This Topical Issue was originally put down by Deputy Nolan. I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to pursue this in her stead given she could not be here due to unforeseen circumstances. I thank the Minister for coming here in person. None of us are too reluctant to criticise the fact that a senior Minister does not come in to answer Topical Issues so when the Minister is here, I would like to thank him for the fact he is here. Over a year ago, the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marin…

If we could take a step back, the purpose of all of this is to reduce the overuse of antibiotics, antimicrobials and antiparasitics so that we do not have a build-up of resistance and that we do not have antibiotic resistance or antiparasitic resistance. As a farmer and, maybe more importantly, as a consumer, I greatly welcome that. However, how do we achieve that end? The Minister's second point about the decoupling of prescriptions and dispensing was that it cannot be for the economic benefit of one group over an…

It is a Third World capital.

The legislation that is expected to go through today is the fifth major legislative provision on Covid restrictions that the Government has put through the House. This is the fifth time the Government has used its majority not to put forward its legislative agenda, which is legitimate, but to curtail debate and ensure that Opposition amendments will not even be considered. That is not legitimate and it is not democracy. It turns democracy into a tyranny of the majority. Deliberative assembly and deliberative democr…

No, but I am asking you at what point does it become-----

He asked me a question back.

And I answered.

You curtailed debate every time. Five out of five.

Why are you afraid of debate?

I was drawn out of the lottery.

Those are the rules.

They are, actually.

So do I. You should read them again. Just because you do not like the questioner does not mean you should not allow the question.

I was drawn in the lottery-----

You are the one who brought in this lottery idea.

Who do you think you are fooling?

I am a little lost for words with regard to where we are now and where we are going. I worry about where we are going, whether there is a bottom line and whether the Minister has a bottom line as to what he is willing to implement. It appears that he and the Government do not. I asked the Taoiseach today if there were circumstances in which civil disobedience was acceptable, given that he clearly accepted that it was acceptable in Belarus. He did not answer. I do not expect that the Minister will say what his botto…

I will briefly speak in favour of the amendment. I thank Sinn Féin for tabling it. Clare does not have a mica problem but it has a pyrite problem. Nobody wants pyrite in their home. Nobody would want to claim that a home is worthless unless it is. This does not detract in any way from what the Minister is seeking to achieve. The amendment is very constructive in nature. It will provide a little help to the families in Clare that unexpectedly have homes that are not worth anything like what they spent on them. They …

I wish to speak in favour of the motion. I thank the Regional Independent Group for bringing forward this important motion. It is a mark of Deputy Naughten's commitment to the post office network, while in government and in opposition. I share that commitment. I supported a Government from 2011 to 2016 that was under a lot of pressure to close post offices. A lot of politics was played with those post offices. The Acting Chairman, Deputy Carey, will be aware that no post offices were closed during that period of ti…

We in Ireland, along with much of Europe, imported the idea of lockdowns from China. However, in China hospitals were built in 14 days in response to Covid-19. The HSE's capacity census last year showed that ICU capacity in Ireland increased from 255 beds to 280 beds in the nine months from April to December. At the end of last year, the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, announced that capacity was to be increased to 446 beds, including an increase to 321 beds by the end of this year. However, capacity has only be…