As we speak, 74 people are on trolleys in University Hospital Limerick, UHL. This is the lowest number there has been for the whole month of October. The average is 100 people a day on trolleys. It is an absolute disgrace. The budget gives no comfort that the issue will be addressed. In the round, the budget lacked ambition and neglected the core issues of health and housing. It was a budget focused on short-term one-off measures, and these highlights tried and failed to give the Government cover in its failings in…

I will start by welcoming the people in the Gallery, some of whom are from disability services and some of whom have disabilities themselves. I welcome the families who might be watching this at home or who are logging in tomorrow to watch it. I commend my colleague Deputy Tully who has been a real advocate for people with disabilities since she was appointed to the position of party spokesperson in the Dáil. Often when families get a diagnosis, it is stark and, unfortunately, it is often a battle a day for some fa…

My question relates to the Government's commitment to introduce a real living wage as outlined in the programme for Government. This must be a priority. Ensuring that people are paid a living wage is crucial to the well-being of our citizens and to the overall health of the economy. Low-paid workers are often the backbone of our society, performing essential roles in various sectors, especially retail, health and social care. The living wage is accepted to be the minimum amount acceptable for a decent standard of l…

I thank the Minister of State. Even if the median earnings calculation is reached in 2026, as stated by the Minister, Deputy Coveney, on budget day, it will not be delivered in the lifetime of the Government. As I said, a living wage will provide for basic needs, not wants. It is unlike the national minimum wage, which is not based on the cost of living. By implementing a minimum wage of €14.80 per hour, as recommended by the living wage technical group, we would not only improve the lives of many workers but also …

The Minister of State will be well aware that we have always supported The Living Wage Technical Group's recommendations on that, which is different from what the Minister of State's Government has said is the living wage. We have always been cognisant of the problems and challenges which SMEs will face with regard to their ability to pay the living wage. For some businesses an increase is a burden which will place an initial stress on the performance but that can be temporary and the Government can assist them. We…

I stood in this Chamber six years ago, in May 2017, with a different Minister of State sitting opposite, when we in the mid-west region were looking forward to the imminent opening of the new emergency department in University Hospital Limerick, UHL. None of us was naive enough to believe it would solve all the problems in the hospital, or even in the emergency department, but we were led to believe there would be a major change. The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO, expressed concerns at the time that …

In this case, in fairness to the Department, I was alerted that the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, would be here. I raised this issue with the Ceann Comhairle after the previous occasion on which there was no Minister or Minister of State from the Department of Health present.

Did I have any choice in it?

The last time I did that, I was told it would not be facilitated and I could take it or leave it. It was not the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, taking the matter in that instance.

I hope I will get to raise the issue again and there will be somebody from the Department to respond.

I thank the Ceann Comhairle.

I thank the Minister of State. With the greatest respect to him, as I said earlier, I am deeply disappointed the Minister for Health or a Minister of State from the Department of Health are not here. It is really important and I do not believe the Minister has grasped the severity of the situation in Limerick, which is ongoing. We are facing a crisis. I have been in the hospital recently. The trolleys are smashing off each other because there is no way to get around. The porters there have told me that people who h…

When the Minister for Justice talks of a zero tolerance approach to domestic and gender-based violence, I cannot but agree with her. It is one of the most horrendous crimes of which a person can be a victim. I think of my home as a sanctuary that I can retreat to after a tough day at work, a place of peace and comfort. For those who are attacked, often the violence directed against them occurs in their home, their supposed safe place. One of the dark impacts of the Covid lockdown periods was a measurable increase i…

I support amendment No. 40 on the repatriation of heritage. Visitors to any museum in the UK, especially in London, will see artefacts from all over the world, many of which are from Ireland. In 1916, during the Easter Rising, there was no rising in Limerick but there was a mobilisation. At that time, a flag was seized from the Irish Volunteers by the 4th Battalion of the British Army's Leinster Regiment. That flag was taken to England. It became the property of the then Queen and was displayed in the Imperial War …

The cost of living in the State has spiralled out of control. Despite being on a wage, too many workers and families are struggling to get by, bill by bill, week to week. With the nearly continuous news of further price rises, it is all but impossible for the average worker to have any disposable income. Those who are renting face the ominous threat of eviction. If they are to seek new rented accommodation in Limerick, the cost of renting will be beyond the reach of most workers. For a family renting a three-bedroo…

She knows me.

Whatever way we look at this, it is a historic day for Limerick as this Bill is progressing. At the start, the Minister of State rightly thanked Tim O'Connor and the implementation advisory group for their report as well as the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage for its report. I wish a lot of the recommendations in both of those reports were included in this Bill but unfortunately they have not been. I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill. For myself and the people of Limerick it is …

The events in Jenin refugee camp were an appalling reminder to the world of the brutal nature of the Israeli occupation of Gaza and the West Bank. When the bullets had been spent and the debris settled, there were 12 Palestinians, including children, and one Israeli soldier dead. While this vicious attack on a heavily populated tiny area, with 14,000 people living there, was reported across the world, it reminded us all of the conditions that Palestinians have lived in every day, every month and every year for gene…

In May 2019, the people of Limerick voted on the issue of a democratically elected mayor. Four years later we have no sign of legislation, despite being promised on a number of occasions that we would see it. That election was supposed to take place in July 2021. Obviously, I understand that Covid delayed that, but four years later we do not see even the legislation or what will be done. The Bill was included in the priority legislation for drafting and publication document in autumn 2022, but like other dates, tha…

Hear, hear.