I welcome the opportunity to mark International Women's Day. The aim and theme this year of Give to Gain was really strong. The point was collaboration and collective action to drive opportunities for women and girls. When women drive, everyone thrives. As an active trade unionist for all of my working life, I see the link between the struggle for women’s rights and workers' rights. When we improve pay and conditions for women, everybody benefits. Families and communities benefit when women get fair pay and better …

I thank the Social Democrats for bringing forward this motion, which we fully support. It is an issue we all deal with every single day. For most people, their GP is the first port of call when they have illness in their family. However, GP practices are struggling to deal with demand. We have situations where people have to plan to be sick before they can get an appointment. The primary healthcare system has to support quality, scheduled and urgent access to clinicians in order that patients and their families can…

From 21 September to 10 November 2025, Mary Donovan, Mary Dunlevy Greene, Maurice Patton O'Connell and Miriam Moriarty Owens were forced to go on hunger strike outside this building for 51 days and nights in an attempt for justice. They slept on the streets outside this House in appalling conditions and weather. Their meagre possessions were stolen in what is supposed to be safe Dublin. They did it to represent other survivors. I had the privilege of supporting them by raising their case in this House at the beginn…

The Government's plan to cut SNAs from individual schools has to be scrapped. It shows the Government is out of touch with the needs of schools and parents, but most importantly, children. Imposing quotas to SNAs is going to affect our most vulnerable children. I have been contacted by schools and parents across my constituency and they are really anxious about the announcement. Those who have gotten letters do not know what situation they are going to be in. One mother who wrote to me yesterday asked: When will ou…

After a substantial review.

Housing remains the single biggest emergency that families and communities face in Ireland. It affects every aspect of our society, from families languishing on council housing lists for 16 years and more, never sure if the dreaded eviction notice is going to land, to teachers, nurses, doctors, gardaí and skilled workers having to move abroad where they can afford mortgages and rents. They cannot do it here. All this is happening while the vulture funds hover, waiting to buy up entire estates. There is nothing acce…

Violence against women in Ireland is a massive problem and the digital and social media spaces have a central role in amplifying this violence. The sharing of non-consensual photos or the recording of images is absolutely wrong on all levels and is rightfully criminalised under the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2020, or Coco's Law. Unfortunately, however, the use of AI to generate deepfakes or non-consensual intimate images is not criminalised. This Government has been too slow to brin…

Households pay for their water. It is not free. It is an essential service covered by general taxation, which funds Uisce Éireann. Uisce Éireann was dressed up as a solution to all our water problems, but for the people in Dublin Fingal East whom I represent, this is not the case. Uisce Éireann is a major obstacle to the progress on building houses and getting them out for sale to new families. We have a phase of new homes in Knocksedan, a housing development that has been delayed because Uisce Éireann would not gi…

I commend my colleague, an Teachta Ward, not only on the work he has done recently but over the past number of years. This is not work that has been done over the past two months. A lot of time and effort has been invested in it. We are all aware that nitrous oxide has become a scourge in all of our communities. Our young people are being put at serious risk by people who are making profit out of children's health. I have met with community and support groups and been contacted by members of the public across my ar…

Like my colleague, I am a former smoker but I am a vaper. That being said, the Bill has a somewhat piecemeal approach to vaping. We need a comprehensive public health response to vaping and nicotine. This is the third Bill on smoking in the past three years and there is at least another one on the way. Sinn Féin fully supports a ban on single-use vapes. We sought a similar ban for a number of years. A 2024 study by TobaccoFree Research Institute Ireland found that one in 20 young people uses nicotine pouches and on…

The decision by the EU Council to approve the Mercosur trade deal was a bad day for Ireland. It is bad for our public health, our environment, our agricultural industry and our citizens. The Government's eleventh hour conversion to opposing the deal was a cynical move to save votes but the public and the farming community saw through this manoeuvre. The Government only made the decision to oppose this dodgy deal when it was safe in the knowledge it would have passed because of Italy's decision to support it.

For years, Sinn Féin has been highlighting the reasons we should oppose this deal. We urged this Government to come out and join us in campaigning against the Mercosur deal but it sat silently refusing to defend Ireland's interests until the last minute when it was too late. Sinn Féin will continue to actively campaign to put an end to this disastrous deal. Our MEPs Lynn Boylan and Kathleen Funchion are taking a legal challenge against the deal and there will be a vote on it in the EU Parliament. Sinn Féin is calli…

Fuel poverty is at crisis levels in the State. I see it first-hand in my own constituency in Fingal East, particularly among the elder generations who are having to choose between heating and eating. I met a woman in her 70s from Malahide the other day who has worked her entire life. She spends her days walking around shopping centres to try to get some heat. It is absolutely appalling. She has changed her diet and is living on instant Cup A Soups because she cannot afford to eat. When it comes to the choice on bli…

In this State, we have a two-tier health system and it is clearly highlighted in the Bill. The lack of a universal healthcare system free at the point of delivery has created a private market for healthcare. Removing private healthcare from public hospitals is an important and necessary development. It will reduce the dependency on private healthcare but it demands that the Department step up to the challenge and increase the public capacity. It is unacceptable that access to healthcare depends on the ability to pa…

On the day that we mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, we all need to stop and reflect on how we can work together to reduce and eliminate all violence against women. Last year, the annual report for the Courts Service showed an increase of 13.6% in sexual violence against women. That is just not good enough. We need to overhaul the courts system to ensure it is supportive and safe for victims of sexual violence. This Bill is practical, solution focused and a step in the right …

Israel's genocide in Gaza is happening in real time. We see it on our news feeds on our phones. It is beyond doubt. Since October 2023, 69,500 people, the majority of them children, have been murdered by Israel. A further 217 journalists and media workers, 120 academics and 224 humanitarian workers have been killed by Israel. This is the list of crimes against humanity carried out with precision by Israel, but it did not start in October 2023. This has been done with the support of Washington and Brussels. Israel m…

The Irish people stand in solidarity with Ukraine. We have actively supported the Ukrainian people since the Russian invasion in February 2022. This illegal invasion has caused huge instability in Europe. The trauma of this war has moved way beyond the borders of Ukraine and Russia. The incursion of Russian drones into Poland’s airspace is completely unacceptable, reckless and provocative. It is a further example of a Russian Government that is intent on provocation and destabilisation in the region. It is a breach…

The Minister knows the Mercosur trade deal is bad for Ireland and Irish farmers. Before the last general election, the Government was against the agreement. Now it is time to stand up against the deal. In the EU, the Sinn Féin MEPs, Lynn Boylan and Kathleen Funchion, are standing up for Ireland and Irish farmers. Along with colleagues in the Left group, they have referred the deal to the European Court of Justice. They have asked the top European court to rule on whether the Mercosur deal is legal under EU law. Thi…

The cost of living is having a huge impact on workers and families. Every week, people are struggling to pay their bills, food, heating, childcare, fuel - the list goes on. In a recent budget, families were looking to the Government for a helping hand, but they got absolutely nothing. The ESRI confirmed that families will be 2% worse off as a result of the Government's budget. Families are now facing into Christmas in despair and drivers are being targeted with rocketing costs. People living in my constituency in F…

In the last Dáil, the Government established the Joint Committee on Drugs Use. The focus was to implement the findings of the Citizens' Assembly on Drugs Use. The work of the joint committee is ongoing and has yet to be completed, making this motion somewhat premature. Sinn Féin, however, will not oppose the motion but both Government and Opposition must allow the committee to do its work without interference. Sinn Féin supports a comprehensive health-led response to drug use. This ensures the State responds to dru…