There have been encouraging reports since yesterday from the talks aimed at resolving the very serious situation on the Garvaghy Road. I would imagine that everybody in this House, and indeed outside it, hopes that these discussions lead to a breakthrough. The people of the Garvaghy Road and this community have shown extraordinary integrity, dignity and resilience throughout this period. They have stood together as a community, calmly but firmly, in defence of their right to live in peace and without an unwanted ma…

The Orange sectarian state of the past is gone, and is not coming back, not today, not tomorrow or not ever. The peace obviously must be maintained. The nationalist community is strong, confident and resilient, as are the people who live on the Garvaghy Road, and they simply want to live in peace. A generation has lived without confrontation and without sectarian marches being imposed on them. Obviously, it was the wrong decision in the first place to allow that parade to go ahead. Many people from across nationali…

It has been almost ten years since the Tánaiste made a promise to children with scoliosis and spina bifida that they would not have to wait longer than four months for treatment. As he will be aware, many parents see that as a broken promise and they do not want any more broken promises, which is why they are concerned about the Remy Farrell report, which was published a few days ago, and its recommendations. The starting point for everyone in the House is that we need to get this right, that we need to have an inq…

-----and that we establish the truth and accountability for all involved.

I start by acknowledging the hugely positive contribution that many people who have come from outside of Ireland to live here have played. I say that as Sinn Féin's health spokesperson, obviously deeply conscious of all of those who work in our hospitals and in primary and community care settings. Our healthcare system simply would not function if it was not for many people who have come from outside of the country on work permits. They were welcomed into Ireland and are necessary to help us deal with the challenge…

A report has been published into a coping exercise on an inquiry into failures in Children's Health Ireland. The House knows that in 2017, the then Minister, Deputy Simon Harris, made a promise to children with scoliosis and their parents that no child would wait longer than four months for treatment. Bizarrely, the recommendation in this report is that the look-back would start on 1 January 2019 and all of the failures before then will not be examined. Individual cases will also not be examined. Very real concerns…

Hear, hear.

It makes no sense whatsoever in the midst of a cost-of-living squeeze and crisis that the Government would add to people's woes and increase transport costs. There is no justification for it. A 10% increase is a significant additional burden for people who are already finding it very difficult to deal with other rising costs, as the Minister well knows. A government should not be adding to people's stress and problems. The point has been made that we all want to make sure that people have alternatives to the car, f…

They are saying that they cost €30,000 each and are coming from Sweden. I have been asking questions and raising this with some of my council colleagues, Councillor Joeanne Bailey being one who has raised this at a council level. We cannot even get bus shelters that are on order. It just makes no sense. The Department needs to get its act in order and deal with these issues rather than hiking up charges.

I welcome the opportunity to speak today. I thank the Minister for her contribution. Pharmacists are medicines experts and are among the most accessible health professionals in the State. There are approximately 1,900 community pharmacies providing around 2 million visits every week. Their role has evolved well beyond dispensing and medicines management. Community pharmacies are now involved in prescribing for common conditions, vaccination and wider public health work. Hospital pharmacies are also central to safe …

The most important issue here is the rights of children with disabilities. Any objective review of this Government and, in fact, previous Governments over a long number of years would show a poor record. In many areas, it would show a disgraceful record. In 2005, the Government at the time - the Minister's party was in government - put in place an Act that provided rights for children with disabilities, including the right to an assessment of need. Every year since, the Government has utterly failed. What we have s…

The Minister of State and the Government have had their heads in the sand about the cost-of-living crisis and squeeze for far too long. In recent years, Sinn Féin has used every opportunity we could to point out the challenges facing workers and families, with groceries, insurance costs, rents, mortgage costs, and petrol, diesel and home heating oil going up. Every time we raise these issues, the Government has to be dragged kicking and screaming to react. Even when it does react, it is a crisis response. It is tem…

I recently met the parents of children with disabilities where the children are either on a list or attending the Waterford south city children’s disability network team. I find these meetings very difficult because the story is always the same, unfortunately, with parents battling for access to services and children missing out on developmental supports. What they told me in relation to this team is shocking. We know there are staff shortages across many CDNTs but this CDNT has no psychologist, has had no nurse – …

I welcome the fact this Bill codifies Garda use of powers to stop and search, arrests, searches and seizures and detention. The point was made that it should not have taken eight years to get here but we are here and I want to welcome those elements of the Bill. Accountability in An Garda Síochána is really important so when we discuss Garda powers, it is also really important that we discuss oversight and accountability of An Garda Síochána. Some of those points have been raised already by my colleague but those p…

"We are not going to regain any of the abilities we've lost, but Skyclarys will give us time. Time when you're dealing with our progressive relentless disease is everything. We all deserve time with our loved ones." Those are the words of Emily Felix, a 28-year-old trainee solicitor from Kilkenny who is living with Friedreich's ataxia. It is a rare, progressive and life-limiting neurological condition. It gradually takes away mobility, speech and independence. Emily was diagnosed at 12. Since then, she has complete…

I met many of those patients and people with the illness yesterday. Many of them were here in Leinster House. They told me, as they have in the past, they cannot walk and they cannot swallow and, as the Taoiseach acknowledged, it is also very difficult for their families who have to watch as their condition worsens and the disease progresses. This drug was approved by the European Union in 2024, over two years ago. It is publicly available in many European countries and yet again Ireland lags behind and we are not …

Today must belong first and foremost to the survivors of the horrific abuse perpetrated by Bill Kenneally. To Jason Clancy, Paul Walsh, Colin Power, Kevin Keating, Barry Murphy and every survivor, those who have spoken publicly and those who have carried their pain privately, I want to say this: our hearts are with you every day, but today especially. I recognise the enormous courage you have shown and the terrible wrongs that were done to you, not only by the man who abused you but by the institutions and individu…

I acknowledge all that work. Data is important in this area because it allows us all to hold hospitals and consultants to account and to ensure that the terms of the contracts that people have entered are being honoured. As the Minister knows, the Oireachtas health committee met recently and had witnesses in from the Rotunda hospital, the Department and the HSE. I have been asking questions for the last number of weeks. I asked the Minister parliamentary questions, which were answered by officials or by whom the in…

That is a sensible approach. I do not disagree with it. I welcome the fact that there will be an audit because data is rich when it comes to allowing all of us to see what is happening under the bonnet of hospitals and the level of private activity. I am not against private healthcare, by the way, but it needs to happen in private hospitals. Where it happens in public hospitals, it has to be within the rules. The Minister and I might disagree on many different issues, but where we do agree is that we need to send a…

This question is in relation to community care waiting lists, which I have been tracking for some time. There are now 280,000 people, unfortunately, on community waiting lists, with many of them waiting far too long. I know the Minister has talked about new initiatives to reduce community waiting lists, which I respect and want to see implemented, but, unfortunately, the numbers have been going in the wrong direction for some time. This important area of healthcare needs more attention.