Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I echo the pain expressed about the NTA. On several occasions, I have sought Commencement matters with the Minister for Transport and he has refused to believe he is accountable for its actions. We have similar reductions in bus services across Crumlin, Inchicore and Chapelizod that have actually necessitated a huge volume of extra car journeys. I thank the Senator for reminding me. It is absolutely appalling. We have had the NTA before the transport committee and there is no answer. It will not engage with residents associations or with the people whose lives are affected by the reduction in services. This is so-called trying to bring people into public transport, so it is extraordinary there has been a reduction in services, causing more car journeys. Especially from a Green Party Minister, it really is quite shocking and an appalling abdication of his responsibility to the people, particularly in Dublin and Dublin South-Central.

I raise an extraordinary matter that arose earlier this week. I tabled a Commencement matter on Tuesday regarding the commencement of the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act, and the Minister of State, Colm Burke, was sent in with a speech to read out on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Donnelly. He did so. I got very annoyed because it changed everything that had been committed to on the floor of this House and on Committee Stage in the Dáil. I liaised with the groups and, by that evening, I had a telephone call from the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, telling me that the speech that had been sent in was completely wrong, misleading and should never have reached the floor of this House. What an extraordinary situation. These are real people's lives. These are real children who need that legislation to be commenced. The idea that a speech would be presented to this Seanad by the Department of Health to be read out and then the Minister responsible for it completely reneges on the speech and, to be fair, goes back to all of the honourable commitments he previously made is really shocking. It is playing with people's lives.

While we are on the subject of playing with people's lives, throughout my four and a half years as a Member of this House, I have spoken about apartment defects time and again. I work with Sam and Odette Doran on the Not Our Fault campaign. They have been promised money and have jumped through every possible hoop there is to make sure that Park West is a pathfinder. In fact, they have set a template for every development in the country with regard to how this should be done, how you liaise with the fire service and with everything that is involved. While there is any delay in the payment of this money, real people are living in apartment complexes that fall well below the standards for fire safety.Real people's lives are being affected. The Minister, Darragh O'Brien, promised them that they would receive money within seven to ten days, but the ten days are up and there is still no sign of the money. We hope there will be a phone call today. These are people’s lives. This is not about a Plinth photograph or a big moment in the newspapers or on the “Six One” news. This is about Ministers actually doing their job, delivering the money they promised and delivering for the people. It is not acceptable that people are misled or led a merry dance just in advance of a general election. I hope that, by the end of today, we will have that telephone call and the money will be on its way to remediate the apartment defects, arising out of appalling Celtic tiger standards, that were left neglected for years at the cost of people in their homes and at risk to their lives.