Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

I encourage the Ceann Comhairle to get one of those Zoom mute buttons for the Dáil in the future to make his life a little bit easier.

It is 110 days since the general election and still the Dáil remains in a democratic twilight zone.

I do not mean this in a personal way - I do not imagine the Minister is particularly comfortable or satisfied with the situation either - but it is startling that these Estimates are being presented by a Minister without a mandate. Some 110 days after the election, these critical decisions are being made, albeit by Cabinet, with the input of Ministers who do not have a mandate. I would like to reference a letter I received from the Ceann Comhairle. He said that this Administration is currently not accountable in the normal manner and that only emergency legislation can be taken. General legislation cannot be taken even by the Dáil and Deputies cannot hold Ministers to account through oral questions. There is an onus on Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party, that are currently in the process, to bring this democratic twilight zone to an end as soon as possible.

I will provide another example. We are dealing with the social welfare Estimates today which, by the Government's own admission, are not accurate. These Estimates are based on Covid payments stopping in a fortnight but the Government has stated that these payments will not be stopped. Will the Minister confirm whether these Estimates are inaccurate?

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