I echo the calls for a proper over-and back debate with the Minister for Justice regarding what happened last Thursday night. We agreed with calls for the House to reconvene yesterday to have a proper, full debate on what happened on Thursday, when the city was effectively on fire. We cannot have preprepared speeches read into the record of the House; we need to have a proper conversation over and back and get proper answers and accountability.

Like many people from Dublin, I am still slightly traumatised by the events of last week. When word came through of a stabbing incident on Parnell Square, I wanted to be with my own five-year-old daughter as quickly as I possibly could. As soon as certain so-called media outlets went out of their way to reveal the nationality of this individual, I knew there was going to be trouble. We all knew. What we witnessed on Thursday evening was like seeing a family member being beaten up in front of our eyes. The next day,…

I thank People Before Profit for tabling this motion, which affords us all an opportunity to speak again on what we are witnessing. Edmund Burke was a Dubliner. He spent time in Westminster as an MP and he is reported to have said that the only way evil can prosper is for good men to do nothing. It is evil we are witnessing day after day and not only are good men and women not doing anything, but they are cheerleading it. It is with absolute depression that I witness what is happening to supposed respectable, progr…

I thank Deputy Duncan Smith for tabling the motion, which has been lauded across the House as timely. It has even been termed "fantastic". It is a very important motion. As the Minister of State will be aware, the Labour Party only gets this time to raise an issue every six weeks so we always pick something that is close to our hearts. In this respect, it is doubly disappointing that the senior Minister is not here to listen to the debate and that the Government has decided not to accept the motion or effectively p…

Vótáil.

Pay them.

I move amendment No. 1: In page 18, to delete lines 16 and 17 and substitute the following: “ 21. (1) The Minister may, following consultation with the chief executive, appoint such and so many officers of the Minister as the Minister may determine to be members of staff of the Agency.”. It is great to engage on this again with the Minister. We had a discussion on this on Committee Stage when myself and Deputy Pa Daly had tabled similar amendments. The key to this is the insertion of the words "following consultati…

I move amendment No. 2: In page 31, between lines 17 and 18, to insert the following: “(5) Nothing in this section authorises— (a) a service provider, (b) the Agency, or (c) the Minister, to process personal data (within the meaning of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016) for purposes that are not compatible with the purposes for which the data were originally obtained.”. The amendment relates to data protection. Safe Ireland asked us to table it. It proposes to i…

I move amendment No. 3: In page 31, between lines 32 and 33, to insert the following: “(4) Nothing in or under this Act, including a designation under this section, of itself operates to constitute a service provider to be a public body within the meaning of the Data Sharing and Governance Act 2019.”. This is a similar amendment around data protection. I presume the Minister will give us a similar answer. It relates to data protection and seeks to insert the following line: "Nothing in or under this Act, including …

This is a huge achievement for the Minister. It speaks volumes of her ethics, values and what she is trying to achieve in her role. We, in the Labour Party, congratulate her. Far too many women, in particular, are being killed by men. Far too many women in Ireland are being assaulted and raped by men. Anybody who has a girl or a women in their life is horrified by the all-too-often news reports of another assault, rape or murder. At some point in the history of this country of ours, we have to shout, "Stop". The Mi…

The Labour Party joins in offering our condolences to Deputies Verona Murphy and Mitchell on the death of their respective fathers. The issue of staffing levels in our schools is a crisis and we need to have a debate on it this week. A survey released yesterday showed that 800 teaching posts are unfilled in the primary school system. That could be as high as 1,200. I visited a school in west Dublin two weeks ago that is running at 45% capacity, with 14 posts completely unfilled. This disproportionately affects Dubl…

Home care.

It is very important.

The purpose of this motion is to allow the Government to enter into negotiations with the EU to allow Ireland to opt in to a change to EU directive 2012/29/EU on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime. The proposal has five main objectives. The first is to improve victims' access to information. The second is to make victim protection align with the needs of victims and to make victims safer. The third is to give better access to specialist victim support. The fourth is to allow victims more effecti…

Will any changes in eligibility for flood relief supports for those in Waterford and Cork, which is completely justifiable, also be forwarded to my constituents in Dublin who experienced flooding in August? In light of the conclusion of the work of the Citizens' Assembly on Drugs Use, I am sure the Taoiseach will agree that there is massive momentum now for a change in drug policy here to make it much more health focused and to talk about the decriminalisation of the drug user. Will the Taoiseach advocate for the r…

Yes.

If there is no problem, then give a card to every child.

So, there is nothing to see here and everything is okay.

Is the recruitment freeze on the Tánaiste's list?

The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, has said she-----