The Tánaiste is a hypocrite.

I followed this debate online and on TV when it was on previously so I am delighted to have some time to contribute to it myself. The importance of this Bill cannot be underestimated or understated. It sets in motion the conditions for a modern framework for policing with a view to improving performance and accountability within An Garda Síochána. It is the outworking of the report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland, a report which followed wide consultation across the State. I attended a meetin…

I welcome the Health (Amendment) Bill 2023. The abolition of inpatient charges in all public hospitals is a welcome step that will hopefully alleviate some of the financial concerns facing patients who have had the misfortune of having to attend hospital. The inpatient charge of €80 per day was a burden for many, particularly for those who had the misfortune of having to return and stay in public hospitals on multiple occasions, often multiple times a month. It follows on from the Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) …

I listened carefully to the contribution of the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and in particular that of the Minister of State, given we share a constituency and he will have dealt with some of the people I have dealt with, as I know because they have told me they have been to his constituency office, but he has not answered the question they have been asking me. The question is one many Deputies on this side of the House have asked, namely, where people are to go. I have been visited by families of children with specia…

How many?

I wish everyone a happy International Women's Day, especially my wife, Sue, my mother, my sisters and Danielle O'Shea in my constituency office, who does incredible work behind the scenes. Speaking today is particularly poignant for me, as I remember our dear friend and comrade, Rita O'Hare. Rita was the epitome of a good comrade and determined activist. Throughout her life and in whatever task was put before her, she worked hard and diligently. In her work in the United States, she held the room with presidents, s…

Hear, hear.

The number of people who lingered on trolleys in University Hospital Limerick, UHL, last month was 1,561. The figure for the same month last year was 1,498, so the Minister for Health is again breaking records, though not in a good way. The question I wish to put to him, which the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, might relay given the Minister's absence, is a simple one. I want to know what the Minister is going to do to address the crisis in both the immediate and longer terms. I fail to understand what he h…

I thank the Minister of State for his response. After what I have heard, I am not convinced that the situation will improve anytime soon, unfortunately. I assume the figures were supplied by the Minister or the Department of Health. I notice he is using different figures from those he used when he sat on this side of the House. I will use the same figures we have all used over the years, which are the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO, figures. The trolley figures in Limerick have not reduced at all, unf…

Too many aspects of our health service are failing. In my city, the emergency department in University Hospital Limerick, UHL, is under significant pressure, as are mental health services, particularly youth mental health services. According to the Irish Examiner today, 700 patients in Limerick, Nenagh and Ennis had operations cancelled in the past six weeks alone. Other challenges facing our hospitals in capacity and staff retention are also facing our ambulance service. Everywhere we look there are challenges and…

On Friday, the Taoiseach visited University Hospital Limerick, UHL, and met with staff and some hospital campaigners. I welcome this as I have been calling for such a visit for a long time. I hope the Taoiseach saw the unsanitised version of the problems faced by patients and staff there. That was on Friday. In the past two days there have been 205 people on trolleys. The total number of people on trolleys in the hospital to date this year is 1,140, which is much higher than last year. In all of 2022, we had 18,012…

I welcome the proposed Citizens' Assembly on Drugs Use. It is long overdue. I wish those who will be members of the assembly the very best in their deliberations. In the first instance, however, we are the citizens' assembly. The people of this State elected us to legislate on these issues. While the input of the assembly will be most welcome, this cannot be a case of taking its feedback and then allowing it to gather dust on a shelf. The time for action on drugs is now. The approaches that have been taken over pre…

The Minister just said that we need to have an honest debate, and I agree with him. Let us start with the circular he sent to local authorities about tenants in situ . Most of the people working in the housing section of local authorities that I talk to do not understand what they can do.

In fairness, the Minister just walked out the door while we are talking. He could have waited.

I understand that, but-----

-----he could actually wait until the section is over.

As the Minister has left, there is not much point saying it here, but I can send him on the details of it. If he wants an honest debate it can be on the Limerick regeneration programme. For instance, in St. Mary's Park in my city there are 21 vacant houses owned by the local authority which does not have the money to do them up. This regeneration programme has been ongoing for 12 years. If the Minister wants to talk about councillors objecting to planning, he should go to Limerick and look at the activities of the …

In the midst of a cost-of-living crisis and a dramatic rise in costs for consumers of utilities such as gas and electricity, it will be a bitter blow for mortgage holders when interest rates rise again. We have a housing crisis, with people struggling to get on the property ladder. For those who own their homes, mortgage repayments that are already difficult to meet will become that much harder to maintain. Owning your own home takes plenty of sacrifice and hard work. Those who have worked extremely hard and saved …

When the Taoiseach was Minister for Health in January 2015, he said he was sick to death of the overcrowding problems in our hospitals. That month there were 631 people treated on trolleys in University Hospital Limerick, UHL. Last month, January 2023, there were 1,080 people in need of a bed while they remained on trolleys in UHL. I wonder if the Taoiseach is still sick of it. Under the watch of the Governments of which he has been a member since 2011, the numbers in UHL have got worse and worse. There has been mu…

The Mental Health Commission report is yet another indictment of the state of medical services, particularly mental health services in the mid-west region. Our major hospital is in a perpetual state of crisis and our mental health services are not functioning as they should. Last week, in Limerick, thousands of people marched in protest at the conditions in University Hospital Limerick. We now see those young people who are suffering mental health challenges are not receiving the supervised treatment they need. The…