Pádraig Rice

The Minister of State's Department is responsible for libraries. My point here is that his Department and the Department of public expenditure and reform, the Department of housing and local government, and the city council need to work together to deliver this project, which was promised over five years ago. The real frustration here is the lack of information and the lack of public consultation …

Five years.

No one is.

I call the Government to account for its promises.

After more than €2 billion of public funds and a decade of construction, we still have no idea when the national children's hospital will open. When we were told yesterday at the Oireachtas health committee that the 18th completion deadline will be missed, it was not a surprise. I am beginning to wonder why we get project deadlines from BAM at all. We would be better off asking Mystic Meg at this …

Today's statements on Bessborough are welcome and very important but they will be meaningless unless the Government takes action on foot of the debate today. I urge the Minister to listen to the contributions from across the House, including by Members from her own party, who are calling on the Government to intervene. The bottom line is that apartments should not be built on what is very likely a…

I thank Sinn Féin for tabling the motion, which the Social Democrats will support. Cancer services were once the jewel in the crown of our health service and an example of what the system could achieve if sustained investment was matched by political will, but the focus on delivery has waned over the lifetime of the current strategy. As a result, we have delayed diagnoses and treatment, missed tar…

I am going to be the third Member to raise issues with the National Ambulance Service this morning-----

-----which should give the Tánaiste a sense of the scale of the crisis there. For the first time, newly qualified paramedics are not being offered permanent contracts. Instead, this cohort of graduates are only being offered short contract extensions and the opportunity to reapply and compete for their own jobs. Up until now, paramedics who successfully completed the training programme transitione…

I welcome the updates on the inquiries and the opportunity to discuss scoliosis and spina bifida. Yesterday, I spoke to parents and advocates and they had three key asks. The first was the independent statutory inquiry, the second was the publication of all existing reports and background information and the third was action now on existing waiting lists for children who are still on waiting lists…

I want to voice my objection to the process here. It is poor form. We had it repeated last week, and again this week, in terms of the Government taking Committee Stage of legislation in the Dáil as opposed to at committee. As Chair of the health committee, I received a letter essentially telling me that my committee was too busy to even consider this issue, without any real engagement with the com…

I move amendment No. 1: In page 6, to delete lines 5 to 8 and substitute the following: " "single-use vape" means a vape that is not designed or intended to be re-used and includes any vape that is neither refillable nor rechargeable.". The purpose of this amendment is to ensure that the definition of "single-use vape" is watertight and that fake disposables do not make it through. I continue t…

If the Minister of State is telling me the definition is the same as the one in the UK, then I am even more concerned. Reports from the UK indicate they are getting around the definition there. We have been hearing this from the vaping lobbying, Responsible Vaping Ireland. It is saying that in the UK, where a ban on single-use vapes has already been introduced, there are reports that some unscrupu…

I will be pressing the amendment.

I ask the Minister of State and her officials to look at this again. I understand the Bill has not been in the Seanad yet. Perhaps she will look at what has happened in the UK in advance of the Bill going to the Seanad.

We might discuss it with our Seanad colleagues before then. I ask the Minister of State to look at what has happened in the UK and ensure the definition is watertight because we want to ban single-use vapes. I am happy to withdraw the amendment.

Deputy Ward makes a very good point about legislation more generally. A citizen should be able to pick up a Bill, read it, understand it and see what is an offence and what is not an offence. It is a basic tenet of the rule of law that people should be to understand the laws they are expected to abide by. Even if it is the case that we have to go belt and braces, put these definitions in and spell…

Amendments that I or other Opposition Deputies have table have not been accepted.

Okay, but every single amendment tabled in respect of this Bill has been refused. In the context of previous legislation, all the amendment that I and others have tabled have been rejected out of hand. We need to work together on this to ensure that we get the best legislation possible. We all support the Bill, and we are trying to get the best legislation possible. If there was greater willingnes…

I welcome the announcement of the second vaping Bill, in particular the piece around prohibiting the sale of nicotine-consumption products such as pouches to under-18s and the piece around advertising. It is targeted at children. The bubblegum flavours and advertising target children in an aggressive way. I support limiting the flavours as well. As I said earlier, I was talking to some teenagers …

I move: That Dáil Éireann: recognises that: — access to timely General Practitioner (GP) care is a fundamental pillar of a safe, effective and equitable health service; — GPs play a vital role in our health service, managing the majority of people's medical care needs, and acting as the first point of medical contact for most patients; — GPs provide a core leadership role in delivering care o…

I thank Deputies from across the House for their support for the motion. GP services need more than a quick fix; they need an overhaul. This morning's debate makes that clear. I also thank those we engaged with on this motion: Deep End Ireland, the IMO, the Irish General Practice Nurses Educational Association and Doctors for Universal Healthcare, all of whom we met to discuss these proposals. I a…

Successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments have been talking about reforming GP services for years but have failed to deliver. The Government's strategic review of GP services, first promised in 2019, still has not been completed. During that time GP fees have risen to as high as €90 in some areas, and that is just to get in the door. Price, however, is not the only barrier. An increasing nu…

To under-eights.

Last night's "RTÉ Investigates" made for harrowing viewing. We saw people with severe and enduring mental health difficulties being subjected to degrading treatment and even dying in custody. Such was the tragic case of Ivan Rosney. These vulnerable people require care and compassion, not cold prison cells. Last October, I visited Cork Prison. As a result of what I saw, I started asking questions.…