Aontú research has revealed that hospital mistakes have risen to 107,000 a year. Each instance represents damage done to a patient or a person suffering from ill health. There has also been a significant rise in extreme incidents, such as death or permanent incapacity, to 579 annually. This is happening because of a lack of accountability and resources. At the same time, the accident and emergency department in Navan hospital is threatened with closure by the HSE. I spoke to medical professionals in the Royal Colle…

Will the Minister listen to the medical professionals and stop this travesty?

A timeline for a timeline.

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to provide for a public inquiry into the management, in connection with nursing homes, of the risks to human life and health posed by Covid-19; and to provide for related matters. On behalf of Aontú I am very glad to be able to introduce this Bill today in respect of the commission of investigation into the handling of Covid-19 in nursing homes. I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle herself and Deputy Canney for co-signing the Bill. We know that more tha…

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

Inné, bhuail mé féin agus Gemma Brolly, iarrthóir Aontú i nDoire Thoir, le Conradh na Gaeilge ar Bhóthar na bhFál i mBéal Feirste. Dhírigh muid isteach ar an bhfeachtas don reachtaíocht Gaeilge a chur chun cinn sa Tuaisceart. It is incredible that the Irish Language Act has been promised since 2006 in the North of Ireland and it has been promised multiple times in agreements and discussions by both Governments ever since. The Assembly was resurrected on the basis of the Irish Language Act going through and, indeed,…

An féidir leis An Taoiseach bualadh le Conradh na Gaeilge?

Tá a fhios agam.

I thank Sinn Féin for tabling this motion. However, there is an irony that is not lost on people in that Sinn Féin Deputies voted last year in favour of the climate action Bill, which paved the way for the carbon tax and the turf ban. I have an image in my mind of Deputy Paul Murphy leaving Dublin in search of a turf mine with a speech in his pocket calling turf miners around the country to action. Unfortunately, Aontú is the only party that voted against the climate action Bill last year, which Bill was the start …

I welcome Ms Elaine Dunne of the Federation of Early Childhood Providers to the Visitors' Gallery. She has done Trojan work over the years to strengthen providers' ability to function within the sector and strengthening the services that are delivered to children and workers as well. The day the Minister was nominated to his role, I congratulated him and welcomed him to the post. I did warn him then that it was important for him to drive the Department rather than be a passenger there. Departments are notorious for…

Overcrowding in hospitals throughout the State is out of control. While this is in part because of the current wave of Omicron infections, it is also significantly out of control because there are not enough resources in the State. Overcrowding is not new. Indeed, there has been overcrowding in our hospitals for the past 15 years. Last September, the Minister announced that he wanted to gut hospital capacity even further by closing the emergency department in Navan hospital. Will he drop this plan?

There were 22,000 beds-----

Anybody can point to a year or two and claim increases in those years. Twenty years ago, there were 22,000 hospital beds in this State; today, there are only 14,000. The Minister should do the maths. Ten years ago, it was stated that there was need for 500 ICU beds in this State; today, there are only 300. We have one of the lowest rates in the OECD. The Minister cannot hide and talk around that issue. One of the reasons the Government has put forward for the closure of the emergency department in Navan hospital is…

There were 105,000 adverse incidents in the hospital system last year. This means people were misdiagnosed, mistreated and given the wrong medication. It means people died or were disabled by those actions and that people are extra sick because of the misactions of the HSE. Which one of the Minister's extremely well-paid staff is responsible for this increase? Is there any accountability? I spoke to senior clinicians in the RCSI Hospital Group. They told me that the closure of Navan hospital emergency department wi…

We are being told different.

The Minister needs to talk to the doctors in the RCSI Hospital Group.

I welcome the opportunity to contribute on the women's health action plan. First, CervicalCheck screening is not 100% accurate. There needs to be a public information campaign on this to ensure women who have symptoms do not ignore them because their screening test was clear. It is vital that if a woman has symptoms of cervical cancer that she goes to see her GP regardless of whether she received a clear smear test result. We need to reiterate this in every debate we have on women's health. It is so important. I wo…

I welcome the Bill. Ireland has a long history of neutrality which goes back centuries, to the days of Theobald Wolfe Tone, Daniel O'Connell and James Connolly, who all advocated neutrality for Ireland as a way of protecting the common good and preventing militarism. Historically, small countries have always been sceptical of the intentions of military blocs. In general, historically, military blocs have orientated their military actions to their economic objectives. We cannot escape that with any analysis of histo…

Significant parts of the childcare sector are facing collapse at the moment. In response to a parliamentary question submitted by Aontú, we found out that 789 childcare providers have closed their doors since 2007, predominantly ECCE and small providers. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Government decimated provider income while shackling providers with massive debt. A total of 338 childcare providers closed during the pandemic. New core funding proposals have been made. These have been delayed for months and have…

It is lowering the funding for providers and they are closing.