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Seanad
‹ An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business

Brexit and backstop concerns

Summary

Senators Conway-Walsh and Humphreys warned that there is no good Brexit, stressed the need to preserve the backstop, and said people in Northern Ireland lack a voice in Westminster. Humphreys then turned briefly to building quality and apartment defects.

We are awaiting the result of the vote this evening in the House of Commons at Westminster on the latest Brexit debacle. It is astounding to learn that the British Prime Minister never sought agreement or consulted the UK Attorney General before she went to the European Union for the latest round of attempts to secure agreement. We need to be very mindful that there will be no good Brexit for the island of Ireland and that the people of the North voted against it. They do not want it. Therefore, we must ensure there will be no return to a hard border on the island of Ireland and no undermining of the Good Friday Agreement. That has been our bottom line from day one. It is what Sinn Féin has sought to achieve. The backstop, as contained in the withdrawal agreement, is the only way to legally guarantee that outcome. Sinn Féin will seek confirmation from the Taoiseach in the Dáil today and this House that the withdrawal agreement and the backstop have not been diminished or diluted in any way. That is of huge importance to the whole island.

I highlight information we have gathered on the staffing of primary care centres and especially the number of centres throughout the State that do not have a GP. Let us take County Mayo as an example. There is no GP in the primary care centres in Ballinrobe and Claremorris. In the primary care centre in Castlebar there is only 0.06 of a physiotherapist, whatever that is supposed to mean. There are no psychologists in the centre in Ballinrobe. My point is that all of the investment in primary care centres is of no use whatsoever if we do not have the staff to serve the communities in which they are located. If there is a huge primary care centre and no GP, one might well ask what the point in having it is.

The Minister for Health needs to consider how that feeds into the acute hospitals such as Mayo University Hospital in respect of numbers of people waiting on trolleys or in the emergency department at any given time, to ensure that the primary care centres are fully staffed, as they need to be. Mayo has 0.06 of a physiotherapist and hundreds of people, including children with disabilities, waiting for physiotherapy in the county and other counties. That is not acceptable. There needs to be investment in the personnel in primary care centres as well as investment in the infrastructure. I ask that the Minister come to the House after the St. Patrick's Day break to tell us his plans to fully staff have these centres. It is a serious problem where we do not have general GPs. Areas such as Bangor Erris in Mayo does not have a permanent GP service and this cannot be allowed to continue because people's lives and health are at risk where we do not have proper primary care GP services.

Comment on this

The reports from the UK about Brexit are worrying. There is no such thing as a good Brexit and the best negotiated agreement included a backstop and we need maintain its integrity. It is hugely disappointing that the debate will take place in the House of Commons over the coming hours and there will be nobody to speak for the thousands of people who voted in Northern Ireland against Brexit. It is disappointing that they have no voice in the House of Commons.

Last week, I raised the quality of building work in apartments and housing estates the length and breadth of the country. Residents in apartment blocks face repair bills of tens of thousands of euro because of fire safety, building quality and water ingress issues in their homes. Will the Leader arrange for the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government to come to the House to address these issues? It is a complicated situation but it is also distressing for the families that find themselves caught in it because, under Fianna Fáil, self-certification was allowed for these buildings during the boom. The Government cannot wash its hands of this issue. It needs to bring forward solutions for the thousands of families affected. Can the Leader say when the Minister will come to the House to speak on this important issue?

Comment on this