The Ryanair announcement that it is to reduce its winter schedule at Shannon Airport is yet another in the long list of blows to the mid-west economy. It will affect 155 staff at Shannon and Cork airports. The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection must ensure these workers are assisted promptly so they are not waiting weeks if they have to sign on as a result of the announcement. As the Minister is aware, the mid-west region and my constituency of Limerick City are hugely dependent economically on …

In response to my call in this House a number of weeks ago for Shannon Airport to return to the control of the DAA, the Minister said that would not solve the underlying strategic issues at the airport. With almost 90% of routes going to Dublin Airport, would he not accept that Shannon Airport, as a stand-alone airport, is one of those strategic issues that needs to be addressed? The return of Shannon Airport to the DAA umbrella needs to happen and while it will not be a panacea for all the airport's problems, and …

As Deputy Bruton said, the programme for Government commits to building stronger and safer communities. It also commits to expanding the Dublin north east inner city model to other comparable areas experiencing disadvantage. At a joint policing committee, JPC, meeting last Friday, Mr. Gerard Roche, the chief superintendent in Limerick, when speaking about drugs, said, "We have more intelligence than we can act on." I have been a member of the Limerick JPC for more than ten years and I have never heard such a blunt …

The Minister will be well aware that I have spoken on health issues a number of times, both in this Dáil and many times in the Thirty-second Dáil, so here we go again. I feel I have to do so because of the constituency I represent, which is Limerick city and includes part of Tipperary. We have University Hospital Limerick in that constituency. I have to speak so often on health because, unfortunately, the issues of overcrowding and low staff levels are ever present in the hospital. The number of patients waiting on…

I congratulate the Minister on her appointment and I have not interacted with her in this new Dáil as of yet. I know that she is relatively new to the role and I hope she will have a better impact than those who preceded her in dealing with the issue of drugs in Limerick city. It truly needs a cross-departmental response. Drugs, as the Minister is aware, crosses many Ministries, health and justice, to name just a few. The drugs crisis in parts of my own city is worsening daily, it seems. It is an indictment of the …

I thank the Minister for her response and for her comments on the courts. The gardaí in Limerick are very frustrated because they are arresting people on clear evidence and bringing them to court but there is no follow-up on that and they are back on the streets, often hours later, selling their drugs in the same place where they were arrested. The Minister will be aware that former Ministers of State who oversaw the national drugs strategy have warned that the delivery of the national drugs strategy plan is in dan…

I commend the Social Democrats on bringing forward this important motion. Child poverty has a huge impact in my constituency. I represent Limerick city, which includes part of north Tipperary, and we have serious problems in the area. In Limerick, 18 electoral divisions were classified as unemployment blackspots, which is twice as many in any other part of the country. The average unemployment rate in those areas is 43%. The last census identified Limerick city as having eight of the top ten worst unemployment blac…

I will raise a number of transport issues with the Minister, particularly as they affect my home city of Limerick and the wider mid-west region. I will refer to the proposed northern distributor road and the road from Limerick to Cork but the two issues I want to focus on are the viability of Shannon Airport and the Limerick tunnel. Shannon Airport, as the Minister will be well aware, is the heart that makes the economy of Limerick, particularly west Limerick, function. The viability of Shannon Airport is fundament…

I add my voice in support of the Bill and I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak on the topic. I represent a constituency that is still proud to have an operational Army barracks. Sarsfield Barracks, which the Minister has visited many times, is situated within the heart of Limerick city. I am delighted to say the personnel based there contribute enormously and favourably to the vibrancy of my home city. Members of the Defence Forces have represented the people of Ireland with distinction whenever and wher…

I met with Debenhams workers in my constituency on Monday. I have also met with them on a number of previous occasions. They are a fantastic group of people. They remain strong. They are unbowed and unbroken. If anybody thinks they will wait this out and expect the workers to give up their protest, it is not going to happen. They would be very much mistaken. The workers' passion and commitment to their cause is as strong now as it was in April when Debenhams, using the cover of Covid, closed its shops throughout th…

Page 47 of the programme for Government refers to increased capacity in hospitals. Last week, every single day, in University Hospital Limerick there was an average of 50 people on trolleys. Yesterday, there were 62 people on trolleys and today, unfortunately, there are 69 people, although they were not all on trolleys because the nurses told me they ran out of trolleys. The winter is approaching. It is now autumn and the flu season is upon us. What is the Taoiseach going to do? Is the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, go…

I wish the Minister of State the best of luck in his new role. Unfortunately, as I also said to the previous occupant of the position, I do not think he will be successful because he is not allocating the proper funding that is needed. The previous Minister of State went out to a huge number of communities. She was in my community of Limerick for a while and met a huge number of groups. Unfortunately, I do not think any of the knowledge or information she sourced from talking to people ended up in the Minister of S…

I will raise the issue of ongoing capacity and staffing issues at University Hospital Limerick, UHL. I am sure the Minister will be aware of it. The problems in this hospital are unresolved and figures show, unfortunately, we are a long way from having a resolution. In seven of the past eight days for which trolley figures are available, UHL has had the highest figure in the State. This is not shocking or unexpected to us anymore, unfortunately. It has become the norm but it cannot stay as the norm. Today, there ar…

Go raibh maith agat. I welcome the commencement of the construction of a 60-bed modular unit in UHL and acknowledge the HSE's efforts to commence the process of seeking planning permission for a 96-bed block but why it is taking so long? We have had an ongoing crisis for a number of years, since the amalgamation of the three local hospitals in Ennis, Nenagh and St. John's into UHL. We have had nothing but massive increase in trolleys, with thousands of people year-on-year waiting on trolleys. It needs to be priorit…

That is no bother, Acting Chairman. I welcome the opening remarks by both Ministers. They were very positive. As my colleague, Deputy Ó Laoghaire, said, we will check the Minister, Deputy Harris, on his actions on these and see how he gets on. Hopefully he will deliver on what he has said. I wish the Ministers the best of luck in their new roles, and especially my county colleague, Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins. The Ministers will be aware that Limerick has a great number of third level institutions, incl…

On Vote 13 - Office of Public Works, I wish to raise the issue of flood defences. The Minister of State will be well aware of the flooding problems in Limerick city in recent years. In 2014, a massive flood destroyed parts of the city. A report was carried out under the catchment flood risk assessment and management, CFRAM, programme, but it is now six years later and most of the required defences have not been put in place. Is there any way to prioritise them or speed up their delivery? The Minister of State refer…

I thank Deputy Funchion for tabling the motion. She has championed this issue for many years and brought it to the fore. My colleague, Deputy Wynne, stated that childcare was the number one issue on doorsteps during the general election campaign. The Minister will be aware that in the week of the general election there was a massive rally in Dublin. Tens of thousands of people, many of them workers in the childcare industry, came onto the streets. They were marching for decent pay, to ensure that the future of chil…

I thank the Social Democrats for bringing forward this motion. In the short time available to me I will address comments made about the living wage. In the previous Dáil, I brought forward a Sinn Féin motion to introduce a living wage of €12.30, which was passed. The Minister of State referred earlier to the Government's commitment to delivering a living wage during the course of this Dáil term and he spoke about the minimum wage in terms which sent a chill through my spine. I was deeply concerned by his emphasis o…

I raise the issue of University Hospital Limerick where, as the Tánaiste is aware, 14,000 people lingered on trolleys last year. The position did not get any better in 2020. We saw increases of 25% in January and 32% in February. The figure increased each day in March until Covid arrived and people stopped attending the emergency department in huge numbers for a variety of reasons for the rest of March, April and May. Unfortunately, in July, the numbers are increasing again. There are already 266 people on trolleys…

Yesterday the Taoiseach spoke on Cork radio about a letter he, the former Taoiseach and now Tánaiste, and the former Minister for Education and Skills received from Louise O'Keeffe about the ex gratia scheme for survivors of abuse in day schools. Two years ago, the Taoiseach led a debate in this Chamber where we voted by 2:1 to change that scheme to ensure the survivors would get redress. In recent comments the Taoiseach mentioned that progress had been made with a view to reopening the ex gratia scheme. Will he ou…