John Crown (Independent)

Reducing the number of items it is permissible to raise from three to one has prevented me from raising two other issues I would have raised today but which I cannot do so now. I refer to the VHI increase and the use of agency staff at a higher rate of pay within the HSE in jobs that should be done by full-time staff. The other effect of this announcement will be an increase in the number of words per concept advanced and an increase in the hot air expended per concept, with a consequential increase in the carbon footprint of every Member of the Seanad. I wish to ask-----