Tá bród orm a bheith ag labhairt faoi Lá Idirnáisiúnta na mBan. Irish women are famous the world over for many things. We have world champions like Katie Taylor and Sonia O'Sullivan making us proud. On the international political and humanitarian stages Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese are shining examples of womanhood. Let us not forget our historical heroines - women like Constance Markievicz, Kathleen Lynn and Rosie Hackett, whose bravery and courage in 1916 and afterwards played a huge part in bringing about the…

I thank Deputy Tully for her work on this Private Members' motion. I welcome Shane Scanlan of the nursing homes alliance to the Gallery this evening. People with disabilities and their carers deserve so much better than the raw deal the Government is currently giving them. These people already deal with so many difficulties in their daily lives. They need access to supports and services, which can mean the difference between struggling and living their lives to their best ability. I am referring to things like time…

I thank Deputy Ward and his team for all the work they have done on this issue. Children's mental health services are in crisis. Instead of addressing the problem head on, the Government has allowed a crisis to become an emergency. In my constituency of Kildare South, 417 people are waiting to access CAMHS, with 27 of them waiting more than a year. This is totally unacceptable. In the past week alone, I have had parents in my office desperately trying to get help for their child. They have gone everywhere and to ev…

I also want to sympathise with Deputy Collins. Dia is Muire dhaoibh, agus míle buíochas to the Rural Independent Group for bringing forward this motion. I welcome the opportunity to speak on it. Yet again, the fact that the Government is failing when it comes to the health service has been laid bare. Rural health services are struggling to cope - not because of the dedicated and overworked people involved, and we must thank them - because the Government has abandoned local health services. Chronic underfunding by s…

A constituent of mine, a man who was finally allocated a property in October last year after 18 years on the Kildare County Council list only to be told he cannot move in to his long-awaited home because there is no street lighting installed, may, worse still, be forced into emergency accommodation. The Tánaiste promised Housing for All and yet people waiting years on housing lists are now unable to move in to their housing due to utility supply companies, such as Electric Ireland and Uisce Éireann, dragging their …

They are not getting into them.

One cannot put people into emergency accommodation who have been allocated a house.

They should not get emergency accommodation either.

We are living in historic times. The restoration of the political institutions in the North and Michelle O'Neill fulfilling her role as First Minister is a moment to celebrate. I congratulate her and her team. Challenges have been overcome to get us here and more challenges await us in the future. They are challenges such as public services being at breaking point, housing and cost-of-living crises, and health services being chronically underfunded and overwhelmed. The need to approach these challenges together, in…

We are all more than aware of the huge financial scandal at RTÉ and the equally significant lack of accountability those responsible have faced. For the Government to expect people to continue to pay a licence fee in the wake of RTÉ's barefaced squandering of public money, with zero accountability, is a staggering and absolute breach of trust and public confidence. It is disgraceful to think that 13,000 people faced court proceedings last year for not having a TV licence when RTÉ was spending thousands of euro of p…

I, too, am glad to speak to the Bill. I thank Deputies Daly and Quinlivan, as well as Lee in Deputy Daly's office. The consequences of crimes are not solely confined to victims and perpetrators. Extended families and society are also affected. Restorative justice is a way of giving both victims and offenders a safe platform that is mediated and impartial to try to address the harm done by the offence. Victims can talk about how the crime affected them and their lives as human beings. They can express their anger an…

I might add that I am very disappointed that the Minister has left the Chamber again. I thank Deputy Ó Broin for all the work he does in respect of housing. We find ourselves here asking the Minister of State and the Government to act urgently to prevent more families and children becoming homeless this Christmas. We are calling for the temporary reinstatement of the ban on no-fault evictions. Absolutely unacceptable figures released last week laid frighteningly bare the result of successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Ga…

The level and quality of care available and provided to our elderly vulnerable people and those with disabilities is a vital issue. I welcome the opportunity to speak on this matter today, for which I thank the Women's Parliamentary Caucus. As Sinn Féin spokesperson for older people, I am aware of the difficulties our older, more vulnerable citizens experience in accessing health and home care, especially in rural areas. Ireland has the fastest ageing population in Europe; 15% are 65 and over. That percentage is pr…

Earlier this year, the Taoiseach said the survivors of thalidomide and their parents deserved an apology but he stopped short of giving that apology on behalf of the State. As he will be aware, the Australian Prime Minister apologised unreservedly last week. There are approximately 40 survivors of the drug, thalidomide, in Ireland. The Irish Thalidomide Association, ITA, said that 62 years is too long for full redress. Finola Cassidy of the ITA, a spokesperson and survivor, said: “We dare to dream Ireland will foll…

Our planning system is in disarray as a direct result of decades of underfunding, under-resourcing and bad planning legislation, often rushed through by this and previous Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments. A proper, fit-for-purpose planning system needs to deliver good quality, timely decisions with proper public consultation. Here again, the twin spectres constantly haunting the Government raise their heads - recruitment and retention. Local authority planning departments, An Bord Pleanála and the courts have …

The Taoiseach previously committed to engaging with all relevant stakeholders, including advocacy groups, families of those affected and front-line care workers, on the forthcoming inquiry into Covid-19. In the media, I see the Government has cleared the terms of reference for the inquiry. However, from my engagement with stakeholders such as Care Champions and others, I am aware they have yet to have any input into it. I want to see an inquiry that is full, transparent and efficiently time-bound to ensure clear fa…

This Government's stated intention to legislate to remove the triple lock and the protection it affords the members of our Defence Forces beggars belief. Since 1958, Ireland's Defence Forces have proudly fulfilled a peacekeeping role. They have had a proud, unbroken peacekeeping service record, from the Congo to Kosovo to Mali and elsewhere. At present, Defence Forces personnel are serving with UNIFIL in Lebanon and UNDOF in the Golan Heights. All members of the Defence Forces were committed and proud to serve as p…

I thank People Before Profit for putting forward this motion. I have an overwhelming sense of déjà vu today. Last week, I spoke passionately on the same issue during Private Members' business. Palestinians in Gaza have been subject to occupation and oppression for decades. Multiple generations of men, women and children have been born into and subjected to torture and systematic, unlawful and arbitrary killing. How much more carnage must Palestinian people endure before we fellow humans call "Halt"? According to th…

The Government's mismanagement of the health budget is no secret but mismanagement on a scale that forces the CEO of the HSE to escalate the embargo on recruitment, withdraw job offers and scrap more than 7,000 essential front-line posts is beyond belief. This is beyond disastrous when the HSE is already facing unprecedented staff shortages in all sectors, affecting its ability to provide the level of services required. The health budget should, at least, maintain the existing level of services and provide for any …

I thank the Social Democrats for bringing this motion and I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in support of it. Most, if not all, of us are horrified by the devastation inflicted by the Israeli Government on the people of Gaza in recent weeks. Gaza is now a graveyard with men, women, children, old people and disabled buried under the remains of Gaza city. We have Israeli bombs pounding on a terrified trapped population; hospitals deliberately targeted and destroyed; schools being used as shelters obliterated…