The amendment is about the functions that are there or not there.

Okay, I will not speak on it then.

Can I speak or not speak? There are two hours for this debate.

I will not take two hours, in fairness. I wanted to make some comments on the Bill. We have been through this for a number of years. We have been waiting for it for almost five years so it is not remiss of me to ask for a couple of minutes to speak on the Bill. I wanted to speak on a couple of amendments, but I can condense it all to one amendment here. As I have said, we believe the Bill as it stands falls short of meaningful change in local government and offers us an elected mayor with only limited functions and…

We spoke earlier about the role of the mayor and why we submitted those amendments. We were concerned that the mayor would potentially be a celebrity-type mayor who is elected and devolves a great many of the powers to the CEO, and could take on a second job. We tried to stop that. Those amendments were defeated. We believe this is a new position that should be a beacon across the State. Waterford rejected it in a plebiscite in 2019, as did Cork. Limerick narrowly accepted it. We campaigned for it and it is going a…

We will see. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, for getting this over the line. We disagreed on some of it but, as Deputy Leddin said, this is a historic day for Limerick and I hope this is something we will all be proud of in the years ahead. I put on record my thanks to the former Minister of State, Deputy John Paul Phelan, who initiated the Bill back in 2023, and to the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, who shepherded it as best he could through the Houses. I thank Tim O'Connor of the implemen…

Nobody in this House believes that we will be sitting here in nine months. This Dáil will be gone by then. The Minister of State, therefore, is not just stopping or delaying this Bill, she is torpedoing it. That is unfortunate because the Bill seeks to give statutory powers to the Mental Health Commission to regulate CAMHS. It would allow for the implementation of the commission's recommendations and for it to monitor that implementation. This is an important Bill. We felt obliged to submit it because if we were to…

The Bedford Row Family Project.

Yes.

The Bill and its ambitions are positive. Any efforts made to expand medical card eligibility to a wider group of people is something I welcome. The benefits of a medical card are multiple and the lack of one can have a detrimental impact on someone's finances as they look to avail of hospital services, maternity services and necessary GP visits. Access to a medical card removes a barrier for those who may otherwise be reluctant to visit their GP to obtain necessary treatment. I welcome the proposal in this Bill to …

I welcome the people in the Visitors Gallery. It was fantastic to meet the children outside today. These wonderful, uplifting children tell us they are in pain. Some had a sign stating Stop the Pain. The Minister talked about a big list as if he were surprised. This is the case with everything that comes up in the HSE, for some reason. There is a big list in the emergency department in Limerick. The Minister seems to have been surprised by that as well. To return to the motion, scoliosis and spina bifida are extrem…

Trust and confidence in RTÉ and the TV licence model is at a low ebb and has been for a long time. The recent scandals that have come out of RTÉ have only exacerbated this loss of trust. This motion is about ending a system that is not working and that imposes an annual fee of €160 regardless of household income. It is about replacing this archaic system with one that is workable, sustainable and fair and that is fit for purpose in the modern era. The number of households opting not to pay the TV licence last year …

This Topical Issue matter relates to homeless services in Limerick, particularly the lack of space and how increased rents, the ending of the no-fault eviction ban and the failure to fund Limerick's homeless services have all impacted on the inadequate capacity of homeless services in Limerick. Homeless services in Limerick have advised me that they have been turning away many people almost every night as they simply do not have the space to accommodate them. These are people who have nowhere else to go. If you wal…

I thank the Minister of State for the reply. I know he did not write it and it did not come from his Department but what he has just read out to me is absolutely scandalous. I raised the issue of homeless services in Limerick. The Minister of State said that Limerick City and County Council is: "doing everything in its power to address the severe pressures on access to emergency accommodation." I did not doubt that for one second. What I doubt is that the council has the funding or the resources to do what it needs…

The most recent homeless figures in November were startling. They showed 13,514 people in homelessness. Of those, 4,105 were children. Of course, these figures mask the real nature of homelessness in the State because they do not consider those in hostels and rough sleepers. When those people are added, there are probably more than 20,000 who are homeless. In Limerick, 361 adults are availing of the department of emergency accommodation. Across the mid-west, 91 families with 149 dependent children are availing of s…

I want to put on the record that I am disappointed the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, is not here. I understand he sent me an email to say he would not be here, but I would expect somebody from the Department of Health to have been available. I have raised this concern on a number of occasions but at least this time I was told that nobody was coming. It is indicative of the Minister. He is dodging the discussion. In a previous Dáil I had years of conversation with the previous Minister, Deputy Harris, about not…

I thank the Minister of State for his response, although it is clear not enough is being done in the area. We need to reduce the time people spend both waiting for a hospital bed and in hospitals. Those who are fit and healthy enough to return home should be allowed to do so, but in many cases this is not possible. The health Minister has previously stated that a seven-day-a-week discharge regime will be used and I concur with him on that, but as yet that has not been properly put in place. We must be creative and …

Since this Government came into office, we have seen property prices increase by a staggering 28%. There are several reasons for the increase in house prices and many of them relate to the failed housing policies enacted by this Government. In Limerick city, we have seen a year-on-year increase of almost 10%. If you are not fortunate enough to have access to the bank of mum and dad, it is extremely difficult to accumulate the money needed for a deposit while still paying rent. The supply of houses has fallen short …

Yesterday 702 people were being treated on trolleys in hospitals across the State, a shameful figure. Of those 702 people an incredible 15% or 106 people were in my local hospital, University Hospital Limerick. This year UHL has already seen a record of 20,628 people treated on trolleys and chairs. Every year that number gets higher but it seems that no concrete action is being taken by the Government to tackle the problem. The failure to get to grips with this crisis and to deliver the promised bed capacity over t…

I am pleased to speak to the Bill with my colleagues, Deputies Daly and Patricia Ryan. Restorative justice can be a key component of our justice system. It is a way of offering some closure and understanding on the impact of crime to victims and alleged offenders alike. Unfortunately, it remains an underutilised resource within our criminal justice system. It is a system that allows a victim and alleged offender to address and try to repair the damage and harm done by committing an offence. Of course, it is not for…