I am now going to conclude. It is tough if the Deputies do not like it. They will hear it from their constituents anyway. I will take no lectures from a communist.

The high moral ground now.

I also wish the Taoiseach well for the future. As he will be aware, in just over ten days from now, the Government will push ahead with the first of four hikes in the cost of petrol and diesel over the next 12 months. The four increases will add around 15 cent per litre to the cost of petrol and around 12 cent on a litre of diesel. This has led to many people and consumer groups such as the Consumers Association of Ireland to suggest that this is punishing motorists and pushing up the costs of living, as higher fue…

I support this motion, which in many ways replicates some of the points that my colleagues and I have raised recently about local access to healthcare. In particular, I support the motion’s call to establish a multidisciplinary working group on the development of primary care and for the Government to launch a pilot programme in areas where there is a shortage of GPs for out-of-hours services and leave cover. In my constituency, we are finally seeing the development of the Birr primary care centre after a long wait…

As I am sure the Minister is aware, there is chaos in many schools because of the proposed changes to the SET teacher allocations. A school principal in my constituency wrote to me about what he described as the fiasco of the new SET teacher allocations and the removal of the complex needs criteria. The school was confident it would see its hours being increased. However, because of the removal of the complex needs criteria and because the criteria for a new model was introduced, their hours were actually cut signi…

Tá áthas orm an deis seo a fháil chun ráiteas a dhéanamh maidir leis an nGaeilge. Ar dtús, gabhaim buíochas leis na heagraíochtaí cosúil le Conradh na Gaeilge atá ag déanamh sárobair chun an Ghaeilge a chur chun cinn sa tír seo. Tá TG4 ag déanamh obair den chéad scoth chomh maith. Tá an Ghaeilge ag éirí i bhfad níos láidre ná mar a bhí sí 20 bliain ó shin. Tá sé dearfach é sin a fheiceáil. Tá na múinteoirí atá againn inár nGaelscoileanna agus Gaelcholáistí ar fud na tíre ag déanamh sároibre chomh maith. Tá sé sin f…

There is something almost laughably absurd about these statements, particularly from the Government side and indeed from those on the so-called Opposition side. Here we are today celebrating International Women’s Day, and yet if I were to ask almost anyone on that side of the Chamber to define what a woman is, the look of panic would immediately arise. There has been a consistent policy over recent years to conflate the biological reality of a woman as an adult human female with gender identity. It has been said be…

In the referendum we will vote on this Friday, there are absolutely no new rights for carers or disabled people. The fact that legislation is being rushed and guillotined is also of serious concern. It is an insult to the intelligence of people and the electorate. A total of €20 million of taxpayers' money is being lashed out on this referendum. That €20 million could have gone into helping disabled people, such as the 1,000 people awaiting a primary cert and who are deemed not to be disabled enough to gain a prima…

I want to raise an issue that was brought to my attention. Mr. Ger Hyland of the Irish Road Haulage Association, IRHA, has raised the issue of levies along the A5 corridor. Given the welcome cross-Border investment of €600 million in this corridor-----

Gabh mo leithscéal.

Sorry, I will start again. I want to raise an issue that was brought to my attention by the IRHA president, Mr. Gerard Hyland. The issue concerns the A5 north-west corridor. The Irish Government has co-operated with the Northern Executive, and that is welcome. Indeed, the €600 million is welcome at this time to ensure that there is safety. However, the burden of costs in terms of levies on hauliers is an issue of concern. The IRHA has looked for the levy of £10 per day to be scrapped. Given that there are cross-Bor…

Information supplied to me in response to a parliamentary question to the Minister for Health revealed that, since 2010, the total cost to the State of defending medical negligence litigation against the HSE and Department of Health, including court settlements, had exceeded €3 billion. In fact, there had been a 400% increase in costs from 2010 to 2023, rising from €74 million to just over €350 million. The Minister will agree that these are staggering costs and a clear indication that there is something profoundly…

I thank the Minister for his comments of support. They are appreciated. There needs to be more accountability. While I acknowledge that there are patient safety measures in place, the model is failing and patients and medical professionals are getting caught up in a system that is not fit for purpose. The establishment of a working group between the HSE and the Department of Health would be a good approach. Along with other steps, I hope that such a measure can be put in place to ensure that Ireland is not an outli…

We are all well aware that the institutional reputation of RTÉ has never been so low or so degraded. Through a series of scandals, blunders, incompetence and outright negligence around good corporate governance, the situation is now a full-blown omnishambles. The public are responding by withholding payment of the licence fee in record numbers. Ordinary people I speak to are not just angry with RTÉ and the Minister, they are absolutely disgusted by RTÉ's arrogance. For some bizarre reason RTÉ feels it has a right t…

I move: That Dáil Éireann: recognises that: — healthcare General Practice, being the patient's first point of contact with health services, provides person-centred and comprehensive care from the beginning to the end of life, often coordinating care between many agencies involved in the treatment of complex chronic illnesses; — general practice in Ireland, providing professional quality care at the heart of the local community, is the cornerstone of the Irish health service, with General Practitioners (GPs) being t…

Allowing speculation and rumour to circulate in any community with respect to where international protection accommodation service centres or any forms of asylum accommodation are going to be located is never a good idea. I am sure the Tánaiste will agree with me on that. To avoid those outcomes, however, we must ensure the Department of integration and its community engagement unit are resourced and staffed to such a degree that it can offer swift, accurate and comprehensive information when questions of this kind…

I thank the Regional Group for tabling this excellent and timely motion, which I will support. I know that in my constituency, there are 1,530 businesses which currently have liabilities of €23 million warehoused as part of the tax debt warehousing scheme. There are 755 businesses in Offaly with tax debts of €11 million, while in Laois there are 775 businesses with €12 million in debt. While the move by the Minister to reduce the interest rate is welcome, it does not remove the key difficulty of the repayments per …

Stable and meaningful governance is in the interests of all of the people of this island. Of course, there will be differences and disagreements but to witness the utter paralysis which the North was subjected to in a political sense over recent years has been at times a deep source of dismay and frustration. We have all watched the endless bickering, positioning and squabbling between the parties in the North. At times, many of us wondered whether there was another agenda at play. Now that Stormont has returned, h…

Will the Minister provide an update on the River Shannon Management Agency Bill 2020? Have assessments been undertaken to outline how the agency will be funded? In early December last year, the Minister confirmed to me that he aimed to bring forward a final proposal dealing with the issues relating to the River Shannon Management Agency Bill 2020 early in the new year. I would appreciate an update on this matter and on the issues related to how the agency is funded. The Minister will be aware that the Bill has been…

I certainly welcome the fact that this legislation will be brought forward. It is good news that it is on track. I hope it will not be put back again. I hope we can deliver on bringing that forward. I have concerns in respect of the fact that the Minister of State mentioned that no assessment was done about funding the agency. I know the Minister of State mentioned there was a review of the bodies and agencies that are involved in the Shannon. The last time I raised this matter, I also sought information on the eff…