Cathy Bennett

Unbelievable.

Keep paying taxes.

I thank the Independent and Parties Technical Group for bringing forward this motion on this very important matter. This Government is utterly failing in terms of dental services. The Minister's role is to provide a framework in which services can reliably and efficiently be delivered and to adequately fund these services. As I see it, the Minister is utterly failing. Of the 200,000 schoolchildren…

That is a new excuse.

The Taoiseach should start driving the roads.

Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil introducing legislation to provide for revised governance and accountability for the HSE is farcical. In effect, the most substantive aspect of governance I see is a chief executive whose grossly substantial salary facilitates their operating as a mudguard for the Minister of the day. Regarding accountability, with scandal after scandal in our health service, the one cert…

There has been underfunding.

I welcome all the ladies in the Gallery who have suffered long enough. I thank Senator Maria McCormack who has travelled the length and breadth of the country to be informed of endometriosis. I have said in the House before that this State has a sad history of failing women. The Government continues to fail women today when it comes to the diagnosis and care for those with endometriosis. It is acc…

100. Deputy Cathy Bennett asked the Minister for Finance if any analysis has been carried to assess the level of dividend forgone as a result of the State selling AIB, for each of the years 2022, 2023 and 2024. [39381/25]

I would like to acknowledge that the Minister is currently progressing legislative proposals on the guardianship rights of those who have murdered their spouse as well as the disclosure of counselling notes. It is important that we get the proposals right and it is welcome that they are progressing through the Oireachtas. I am delighted to hear that the Minister is visiting refuges, but an area t…

The Taoiseach correctly described the failure of the European Union to come to a unified position on Gaza as a huge strain on the bloc. He also said that if it fails to do so, Europe will have no credibility. European Union Commissioner, President Ursula von der Leyen, today lacks any credibility on human rights or international humanitarian law. It was Ursula von der Leyen who, at the onset of Is…

I welcome the students here tonight. We in Sinn Féin appreciate their efforts to go to college and better themselves. In a matter of weeks, students will be returning to their studies or setting off to college for the first time. What should be a time of excitement for so many will turn into a very stressful situation as they face the challenge of funding for so-called free education being impact…

The people of Monaghan and Cavan deserve adequate health services and care within their community. In 2002, the Taoiseach, as Minister for Health and Children, refused to give a commitment to protect emergency department services at Monaghan hospital at that crucial time. In 2009, the hospital's emergency department was closed for good. The minor injuries unit lacks basic equipment. As a result, p…

Who was over that?

I am going to keep at it.

That is not happening. Monaghan hospital is waiting years for an emergency department.

The Taoiseach needs to go to Cavan hospital, walk around it and see the people waiting in the emergency department.

People are waiting two weeks for a transfer.

The State has a long, sorrowful and shameful history of failing those within its care. Women, especially mothers, and children have endured the brunt of that long, sorry history. Whether we are talking about survivors of institutional abuse or the degradation of babies' organs; those responsible for delivering justice not only failed to deliver it but actively sought to deny justice. What invariab…

I welcome that the Government is introducing legislation to address issues relating to the incorrect transposition of the EU copyright directive identified by the High Court and the CJEU. Legislation is necessary. We understand that. A more equitable distribution of royalties is absolutely welcome, but the Bill the Government has brought before the House is poorly thought out, regressive and ill-…

I am simply aghast to see how the Government conducts its business with arrogance and incompetence. I recall some months ago there being a discussion on the role of inconsistent policy in driving investment away. In his press release last week, the Minister said this legislation is intended to introduce certainty. It is railroaded legislation in which we have already seen holes. It is poor legisla…

At least the Taoiseach admits it.

It is your job.

29. Deputy Cathy Bennett asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence the reason the Air Corps has reduced operations to a five-day work week. [31309/25]

66. Deputy Cathy Bennett asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence when he was first apprised of the possibility of the Air Corps reducing its operational hours; if he received recommendations as to how the situation could be averted; and the actions he took to prevent the situation from arising. [31310/25]