That is not a reaction.

It is a pity the Taoiseach is leaving the Chamber right now. He might take the opportunity to go out and meet the children who have been waiting for him for the past hour and a half. I am disappointed I did not get the chance to make the following statement before the Taoiseach left the Chamber. The Taoiseach alleged that he was not invited to meet protesters. He was sent an email, as were other Ministers. The Taoiseach clearly was invited but he chose not to attend. Hopefully, when he gets a chance, he will correc…

The Tánaiste will know that the Price report was published in July 2020 into the provision of gynaecology services at Letterkenny University Hospital. The publication of this report followed a determined campaign by patients and their families. My colleague, Deputy Doherty, raised with the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and with the Tánaiste last year the need for all recommendations from that report to be fully implemented and for an examination to see if the circumstances that arose at Letterkenny arose across the …

Finally, there is the issue of outpatient services, which are at 50%. Will the Tánaiste intervene with the Minister to resolve this issue?

They have been talking for the past ten minutes. It is so ignorant.

I raise the issue of the funding of the City of Derry Airport or, to be more exact, the lack of funding by the Irish Government and its recent predecessors. Derry city is the fourth largest city on this island. It is a part of the north west city region of Donegal, Derry city and Strabane and has a population of 300,000. It has been battered by partition but has fantastic leaders. No matter where people come from on the political spectrum, we have united to make the case for our region and access to it. In recent y…

As the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage is aware, thousands of families from the west of Ireland have had their lives torn asunder by the mica and pyrite scandal. Their homes are crumbling around them. This is a national disaster. It is an earthquake happening in slow motion. The trail of devastation winds its way through communities that share the sorrow and anger of their families, friends and neighbours. These communities range from my own in north County Donegal, down through counties Sligo, …

At the core of this is the principle that every citizen and family in this State is treated exactly the same. The Minister is very familiar with the pyrite resolution scheme under which over 2,000 families in Dublin and north Leinster rightly received 100% redress. They did nothing wrong but were failed by the absence of State regulation and oversight. Our families in Donegal, Mayo, Sligo, Clare, Limerick and Tipperary deserve exactly the same, namely, 100% redress. The Government must send out a clear message that…

They are not agreed. Only three and a half hours have been set aside for the Official Languages (Amendment) Bill tomorrow evening. There are more than 300 amendments to the Bill. I understand that leaves 40 seconds for every amendment. My colleague, Deputy Ó Snodaigh, our spokesperson, has strenuously asked me to appeal again to the Government to set aside time this Wednesday and the following Wednesday to allow proper scrutiny of the Bill. Two three and a half hour sessions would allow proper time to debate the am…

My colleague, Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh, points out that the Minister has tabled 40 additional amendments. The Irish language community has waited nine years for this legislation, so I think one more week to get it right would not go amiss.

As the Minister will be aware, on 15 June last, thousands of families from Donegal, Mayo, Clare and other counties gathered outside the convention centre and walked to Government Buildings. On the same day, this House passed a motion, which no Deputy opposed, calling for 100% redress for families who have been devastated by defective concrete blocks. The scheme that is in place was supposed to provide 90%, with the banks making a large contribution towards the remaining 10%. Of course, the banks ran away and were n…

I have raised before with the Minister in this Chamber the issue of the funding discrimination that our major hospital in Donegal, Letterkenny University Hospital, continues to endure. There are more than 20,000 people in a county of 160,000 on the waiting list. That amounts to one in eight. I am not even including Sligo hospital, whose waiting list includes people from south Donegal. That is a damning indictment of Government after Government. The issue for Letterkenny University Hospital is that despite its being…

I wish to raise with the Minister the comments made by An Tánaiste, Deputy Varadkar, yesterday, when he lectured the families of Donegal and the west of Ireland whose homes have been devastated by mica and pyrite. These families have campaigned long and hard for this Government to do what is fair and deliver 100% redress. The Tánaiste lectured those families, who are going through hell, about the burden that a fair and just scheme would place on taxpayers. He included a smart alec quip about it not being the Govern…

Last night, the families presented their submission to Deputies and Senators across the country. They have clearly demonstrated the solutions that will be required to turn around so many people's lives. Those families should not have had to do all that work. Families should not have to protest or bare their hearts and souls and take journalists from up and down the country to their homes. None of that should have been required. I hope the Tánaiste will take back what he said yesterday because it was completely wron…

I will be sharing time with my colleague, Deputy Carthy. Where do I start with all of this? The Minister of State knows that this has been a deeply controversial saga. It has gone to the Supreme Court and the previous Ministers and the Department were found to have wronged fishermen on a number of occasions. They repeatedly did not listen to the industry. If they had listened, what the industry has been saying is that it of course supports the implementation of a penalty points scheme but it has to be fair, just an…

My colleague, Deputy Ó Broin, has substantively responded to the Bill on behalf of our party. My responsibility, as our fisheries spokesperson, is to speak for the fishermen I am engaging with up and down the coast. The Minister will know from the protest held outside the convention centre in recent times that there is real anger across our coastal communities that they have not historically received their fair share of the fish in our waters. Of course, the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement made that situation…

This is stand-up comedy.

Do not stop.

I am substituting for Deputy O'Rourke.

Thank you, a Cheann Comhairle. The Irish people have never recognised or accepted Britain's claim to Rockall. Tonight, without any real debate, the Irish Government, led by a Fianna Fáil Taoiseach, will sign away Irish sovereignty and, with it, our historic fishing rights at Rockall. This is utterly shameful. At a time when the entire industry is fighting for its very survival, the action the Government is taking tonight will put the future of many fishing families on the line. We will not accept the ceding of Iris…