Thank God. The Acting Chairman will allow me three more minutes. Good man.

Maith an obair. That is okay. Gabh mo leithscéal. I think Deputy Collins was misinformed on that and my office might have been to blame for that. I am sorry. One learns something every day. The Minister of State is from a rural county. He knows what is needed. It is not the red tape and the lámh mór around money and finance. The banks are closed. We might as well forget about them. They will not look after anyone so it is up to the Government in terms of what it can deliver directly. It should not let the greasy pa…

I am delighted to have an opportunity to speak tonight. I want to issue my comhghairdeachas to the new Minister, Deputy Darragh O’Brien, and the Minister of State with responsibility for heritage, Deputy Malcolm Noonan, who is from Kilkenny in the south east, where I am from. I wish both the Minister and Minister of State all the best. I worked with the Minister when he was a member of the housing committee. Some people have criticised me for my attendance at that committee. If words and paper could build houses, n…

Tá mé liom féin. I am on my own.

Beidh na Teachtaí eile istigh ar ball. I too congratulate the Tánaiste and wish him all the best in his new position. We need a dynamic Department for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. I am supporting the fund today but it obviously will not be enough because it is minuscule in comparison with the health budget. It must cover everything, including small self-employed coach owners and so on. Some of the ones that were contracted to Bus Éireann have been supported by 50% funding but the others did not get a penny. Ma…

I am sharing time with Deputy Michael Healy-Rae. Ar an gcéad dul síos, I pay tribute to all the front-line staff and the workers in all areas who did Trojan work. I sympathise with each and every family that lost loved ones. I thank RTÉ for the "RTÉ Investigates" programme last night. It was just shocking. What happened in nursing homes was unforgivable. I wish the Minister well in his office. We are asked today to increase his budget from €18.3 billion to €20.3 billion with very little explanation or breakdown of …

We now move to an dara babhta. The names I have for Fianna Fáil, who will share 15 minutes between them, are Deputies Flaherty and Murnane O'Connor.

Are any Deputies wanting to come in from Fine Gael, the Green Party or Páirtí an Lucht Oibre? Goodness, they are all gone to the hills. My list is exhausted here. After that it must be the Social Democrats. No one is offering from the Social Democrats or from People Before Profit. I will call the Deputy from the regional party.

Go raibh maith agat, and sorry.

Sorry.

Next is Deputy Nolan of the Rural Independent Group.

I call an Teachta Danny Healy-Rae, más é do thoil é.

Go raibh maith agat. With the agreement of the House, Deputy Paul Murphy-----

With the agreement of the House, I will allow Deputy Murphy, who missed his slot earlier, to speak. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Yes, I am sharing time with Deputies Michael Collins, Michael Healy-Rae and Danny Healy-Rae. Ar an gcéad dul síos ba mhaith liom comhghairdeas a ghabháil leis an gCeann Comhairle agus le Cléireach na Dála, Peter Finnegan, and all of his team for their organisation today. I also thank the Ceann Comhairle for his stewardship during the interregnum since the election when we did not have a real Government in place. On 8 February, 140 days ago, I was privileged to be elected by the people of Tipperary. While I accept t…

I am sharing time with Deputies Michael Healy-Rae and Richard O’Donoghue. From the outset, my colleagues and I in the Rural Independent Group made ourselves available for talks with all parties to try to form a Government. We met Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Sinn Féin but sadly there was no follow-up. I said at the outset that the wish of the electorate was for change and that its wish should be respected, but Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael refused to engage with Sinn Féin. Sinn Féin failed to come back with an alternativ…

A free country, how are you, Taoiseach Martin, when you are going to bring in legislation on hate speech for an elite group and challenge the right of people to protest peacefully to save lives.

I add the Rural Independent Group's voice to the outrage, disquiet and dismay at the sad and untimely passing of Detective Garda Horkan. The vox pops and reaction of people in the small town of Ballaghaderreen give a sense of loss and a feeling of "here we go again" 40 years on from the tragic and untimely deaths of Garda Henry Byrne and Detective Garda John Morley who were murdered 40 years ago. Preparations were being made to commemorate these two heroic fallen comrades. To think that this happened to a dedicated…

I was delighted to be able to speak earlier during the expressions of sympathy for Detective Garda Horkan. Like the late Garda Detective Horkan, many gardaí are left to work alone, as Deputies Lowry and O'Donoghue said. I support the proposed measures and Deputy McNamara's amendment providing for a proper and decent independent review. All legislation needs a timely review. The Minister mentioned the Omagh bombing, a horrific tragedy. That tragedy could have been averted, as the Minister knows. A former Taoiseach a…

I thank the Acting Chairman for allowing us to speak. I also thank my colleagues in the House. We were watching the monitor and did not realise that the Regional Independent Group did not have a speaker. I was present for the Taoiseach’s speech. On that note, I convey my thanks again to the Chair. The Taoiseach mentioned a meeting and an engagement with six countries in eastern Europe, which are interested in joining the EU. He also spoke about the ambitious recovery plan and a meeting with the President of the Eur…