Its only interest is to exploit the real pressures individuals and families face. As we saw when the Minister, Deputy Darragh O’Brien, debated with the Sinn Féin spokesperson earlier this year, the sound bites simply do not stack up to even the most basic scrutiny. Their costings and building numbers are little more than inventions designed to claim to have a plan rather than actually to have one. It is certainly true, however, that there are key differences between us when it comes to those few areas where Sinn Fé…

My first point is a general one. People get anxious and worried when politicians tell barefaced lies. Generally, as politicians, we should not tell the public barefaced lies. We should tell the people the truth.

The bottom line is clear here.

The pension age is 66. I do not know where Deputy McDonald is coming from. The Deputy is not telling the truth in her presentation because the Government decision is that the pension age will not rise beyond 66. Under this system, people will still be able to retire at 66 and draw down their full pension in exactly the same way as they can today. Sinn Féin has been in government for the past number of years in Northern Ireland. Sinn Féin voted to increase the pension age to 66 and Deputy McDonald has the nerve to c…

It is a spectacular feat that Deputy McDonald pulls off. Sinn Féin has been in government in Northern Ireland for well over a decade and its members voted for 66 as the pension age. This Government has decided people will retire at 66. We are creating choice for people as well because people always seek choice in terms of their pension options and in terms of the State pension. The Report of the Commission on Pensions has a range of sustainability measures also. There needs to be a collective engagement by the Hous…

Who made this up for the Deputy? The Government decision is clear. Anybody will be able to retire at 66 under the Government decision, just as they can do so today. Does the Deputy not get that?

Deputy McDonald is deliberately not telling the truth on this one, it seems to me, in respect of the age and the deferral. She moves to the Trojan horse - I do not who made it up-----

I have addressed it.

The core issue is the age, which is 66. As for the second issue to which the Deputy referred, she said we all want to facilitate people who want choice and who might wish to stay working.

That is what the Government is doing. It will facilitate people who may want to defer whatever they want to do.

The full pension will be available to people at 66. That is the Government decision - no question about it.

The Deputy has an obligation to the public watching in to be faithful in how she describes the decision the Government is taking.

In addition, as for the 65-year-olds, the Minister has got sanction from the Government to explore avenues to facilitate those who have worked 40 years of their lives, in manual work in particular, and are not in a position to continue working. That is also a decision the Government took today.

It is unbelievable what Deputy McDonald-----

I will first say that the health system went through very tough times during Covid-19, as we all realise. I have long articulated my admiration for all those who worked on the front line during the various stages of Covid. We saw on our television screens the enormous challenges and pressures that Covid put on our health system. Our health system proved itself resilient in the face of an unprecedented pandemic. Over the past number of years since the start of the pandemic, we have dramatically increased the level o…

I gave the Deputy specifics.

I gave the Deputy specifics on beds-----

I gave you specifics on ICU and home care hours-----

I gave you specifics on a whole range of issues in terms of preparing and upgrading the health service. The number of college places has been expanded for all of the professions over the past two years. The Deputy cannot just shake her head. They have been increased-----

-----and in terms of career progression. The winter preparedness plan has adopted a bottom-up approach. It has gone to every hospital group and local plans have been sought. Sanction has being given to hire emergency consultants if the groups so wish. In the plans that have come from the various hospital groups, flexibility will be applied in sanctioning the teams they want to hire. As the Deputy knows, we are implementing measures to help with the flow by avoiding people gong to emergency departments and providing…