I am happy to speak on these statements. Ireland has a rich history of challenging adversity, as the Minister knows well, and fighting against injustice. Included in these struggles is our right to exist as an independent State and the recognition of our citizens' civil rights and protections. Since the foundation of our State, our country has embraced change. Part of this change has been the social development and maturing of our society. We have cast off the historic shackles that may have nurtured the idea that …

I wish to split my contribution between the primary and secondary sectors and the third level sector. I know the Minister had to leave. I thank her and her Department for the help and support she has offered to my Waterford office in relation to individual student cases and under the capital schools programme, which is very important to us in Waterford county and city. We are working on a number of school programmes and I thank the Minister for her assistance. Before she left, I had intended asking her about the hy…

The Government recently announced the HSE capital infrastructure programme of €1.1 billion in spend. In the programme, the Government has given more than €90 million to each of the five Dublin hospitals, €55 million to Cork, €54 million to Limerick, and €64 million to Galway. To University Hospital Waterford, which is the busiest hospital in the country for the past four months, the only hospital last year to reduce its waiting lists by 20%, and the hospital with the best metrics in accident and emergency departmen…

I do not think there are too many people in the House who will be objecting to the Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill. It is timely and required without a doubt, in particular some of the measures the Minister of State is proposing to introduce in terms of interacting with under-18s and particularly those who are seeking applications through licences, and even when they are not, banning the use of remote selling and trying to license selling online for those who are, which is very …

I often hear people in this House speak about leadership and heroism in reference to ongoing national stories. Throughout the Covid crisis, we heard daily about the mission of people in our public service to save lives and the sacrifices made and the risks engaged in by public sector health workers. Unlike Covid, the emergency situation that faces our retained firefighters has not abated in any way. Every day they attend for duty, they do so in the knowledge they might ultimately be involved in a serious work-relat…

The recent wave of data from the census shows the rude good health of Waterford city with the population thumping forward by 10% in the seven years since the last count. The other cities in our Republic are also advancing, Cork, Galway, Dublin and Limerick by 8%. The radical changes shown in Census 2022 demonstrate that the Ireland 2040 strategy needs a rethink. It is not credible now that our regional cities will grow at double the rate of Dublin, certainly not while Dublin hoovers up most of the capital spending …

The reason for looking for the extension to the boundary was to try to get more cohesive strategic planning within the city of Waterford and to give us proper access to develop the north side of the city. That has been a bugbear. I do recognise the greater integration and co-operative agreements between Waterford and Kilkenny local authorities. That is to be welcomed. I still think the boundary report should be reissued. I would say also that we have a second issue which is the recognition of the metropolitan bound…

On Monday, through the medium of Twitter, we learned of the Minister for Health's capital plan to spend €1 billion largely in Dublin. It means just one eighth of the funding will be given to the other eight model 4 hospitals, including Waterford. Our Parliament was not consulted in any way in advance. I wonder what democratic parliament on earth would tolerate the spending of such a sum by one man and his thumb. Should spending not follow the will of the people? Should a plan as significant as this not be placed in…

Every Member can acknowledge the issue of global climate change. We can all agree it is a seismic challenge to the world order and future generations. While that must be acknowledged, the equitable distribution of responsibility across all countries must also be recognised. In our case, it is across our EU community. The latest census shows that there are 5.1 million people in Ireland. At this number, we are not even equivalent to a big city in Europe. Per capita carbon measurements for Ireland are suggested to be …

Under the European Convention on Human Rights, suspects are entitled to a fair trial within a reasonable timeframe. It was reported in the media many months ago that the Council of Europe was monitoring delays in the prosecution of criminal cases and that the Irish criminal courts were breaching the rights of individuals in such circumstances. Such breaches could require a court remedy by way of compensation. The result of these delays is that defendants in criminal trials could be entitled to receive compensation …

Four parliamentary question responses received by me in the past week show the continuing obstruction and failure to provide promised bed capacity at University Hospital Waterford. Even if this Government goes its full term, its promise to deliver 24-7 cardiac care to the south east is envisaged to be broken. Is this because the Government is inept, compromised or corrupt? In 2016, Fianna Fáil gave a commitment to deliver 24-7 cardiac care to the south east. What does this promise mean to the Government?

The Government is compromised and inept at the least. What does this promise mean to the Government?

Three years.

Not a single bed in three years.

Much has been said of offshore wind and ports infrastructure today. I ask, as others are asking, what is our policy for wind development at ports. I too call for Rosslare Europort to be designated one of the wind-marshalling ports in the country. Waterford Port can assist that activity. I highlight, as I have done in the House before, concerns I have regarding the future of proposed wind development around the south coast, particularly off the Copper Coast in Waterford. We have yet to see where that planning will g…

RTÉ reported recently, on the basis of figures provided by my constituency colleague, Deputy Cullinane, that the average waiting time for admission through emergency departments in hospitals has increased and now stands at 11.7 hours. It also stated that children and over-75s are waiting up to 13.3 hours. Stephen McMahon of the Irish Patients Association correctly pointed out that these are average times. Therefore, we are also talking about people spending 24 hours and more waiting on trolleys to get into hospital…

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the German Bundestag along with members of the German-Irish Chamber of Industry and Commerce and we also had significant people there from the wind energy development sector. The main purpose of the visit was to highlight to Germany how Ireland can be a significant contributor to green hydrogen in the coming years. The current German national hydrogen strategy shows it will need to import more than 70% of its hydrogen needs by 2030 while Ireland will have significant resou…

I welcome the tenor of the Bill and the principles to which it speaks. The Irish people do not in principle support any type of State investment that is seen to underpin or to profit from the ongoing annexation of Palestine by the state of Israel. We in Ireland know at first hand what colonialism looks like and what partition does to a country and its people. We know what apartheid engenders in terms of discrimination and subjugation of a national citizenry, which is denied the basic rights of free movement in thei…

The focus of the European Year of Skills is lifelong learning. There is an old adage that education will set you free. That applies depending on where someone lives in the world today. It may ring true but what is indisputable is that onward education and learning deliver opportunities in terms of employment potential and the remuneration one can command. The Department's report has highlighted some key observations. Ireland's participation in third level education is above the OECD average. Our participation in li…

What tax measures might the Department be considering in the next budget to stimulate access to finance for the micro, small and medium enterprise sector?