The Border is like a wall with a thousand blocks. Each block stands for an issue of genuine concern to people North and South. Examples are the differences between cancer services, ambulance services, excise duties and VAT rates. I refer to all the various aspects of the services we consume. The differences separate us and also reduce the quality of people's lives. I call on the Government to audit all these issues and work on making progress towards equalisation so the difficulties will be removed from people's li…

I do not know if the Taoiseach watched the recent "Prime Time" programme on wardships and wards of court. Families have spoken about the shocking manner they have been treated in the wards of court system. Wards of court lose their autonomy and civil rights and the right to make decisions. One of the biggest issues they have experienced in the past 15 years is the collapse in the funds that were given to them so they can survive and provide for themselves. Since as far back as 2001, the Committee of Public Accounts…

Wards of court.

I have a practical question for the Taoiseach. How many employees of Departments are currently working remotely, in percentage terms or in real terms? Every time I, one of my staff or even a constituent picks up a phone to seek to talk to somebody within a Department, we are met with an answering machine. Strangely, many of these answering machines actually declare the messages will not be checked. We are living in 2022. This is a tech island and it is really difficult for people to understand that phones cannot be…

What about PR staff?

For the last three months, Aontú has been calling for a decrease in excise duties and VAT on fuel. The reduction of VAT and excise duties would drastically reduce the cost of fuel immediately. Many other countries have done it, yet this Government appears not to have even asked the European Union if it can do it. Also, with regard to OPEC, what pressure is this country and the international community putting on OPEC to increase the supply of oil into the market to help with the cost spikes? Finally, should this tim…

Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of Ashling Murphy. It has been a while since her death. It is horrendous that when Deputies discuss this shocking event they bring into question the role of the education system in this country. They bring into question the role of the curriculum, the teachers and the people who have been delivering education in this country. There is no link between the two and efforts to make a link between that shocking event and the education system is absolutely wrong. I listened to…

It is shocking to say that in 2022 Ireland is still not a place of equality for people with disabilities. There is an ocean of window dressing in this State when it comes to inclusivity but the truth is that hundreds of thousands of citizens are excluded from life in this country daily. Given the assessment waiting lists, lack of access to services and transport, and young people trapped in nursing homes, Ireland is a cold house for people with disabilities. I believe the Government is failing in its obligations to…

I am sure the Minister has listened to the concerns of students during his visits to universities around the country. Students are asking me and, I imagine, many others in the House, what material difference students who apply for the SUSI grant next month will notice. How much has the threshold changed?

No worries.

Students have been radically hammered by the cost-of-living crisis. For the last two years, many students have suffered significantly through the housing crisis so many have been forced to live at home and travel great distances to college daily. I know of many people throughout rural Ireland who do not have the public transport to access universities. Many of them have their parents drive them to college or to the location where they can get public transport, or they drive themselves. Now they are being snookered …

Is that a grant increase of €200 in total?

That €200 will be consumed very quickly in the increased costs in fuel etc. that students will experience. Can the Minister give clarity on the issue of transportation? I know it is not his Department but it is frustrating for students who were told they would get this and are waiting for it to happen. There is no clarity on when it will happen and it is happening at a snail's pace. Today the Minister provided me with an answer to a written question about salaries in his Department. Since he took office just less t…

There is €250,000 in the Department each year for special advisers.

Apologies.

There is a confluence of crises happening at present. As the Minister knows there is a commuter hell experience for people living in County Meath in terms of trying to get to work in Dublin. There is a cost of living crisis with the increase in fuels. There is a global warming crisis happening at present. A rail line from Navan to Dublin would fix all of these issues. It has been spoken about for years. I am seeking from the Minister a commitment it will happen and a timeline.

Meath is a special case. I know everybody comes in here thinking their own county is a special case. This morning, the majority of workers in County Meath left County Meath to go to work. This happens in no other local authority area in the 32 counties of this great country. People from Meath commute further to work than people in any other county. I know the damage it is doing to people. I know of people spending three hours commuting a day. They do not get to see their families during the week. They get to see th…

Spatial development in this country is an absolute disaster. Ireland is a lopsided economy at present. Dublin is overheating. The Dublin commuter belt goes into Ulster, Connacht and Munster. Much of regional Ireland is being emptied of its young people. We have a situation where the average age in Baldoyle is 33 and the average age in Killarney is 45. Young people are being forced into this commuter belt. These young people are the collateral damage of this. Their lives and existence at present are a catastrophe. I…

The Department of Health has confirmed to me that, since the enactment of the abortion law, the State Claims Agency has been notified of 103 adverse incidents relating to that legislation. It is an extraordinary figure. An abortion review is happening now, but I cannot get a commitment from the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, that any of those adverse incidents will be analysed in that context. In truth, the 20,000 abortions that have happened so far under this law are, individually, adverse incidents…

Baby Christopher's certainly did.