For a party that now aspires to be in government, Sinn Féin has to tell people what it is going to do every year. This year, we are very honest-----

I am looking forward to-----

Sinn Féin does not actually develop policy. Its Members just shout. What they actually need to do is explain to people how they would reform the health services. I thought we had an all-party agreement in this House called Sláintecare about how to do it and I thought Sinn Féin signed up to that too.

You think that, every single year, you can just promise people everything and anything without actually showing them how it will be delivered. I ask people listening at home to please not fall for the misinformation, disinformation and noise.

Some 2,268 more people will be hired into the health service this year-----

-----and probably more than the 2,268. When disability services are included, 3,000 people will be hired into the health service this year. That is important. I am quite sure when the national children's hospital is built, the Sinn Féin Deputies will want to be at the opening and will see how good it is for children's health in this country.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I certainly will not disagree with her in any way about how disturbing the testimony was at the inquest. I am conscious every time we discuss the issue in this House, rightly so, of Aoife Johnston's family. I express my deepest sympathies to her family, who have been devastated by her loss. My thoughts are with her family after what has been an unimaginably difficult and painful time. I did hear of some changes that have happened in the hospital and it is worth briefly put…

I certainly will come back to the Deputy on those three issues. I will liaise directly with the Minister for Health and revert to her then. I take the point about global figures and the need to make sure that we do not just use them and that we get under the bonnet. I would just say on the recruitment issue that I have endeavoured to do quite a bit of that in relation to UHL. By any objective standards the level of additional staff in UHL, relative to other hospitals, has been significant. That leads me to raise tw…

I reject out of hand the Deputy's hypothesis relating to our migration situation in this country. The reason we have seen a very significant increase in people coming, not just to Ireland but right across the European Union is multifold. None of them have anything to do with the name of the Minister for Justice of any country. That is very clear. Anybody with any understanding of migration patterns across the European Union, Ireland, the war in Ukraine and the likes, would very quickly arrive at that conclusion, bu…

The Deputy has a better understanding of how to run a sweet shop in Bray that he has of migration policy because this Minister does measure metrics and talks about them to this House.

I will come in and buy a lollipop from the Deputy in Bray.

Processing times are down and deportations are up. The numbers of countries on the safe country list are up. More gardaí are being freed up. We are working with our European colleagues because we recognise that this island on its own cannot solve migration issues. We must have effective policies in place around returns, which is a word I do not like, by the way, when we are talking about human beings, but there have to be effective agreements in place across the European Union. When I go to the European Council, th…

I have no interest at all in this country being used as a pawn in British politics. We have an agreement in place. It is called a standard operating procedure for processing and transferring asylum seekers between the UK and Ireland.

I ask the Deputy to stop interrupting. The agreement has been in place since 2020 and it sets out the procedure. It is an operational guide that is rooted in the following legislation of this country: the International Protection Act 2015 and Part 18 of the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (Consequential Provisions) Act 2020, which the Deputy may or may not have voted for. In the UK, the relevant pieces of legislation are Part 11 of the immigration rules and the Asylum and Immigration (Treat…

I thank the Deputy for raising an issue about which he clearly, and understandably, feels passionate. Without wishing to make Opposition parties in this House feel uncomfortable, I do not doubt that all parties raise this issue on a regular basis. I do not doubt the bona fides of anybody on any side of this House in respect of wanting to see progress in healthcare and in respect of UHL. That should be the starting point for any civil debate or discussion we have. I agree with the Deputy on the broader point about t…

The Deputy pointed to a couple of issues. We are all very proud of the work being done by staff in the hospital. The Deputy is right to make that point. Staff working on the front line in UHL are doing extraordinarily good and important work in providing the very best care they possibly can to the people of the mid-west. We are not in any way, shape or form moving away from the very difficult and painful situations that have arisen in that hospital. I acknowledge that many people have had very excellent outcomes th…

When I was on my way in the car this morning, I heard on the radio that it was the Deputy's birthday. I meant to wish her a happy birthday in a moment of levity.

I am sure she is delighted to be spending it with me. I hope she gets some time to enjoy it later. I thank the Deputy for raising a very serious issue. It is a rare issue on which the Deputy and I agree. Our view on the UK legacy Act has been clear since the legislation was first published. We are opposed to it. It is a unilateral move in the wrong direction and represents a fundamental break from what the two Governments and most parties in Northern Ireland agreed to in the Stormont House Agreement. As the Deputy …

I wish the Deputy a happy May Day as well. I thank her for raising this issue. This Government has taken any number of measures in terms of workers' rights, whether that is the statutory sick scheme, domestic violence leave or parental leave. I appreciate the area the Deputy has raised is very important and sensitive to many people. I will familiarise myself with where that is within the Department. I will talk to the line Minister directly and come back to the Deputy.

Of course, I would disagree with that assertion of the Government's actions. As the Deputy said, the Government did introduce the increased stamp duty. The Government is continuing to keep this under review and has not ruled out going further in this regard. The Minister for Finance said that himself in recent weeks. I will ask him for an update on that.