I am sorry. Excuse me. Of course, I condemn hatred. I have never supported any kind of hatred against any person or any attacks against anyone in this House, not ever.

I am sorry.

That was a complete misinterpretation.

I did reflect. I told the Taoiseach that these were comments I was hearing on the streets. The Taoiseach may take or leave them as he wishes.

I raise the lack of State delivery to Waterford and the south east. I must first congratulate the Tánaiste on a great European election in Ireland South. Billy Kelleher romping home was expected, but having Cynthia Ní Mhurchú pipping Grace O'Sullivan was somewhat surprising. It must have been very pleasing for the Tánaiste, if not for his Green Party colleagues. Of course, Cynthia's big marketing push in Waterford was a video in front of Waterford Airport calling for the runway extension to accommodate passenger je…

I do not want to accuse the Tánaiste, in reading out those statements, of living in a parallel universe when it comes to Waterford but they do not reflect the reality of the situation. Trust and integrity are fundamental parts of what we should be doing in politics. We are not seeing that with regard to the delivery in my city and county. The next day I come in here, maybe I will bring all of the figures for all of the acute model 4 hospitals, and the Tánaiste will see a similar rise and similar headcount, all of w…

Disagree away; those are the facts.

Where is the investment?

In the past three years, €200 million was put into the national aviation sector and not a penny went to Waterford.

Everyone in the House will recognise the bravery of Ms Bláthnaid Raleigh who waived her right to anonymity in a traumatic trial. An issue highlighted in the case related to the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act, which allows counsellors’ notes as admissible evidence. Victims’ rights groups have highlighted this threat of admissibility as making victims think twice before taking a case. England is pursuing new legislation to provide extra protections in this regard. Will our Government go further and prohibit fully…

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle and Ministers for the extra time. I would like to acknowledge the efforts of the USI student groups around the country and the many third level institutions, especially student representatives from the South East Technological University, SETU, in my region. Third level participation in rentals has been a limited offering in Ireland over many years and has been supported by the informal student letting arrangements that have been a large and very necessary feature of the accommodat…

I have often raised the issue of University Hospital Waterford, which is the least funded of our model 4 hospitals and has the lowest ratio of healthcare practitioners to beds in such hospitals. I wish to discuss the stroke unit today, though. University Hospital Waterford receives more than 1,000 stroke patients every year, yet it has only five stroke unit beds and two single rooms. One in five people in our country will suffer a stroke. I ask the Taoiseach to examine this matter. Only 25% of our acute stroke pati…

The management of migration and application for refugee or temporary status in this country has been dysfunctional in many ways for years. Historically, with relatively low levels of migration, the number of applications for international protection status hovered between 1,500 and 2,500 per annum. Even then, our system of direct provision left people in limbo for years in shoddy accommodation with little opportunity to improve their lives or general circumstance. Despite our membership of the EU, we were, by dint …

Others are being bused into towns and villages throughout Ireland, often without the knowledge of local residents, and left in hotels miles away from resources. Refugees are walking for miles to get to the nearest shop all because Ireland is saying "Yes" to a situation for which we have not properly prepared.

We want to help people who are fleeing hunger, murder and tyranny, but wanting to do something and being properly prepared to do it are two different matters. This migration debate has caused huge division in the country and we have to stop thinking about it as one with a right or a wrong answer. One should never be criticised for saying we should stop, slow down or that we are not ready for this. The reason we are not ready is that, too often, we have had a slow and chaotic response. This debate has reluctantly be…

The European Union has been working on the nature restoration law for many years and we know the law is a community attempt to halt habitat slide and restore biodiversity loss, which is an obvious imperative. The law is primarily intended to target habitats that contribute to carbon capture and storage. While initial targets up to 2030 can be delivered from our bank of State land, the progressive rising targets cannot be achieved from State lands alone. The Annex I habitats are specifically targeted for restoration…

Ireland has a deeply felt understanding of the desire of people for the recognition of their own place, culture and existence. Eight hundred years of occupation and a great deal of repression did nothing to quell the Irish desire for freedom, self-determination, self-rule and the international recognition of our civil rights. The Irish State as it is today is often used as an international reference for how people with different cultures, ethnicity, religion and history can live in the same place and on the same la…

It is refreshing to see three Ministers from the Department taking questions. It shows the importance of the Department. My question relates to the main supports for the SME sector the Department is proposing, including additions to the increased cost of business scheme.

I welcome the extension of the increased cost of business, ICOB, scheme and the changes to the PRSI and VAT thresholds, which is something I and my colleagues in the Regional Group brought to Government some weeks back in a Private Member's motion. I wish to ask about the participation rate. How many businesses are accessing ICOB? What consideration has been given to those businesses that are not paying rates because their rates are bundled up with their rent, specifically those whose landlords cannot apply either,…

As the Minister knows, some of the burden in costs is due to the environment of increased costs inflation, but a large part has been brought about by the progressive costs introduced by the Government. I have advocated for quite some time to Deputy Varadkar, when he was Taoiseach, and to Deputy Coveney, when he was Minister, and now I am saying it to Deputy Burke as Minister, as I have said it to the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, about the importance of having a proper consultation on the Labour Employer Econ…