No. That is exactly what you want to do.

I am not going to be drawn into those silly games.

If you want to play those games with Sinn Féin, you are very welcome to do that but we are not going to participate.

Will you say that outside as well?

You are very brave when you have the protection of this House.

On a point of order, I am of the view that the personalised derogatory comments that the Tánaiste made about me earlier impugned my character, integrity and good name. I am seeking the protection of the Chair and for the Tánaiste to withdraw those comments.

That was very gracious.

I thank the Regional Group for tabling this important motion and acknowledge Deputy Naughten's work in this area over some time. He certainly stuck with it for a long time, as indeed have other Members. Unfortunately, the Minister for Health has not responded to this. It seems as though the Government is hell-bent on sidelining long Covid. As such, any opportunity to highlight issues related to long Covid care and support is very welcome. There are so many people suffering from the condition, yet the Government see…

On Friday, 7 October, an explosion tore through the heart of Creeslough. In an instant, the lives of ten people were snatched away and the lives of those left behind were changed utterly. On that terrible day, we lost James O'Flaherty, Jessica Gallagher, Martin McGill, Hugh Kelly, Martina Martin, Leona Harper, who was just 14, Robert Garwe, and his little daughter, Shauna Flanagan Garwe, Catherine O'Connell and her teenage son, James Monaghan. For the families involved, such appalling loss is unfathomable and unima…

I welcome the motion by Sinn Féin, which the Social Democrats will support. It is a timely debate following the publication of the report by the strategic workforce advisory group last month. I also welcome the strong endorsement by the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, of all 16 of the group's recommendations. I assure the Minister of State that she will have the full support of the Social Democrats if she proceeds to implement those in a timely way. However, I am concerned that there is no clear time line for the…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Finance Bill. It is always good to have time and space between the announcement of the budget and the consideration of the Finance Bill because it gives an opportunity to clear away some of the fog and spin and to understand exactly the impact of the budget provisions. One of the most disappointing aspects of budget 2023 is its permanent distributional effects. I have heard more than a few Government Deputies and a couple of Ministers say this is a progressive budget rather…

In broad terms, I welcome this legislation, but as other speakers have said, I hope the Minister will be open to amending the legislation to strengthen it, because I feel that it does not go anywhere near far enough. There is an onus on us to clean up our own house. As a body, we have been remiss in doing that. There has not been the required sense of urgency following various scandals that have broken in this country. If we are going to do it, we should be doing it right. The Irish political system is undoubtedly …

We have heard about the wide range of concerns and shortcomings regarding the proposed mother and baby institutions payment scheme. These concerns echo those raised by the survivor groups, which are yet again deeply disappointed by the failure to deliver on fair redress. The scheme falls far short of the absolute minimum required to begin to address the great damage done to those abducted and incarcerated in mother and baby homes. The scheme has many significant flaws, including that only 34,000 out of 58,000 survi…

The "Prime Time" programme on the decline of O'Connell Street last night made for grim viewing, but I do not think any of us were particularly shocked or surprised by it. O'Connell Street and the surrounding area have been in decline for several years. As we saw in the programme last night, a variety of problems are now endemic to the area. There is widespread antisocial behaviour, open drug taking and drug dealing, persistent serious violent incidents, chronic dereliction and vacancy, and deeply ingrained dirt and…

I thank the Taoiseach for describing the problem, but I asked him about what he is going to do about it. This is the main street of our capital city, and it is a disgrace. I asked him if he would consider establishing a Taoiseach's task force. Will he bring proposals to this House next month when statements on O’Connell Street will be taken? We have talked about this for long enough and this is now at a tipping point. Businesses are complaining that they cannot get footfall on O'Connell Street because of the state …

We need action.

If the Government stopped the LPT in Dublin city-----

I want to start by welcoming this long-overdue Bill, which the Central Bank first called for in 2018. It is clear from recent history that the senior executive accountability framework is sorely needed, along with the enhanced Central Bank powers, so that the wrongdoings of the past are not repeated. Why has it taken over four years to progress this Bill? We have the very same Minister for Finance that we had when the Central Bank first called for this framework. The Minister is at pains to stress that the Bill has…

There were two stories over the weekend which really typify everything that is wrong with the Government's approach to housing. The Irish Mail on Sunday reported that State lender, Home Building Finance Ireland, has entirely financed the construction of 211 apartments in Clonsilla. It has not financed homes that will be owned by the State or apartments that will be leased on a cost-rental basis. These are apartments that have been block-bought by one of the biggest and wealthiest institutional landlords in the coun…

When this phenomenon was brought to the Taoiseach's attention a couple of years ago, he seemed completely unaware of it. Belatedly, the Government moved to stop the practice of funds buying up homes and put a limit on them.