I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I welcome this Bill. The Sinn Féin Party and I will be supporting this legislation and are happy to see it before the Dáil. As referred to by the Tánaiste, it is an issue that I raised in the previous Dáil but unfortunately we did not solve the problem then. As such, I welcome that we are now able to move this Bill forward, albeit four years later. While I am pleased that we are moving forward with this Bill today, it should be noted that the opportunity to deal with this issue pr…

I mean no disrespect to the Minister of State but the senior Minister for Health really should be here when we are talking about University Hospital Limerick, UHL, because it is a massive issue, as she will be well aware. I raised this issue in the previous Dáil whenever I could and I also raised it with the Tánaiste last week. There seems to be a problem in our hospital. One always knows there is a big problem when the nurses ask for someone to do something. They have asked the Health Information and Quality Autho…

I thank the Minister of State for her response. I will come back on the 96-bed unit. Our concern is that the HSE recently told us that there will not be 96 additional beds, but 48. This will not address the problem we have. Unfortunately, there are more than 48 people on trolleys in UHL every day, which is a national scandal. I agree with the call from the INMO for HIQA to investigate the hospital. That should be done as a matter of urgency. I thank all the staff in the hospital, who have done a really good job. I …

There is concern in my constituency about the overcrowding in University Hospital Limerick. I have raised the issue countless times in this Chamber and the previous Dáil and communicated with the Ministers, yet nothing seems to have been done. University Hospital Limerick, which serves the mid-west region and is located in Limerick city, averages 1,000 patients per month lingering on trolleys, which is unacceptable in the middle of a pandemic. The issue has escalated to such proportions that the Irish Nurses and Mi…

I back the call for HIQA to visit, investigate and make recommendations. Will the Tánaiste support that call and commit to acting on whatever recommendations HIQA makes?

Students have suffered significantly during the pandemic. Many of their families are now dependent on the pandemic unemployment payment and wage subsidy payments. Many are struggling not just financially but also due to the Covid-19 restrictions. For the current student body, most of the traditional third level experience has been absent. The experience of the current cohort of students is in videoconferencing and online lectures attended from their kitchen tables. For the most legitimate of reasons relating to pro…

In the short time available, I will address some concerns in the Bill and other issues. This is necessary legislation that has arisen from the Supreme Court decision on the constitutionality of mandatory minimum sentences for categories of people, namely, those who are repeat offenders of specific crimes. Perhaps the most noteworthy of these relate to firearms and misuse of drugs offences. The Supreme Court held that whereas the Oireachtas can provide for a mandatory penalty for an offence, it can only do so where …

Since I was first elected in 2016, I have spoken on the issue of mental health countless number of times. Unfortunately, my own city of Limerick has the highest number of suicides. Limerick is almost always ranked the highest in the State in terms of suicides, and that has not changed in recent years. The Covid crisis has exacerbated the situation. I met recently with representatives from a number of services and with whom I speak almost daily. They might be dealing with different aspects of the mental health crisi…

I will raise a number of questions in the short time I have. In answering my colleague's question on the 1 million doses for April or lack thereof, the Minister said the figure would be slightly less than that. Slightly less in this case means 140,000 fewer vaccines, a number that would probably vaccinate the whole of County Limerick. It is not, therefore, a minor reduction. There is concern about the slow roll-out of the vaccination and the different figures being given out. The Minister has to accept some respons…

On the issue of the Debenhams workers, as the Tánaiste is well aware, the first anniversary of their being made redundant is coming up. The workers are being treated abysmally by KPMG and their former employer. The Tánaiste is aware of what happened last night; the issue was raised with him already. Why is KPMG allowed to remove stock as an essential activity under level 5 restrictions? Will the Tánaiste ensure that is not done in other stores? I have been dealing with the workers in Limerick. They are a fantastic …

CSO figures demonstrate a correlation between levels of educational attainment and social and economic advantage. Higher Education Authority, HEA, figures show that there is a significantly lower level of attainment of higher level education in areas deemed disadvantaged versus those in affluent areas. The Minister does not need me to cite the figures. Regrettably, Limerick has more areas of deprivation than anywhere else in the State. If issues of marginalisation and deprivation are to be tackled successfully, we …

Sometimes less is more. During the term of this Dáil, the Minister has brought forward several housing and property proposals that have failed the test of delivering meaningful supply to the property market. His earlier contribution was cynical, even though he used that word a number of times in the course of it. I heard him use the word "hysteria" in a recent media interview and thought it was just a once-off but he used the word six or seven times in this morning's contribution. He is obviously rattled. The Minis…

Unfortunately, the issue of drugs in my home city of Limerick has worsened during the pandemic on what seems like a daily basis. The issue is not new. Previous Ministers have failed utterly in dealing with the issue and sometimes I wonder if they bothered at all. There is a specific problem in the St. Mary's Park area of Limerick which I wish to raise with the Minister of State. I mentioned this estate to him before and to the Minister for Justice. I have also raised it with the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste. It needs…

In 2019, when the Tánaiste was the Taoiseach, he made a very welcome apology to the victims of child sex abuse in day schools. It was very much appreciated. We are now in February 2021. The Tánaiste is aware that at the time, the ex gratia scheme was not fit for purpose. In the absence of the completion of the ongoing review of that scheme, will the Tánaiste intervene in the Creagh Lane case in Limerick and resolve it? Recently, the Taoiseach met students who attended the school in my constituency and made commitme…

I have huge problems with this Bill and it should be rejected. If media commentary is to be believed, many Fianna Fáil Members also have concerns about it. I urge them, too, to reject it. The provisions regarding the LDA and the designated activity companies, as outlined in the Bill, are a bad idea. The professed objective of the LDA is to drive strategic land assets and use public lands to build affordable homes. My fear is that the enactment of this Bill will have the opposite effect when it comes to constructing…

I welcome the Minister's decision to approve the Coonagh-Knockalisheen road finally. I have been raising this issue in the Dáil, given that it has caused considerable concern in my constituency in Limerick. In particular, the community in Moyross has felt isolated, attacked by the Minister and his party, and marginalised. There has been a sense of despair and they have been through trauma for the past couple of weeks because of the Minister's decision or lack thereof. This morning's announcement was positive. I hav…

I thank the Minister and I agree 100% with what he has said. As we are speaking about extra public transport, the Minister might look at the area of Southill, which is another deprived regeneration area. Recently, the bus service into Carew Park was cut. The Minister might intervene and find out why one of the most deprived areas of Limerick is being deprived of a bus service. We can take with a pinch of salt what the Minister has said about the rest of the community if he will not restore the bus service to Carew …

This order, as the Minister will know, is not the most exciting matter we will speak about during this term but it is nonetheless quite an important piece of housekeeping that we, as a Parliament, need to complete. It is a technical motion to ensure that unspent capital is carried over from 2020 to 2021. The amount of money we are discussing is not insignificant, however, standing at more than €709 million. It is important, therefore, that we give this the level of consideration that it deserves. The pandemic and a…

Last week, I raised this issue with the Taoiseach and told him there would be a meeting on Friday. That meeting with the Minister, Deputy Ryan, took place and there is only one word to describe it, which is disastrous. He walked into the Moyross community and told them what was best for them and did not listen to what they said. This road is critical infrastructure for the regeneration programme in Limerick. We are now in a situation where if this road is not delivered the whole project will be torpedoed. The commu…

We have spoken on this in the House on a number of occasions, including in a previous Dáil, and it is an issue that needs to be addressed. Unfortunately, it overwhelmingly affects working-class communities and that is why I believe no action has been taken on it to date. Scramblers and quad bikes are also a nuisance to local communities across the State. We have seen greenways and sports pitches ruined by the skid marks and tyre marks of quad bikes and scramblers. While this might seem the least concerning problem …