In the last 24 hours, the Government has changed from a risk-based vaccine distribution system to an age-based vaccine distribution system. Last week it said that the vaccination system was based on public health advice. This week it has stated that it is based on public health advice, even though they are mutually exclusive systems. Now, a 46-year-old who is working remotely will be vaccinated on the same day as an SNA who is working with children with special needs, as a garda who is arresting people in a riot, a…

Like everybody else, I want to see the country reopened. I understand the vaccine roll-out is key to that objective. I have been pushing for many months for a timely rolling out of vaccines. However, I oppose mandatory vaccinations. Encouragement has proven far more successful than browbeating people. I received a number of phone calls from students over the past number of days who have told me they are being forced to take the vaccine against their will. One woman called me and said she was under massive stress an…

Today, 480 people will get cancer and, tragically, more people will likely die of cancer. Late diagnosis and treatment will lead to much more advanced cancers coming into the system, which will lead to greater levels of morbidity and death. Why has the Government reduced cancer services when the need is so great at the moment? Will the Government guarantee that full cancer services will return immediately?

The Government has reduced cancer services.

Yesterday, Minister after Minister was wheeled out to say that there was light at the end of the tunnel but what they did not say was that for many people that tunnel is getting longer. All of the Government's plans indicated yesterday were dependent on vaccine timescales but to date it has missed every one of those. I am doing my best, like many other people, to stay positive with regard to the situation we are in but the plans the Government indicated yesterday could very well be rolled out further into the futur…

A total of 480 people will get cancer today. Tragically, 24 people will die from cancer today. According to the experts, as a result of the cancellation and reduction in cancer treatments by the Government there will be an influx of massively advanced cancers. By any measure, that is an absolute disgrace. This week we hear that the Government will not resume cancer services fully until the end of 2021. How can the Minister stand over that? Will he reopen cancer services now? I believe the management of this particu…

Two weeks ago I raised the shocking allegations of serious threats to the life and health of a senior prison officer in an Irish prison. I referred to the Naughton report, which confirms the veracity of these allegations, and I questioned the Tánaiste on the lack of implementation of that report. He stated that he did not know anything about it but I have a letter here that was sent to him, the Minister for Justice and the Taoiseach. He received the letter and acknowledged receipt of it but he and his colleagues ha…

I will focus on one of the major issues affecting people right now which is the lack of houses. It is incomprehensible that given the length and depth of the housing crisis in Ireland the building of homes in this country is currently deemed non-essential. Hundreds of people have died in homelessness on the streets of our towns and cities over the last number of years. Many more will lose their lives over the next number of years if this Government does not get serious with the building of family homes. The buildin…

I am delighted to speak in favour of the Regional Group's Civil Liability and Courts (Amendment) Bill 2021. So far in this Dáil, my colleagues and I in the group have chosen to prioritise reform of the insurance industry. Outside of Covid-19, insurance dysfunction has cost so many people so much, including families, homeowners, drivers and many small business owners. This dsyfunction did not happen by accident. It is the result of a closed market where there is little or no competition. We see profiteering, gouging…

Moore Street is the battle place and the birthplace of the Irish Republic. The lanes that surround Moore Street record the heroism and actions of the people who were out in 1916. The Moore Street battlefield site was the location of the final stand of many of the Volunteers who fought in the GPO. They came under heavy machine-gun fire in the laneways around Moore Street as they set up the headquarters of the 1916 Provisional Government and the final council of war. Those actions were the precursor to the independen…

The issue of a human right to life is a devolved issue under the Good Friday Agreement yet the Northern Secretary of State, Brandon Lewis, has driven a coach and four through devolution and the Good Friday Agreement and sought to introduce an extreme form of abortion legislation on the people of the North of Ireland against their will. Shockingly, this has been done with the active lobbying of Sinn Féin and the SDLP. For 200 years republicans have stated that London has no business legislating in any part of Irelan…

Tom worked in the Irish Prison Service as an assistant chief officer based in A block in Portlaoise Prison. This block houses some of the most notorious and dangerous prisoners in the country. Prisoners include Kinahans, Dundons and many more criminals who are household names. This is a high-pressure environment in which violence and threat to life are real and constant concerns for prison officers. It is alleged that in October 2018 a prisoner came to the governor parade of Portlaoise Prison and told the governor …

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I have made a special effort not to mention the names of individuals. I am quoting from a report carried out by an independent investigator, John Naughton, into these matters. The reason we know this information is that Mick Clifford of the Irish Examiner has done extensive work on this story. He has reported these elements of the story in the Irish Examiner . Following that report, it is alleged that the staff members in question were not sanctioned, that they contin…

These are serious allegations and I have thought long and hard about raising them on the floor of the Dáil. The reason I have done so is because I have called the director general of the Irish Prison Service a number of times to see if I can discuss them with her. I have also put a question to the Minister for Justice on why actions were not taken on foot of the Naughton report. The Minister has not given me any information as to why actions were not taken. I followed up on the matter as best I could via all the av…

An féidir leis an gCathaoirleach Gníomhach m'ainm a chur síos le haghaidh Questions on Promised Legislation? It is absolutely outrageous that after all the debates, documentaries, reports and commissions that have happened people still do not know who exactly they are and cannot access their birth and medical records. People are growing old wondering if their mother is still alive. They are being asked daily by doctors about their family health histories and are facing into serious health issues, and they simply do…

Night after night, the people of Ireland are being subjected to the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, in front of them on their screens, like Comical Ali, saying that the administration of the vaccine is going fine. Everybody knows it is not. A €1 billion per month unmitigated disaster is happening in this country. I know of surgeries in my constituency that will not have the vaccine for over-85s until the end of next week. One surgery has not got a date for delivery as of yet. Every single month that t…

It is not working.

The reason this has been raised so often is because of the damage that it is doing to the country. Ireland has had the longest and most severe lockdown of any country in Europe. According to Reuters a couple of weeks ago, Ireland had 163 days of workplace closures and that compared to Germany, which had 34 days of workplace closures. The reason for the length and severity of the lockdown in this country is because the Government has not got the other tools against this virus right and prime among them is the issue …

This is my final point. I asked Deputy Stephen Donnelly last week in a parliamentary question what actions he had taken to procure additional vaccines outside of the European supply chain. The Minister said none.

The death of a family member is one of the most raw and emotional times anybody will experience. Funerals are very difficult at any time but during Covid-19, for many, they have been a complete disaster. At the moment, attendance at funerals can be a lottery for family members. We have reports from around the country of local priests refusing access to a church to family members on the death of their loved ones. This is having a devastating effect on families. It is well-known psychologically that the grieving proc…