Hear, hear.

In an earlier response to Deputy Gino Kenny, the Minister said that the appointment by the then Government of former Judge Haughton was in direct response to votes that were taken in this House and the Upper House. I must contradict that. Those votes explicitly called for a public inquiry into the circumstances that led to the death of Shane O'Farrell and the actions of State agencies thereafter. How close are we to the establishment of a public inquiry, five years after those votes?

The reason I say the decision of the Government to initiate a scoping exercise was in contravention of the wishes of the Dáil is because the Dáil made it clear that there is a need for a public inquiry and yet the Government decided to extend this process even further. The person who was responsible for the death of Shane O'Farrell is a man named Zigimantas Gridziuska. Nobody is disputing that he has primary responsibility for Mr. O'Farrell's death. Mr. Gridziuska should have been in jail at the time. When Mr. O'Fa…

Under the European Convention on Human Rights, the State is obliged to ensure an effective investigation into the wider circumstances surrounding the death of a citizen. In Mr. O'Farrell's case, that has not happened. There has never been a proper inquiry that is thorough, comprehensive and transparent. This House has determined that the only way that can be done is through a public inquiry. Some 11 months before this man killed Mr. O'Farrell, he was before a Circuit Court judge. In continuing the bail, this judge …

I am renowned for my brevity so I will try and keep it that way. I sincerely thank the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, for taking this debate. It relates specifically to the issue of respite services in Cavan-Monaghan. She will agree that respite can make a huge difference for the family of a child with disabilities. It is good for the child, it is good for the parents and it is good for the siblings. It is an essential relief that ensures families can continue caring for their own child at home, but with a bre…

I thank the Minister for her response. We are at one in respect of where we need to get to and I welcome that. However, for the family I am dealing with now, time is of the essence. I fear that childhood is being impacted and also the well-being of the family. If one was to try and make this family's life more difficult, sometimes the responses of the agencies could not do a much better job. One of four children was attending a day respite care service in County Westmeath every Saturday and the child got word witho…

After months of worrying reports regarding the immigrant investor programme, the Government yesterday abruptly closed the scheme. The so-called cash for visas programme allowed wealthy people to receive Irish residency in exchange for investments in business or a charitable contribution. There have been serious concerns surrounding the operation of some of the investments made. For instance, last week I raised the situation of the Nuremore Hotel and Country Club in Carrickmacross where staff have not received their…

The investor is the biggest broker in the scheme.

Will the review be published?

The line of attack from Fine Gael over the past 24 hours seems to be one of arguing that Opposition members’ sums do not add up. I do not know how the sums add up in respect of telling people they have to wait for additional supports while they are struggling to make ends meet, while across Departments more than 192 people are employed in communications, or PR spin to use a different term. The relationship between Departments and Ministers who are particularly bad at communicating and the large number of communicat…

Not all Ministers are the same at keeping things confidential.

I have raised the case of Shane O'Farrell with the Taoiseach, as has Deputy McDonald. It is approaching 12 years since Shane was killed by a man who should have been in prison at the time and five years since the Dáil and Seanad adopted resolutions calling for an independent public inquiry into the actions of An Garda Síochána and other State agencies both before and after Shane's death. The Taoiseach's Government at the time ignored those resolutions and instead established a scoping exercise, something no one had…

EU Regulation No. 2019/6 on veterinary medicinal products had been due to come into effect in January 2022. I first raised concerns about the transposition of that regulation with a predecessor of the Minister in July 2020 after some concerns had been raised with me and other Deputies by stakeholders. At that time, a response to a parliamentary question from the then Minister stated that: The specific rules will be determined by National law and it is the intention of my Department to provide for Responsible Person…

I wish to share time with Deputy Clarke. The Sinn Féin motion recognises the pressures facing Irish workers and families. It recognises, in particular, that those who depend on social welfare payments, who include the elderly and people with disabilities as well as those who are seeking work, are worse off today than they were last year. It recognises the reality of the significant numbers of parents who are forced to use a food bank for the first time in their lives. Our motion recognises that, under Fianna Fáil a…

Hear, hear.

Hear, hear.

Further to Deputy Conway-Walsh's priority question, what steps the Minister has taken to ensure we have adequate capacity within higher education institutions for students who wish to study veterinary medicine considering that huge numbers of Irish young people are currently forced to go abroad? Will he give some further detail on the steps to ensure there will be accreditation for students emerging from any of our institutions, particularly north of the Border and in Britain?

The Minister is correct. I have a set of figures, I think for 2022 but it may be for 2021, which show that just 30% of newly registered vets in Ireland pursued their studies in Ireland and that 70% came from elsewhere. Frankly, we need to flip that on its head. We could and should become a world leader in veterinary practice considering the excellent family farm model for which we are renowned and, for that matter, the great effort put in across the agrifood sector, which holds a dominant place within the Irish eco…

Earlier today, we discussed legislation that could lead to a greater workload on vets. That alone has created a particular amount of unease. I welcome the Minister's assurances on all-Ireland accreditation. The reason we have brought this matter to his attention is because concerns have been raised with us. Veterinary Council of Ireland accreditation is the base line. It would be senseless to consider having a veterinary college which did not deliver that, but there are different levels of accreditation. The top un…

The two parties who caused the housing crisis working together.