It is very traumatic for any young child to go through surgery, irrespective of the gravity of that surgery. Equally, it is very traumatic experience for parents. In that context, to have a clinical audit established at CHI and Cappagh hospitals on the surgical management of children with the condition known as developmental dysplasia of the hip is deeply traumatic and compounds the original trauma. It is extremely worrying for patients and will lead to anger if it transpires that operations were carried out that were not required at all. People should remember that, first and foremost, this is a clinical issue insofar as the decision to take the step of surgery is a clinical one. It is predetermined and it should be done through multidisciplinary teams that decide whether a child needs surgery for a specific condition. It is extremely serious that the assertion is that quite a number of operations were carried out unnecessarily, notwithstanding the fact that we are talking about clinicians involved in surgery of this kind. A clinical audit is being conducted by an external international expert on surgery for children with developmental dysplasia of the hip across CHI hospitals and at the National Orthopaedic Hospital Cappagh. I believe the Deputy knows the condition. It is a problem with the way a baby’s hip joint forms, and some children with it may require surgery. The purpose of the audit is to establish that surgical practice was in line with international standards and practices. The audit is close to its final stages. It makes sense for us to await the completion of the audit in order that we will have an informed, evidenced-based approach to the issue. Letters are being issued to the families by CHI and Cappagh hospitals, and they will be writing to them to provide further information in respect of this. I expect the details of the audit to be published and fully shared with the parents before publication. My understanding is that concerns relating to different thresholds of surgery being applied in CHI hospitals and National Orthopaedic Hospital Cappagh were initially raised internally in CHI under protected disclosure arrangements in September 2023. The Department of Health was notified about this matter on 9 May 2024. The audit process, as I have said, is at an advanced stage with clinicians to provide feedback on the draft report to the expert author by Friday, 21 March. Patient safety precautions are being put in place and a multi-disciplinary team is looking at all of this in a comprehensive way. This is deeply worrying for the patients. We have to wait for the completion of the audit and the presentation of the findings to the parents, and then take what action is required also. It goes to the very heart of the clinical practice and standards that applied.

Sentiment score: -0.02

First of all, no one is being asked to wait and wait. There has to be a proper audit done of this and then there has to be a proper look back to cover as many children as possible who would have had this surgery to have completeness and to do a comprehensive look back on the specific surgery. In my view, that is the correct thing to do. Yes, correspondence is going out to parents; that is important as parents have to be contacted. I will discuss this, obviously. Once the audit is done, there has to be full transparency in respect of not just the audit but all aspects of how the case, or this issue, will be dealt with from here onwards. It is very worrying that an audit has been found necessary in the context of standards of clinical care.

Sentiment score: 0.13

I do not have the precise timelines on that.

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I gave the Deputy the date in terms of the Department. Tá sé dochreidte ar shlí. Níl aon amhras ann go bhfuil tuismitheoirí ar fud na tíre an-bhuartha faoin méid atá tar éis tarlú. Caithfidh muid dul i ngleic leis agus tuarascáil chuimsitheach a chur os comhair na dtuismitheoirí agus an phobail i gcoitinne.

Sentiment score: -0.07

Níl aon amhras ach gurb é seo an t-ábhar is tábhachtaí a bheidh os comhair na Dála seo agus os comhair na tíre sna blianta atá romhainn. Bunathrú atá faoi chaibidil ag údaráis na Stát Aontaithe agus Uachtarán na Stát Aontaithe maidir le tariffs agus cúrsaí trádala. Without question this is a fundamental shift in US policy. Tariffs are bad. They are bad for the world. They will create instability, uncertainty and a lack of predictability in the world economy. That will mean a pause in investment. Whatever about existing investments, decision-makers are pausing their investment decisions pending this settling down. That will have a dampening effect on economic growth, not just globally but also across Europe and in Ireland. It is clear from what we understand so far that we are looking at a universal applicability of tariffs in terms of countries and goods. We have a number of sectors. The US Administration is going to focus on five sectors, including semiconductors, wood, pharma and automotive, which is having a big impact already in some EU countries. The key issue, however, is that Europe does not want tariffs and wants negotiation. Europe will take a strategic approach in its response, and that is as it should be. We are part of the European Union and we will input into that response as to what is the most effective, strategic way to mitigate the impact of tariffs on Ireland and Europe. Tariffs will increase inflation, increase the cost of medication and increase the cost of groceries in America in particular and elsewhere. I reject the Deputy's criticisms in terms of Ireland. Ireland has a broad base that comprises indigenous and multinational investment here and abroad. Irish companies are all over the world, and there is a connection. The FDI that came into Ireland spawned a lot of Irish-owned companies. These are now big strong companies that developed on the back of supply chains to the multinationals, particularly in the areas of project management and instrumentation. Take a company like Intel or some of the pharmaceutical companies. They are constructing plants all over the world. Very often, Irish companies will be found in the supply chains to those companies. It is far too simplistic to draw a distinction between the FDI sector and Ireland's SME sector. We need to diversify markets. We need to sign the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, CETA. I think the Labour Party was opposed to CETA.

Sentiment score: 0.06

It had concerns. It was against it, and that was wrong.

Sentiment score: -0.24

Our bread and butter is trade deals-----

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-----and we should support CETA. I would appreciate the Labour Party's support when we bring the legislation to ratify that deal before the House. I will come back later in the next reply.

Sentiment score: 0.35

This is a different potential economic upheaval than the previous one. It is of a different structure and a different nature. We have provided for the Future Ireland Fund and the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund, which are providing substantial funding. We will have €16 billion by the end of this year in the Future Ireland Fund. Whatever we do, we should try to maintain that as a protector of the future and the generations who will require access to pensions and social protection and continuing investment in infrastructure. We will be prioritising investment in infrastructure in terms of water, the grid, the digital transformation of health, public transport and so forth. In addition to that, Europe wants to double down on the Single Market. I agree with President von der Leyen on this. Ireland has to play its role in that because the Single Market has been good for Ireland. The savings and investment union is now being seriously pushed by the EU. Ireland will co-operate constructively to arrive at a landing zone that benefits Ireland and benefits the wider European Union in respect of releasing savings to enable investment to take place in Europe to a far greater degree than is the case at the moment.

Sentiment score: 0.17

I thank the Deputy for his question. The response has to be on an number of levels. First, within the European Union, we will be consulting with and inputting into the Commission. The design of countermeasures is important - that it is not a knee-jerk tit-for-tat-type of response. It has to be calibrated, it has to be strategic, to make sure that whatever do, we do not damage ourselves more by doing it. When I say "we", I mean Europe, with Ireland obviously as part of that. That is particularly applicable to the pharmaceutical sector. We have to weigh that up because a response could even be counterproductive and compound the problems. The Commission is working on that. It is aware of our views. We obviously have concerns in the agrifood area. The design of countermeasures will be critical in ensuring that we do that which is optimal for our workers. Protection of jobs is the number one priority of the Irish Government in all of this. It will take some time to unfold. European did not start this; Europe does not want a tariff war. Europe wants negotiation. I hope, following Europe's response, we will get to negotiation with the US Administration and then get to some settled landing zone, but even that landing zone post negotiation will not be where we are today. We need to be upfront about that. As President von der Leyen said, the old order is essentially gone for now. Therefore, we have to adapt and innovate. Europe's strength is in doubling down on the Single Market and diversifying trade to other countries. This Dáil has had a strange approach to trade deals that the European Union conducts and has opposed them time and time again, vitriolically at times, which makes no sense in terms of where the Irish economy is. We need to wake up fast to the value and importance of the trade deals Europe can do. Counterintuitively, the best thing to do against the protectionist leanings of the US and others is to start doing more trade deals. I hope by the end of this year that Europe will have a deal closed with India. It is looking at Indonesia and it has concluded deals. We have to reflect on that very hard as an Oireachtas. Trade works for Ireland. If one takes the Canadian-European Union trade deal, trade has gone up 30% for Irish SMEs in the Canadian market. This was opposed by most of the Opposition-----

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-----on the grounds of the investor clauses and all of that.

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Dáil Éireann has not been in a position to ratify the CETA deal even though it has been in provisional operation since 2018. What does that say about Irish legislators in terms of what matters to the Irish people, what matters for Irish jobs and what is essentially the bread and butter of people's lives on the table?

Sentiment score: 0.03

This works for workers. The trade deal works for workers. That is the point.

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It is far too early to make decisions in relation to that right now. We have to see where this lands. I do not believe the capacity to reshore pharmaceuticals in the short term is there. The issue in the short term is more the pausing of investment decisions for the future. That is what would concern me. American companies have grown strong in Ireland. This is a point we are making bilaterally to the US. They are an integrated part of a complex supply chain between here and the US. A lot of our products go to the US for finished product to be made there. There is a bit to go on this yet. I hope there will be negotiations following the EU response that can reduce tariffs significantly and that we can navigate our way through this with the objective of protecting jobs into the future. It is a different structural issue economically that we have to come to grips with but again it is a bit early yet to almost be saying that certain job losses are inevitable. The pace of this is yet unclear. The impacts are unclear because I do not think we have witnessed such a universal application of tariffs before across the globe.

Sentiment score: 0.02

First of all, no school should be in that position. I do not believe there was a necessity to write that letter to the parents at that time, to be frank about it. I have a long-time involvement in education. I have a lot of experience with the education world. In the past, any time a school was in difficulty, dialogue opened up with the Department and the Department always came in to help, particularly if a school was in extremis or in difficulty. My understanding is that the Department engaged with Sacred Heart school in December. The Department sought information but did not get any response in terms of the information provision. The Department will continue to engage. The Department was unaware of any letter being sent out to the parents at the time. I would say to schools generally that if they are in really dire circumstances, where they feel the necessity to write to the parents, they should contact the Department. The capitation grant has increased significantly over the last two years, in particular three years. With the cost-of-living increases, there were very substantial allocations, as well as during Covid-19, in particular, way above the norm. If we look at the investment in education over the past four years, it has been huge on the current and capital sides and on special education. The DEIS programme was widened and expanded very significantly. It was the largest expansion of DEIS ever, with consequential improved funding, provision of teaching posts and so on. That said, we acknowledge that there have been inflationary pressures on schools because of the crisis that was occasioned by the energy crisis resulting from the Ukraine war and the post-Covid issue in terms of inflation. The Minister and the Department will work with schools that are in difficulty. We will also continue to improve the capitation rates that are paid to schools. There have been other supports as well in terms of other positions within primary schools, specific supports around technology and so forth. Suffice it to say that by any yardstick, the investment in education has increased very significantly in the past number of years, notwithstanding all the pressures people are facing, which I acknowledge.

Sentiment score: 0.08

The Deputy has an awful habit of trying to name-call and label people. He does it for political reasons. Sometimes, I question his sincerity in regard to these matters because a letter was sent-----

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I am just saying what happened. I am not victim-blaming anybody. I was making a general point. I have been through this before with schools. We help schools when they engage with the Department. It has happened at different times that particular schools have had particular problems. A letter was sent to the chair of the board on 14 March outlining the importance of the role of the FSSU, that is, the financial support services unit. That unit is there for a reason on behalf of the Department in supporting schools. The Department has engaged with the school since December and has asked the school to provide further information about its financial situation. The note I have says that is still awaited, but the Department may have received it since. We urge the school and the management to engage fully with the Department. It is currently engaging with the unit for this purpose. As the Deputy said, action was taken to deal with the school's immediate cash flow issues. Capitation grant funding due to be paid to the school was advanced. I have no doubt that the Department will be in a position to resolve those issues for the school in a sensible way. That is how to do things. That is all I am simply saying. I am not victim-blaming anybody.

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I would make the point that every child attending that primary school now has free schoolbooks, which those children never had before, because the previous Government took really decisive actions to make life better for kids in all schools.

Sentiment score: 0.81

Hot school meals is another initiative that was taken, but Deputy Murphy ignores all of that and makes assertions of neglect or whatever, which is not the case.

Sentiment score: -0.77