It is the most underfunded model 4 hospital in the country. It is patently obvious we are very efficient but we are totally under resourced.

The commitment for that cath lab was given in 2010.

That facility did not receive investment for 20 years.

I do not underestimate Waterford at all.

As a group colleague, I congratulate the Acting Chair, Deputy Verona Murphy, for assuming the role today. The Bill acknowledges that Ireland does not have a mandatory employer-funded sick pay scheme. As the Tánaiste outlined, one of the obvious impacts of not having a sick pay scheme is that some workers take the decision to attend work even when sick. In the context of spreading infection and Covid, we well understand the damage this can do. There is the potential for injury at work or injury being caused to fello…

I pay tribute to my Regional Group colleague, Deputy Berry, who was the first to propose that President Zelenskyy would address this Parliament and allow us to express our solidarity with the people of Ukraine. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, report yet again shows the need for all of us to expedite climate action. As the Taoiseach will be aware, we will vote on a proposal relating to the carbon reduction Act tonight without any sight of the sectoral emissions reforms or targets the Government …

I move: That Dáil Éireann: recognises that: — the overarching goals of housing policy should be affordability, sustainability, equality and social inclusion; — the high cost of housing can lead to deprivation, exclusion and poverty at the household level and lower levels of consumption, and economic growth at the national level; — since 2015, national house prices rose by over 35 per cent or an average of seven per cent per annum; — house prices rose by 14.4 per cent in 2021; — the Irish Independent/Real Estate All…

Ireland has set itself the ambitious targets of a 50% reduction in carbon output by 2030 and of carbon neutrality by 2050. The recent IPCC report again outlines the significant challenges that are facing mankind and our need to prevent global temperature increases above 1.5°C over the coming years and decades. We need to significantly change our consumption habits and our energy use if we are to have any hope of achieving these goals set out in the climate policy. We must play our part, but climate goals must be im…

I will read an excerpt from The Irish Times from Wednesday, 16 February 2022, in which the Taoiseach said, "The process of relocating the National Maternity Hospital (NMH) has gone on for 'far too long'." He went on to say, "major health projects need to be delivered 'much more quickly' than they are at present." He added that it is "not acceptable". Further to that, he told the Dáil "there would be no involvement or influence 'in any way' from religious organisations when the hospital moves ... from Holles Street,…

The Minister of State has said the Bill is designed to create more sustainable patterns of production and consumption that will minimise waste to significantly reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. He stated that waste and resource use are minimised in a circular economy and the use and value of products and materials is maintained for as long as possible. When a product has reached the end of its life, its parts are used again and again to create further useful products rather than being discarded as is now all too…

University Hospital Waterford, UHW, remains the most underfunded of nine in the country. In 2016, the Taoiseach and his party gave a commitment to deliver 24-7 cardiac care to the south-east region, yet in the intervening six years not one single hour of additional service has been provided, and we remain at 39 hours per week. Along with 14 other Deputies from the south east, I wrote to the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, on 15 December, 3 February and again on 7 March, requesting that he meet all Dep…

We are still at 39 hours per week.

We are 18 months away from promises to expand ours-----

I welcome the opportunity to speak to this Bill, which the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, has indicated covers a range of financial measures. We must acknowledge, as other speakers have done, the pandemic supports that were introduced. I sit on the enterprise committee and we certainly asked the Government for quite a while for a number of different supports. Although we did not get it right from the start, at a later stage the CRSS and the EWSS, in particular, were of great help to employers. They certainly allowed bus…

First, I express my support for the stance taken by Government and Ireland with regard to the Ukraine crisis. I applaud what we have done in waiving visa restrictions and allowing Ukrainian people to come here and avail of employment at the earliest opportunity. I will raise an issue with the Tánaiste that was raised with me. It relates to some vacant property, particularly holiday homes, that people might be of a mind to make available to Ukrainian people. These people are wondering whether it is possible for them…

I will reflect on what the Tánaiste said. However, as I said, the majority of licences are for felling and are being prioritised for Coillte and not for these small farmers who are trying to get afforestation licences, get roads built and get their own felling done. I return to climate policy for a minute. While I am certainly not against it, we need a reappraisal of it. As far as I am aware, the Government has not revised the policy on increases to fossil fuel prices in May. That would be a very retrograde step fo…

The preamble to the Bill suggests it will give effect to the implementation of Directive (EU) 2019/1 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2018 to empower the competition authorities of the member states to be more effective enforcers and to ensure the proper functioning of the Internal Market, ECN Plus, the European Competitions Network. Essentially it is aligning our competition law with the EU legislation. The Minister of State also suggested that the enactment of this legislation, further…

The Electricity Costs (Domestic Electricity Accounts) Emergency Measures Bill is basically a Government initiative to soften the blow of rising energy prices. However it is framed, it entails a once-off payment of €100 to every domestic electricity supply in the country. It is not being means-tested, as the Minister of State outlined, being too onerous for the Department to consider. As well as being paid to domestically occupied houses, the proposal is to pay it to vacant holiday homes also. One presumes the consu…

I thank the House for the forbearance. I congratulate and thank the Government - I should say our Government - for the belated wisdom in amending the Department of Transport's provisional tender questionnaire for the Irish Coast Guard air and sea rescue services. It comes as a great relief to all of us in the south east who rely on this service. It raises the question as to whether a larger strategic game is being played here. There was no committee of inquiry and no business case analysis. It was amazing how quick…

What the Taoiseach has referenced there is the ability of people in the south east to get up and go. I absolutely concur with that. The issue I am talking about is an infrastructural piece, which is Waterford Airport. The Taoiseach accused me of developing conspiracy theories. I put it to him that €350,000 in annual stopgap funding has been withdrawn and that the airport was excluded from €180 million worth of aviation sector funding. This is in respect of an airport that is privately supported. I ask the Taoiseach…