When I raised with the Taoiseach last week the need to extend maternity leave and benefit by 12 weeks for mothers and parents affected by the Covid-19 crisis, he said the matter was complicated and complex but that the Government would do the right thing. Yesterday, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs announced a three-week extension to parental leave to be brought in next year under budget 2021. I put it to the Taoiseach that that is too little and too late. Those new mothers and families who need the additional breathing space and support of 12 additional weeks of maternity leave and benefit need action now. They are not in a position to wait until next year for some of that relief. I appeal to the Taoiseach to support the Sinn Féin Private Members' motion that will be brought forward and more than that to act as a Government and live up to the Taoiseach's commitment to do the right thing. The right thing is to afford 12 extra weeks to these woman, their babies and their families.

I believe the Government's decision is a substantive and significant one in advancing the extension of parents' leave and benefits to five weeks for all parents of children born after 1 November 2019. That is to give parents who gave birth during the Covid period an opportunity to avail of the scheme. The pre-existing scheme was somewhat limited and could have excluded them. The proposal Deputy McDonald put forward in terms of paternity benefit would have required further social welfare and justice legislation and would have had to be retrospective, which would have been complex enough. Also, the benefit of this proposal is that it is consistent and in line with policy positions that Government had adopted and the Oireachtas had agreed to in respect of parents' leave.

There are other groups out there as well. If one takes the totality of the pandemic unemployment payment and the wage subsidy, there is a substantive range of supports helping people in different groupings and different situations.

There is a concern out there about the leadership of the new version of Government in issues relating to Covid, such as masks, testing, quarantine, the green list and so on. We also have real issues coming down the line regarding trolley numbers in acute hospitals. The numbers released today by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation in relation to trolley numbers are scary. The total number is 166. In relation to University Hospital Limerick, the number is 56. The Minister is now silent on this issue despite making a range of huge commitments on it prior to being appointed. What is the Taoiseach going to do about this? We are in the middle of a pandemic. We need leadership as to how we ensure we can cope over the coming months with Covid and non-Covid illnesses, particularly in relation to acute settings and trolley numbers. Commitments have been made. The Minister seems to be missing. What will the Taoiseach do?

The Minister and I met the HSE on Friday. He certainly was not missing. He was in front of an entire press briefing.

He needs to honour his commitments.

He was there and the purpose of the visit was a winter initiative in the context of Covid and also a resumption of services for non-Covid treatments and the non-Covid strand of health services and medicine. It is going to be challenging in terms of capacity constraints in our acute hospitals.

He had loads of answers prior to his appointment.

It will also be challenging in terms of face masks. I have made it my business in the last week to knock heads together and get the regulations signed on Friday so masks would be compulsory on public transport. One can spend forever working out who will do that but the Irish people obey the law and they are compliant in relation to public health matters. There was a good degree of compliance by the public yesterday on buses and trains. That type of leadership did work.

That was not the question that I asked.

Which one-----