That is not the commitment the Government made to the farmers.

The Garda Representative Association, GRA, has started its protest against roster changes that are due to kick in from next month. This action sees gardaí refusing voluntary overtime. It is an escalation in a dispute that has deepened and intensified over the past year. It is very concerning that matters have come to this point. I have no doubt the public is very alarmed at this turn of events. Morale within An Garda Síochána is at a really low ebb as members try to keep our communities safe at a time when policing…

It is fair to say that all of us across the House want to see this dispute resolved. It is unconscionable that we would have a further escalation in this dispute. It is clear that relationships have been strained and are very damaged. I appeal to all concerned to re-engage in a calm-headed way. Rostering must be resolved but either party digging in and being intemperate or immovable on this matter will assist absolutely nobody. I agree with the Taoiseach that in the final analysis it is the public who have a right …

For the past two years the north inner city has been without any drugs and alcohol task force. For those two years the HSE has consistently and wrongly claimed the task force acted outside of its remit or beyond its powers in its appointment of its new chairperson. The HSE and the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, issued a statement yesterday that they will reconstitute the drug task force. There was no consultation with the local group. The statement goes on to say the HSE will recruit and appoint a new chairper…

The fact of the matter is the HSE has toppled the community leadership there. It is disgraceful behaviour by the HSE and the Minister.

Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. The shocking revelations regarding paediatric surgery at Temple Street Children's Hospital have been met with huge anger and disbelief. It is hard to wrap one's head around the pain and damage experienced by the children and families affected, with 19 vulnerable children harmed, traumatised, in what was a catastrophic, unfathomable breach of care and trust, and too many other children still languishing on spinal procedure waiting lists and their parents left living in fear. …

I absolutely agree with the Taoiseach that nobody should jump to conclusions. What I am asking him to do, and this is a necessary precursor to getting the terms of reference for the review right, is simply to establish, as a matter of fact, whether a meeting or meetings occurred involving clinicians, and also the head of Children's Health Ireland, CHI, in which these experimental surgical techniques were discussed, whether guidance was sought and if it was given. The establishment of those basic facts - not conclus…

I join in commending members of An Garda Síochána, our Defence Forces, the Naval Service and the Army Ranger Wing on the successful operation off our coast yesterday. It demonstrates the need to invest in Naval Service capacity and in the wider Defence Forces. The truth is that our Naval Service cannot monitor our seas effectively and this is due to decades of under-investment. At present, only two Naval Service vessels can be put to sea at any one time due to staffing shortages and that, in turn, is because despit…

This morning many crèches across the country closed their doors for three days due to frustration with Government policy. As we speak, and as the Taoiseach knows, providers are now protesting at the gates of the Dáil. Of course, the big losers in this situation are thousands of families who will experience significant disruption this week - parents left in the lurch, seeking alternative childcare arrangements so that they can get out the door to work. The reality is that the provision of childcare services is in cr…

I thank the Taoiseach for that response. Notwithstanding that this is a minority-led dispute, as he says, I am sure he will accept that those concerned do in many ways speak for the entirety of the sector, certainly for an awful lot of families, who still experience childcare costs that are too high or who in many instances experience a complete lack of availability of childcare places. Therefore, issues of affordability and capacity still loom large. I asked the Taoiseach whether he would honour his commitment to …

I would like to see the Government fund the sector.

Is this questions to the Opposition?

On 1 September, the Government increased the price of petrol and diesel by 7 cent and 5 cent per litre, respectively. As the Taoiseach knows, we are in the grip of a cost-of-living crisis. In that regard, it makes no sense and flies in the face of any semblance of fairness to go ahead with the increases the Government has proposed for 11 and 31 October. If they go ahead, the Government will have increased the price of petrol and diesel again by more than 10 cent and 8 cent per litre, respectively. This evening, Sin…

That was a pathetic answer.

Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. I also wish Barry the very best in his tasks and duties. As the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment knows, workers and families continue to struggle with an unprecedented cost-of-living crisis and households remain under huge pressure, with massive energy bills, grocery bills and fuel prices increasing once again. At the centre of all this are sky-high housing costs. After 12 years of Fine Gael in government, housing has gone from bad to worse, from crisis to emerg…

The Minister's rhetoric and his bluff on the issue of housing convinces precisely nobody. The idea that he would rate the Government's performance on housing as a reflection of housing being its number one priority is truly terrifying if that is the Minister's idea of the Government's best shot at sorting out a crisis that has now been with us for many years. The targets are wrong to begin with. They are insufficient and are not being met. The Government has no sense or capacity to grasp the scale of this crisis an…

The Government increased the price of petrol and diesel on 1 September. People can see the consequences of that at the pumps. Incredibly, the Government proposes to increase fuel prices even further, with a double whammy on 11 October and 31 October. Fuel prices, as a consequence, will hit close to €2 per litre. I do not know how the Government expects hard-pressed families that are struggling anyhow to absorb this type of price hike. It is unacceptable that it would proceed with these price hikes. They should be s…

I wish to raise the governance review into allegations of sexual assault at a HSE-run nursing home, which was published today. It outlines harrowing failures to protect vulnerable people and is a very distressing story for us all. It reflects, again, that there is much work to be done to protect and safeguard vulnerable people. In 2020, a healthcare assistant who worked at the home was jailed for 11 years for rape. The victim, known by the pseudonym "Emily", was a resident at the home. The review into the handling …

Go raibh maith agat. We again thank and salute Emily, which is her pseudonymous name, and send our regards to her family and to all the families and all those affected by this. It strikes me that this is one of those issues where the House is of one mind. The clear objective is to keep people safe and to ensure we have the appropriate policies, practices, training and development in place. Equally, however, these must be underpinned in law. There must be a statutory basis upon which all of this is built. My questio…

-----and that we will now put pace into the delivery of this legislation. I ask the Taoiseach to give us a sense of a timeframe for delivery on the recommendations and the law.