The cuckoo funds are competing with them by being incentivised to enter these-----

Sorry, that is not my party.

Just answer the question.

Answer the question. Are you going back on your word?

Two months ago, you said something.

Now you are doing the opposite.

Yes, I completely agree with those comments. I do not understand why there is a difficulty with questions and answers in this session, which has been taking place for months now at the end of the week, at which we have interaction on the latest information on the vaccine programme. It is generally fairly productive and the Minister has not had a difficulty with that. Were the Minister agreeable this morning, we could continue like that where we use our time for a question-and-answer session. Would it be possible to…

With all due respects to the Minister, he spoke on "Morning Ireland" earlier this morning and presumably he had preparation for that. He had a great deal of material at his disposal and he shared information on that programme. The Minister is fairly up-to-date on the situation and if there are issues we raise that he is not in a position to answer, we would be very happy to accept a note on them afterwards. The Minister should be reasonable about this and I do not know why there would be any attempt made to limit d…

I will mention last night's "Prime Time" programme, which exposed very disturbing and shocking abuse and neglect of older people in some nursing homes. This is an issue that has been very well flagged for a long time. Last year, the Covid committee raised serious concerns, as did the expert group Sage Advocacy and care champions. They have all raised issues relating to the maltreatment of older people. An inquiry is needed, but we know the key things that need to be done urgently and we need action on those. The in…

Provision of banking and access to banking and financial services generally is core to the future prosperity and well-being of people across this island. Providing these services well is crucial. Getting them wrong, as we know from experience, can be disastrous. The approach to banking of successive Ministers of Finance and the Department leaves Ireland hostage to the big banks. Since the beginning of 2015, about 340 bank branches around Ireland have closed or their impending closure has been announced. That is one…

Yesterday, the Taoiseach announced what amounted to an indefinite postponement of the reopening of indoor hospitality. At this stage, there is no clear plan or new date for when that sector will open. Some 24 hours later, there are still many unanswered questions. While I accept that this is a challenging situation, the public should be entitled to basic information on the background to the shocking announcement the Taoiseach made yesterday. I would very much appreciate him answering some of my questions. I am posi…

I asked the Taoiseach specific questions and he has not answered them. I will ask them again. How long does he expect it will take to devise a Covid-19 pass from scratch? What is the timescale the Government has in mind in that regard? Why is the Government not engaging with the Opposition on this matter? It has not organised any briefings since last December. The latest data on the Department's website dates from April. How can the Taoiseach expect us to work collaboratively on this when he does not include the Op…

There have been no briefings provided at all this year.

That was last year. It is a long time ago.

There has been no briefing this year.

The Taoiseach cannot deny there has been no briefing this year.

When precisely did the Tánaiste become seriously concerned about the proposed new national maternity hospital deal? Last week, the Tánaiste told this House that there were fundamental problems with two aspects of the deal, namely, ownership and governance. Given that I have been telling the Tánaiste exactly that for the past four years, I am quite curious as to when he finally saw the light. His comments in the House last week were surprising in several respects. First, it had been pointed out to him for years by m…

Is serious consideration being given to Tallaght Hospital, St James’s Hospital or anywhere else?

It is really a bit rich for the Tánaiste to say he expressed serious concerns just because he happened to be asked a question here. The mantra from the Government has been that the Mulvey deal is the solution. Does the Tánaiste now accept that the Mulvey deal is the problem? Apart from the issue of the lease of the site, what the Mulvey deal sets out is a corporate structure which entails St. Vincent's owning the full operation of the new national maternity hospital. Under that deal, the national maternity hospital…

The Government has continued with it-----