The Minister accused me of telling lies. I referred to a report on a study carried out in the UK.

It was not a lie. I would like the Minister to retract his statement.

What I referred to is not anti-vax in any shape or form.

It is a fact.

The Minister should be more responsible.

We have not resourced our ICUs as we should. We have not expanded ICU capacity as required. Long before Covid we had staff shortages. In key areas of the HSE, beds are closing, corridors are full of patients on trolleys and waiting lists are expanding. The Government has put all its eggs in the vaccination basket and believes so much in the vaccination that it is trying to coerce people to take it. It makes sense, therefore, that the booster shots are offered to the 3,500 nursing staff. I do not suggest that nurses…

A matter has arisen this morning in regard to the Christian Brothers Primary School in Wexford, which had a publicised closure to students this week because of a Covid outbreak. I emphasise the closure was for students because they were asked not to come to school, although all teachers and staff attended at school in order to provide online learning. This has generated poor publicity. The principal, Vicky Barron, and the board of management have the full support of the children and families whose health and safety…

I thank the Minister for her positive response. The engagement between the Minister and me has always been positive and I am pleased with her response. I again extend the invitation to the Minister to visit New Ross so the principal of the school, Mr. Pat Rossiter, can have the opportunity to show her around. I was there for the delivery in 2019 of the grant of funding for the new build. The enrolment of 397 students has increased to a current total of 403 students, although the school lost two students because of …

The purpose of the Bill is to provide a consistency in the type and availability of autism services that exist across the country. Although the Bill was first introduced in 2017, many of the problems that it sought to address still remain issues today. This highlights the need for legislative intervention. For those familiar with autism, they will know that it contains many different forms. That means each person has a different level of need. The cross-departmental engagement, as mentioned, is a way forward in the…

In 2018, the people of Wexford raised over €250,000, in consultation with and at the request of the HSE, to provide an MRI scanner for Wexford General Hospital. At the moment we have a service level agreement with a private provider but, unfortunately, we have not yet received our MRI scanner. A charity is now paying interest on the €250,000 that was raised while it sits in the bank and we are paying for a service level agreement that does not give bang for our buck vis-à-vis patients in Wexford because those patie…

I hope I will not need it all. I have had a good look at and put plenty of thought into the key recommendations. First and foremost, I want to thank those who took part in the assembly. Before I move on to the specifics, based on the engagement I have had at constituent level, I want to highlight the fact a citizens’ assembly is not necessarily representative of the population as a whole for a variety of reasons that have been brought to my attention. We cannot, therefore, automatically assume that the assembly is …

Five minutes each. I thank Sinn Féin for bringing the motion which again allows an opportunity to discuss some of the issues of housing and renters. At the outset, I want to acknowledge that there are some rogue landlords - some rogue landlords - who will do everything possible to get as much money from their property and who will use sometimes illegal and immoral methods to do so. I do not think the existence of rogue landlords is in any dispute but, equally, I do not believe all landlords are rogues. We do not ha…

This is the second budget I have addressed as a Member of the House. Last year, I focused on a number of crises that had developed over the course of the previous years. I mentioned the problems in housing, tourism, hospitality, physical health provision, mental healthcare, transport and agriculture. Unfortunately, in the 12 months that followed, very few of these issues have seen any progress. The policies of spending unprecedented billions, much of it in a wasteful manner, while at the same time putting the brake…

Nobody would dispute that parents' sole objective is to give their children the best start in life. We have to help parents to build a nurturing and loving environment, which is critical for a child's learning, emotional well-being and social development. However, the latest survey in 2019, conducted by the European Commission, revealed that childcare costs in Ireland are among the highest in Europe. The survey by Eurydice on early childhood education and care in Europe studied 38 countries. It found that Ireland h…

I thank the Minister. I appreciate that he is doing his utmost as a new Minister, but when he fires all those figures at us I can give comparable figures for other countries so he will know that we are not investing enough in childcare. The report from Eurydice in 2019 stated that the average monthly cost for childcare in Ireland for one child was €771, compared with an average monthly cost in the Netherlands of €572. That is €200 in excess of the cost in another country which is a very close neighbour and obviousl…

Giving parents the support necessary to provide children with a strong foundation is not just good social policy but it is good economic policy. Front-loading the investment into childcare might help avoid waiting lists, mental health issues and everything else that we endure. Ireland has consistently remained at the bottom of the class and the lack of investment costs us all. Parents pay the highest amount of take-home pay on childcare fees in the European Union. Providers operate precariously in a highly complex …

I very much welcome the opportunity to speak about the recovery of our tourism and aviation sectors. As an island nation, we rely heavily on our aviation sector to drive tourism so the two go hand in hand in many ways. Of all counties, Wexford has one of the highest, if not the highest, percentages of people employed in the tourism sector. Tourism is vital to the county's economic sustainability. Most of County Wexford is within two hours of Dublin Airport. If I have not said it before, we also have Ireland's most …

We have our history regarding the 1798 rebellion, the John F. Kennedy family homestead and various other sites of interest such as Hook Head, Enniscorthy Castle, Johnstown Castle and Fethard Castle, which the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, will visit tomorrow. We also have the National Opera House and many more attractions that are unrecognised and in need of urgent attention, such as Duncannon Port and our marine tourism sector. It is easy to see why County Wexford is a prime destination for tourists. With all …

Last week, the Taoiseach visited Rosslare Europort and Rosslare. For the umpteenth time, an announcement was made regarding the allocation of €40 million to develop a customs post after Brexit. This money would have been spent in any event. The point is that the Government is not committing any money to Rosslare, other than that which has been necessitated as a result of Brexit. No investment was announced that would deliver an upgrade of the port, deepening the waters or providing a new pier and quayside in order …

The Minister has missed the point. The much lauded €40 million that will be spent by the OPW constructing another customs post - in addition to the €11 million that was spent outside the port - will only serve to take up room in an already congested facility. We can ill afford that in a port that has increased traffic throughput by 400% post Brexit. Does the Minister understand that the port needs urgent investment in order to ensure the countries imports and exports move freely, directly to mainland Europe? The ca…