With respect, I have just one question to ask you, then.

What does she say to the people who are sitting here behind me?

I appreciate that, but these are the most important people in the room.

You will not allow the issue of just compensation for these workers to be raised at all, just to make it convenient for the Minister who has dodged-----

------and weaved and bobbed and who has avoided any commitments to these people behind me. That is the disgrace here today.

To be honest, I am concerned, as I made clear in my previous contributions. I am concerned specifically about the lack of guarantees around the workers' package. The Minister and the Minister of State, Deputy Heydon, made the point that this is not the place to negotiate the package. I get that and I was clear in that regard. I was, last week, seeking a negotiation of the principles that would underpin a package and I was disappointed that those principles were not accepted. I agree entirely with Senator Burke when…

I join others in sending my commiserations and condolences to the family of the late former Senator Dermot Fitzpatrick and to our colleague, Senator Mary Fitzpatrick. It is sad news. Along with others, I regularly raise University Hospital Limerick. The figures continue to be frightening, with 100 patients on trolleys yesterday. We are looking at our worst ever March. The worst March ever was last year with 1,059 patients on trolleys but so far in March, with another week to go, it is already at 1,245. These are re…

Hear, hear.

The Minister of State is very welcome. It has been four years since the Tutty report came out. We finally have legislation which will hopefully reach its final Stages soon. It is welcome that this legislation deals with the concerns expressed in that report, but I am critical about the time taken to get to this point. This Bill implements the key recommendation of the Government-commissioned Tutty report which was published in 2018. Many people will be surprised to learn that providers of credit are not yet regulat…

I welcome the Minister of State. His colleague, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, has quite correctly described Yemen as the world's worst humanitarian crisis. It is one I have regularly raised in the House. Since 2015 a brutal war has been prosecuted on the Yemeni people by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The death toll around the crisis is truly shocking. A total of 377,000 Yemenis have died due to direct and indirect causes of war. A minimum of 10,000 children have died since 2015. A total of 4 millio…

That is quite an extraordinary statement. There are approximately 400 words and not one word of condemnation of the Saudi dictatorship. It has killed 400,000 people and there is not one word of condemnation. I asked the Minister of State for an explanation as to how we sent a Minister of State there touting for business just as it was ready to execute another 81 people. The Minister of State made no comment. This is the worst disaster in the world right now and the Minister of State does not have one word to say ab…

I want to raise the issue of housing and again call for a debate in that regard. I live in a beautiful village called Castleconnell in Limerick, which had a population of 2,100 in 2016 and it is probably heading for around 2,500 now. Under the current plan for the village, between now and 2028, we are going to get five additional public houses – not pubs, but houses. That is what the population can look forward to. It is absolutely shocking, it shows a complete lack of planning, and it is an example of the reality …

It is a Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael run council and has been for years.

I welcome the Minister of State. Sinn Féin will support this Bill, which repeals and replaces the Garda Síochána (Compensation) Acts 1941 and 1945, which are the basis for dealing with Garda compensation claims. The main aim of the Bill is to provide a new compensation scheme for malicious injuries, including fatal injury inflicted upon gardaí in the course of their duties. I acknowledge that it is designed to make the claims process easier and, we hope, quicker for those who need to use it. It will be less expensi…

I have to take the Acting Chair up on that point. There is a degree of repetition but we are on Committee Stage and we are looking for a good, positive response from the Minister. If we get it, I imagine the debate will be curtailed pretty quickly.

If we do not get that positive response, each of us here, across all party lines, has the right to stand up and fight for these workers and farmers because this is the opportunity we have. With all due respect, I ask the Acting Chair to drop the point on repetition because it is very much dependent on the Minister's response.

We will not back away.

I appreciate that. It is not good when 15 minutes into a three-hour debate the Acting Chair is asking us to shorten our contributions.

Yes-----

-----but we did not get the answers we wanted.