I am very pleased to have the opportunity to speak on this debate on the EU migration and asylum pact. As we know, inward migration has become central to the political discourse and debate in Ireland particularly in the past year. The truth is that strongly held views on immigration are no longer only coming from people of one political persuasion. The discussion has become very much mainstream. Any Government that is doing its job needs to respond to that in a responsible way by addressing myths, bias and fears an…

That is just not true.

The Deputy is better than that.

Last night's "RTÉ Investigates" programme was, to say the least, uncomfortable watching. There is a lot to consider in the context of a European horsemeat trade that needs our attention in this House, but I want to focus for today on what we saw in Shannonside Foods Limited in Straffan. It was completely unacceptable and we need to deal with it very firmly. There was a horse in a crush being punched in the face, horses being beaten and whipped with a long length of piping, horses being allowed to fall and injure th…

I believe the Minister of State, the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, and the Department are taking this very seriously. However, I have a few questions. Regarding my question about Shannonside Foods Limited and whether it should continue to be operating, my view is that it should close until we have more clarity about the evidence we saw last night. If it is to remain open, it needs to be under the supervision of the Department and Department vets, and I think this is possible. If closure means we have a glut of hors…

He is working for the country.

You are grandstanding.

I thank the Deputy for again raising this issue. As we know, University Hospital Limerick is currently caring for an exceptionally high number of unwell medical patients in the hospital. The emergency department has seen its highest week of emergency presentations since the beginning of this year. UHL is currently at its highest state of escalation. Surge capacity has been opened there and across other hospitals. Scheduled activity across all sites was deferred and will remain under review, with only urgent, critic…

We are not singing any song. The Deputy should stop trying to misrepresent the position here. This is a situation where a very significant hospital in the country is under a lot of pressure. We are putting in place significant resources to respond to that pressure. Of course I acknowledge, as does the Government, the difficulties that staff and patients faced yesterday and face today and this week in the context of UHL. The pressures in this hospital are not new, which is why we have dramatically increased resource…

First of all, many hospitals in the country are performing really well and do not have patients on trolleys whereas they would have in the past. They have seen waiting lists come down significantly on what they were in the past. That is happening because of good management, more staff and more resources. We have a larger health budget now than ever before, and rightly so because our population is growing and ageing. With regard to the specifics of the question the Deputy has asked, there has been an unprecedented l…

With facts.

I accept what the Deputy is saying in raising issues to which the Government needs to respond. What I do not accept is the characterisation that the Government's response is that there is nothing to see here. There is a lot to see here. We see it and we are trying to respond to it. That is why staffing numbers in the HSE have grown by 22% in the past four years. That is why we are spending over €23 billion on healthcare now. We are seeing results from that expenditure in waiting times and trolley numbers falling. A…

Deputy Sherlock knows that when a health system-----

-----is escalated into pressurised management situations, you need to prioritise the patients who need beds most.

That is what is happening in Limerick today. Is that welcome? It certainly is not.

We have surge capacity using other beds in the region as best we can. This is a temporary arrangement-----

-----that we will move beyond as quickly as we can.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. To be fair, he has been really consistent in raising it for many months now and in keeping the Government focused and under pressure in respect of an adequate response. The European Commission has made a non-binding recommendation on the recognition of Covid-19 as an occupational disease. It did not make a recommendation, however, regarding long Covid, which I know is the issue the Deputy primarily raises. The decision regarding recognition is a member state competency. It…

-----quickly the regional long Covid clinics which have been promised.

From a Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment perspective, we will keep this issue under close review.