The Minister of State has time.

Ar an gcéad dul síos ba mhaith liom mo chomhghairdeas a dhéanamh leis na hAirí, an Teachta Donnelly agus leis an Aire Stáit, an Teachta Butler. I wish them well and offer to work with them on behalf of our group because, my goodness, there is some work to be done in the HSE. I praise the staff who have always worked hard, especially with Covid. This will have a significant impact on our health service. It was bad enough as it was. The impact on people waiting for cervical smear tests, breast checks, bowel screening…

I thank the Minister for his clarification but I am very surprised and disappointed. We all accept we are in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic but I spoke earlier in the debate about money being wasted. People in nursing homes are telling me they cannot deal with the amount of personal protective equipment that is being dumped at their doors. I received a response to a parliamentary question from the Minister last week indicating that millions of euro is being spent on this. It seems there is no shortage of money …

I thought the Minister said he would have to come before the House again. I appreciate he has already sought an extra €2 billion. I thought the Minister said he would have to return to the House to seek approval for the budget and that he would fight as part of the Government to find the money to deal with this cohort of people over 70. They have paid their service to the State, with many working for 50 years, paying stamps, PRSI, etc. We thought they got a bit of breathing space in the budget with the change in cr…

Yes.

The Minister might call at Tipperary when he is passing through.

We will organise something.

I remind the Deputy that, under Standing Orders, he should not name people outside the House.

Seanad Éireann has passed the Credit Guarantee (Amendment) Bill 2020, without amendment.

The standing Business Committee has completed its consideration, under Standing Order 30, of the request by the Minister for Justice and Equality to waive the requirement for pre-legislative scrutiny, under Standing Order 173, of the general scheme and heads of the civil and criminal law (miscellaneous provisions) Bill 2020, and has agreed thereto. The standing Business Committee has completed its consideration, under Standing Order 30, of the request by the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government to wa…

The Taoiseach described the deal that we got at the weekend as a good one for Europe. Only four countries - Germany, France, the Netherlands and Sweden - are to contribute more than us. Germany will pay €1,606 per capita . Ireland will pay €3,201 per head. This is a rotten deal. After the miserable so-called bailout, which I called a clean-out at the time, this is another bad deal. The frugal five were strong, and they were right to be so, because they got write-offs. We are the good boys in Europe, the lapdogs, an…

I know what planet I am on.

It is about that.

It is.

I am sharing time with Deputies Nolan and O'Donoghue. Cá bhfuil an Taoiseach? Cad a dhéanfaimid feasta gan adhmad? On Questions on Promised Legislation, the Taoiseach wanted to know what planet I was on. He is not even here to listen to the debate. Another Deputy is correct that they always leave before we speak. The Minister of State, Deputy Thomas Byrne, is here. The EU 27 member states signed off on a €1.8 trillion package to fund spending over the next seven years. It is obvious, however, that we did not come o…

Yes.

Yes. I will take four minutes and they will take two and a half minutes each. Last week, the Acting Chairman heard the officials, in the absence of the Minister for Finance, tell us that we had not yet applied to the EU for any funding despite being in the middle of a deep pandemic or whatever one wants to call it. That beggars belief when Germany is spending its money and other countries have already applied for and got theirs.

The Deputy beat me to the draw by going to the questions and answers session. If the Minister of State does not mind, he might take those. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae also has a question. I cannot see who else wishes to ask a question.

Of course. Will the Minister of State answer Deputy Harkin's questions first?

It is time for an tAire to wrap up.