I have long been a firm believer in the need to reform and streamline the organ donation system. In particular the difficult and sensitive issue of consent from bereaved families needs to be addressed. Hopefully this legislation will go some way towards doing that. It is a terrible time for a family which is still reeling from the loss of a loved one. To be asked to donate as you watch a loved one die in front of you is a difficult time. It can never be easy, not only for the family involved, but also for the staff…

The forestry strategy in Ireland has always been geared in the wrong direction. A core weakness has been the failure to look after our national parks and native woodlands. Overgrazing by deer and sheep and infestation by invasive species like rhododendron are the norm in many of our native woodlands. While the forestry industry plays an important role in the economy, our forestry strategy cannot avoid the environmental impact of placing huge swathes of Sitka spruce on our hillsides. Our lack of respect for our biod…

Yesterday, HSE officials were before the Joint Committee on Health regarding the challenges facing many emergency departments across the State. It was a valuable meeting that served to highlight the damage that failure to invest in hospital capacity, primary and community care and workforce planning has done to our health service. I made the point, and it has been reiterated tonight, that it is frustrating for many people to be told go to their GP. In many cases, people do not have a GP or they cannot get to GP whe…

I do not know if there is anyone on the Government benches who can answer this. It is with regard to the numerous promises to reduce the waiting lists for those seeking a driving test across the State. Tallaght remains highest on the list consistently with more than 10,000 people waiting on tests. The two centres nearby have the second and third highest numbers in the State. I raised this issue numerous times in this Chamber with the relevant Minister but there does not seem to be a plan in that regard. Is there an…

There are more Shinners than Fine Gaelers here. That is for sure.

Where are all the Fine Gaelers?

Do not be worrying. We are not going anywhere.

There has been a change in relation to grants for people moving out of homeless accommodation into local authority or approved housing body accommodation. All applications from across Dublin are now being sent to a central hub and are no longer being dealt with by community welfare officers. This has resulted in applications taking up to 12 weeks, or three months, to process and is causing great difficulty for the individuals involved. As the Taoiseach knows, most people moving out of homelessness just have the clo…

Most fair-minded people do not believe that doctors are infallible and they accept that mistakes are made. They are made every day, as we know, but doctors do not only make mistakes, and they make positive calls in regard to diagnosis in the majority of cases. What is galling for many people and what they do not accept is that the truth behind mistakes being made is denied to them. That is the nub of the issue for many of us in the Opposition. The real fear I have about the legislation is that we are cementing a sy…

It is a little unsatisfactory. The way we do our business in this House is unsatisfactory at the best of times. The Minister was given additional time to explain his thinking within two minutes. He got another two minutes but it is still a bit unclear. I welcome the fact the Minister moved on the candour issue and that it will go to the Seanad. Like everything else we would like to see what wording or what way the Minister will bring the candour issue. When I spoke earlier, I make the point that this is not only ab…

The Minister said he understood the problem. The next step is to try to resolve it. He said it cannot be done in a rushed fashion and he mentioned that it might take up to ten years. I do not think anyone I have talked to, and there are a number of affected residents in my constituency, including in Ballycullen, Citywest and Rathfarnham, can wait that long. They are terrified, afraid and extremely angry because there is common agreement that homeowners are not responsible for defects that are due to light-touch bui…

€500,000 is not enough.

€500,000 is not enough.

We all have a vision of the Dublin we would like to see. It needs to be a safe place. I have never been frightened to go into any area of the city, but I know other people who have been frightened to do so. I know people who are terrified in their own homes every night of the week. It also needs to be a place in which ordinary people can afford to live. I do not think any other speakers touched on that. If we are talking about the future of Dublin, it has to be a place for everyone, not just an elite few who have a…

It is a daily occurrence where fire service vehicles are unavailable for deployment due to insufficient firefighters to crew them. Staff constantly battle exhaustion because of repeated requests to work overtime and cover staff shortages. That is what I am told by the firefighters. Simply put, we are putting our firefighters and the public in danger. We are gambling with people’s lives every day. This is not a new issue. I will focus on Dublin Fire Brigade. It has been highlighting severe understaffing and Governme…

If we want to pay more than lip service to independent living, delivering care in the home should be one of the highest priorities of our health service and of any government. Demographics suggest that we are all living longer, which is a good thing, but worryingly it is suggested that if people are not well off, they will struggle as they get older and the quality of their extended life will be poor unless supports are increased dramatically. It is an abandonment of our duty to our older and more vulnerable citize…

It should not come as a surprise or shock to anyone to hear that every price increase that comes from energy companies puts more and more pressure on struggling households. Surely we can all agree on that in the House. The Minister believes that the proposals he is putting forward are sufficient. The argument we are putting forward from this side of the House is that they are not and that he is not doing enough. Many workers and their families are left wondering how they are going to afford the bills that keep comi…

The Taoiseach's party wants to do away with history.

Deputy Mac Lochlainn stated that these blocks are still being made. That is extraordinary. We know it is still going on. We know that defective buildings are probably still being built. Deputies have given examples of that in their constituencies. The Government announced an anaemic scheme of compensation but it never once tried to go after those who caused the problem. Once again, it is the people who are asked to pick up the tab. Just like the insurance levy, the people are being saddled with the bill for a levy …

We know that health and housing have been the dominant issues in the past two Dáileanna and I would argue they have been the dominant issues over all of the Dáileanna when I have been a Deputy. I would also argue that budget 2023 fails to deal with either of them and just tinkers around the edges. The big solution for renters in this week's budget is a €500 annual tax credit. Again, it is welcome and better than nothing, but it is a sticking plaster approach and the problem is just getting worse. In the last Daft r…