I thank the Minister for his response. As he indicated, this is part of a cycle. I have no doubt that if pig farmers are provided with the supports necessary to get through this crisis, they will see more profitable times ahead. The difficulty is that many of the people I spoke to today on Kildare Street feel they may not be able to survive this period. To be specific in terms of the proposals that have been brought to the Minister, there are two elements. The first is a €50 million loan scheme. Does the Minister s…

It was an excellent question posed by Deputy Lahart on the purpose and efficacy of sanctions. Of course, the purpose of these sanctions must be to stop the war in Ukraine and bring Russia to the quite natural and obvious end, which is the negotiating table. Therefore, it is crucial that on a daily basis we analyse the impact of the decisions made and further decisions that could be made. We operate in partnership with the EU and as a member of the UN Security Council but, crucially, we must be guided by an independ…

I did not say we were.

The N2-A5 road project is an essential piece of infrastructure not only for County Monaghan but for the entire central Border region and the north-west region. It has been long promised and has been included in several national development plans. It has been part of a series of engagements in peace process negotiations. Unfortunately, funding for the next phase of the project has been removed and placed in the pet projects of the Minister, Deputy Ryan. This region has no public transport infrastructure. There are n…

There are two.

I want to be associated with all the words of solidarity with the people of Ukraine. I want to use my limited time here today to talk about the challenges that are facing the food supply chains, not only in Ireland but across Europe. I welcome indications from the EU agriculture Commissioner that the Commission is set to deploy the €500 million crisis reserve. These funds must be delivered rapidly and to those farmers most in need. Sinn Féin, for several weeks, has sought the deployment of this crisis funding as an…

Deputy Ó Broin rightly described the Minister's remarks as disingenuous. I would go further and say, if anything, they came across as disinterested in the realities that face many of the people we all represent. Unfortunately, it is not surprising because from time to time we have heard the real inclinations of a Government that is quite simply out of touch: from a Fianna Fáil Minister of State telling people to shop around, to a Green Party leader telling us to drive slower, to a Fine Gael Minister for Finance who…

Families, workers, farmers and small businesses have all been struggling with the cost of living for months or years even. They have struggled with rents, childcare, insurance and mortgage interest, and Irish workers have paid among the highest costs and rates in Europe for some time now. Added to this, electricity, heating and fuel costs have steadily risen over the past year, leading to a cost-of-living crisis becoming evident by the beginning of this year. That crisis has now become a cost-of-living emergency. T…

The most frustrating and angering part of being a Deputy is when one is dealing with parents who are getting in touch in order to expedite getting healthcare for their children. It has to be said that no parents should have to contact any elected representative to tell that representative the most intimate details of the medical needs of their child to try to secure disability or occupational therapy or any other service that their child desperately needs. No parent should have to fight for years to secure an asses…

Hear, hear.

I welcome that the European Commission has indicated that market support for farmers under common organisation of agricultural markets, CMO, regulations can be made available when required. They are required now. Fertiliser prices have increased by up to 228% and there have been dramatic energy and feed price increases. Farmers' input costs across the board have increased. These are unsustainable costs for farmers who operate in a distorted market where the dominance of retailers and processors means primary produc…

I first raised concerns in this House regarding the availability of peat to the Irish horticultural sector, in particular the mushroom sector, in July 2020. I was told by the then Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine that his Department was working as part of a cross-departmental group evaluating the use of peat in the commercial horticultural sector. At that point, the problems were evident. The scandalous situation whereby huge quantities of Irish peat had been exported was to be replaced by an equally s…

I must put on record that I will be asking the Ceann Comhairle to review the Topical Issue debate procedure. Perhaps the Leas-Cheann Comhairle will let the Ceann Comhairle know that. I mean no disrespect to the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan. She has a very important role in her own right. However, there is no way that we can describe this as a debate. Regardless of what I ask in my follow-up contribution, the Minister of State will read a prepared statement. That is not a debate and it is not an acceptable way …

Israel operates an apartheid regime. The report by Amnesty International, which is subtitled “a cruel system of domination and a crime against humanity”, calls for Israel to be held accountable for committing the crime of apartheid against the Palestinian people. The obvious question is who will hold Israel accountable. It should be said that the Irish position is much stronger than in most of the western world. Yet, it is extremely telling that we refuse to call the Israeli regime for the apartheid that it is. If …

Ba mhaith liom an rún seo a mholadh chuig an Dáil. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta Cullinane as ucht an rúin a chur faoi bhráid na Dála. There are now 1.34 million people in the State on health waiting lists. Some 893,000 of those are on hospital waiting lists. It is an absolute scandal that has been decades in the making. It is the result of mismanagement, incompetence and a lack of political will to address the gross inequalities that lie at the heart of Ireland's health service. This inequality is illustrated b…

Hear, hear.

I support Deputy Pringle's call for our fishing communities to be supported through the Brexit adjustment reserve fund. Farming families in Ireland were one of the poster boys for the potentially devastating impacts of Brexit and, therefore, in the outworking of this fund, which is welcome, they need to be supported. Up to now, the only element within the agrifood sector that has been supported financially is the meat processors, that is, the factories, whereas the people who need support are family farmers on the …

In how many instances since February 2020 has the Minister's Department set aside the existing guidance on remuneration rates for civil servants or employees of State-funded bodies regarding persons earning more than €120,000?

Perhaps the Minister will use his remaining minute to answer the question I put to him in the first instance. I asked about the number of instances in which he has set aside the existing guidelines. We welcome the fact new measures will be put in place, but in my work as a member of both the Committee of Public Accounts and the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, I have encountered at least two instances where the existing guidelines were breached. The Secretary General of the Department of Health …

I welcome the fact that the Minister is here to answer this question, because for far too long this has been fobbed off to a Minister of State. There has not been the serious intervention that is required at Cabinet level. This whole process has been marked by delays, as has been mentioned. The Government set up an expert working group to examine these issues. The length of time the working group took, as well as the length of time the Government then took to deliberate on its findings, was excessive in my view. As…