They are badly underpaid.

The Tánaiste told me last week that the review of the national development plan is imminent. I again raise the plight of the people of Tipperary town. I refer to Jobs for Tipp, the March for Tipp, the task force, the Chamber of Commerce, Councillor Annemarie Ryan and others. It is vital that the bypass is included. Hopefully, it will be in the footprint of the new M24 which will go from Limerick to Waterford. Something has to be included to relieve the people, businesses and households of Tipperary town and let the…

Some of them, yes. Ba chóir don Taoiseach an cheist a fhreagairt seachas a bheith ag magadh fúm.

I know. It is not funny.

Tá an Taoiseach balbh now.

Some are waiting for years.

He might yet.

It is the same issue. We need a debate on this. It is truly shocking. It actually did not happen during the pandemic. It happened in the November before the pandemic arrived on our shores so we cannot blame the pandemic for everything. It is truly outrageous that this could go on, but, of course, the Government ushered in abortion here so can we expect anything better?

There are too many in the economy.

I have a question for the Taoiseach about a reply I received today to a parliamentary question regarding the winter plan. The winter plan promises 23.62 million home support hours, but the HSE is currently only delivering 11.4 million. This is chronic. To refer to the last question, the hospitals will be full while people cannot get home support. As it faces into the winter plan, at what point is the HSE going to be upfront and deliver this? There are 2,156 people across the country waiting for new or additional ho…

Who is giving that information?

These figures came from the HSE this morning.

I know that.

Deputy Murnane O'Connor referred to County Kilkenny. I want to wish Bobby Aylward, our former colleague from that county, well. He is going through a bad patch at the moment. Is an-chara liom agus le gach éinne é. He is a former colleague of the Minister. I previously asked the Minister of State to come to see one of the great Irish houses near where I live, in Knocklofty. Will he please come down to see it? It is part of our national heritage. Knocklofty House is being plundered. I was at one of the houses on the …

I am glad the Minister and the Ministers of State are here to listen. The situation is truly shocking. I was again contacted yesterday evening to go to the accident and emergency department in the hospital in Clonmel. There were five ambulances parked there at 5.45 p.m. on a beautiful September evening. What are we going to do in the winter? When I arrived, there were three big ambulances that were full, one fast-responder paramedic car and a private ambulance that was just leaving. The pressure the staff are under…

I checked with our head of services and was told there are 118, as of today. I sent the Minister of State a text and she came back to me to say she was giving figures for August. Why mislead the Taoiseach and, in turn, the House? The Taoiseach was trying to answer the question without the Minister of State misleading him. She also misled him last week with regard to St. Brigid's in Carrick-on-Suir. The Minister of State said she had met the committee but she had not. She met two members of the committee later that …

It is personal.

The people of Carrick-on-Suir, south Kilkenny and east Waterford are at the gates of the Dáil now. They have 11,000 signatures signed by people on a petition, and it is no ordinary petition. It asked people if they would be happy to put their loved ones into St. Brigid's hospital, Carrick-on-Suir. The Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, has refused to meet the committee and Councillor Kieran Burke, the Minister's own colleague, and Councillor David Dunne and members of Tipperary County Council. The Government has no…

No.

I, too, rise to wish a silent lament that former Deputy Pat The Cope Gallagher is not here. He stopped this by way of statutory instruments. The Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin, who, when he was in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine on an acting basis - having unceremoniously disposed of two of his Ministers - signed it only to reverse his decision. He would do anything to grovel to the Green Party. The Green Party is butchering this. How can we have a situation where the courts of the land can cle…