We will see what is delivered.

I was pleased earlier when I heard that the Government is going to examine cost of living again and the impact that it is having. My question is very pertinent because it is about giving the Covid bonus payment to the 500,000 family carers around the country. There would be no better way of showing that the work of carers is really respected and that the Government recognises the severe impact that energy prices and fuel prices have had on carers throughout the State. I ask the Minister to go back to Cabinet and fi…

I would still ask the Minister to go back to Cabinet and highlight the issue. I know that the Covid recognition payment is a matter for the Minister for Health, but there is an opportunity for the Department of Social Protection to look at the cost of living in terms of the 500,000 people who have probably contributed the most during the pandemic, and to give them the Covid payment. The past two years were tough for many. I wholeheartedly welcome the bonus of €1,000 for front-line healthcare workers, including ambu…

Homeowners in Mayo and other counties are becoming increasingly alarmed about the delays in the 100% redress scheme. Will the Tánaiste give a guarantee that this scheme will be fully in place before the end of the year? Can the Tánaiste accept that the unnecessary delays and the obstacles being put in the way of homeowners who have paid almost €7,000 to certified engineers who established that the houses are impacted by pyrite and mica are wholly unacceptable. Does the Tánaiste agree that partial fixes, and trappin…

Is the Tánaiste aware that medical card dental services have completely collapsed in Mayo? We contacted each of the 30 dentists in the county listed by the HSE on its website. Of all the many dental practices throughout the county, only one said it was currently treating medical card patients and taking on new patients, and even then it was only doing so for specific treatments. In a county the size of Mayo, with a population of 130,000, that is shocking. Ten practices told us they are no longer providing any medic…

I want to talk about the lack of broadband in Mayo. As a previous speaker said, people in Mayo are taxpayers as well. They have been promised broadband and they are not getting it and they look at screens telling them it will happen in 2025 or 2026. Not one home has been connected yet. We have asked for details about the contract, such as whether there will be penalties for targets not being met or what will happen. It reminds me of the JobPath situation and the sell-off of Eircom. People want to know that they and…

I thank the Minister. As he knows, Sinn Féin supports legislative reform in higher education to clarify the role of the HEA, to increase inclusion and access and to ensure proper governance and accountability. I acknowledge that the Minister and his Department have taken on board a number of recommendations - some, but not all - that Sinn Féin put forward during pre-legislative scrutiny. They included issues around the role of the HEA in promoting the Irish language, increasing North-South co-operation, increasing …

Obviously, we are supporting the Bill, which is welcome and long overdue. The register that this Bill establishes was originally proposed in the 1970s. If that had actually happened in the 1970s or the 1980s and was not on a voluntary basis, I wonder if it would have saved heartache, agony and stress endured by the homeowners in Mayo, Donegal, Clare and some other counties who have been affected by pyrite and mica. Would it have happened if we had had the proper regulation? I do not think it would. The Bill provide…

Healthcare capacity has to be included in the national risk assessment along with issues of public health. It is beyond question that, when a public health emergency hits, it is already too late. I commend those who work on the front line in that system. Prior to the outbreak of the pandemic, we had the longest waiting lists in the EU. We had a series of some of the longest and strictest lockdowns because we had so little spare capacity in the health system. Today, more than 800,000 people are on some form of waiti…

It is not too late for the Minister to do the right thing. Over the past two years, more than 6,000 people have died with Covid in the State and 9,159 on the island. In excess of 1 million have contracted the virus. Millions more have been close contacts. Leaving certificate students and their families are not immune. They are not different. They are part of society and what society had to endure. I do not think anyone would argue the fact that the high levels of absence among students and teachers, through no faul…

I too extend my condolences to the Murphy family on the loss of Ashling Murphy. The whole country has been united in sorrow and anger over the past week. That must mean something and it must count for something. We have to remember, as has been stated, that Ashling is one of 244 women who have died violently since 1966 and we have to ask ourselves why, in 2022, there is so much left to do. The truth is that we have not prioritised addressing violence against women. We must do so in a serious way. I listened intentl…

I do not have time to wish everybody a happy Christmas in 30 seconds but I do anyway. It is unfortunate that in the last session of the Dáil, I must raise the issue of households in County Mayo not having drinking water. I refer in particular to the people of Cleragh and Lisduff just outside Kiltimagh, who have fought for the last ten years for clean water. All they want is to be connected. Will the Tánaiste intervene with Irish Water and Mayo County Council to ask them to get their act together? These people shoul…

I am sharing time with Deputy Martin Kenny. The reality is that the EU, Britain and Switzerland are the biggest barriers to the global roll-out of the vaccine because they are blocking the TRIPS waiver in the WTO. The EU, including this Government, is prioritising the profit margins of a handful of pharma companies over human life. The official death toll from Covid is 5 million but Oxfam puts that figure closer to 17 million due to under-reporting of deaths in poorer countries. That is 17 million human beings. We …

As the number of people getting infected with Covid escalates, we see the chaos around third level examinations and assessments unfolding. Mass examination halls at normal capacity are being used to host the end-of-semester exams. Many students and staff have legitimate health and safety concerns for themselves and vulnerable family members. Others are Covid-positive or are close contacts and have their movements restricted or have to self-isolate. Deferring exams and assessment is a deplorable option. Aside from t…

As the Minister is aware, our fishing industry makes a significant contribution to the economic and social fabric of many small communities located around our coastline, not least in the coastal area of my home county of Mayo. Every day of the week, people in the fishing industry tell me they feel let down and abandoned. Sinn Féin fully recognises the importance of co-operation at an international level, predominantly through the EU, for the sustainable management of fish stocks. That said, the current Common Fishe…

The issue of adequate ventilation in the workplace is extremely important. I thank Solidarity-People Before Profit for bringing this legislation forward. The Bill aims to give workers the right to request an inspection of their workplace by the HSA to verify sufficient levels of fresh air. I have no doubt that the right to clean air would be viewed by most people as a fair and reasonable right that should be afforded to every worker. It is not always possible to achieve this with open windows and doors. In Belmulle…

The Taoiseach constantly refers to the satisfaction level with the old mica redress scheme. Within one month of the announcement of the intention to introduce a new scheme, we, in County Mayo, submitted 18 different suggested changes to make it workable. The Taoiseach is not correct to say that we did not submit suggestions. We went through the old scheme painstakingly. I want to clarify some points. Does the 100% redress mean 100% redress to rebuild? Will that exclude nobody impacted by pyrite? Does it include the…

I thank all of the LESs and staff in Mayo for their hard work, dedication, experience and knowledge of communities, which is invaluable. The Minister of State is making a mistake. He is making the same mistake that was made when the home help services were destroyed through a similar type of model to that now being proposed. Hours were cut. The same happened to community development projects. There are long-term consequences. The Government swiped them away and we can now see the consequences in many inner city and…

Students, like many others in the State, are struggling to get by due to the cost of living. Between fees, rent and transport, students are finding it very hard to make ends meet. Many of them have been in contact with my office after hearing announcements or reading headlines stating that more funding is being made available. Can the Minister clearly set out the increases in expenditure from the last academic year to this one in the areas of Student Universal Support Ireland, SUSI, the student assistance fund and …

The Minister has been Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science for two budgets. In October 2020 he announced an additional €20 million for SUSI which was very welcome. The Department spent the same amount on SUSI in 2020 as it had in 2019. We are on track for a slight increase in 2021, but nowhere near the €20 million announced in his first budget. Last month, he announced an additional €35 million for SUSI but only in response to my question did he clarify that this would in fact…