Yes, no problem.

I am sharing time with Deputies Ward and Cullinane. I want to raise the ongoing issue of capacity in our health service. Time and time again, we listened to the Minister's predecessor saying that we were investing in our health service. However, this funding never alleviated the pressures on our health services. We in the mid-west are constantly faced with overcrowding, long waiting lists for our elderly and lack of provision for our younger people. Last night, I watched the RTÉ programme, which highlighted the Tro…

Those who need access to flights have to drive by Shannon Airport and embark on a more than three-hour journey to Dublin Airport or Cork Airport. This surely is a contradiction in terms of the need for renewed focus on balanced regional development and, more specifically, the importance of reducing carbon emissions. Having this inconvenient journey added to the travel plans of people from the mid-west is absurd and flies in the face of climate action. It also cannot be in the interest of health and safety that, as …

I have been inundated with concerns from constituents in Clare over the uncertainty that Shannon Airport faces and the associated implications for jobs right across our region in future. Jobs in the airport and nearby industrial estates are at risk, as are jobs in the tourism sector in Clare and across the mid-west. We know Shannon Airport acts as a vital gateway for tourism and business coming into Clare and the wider mid-west, and offers citizens great connectivity to swathes of the world. It clearly has a vital …

Families across Clare have relayed a collective sigh of relief that a formal decision was recently made on the leaving certificate examinations 2020. This decision was welcomed but many people in Clare feel that the delay in formulating the decision caused unnecessary stress and anxiety for parents and students. My colleague, Deputy Ó Laoghaire, has suggested a need for a one-stop shop helpline to be set up to avoid the issue of lobbying when parents and students are merely seeking some clarity. I reiterate that su…

It is a huge honour for me to deliver my maiden speech in the Chamber today. I sincerely thank all of the Clare people who entrusted me with their votes in the recent general election. I am so proud to say I am now one of only three women ever elected to represent the people of Clare, and the first ever female Sinn Féin Deputy in the county. I take great pride in representing the Clare people and will do so to the best of my ability. I will work hard to deliver the change that people voted for. That means deliverin…