I am not.

No.

You would have to be foolish to think that, simply by requesting that the reviewer has expertise in complex surgery, which is a qualification, I was in some way undermining that individual. I am not. It is clear that the individual who is the external reviewer in this situation does not have the same qualifications as the individuals he is reviewing. The reason I stated that is that the Minister said to me just a few seconds ago that he did not have the clinical expertise to be able to ask certain questions. Obviou…

Okay. We are going to have to disagree on that. Again, on the specialist element, Scotland has a large number of surgeons who specialise in complex spinal operations. Again, Ireland does not have that level of expertise. Ireland has all-rounders. It is understood that Temple Street did not have enough focus on that expertise. Is that not an issue we have to resolve coming out of this whole review system as it stands?

A key public meeting on the issue of crime and antisocial behaviour will take place in Navan next Monday. The Minister for Justice has been invited but has not responded yet. Throughout the summer, citizens and communities have been shocked by the increase in violent, unprovoked attacks on our streets. Citizens are not just in fear at night time but often in the middle of the day in certain towns. Restaurants are closing earlier, children are being mugged on the way home from school, lanes off main streets are no-g…

They have been trying to.

This issue has been raised for a year now.

I raise an important issue relating to jobs in my county, namely, that of Tara Mines. Tara Mines has been closed since early June. Three months later, there is no word on the mine reopening. It is by far the largest employer in County Meath. It is estimated that about 2,000 jobs currently depend on a functioning mine, and this is especially important because Meath has had a lower investment per capita from the IDA and Enterprise Ireland for the past 15 or 20 years. Unfortunately, Meath has been allowed by the Gover…

On statistics, one very serious issue came up over the summer which concerns children in State care. This issue has come to the fore. Statistics that have been released to me by Tusla show that on average last month there were 67 children residing in special emergency accommodation. This figure excludes unaccompanied minors or separated children. One year ago the average was about 40. There has also been an increase in the number of separated children or unaccompanied minors who are seeking international protection…

I will. The Minister of State's preamble was at least five minutes long.

How many children are located in special emergency accommodation that is unregulated and staffed by unvetted staff?

I understand that this question is new and I am sure it is not part of the Minister of State's background brief. It is part of the background brief of the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. In my view it has been linked with the situation where Judge Dermot Simms, who has since retired, wrote a letter to the Minister with four reports that give information on specific cases. I put a parliamentary question in to the Minister on what happened to those reports. The Minister told me tha…

Ms Sharon Loughran is a paediatric nurse who lives in Newry. She works with children from both sides of the community in terms of the work she does. This morning she woke up at 3 a.m. to see her car in an inferno and the side of her house melting as a result of a 12th July sectarian attack on her because she is a woman from the nationalist community who is involved in political activism and is trying to save her local hospital. I wanted to put it on the record of the Dáil because we have a very short period of time…

I will stop in two seconds but this is an horrendous act and it is important the political establishment allows for no tolerance in relation to these acts. I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for her indulgence.

I also raise the issue of Tara Mines. Tomorrow, representatives of SIPTU, Connect and Unite will be in the AV Room at 2 p.m. I encourage all Deputies to attend and I ask the Taoiseach to spend time listening to the union representatives tomorrow. Workers will gather at the gates of Leinster House to protest the manner in which they have been treated. I encourage the people of Meath to stand in solidarity and swell their numbers so that we can have a very strong voice outside the gates here tomorrow on what is happe…

Just not now.

The reason so many people are angry over the RTÉ scandal, for example, and about the pay rates in certain Government Departments is that those pay scales are eye-watering in comparison with the incomes many families are receiving. There is no doubt that we want to ensure that there is a spark in the economy and that people are paid to a certain level to incentivise hard work, education and ambition, but some of the pay scales we have seen are so out of sync with the experience of people that it is hurting them quit…

When is the EU reform coming in?

The one on decoupling.

Okay.