Ministers never get back to me on any questions I have asked from this side of the Dáil. The Tánaiste said the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, would get back to me on this question just last week and nobody ever comes back. It is purely for theatre and the frustration-----

It is out of order for a Minister to say people will come back, when they never do.

They never come back.

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to ensure that mothers receiving maternity care may be accompanied in hospital during childbirth and on occasions prior and subsequent to the birth; and to provide for related matters. As I said in the context of the previous business, it is frustrating when we put questions to Ministers. On six occasions in recent months, Ministers stated that they would come back with responses but they have not done so. It is my job to keep Ministers true to their…

I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."

Yesterday New Zealand admitted zero-Covid was not workable. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was big enough to admit she was wrong. Here, the supporters of zero-Covid have so far remained completely silent. The Social Democrats, People Before Profit-Solidarity, the Labour Party and even Sinn Féin, at some stage, were ardent supporters of the idea of zero-Covid. The Social Democrats went so far as to say everything should be shut down until we got lower than ten cases per day. On that logic, we would still be in full l…

Ireland is simply an outlier in terms of how little State funding is spent on childcare. UNICEF recommends that at least 1% of GDP be invested in childcare. The OECD average is 0.7%. The optimal amount is 2%. Ireland invests a mere 0.3% in childcare. We cannot simply provide high-quality childcare if we are not prepared to fund high-quality childcare. It is not rocket science. I have spoken to many parents and providers over the past number of years in this regard. The sector can be boiled down as follows: provider…

I am sharing time with Deputy Canney, but I am not sure if he is present. People are quite shocked at the approach of the Green Party on this. I have a lot of time for many of the Green Party activists who are elected representatives. I believe that many of them have approached their time in Dáil Éireann with the best of objectives and sincere values in trying to fix the climate crisis in the State. I am stunned, however, at the level of capture that I have seen among Green Party Members in this Dáil. Many people v…

Tom McHugh worked as an assistant chief officer, ACO, in Portlaoise Prison. In October 2018, a prisoner came to the governor of that prison and said that other officers were constantly coming to his cell and, in his words, wanting him to cut up Tom HcHugh. This is just one of example of what an ACO in our prisons has experienced. He was vindicated by the Naughton report. There was a Garda investigation and a "Prime Time" investigation into this matter. I have raised this with the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, the curren…

I reiterate what other Deputies have said about it being a disgrace that the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage has not stayed to listen to the debate. This has happened in large part because Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Sinn Féin have changed the way in which the Dáil operates, meaning that now most of those due to speak for those three parties have spoken before Opposition parties such as mine can get to speak. This is despite the fact that some of these guys have an opportunity to speak to the Min…

For ten years, the Government's stated policy has been to close the accident and emergency department in Navan hospital. The hospital was put on the list in the small hospital framework document. It was to be moved to a level 2 hospital. It was on the HIQA hit list of ten hospitals that were to have accident and emergency departments removed. Navan hospital is the only one of those ten hospitals whose accident and emergency remains open. In March 2020, the HSE went public to say it would close the accident and emer…

The response the Minister of State provided does not mention the words "accident and emergency" at all. I cannot find those words in the entire script that was written for her by the Department. The hospital in Navan is the most important piece of infrastructure we have in County Meath. Nothing surpasses it. There are thousands of people walking around the county today who would not be alive only for the hospital's existence. Roscommon was mentioned. A Fine Gael Minister of State said that Roscommon University Hosp…

The policy is to close it.

Exactly.

In fairness, the policy states that it will close it.

It is written in the small hospitals framework document.

That is not what IFAC says.

For more than ten years, Fine Gael has been looking to shut the accident and emergency department in Our Lady's Hospital in Navan. For ten years, the people of Meath have been marching in their tens of thousands to keep it open. Shockingly, in March 2020, the Government went public with the decision to close the accident and emergency department for 12 hours overnight. Covid-19 happened and those plans, thankfully, fell apart. For the past 18 months, the health service has been battling against Covid without enough…

I have listened to many of the speakers. There are a lot of good ideas and conversations happening on this issue but what is required is action from the Government. I will give a couple of examples of where the Government is seriously breaking down and where the weight is being left in this crisis. A couple of years ago, the Meath Food Bank was without a home. I offered those who run it the use of my constituency office. Since then, one of their main activists, Aisling Lowe, has fed countless children and parents f…

On 22 October 2019, the Tánaiste apologised for the humiliation, disrespect and deceit shown by the State to the more than 1,000 women in the cervical cancer scandal. In May 2018, he stood up in this Chamber and made a promise to the women affected by the CervicalCheck controversy that they would not have to go to court in order to get justice. Patricia Carrick from Galway sadly passed away last year, only a month after she won her case in the courts. Patricia was one of many women who had to battle in the courts f…