Deputy McAuliffe was ahead of me.

In 2017, a ruling was made by the European Committee of Social Rights that Ireland had breached Article 16 of the revised European Social Charter. The committee went on to state that the Irish State had failed to ensure the right to housing of an adequate standard for a not insignificant number of families. We are four years on from this ruling and nothing has changed for people paying rent to live in houses and flats throughout the inner city. The conditions people are living in are truly shocking in many cases. T…

I am honoured to speak in support of the Bill introduced by my colleague, Deputy Ó Snodaigh. I compliment the work that has been put into the Bill by the 1916 relatives' group, whose commitment to saving Moore Street and preserving our history has never wavered. One can travel to almost any nation across the world and see the value and respect they put on sites that played a significant role in the shaping of their nationhood, whether it is Gettysburg in the USA, Flanders in Belgium or Brest Fortress in Belarus. Mo…

In 2015, an amazing, young, bright, lovable individual, Lorcan O'Reilly, was stabbed to death not too far from here in Dublin's inner city. Many steps need to be taken to tackle the rise in knife crime throughout the city and that needs to start with dialogue with the families most affected by this brutal crime. The Minister for Justice has committed to engaging with Lorcan's mother Jenny. I ask the Tánaiste to ensure the Minister for Justice keeps this commitment and engages with Lorcan's family, and puts in place…

I am honoured to be able to speak in support of this Bill that is being introduced by my colleague, Deputy Funchion. I commend the work done by the survivor groups, the adoptee groups and Deputy Funchion in bringing it before the Dáil. The purpose of this Bill is simple and straightforward, namely, to give every adopted person the right to access his or her birth certificate. The vast majority of Deputies who will be voting on this Bill and on whether to give adoptees access to this most basic of human rights will …

This legislation allows for public land to be used for unaffordable private market housing. This is coupled with a failure to prioritise the delivery of public and genuinely affordable homes. The Bill is deeply undemocratic and once again takes decision-making away from councillors and the local community. I recently saw a photo from 1974 of a housing protest on City Quay. The community was protesting that not enough homes and too many office blocks were being built. Decades later the same protests are being held a…

Mr. Julian Assange has done the world a huge service by exposing crimes and human rights violations in Iraq and Afghanistan. He deserves everybody's gratitude, not incarceration. He has suffered and has been tortured. Will the Tánaiste raise his case with the British ambassador and call for and demand his release?

This time has been unbelievably challenging for children with additional needs and their parents. More than 20,000 children with additional needs in mainstream classes were promised a return on 21 January. The Minister wrote to school principals on 11 January to say the return of those children to school would happen but it did not. Those children were assured priority all along and have been completely forgotten about. The provision offered for students with additional needs is for special needs assistants to come…

Considering the great impact this winter lockdown has on the mental health of so many groups and people right across the State and given that one is more likely to meet people in Herbert Park than on a golf course or athletics track, surely one size does not fit all when it comes to sport. I ask the Minister to provide the data that support not allowing children to train outdoors in a controlled environment. People need to see those data. What preparations are being put in place to prepare for a return to sport?

It has been stressed all along that priority would be given to children with additional needs who attend mainstream schools, yet there was no mention of their inclusion in last night's announcement of a possible return to school on 1 March. Will the Tánaiste assure the House that children with additional needs in mainstream schools will return on 1 March?

Israel's obligation to vaccinate Palestinians is clear under international law. The matter is not open to interpretation. Not only does the Geneva Convention dictate that the occupying power is responsible for the health and well-being of the occupied, the treaty, which is the bedrock of international law, specifically spells out an obligation to prevent the spread of pandemics. In the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, we have medical apartheid. Will the Taoiseach contact the Israeli Prime Minister directly and condemn…

There is growing concern from community sector pharmacists on the timeframe for them to receive the vaccine. In recent months they have seen more and more patients referred to community pharmacies for what would have been standard procedures in any general practitioner practice, including blood pressure and supervised methadone checks. Their face-to-face contact with patients has dramatically increased to allow for the reduction in face-to-face contact for patients with local GPs. They have shouldered their fair sh…

Many Deputies have already raised the question of kidney transplant patients. Kidney patients have a high mortality rate. They have major concerns. What hope can the Minister give to them? Will the Minister consider adding them to group 1?

The programme for Government commits to examining the appointment of a HSE national director for mental health. Why has this appointment not happened? Will it happen or has the Government given up on the idea?

On a separate front, yet another crisis is descending into a state of emergency. A complete lack of concern has been shown by the Government since the start of the pandemic towards those held at direct provision sites. Does the mental health of these men, women and children even register in the thought process of the Government? What provision and supports has the Government put in place for those at direct provision sites who are struggling with their mental health?

I am sure we will all acknowledge the unbelievably important role sport plays in mental health for thousands of people, young and old, throughout this country. With the suspension of sport under different levels of Covid-19 restrictions, the support sport gives to the mental health of so many has vanished overnight. What was a mental health crisis pre-Covid is now a mental health emergency. What provisions are being put in place for the many across the sporting community who have watched as the most basic of mental…

To follow up on that briefly, what engagement has the Department had with Sport Ireland around mental health initiatives to address the concerns and issues of participants?

First, I pay tribute to the HSE staff nationwide who have put huge effort into the vaccine roll-out programme, from the pharmacists reconstituting each phial to the nurses administering the vaccine and ensuring that the maximum number of doses of this precious vaccine are obtained, as well all the support staff. I am sure it is painstaking work and particularly stressful with the eyes of the whole country on them. My first question is what consideration has been given to parents of children with high-risk medical c…

I thank the Minister. Why is antigen testing not being used for nursing home residents and staff? This issue has been raised a great deal in the media. It is a cheap way of testing. It is not foolproof but it certainly would be of great assistance.

In light of the closure of the process under section 37A of the Education Act for autism spectrum disorder, ASD, classes in south Dublin, without any classes having been set up in the areas of Dublin 4, 6 or 6W as a result of this process, and considering the enormous impact this is having on families from Ringsend up to Harold's Cross and Terenure, I believe there is an urgent need for a specific section 37A process for these areas of Dublin city. Will the Tánaiste ensure that such a specific 37A process will be s…