Maybe.

As a people, we are all sickened and deeply troubled by the increasing violence and its devastating impact on Gaza's population, as well as by the growing number of deaths in the West Bank. Every one of us is appalled by the unprecedented level of casualties on both sides and the severe suffering this conflict is inflicting on innocent victims, including older people, women and, especially, children. I strongly condemn acts of violence against civilians, which are completely against international humanitarian law. …

Budget 2024 had two big issues hanging over it. One was the corporation tax receipts and the second was fallout from the war in Ukraine and its impact on the cost of living. I welcome the announcement by the Government of the establishment of the Future Ireland Fund to set aside the additional corporation tax receipts to meet our future needs. I am really concerned, however, that this fund will be invested in reducing costs in other countries rather than here in Ireland where it could be used to drive down the cost…

Clare is a nurse who has returned from Britain at the request of the HSE to take up a permanent nursing post. She has been lucky enough to source a house near the hospital that she can afford to buy. Her last two years of continuous employment were in Britain and she is being refused a local authority mortgage because according to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage not only has she to prove her ability to repay, but she also needs to prove her long-term commitment to Ireland. Surely, relocatin…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill. It covers three main areas, one of which I want to focus on. I want to focus on the new legislative provision to facilitate entry into a contribution agreement with international financial institutions, also known as multilateral development banks, namely the European Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the Council of Europe Development Bank, enabling a contribution to a trust or donor fund to be established by them for the purpo…

There is ten minutes remaining in the time for the debate.

Under Standing Orders, this debate is to finish at 12 noon and if there is additional time left after the speaking slots, it falls to the group that has tabled the motion. There may be a procedural issue but there should be additional time available to us.

It is extended in line with Standing Orders.

I thank my colleagues for tabling this motion. I thank Cáit Nic Amhlaoibh for her assistance in drafting it. I thank the Minister for being present. It is not often that we have a Minister present throughout a Private Members' debate. I acknowledge that. The Minister acknowledged there is a significant issue here. She has publicly acknowledged this and it is important. All of us in the House recognise there are serious concerns about the ongoing challenges with An Garda Síochána and the unofficial industrial action…

Vótáil.

I return to a topic I raised with the Tánaiste here on Leaders' Questions last May regarding the diagnoses and care pathways for patients with rare diseases. Despite their name, rare diseases are not rare at all. We all know someone with a rare disease. In Ireland, about one in 12 people are or, at some stage in their lives, will be affected by such a condition. This means that approximately 825,000 Irish people are impacted by a rare disease when family members, many of whom are carers, are included. The west and …

Even after the tortuous road to diagnosis, patients in many instances have to educate the doctors who are treating them. That is because the expertise does not exist in Ireland for many of the conditions, due to their rarity. To address this, the EU cross-border directive mandated the establishment of the EU reference network to link rare disease clinicians right across the EU. Irish doctors participate in 18 of these 24 networks. To ensure our continued participation in the existing networks as well as the six rem…

I rise to support my colleagues regarding section 39 and section 56 workers. Everyone in this House knows the impact this will have on services. All of us have received correspondence from parents, families and service users who are extremely anxious about it. Because next week is budget week, we will not get the opportunity to debate this. Could we have an emergency meeting of the Business Committee later today to see if we can facilitate a debate at some stage this week on this issue, because it is important? All…

I welcome Dr. Gafarova and the Azerbaijani delegation to the House, particularly on behalf of our former colleague Terry Leyden, who is a neighbour of mine. As Terry could not welcome you here, I am glad to do so. It is great to have you here with us today. I hope you enjoy your visit to Ireland. I hope your engagement with speakers from the other parliaments is a very productive one. I hope it will lead to stronger and better relationships right across the world. I welcome the opportunity to speak on this legislat…

Ireland has reached full employment according to the Central Statistics Office, CSO, but with only one in three people with a disability employed, we have the lowest employment rate in Europe according to the European Disability Forum. The Oireachtas and the Ceann Comhairle are leading the way by example to try to address this with the Oireachtas work learning, OWL, training programme in the Houses. One reason for the low rate of employment among people with disabilities is the additional cost for employers associa…

During the noughties, 443 children went missing from State care, none of whom was ever found. That was approximately 44 children per year who disappeared without trace, and at least some of these unaccompanied minors ended up in the prostitution industry. This dropped to fewer than four per year after the State policy changed from placing unaccompanied migrant children in foster care rather than residential facilities. From reading the Protecting Against Predators: A Scoping Study on the Sexual Exploitation of Chil…

I really accept the Minister's bona fides with regard to this, but I am really frustrated that we are here 14 years later and have not progressed. I have a reply from 18 November 2009 in which the Minister's predecessor, former Minister of State Barry Andrews, assured the House that a protocol was being put in place with the Garda and the HSE at that stage, 14 years ago. It is clear that when foster carers are responsible for the care of some of our most vulnerable children, they are less likely to be exploited. I …

It is no secret that children's disability services are at breaking point. However, the sheer scale of the problem is shocking when you learn that almost 800 vacancies exist in children's therapy services across the HSE's primary care services and children's disability network teams. Those 800 vacancies exist across physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy and psychology, with over 550 vacancies in the children's disability network teams and over 440 vacancies in the primary care services. T…

How about offering part-time contracts that may suit therapists who are currently taking career breaks, in many instances for family reasons? I have spoken to several therapists who had actively considered taking up employment for a set number of hours per week, including evenings and weekends, enabling them to maintain their skills. Evening and weekend appointments would also assist families where parents are working and result in fewer hours lost for children. Many of these services are located alongside GP out-o…

At the outset, I thank my colleagues for bringing forward this motion. I thank Deputy Grealish, Maria Burke and Teresa Delaney in particular for drafting the motion. I thank the Minister of State for taking this motion on board wholeheartedly. We all know her commitment in relation to this. That is clearly reflected in the significant increase that we have seen in the home help and home care budget, which has gone up by 58% since 2019, up to €700 million this year. There is no doubt but that the money is there; the…