I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill. This is about being proactive and taking positive health initiatives. As an ex-smoker and a vape user, I know the difference between the two. I am worried about the reactive, as opposed to proactive, stance this Bill takes. While it moves us forward, it still does not do enough. I have read the latest press release from Responsible Vaping Ireland. It states that similar legislation was passed in England last year and the manufacturers have already started to modify t…

I listened to the debate in my office today. The industry will be decimated, full stop. We have seen it with the fishing industry. We cannot say we went out and bargained for this, that and the other. The fishing industry was sold out. We should have a fishing industry worth billions of euro worth here. The Minister mentioned in his speech about quality of life. How can a person have a better quality of life if he or she is eating muck? It is muck. We debated a Bill on vaping about two hours ago and the carcinogens…

I am lucky enough to be here a long time. I have seen stuff before, but this one can walk under a snake's belly with a bowler hat on. It is so embarrassing what the Government is doing. I had a gentleman on to me last week who is on a waiting list for meals on wheels. The Government is on about a cost-of-living crisis, and it brings in this extortionate disgusting charge on blister packs for people. It was brought in originally in 1996 as a health and safety issue. Now, everything is after getting fixed. I was in M…

There are no words for what the Government is doing to people. It is one of the most dangerous things. I have spoken on the radio about this. People have a system because, as I said at the start, this was brought in as a health and safety issue.

People will die. There is misinformation-----

-----misdiagnosis, overdoses, underdoses, you name it.

The Minister is playing a charge here. Please do not talk me down. I am giving her respect, and I have always been respectful to her.

She needs to withdraw this.

This temporary measure. She has spoken about a pause, but a pause on what? A pause on death? That is what is going to happen. The Minister had better reverse this because it is an utter disgrace.

I thank the Minister of State for being here. I want to draw to his attention what is not happening within Scouting Ireland. The problem is this is a legacy issue that goes back to the 1980s. I went to one of the same schools as many of these people did. It is about abuse and a specific teacher who got ten years in jail for raping young boys predominantly as a schoolteacher, a scout leader and a scout commissioner for the diocese of Cloyne. He also ran the summer camp in Mount Melleray. Back in 2018 or 2019, Scouti…

I did not name anybody. I am well aware of that. I thank the Acting Chair. The case about the schoolteacher is well documented. What I am trying to raise here, as the individual asked me to do, is to find out what recourse this person and others have right now. We have learned nothing from the mother and baby home scandal. What can I tell this individual? Somebody is going to tell me that it is a legal issue. Scouting Ireland is being paid taxpayers' money. For starters, I would like to know how much it has spent d…

I thank the Minister of State. I want to let the Acting Chair know that the perpetrator is now deceased and the name is already in the public domain. I thank the Minister of State for the response from the Minister's office. Every time I come in here, we do not know everything. I see in the response that €251,000 was ring-fenced for safeguarding. I would say Scouting Ireland has spent a lot more than €251,000 on it. The response also states that the organisation adheres to national child protection guidelines and p…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill and I thank Independent Ireland. More importantly, I thank those in the Gallery. They are heroes of the State who get absolutely battered for telling the truth. It is an absolute and utter disgrace. I have a script but I want to speak about the comments of the Minister of State and the Government amendment. The amendment states — whistleblowers have at their disposal effective channels to report breaches of EU rules confidentially, both internally (within an organisati…

You crashed the economy.

Is it 1% of it?

As a coastal TD, I have seen at first hand the decline in the fishing industry. The sector has suffered quota cuts, fleet reductions and fuel pressures. The input of cost increases in recent years has left them facing crisis after crisis. This is following decades of neglect, mismanagement and weak negotiations on their behalf by successive Fianna Fáil- and Fine Gael-led Governments. I want to touch on something because people have mentioned quotas and different stocks. I am going to give a real-life story. A gentl…

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to contribute. I congratulate my Sinn Féin colleagues on tabling the motion. I have watched this debate and I will start with a quote from a family. This puts us in the picture as to the reality of it. She writes: My name is Shauna Dunne and I am the full-time carer for my 2-year-old son Jack, and the mother of a 4 year old girl called Demi. Jack is currently awaiting an autism assessment and attends private therapy sessions... Sometimes people don't understand the re…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Private Members' business. I commend Deputy Doherty on the tireless work he has done on this and on holding the insurance companies to some bit of account. We did not get many answers from the Minister of State. Many households who have had their renewal notices pop through their letterboxes in recent months have been shocked by huge hikes of 10% or more in their premiums, despite not having made a claim. This is nowhere more true than in my own hometown of Midleton. I hav…

I welcome this opportunity to speak on the strategy this evening. The aim of this national human rights strategy for disabled people is about ensuring disabled people are supported and empowered to live a full life. I will touch on a few issues. Regarding transport and mobility, the strategy commits to taking the whole journey approach. I have raised it here through parliamentary questions on a couple of occasions. Even with the current transport strategy, there is no wheelchair access or lifts on the railway lines…

I congratulate the Minister of State. They say love is blind and marriage is an eye-opener. We in Sinn Féin believe in a tax system that is fair. As part of this, inheritance tax is an important tool to tackle inequality and invest in public services to deliver a fair society. However, the current system is highly discriminatory towards beneficiaries of estates left by people with no children. The capital acquisitions tax, CAT, regime applies a rate of 33% on gifts or inheritances above a certain tax-free threshold…