Despite everyone's best efforts, we are out of time so we will take the last two speakers together.

I want to raise issues with regard to the emergency or 999 call answering service, with centres in Ballyshannon in Donegal and in my own county of Meath, in Navan, employing approximately 75 people. Workers have told me that they have made numerous attempts to have issues addressed with BT Communications Ireland regarding pay and conditions, union recognition and other serious issues but they are getting nowhere and are not being listened to. I understand that workers have written to the company in the last day or two in a last-ditch attempt to get these issues resolved but the company will not engage with unions. Why did the Government award a contract to a company that will not engage with unions in this State?

In many cases, workers are dealing with calls that are not easy to answer. They are the first point of contact for our national emergency services and answer approximately 500 calls over 12-hour shifts. Workers still hope to resolve outstanding issues through dialogue with BT Communications but failing that, they will be looking at all options available to them. We do not want this country to be in a situation where 999 calls are not being answered. I ask the Government to engage with workers and management to sort this out as a matter of urgency.

The appalling rape of a number of women in a HSE-run nursing home has shocked the nation. Why is the Government failing to protect people? A total of 978 incidents were reported to HIQA in 2022 in relation to the care and welfare of older people in nursing homes and other institutions but HIQA has no regulatory remit to investigate or manage any of those individual complaints. The Minister is well aware of this but to date, he has refused to introduce legislation to protect our older people.

In this particular case extremely vulnerable older women were living in fear and dread in the middle of the Covid pandemic, when an evil perpetrator was on the loose in a nursing home. It appears that there are files which show that other women in that institution were also raped. Safeguarding must be our top priority. We must stop paying lip service to our older people and protect them utterly and absolutely.

I will take Deputy Guirke's question and the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Butler, will take Deputy O'Dowd's question.

Regarding the 75 workers who operate the 999 call service, I am sorry to hear that these issues have arisen. We have well-established processes in Ireland for dealing with disputes and issues around pay, terms and conditions and so on, primarily through the Workplace Relations Commission. I am sure that the workers or their representatives will consider following up and raising the issues at that level. These workers provide an absolutely vital front-line service and it is concerning to hear of the issues raised by the Deputy. I will ask the Minister to respond to the Deputy directly on this.