Deputy Murphy raised the issue of the decision to exit level 5. The people of Ireland were under level 5 for six weeks and, I think, adhered to it very well, to such an extent that Ireland has the lowest incidence of Covid-19 cases in Europe. That never gets acknowledged, but that happens to be a fact. On balance, I do not think we could have kept people under that level of restrictions for an indefinite period. That is my view. I also think those working in the hospitality sector, insofar as is possible, deserved …

In terms of the impact of the second wave, our mortality rates compare favourably and are one of the best, if not the best, in Europe, and that is because of decisions taken by Government and by the people. There is a balance here and personal responsibility is extremely important as we move into the Christmas period. This is very difficult all round for people. It is difficult for societies to cope with a pandemic of this kind, which is upending their normal lives. The data are clear in terms of the spread of the …

Livelihoods. Livelihoods matter as well as people's mental well-being.

A lot of people are very worried, stressed and anxious about their future because of Covid-19. We are trying to protect both lives and livelihoods. It is not a question of balancing the two. Protecting both is the objective.

I have said repeatedly "protect both". In any event, the social distancing will be required. If we can get the vaccine into nursing homes initially and to healthcare front-line staff, that in itself will make a significant difference. We can then move on to the various sequencing. I am, again, very disappointed in Deputy McDonald's comments and the very bitter and partisan political way she frames things. Government did not decide not to recognise people with disabilities in the roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccine pro…

I have answered it. It is not fair to be making assertions of that kind across the floor of the House.

Government does not go out of its way to deny anyone vaccination, least of all people with disabilities.

It does not do that and the Deputy should not suggest that it does, or assert that it does. That is what the Deputy said. I have no doubt that the public health expertise will engage with disability organisations in terms of the roll-out of the vaccine. In the first instance, it is being rolled out to the elderly and residents in nursing homes because they are the most vulnerable. The data from the first wave show that. We know what happened. There was serial testing in nursing homes to keep the pressure on the vir…

I dealt with the student nurses earlier. I say again that, in my view, a first-year student on a nine-week placement should not have to work a 13-hour roster. The clinical placement cannot be protected if a person is working flat out.

That is not what the degree programme is about. Any employer - I need to be careful because a person's words get twisted all the time around here - any employer should not abuse student nurses in that situation.

First, we need the truth here. The Deputy and her party campaigned for the reversal of financial emergency measures in the public interest, FEMPI, for years, from 2013 onwards. FEMPI involved payments to the people the Deputy just outlined. She knows that, of course, but it suits her to twist and distort the truth about the reversal of FEMPI cuts. Legally, in terms of those cuts, one cannot discriminate between one group and another. However, one can delay as far as legally possible, which is what the Government ha…

The Deputy is deliberately dishonest in her presentation of the story and the narrative. There was a delay for the great and the good. It was a long delay. If the Deputy had had her way, there would have been less of a delay, given her desire to reverse FEMPI a long time ago. She knows that, but she chooses not to say it. She also has refused and ignored my central point. She says that we cannot have an alibi, but it is not an alibi. She has to make up her mind about how we can create a learning environment for nur…

That is an exploitation and abuse of the students, but the Deputy will not call that out because it does not suit her political story.

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. The lack of housing supply across the board remains a major crisis in our society. As a result of that, I have chaired a number of housing Cabinet subcommittees, all designed to try to break up the bottlenecks and move things on as fast as we possibly can both legislatively and in terms of various projects. From the July stimulus onwards, for example, we have moved very quickly to get up to 2,500 voids back into a habitable condition prior to the end of this year. That has …

In the first instance, direct build is the preferred model in the context of social housing. That is where the focus will be and where the overwhelming allocation of resources will go. In 2021, we will see the largest State-led social housing building programme in the country's history. We will build 9,500 homes next year, which is more than any single year before that. I will get the data for the Deputy in terms of the long-term leasing. As I said, some leasing is advisable in the context of the homelessness issue…

First of all, I do not insult people. I do not go about trying to insult people. The Deputy referred to the cases raised by him, Deputy Paul Murphy and others yesterday. I told him he should send details of those cases to the HSE in the form of complaints that require investigation. It was stated here yesterday that a student nurse had to console a mother at the bedside of her dead baby. If that happened, it demands an investigation because that is an abuse of a student nurse clinical placement. It should not have …

Surely, the Deputy would agree that first, second or third year students should not have to do the kind of work mentioned by the Deputy.

He keeps ignoring that point I made to him. They should be protected.

The bottom line is that if the Deputy had had his way in 2016, the higher earning pensioners and public servants would have had their full restoration at that time.

That is a fact. One cannot legally discriminate between the two and the Deputy knows that but it does not suit him to spin it that way or to tell the truth in respect of it. He read out the case of a first-year student who had to wash, dress and feed a Covid patient. Does the Deputy think that is okay? I do not. I think it is a scandal.