Mary Lou McDonald

What about Michael Lowry, the Chief Whip's colleague?

They are not agreed.

Children are on the brink of starvation in Gaza as a consequence of Israel's blocking of humanitarian aid. It is blocking food, water and medicines. More than 500 people have been slaughtered in Gaza in recent days alone. What people might not know is that the Irish Government has made Ireland complicit in funding this genocide. The Irish Central Bank oversees the sale of Israeli war bonds. These …

5. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on Justice, Migration and Social Affairs will meet next. [22208/25]

I move: That Dáil Éireann: notes that: — children are legally entitled to an assessment of their health and education needs under the Disability Act 2005, and that the assessment must take place within six months; and — the law is being broken with respect to the 15,296 children whose Assessment of Need is overdue, and with just 4,162 assessments conducted last year the number of children bein…

The cost of living continues to bite hard on working people. Ordinary households are finding it very difficult to keep up with the never-ending barrage of rip-off bills, yet the Government seems oblivious to the pressure people are under. It seems content to sit on its hands and do nothing while workers and families barely get by. On the watch of this Government, households are hit by soaring cost…

Tá sé soiléir go bhfuil daoine agus teaghlaigh faoi bhrú. Is í sin an fhírinne. Sustainability matters for families. Notwithstanding everything the Taoiseach lauded in his self-congratulatory soliloquy, Amy's groceries still cost €260 per week, her electricity bill was €460 and a bottle of shampoo that used to cost €4.50 is now €9. Yes, inflation has tamed but the cost-of-living crisis has not gon…

What the Taoiseach said is that he is doing nothing.

The Government cut the per capita rate of the scheme.

Just answer the question.

Please do. I was urging the Taoiseach to do so.

That is not actually true. That is untrue.

It is not true.

The Taoiseach is misleading the Dáil.

That is fine, sorry.

I have the letters here.

I want to return to the issue of the hip dysplasia surgery raised by my colleague, Deputy Cian O'Callaghan. The Taoiseach has misled the Dáil. To set the record straight, the letters were sent to parents on foot of an early recommendation of the audit, and it says so in the letter. This was recommendation No. 4.2.1, to be precise. The recommendation refers specifically to the recall of children. W…

The Taoiseach needs to be clear on how many of these letters have been sent and how many recalls are envisaged.

I suspect the Taoiseach actually knows that number and is choosing not to share it.

Because you mislead the Dáil.

Yes.

Then share the facts.

You misled the Dáil.

I offer condolences to everyone who loved Garda Kevin Flatley: his heartbroken wife, Una, and their two children, Aoife and Erin; his parents, family and friends; and, of course, his colleagues in An Garda Síochána. He was a devoted father, a man with a deep grá for community and a GAA man with his beloved club, O'Dwyer's in Balbriggan. His death is a devastating reminder of the dangers faced by g…

The anxiety of these parents could not be overstated. As the Taoiseach has correctly noted, the initial sample between 2021 and 2023 involves children between the ages of one and seven. These are very young children, and the idea of any small child being operated on unnecessarily is extremely traumatising for their parents. Their anxiety has been added to by the Government's absolute lack of clari…