I was not here on certain days for the Order of Business so it is possible that the issue of high energy prices has been discussed this week. If so, I apologise for bringing it up again. We learned recently that householders are paying €250 more for electricity than the EU average. We are told by journalists like Charlie Weston and others involved in the media, including Daragh Cassidy of bonkers.ie, that our electricity prices are between 26% and 28% higher than the EU average. Only a small number of countries, Denmark, Germany and Belgium, have more expensive energy prices. We must bear in mind that those figures, which show an enormous difference, were published before the war in Ukraine. We have a major issue here with the cost of electricity. That is despite the fact that there are 12 electricity suppliers in this country, which is high number for an island of this size, but we still seem to have a significant issue with the cost. On average, most families will pay €800 or €900 a year more annually for electricity. That will be a shocking weight around the necks of many families in the coming months and years if the war does not come to an end. The war is not helping the situation. I ask that we have the Minister in here, not to fire arrows at him but for a constructive debate. We can all come up with new ideas on why electricity costs so much more in this country. I always make the point that we are part of the EU, but we are an island off Europe and providing anything in an island country is always more expensive, but, nevertheless, there is a stark difference in electricity prices, and the Government needs to investigate the matter.

I rise today, International Nurses Day, to pay tribute to nurses on the wonderful work they do, many of them in very tough circumstances. I often raise many of the issues that are going on at University Hospital Limerick and how the staff are working in horrific circumstances, but I pay tribute to them because they work every hour when they are at work, and they give it their all to make sure that the patients and everybody within the hospital have a very safe experience. They are so committed to their jobs. I pay tribute to them because it is important to acknowledge the hard work they put in. Many nurses work in nursing home settings or in health centres. They are very committed, and they undertake the upskilling and training they require over many years. I pay tribute to them and wish them all the best in the future.

I have just come from the front gates of Leinster House where a considerable number of former Debenhams workers have gathered in advance of the debate on a Bill being put before the Dáil today. It is two years, one month and one day since they lost their jobs in such a shameful way. Last month, I stated in this Chamber that we had a lot of honeyed words back in the spring and summer of 2020 and that we have yet to see any substantive action from the Government. There have been many promises with regard to the employment law review group, but we have yet to see anything from it.

My colleague, Senator Moynihan, referred to the Daft report. Rents have increased by more than 11%. The Labour Party introduced a living wage Bill this week to ensure that we move all minimum wage workers to a living income over the next three years.

Many are listening to the debate on the national maternity hospital. They see it as a bubble debate. We all want to see a new national maternity hospital built as soon as possible. It is important to state for the record, however, that I very much believe this is a lousy deal. I am conscious that the scrutiny by the Legislature will be complete as of today. Once what is proposed passes through the Joint Committee on Health, it will go to the Cabinet next week unchanged. Ultimately, this will be a public-private hospital. It will be privately influenced because there are three private directors who will decide the chair in three years' time. The key issue of why we are in this place is because the State has failed. The Government has not had the courage to make the site the subject of a compulsory purchase order in order to put it up to St. Vincent's. This is a hospital that receives millions of euro every year under a service level agreement. The questions that we have about why St. Vincent's so desperately wants this site and how it intends to use its ownership of the site into the future will only be answered in time. It is a real shame, however, that we are going to see a new hospital on this site that is not going to be developed as a full public hospital but that will instead be a public-private hospital.