Louise O'Reilly
Dublin Fingal West · Sinn Féin · Ireland
“I welcome this debate this afternoon and am happy to be able to make a small contribution to it. I grew up in a Border town. I ended up in that town because my father was a trade union organiser who represented workers on both sides of the Border for a long number of years and, in fact, went on to be based in the North for a long time.”
“I am fortunate enough to represent a constituency that is very firmly in the Dublin–Belfast economic corridor. Before partition, as we know, Belfast was a thriving industrial powerhouse. Partition put a lid on the potential of that city to grow and flourish.”
“When we talk about Irish unity, we should frame that discussion as one about potential for growth, the potential for all-Ireland working and all-Ireland business. Between Belfast and Dublin, there are five universities, numerous colleges of further education and training, and businesses that are ready to scale up.”
“As the debate on Irish unity advances, and it is advancing despite what some of the people opposite would like to happen, we need to frame that discussion in a positive way. We need to look clearly for those opportunities while acknowledging the challenges. We are not blind to the challenges.”
“If her letter does not have any impact - let us be honest; it has not had any impact - the Minister of State might outline what he will do that might go a bit further than writing a letter. We know that devices are essential. We know that parents want their kids to be able to participate.”
“I thank the Deputies for bringing forward this motion. I was chatting to my dad as I was coming in and told him I would be debating this motion in relation to supports for parents this morning. He reminded me, of course, that it was the Labour Party in government that cut those very supports.”
The complete record
Every one of 855 lines we hold for Louise O'Reilly, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 9 of 18.
“The Complex is a vibrant arts and cultural centre in Dublin's north-west inner city. It is fighting for its life, having received an eviction notice for January. There is, however, a chance to stop this happening but the Government has to play its part. A detailed viability plan to secure the centre's future is on the table. Dublin City Council has agreed to provide some of the money to purchase the building. It was hoped the Government would provide the finance to make up the shortfall. Management at The Complex received a letter from the Minister yesterday in which he abdicated any Government responsibility for the purchase of arts buildings. This is very wrong. The Minister has the power to help to save The Complex. The community really needs him on board. The arts sector needs him on board to find a solution.”
“I hope that in the script the Minister of State is going to read out he has a very detailed explanation as to why the European working time directive should not apply to this vital group of workers. I do not have a crystal ball but I am fairly certain he will pay tribute to them and tell us all how much he values them. Really, his actions will tell us how much he values them. Recognising every hour and every minute that they work would tell us that he values them but his fine words will not come to anything if he does not withdraw the amendment and accept that these men and women are working for the 24 hours of the shift.”
“Imagine then to be told that for a significant chunk of that shift, when you are required to be alert and ready to go into some of the most dangerous situations imaginable, it is not considered work. Jesus, it is not rest - it is most definitely not rest. As Deputy Conor D. McGuinness pointed out, this has been through all of the sophisticated industrial relations mechanisms that the Government loves to refer to. It has been through all of them. When you are expected to be on call in this way, your time is not your own. You are definitely not resting. You are working and it should be recognised as such. They are on 24-hour shifts and they should have every hour and every minute of those shifts recognised and acknowledged.”
“This is why it is simply incomprehensible that the Minister would try to claim the health, safety and welfare of the men and women of the search and rescue service are somehow outside of his remit. It is fairly shameful and the Minister of State should withdraw the amendment and listen to the search and rescue personnel. I engaged with the lads who work out of Dublin Airport as they were doing the transition over to Bristow Ireland. I visited them. I know they made their concerns known. I know they had concerns. They are used to working shifts. If you are a shift worker, you are already likely to have a lower life expectancy. Your sleep is disturbed and it interrupts your family life. Doing shift work has a massive impact.”
“I thank and commend Deputies Cullinane and McGuinness for bringing forward this motion. I represent a coastal community. We deeply appreciate the work of the search and rescue services. We do not like to see them coming but we are very glad there are there. Years and years ago, when I was a shop steward, back when I used to work for a living, I went on a health and safety course. The tutor was Norman Croke and the first thing he said to us when he was teaching us about health and safety in the workplace was that health and safety were everybody's business. He told us never to imagine for a moment that they were someone else's responsibility. Health and safety are everybody's business. They are the responsibility of every person. This was true then, many years ago, and it is true today.”
“It really is not and neither is his pantomime act coming in here pretending like it is somebody else's fault or that somebody else has the power to help people. They were promised 100% redress. That is not what is in this. They want to see the Government working with the Opposition, listening, taking amendments on board and ensuring this legislation is fit for purpose because it is not.”
“Last week, there was a response to a question of mine, taken by my party colleague Deputy Ó Broin, to ask the Minister when my constituents living in Skerries and Rush will be facilitated with entry into the scheme, because they too are suffering due to defective blocks. My colleague made the point the report is on the Minister's desk. Do you know what the Minister said? We must bear in mind this debate took place very late at night and my constituents waited up to watch it. Some of them are elderly. They are all terrified. Their houses are damp and mouldy and bits are falling off. The Minister said that one thing he noted was how often somebody tells him that there is something on his desk when his desk is empty. Does the Minister of State think that kind of smart-alecky answer is going to cut it with people?”
“That is what they expect. It is not their fault the blocks were defective. It is no fault of theirs. The Minister of State and his colleagues were in government. Maybe it is their fault. Would the Minister of State assume any responsibility? He does not take any responsibility at all. It is always somebody else's fault.”
“These people will absolutely have to live with the consequences, even after the scaffolding is taken down. My constituents waited for years because their houses were just not bad enough. They had to wait until their houses were crumbling down around their ears. They had to wait until their living conditions got so bad that they could get into the scheme. Even after that, the trauma continues. The publication of the legislation shows us the Government has learned nothing, absolutely nothing, from the litany of its past mistakes. This was all acknowledged by the Minister of State, Deputy McConalogue, as if it was somehow somebody else's fault. Give us a break, for God's sake. It is utterly shameless of him to come in here and pretend and say somebody should do something. Really? That somebody is him. People were promised 100% redress.”
“Do not interrupt me. I listened to 12 minutes of the Minister of State describing his frustration but never managing to mention who it is he is frustrated with and who is causing these delays. The power is his. He is in government. He is the Government but, my God, he is so frustrated with the delays. That act does not fool anyone. It certainly does not fool me. It certainly would not fool people looking in this evening whose houses are crumbling down around their ears and have to hear their kids ask when they are going to get their new house and when they will be able to sleep. I know this because I have dealt with this issue in my constituency. People's lives were ruined. Mention was made earlier of post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD.”
“It is a bit galling, to be brutally frank with the Minister of State, to listen to him telling us all about how frustrated he is and how somebody really should do something, how the blockages must be removed and how deeply frustrated he is that things are taking so long. Who could possibly be to blame? I know it is Christmas, but he could spare us the bloody pantomime.”
“I remind Deputies present that if everybody takes ten minutes - and I know Deputy Cleere has not - we will not get to everybody. I ask Deputies to be mindful of their time. You are entitled to the ten minutes but that might knock someone else out so keep an eye on the time if you can. The next speaker is Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice.”
“She married a Fermanagh man now so that is where she is at. In all seriousness, it is something that will not take the Minister a long time. These are cases that are very real and very live now so I would appreciate if, when Deputy Smyth brings this back to the Minister, she could emphasise that we are talking about small numbers, statutory instruments, co-operation from the Opposition and possibly getting this resolved by Christmas if we could.”
“Very briefly, to echo the sentiment expressed by my colleague, this impacts a number of social welfare payments but in real life the numbers are tiny. I sent in a parliamentary question about it. I did not expect the numbers would be big. I did not think they would be as low as three but that is where we are at. We are not talking about big numbers but these people are paying into a system. If this cannot be facilitated, then the mother does not get to be cared for by her daughter, which is her choice, and then someone is going to have to care for her. At the end of the day, a bill is coming one way or the other. It strikes me that the person themselves, the elderly person in this instance, has a right to chose their carer. The carer is available and the only crime that anyone has committed is living 3 miles or 4 miles up the road.”
“However, there is also a need to resolve these individual cases as well as getting the resolution for us into the future.”
“This woman is caring for her mother and then going home to where she lives, which is only up the road. I am interested in hearing what the Department is prepared to do about this. In our view, it is amenable to resolution by statutory instrument. I ask the Minister of State to request this of the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Calleary, who is aware of this issue. As I understand it, there is no hostility towards resolving it; the question is whether we can. As it stands, people who have worked all of their lives and paid stamps are now falling foul of the habitual residency rule. It is very simple. For the purposes of habitual residency, the island should be regarded as one. I am not trying to make a massively political point but it would make sense to regard the island as one.”
“I agree with my party colleague that given the Minister of State's position as a representative of a Border county, she will be more familiar with this issue than some in the House. Not that one would guess it from listening to me, but I also grew up in a Border town and I know that people who live along the Border do not recognise it in the same way as those who live elsewhere because they go back and forth across the Border all of the time. In response to a parliamentary question, I was told that there are only three people resident in the North who are in receipt of carer's benefit at this point. We are not talking about massive numbers here. There are no floodgates opening or anything like that coming down the line. This is also about the fact that the people taking on caring responsibilities are saving the State an absolute fortune.”
“The Minister of State will not see her in the Gallery because her life was destroyed. There is no protection for whistleblowers. I urge the Minister of State to go up to the Gallery and ask them whether they feel protected and if they do not, to withdraw the Government's amendment and do the decent thing.”
“He did not stay for the whole debate, but I hope he will look back at it. I ask him to go up to the Gallery and ask those people whether they feel protected, if they feel the State protected them. Before I was elected, I was a trade union official and I have sat with people whose lives were destroyed because they spoke up. They wanted to make things better. The Minister of State might never know their names, but I have sat in their living rooms and kitchens and they have sat in my car. A nurse in the west of Ireland spoke up about mismanagement in the health service and her hair fell out, her marriage was destroyed and her children did not even recognise their mother any more. It started with no access to night duty or overtime. She was ostracised. There were rumours.”
“I thank the Deputies for using Private Members' time to facilitate this debate on protection for whistleblowers. From the bottom of my heart, I welcome every one of the whistleblowers who had the bravery to come here and be with us today. I will also say a word for those who simply cannot speak up, the people who have been beaten by the system and battered by the State, for whom a protected disclosure represented, in some instances, the end of their lives and certainly the end of any mental peace they had. The Minister of State, Deputy Michael Healy-Rae, rambled in and said: The Protected Disclosures Act 2014 is Ireland's national whistleblower protection law. This legislation was designed to protect workers from penalisation for speaking up about wrongdoing in the workplace.”
“They have been let down by far too many health Ministers and I really, genuinely hope that they get the answers that they so desperately need.”
“The then Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, continued: I assure colleagues that improving scoliosis services is an absolute priority for both me and the Government. I am monitoring closely - indeed, on a weekly basis - the progress being made on addressing waiting lists He said that "the HSE and the Children's Hospital Group have confirmed that they are committed to ensuring that no child will be waiting over four months". I emphasise that the then Minister for Health said that he would be monitoring the waiting lists not on a monthly basis but "on a weekly basis". What happened? The attention of the Minister was right on this "on a weekly basis". He confirmed it in the Dáil. What happened? Hopefully the inquiry will get some answers because parents have waited for far too long.”
“Children have been utterly failed by the State and successive governments. When I looked back at the record, I saw that the first time I raised this was in 2016. In 2017, I debated this matter with the then Minister for Health, who is now Tánaiste and Minister for Finance. The debate started with a reference to the great efforts of campaigners like the Scoliosis Advocacy Network. The staff in RTÉ were thanked for highlighting the issue. The then Minister thanked me for raising this serious matter and for giving him an opportunity to update the House. This, of course, was following on from an RTÉ programme. As often happens, people have to go to the media to bare their soul to get any attention from the Government.”
“I welcome the opportunity to make a small contribution to this debate . I pay tribute to the parents of Harvey Morrison Sherratt, people like Claire Cahill of the Scoliosis Advocacy Network, the parents of Mikey and all those campaigners who time and again have brought to the fore the issue of the scandalous treatment of children with scoliosis. We should not know the names of these children. They should be able to live their lives in peace and not have to continually waive their anonymity and beg for every tiny bit of attention to get the treatment they need. Families have been advocating, as I am sure the Minister will agree, for far too long. I imagine they are worn out. This issue is not new. This is not even the first or second scandal that relates to this area.”
“If we cannot stand up and show leadership in this, when, in the name of Jesus, are we going to do it? The Bill is there. Pass the occupied territories Bill in full. Make Israel answer and pay for its actions. Do justice to the suffering of the Palestinian people. Do what Irish people the length and breadth of this State want. Pass the occupied territories Bill in full.”
“They want the Government to insist on sanctions, to lead by example and to explain why the new auto-enrolment pension scheme, which will be rolled out in January, is being managed by Tata Consultancy Services, a company that human rights organisations such as Salam for Democracy and Human Rights reported as early as 2021 provides the core digital infrastructure for Israel's settlement financing banks and is a key partner in Project Nimbus, a military cloud project. We do not want our money being spent on genocide. Back in the 1980s, led by Mary Manning and the Dunnes Stores strikers, Ireland stood up to the vicious apartheid regime in South Africa. That was leadership. The same leadership is required today. There is nothing left in Gaza. It has been bombed into oblivion.”
“Every town and village across this island has a Palestinian solidarity group. Some are small and others are much bigger. They are made up of thousands of people who are involved every single week in making sure we do not look away and that we do all that we can to sanction Israel and support the Palestinian people in the face of a brutal and vicious genocide. I refer to groups like Balbriggan for Palestine and Skerries for Peace and people like Dr. Sarah Taaffe, whose exhibition is running in Lusk Community Cultural Centre at the moment, and Mags O'Brien from Trade Union Friends of Palestine. She works every single day of the week and never lets us forget. She knows it is important. These groups and these people want this Government to do all it can to stop the torture of the Palestinian people.”
“Deputy Sorca Clarke – To discuss concerns regarding the recent publication of standards and criteria for counsellors and psychotherapists by CORU. Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty – To discuss the need for a full public inquiry into the tendering and construction of Lucan leisure centre. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett – To discuss the new Uber fixed fares and taxi driver livelihoods. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh – To discuss the proposal from An Post to move operations within County Mayo. The matters raised by Deputies Rose Conway-Walsh, Pádraig Rice, Shane Moynihan and Maurice Quinlivan have been selected for discussion.”
“Deputy Maurice Quinlivan – To discuss wandering and malnourished horses in urban areas of Limerick. Deputy Ryan O'Meara – To discuss ambulance waiting times in north Tipperary. Deputy Séamus McGrath – To discuss the new school building project proposed for Ringaskiddy and Shanbally national schools, County Cork. Deputy Malcolm Byrne – To discuss the difficulties facing Wicklow and Wexford commuters. Deputy Shane Moynihan – To discuss the new school buildings for Divine Mercy junior and senior national schools, Balgaddy, Lucan. Deputy Pádraig Rice – To discuss the redevelopment of Cork city library. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore – To discuss the closure of the NCSE "parents notify" portal for children requiring special class or special school placements.”
“I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 39 and the name of the Member in each case: Deputy Michael Cahill – To discuss the shortage of early childcare places in Kerry. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue – To discuss the development of a minor injuries hub plan for Balbriggan. Deputy Jen Cummins – To discuss the ongoing miscommunication with the NCSE regarding the deadline of the notification process. Deputy Carol Nolan – To discuss contract work delays for St. Brendan's Community School, Birr. Deputy Naoise Ó Muirí – To discuss issues arising from new BusConnects services in north Dublin. Deputy Eoghan Kenny – To discuss the urgent need to fund renovations and refurbishment of Mayfield Sports Complex.”
“De réir Bhuan-Ordaithe 85(2), cuirfear an vótáil siar go dtí an am vótála seachtainiúil an tseachtain seo chugainn. In accordance with Standing Order 85(2), the division is postponed until the next weekly division time.”
“Instead, the parents have to talk about not hitting those milestones, about the negative impacts on the families, and about the negative impact on their homes. I was with a mother in my clinic on Monday morning and she described having to fill out the DCA form. I was encouraging her to appeal on the basis that 60% were overturned on appeal. She told me that it was exhausting and very hard to have to describe her child like that. I promised her that I would take the opportunity, if I could, to make that known directly to the Minister.”
“I want to talk to the Minister about the filling out of these forms. The parents of children with additional needs are the exact same as every single parent in the State. They want the best for their kids, they want their kids to be given a chance, and they want their kids to be able to thrive. They celebrate the milestones for their kids the same as every parent. In order to be able to fill out a DCA form, they have to write about their children on their worst day, about the implications for the families, about the care needs, about the impact of the disability, and all of the things that are negative about their children. They must write all of the things that they do not want to think about. Like every parent, they want to think about how their children are doing well and the milestones they hit.”
“They are currently not getting compensation for the care and work they do. I know the ambition is to abolish the means test by the end of the Government’s term, but there has to be a plan. It cannot simply be the case that everyone suddenly comes into the net five minutes before midnight on the day before the Government ends. There is a need for a plan, targets and figures. I am asking for them to be shared with me and the House.”
“I know the Minister’s ambition is to abolish the means test. I am not disputing that but if he cannot tell me how he is going to do it, he will forgive for being somewhat sceptical about the commitment. It is a little bit like the however many thousand houses the Government was going to build. That was an ambition as well. Ambition is not going to put money in the bank account of carers or bring those carers who are not currently eligible into the net. I welcome the fact that the Minister has said he will provide me with some of the information. The figure of 53,000 comes from the Department of public expenditure and reform. The question those 53,000 people currently not in receipt of carer’s allowance, who may potentially benefit, would like me to ask is when they will be included.”
“What the Minister is telling me is that the €10 million is not a fixed amount and, somehow, it can be expanded upon. That is not budgeted for, however. Can he explain, given that the 3,000 people coming in as part of this tranche are already in receipt of carer’s allowance, how many of the 53,000 who are not in receipt of it, will come in and in what year will they do so, from now until the end of the Government’s term?”
“Forgive me but I am still none the wiser. Following on from the budget announcement, I submitted a parliamentary question to the Department. It told me that the budgeted €10 million only covers existing recipients. By implication, the 3,000 people the Department estimates will benefit from the measure are people who are already in receipt of carer’s allowance. Am I right on that? Presumably, the 53,000 people the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation says could potentially be eligible will all have to be brought in the system when the means test is abolished. How many of them will come into the net? How is the Minister going to do that over the next four years? Has he set a target?”
“This relates to the commitment given in the programme for Government to phase out the means test for the carer’s allowance. I am genuinely struggling to understand the timeline the Minister has in his head. He told me, via a parliamentary question, that it will cost more than €600 million. He has only budgeted €10 million for next year, which is a partial year, so it works out at €20 million. By that logic, it would take 30 years to get to €600 million. I am interested in finding out how many additional people will benefit from the 2026 measures so that we can have an idea of how it is going to work going forward.”
“The Government told them not to cut services, so in the end they did cut pay. We can imagine that people who were burned before are very anxious to know if they are going to be in a capacity to join the scheme. The employers are anxious to know if they are going to be funded. My fear is that they are not funded at the moment and that we are going to end up in a situation where some people may be excluded or some agencies may have to make decisions that we do not want them to have to make.”
“The Minister and I know they are covered, but my question is on whether they are funded. The Minister of State says he has had extensive engagement, and I absolutely do not doubt that for a moment. I would say his engagement was exceedingly extensive; however, as a result of his engagement, have his Department and other Departments confirmed that the agencies they fund to deliver services will be in a position to meet their obligations to all of their workers without having to cut back on services or wages? If they have not been given extra money and do not have the capacity to generate money, we are back to where we were at the time the Minister’s party crashed the economy, when it gave the instruction to people that they did not necessarily have to cut pay but had to cut back.”
“As the Minister said, the contributions from the worker have to be matched by employer contributions. They have no capacity to raise money on their own. Therefore, is the State going to fund it, and can the Minister confirm that this morning?”
“However, they are going to be disadvantaged if the Government does not fund them. Bearing in mind the hands-off approach that the Government takes to these agencies, we should remember that although it caused the homelessness crisis with its policies, it has asked people to come in to shore it up. Some of the agencies are funded only by the State, and if they do not have additional funding – I have checked in the budget and I do not see that there is any – it will simply mean they will have to try to find it from within their existing budgets, which means either pay cuts or cutting back on services. Neither of those options is viable. I would like to hear from the Minister confirmation that he believes all those funded by the State will be in the desired position.”
“My question, as is often the case, is very straightforward. I am looking for information about the provisions that have been made concerning agencies and organisations which deliver services on behalf of the State, are funded by the State and have workers who want to be part of the auto-enrolment scheme but are concerned they are not funded to be able to do that. The Minister will well know the last time there was a cut to the budget of these agencies, they were told to find the savings from within their own envelope. That really did not work out well.”
“It is the people I represent in north County Dublin who have been forced into their cars, having been left with absolutely no choice, who will have to foot the bill for this do-nothing, out-of-touch Government, which refuses to stand up for them and thinks it can endlessly pile charges on top of them. The Minister of State has left them with no choice. I urge him to support this motion and end the rip-off.”
“The buses often disappear. The Minister of State will have heard me talk about ghost buses. Unreliable service forces people into their cars. They now have to get into their cars five days a week because, again, the Government has done nothing to support remote work or, indeed, remote workers. In the space of a couple of months, my constituents, who have no choice but to drive, are going to see the cost of their insurance, the cost of filling their car and the cost of travelling on the toll roads go up and, all the while, the insurance companies are making a healthy and handsome profit. The toll operators are doing quite nicely, thank you; there is no cost-of-living crisis there.”
“I thank my colleague, an Teachta Pa Daly, for bringing forward this motion. It is timely. In the middle of a cost-of-living crisis the least we should be able to expect from any decent Government is that it would not make things worse. Yet, somehow, at every single turn, it manages again to twist the pressure that is on hard-working, hard-pressed people. My constituents living in north County Dublin, in places like Rush, Lusk, Skerries and Balbriggan, towns that have expanding populations, are experiencing worsening levels of public transport. The people in the towns and villages I represent cannot find work locally due to decades of underinvestment by successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments. The vast majority of workers I represent have to leave Dublin Fingal West for work. The buses and trains are overcrowded.”
“We know the payments that they are getting are worth as much as they were in 2020, but the cost of everything has gone up. This is causing people who are dependent on social welfare to fall even further behind. We in Sinn Féin have serious issues. We do not have an issue with auto-enrolment, which, as we have said, is a concept that would be an idea in the hands of another government. The way the Government has rigged it, however, means that it is just a transfer of money into the private sector, which, in and of itself, will not benefit working people or the working poor. There was a different way to do it. The Government could have ensured that money was driving infrastructure development and housing. Instead, it is a bonanza for the private sector.”
“People whose only crime has been to work hard and pay higher PRSI as a quid pro quo for having this pay-related jobseeker's benefit will fall even further behind. For them, the cliff edge will become even more stark and the drop will become even greater. Will the Minister perhaps address that matter in his closing remarks and share with us the rationale behind it? Saying that this is a new scheme is not going to cut it for people. The Minister needs to explain the link between the increased PRSI and the trade-off for that, which does not seem to be there. This is something that punishes people for the crime of working. Surely, the Minister can do better than that for people and can outline what his thinking was in making that decision. The people who are dependent on social welfare are already going to fall even further behind.”
“It appears that those people who are on pay-related job seeker's benefit will not receive an increase. The media reported that the Minister's response in this regard is that this is a new scheme and the matter is still under review. The cost-of-living figures are there. We are aware of the increase in grocery prices. As I was coming here this morning, I heard a discussion on rising rents. In the past couple of years, rents have increased by one third. Where does that leave people? The Minister mentioned not wanting a cliff edge, but if pay-related jobseeker's benefit is not going to be increased, then the people involved will fall even further behind. Those who will be getting a very modest increase as a result of the budget are already falling behind the rising rate of inflation.”
“Buried in the budget is a decision that the Minister took not to increase that benefit in line with other provisions and measures. We have discussed this back and forth. In its alternative budget, Sinn Féin's indicated where it felt the money that the State has should be directed. Clearly, we believe that money should be directed towards those people in society who need it the most. For the avoidance of any doubt, that is not vulture funds, property developers or any of the other people the Government chose to ensure benefited from its budget. It is wholly unsatisfactory that jobseekers and those who are dependent on social welfare will receive an increase to their weekly allowances of €10. As we know, that increase will not ensure that those allowances will keep pace with inflation.”