Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)

I congratulate the Tánaiste on her appointment and it is good to see a woman in the post.

Senior Government spokespersons have been quoted in newspapers recently as saying the fair deal Bill relating to long-term residential care services is looking less and less likely. It is time the Government was up front about this because it keeps missing deadlines. It is clear to me, as a solicitor who worked in property, that there is a problem. A clause in the Constitution says the State cannot pass a law to abolish people's rights to leave or inherit property and I see difficulties in this regard.

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