Some lunch would be nice as well. I just jogged across the campus, shovelling a falafel into my mouth, in shoes that are too tight, which seems very International Women's Day to me. Joking aside, it is an important day. I was at an event earlier organised by the Irish Second-level Students Union, ISSU. We had a great discussion on the highs and lows of the women's movement, the intersectionality movement and other progressive movements. On the one hand, we had an incredible day in Leinster House on Monday last, whe…

I thank the Acting Chairman, and welcome the Minister for Health to the House. As my Labour Party colleague, Deputy Alan Kelly, noted when speaking about this legislation in the Dáil, this Bill is Vicky Phelan's legacy, and the legacy of all the women who lost their lives due to this scandal. I want to join others in recognising the work that has been done on this matter by Deputy Kelly - I refer in particular to the commitment and promise he made to Vicky - and by all of the women and those involved in the 221+ gr…

The reason I came in to join with my colleague on this issue is that I took some time today to speak to some people who are survivors of domestic violence. Obviously, we tabled our amendment because we felt it was meaningful and worthwhile. I am speaking to amendment No. 4, which, as my colleague said, for all intents and purposes, is the same amendment as amendment No. 5. As people gave of their time to speak to me and to share their experiences, what they wanted to see come out of this legislation and how they be…

I thank the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Harris, for coming to the House. While it is great to have him here, we were interested in talking to the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform because we have been led to believe that the delay lies with his Department as opposed to that of the Minister, Deputy Harris. I will briefly outline the state of play and then my colleague, Senator Gavan, will speak more about the issue. …

It is very positive the Minister is planning to establish FET adult education tutor graduates. As he said, we ultimately do not have an answer regarding the timeline for when this will be done. We specified the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform because we believe that is where the finances in respect of this issue lie. It would be great if it could answer the question. I apologise for not giving Senator Gavan much time.

I will take a moment to reflect on what I will call a conversation, but I am not sure that is what it was. The conversation took place on a show on TV last night around the trans community. It is a replica of a conversation we keep seeing again and again. When these conversations are happening, it is very important we remember Ireland has been ranked as one of the worst at having trans healthcare in Europe. We need to listen to the trans community and avoid any attempts to import this divisive, cultural war narrati…

Yes, I am seeking a debate. I do not even know if we wish to have a debate on the issue, because I do not know why we are debating it. I implore us to consider how we are discussing trans rights. Maybe we need to have statements on the fact our trans and LGBT community has been living the fullness of their lives, since gender recognition was introduced here in Ireland and even before gender recognition was introduced, and that we have a trans community living side by side with us. The terrifying prospect of this fu…

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. It is great that we are having a conversation about this. I wore my sometimes-dubbed "wacky tabacky" jumper for the occasion. I get lots of comments online about it sometimes. Our view and response to substance use disorders and drug use reveal a lot more about our culture to date, which is slightly changing, than it does about people using these substances. I can feel that shift and I hope we see that shift in how we treat people using drugs. That goes from people usin…

I move: That Seanad Éireann – recognises that: - there has been an ongoing increase in assaults on healthcare workers; - HSE statistics show that there were 5,593 reported assaults against nursing and midwifery staff between January 2021 and October 2022, which is an under-reporting of the overall amount as it does not include all incidents in section 38 bodies covering the large voluntary hospitals, psychiatry and a broad range of community services where the incidents of assault are also much higher; - data recor…

I welcome the Minister to the House and thank him for coming in. Our motion is on the safety and welfare of workers in the public health service. It is coming out of a presentation that we had at the health committee. There was a time when our health workers were thought of as smiling, happy people who were there to help us in our time of need. Now, we associate the public health service, unfortunately, with chronic understaffing, an overworked staff and a feeling, certainly based on what we heard at the health com…

I thank everyone for their contributions. This is an emotive issue. There is no way around this. It is trite to say things like "everybody loves nurses" and so on. We talk about these issues in the House all the time, but we must value our healthcare workers. I do not doubt the bona fides of the Senators reflecting on experiences in hospitals in their own areas. It is not just hospitals we are talking about, but also staff working in section 38 organisations, the voluntary hospitals, psychiatric units and residenti…

Before we move on to the third Commencement matter, I welcome a group of councillors from Donegal who I am sure also have lots of thoughts on train lines. They are here for the exceedingly pressing issue of mica. I welcome Councillors Michael McBride, Kevin Bradley, Ian McGarvey, Pauric McGarvey and Niamh Kennedy. I extend a super warm welcome to my Labour Party colleague, Councillor Martin Farren. They are most welcome to the Chamber.

Before I invite the Minister of State to respond, I welcome some potential future Senators and Deputies to the Gallery – students from St. Patrick's College, Lacken Cross, in County Mayo. They are more than welcome. We are delighted to have them join us for our session this afternoon.

There has been a slight changeover of the guard; more students from St. Patrick's College, Lacken Cross, County Mayo, are in the Gallery. I welcome them. I welcomed their fellow students a few moments ago. As I said, we hope there are a few future councillors, Senators and Deputies among those who are watching, learning and listening.

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, to the House.

I welcome the visitors to the Public Gallery.

First, I want to offer my warmest and heartiest congratulations to my good friend, office mate, comrade and party colleague, Senator Rebecca Moynihan and her husband, Barra, on the birth of their daughter, Margot, over the weekend.

She is absolutely gorgeous and I am utterly besotted with her so I can only imagine how happy and thrilled both of them are. She is just fantastic. I want to raise the issue of what the National One Parent Family Alliance has been saying in the run up to the cost-of-living measures announced today. The alliance highlights, as it always does, how one-parent families are disproportionately affected by poverty and deprivation. It is calling for a huge package of measures. Some of the specific measures it would like to…

At the weekend, we heard of the horrific death of a young girl, Brianna Ghey, who was trans and whose murder was potentially a hate-motivated crime. Unfortunately, hers is one of many deaths across the world as a result of inadequate policy, advocacy and trans allyship. Between October 2021 and September 2022, there were 327 reported murders of trans and gender diverse people across the world. A report commissioned by Emily Logan when she was chief commissioner of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, IHR…

I thank Senator Martin for bringing the Bill forward. We in the Labour Party are proud to be signatories of this important legislation. I also thank the Senator for organising an excellent briefing earlier in the audio-visual, AV, room, which covered both the legal perspective and the lived, practical perspective and demonstrated the impact this legislation could have. I do not need to go through all the statistics but it might be useful to put some of them on record. In Ireland, one in four women who has been in a…