The reason the Chief Whip is asking the Dáil to approve a new start time is to enable the Taoiseach to both take Leaders' Questions and catch a plane to the United States. The Taoiseach will be flying over to meet President Biden, ostensibly to celebrate 100 years of diplomatic relations, but in reality to celebrate Joe Biden's presidency before he leaves office.

I will be brief. The Taoiseach should not be celebrating the presidency of a man who is arming and financing a genocide against the Palestinian people. There should be no farewell drinks for President Biden, and no place at Shannon Airport for US planes bringing arms to Israel. There is a huge gap between the Taoiseach's words and the Taoiseach's actions on this issue. If I cannot call a vote on the Taoiseach's visit-----

-----I will call a vote now on the Chief Whip's proposal. I also urge people to join the protest at Shannon this Saturday at 1 p.m.

Not agreed.

We need to talk about private procurement, phone pouches, security huts and bike sheds. The bike shed is actually illustrative of what goes on. A total of €336,000 of public money was spent on a shed for 18 bikes. There has been much media commentary to the effect that this is what happens when the State is in charge of a project or when the public sector is involved with one. The OPW did not build the bike shed, however. It does not do direct labour in that way. It contracted out for the bike shed; it outsourced t…

Yesterday, as Government TDs were basking in self-congratulation after the budget had been introduced, Pfizer went and spoiled the party somewhat by announcing plans to cut 210 jobs. These jobs are to be lost across the Pfizer sites at Ringaskiddy in County Cork, Grange Castle in west Dublin and Newbridge in County Kildare. In a statement the company said the job losses were being implemented as a last resort. I do not believe for one moment this is the case. Pfizer is a company that made profits greater than the G…

It is a disgrace.

My God, what could have been done with this budget when we look at the wealth in this country. Oxfam has advised that 1% now own 35% of financial wealth and 10% own 54% of total household net wealth. Profits trebled in the last ten years. Corporations might have made more than €300 billion profits after tax last year. If we had a government that was prepared to use the State surplus along with the Apple tax and go after some of this wealth, we would have a government that could transform Irish society. A free natio…

Does the Minister support the removal of guardianship rights for parents convicted of intentionally killing the other parent of their children?

It might come as a bit of a shock to most people in this country to learn that men who are convicted of killing their partners fully retain guardianship over any shared children. The killer continues to have the legal right to make decisions that directly influence the lives of those children including, for example, access to therapeutic supports, going on holidays, changing schools and so on. Murder of a mother is child abuse and the law in this country currently rewards the abuser and punishes the children who ha…

There is absolutely no question that a woman who kills in self defence and who has been subject to violence through the years is certainly an exception to what is being proposed here. If Ireland was to change the law we would not be the first country in the world to do so. Laws similar or bearing a strong resemblance to Valerie's law have already been passed in Argentina, Israel, Italy and Britain but there is still an opportunity for Ireland to be in the front rank of European Union countries to pass progressive l…

But the paper was due at the end of September was it not?

Can we clarify one point briefly?

On one brief point, because clarification is needed for families. A paper was promised for the end of September on the guardianship status of convicted killers. It is my understanding that this deadline has not been met. My understanding from the Minister's comments is that it has been pushed out now. Will the Minister clarify this please?

There is a crisis in Cork city with the bus service. For weeks, commuters have been mass-reporting buses that are late, never come or are full and drive past the stops. People are arriving late for work, college and hospital appointments. The root cause of the problem is a crisis in the recruitment and retention of drivers. The 2017 drivers’ contract offers no enhancement of conditions for drivers with years built up in the job and is a huge part of the retention crisis. News broke this morning that Bus Éireann pla…

Yes - three minutes and seven, a Cheann Comhairle.

In 2009, the emergency departments at Ennis, Nenagh and St. John's in Limerick were shut down under the Fianna Fáil-Green Party Government. They were downgraded to minor injury units. This arrangement has been kept in place by the Fine Gael-Labour Party Government and successive governments since then, leaving the only model 4 hospital in the entire region at University Hospital Limerick. These cuts were opposed by the vast majority of people in the region, many of whom said they would result in disaster - and how …

He is back.

I would like to use my time to try to give voice to the rage and heartbreak felt by parents across the country about the situation that the Government has allowed to develop. I will quote people from Cork to whom I have spoken today. Jimmy Lordan, a parent who wants to send his son for an assessment of need, has been told that they will have to wait two to two and half years. He said as a parent that it is beyond frustrating to be met with wall after wall and that his health is definitely deteriorating due to stres…

Before people power forced you to retreat.