I raise the issue of housing conditions at the Oliver Bond complex because the House will be aware that it made headline news yesterday when a report was published about the conditions in which the residents live. I congratulate those behind the report and indeed the residents and campaigners who have been working on this for years. The campaign related to the promise of regeneration started ten years ago. We are being told it has been put on hold for four years. This is not just an issue for the local authority. T…

It is very disappointing that the Minister of State comes to the House to address this issue but has not read the report and is only now hearing the testimonies I have given him. I am very disappointed and, again, I echo what the Tánaiste said in his last two criticisms of responses from Ministers, or those who advise them, as inadequate. I ask the Minister of State to cast his mind back to a European Committee of Social Rights ruling that stated Ireland was in breach of the European Social Charter. This was a clas…

I join colleagues in complimenting former Senator, Colette Kelleher, on her work in this area, along with Oein DeBhairduin, Senator Flynn and, in particular, Deputy Pringle, who has brought forward this Bill. As has been noted, it is a short Bill to promote understanding of the culture and history of the Traveller community. The question that strikes me is why we have to do pass legislation to do that. I want to use my time to look at why we do. Realistically, if we are to address the discrimination Travellers face…

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I want to start by thanking the many associations and federations of retired workers that have campaigned in respect of and raised over many years the general issue that this Bill seeks to address. It is a tribute to them that the Bill is before the Dáil. I want also to thank the staff of the Office of the Parliamentary Legal Advisers, OPLA, who worked with us on the legislation over a number of years. In 2018, I met a delegation of retired workers outside the Dáil…

I want to respond to some of the things in the Minister of State’s initial speech. First, what jumped out at me more than anything else was the expression “retired persons”. He referred at least ten times in his speech to “retired persons”. Once or twice, when he was not reading it, he said “retired workers”. However, when the Minister of State said "retired persons", I was asking myself what they are retired from. There is a claim there is some ill-defined category of "retired workers". They have retired from work…

It is because he is not Fianna Fáil.

The core issues around the national maternity hospital remain unaddressed. I do not believe the women of Ireland are reassured by recent statements and assurances from the Taoiseach and the Government. Three years post repeal, we only have one in ten GPs delivering abortion services and about half of maternity hospitals. This is a huge issue for marginalised women and for women in rural Ireland. Some of the professionals who I have spoken recently have been genuine in stating they believe all services will be avail…

I did not ask about that. I asked about governance.

I bring this Topical Issue matter to the House because it is a good news story, but I also see it as a series of events in which we witnessed quite foul attacks on Pride over the past couple of weeks such as the burning of flags in Waterford and the painting of vile homophobic graffiti in Dublin city centre opposite a gay bar. I want to preface what I am going to say by stating categorically that I am not a Catholic, but I am an atheist and I give credit where credit is due. Last week the parish council and the par…

There will probably be members of my community who will be offended by what I am saying and believe that I am being anti-Catholic, anti-gospel and so on, but that is not at all the case. I am concerned about young people in our area. As a member of the Ballyfermot Anti-Racism Network, I have had long conversations with Fr. Adrian Egan. I commend him on sticking his neck out and speaking. The church has its own debates. Those are its business and I am not trying to interfere in them. On a given night in Ballyfermot …

I am sharing time with Deputy Barry. I thank the Social Democrats for the motion. It is really important that we discuss this. No doubt lots more facts, figures and realities will emerge over the next period. After all, it is only less than a week ago when, to the alarm of everybody, we discovered that the Government shared the concerns of the Opposition on this issue. Much has emerged since then. I want to say to the people of Ireland, however, that anyone who shares the concerns of the majority of this House shou…

Or, indeed, the other way round. Tá sé thar a bheith tábhachtach, aontaím leis an Taoiseach, go mbeadh an t-ospidéal máithreachais neamhspleách ar an eaglais. Is í an cheist atá os comhair na Dála anois ná cad a dhéanfaidh an Taoiseach agus an Rialtas chun an neamhspleáchas sin a chur chun cinn? The Taoiseach mentioned that yesterday’s statement came from the board of directors of St. Vincent's Healthcare Group. This is not to cast aspersions on anyone but it is to state the facts; the people of Ireland should know…

I will not engage in the historical debate with the Taoiseach. He has his view and I have mine, but historians have also outlined their view. It was not just Fianna Fáil but it was primarily Fianna Fáil. Fine Gael was also up to its eyes in giving the gaps to the church to fill in terms of health and education, and we live with that legacy. Let us remember Dr. Noel Browne and the struggle he engaged in to get free maternity care for women. As the church exits, the Taoiseach asked what will replace it and that is a …

This is a defining moment for the Taoiseach.

I believe the Taoiseach will agree that the River Liffey looks exceptional today. It is buzzing with boats and there is an extraordinary protest outside. I want to focus, however, on coastal small fisheries and the environment. The Taoiseach will know that, on 12 June, the mackerel quota for this type of hook and line fishing by the fishers of our small coastal communities was reached and this type of fishing was stopped. This quota is approximately 0.05% of the entire national quota. I will put this in the perspec…

And women.

We have had two very worrying reports in the past two days. Yesterday, the EPA reported on our possible failure to meet our emissions targets. Today, it is reported that the application for a liquefied natural gas, LNG, facility at Shannon will progress to An Bord Pleanála. These reports highlight fatal flaws in the Government's climate policy and, indeed, the climate Bill. It is Government policy, apparently, not to support the importation of fracked gas, but it refuses to legislate to ban LNG projects, saying we …

Jobs cleaning up the mess.

The EPA said that the Government will not reach the target, not me.

Public transport is the answer.