-----the situation in the hospitals in Kerry is dire at the present. The Minister is not listening to the Deputies.

I am grateful to Sinn Féin for bringing this important Private Members' motion before the House as it provides an opportunity before the budget to speak about the crucial role of all carers in Ireland, from childcare carers to carers for our elderly and people with intellectual and physical disabilities. The problem with childcare has a number of different elements. First, if the people providing childcare are in the private sector, they are charged with paying additional costs such as energy bills, wages and rent …

On “Morning Ireland” yesterday, Wednesday, the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, stated that he could no longer guarantee there would be no blackouts this winter. In his own words, I think what he said was that the energy supply is going to be a little bit "tight". That is an understatement. EirGrid has stated that if no action is taken, Ireland will be short 260 MW of electricity in 2022 and 2023. Why has this happened? The Government - in other words, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil - has pandered to the Green Party, closin…

Another conversation that is not taking place and should be is that the network is not capable of carrying the load that it is being asked to carry, now and in the future. The grid needs to be replaced and no one is talking about that. There is a massive investment needed in upgrading. The Government policies are to use this type of power but at the same time we are not doing anything to increase the availability of it. Also, we have to look at the whole subject of the Shannon liquefied natural gas project, which w…

The Minister, Deputy Ryan, has done an Elvis Presley and left the building, which was the wrong thing to do. He should have remained here and listened to what Deputies have to say on this issue. It was he who on one of the few times he left Dublin, went to Kildare to announce the closure of Bord na Móna, one of his proudest moments. It was a shameful moment, one that he, the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, and all in the other parties and none who supported that decision will regret for a long time. One of …

Will the Acting Chairman tell the officials to stop the clock? I will not stand up until the clock has been stopped.

This is a very important debate. It is terribly important that we raise the following matters. On behalf of Kerry County Council, I will say that we desperately need more one-bedroom units built in our county. The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage has acknowledged that. When I raised this issue previously, the Taoiseach agreed that the Department would finance more of these units, if possible. With regard to planning permission for rural dwellers, people who are in a position to build a house for …

I presume the Minister of Health would be there for that session.

It is what the Deputy would want and what all of us would want.

I acknowledge Deputy Cullinane for instigating this debate and I thank him for his interest in matters affecting Kerry, as well as the rest of the country. Our university hospital in Tralee is under severe strain at present. I acknowledge the work being done by management and the actual workers, including the people in the accident and emergency department tonight, who I often deal with during the night and at different hours over the weekend. They really do their best under an awful lot of pressure. Why, for heave…

I thank the Ceann Comhairle's office for allowing this very important issue to be raised here tonight. I have previously raised it by means of parliamentary questions but it is very important to bring the matter to the floor of the Dáil and that the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, the Minister for Health, the Department of Health and the HSE listen because it is a very important matter. I appeal to the Government to ask that the HSE approve payment for a miracle drug that will help save the lives of two children who are v…

I thank the Minister of State very much. Of course, I appreciate her detailed response but the giant Beneluxa health technology assessment, HTA, we are speaking about was completed in May 2021. We are now into the first week of October. When we are talking about children's health and children's lives, surely the machinery of the State and of the HSE and the dealings with the Beneluxa HTA should be speeded up because of how important this is. We are not talking about trade. We are not talking about selling something…

It says enough about what is being proposed in the Bill that the Green Party is stating that it is quite happy with it. That should be enough about it and make what is before us totally abhorrent to the Minister. How he or anyone else in the governing parties can support this is beyond belief. We are all here to do our best for the different sectors we represent. I cannot for the life of me understand how anybody could agree with what is before us today because it is hurting our fishermen. That is a fact. Can the M…

My time is not up. What I want to get across is this. I am standing here pleading with the Minister at this late hour to for God's sake do something to help these people to be able to make their livelihoods. I was very glad that the Minister visited my county recently. On a personal basis, he is a very nice gentleman, but how in the name of God did he or anyone in his Department think this was a good idea? My office is located in Agriculture House and I was delighted to see him come in as Minister. I was one of the…

-----we were bigger and better than that. I want to get that across to the Minister.

I do not want to eat into Deputy Mattie McGrath's time.

The policing of County Kerry is an enormous task, from Valentia Island to Tarbert and from Gneeveguilla and Scartaglin to Ventry. It is a large area and significant operation, and I thank rank and file gardaí as well as those in the senior ranks for the job they are doing with the resources they have been given. Past Ministers for Justice visited County Kerry and met local representatives, including me, to hear what was happening on the ground. That was beneficial. I would have expected that a person of the Ministe…

Tánaiste, Taoiseach, it is all the same.

That is your answer. You want to remove-----

-----doing anything for anyone. You are only here yapping. If you minded your own business, you would be a great man.