Others have mentioned the siege of Jadotville. I had the honour of meeting Commandant Quinlan in the audiovisual room here last year when we were shown a promotion for the film. Many of those who attended the screening are still aggrieved that we do not take into account that the people who serve in our Defence Forces take immense pride in their job and sometimes it goes down through the family generations. Having watched the film, I think the people there were let down, by the United Nations and our Government and…

I want to speak about the ongoing issues in the geriatric ward in Cork University Hospital. I also want to talk about patient and staff safety. For the past four days, I have been listening to stories on "The Neil Prendeville Show" on RedFM about what witnesses have experienced in the geriatric ward. I am sure the Minister of State is familiar with the station. In the past number of days, I have received numerous pieces of information about managers at the top level not coming down onto the floor and inspecting the…

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. He knows I am straight-talking. Can we stop blaming Covid-19 for this? I never mentioned Covid-19 in my opening remarks. Some of this is historic and goes back to 2016. We cannot blame Covid-19 and we probably cannot blame Brexit. It is my job as a public representative to say to the Minister of State that if a patient or staff member is not being fully supported and his or her health, well-being, mental health and physical safety is being put at risk, it has nothing to …

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the motion. I am always straight and to the point. This is about doing the right thing. It is about addressing the issues of major underinvestment in these vital services. Most of the speakers have mentioned the specifics of the cancers and so on. They are right when they say we have all lost family members and that families are decimated by cancer. I wish to address the underinvestment. It is probably the only opportunity I will get to put this on the Dáil record. I have been …

I welcome the opportunity to speak to the Bill, which is welcome in the general context but worrying at the same time. The process was very vague to begin with. It was worrying when we got an email from the Oireachtas Library and Research Service indicating it cannot give any information on what was in the Bill because it did not have it. I see the point in trying to contain and control the spread of Covid-19 but I will raise some matters of balance, fairness and choice. We have congratulated many people on stickin…

I have listened to the debate for a while, and as a second-term Deputy, the more I listen to the Government on this the more worried I am getting. I am actually going into panic mode. The Government has a fabulous knack of watering things down. A lot of the Opposition amendments are based on one thing, which is fairness. Deputy Ó Broin spoke about protecting both sides, the renter and the landlord. As other speakers have said, there is a pandemic and an emergency, but there is also an emergency with housing and hom…

The long-awaited report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes has been subject to numerous delays. Many survivors and victims have contacted me in recent days and even this morning. They are asking for a commitment from the Taoiseach that the final report, which is promised to be published in October, will not be delayed any further. I ask the Taoiseach for a concrete commitment that the report will be published in October, as promised, in order that the survivors can read it.

Sometimes drastic measures are needed in drastic times. This Private Members' motion could possibly be a catalyst to reform the education system when that reform is really needed. It calls for the development of a dedicated strategy to prioritise those who have lost out most. Many speakers have mentioned children with special needs and so on. School transport is, as we say in Cork, a box of frogs at the moment. People are stressed to breaking point because they do not know what is happening. One individual whom I k…

A Leas-Cheann Comhairle-----

A Leas-Cheann Comhairle-----

I am sitting up here and I could hear Deputy Ó Laoghaire calling "vótáil" so I think it is a bit disingenuous when-----

I am not saying you are. Gabh mo leithscéal.

I am not being disingenuous either; I am just saying that if I can hear it from where I am, surely the Opposition parties on the far side could have heard it.

Deputy Ó Laoghaire is correct that it is a different proposition now. That is the point he is trying to make.

We cannot. We should ask that the sound file would be played.

I thank those parties that brought this motion. Sinn Féin fully supports the Debenhams workers and it is public knowledge that many of our representatives have stood shoulder to shoulder with these people. Some Members have already mentioned Sinn Féin's proposals for changing the laws and closing the loopholes in this. It was mentioned that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil supported this but then all of a sudden, when people are not watching, they bury it in committee. There it lies. It has happened so much. This Private …

I have spent the last three years raising the issue of school transport and catchment areas. In east Cork we have a problem with school places. Some people have to travel outside their catchment area and it is their only option to get a school place but when they go for school transport, they fall outside the remit and end up having concessionary tickets. They are not covered under the medical card and it causes immense stress. We have raised this over the last number of years. Is there any common-sense approach or…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill. I do not like to use scripts but I have edited it down since our time has been cut short. Projects aimed at reducing emissions, increasing renewable energy production, improving energy efficiency and helping regions hit by changes to cut carbon emissions are expected to be the beneficiaries of funding from a climate action fund. I will cut straight to the chase. There is much welcome detail in this Bill, but my bugbear is the notion of the carbon tax. This was raised…

This judgment has serious implications. It is about accountability and responsibility. It beggars belief that this judgment has come back from the European Union. It was not too long ago that we raised other marine safety issues relating to lifeboat gear, the Coast Guard and so on in the House. It is imperative that the matter is investigated. We have to get clarity in respect of what actually happened. The previous two speakers indicated that this has serious implications, but it has also had an impact on families…

Is the Tánaiste aware of the British independent medicines and medical devices safety review which was published earlier this month? The review sets out nine major recommendations to address the serious medical deficiencies and anguish caused to patients who received pelvic mesh implants. Will the Government do the same or something similar to address the serious issue in this country?