-----it is the clinical care that is recommended. I believe that to happen. When I corresponded last night with the family, that is the point I made. We are very happy for my team to talk to the family, very happy to help in every way we can but, ultimately-----

-----a clinical decision will have to be made here and for the Deputy to suggest that there is some clinical lever that I can pull that I just could not be bothered pulling is insulting to parents of sick children.

The Deputy is better than that and sick children deserve better than that.

Stop playing politics with the issue.

I thank the Deputy for raising this extraordinarily important issue. Lives have been destroyed. A national trauma has been unleashed and I join with her in paying tribute to Mark - I am thinking of him and his memory today - his brother David and, indeed, all the survivors and victims who came forward. They have done the State an extraordinary service. Let me be crystal clear just in case there is any misinterpretation in any manner or means about what the Deputy may or may not have heard me or any member of the Go…

Has the Deputy done that? This is not just a debating chamber. She is a legislator. Anybody can bring forward legislation in this House so if she has ideas about how she thinks the law should be changed, she should bring them forward and we will engage with her.

Thank you very much because we are not just here to commentate on this most shocking national tragedy and trauma. We are here to come forward with ideas. I do not intend to play politics with this or throw the Deputy's words back at her in the way she tends to misrepresent mine. I was calling on people who call themselves Christian to act in accordance with their values. I also said that we will use every lever at our disposal to make sure these people get truth, accountability and justice and nothing is off the ta…

I thank Deputy Collins for raising the matter. The Minister for Health became aware of this on Monday morning and, as the Deputy has requested, he had intervened by Monday afternoon to resolve the matter. Once it was brought to the Minister’s attention, he took swift action. I commend him for that because this never should have happened and it was never the intention that it would happen. As a Government, we have significantly increased investment in the National Ambulance Service and, in fact, we have increased it…

Welcome back, Deputy Barry. The Minister is instead examining ways to ensure that funding is provided so that front-line services can be maintained. We will continue to work with Deputies in Cork and Kerry on this matter.

With respect to the Deputy, I appreciate he is raising an important issue but he gave a view in relation to confidence and said nobody had confidence, etc. Just to be clear, I have confidence in the head of the National Ambulance Service, Robert Morton, in the management of the National Ambulance Service and in the people working in the National Ambulance Service.

I thank Deputy Healy-Rae for his intervention. I base that on the fact that when people give commitments as to what their targets are going to be for the year and then exceed those commitments, that is a good sign. Deputy Collins talked about the cases, and he is right to highlight them. I do not in any way dismiss them but when it comes to the published KPIs for the National Ambulance Service targets for purple and red calls, that is, life-threatening and cardiac life-threatening calls, the National Ambulance Serv…

I thank Deputy Fitzmaurice for raising this important matter. First, in relation to Lough Funshinagh, I thank him for the constructive engagement he has had with the Government on the matter. I am pleased Roscommon County Council intends to submit a planning application to An Bord Pleanála this week. I have been in the homes of the people impacted. The fear they are living with is quite horrific. I am conscious winter is coming. We will all continue to work together closely on the issue. I thank the Minister of Sta…

I can hear the passion in the Deputy's voice about the situation he is working his way through. I think it highlights a broader issue about how we empower the person with a disability and their family in terms of the budget that the State allocates to them. I know the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, and the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, and others have done work in relation to this. Rather than just funding the charity or the service provider, the model of funding the individual with a personalised budget has been…

Hear, hear.

I wish to be associated with the Ceann Comhairle’s comments on former Deputy Joe Carey. I wish him, his wife Grace and his family the very best and I thank him for his service to this House, to my party and to the people of County Clare. My understanding is that there was no dissent at the Business Committee to the Order of Business but new season, same old, so that is okay. People have raised a number of issues here which, of course, we are happy to consider how best to facilitate through the Business Committee. O…

Welcome back, lads. It is your first day back so we will facilitate it.

Not one of you sought this at the Business Committee. For those watching the theatrics at home, none of the Deputies dissented to the Order of Business and then they come to the House asking why we are not having a debate on housing. The reason is that they did not raise it.

If they please do that next week we will endeavour to facilitate them.

We will call a vote and they will be upset about the business but none of them bothered dissenting at the meeting. Let us have a little bit of fairness and give and take here. Deputy McGrath's commitment to investment in water services is something we share. The Government is very keen to do more in relation to water. Irish Water as a vehicle is delivering but investing more in its ability to deliver is something we want to look at. We have made clear our views around the potential to do that through a variety of o…

I thank Deputy McDonald. I am delighted to live in the real world and I am sure she lives there as well. The Garda Commissioner has put significant additional resources into high-visibility policing in Dublin's city centre and that will continue. Of course, when the Deputy makes comments such as "the Government has cut", she is suggesting that the Government decides the allocation of gardaí, which she knows not to be true. Gardaí are working tirelessly to keep our city safe for residents and visitors alike. The ove…