I thank the Minister of State for taking the time to debate this. I welcome the Government's support for the Bill and look forward to debating any amendments on Committee Stage. That is the proper way to do business with the Opposition when a Bill comes forward that the Government does not wholeheartedly agree with because it gives us a chance to discuss amendments. I thank Senator Ruane for the work she has done to bring this legislation to this point. The matter to which it relates is something she is very passio…

I have been contacted by dozens of parents of children attending St. Mary's Boys National School in Lucan. The school has been approved for a project to deliver four mainstream classrooms, five special education rooms and the repurposing of an existing space. Overall, this is welcome. However, parents have raised concerns with me that this will take a section of the school's playing pitch. As the Taoiseach knows, green space is vitally important to our young people. The school has submitted an alternative applicati…

I have been listening to the debate. I am now the third TD from the Dublin Mid-West constituency to speak on An Post in the past few minutes. We are all on the same page in the area. There is a bit of an issue around the delivery of services in the area. In Dublin in the past ten years alone, 21 post offices have closed. In addition to the closure of post offices, there has also been a poorer standard for the delivery of post. I will give a couple of examples. I was contacted by a resident of Balgaddy in my constit…

Over the years, I got to know Gillian Sherratt and Stephen Morrison quite well as they campaigned for the care of their young son, Harvey. They are an ordinary couple who wanted to bring up and raise their family as best they could, but in an extraordinary situation. They welcomed me into their home numerous times over the years. They are neighbours of mine. I did not know them before this campaign, but I would like to think I would have got to know them under different circumstances. Any time I was in their home, …

In the last term, I was a member of the mental health subcommittee and we dealt with the progress of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Act 2022. In fairness, the committee did its due diligence, and we saw some of the issues we are seeing here today in relation to the timelines that were put in place. As we speak today, there are over 1,000 cases outstanding. That means 1,000 people who are currently wards of courts are facing a cliff edge. To me, this is just bad planning by the Government. It al…

I will start with some good news for a change. However, it is good news that is tainted by bureaucracy getting in the way of progress. The Government needs to look at the process for having new GP services take on medical card patients. The bureaucratic red tape within the HSE makes this really difficult. I have had this experience over the last couple of years in trying to help a new GP service in Rowlagh. I have been working with Dr. Kumar and his team from day one to get approval from the HSE to allow the practi…

I spoke last week about this legislation and how a vacuum leaves a space for bad actors, racists and misinformation to come in. Such a vacuum is caused by the lack of information going into our communities. In my area, Clondalkin, we have what is probably one of the longest running direct provision centres in the country. It has been there for over 20 years. The fact that we have a direct provision centre in the community for that long is a stain on the Government. It has failed with direct provision and is now fai…

We know that early intervention is key in a child's development. There is no earlier intervention than a newborn child receiving a developmental assessment from a public health nurse. According to the HSE, a child should receive a developmental assessment at the first visit, at three months, at nine to 11 months, at 21 to 24 months and at 46 to 48 months. In Dublin Mid-West, we have a postcode lottery of access to public health nurses. Only two health centres out of the 12 in Dublin Mid-West are able to offer the f…

Ten out of 12 healthcare centres are not delivering them.

I begin by congratulating the parents of children with additional needs, the school communities and the special needs assistants themselves. Many of them are here tonight. I have been contacted by parents, principals and SNAs in Clondalkin, Lucan and across Dublin Mid-West over the past couple of weeks in relation to this. I was at an event on Thursday in Collinstown Community College, where people in Clondalkin are trying to make it an autism-friendly town. Members of the Minister's own party, Fine Gael, were ther…

-----when the responsibility lies with the Government.

The Government needs to take responsibility. In her ten-minute speech, I did not hear an apology to the people in the Gallery - not once, not one apology.

Deputy Kelly can work away and speak now.

I have said before that rushed legislation makes for poor legislation. I was on the justice committee when it was agreed unanimously right across the committee that we would give as much time as possible to debate the EU asylum and migration pact and the legislation we are talking about today. It was agreed on a cross-party basis by members of the Minister's party, of his colleague's party and all the Government parties - that we would have a robust debate in the committee rather than coming in here and speaking fo…

Listening to the debate, there seems to be one rule for the Government and another rule for the Opposition, with the Minister pushing his own legislation and not giving the Opposition the chance to undertake the proper scrutiny it needs to. I will give an example of why I am saying this, and the Minister will know where I am coming from. Last month, the Government delayed legislation I had before the House on nitrous oxide. I know it is not related to this issue, but the context is similar. The Minister decided to …

I will speak first about amendment No. 2. This amendment simply reaffirms that decisions on immigration and international protection remain the sole responsibility of the State. I have said before that Ireland is an independent sovereign state and should not be beholden to Europe on matters we can resolve ourselves. It has been the attitude of successive governments that we want to be the best in class when it comes to the EU. Ireland's position is unique and it has its own particular challenges. We are in the EU b…

Give it a go.

This amendment seeks to provide a clear definition of "legal counselling". We were asked many questions about legal counselling during the justice committee's hearings on this legislation, such as how it is to be defined, what it means and who will provide it. There will be a lack of clarity if legal counsel is provided by non-legal professionals. Is it to be individual counselling? Is it to be group counselling? Is group counselling even ethical under professional rules? Before I was elected here in 2019, I worked…

The Minister has said he will bring forward a definition of "legal counselling". This doubles down on the point we were making earlier that this is rushed legislation. We are on Committee Stage and we still do not have a definition in front of us to be able to discuss what "legal counselling" is. Its absence is why these amendments are being put forward today. We would not have to discuss these amendments if there was a clear definition of "legal counselling". I will return to the questions I asked the first time I…

I reiterate what my colleagues have said about the meeting we had yesterday at the justice committee. The Minister does not have to believe us when we say there is a crisis in legal aid. The Bar Council of Ireland, the Law Society, FLAC, the Legal Aid Board and Women's Aid were all unanimously in agreement with that. They said the system is ready to collapse and is deteriorating in front of their eyes. Legal aid is fundamental to access to justice, especially in relation to domestic violence and family law. It is b…