I thank the Minister for coming here. The Minister’s party has tabled an important motion because we all know, especially in recent weeks, that the cost of living has increased. I believe that we must go back to basics and ensure that the people on the margins are looked after, namely, the most vulnerable, who are people who have a fixed income from the State or receive pension or unemployment benefits or a disability allowance and who do not have an opportunity to see huge increases in their incomes. The amount of…

I commend the Cathaoirleach on travelling to Ukraine and representing this House. I would like to raise the issue of hormone replacement therapy, HRT. There has been unprecedented investment in women's health under the current Minister for Health, including the opening of menopause clinics in major urban areas. There has also been significant public discourse on the menopause, including on "Liveline" and there is now a huge awareness among women of what exactly the menopause entails. However, with this new informat…

Under the programme for Government, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage established a working group to examine defects in housing. I want to concentrate today particularly on apartment stock and multi-unit development stock. It is important that this working group does not pit homeowners against each other. There should be no discrimination between owners of homes and owners of apartments. We know many apartments in Dublin city and Cork city are affected by fire safety defects and other structur…

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. I raised the issue of summer provision last week on the Order of Business and I tabled the Commencement matter on Friday. Thankfully, however, the Department released details of the summer provision programme yesterday. It is a great programme. In 2021, the budget doubled to €40 million, which shows the seriousness of the Minister of State's commitment to the programme. Unfortunately, there was a delay this year in announcing the programme and that delay meant …

It is great to hear all of the details. I especially welcome the online application process.

I join in the comments about Michael O'Kennedy and Jimmy Leonard. Michael O'Kennedy had an unbelievable career, one that many of us would be envious of achieving. My thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Breda, and the rest of his family. I wish to discuss the serious concerns raised in an article by Ms Elaine Loughlin in the Irish Examiner yesterday. It set out the challenges that the Minister of State with responsibility for disability, Deputy Rabbitte, was facing in trying to meet nine disability service manag…

I thank Senators Gavan and Moynihan and all the activists who have campaigned so long to have this Bill before the House today. It is gut-wrenching to hear Senator Mullen talk about fascism. To describe this Bill as fascist is completely disingenuous and he should retract those comments. We know the people have campaigned and the people decided on the repeal of the eighth amendment during a long national discourse. This legislation is warranted and necessary because it is never appropriate in any shape or form to h…

I want to raise the issue of receiving a cancer diagnosis during maternity leave or during a pregnancy. We had a super presentation on this by the Irish Cancer Society and there is an anomaly in the legislation that those who receive or have to undergo cancer treatment during their maternity leave cannot defer their leave and go on sick pay at that time. Rather, they have to use their maternity leave for their treatment. This affects approximately 60 women in Ireland annually. This is something we should address an…

I raise an issue that I regret is not of the same importance as an issue raised earlier by my colleague, Senator Ruane. As mentioned by her, every day someone dies from a drug overdose. It is terrifying. As others said, we have to take this on board. As a House, we should be rallying behind our colleague, Senator Ruane, championing the issue of a citizens' assembly on drugs. Having listened to Senator Ruane, I am a little mortified to raise the issue of dog litter, but it is the issue I came to the House today to r…

I commend our leader in the Seanad, Senator Chambers. We are proud of her and she is great for keeping going with the Bill. I commend Eve McDowell and Una Ring, as well as Dr. Catherine O'Sullivan, the academic behind the Bill. I also commend the Minister for not reinventing the wheel, for taking the baton and following through with it and not redoing Second Stage of the Bill. That shows her willingness to be proactive when others may not have been and may have started again with a new Bill. It is a great day. I th…

I raise again the issue of hyperemesis gravidarum, the medical term for a condition that arises during pregnancy whereby women become severely ill. It is a condition that involves severe sickness and vomiting. Famously, the Duchess of Cambridge, if that his her title, suffered from it. There was a huge campaign last year but to date nothing has been done by the HSE. The campaign is to have the drug pyridoxine-doxylamine, more commonly known as Cariban, made available on our drugs payments scheme. I ask the Leader t…

I wish to again raise the issue of the Ashling Murphy trial. I think it is important for us to highlight the sub judice rule, not only for this House but for people who are following our proceedings online. As we know, the sub judice rule is Latin for legal proceedings becoming active. In Ireland and other common law jurisdictions, it is not appropriate to comment on matters that are awaiting judicial decision. As we all know, this is to avoid circumstances where the trial will be affected by adverse comments. In a…

I commend the Labour Party on bringing forth this legislation and I commend the Government for taking it in Government time. As pointed out by Senator Sherlock, Ireland is one of a few countries that does not publicly fund IVF, which affects one in six couples. This legislation in regard to leave in the workplace is a really important step to ensure that the stigma associated with fertility treatment and suffering a loss is reduced dramatically, and that for those who suffer losses or have to go through IVF the jou…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach. I stand today with colleagues and a nation in expressing my deep sympathy to the family and friends of Ashling Murphy. As a nation we joined in the grief that the family, her friends and community suffered and I hope that that grief and the loss of her life will not go to waste. As legislators in this House and as a House, we need to ensure we are at the very forefront of the discourse to ensure there is a cultural change in our society. We need to discuss topics like consen…

I thank the Minister for coming to the House. I join other Members in what has been said about maternity leave for politicians. I am a politician who took maternity leave during my Seanad term, but, in fact, it was not maternity leave because I had to hand in a sick note to the one-stop shop. That is wrong. I was not sick; I had two children. We are all ad idem in terms of regularising the situation. The Minister stepped up to the plate, as we discussed yesterday. We must also regularise the situation regarding cla…

Now.

I thank the Minister for coming to the House. It is great to see her here. I think she comes to the Seanad once a year and Senators usually have a list of asks for her. My asks will come at the very end of my contribution. It is important to recognise why we have a Department of Social Protection. I will rely on statistics compiled by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. There are 630,000 people who live below the poverty line. I know it is the Minister's job and she is passionate about bringing those people above t…

Tomorrow.

I join my colleague, Senator Malcolm Byrne, in calling for the full implementation of the Irish Sign Language Act and the introduction of Irish Sign Language as a second-level subject. Senator Fitzpatrick was able to give us a lovely presentation on one of the reports done by her constituents who are studying politics and society, which was not available when I did my leaving certificate. We need to move with the times and having the Irish Sign Language as a key subject in the leaving certificate should be made a p…

I congratulate my colleagues on Dublin City Council who approved the scheme to build 853 homes on the Oscar Traynor site. It includes 40% cost-rental, 40% social and 20% affordable housing and is a physical manifestation of the legislation that was passed in these Houses, so we should congratulate the Minister on that. It is a hugely welcome development but there are other really important developments around the city, such as St. Michael's Estate, where I would like to see a scheme approved. I raised this last wee…