I am sorry but that is not believable to anybody in this Chamber, not least those on the Tánaiste's own benches. Has the Tánaiste ever leaked confidential Cabinet information?

I asked whether the Tánaiste had ever leaked confidential Cabinet information. I would like that question addressed.

Many people will be taken by, and disappointed by, the long pause before the Tánaiste's initial answer to that question. This is a very serious issue. The reason it is so serious and important is that if the very head of a government is involved in actions of this kind, it gives license to everybody else in government to act in the same way. It gives license to everybody else, at all levels of the public service and the Civil Service, to act in this way. It is critical that the Taoiseach leads from the top. The tru…

The great civil libertarian Stephen Donnelly is introducing a law in the Dáil to fine people for playing golf, attending a sneaky mass, swimming or going to a gym. Basically, the Government is raising the white flag. It has lost the goodwill of the people and now it is seeking to coerce them. Covid-19 is a serious illness for sure, and we need to do all we can to reduce the numbers. The truth is, however, that it is not the people who have failed with regard to containing this illness, it is the Government. Ireland…

I want to pick up on something the Minister said. What has happened in nursing homes has been one of the most heartbreaking aspects of this whole crisis. The most vulnerable have been the most exposed. They make up the majority of those who have lost their lives to Covid-19. Yesterday, I raised the issue of the nursing home in Galway at which 26 of the 28 residents tested positive for Covid-19. I quoted the information that I got to the effect that the director of nursing stated the HSE was not listening. The HSE's…

There are reports today that 26 out of 28 patients at a nursing home in Galway have tested positive for Covid-19. One of these residents has died, and our hearts and prayers are with that resident's family. The nursing home said that it received no help from the HSE and that, for the past 72 hours, one nurse and one care assistant attended all those patients. That is an absolute scandal. Regarding the oceans of rhetoric that existed around the issue of Covid-19 for the past seven months, the most important element …

This was reported by a very eminent GP in the area today.

I will take the advice of the Minister. If he says that is not true, I will take back that comment but the information that I have, which is from a reliable source, a GP in the area who was in contact with the "Today with Claire Byrne" show on RTÉ, is that two people spent 72 hours in the care of those individuals. Will the Minister tell me if that is not true?

They were not.

It was between myself-----

Are these amendments grouped or are we on amendment No. 1 only?

There is probably very little I can add that has not already been articulated extremely well by Deputy Connolly, other than to say that people are still stunned as to why the Minister is bringing forward this Bill, especially in view of the fact that the necessary consultation with the residents and survivors of the mother and baby homes has not taken place. It feels like the Minister is captured by the Department and that he is doing the Department's bidding on this rather than driving it himself. I do not wish to…

The process of this Bill and the Minister's work has not changed at all. He has come to the Chamber and said clearly that he refuses to listen to the arguments put forward and he will accept no amendments from the Opposition. That fits perfectly with the process so far, which has refused to listen to the Opposition, to the women and to the people who were born in those homes. Hundreds of people who spent time in those homes are watching this debate in the Dáil from their sitting rooms. They will be saying that the …

I welcome the fact the Regional Group has brought such an important motion to the Dáil. The Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, will know as well as anybody else in this Chamber that we have seen Ireland grow into a city state. With regard to size, Dublin, and in comparison to the rest of the country, is an outlier in relation to any other capital city in Europe. Even in Britain, London does not have the dominance Dublin has here. That lopsided development is continuing apace. Right now we have an overheated capita…

The countries that have been able to suppress Covid-19 have typically been islands and have operated as epidemiological units. Countries that have delivered consistent controls internally and controlled their borders, such as New Zealand and Australia, have kept their numbers low and saved lives. The cost of not doing this is hundreds of lives, massive ill health in the country, a wiped-out economy and tens of billions of euro of debt. Ireland is an island and, as such, should have a competitive advantage in this r…

It is nebulous.

Fáiltím roimh an deis labhairt ar an ábhar seo. One of the major problems with the Dáil and with Leinster House is that often political parties come to a decision as to how they will vote and proceed on these really important issues before we even have the discussion or the debate. I ask the Minister to make of this an opportunity for the Dáil debate and the information brought to the Chamber to have an impact on the position the Government takes. Not since the water charges have I seen such a level of outrage from…

I am disappointed the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, is not here to answer these questions. I know he is busy but it is important that the Minister is in the Chamber. Recently, Patricia Carrick, a mother of four from Oranmore in County Galway who is terminally ill, won her case in the High Court against the HSE and a laboratory. It was determined that a smear test done in 2016 was read in a manner that was neglectful. I believe Patricia's case may expose something deeply worrying, which is a major oversight in …

I concur with the Minister of State that it is really important that people ensure they respond to invitations they receive in respect of cancer screening opportunities. It still breaks my heart that BreastCheck is not yet up and running in the State. It is incredible that a backlog of 200,000 women, according to the latest estimates, are on a waiting list for cancer screening. The Minister of State mentioned interval cancer but I am not talking about an interval cancer. It is a pre-cancer that was missed. Patricia…

Deputy Brendan Smith was in the Chamber a few seconds ago. He mentioned that there should be cross-Border co-operation on Covid-19. We have been saying that for months and still there is absolutely no cross-Border co-operation on Covid-19. I have asked the Taoiseach and the Minister for Foreign Affairs where the locus of co-operation is. Is it within the Dáil, the Department of the Taoiseach or the Department of Foreign Affairs? Is it in the Department of Health? Is there a secretariat? Is there any structure for c…