On a point of order-----

I came in at 9.30 this morning and put my name down.

I have a very important question for the Taoiseach about-----

-----SouthDoc in Blackpool. Three months I am raising the issue-----

I cannot raise the issue with the Taoiseach. It is a disgrace.

I welcome this Bill. I disagree with white-collar crime but I do not believe this legislation will make any difference. Ten years ago, the Government bailed out the banks at a cost of €64 billion. According to the Comptroller and Auditor General, this continues to cost us €3 million per week. To put this in context, the pandemic unemployment payment, which the Government has continuously tried to cut on the basis that we cannot afford it, has cost us €5 billion. I believe that if there was another banking crisis to…

The latest managers' report from Cork City Council states that there are 8,913 individuals and families on the housing list in Cork city alone. That does not include all the people on the housing assistance payment, HAP, scheme or the rental accommodation scheme, RAS. On average, 1,054 new applications are received in Cork annually. Cork City Council built approximately 600 houses in 2020. Before the Minister mentions the issues arising because of the Covid crisis, I will point out that it built 654 the previous ye…

There is probably only one service nationally offering specialist treatment for people with gambling addiction. In four weeks, this service will have to close because of a lack of funding. What will people who are stuck in gambling addiction and their families do then? The service needs funding for the next few months until the Gambling Control Bill is finally passed and the social fund is established. Is it supposed to tell people in the meantime that the Government does not care? Will the Tánaiste help this servi…

I am not sure what happened with Deputy O'Donoghue but I come in and put my name down every day and I come in early to do it. Maybe there was a mix-up today but we do not put our names down in blocks. We come in early because we want to speak.

I will begin by thanking my party colleague, Deputy Ward, for his hard work on this legislation. For the last number of months, I have had the honour of meeting with addiction services who are working on the ground. The knowledge and the expertise they have shared with me has been invaluable. I take this opportunity to thank them for meeting with me, sharing their experiences and helping me to build Sinn Féin's policy that reflects what is happening on the ground. Time and time again, these services have raised wit…

I commend my party colleague, Deputy Cullinane, on tabling this motion. It is a disgrace that we are here again debating student nurses and midwives getting paid. I raised this matter in the Dáil last March. It took us weeks before we could get the then Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, to acknowledge the work that student nurses and midwives were doing on the front line. He put in place a payment for them. The then Taoiseach also recognised that student nurses were working on the front line. Fast forward a numbe…

On Friday, the Minister for Health confirmed to me that SouthDoc clinic in Blackpool was to reopen on Monday. At short notice over the weekend, SouthDoc reversed that decision and the Blackpool clinic did not open. SouthDoc has received €7.3 million to provide out-of-hours GP services for the Cork and Kerry region. It has misled the HSE, the Minister, and more importantly, the people of Cork North-Central. I have been raising this issue for months. Will the Taoiseach personally intervene in this matter, contact Sou…

Last night in my constituency, a community came under attack from youths lighting fires and engaging in antisocial behaviour. In part, the reason for this is derelict council properties that have been allowed to lie idle for years. There are a number of problems. First, thousands of families in Cork are crying out to be housed. Second, they are looking at houses that are lying idle. Those houses are a magnet for young people, gangs, antisocial behaviour and criminality. These people are terrifying and terrorising c…

During the first lockdown in April, The Irish Times reported that take-home alcohol sales increased by 40%, with €158 million being spent on alcohol to be consumed in the home. It is vitally important that we have a conversation about alcohol misuse in the light of the serious mental health concerns raised by my party colleague, Deputy Ward, and me, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Social isolation, depression and anxiety are all triggers for harmful alcohol consumption, yet the Government does not seem to be …

I want to raise the need for capital expenditure to be provided this year for the building of a hospital on the north side of Cork city. Deputy Colm Burke, the Fine Gael health spokesperson, has raised this issue over the years. Somehow, however, we are entering ten years of Fine Gael being in government and there is still no hospital on Cork's north side. It is unbelievable that nothing has happened after a decade of Fine Gael talking about building it. The proposed site study of the St. Stephen's hospital site in…

I take this opportunity to speak about the Covid-19 vaccine. I want to state on the record that as soon as it is available to me personally, I will be taking the vaccine. When the swine flu vaccine came out 11 years ago, I was one of those people deemed a vulnerable person and myself and my baby daughter were some of the people who were vaccinated. I know people have concerns about the vaccine but I would tell them to follow the medical advice and the advice of the experts. They are the people we are putting our tr…

I want to raise an issue that has come to the fore and been highlighted as a result of Brexit, that is, connectivity and people being able to connect in the face of Brexit and the consequences that has for companies. We have a very intelligent, educated workforce who are eager to work and to learn. We are lucky in that respect. Many companies are now looking for employees to work from home but what we have seen as a result of the Covid-19 crisis, and of Brexit, is that there is no broadband in the communities. As a…

This Christmas will be like no other. People are finally looking forward to going out socialising with family and friends. The long-awaited controlled environments that the Government has announced for people to go out and meet in are welcome. Realistically, this will not be possible for many ordinary people because having to pay for a substantial meal will limit or completely stop them from going out to socialise with family and friends. Wet pubs or traditional pubs being closed means most ordinary people, many of…

Today I received correspondence from the HSE which indicates that on 18 September and again on 16 October the executive wrote to SouthDoc and instructed it to reopen its facility in Blackpool in Cork. The HSE warned that it did not accept the closure of this facility because it increased the risk of unnecessary presentations being made to acute hospitals. If the facility at Blackpool is not reopened by 31 December, SouthDoc will be in breach of its service level agreement. SouthDoc receives more than €7 million fro…

I will be contributing at length during the later Stages of this Bill but I wanted to take this opportunity to emphasise the importance of proper public consultation. In Cork, serious concerns are being raised by people at the minute regarding the consultation process for residents who may be affected by one of the routes of the M20. These residents feel they are being shut out of the consultation process. Despite my efforts, I have been unable to arrange a group meeting or consultation for the residents of Whitech…