There are women in the Government parties. They should be here to defend this position. That is the first thing I want to observe.

The second issue I want to observe is that the statement by the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, is extraordinary. We have been pulling teeth to get this statement here today. All of us here in the Opposition have repeatedly asked for time to debate this issue. However, we get nothing new, except omissions. Where has the Minister dropped the 99-year lease that he then announced was increased to a 299-year lease on the land? That seems to be gone from the historical record. Why is that? I am really intrigued by th…

I wonder why? I wonder if it has anything - anything - at all to do with around 200 years of oppression and control by the church of our bodies, our lives and the hopes that we had held for the future for women and girls in this country after repeal was won.

Has it anything to do with that? Is it not bizarre that the Minister on the other side of the House finds us niggling and annoying because we keep asking this and because we looked for this debate? Then he comes into the House and does not even explain to us how this whole process is working. We will come out of here believing at the end of it, as will the people in the Gallery, that the Minister intends to hand over €1 billion worth of taxpayers’ money to a new state-of-the-art maternity hospital, with the best fa…

Our neutrality should never be confused with the idea of Ireland being indifferent or uninterested in world affairs or indifferent to the suffering of oppressed peoples globally. A constant snide attack on those of us on the left who are on this side of the House has often been how obsessed we are with far-flung conflicts and the plight of oppressed people in other parts of the world, for which we are often criticised and slagged off. That is why we stood with Black Lives Matter, why we protested against Donald Tru…

In 2020, 317,000 tonnes of plastic were generated in Ireland, of which 93,000 tonnes, less than 30%, were recycled. As somebody who cares about the environment and recognises that 70% of all the marine litter in the European Union is accounted for by only ten of the most commonly found single-use plastic items, I can really appreciate where this Bill is coming from. The last time we took action on banning plastics, which was about a year ago, it was to ban all plastic cutlery. Voilà , I have here exhibit A. The lit…

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Yesterday I attended a protest at the Department of Justice for a woman. She and her husband have three children, one of whom was born in this country. She lived eight years in direct provision. She is from Pakistan and has just completed her degree in early childhood education. She has a deportation order hanging over her head. As somebody who believes in a world sans frontières for people who are desperate, I am delighted with what we are doing for the Ukrainian people. However, it is hypocrisy to be deporting a …

We fully support the Bill and welcome its introduction. It is absolutely needed and I do not think any decent person in the country would shed a tear about any landlord who would advertise sex for rent or engage in that practice. As Deputy Barry said, they are creeps of the highest order and everybody in this House is morally outraged by this practice. I thank the Social Democrats for bringing the Bill forward. Having said that, this is not the first time in my lifetime that I have heard of this practice. In the 19…

Yesterday, we were told, "It is a matter for the Business Committee" and that we should use our Private Members' time. Three times yesterday the question of the new national maternity hospital and the intentions of the Government were raised and these were the answers given. We were told it was a matter for the Business Committee to decide if we have a discussion on it, or that we should use our Private Members' time. Private Members' time has been used to discuss the new national maternity hospital and I disagree …

Then let us have a full discussion on it.

I welcome this motion and I urge Sinn Féin to accept our amendment. It is important that we get our heads around what has just been argued. First, it is clear that the Government's response is half-hearted and inadequate in the context of the crisis and the job we need to do to relieve the pressure on many of our citizens. Some €200 and a 20% cut in public transport fares can only be seen in the context of the current situation as a start, not the end. The idea that any further support or intervention can wait unti…

People Before Profit sends solidarity to women across the world who are suffering from the absolute brutality of war, particularly in Ukraine, Yemen, Afghanistan and Palestine, and, indeed, Syria and beyond. Wars, like all emergencies, be they related to housing, health, poverty or climate change, always affect women and children disproportionately. Of the 365 days in the year, we focus on this incredible inequality on only one. It is remarkable how inequality has been perpetuated down through the decades and centu…

I am sharing time with the Deputies beside me.

No, you do not tell me how many minutes. You threw me the other day when you did that. I will be in control of my time.

Sorry about that, Chair. I do want to welcome the motion and the issue Sinn Féin is highlighting. One of the main demands, that we should scrap the standard operating procedures, is one we would like to echo. This is a con job designed to massage the figures and give the impression that something is being done about the scandal that is the assessment of needs and how the State treats its most vulnerable. Since I came into the Dáil in 2016, I and my colleagues here have had countless constituents coming to us in exa…

I would like an explanation on the delay. Deputy Ó Broin made a point about making St. Michael's a pilot project for cost rental. That commitment was made when the former Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Eoghan Murphy, visited the estate back in 2018. The local consultation is an issue of concern. Yesterday, we received a WhatsApp message about events being held in Richmond Barracks during the month of March. Three different webinars are to take place. That is good news. However, like the other …

Deputy Ó Broin's last point is a very important one. We met and worked with many young people in the community who were trained, had been to college or worked in IT, and who were on reasonably decent wages, but could not afford to live in the area and have their own families there. The point about keeping the rents at a level where the community is sustainable, so those who were educated and reared around St. Michael's estate can continue to live there at an affordable rate, is an important one. The other issue tha…

I wish to ask about what the UN General Secretary, António Guterres, had to say about the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, report. He called it "an atlas of human suffering and a damning indictment of failed climate leadership.” He warned that "As current events make all too clear, our continued reliance on fossil fuels makes the global economy and energy security vulnerable to geopolitical shocks and crises." His biggest warning was about any delay. In his report he asked us to recognise that we ha…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Seanadóir Flynn as a bheith anseo agus as na focail a dúirt sí linn inniu. I thank the Senator very much for the report. It was very interesting to work with her. Well done to her. I was very interested in what Deputy Ó Cathasaigh was saying about the curriculum in the schools. The report is a really useful tool. It is a rich collection of statistics all in the one place. They jump at you because the statistics on all of these areas, employment, housing, health and education, really speak f…