On the issue of voluntary hospitals, as the Minister has raised it, I raised this issue with the CEO of the HSE, Bernard Gloster, when he appeared before the health committee last week, as well as with Derek Tierney, the assistant secretary in the Department of Health. I have seen media reports of attempts to make sure the voluntary hospitals play ball in relation to the integrated financial service management system. This is something I raised with staff in the HSE when we were looking at the health regions. Muiri…

I have a final point on this issue. I do not want to hold up the discussion on the Bill itself. I have read media reports of tensions between the Minister and some of voluntary hospitals. I do not want to get into that because I do not know the accuracy of it and I am not really that interested in it, in any event. The only interest I have is that the voluntary hospitals are fully compliant, play ball and implement in full the new financial management system that has been put in place, and any other system because …

I support the amendment, but I will pretty quickly make a point about the digital transformation of healthcare. This is something the Joint Committee on Health has spent a lot of time looking at over the past number of years. I will not rehearse all of the arguments, because we know we have a long road to travel. There is a direction of travel now with summary care records. It will take some time to get all the bells and whistles and electronic health records similar to those that exist in many other European count…

Hear, hear.

Hear, hear.

Hear, hear.

Any measure that we examine and look at has to be seen in the context of what is a very real cost-of-living crisis for workers and for families. It is absolutely staggering that we had a Government that spent so-called billions of euro in the budget just gone, yet left so many people worse off and the vast majority of people certainly are not better off. The €10 increase in the pension was less than what was needed for that to even stand still. There was no increase in child benefit. More money has to be spent by f…

Again, we had a scripted speech from a Minister of State that was just a continuous attack against the Opposition and Sinn Féin. Every time we raise issues in relation to the cost of living, the Government’s response is to ask where are the solutions. We brought forward a motion today with solutions, and we had a very scripted speech from the Minister of State that rubbished every one of the solutions we put forward. What is also interesting is that on all the additional hikes and cost increases and the cost-of-liv…

None?

That is not good enough. We do not know what we are-----

I welcome an Teachta Boyd Barrett back to the House. His return is great news. Workers and families in this State are under savage pressure. They are being hit from every direction: soaring rents, sky-high energy bills, rip-off groceries, childcare that costs more than a mortgage, and insurance premiums that are through the roof. Yesterday’s Future Forty report from the Department of Finance clearly sets out how housing costs have skyrocketed in line with a cost of living that has spun out of control. Everywhere pe…

Neither I nor my party will take lectures from Fianna Fáil on economics. It crashed the economy and made people's lives a misery. They lost their homes and jobs. The Minister is in no position to come in here and lecture anyone on economics. When he talks about platitudes, I am talking about people who are making tough choices, such as what bills they pay. It is a reality facing those families. The Minister can come in and talk about Sinn Féin, Sinn Féin and Sinn Féin, but he should talk to the people listening who…

It is all Sinn Féin's fault. We have been in Government, not you. Own your own responsibilities.

The Minister is avoiding answering the questions for ordinary working families because he has no answers.

I want to raise an urgent issue that has arisen in relation to the Irish Coast Guard air search and rescue service. I met with crew representatives from across the State yesterday, including pilots and other crews, who raised serious safety issues and fatigue issues. This is down to 24-hour shifts where a greater portion of their shift is now being classed as "on standby" time. They are not on standby, they are on site, they are in work and in a state of immediate readiness. They also argue that the Irish Aviation …

I welcome the Minister and the Minister of State. Men's health is not a topic which gets proper attention. There is a silent crisis in men's health which is devastating families and communities across the State. Both the Minister and the Minister of State are correct to appeal to men to look after their health, to seek support, to get checks and to make sure that if there is a difficulty they go to a GP and so on. It is also the case, however, that far too many people generally, but particularly men, in relation to…

Hear, hear.

A lot of issues have been raised by my colleagues, particularly by Teachtaí Mac Lochlainn and McGuinness, in relation to quotas, an existential threat facing fishermen and European and State policy. I support all of that and all the points that they made. I wish to concentrate on infrastructure because it is important. The Minister visited Waterford recently. One of the points of the discussion was Helvick Harbour. The need to the develop those harbours is quite clear to anybody who is looking at this. We in Sinn F…

Hear, hear.

Hear, hear.