I ask the Minister to act as an honest broker between Tipperary County Council and Mr. Price in Tipperary town. Enforcement proceedings are being taken to hunt the retailer Mr. Price out of the town, which is on its knees. Mr. Price is a blended retailer selling a mix of convenience, comparison and bulky goods and has 65 stores nationwide in town centres and shopping centres within its portfolio. Mr. Price boasts the expertise and retail knowledge to transform Tipperary retail park into a thriving edge-of-town comp…

As an honest broker, I said.

More than 1 million people are now on waiting lists for various medical treatments and consultations, a stark increase from the situation when the current Government took office. The public health service is grappling with a severe shortage of staff, which is directly affecting the ability of healthcare professionals to provide safe and effective care. The understaffing issue is not just a matter of numbers. It has profound implications for patient safety and the well-being of existing staff. That is a fact. At the…

Where are they? In offices.

Pen pushers.

It is two years on.

The former Minister, Michael McGrath, now Commissioner-designate, was asked in the House in 2019 in relation to Mr. John Fraher in Clonmel. His tax number was used when he was not trading in this country. This deals with NAMA. We all know about Project Eagle. This is project préachán, where lands in Clonmel were disposed of under section 183 by Tipperary County Council, which did not have planning permission. A massive fraud was carried out by NAMA. Revenue’s senior investigation team is aware of this and it has be…

Hear, hear.

Does the Deputy know something we do not know?

The Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2024 could have several impacts on the ordinary people. It is the ordinary people we must try to protect here. I have to declare I have been in and out of hospital a lot lately, both public and private. I am lucky to have the private. As Deputy Berry says, the inflationary costs and the increases in health insurance are just astronomical. Depending on how the new rules are implemented, people may see changes in their health insurance premiums. If the system becomes more efficie…

Why does the Government not have an inquiry?

Dublin is not Ireland.

On a point of clarification-----

I do. The Minister is rolling out figures. We are talking about our real experience in Cork, Kerry, Tipperary and elsewhere. I am not angry. I am just saying that it is unfair to have to listen to all about Dublin. The rest of Ireland deserves fair play.

I could not agree more with the previous speaker that this legislation should be parked and left for another Government, if at all. I too, and all right-thinking people, am fundamentally opposed to any hate speech - any hatred, divisions or people bring portrayed, and being attacked and undermined because of their religion, race, colour creed or whatever. This Bill is a shambles and it seems to be a vanity project of the Minister's. It has been very interesting this evening. I could be corrected on this but when th…

I simply will not take any lectures from Sinn Féin. For the record, I always opposed section 31. Probably at the very outset, it might have been needed but it kept going on and on and it was impossible. The problem we had the last number of years, until lately when Sinn Féin was found out, is that we could not get its members off the airwaves.

Please do. We could not get them off the radio and the television. They were the darlings of the media but it was a case of empty vessels. There was nothing behind it and they have been found out now. It is banana skins and no policies, just diktats from Belfast. I always listen to Deputy Howlin. I respect his long service and his always very well thought-out words but certainly on the 1989 Act, he himself has expressed concerns that it is not amalgamated into this new proposed legislation to stop confusion. I was …

The Minister did not answer the question on this. Under current legislation, there are safeguards in place that would prevent this from happening but under this proposed legislation there is nothing to safeguard a person's reputation and liberty if they fall victim to such a cloning scam. It is very possible, as the Minister knows. How would it be possibly proven in a court of law that a person did not make these hate speech statements when AI can do that? Of course it can do it. Will the absence of any trace of au…

I accept that. I am just quoting-----

Well I did it in the meeting with the man and he would not answer my questions some years ago. He has had plenty of time to do that, and plenty of spin. He walked down the main thoroughfare of our capital city flanked by several other gardaí for a show of contempt for the people actually, because they know themselves that people are terrified. They are not my words but those of his own members, almost 99% of whom have no faith in him. What in God’s name is wrong? These are the people who defend us every day and min…