Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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The floods in December destroyed homes and businesses across the country, including farmlands and farm buildings. More than 260 families had to leave their homes. Many others were unable to access their homes, which was not a direct result of homes being floods but was due to roads being flooded. The floods are still receding in many areas and the true cost of the damage is still unknown. Local authorities are assessing the damage to public infrastructure, roads and bridges and they will reach a conclusion on it. The rain may have subsided and politicians and the media have returned to other concerns and issues.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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The votes are on dry land.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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Unfortunately, the reality is that there are still many families in total and absolute despair as they try to deal with the damage caused by the deluge. Many do not have insurance and are facing a huge burden as a result of additional costs. The families had the cost of renting or purchasing pumps during the peak of the storms. Electricity use increased as heat was kept on in flooded homes and additional fuel was required for pumps and boilers that were kept going around the clock. It was an unimaginable burden for many families. The water has done insidious damage to family homes. Carpets are destroyed and wooden floors and tiles have had to be thrown out and replaced. Families have faced increased heating bills as a result of their efforts to tackle damp. In many cases, septic tanks have overflowed. There is the additional burden, from a health and safety point of view, of making safe people's lawns and the areas surrounding their homes as a result of leakage and leaching of toxicity from septic tanks.

The Minister, Deputy Coveney, said the Government would be generous and fair with applications for assistance to help people deal with the damage, while all claims will be means tested. The Irish Red Cross managed the applications for assistance for small businesses which were not insured and I understand this has had a drawdown of approximately 75%. Families who suffered damage to their property and need assistance have had to apply to the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection's Department. This seems to be a far more detailed process and people are anxious that it is taking too long. My personal experience is that the community welfare officers are doing the best they can but families are saying the waiting times are extensive and the criteria set do not seem to match the costs incurred and the burden placed on them.

I have a number of simple questions for the Tánaiste. Has she assigned any additional staff to assist the community welfare officers in the processing of these claims? Will she issue new guidelines to the community welfare officers to cover all the reasonable costs of those who were uninsured? Will she provide money upfront to people who are insured but who are waiting for insurance companies to process their claims so they can pay their bills? If she has to put a lien on a claim at a later stage, that is fine, but she should take the burden from people who are facing bills for oil, electricity, pumps, replacement carpets and getting their homes back to some kind of normal state. The Tánaiste's Department has a responsibility to meet the basic and obvious costs associated with the trauma these people have suffered. Will she tell us what it has been doing?

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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That is exactly what the Department has been doing. In particular, the officer in charge of the Limerick region personally went house to house to find out if there are elderly or retired people there who might not have many family members around. We did that on all of the worst nights of the flooding.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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Did you use the boat?

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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People are very conscious of that fact because numerous people have contacted us to congratulate and thank those particular staff. The communities, families and individuals who have gone in to help, including many local public representatives, have been acting in partnership and I thank and compliment all of them. I see it is forecast that the weather will be slightly rainier next week but I hope the worst is over.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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Postpone the election.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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We deal with this every year there are instances of flooding. As a matter of interest, we initiated our emergency plans in Clare and in Tralee in County Kerry on 6 December. In both instances, there were small-scale levels of flooding during the week of 4, 5 and 6 December. If Deputy Dooley wishes to draw individual cases to my attention, where he would like to see families getting more, he might give me the details. Certainly, the cost of pumps have been supplied.

I have attended a number of the community welfare service clinics in rural areas and I have met and spoken to the community welfare officers who were on the ground during the floods right around the country. Our staff and the senior staff in charge have also been around the country. They have gone to all the co-ordination meetings of the Government group and agency groups dealing with the flooding. As we speak, a significant number of payments have been made and, at this point in time, there have been payments to approximately 250 families to 300 families.

We are expecting more claims to come in. Our experience is that in the initial stages, many people do not make a claim or, if they do, it is for small-scale stuff such as bed clothing or clothing that has been destroyed. If contaminated water has passed through a property, the claim is to replace foodstuffs and so on that have been contaminated. There is then the second stage. White goods, for instance, fridges and freezers on a ground floor, may have been destroyed.

What we do there is ask people to get estimates of what has to replaced and we work with those estimates as flexibly as we can. That really depends on people bringing the estimates forward, although often people are not in a position to do so for several weeks, until the house has dried out. In extreme cases, it could be longer and where there is very significant damage to a home, it could be months as it might be necessary to get engineering opinions and the OPW's opinion. We have done that, for instance, in counties Clare and Galway, particularly south Galway, on previous occasions. As Minister, I dealt with the aftermath of the disastrous floods that took place in the west in 2009 and the subsequent flooding in 2010. In approximately 20 cases, families were given sanction to move home on the advice of the OPW, local authority engineers and their own engineers. To date - I am talking about 2012 - approximately 14 families have moved and rebuilt homes on ground safer from flooding.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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Is the Tánaiste confident that her Department has issued the appropriate guidelines to community welfare officers to the effect that all reasonable costs associated with the damage done to homes can now be claimed from her Department? It is a simple question. She seemed to indicate that there may be a delay in some of the claims coming forward. Will she pay on account, so that as people receive bills and have to pay the costs associated with the damage to their homes, her Department will pay an element of the cost at that time, while more moneys will be forwarded to families as and when they have a better understanding of what all the costs are?

In simple terms, I want to know that the community welfare officers have a very clear understanding that the Department will cover all reasonable costs for those who are uninsured and that it will provide upfront payments for those who are insured, notwithstanding the potential for the home owner to make an insurance claim at a later stage, which does take time. How that would work between the insurance companies and the Department is a matter which I am sure she can address.

My greatest concern is for the people at the coalface who have suffered the trauma and pain associated with this. More particularly, I am concerned about the additional costs associated with trying to get back into their homes. They should not be placed in an intolerable situation of trying to borrow the money, being unable to borrow it and perhaps in some cases having to look to moneylenders or whatever to assist them. We do not want that to happen.

I need assurance from the Tánaiste that the community welfare officers have available to them the resources to deal with all reasonable costs. In some cases, the costs will go beyond bedclothes or foodstuffs that are contaminated as a result of the waters. They will include floor coverings, damage done to doors and the cost of cleaning up the toxic substances that have been leached around lawns and driveways from septic tanks. Some of those costs are additional and they are real. There are also the costs associated with running pumps 24/7 for three or four weeks. There are the additional electricity costs, all of which need to be factored into the Department's ready reckoner, as it were, to provide the community welfare officers with a very clear understanding of what the Tánaiste's is talking about when she says all costs will be covered.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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As I said earlier, it is essentially a three phase process. First is the immediate emergency, for which payments tend to be small, covering things like foodstuffs and essentials that may have been destroyed or contaminated as a consequence of the flood. In the second phase, it is up to people and it depends on how quickly the floodwaters recede. Often people may stay elsewhere while leaving one person in the house. It may be some weeks before they then claim for material damage to items in the house. Such items can range from floorboards to white goods and electrical goods and furniture. The third phase is when more substantial work may be required to the property. In that case, there will almost always be some engineering or technical building advice required. If the severity and the repetition of the floods are such in the particular location that there is a need to look at wider solutions, then in conjunction with the local authority and the OPW, the Department can do that.

Deputy Dooley spoke about the issue of septic tanks. Certainly, that issue has been raised on a number of occasions in the co-ordination meetings, both by representatives of the City and County Management Association and by Irish Water. Obviously, there are broader contamination issues in respect of water. If the Deputy is specifically referencing people who have problems with a septic tank, I would say that they would probably need some expertise from the local council or from an engineer, construction firm or construction expert of their own choice. If the Deputy is saying that the septic tank structure may need to be replaced because of flooding-----

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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Just for clarity and to be helpful, I am not talking about the architecture or the structure at all; I am talking about the leaching of the toxic material in the septic tank being spread around the site. That has to be cleaned up and it requires expertise to come in and take away that sludge from the lawns and driveways of homes.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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In that particular case, again, they will go to a company and maybe with their own help, they can do some of that. There is a level of expertise generally required for some of that work.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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There is no issue with the expertise; it is the cost.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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If they go to the community welfare service and look-----

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Where is the money?

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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We have actually provided for pumps and all kinds of assistance to people.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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There is no clarity.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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If the Deputy has a particular case in mind, it would be helpful if he gave me the details of the case or cases. We are talking a little bit in the abstract. I have been in so many flooded properties over the past five years, since I became Minister.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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In the boat.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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All I can say is it is a horrific experience for a family. I have gone to flood properties months after they have dried out. There is still the smell and stink and the problems Deputy Dooley spoke about with the septic tanks. Our officials will help people with all of that. For people who are farming, we are obviously talking here about the family home in the context of the farm. Wider issues in respect of farming would be dealt with by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, which has a number of specific schemes in that regard.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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Bring in David Begg.

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Give Boxer a ring.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Thanks to the Tánaiste and her Government, we have had another week of chaos across the State. It started with chaos in the public appointments process as the Tánaiste tore up yet another election promise and her Government's own rules to give a plum post to a party supporter. Then we saw the scandalous chaos in the housing system first hand, with families degraded and forced into emergency accommodation by the cuts to the social housing budgets and to rent supplement.

Today we hear of the latest episode of chaos in the health system. Cork University Hospital is so overstretched, it has cancelled all non-urgent appointments. Its emergency department is bursting at the seams. People who have been patiently waiting for important procedures for years have been told that they will have to wait even longer. Worse still, we learn that there are 250 children with scoliosis waiting on operations to fix their spines or waiting to see a consultant. Many have been waiting for 15 months or more for vital treatment. Can the Tánaiste imagine what it means to have scoliosis with one's spine bent to 40 degrees, one's organs being crushed and one's entire body in incredible crippling pain?

Would the Tánaiste accept a 15-month wait for her child to see a consultant or to have surgery for scoliosis? Of course she would not. Why, then, does she force these parents to wait and their children to suffer? These children live day to day in chronic pain and their parents watch on powerless as their children suffer because of the decisions of her Government.

I do not at this stage expect clear-cut answers to any of my questions but, before the Tánaiste trots out her usual evasions, I would ask her to think about these children. I ask her what she has to say to them, their parents and their families, who are suffering now because of the chaos the Government has created in the health system.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Thanks to the Labour Party and Fine Gael being in government, we now have 135,000 more people back at work in this country.

Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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How many emigrated?

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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We have the fastest growing economy in Europe and we have the prospect of building on the recovery to provide more funding for education and health, and to address the difficult issues that undoubtedly face a number of different areas of our society. I am happy to say that because of the fact people are going back to work and the economy is recovering, we have been able to give people back some small return in terms of the USC they were charged as an emergency tax during the crisis, and we have been able to invest significant extra resources last year and this year in our health system. Not only that but we are reducing our debt and we are now becoming, as every day goes past, a stronger economy. I wonder whether people want to risk the recovery we have had, with Labour and Fine Gael-----

Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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Tell that to the people.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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-----on the kind of manifesto and vague promises those in Sinn Féin have put forward. I believe that is a risk many families are simply not prepared to take.

Specifically with regard to scoliosis, I discussed this at length with a number of Independent Deputies in recent months. Scoliosis is a very difficult condition that is particularly difficult as children grow and as they approach and pass puberty. It is for that reason that significant additional resources have been put into the scoliosis services in Ireland, for which the lead hospital is Our Lady's Hospital in Crumlin. While the waiting times have to be brought down further, we have the money to invest in that and we have the money to invest in an extra surgical theatre in Crumlin for scoliosis, which will be opened in April. Last year, an extra 100 operations were undertaken in regard to scoliosis to bring the waiting times down.

All of that is out of the fruit of people's hard work and economic growth. The Deputy is suggesting that we would put all of our recovery and economic growth, and put this country and economy, into the hands of Sinn Féin. I thank her not, and I do not think the voters will thank her either.

Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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I hope the Tánaiste is not addressing that to homeless people.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Sinn Féin suggestion is what its Minister for Education said in the North, when he advised young people not to study to be teachers because he could not provide jobs in education.

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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There are two levels of pay down here. There is unequal pay.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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What Deputy McDonald is suggesting now goes against a clearly laid out plan in regard to the scoliosis initiative in the paediatric services. In 2015, 100 scoliosis surgeries were carried out, including 67 at Crumlin. A further 33 of those on the Crumlin waiting list were treated in other hospitals. This is a 51% increase on the number of such surgeries carried out in 2014. Some 39 additional patients from the Crumlin waiting list were transferred either to the Blackrock Clinic or to Stanmore in the UK, some for treatment in the next few weeks. We have also increased capacity for the longer-term, including additional theatre capacity and additional staffing, and the necessary funding has been allocated. The funding and the staffing side provides for two consultant orthopaedic surgeons, an anaesthetist and support staff at Crumlin. As I said, Crumlin is the major hospital in Ireland for treating children with scoliosis. Temple Street does about 22 a year and those treatments are being prioritised.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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I suppose we can only regard the Tánaiste's response at this stage as her single transferable rant, week to week. There is something alarming in her suggestion that affording these 250 children the attention and procedures they require will somehow put the recovery at risk. There is something other-worldly, bizarre and a bit obscene about an assertion like that.

Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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How did the Deputy twist that one around?

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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I would also suggest that those children and, more to the point, their parents and families, will not thank the Tánaiste for delivering a rant against Sinn Féin and an amount of pre-election posturing, rather than dealing with the question I clearly put to her.

Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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She would never do that herself.

Ray Butler (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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Slab Murphy is thanking her. She stood by her man.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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Order, please.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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It is of no comfort and is of no consequence to those families to learn of the Tánaiste's view of Sinn Féin or any other political party in this Chamber.

Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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It might be to Fianna Fáil.

Ray Butler (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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Good old Slab.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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It is irrelevant and is a typical diversion on the part of the Tánaiste.

If it is as the Tánaiste says, namely, that the Government has made the necessary investment, why is it there 250 children with scoliosis waiting to see a consultant or to have surgery? Why is it that Cork University Hospital has had to cancel all non-emergency procedures? That is not evidence of investment and progress, it is evidence of a lack of investment and of chaos and failure. Perhaps the most acute failure is the fact that just as we have children eking out an existence with their parents in bed and breakfasts, hostels and hotels, so too, on the Tánaiste's watch, there are 250 children, many in excruciating pain, who need an answer now.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy's time is up.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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They need medical attention now, not in 12 months' time, as the Tánaiste suggests. I have told her that many of them have been waiting for 15 months already. They deserve a direct response from the Tánaiste. They deserve better than a political attack; they deserve answers. It would be refreshing, if the Tánaiste is not prepared to answer us, as parliamentarians, that she would at least have the good grace and dignity to answer those children and their families.

Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Where is the Deputy's grace and dignity? She is the antipathy of grace and dignity.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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Thank you, Deputy McDonald. I call the Tánaiste.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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What is the Tánaiste doing for these families and these children now? Scoliosis is, as the Tánaiste knows, an excruciating condition. I am sure she has heard the testimony of parents who say they look on as their children cry in pain, and they wait and wait. Will they wait forever more? Will they wait another 12 months? What will the Tánaiste do for these children?

Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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Was that not a rant?

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Has the Deputy finished her tsunami of hate and invective? Is she sure she is finished or does she want to rant a bit more?

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Where was the hate?

Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)
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Will the Tánaiste answer the question?

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Has she ranted enough? The hate and the invective ill becomes her, if I may say so.

We are talking about Crumlin children's hospital. The scoliosis unit in Crumlin children's hospital is recognised worldwide, as is the work done by consultants like Mr. Moore.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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It does not have enough resources, that is the issue.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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If the Deputy knew anything about the staff who work in Crumlin children's hospital-----

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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It is not the staff, it is the resources.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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-----she would not make such cheap comments about Crumlin and the care and attention the staff there give to the children and the parents of children with this difficult condition that affects them as they grow up over a number of years.

I am not sure how familiar the Deputy is with Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Crumlin and the scoliosis unit, but she should hang her head in shame-----

Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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It is a pity the Tánaiste would not do the same.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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-----for suggesting it did less than looking after the children in it. We have some of the finest paediatric nurses, doctors and consultants in Crumlin who are dealing with children with scoliosis.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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It is a pity they are not matched by the finest Ministers.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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Please allow the Minister to continue.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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In a specific reply to a specific part of the Deputy's query about additional resources, I have said that as a result of the initiative under way, some 100 extra scoliosis operations were carried out last year. That was a 51% increase on the figure for the previous year. I also said a further 33 patients had been transferred to the Blackrock Clinic and the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore in the United Kingdom. I gave this detailed response in reply to a question put by Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan some weeks ago. I do not want the Deputy to demoralise staff in hospitals through the invective she has applied to the scoliosis initiative.

Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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The Tánaiste is demoralising them.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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Quiet, please.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Work is under way on a new theatre in Crumlin hospital that is specifically being provided to assist in the treatment of scoliosis. Its construction is due to be completed in April this year. In addition, we are providing for the appointment of two consultant orthopaedic surgeons, an anaesthetist and support staff. Just because the Deputy has read up on the issue and been listening to parents who are distressed and upset-----

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Has the Tánaiste?

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I am a mother and, like everybody who has children, I have plenty of experience of children who have experienced various illnesses at different times in their lives. There is no parent - the Deputy is also a parent herself - whose heart does not go out to these parents. However, we are providing extra staff and an additional theatre. We are calling on resources available in the private sector, in the Blackrock Clinic and the United Kingdom, to ensure urgent operations are carried out as quickly as possible.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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There are still 250 children waiting.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Those children will be dealt with as quickly as possible.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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That is not the story parents are telling us.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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They are being dealt with. There have been 100 additional operations. I do not think the Deputy actually knows much about scoliosis as a condition or the times at which such patients can be operated on.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)
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As the Dáil comes to the end of its term, it would be useful to paint a picture of the Government's achievements in the past five years. There is no better way of doing this than giving a comparative rundown to show how my county of Donegal has fared since the Government came to power. There are 31,000 people suffering from fuel poverty, up 10,000 since 2014. In 2013, 18,700 people were suffering from food poverty, according to a survey carried out by Mandate and Unite. Outpatient waiting lists at Letterkenny University Hospital have soared by 70%, while the number seeking day case appointments has increased by 50%. Some 60% of the population of the county have medical cards, while 16,241 were on the live register in December. Up to 20,000 young people have emigrated from the county, leaving, according to the NASC, high levels of deprivation and high dependency ratios behind them. Only eight of 149 electoral divisions have figures above the national average for deprivation indicators.

The level of Enterprise Ireland supported job creation increased by 2% in the north-west region in 2015. Ballybofey, County Donegal has the highest commercial property vacancy rate, at over 28%, according to An Post's geodirectory survey. Some 52% of households in the county will have to rely on State intervention to get broadband and will have to wait until 2021 to see this objective realised. Disposable income in the county is at 80% of the national average. Social transfers make up 40% of household disposable income in the county. A total of 1,485 farmers depend on farm assist to supplement their incomes, while 101 primary schools are working with reduced teaching staff. Approximately 67% of third level students from the county are in receipt of SUSI grants. According to the Central Bank, in February 2015 some 15% of homeowners were in serious mortgage arrears, with hundreds of repossession cases before the courts every month. Add to this the cuts in expenditure, including the reduction of €182,000 since 2009 for the Donegal Centre of Independent Living, and the resulting inability to provide care supports for people with disabilities in a county in which over 21,000 people are suffering from a disability.

Meanwhile, on the Tánaiste's watch, according to the CSO, the top 10% of income earners in the country hold over 54% of income, with the top 1% holding 15% of its entire wealth. Budget 2016 has accelerated this trend, with tax changes such as the cut in USC benefiting those on incomes of €70,000 and above. Is this a record of which the Tánaiste is proud? Based on this, why should the people of County Donegal and Ireland allow Fine Gael or Fianna Fáil another term in office?

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I thank the Deputy for that commentary on County Donegal where he mentioned many people depended on social transfers. That is the reason, as Minister for Social Protection, I was delighted to be able to restore the Christmas bonus, particularly for older and retired persons in the county who relied on their State contributory or non-contributory pension. I was delighted to increase the percentage to 75%. This meant payments for pensioner couples of €320 before Christmas to help with Christmas expenses. For a single person, the amount came to €170.

Thankfully the cost of oil and other fuels has fallen in the past year. Notwithstanding this, because of the level of economic growth, on 1 January I raised the fuel allowance by €2.50 per week. Of the 400,000 households that will benefit from the improvement in the allowance, many of them are in County Donegal. In addition, I was able to grant a small increase in the weekly pension rate to people aged over 66 years of €3. Many of these payments will find their way to people living in County Donegal. Also, for those who do not have medical cards, last year we introduced doctor cards for children under six years and people aged over 70. We hope that, if the electorate chooses to return the Government to office, during the life of the next Government we will be able to extend these cards to all primary schoolchildren and, ultimately, all children and various categories of older people.

Having visited County Donegal this summer and spoken to many of those managing social protection offices and people working in the hotel business, I know that the county has seen a singular renaissance in tourism as a consequence of the Government's development of the Wild Atlantic Way. I am happy to report from talking to people involved in hotels in County Donegal-----

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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Wonder woman.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I also had the opportunity to attend a number of tourism fairs and the commentary from County Donegal is that the marketing of the county, particularly to people in America and Europe, including the United Kingdom, has been highly successful. I am sure Deputy Thomas Pringle saw this during the summer. Also, because of the strength of sterling and the dollar, taking a holiday in County Donegal has become significantly cheaper and better value for people from the United States and the United Kingdom.

That is reflected in the number of visitors to Donegal.

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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There is better value in Dublin Bay North.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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With regard to education and schools, from the day the Government was elected we agreed we would have a relentless focus on unemployment.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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And attacking the poor.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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For that purpose, we set out rebuilding the schools of this country.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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What about emigration?

Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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The Government made cuts to all the small schools.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Around Donegal we have invested in school refurbishments and new schools. Not only that but we hope to be in a position to phase out prefabs over the next few years.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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That commitment was made five years ago.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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Come back to planet Earth.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Both Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland are on a county by county basis specifically seeking the development of local business. I am happy to say there has been a large surge in the formation of new businesses. There are approximately 10,000 people being supported with back to work enterprise allowances and quite a number are in Donegal.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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Get them off the live register at all costs.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The Deputy has obviously chosen to see the glass as half-empty but there are many-----

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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Is the boat half-full or half-empty?

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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-----opportunities for people in Donegal.

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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The glass is broken.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I see their strength, resilience, creativity, energy and vigour, which has seen Donegal thriving, particularly in the tourism area.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Despite the Government.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The improvements in social protection, in particular, have been of some assistance, specifically to older and retired people living in Donegal.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)
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It is the resilience and ingenuity of the people of Donegal that has seen those developments-----

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I am glad the Deputy remembers that.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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He represents them.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)
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-----in spite of the Government's support or anything the Government has done for the county.

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Hear, hear.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)
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Businesses, including tourism businesses, in Donegal must wait until 2021 to get adequate broadband under the Government's plan. The Government has consistently refused to prioritise the areas most marginalised in the roll-out of broadband despite questions from me in this House. The people of Donegal are resilient and they have the ingenuity to build but they are not getting the support from the Government to allow that to happen. That is the difference. The Tánaiste spoke about increasing tourism and mentioned exchange rates but that has nothing to do with the Government's policies.

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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What about the VAT rate being changed from 13.5% to 9%?

Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)
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The exchange rates is completely out of the Government's control and it cannot do anything about it. The Government must focus on rural Ireland and give it the tools to be able to develop; the people will develop it. The Tánaiste mentioned IDA Ireland in her contribution and last year it made three visits to County Donegal. The only place in the county it will look at developing is Letterkenny but there is much more to the county than Letterkenny. We need development balance across the county.

On the Tánaiste's watch, the wealthy are getting wealthier and inequality is growing. Our young people continue to emigrate from rural Ireland. The Tánaiste is asking people to give her Government another five-year term to ensure it can continue the policies that will only increase inequality.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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With regard to specific measures to support County Donegal, I remind the Deputy that one of the first actions of the Government was to reduce the VAT rate for tourism and similar services from 13.5% to 9%. The Deputy may speak to any hotelier, restaurant owner or hospitality provider in Donegal and they will tell him that. Before the budget, they lobbied intensively to ensure the reduction to 9% stayed in place. Along the western seaboard, the reduction in VAT has been at the base of a significant expansion in tourism. That has come in conjunction with the skilful marketing development of the Wild Atlantic Way.

The public sector is a very significant employer in County Donegal and I remind the Deputy that ordinary public sector workers in the county would on 1 January have seen a reduction in the amount of USC paid. That reduction is focused on people earning between €25,000 and €70,000 per year.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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That is not true. Read the IMF report. Half the benefit is to those earning more than €70,000.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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There is a cap.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Yes. The Deputy should read the IMF report and ponder it.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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He has.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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I have done so. I have blown the Tánaiste's spin out of the water.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The public sector is a major employer in County Donegal and that includes my Department of Social Protection. We have super staff in Donegal.

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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The Tánaiste is making this up.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Is she running in County Donegal?

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I am very proud of the staff in the Department of Social Protection in County Donegal. The Deputies have no right to sneer and laugh at them because they work in the Department of Social Protection.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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The Government's record in County Donegal has-----

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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They give an excellent service. They have seen a reduction in the amount of USC paid. It is capped at people earning €70,000. That is the way it has been arranged.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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The IMF indicates it is a deeply regressive move.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Those people have seen the beginning of the rolling back of financial emergency measures in the public interest, FEMPI, measures taken by Fianna Fáil when it wrecked the economy. That will be rolled back over the next 24 months. For the significant number of public sector employees in County Donegal, the new year has begun on a positive, if modest, note. If we are returned to Government by the people of County Donegal and the rest of Ireland-----

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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The Tánaiste's party is not even running a candidate there.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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-----we will be able to improve that position every year for the next five years.