I move: That Dáil Éireann: notes that: — in May 2013, the Government announced that the National Maternity Hospital (NMH) would move to Elm Park to co-locate with St. Vincent’s University Hospital (SVUH), based on the recommendation that maternity hospitals should co-locate with acute general hospitals; — between 2013-2016, a dispute regarding co-location versus ownership arose between the NMH and St. Vincent’s Healthcare Group (SVHG), which resulted in SVHG rejecting the proposal of co-location and adapting its po…

I thank all Members who contributed to this debate. I also thank the cross-party Oireachtas group, which was formed last month, for helping to put this issue centre stage in politics. I wish to acknowledge and thank Dr. Peter Boylan for the important role he has played and the assistance he has provided. He has been a tireless advocate for women's healthcare. I also thank and acknowledge the role of the campaign against church control of women's healthcare, as well as the National Women's Council, for their help an…

Two reports published today highlight that the State continues to heap disadvantage on disadvantage in the treatment of vulnerable children. The Ombudsman for Children has published a hugely concerning report about the impact of the pandemic on children in general. In the report, the ombudsman describes 2020 as a devastating year for children, which it was. Schools and sports facilities closed while other activities came to an abrupt halt. Children could not see their families or friends. All the normal and joyful …

We already have an unacceptably high number of children who are disadvantaged. Those children have been doubly disadvantaged over the past year and we need a comprehensive response to their particular circumstances. I am asking the Taoiseach to take the lead on this because it involves a number of different Departments. These issues touch on education, child welfare and health. All of the agencies with responsibility in those areas need to be brought together to devise an immediate and urgent response to the partic…

The Taoiseach needs to take responsibility.

Will the Taoiseach produce a plan?

Will the Taoiseach produce a plan?

I also raise an issue in relation to the AstraZeneca vaccine. We cannot deny that there is a high level of concern among people in their 60s and those with underlying health conditions who have received their first dose of AstraZeneca. The first concern relates to the length of the interval between doses but a second concern relates to the efficacy of the vaccine in respect of the Delta variant. Things have changed since we got more information about the Delta variant. We know now that, even with two doses, AstraZe…

Not against transmissibility.

I have two points to make. The first relates to the changes to home quarantining. Those changes will be meaningless unless there is some element of supervision. At a minimum, what should be done is a linking up of the passenger locator form with the PCR test result, because we simply do not know what is happening, whether people are getting tested or what test results are. My second point is about the Irish Cancer Society, which is warning very clearly that we are facing a tsunami of undiagnosed and, in some instan…

I apologise for being late in arriving. We know there is a problem with land hoarding which contributes to the high cost of housing and the lack of adequate supply. The vacant site levy was designed to address this problem but we would all accept that it is simply not working. I am asking the Minister if he will consider redesigning the scheme to give Revenue responsibility for collecting the levy.

I note the Minister did not express confidence in the scheme as it is operating at the moment. Thanks to work being done by the Business Post , it has been reported that last year €21.5 million was owed on vacant sites. In that same year, €21,000 was collected. By any standards, the system is not working. The local authorities simply do not have the resources or personnel to do the follow-up work. The figures speak for themselves. A solicitor and tax specialist who is experienced in this area has been in touch with…

I am happy to send the Minister details of the proposal. It proposes to put the onus on landowners to get themselves put on the register, for them to self-assess and to face a charge on their land when they sell it if they do not self-assess. Minimal change to legislation, whereby the levy is turned into a charge on the land, would be needed to achieve that. Such a system has a lot to recommend it because the present system is simply not working. The purpose of the system is obviously not to generate revenue but it…

I welcome the opportunity for this debate. However, I would echo the points made by other speakers on the process behind the development of the recovery and resilience plan and the economic recovery plan. It would have been much better if there had been wider involvement and debate in the preparation of those plans. They are supposed to be national plans. It was short-sighted of the Government not to include all parties and all Members across the House in the development of those. It could have had the various Dáil…

I move amendment No. 1: In page 5, line 9, to delete “the 9th day of November 2021” and substitute “the 14th day of July 2021”. The legislation relates to four Acts that were passed by the Oireachtas last year. By any standard, those Acts provided for the most wide-ranging and draconian powers that one could imagine. At that time, the Oireachtas gave the Government approval to introduce that draconian legislation on the basis of the crisis facing the country as a result of the pandemic. It was truly a crisis situat…

There are many positive things in today's plan, particularly the supports for small businesses, which are critical in creating employment. Will the Taoiseach address the issue of people who have lost their jobs as a result of the Covid pandemic? He has repeatedly promised that there will be no cliff edge when it comes to the withdrawal of the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, yet today he has announced that there will be such a cliff edge. No matter what level of restrictions are in place across the country in Se…

The Taoiseach spoke about other sectors. The investment in other sectors is welcome, but it is not going to help people who will be unable to get a job by next February. Those people lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic. The Taoiseach has accepted that it will not be possible to reboot the economy by next February. What then is he saying to those people who will not get their jobs back by next February? He is saying to them that they can sustain a cut of 40% in their already low incomes. The Taoiseach will k…

There is growing public concern about the prospect of the new national maternity hospital being gifted to a private entity, and the implications of that from the taxpayer's point of view but also regarding the ethos that will apply in those circumstances-----

This was raised with the Taoiseach a couple of weeks ago-----

The Taoiseach said he would come back on this. Will he provide time this week to respond to people who raised this, following his discussions with the Minister for Health?