Before coming to the Order of Business, I propose to deal with a number of notices under Standing Order 32. I will call on Deputies in the order in which they submitted notices to my office.
Requests to Move Adjournment of Dáil under Standing Order 32.
I seek the adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 32 to raise the following urgent matter: the health sector cutbacks leading to cutbacks in patient services at hospitals across the country. Extensive cutbacks of frontline staff at Sligo General Hospital will adversely affect the quality and availability of patient care. The scale of the job cuts at Sligo General Hospital exceeds anything proposed for any other location. The inclusion of both nursing and consultant staff seriously erodes the capacity of the hospital to maintain the current standard of service and care. With more than 360 patients on the waiting list for surgery for more than 12 months, these major cutbacks will result in longer waiting times for patients. Out-patient appointments and clinics will be cancelled, leading to greater hardship and stress for patients.
While budgetary matters are the responsibility of the Health Service Executive, it is the responsibility of the Minister for Health and Children to ensure that standards of care and access to services are maintained. The Minister urgently needs to address these very serious concerns.
I seek the adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 32 to discuss the following urgent matter: the need for the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to establish a ministerial task force with the Fingal county manager and Dublin city manager to carry out a full traceability audit of all building sites allegedly supplied with defective stone infill by a quarry in west Dublin and to investigate the location of any other quarries with a high pyrite content and arrange a traceability audit for each of them. The Minister should set up a national pyrite investigation and monitoring agency under his Department to guarantee the handing back of fully repaired and rebuilt homes to householders and introduce protocols for compulsory chemical analysis of all infill used in construction and appropriate compensation mechanisms for affected householders and local authorities.
I seek the adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 32 to address the following urgent matters: the cuts now being imposed by the Health Service Executive in hospitals across the State, including hospitals in Sligo and Ennis; the disastrous policy of over-centralisation of hospital services which has led to the deaths of patients, especially in connection with the downgrading of Monaghan General Hospital; the failure of the Government and the HSE to learn the lessons from this, as seen in their decision to end a 24 hour accident and emergency service at Ennis; and the need for a radical change in this disastrous Government health policy.
I seek the adjournment of the Dáil to discuss the following urgent matter: the continuing escalation of gangland shootings in this city, including the shooting of a young garda yesterday and a further shooting this morning in Drimnagh.
Having considered the matters raised, I do not consider them in order under Standing Order 32.