No.

That is why the Taoiseach should give the commitment.

The Trump-like buffoonery and recklessness of Boris Johnson have been fairly evident to most people in this House and country for some time. If there is something of a silver lining to the grim public health emergency and pandemic that we face, it is that the buffoonery and recklessness on Johnson's part has been further revealed. For most people, Brexit and everything else are being seen largely through the prism of this unprecedented Covid-19 emergency. The buffoonery and recklessness on his part have undoubtedly…

There have been some positive measures taken in the face of the health emergency, such as freezing rent increases and stopping evictions, something the Minister previously said could not be done, and some decongregation of emergency hubs and allocations. Why could it not have been done before if it can be done now? Is it going to be permanent for those people? Will people who have been given welcome own-door accommodation stay in that once the pandemic is over? I really thought about this today when I saw a really …

-----while people are suffering from homelessness and mocking people with Covid and making light of the work of our nurses. He is enjoying himself in South Africa while I have to deal with people like Brian who is 70 and is living in a shed. He should be cocooning but the only accommodation he is offered is a hostel in town, when he is living in Dún Laoghaire. There is Anthony, who is living in a tent in Stillorgan because he does not meet the criteria to get his own-door accommodation. I met another woman whose pa…

There are very alarming signs that both the European Union and the Irish Government are utterly failing to learn the obvious lessons of the current public health emergency and are planning to revert to the failed austerity policies that did such damage in the aftermath of the financial crash of 2008 and to impose the cost and burden of this emergency once again on working people and the key public services on which we depend more than ever. The fact that the European Union is opting for loans with conditions attach…

Deputy Micheál Martin must ask a question.

No problem.

The Minister of State partly answered my question but I will ask it nonetheless. Many areas are impacted by the current situation but there is one that, it seems to me, the Government should have been thinking about already in our discussions with Europe. One thing that has been revealed clearly is that our public health system is under capacity. We have the lowest levels of ICU and of GP cover and the fewest hospital beds as a proportion of our population. We have sailed dangerously close to the wind. I do not thi…

I have been looking for transparency on the advice on which the Taoiseach is basing his decisions since 20 February, at the first briefing. I have asked on six occasions for the minutes, written advice and position papers of the expert advisory group that advises NPHET and the Government but have never even received the courtesy of an answer. Will the Taoiseach publish the minutes, written advice and any papers the group has produced? Tomorrow is May day. The Taoiseach heaped praise upon front-line healthcare worke…

I have read the contract and it is very clear. It is a temporary, special purpose contract for three months. At a time when we need permanent increases in staffing in our health service we are giving the worst contracts possible to people seeking to work in the public health emergency. I ask the Taoiseach to issue an instruction to NPHET to tell the expert advisory group to publish the minutes and advice of the group so that we can hear what the scientists and clinicians are actually saying. I have a further questi…

I understand we are due to conclude before 8 p.m. If so, my proposal is null and void, but if we over-run and are still here at 8 p.m. I propose that we would join the national round of applause to the health and other front-line workers who are keeping us going and protecting us in this current situation.

I am sharing time with Deputy Barry. First, on behalf of People Before Profit, I again extend my deepest sympathies to anybody who has lost family or loved ones and my support and best wishes to anybody who has received a positive diagnosis of Covid-19. I also again pay tribute to all the front-line health workers and essential workers who are protecting us and to the wider public who have unquestionably, through sacrifice and hardship, succeeded in flattening the curve and protecting our health services from being…

I am sharing time with Deputy Barry. I welcome the fact that the Minister said the economic strategy should be led in the first instance by public health concerns but those words have to have meaning. They cannot just be a rhetorical commitment to putting public health first. In the immediate term, putting public health first means we have to have the resources to ramp up dramatically the testing and tracing regime. That will mean permanent increases in laboratory capacity, laboratory technicians and all the equipm…

Exactly, socialism. One cannot have workers such as Debenhams workers thrown out by the private market, which is interested only in profit, and left on the scrapheap, particularly when the State has a stake in that. That cannot be done. The alarm bells of austerity ring when I hear the Minister for Finance talking about divisive choices and tapering off Covid-19 payments. There can be no return to austerity if we are to have the social cohesion and trust necessary to transition out of this crisis and into the new s…

On behalf of People Before Profit, I extend my deepest sympathies to the families and friends of those who have lost loved ones to Covid-19. I pay tribute to the millions of people who, through their sacrifice and effort in physical distancing, have substantially impacted on the transmission of Covid-19 to protect the ability of our health services to cope. Most of all, I pay tribute to our front-line health workers and other essential workers who are protecting us and keeping us going. As Deputy Kelly stated, we h…

Does the Taoiseach not get seven minutes at the beginning?

It is not agreed. As we discussed at length at the Business Committee, some of us are very strongly of the view that the Government should be subject to questions, particularly on matters pertaining to the current public health crisis, notably the Taoiseach, the Ministers for Health, and Housing, Planning and Local Government, and other key Ministers who are making important decisions on the public health emergency. There is no reason that could not take place next week. We believe this view is more than compliant …

Is there an amendment proposed?

May we amend the proposal to allow the House to sit next week?