It has been put by many colleagues in the House, particularly Deputy Ó Laoghaire, that a considerable number of us in Sinn Féin would have supported that overall idea of auto-enrolment. It is something for which we would have pushed for a considerable amount of time. An argument can even be made that we are late to the game in that regard. Like an awful lot of other schemes, however, the whole idea is that we get it right. I am going to reiterate what has already been said because it is absolutely vital in this par…

It is with regard to people now having to send their stuff, whether it is by email or otherwise. They go into the Intreo office, and it is obviously posted on. I think it is Galway for us. There are also prepaid envelopes. However, a number of people have told me that the stuff has not arrived in time. The number of people who have told me their applications have been cancelled without them being informed and whose materials have been lost is absolutely huge. One lady was absolutely distraught on the basis that she…

-----but it is something that needs to be dealt with.

If I had more time-----

-----I would be dealing with the issue regarding the ex-Córas Iompair Éireann, CIÉ, workers. I know something is happening in the audiovisual room with regard to this, but the issue was brought to me by Liam and Pat, who would obviously be very good constituents of mine. Go raibh maith agat.

I am deeply hurt.

Deputy Cullinane brought this motion forward because cancer services are not being properly funded. The Government has absolutely failed to fund the cancer strategy for five of the past seven years. As has already been said, we are dealing with expensive lifesaving equipment lying idle due to staff shortages. Cancer surgeries are being cancelled because of hospital overcrowding. It has been stated explicitly that the Government must fund this strategy, end the recruitment embargo and fund the 1,500 beds, but like m…

We are here to welcome 20 years of the smoking ban. I recall some of the conversation at the time in the public domain. It was like the roof was going to fall in and that it was going to be impossible. I absolutely agree with Deputy Gould when he says that it was a brave move. I congratulate people on the work that has been done. We have seen that it has been transformative. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Colm Burke, to his new position. I imagine we will have a number of interactions. He is talking about …

We all realise how lucky we have been to have corporation tax income but the fact is that some of it is windfall revenue and cannot be relied on. Everybody understands the idea of putting money away for a rainy day, but I will hardly be the first person to say that unfortunately it is raining for a lot of people at this point. I do not see how Sinn Féin could in any way support the future Ireland fund or the infrastructure, climate and nature fund unless they are changed to a large degree, particularly as they coul…

In accordance with Standing Order 80(2), the division is postponed until the next weekly division time.

Can I come in?

It relates to funding and flooding.

I bring up the issue of the difficulty for autistic kids and their families in accessing necessary mental health services. I have just come from a meeting of the all-party parliamentary group on autism with Families for Reform of CAMHS. We all know the ping-pong game that has existed between disability services and CAMHS. At times, it has been a case of no room at the inn if somebody has autism. I was told that the autism protocol was meant to deal with this but my understanding is it is not in operation across all…

-----with autism. All private assessments have stated the child has ADHD but that child cannot get an assessment anywhere, which is necessary.

I wish the Taoiseach well, but I add my voice to what the rest of the Opposition said about the next Taoiseach and the Government, that is, that the decision should be made now and made by the people. I want to follow on from Deputy Ó Laoghaire. We talk about the assessment of need backlogs and the people who cannot get assessments or therapies but we are not having the real conversation. Even if we get the workforce planning right now, we know we cannot fill all of the positions in the children's disability networ…

I raised previously the case of a fire station officer from Dunleer, John Molloy. The Taoiseach's office has responded to me about it. At the end of the day, the difficulty is that Mr. Molloy will turn 60 on 24 May. He is the fifth man in the minimum crew of five. Not only would we lose him with no one to replace him, we could also have an issue with the fire station. The Taoiseach said I would get an answer from the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform but we need some kind of interim fix if w…

It is obvious that Netanyahu's Israel is operating a policy of slaughter, starvation and famine. That is how he intends to ensure that not only will there be no Palestinian state, but there might also not be a Palestinian people. We all dread what is ahead in Rafah. Sinn Féin welcomed the Taoiseach's letter to Ursula von der Leyen. As Deputy Ó Laoghaire stated, it is somewhat shocking that there has not been a reply to that letter. If the humanitarian conditions of the EU-Israel association agreement are not being …

The credibility of the EU is at stake. There are more than 31,000 dead, 70% of them women or children, and 72,000 injured. These are just the figures we have at the minute – we do not know what they will increase to. António Guterres is right when he speaks about people facing catastrophic hunger, and that is even before the awaited ground invasion of Rafah. What would one expect from Netanyahu’s supremacist Israeli Government? It has told us what it is for. It has told us that it is absolutely against a Palestinia…

Has there been any movement among those who would join us? We need answers.

The EU needs to take action. It is failing miserably.