the anger and frustration of these workers at this time. The liquidator, KPMG, has…

It is not right that these workers have had to stand on picket lines for months on end. The Taoiseach needs to act now. Will he lift the phone to KPMG?