I thank the Minister of State. Is the Minister of State, Deputy Burke, available? No. We are going to change the order of the Commencement matters.

It is the Minister of State, Deputy Thomas Byrne.

Today, I want to suggest a measure to ease the cost of living for families in a small but significant way. One of the hardest things about living on a tight budget is that you do not have room for the unexpected or out-of-the-ordinary costs. That can drive families to make impossible choices. We need to stop those scenarios from arising where we can. I am of the belief that the €75 levy for attending children's urgent care centres should not be there in the first place. There is one such centre in Blanchardstown th…

I want to talk about a serious incident that happened in Blanchardstown a few weeks ago, where two teenagers were involved in a fight and there was a stabbing. Thankfully, the injuries were non-threatening according to reports. In the context of Safer Internet Day, I want to talk about cyberbullying. We are all aware of cyberbullying, and it is to be hoped it comes into focus more when we discuss the Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill, part of which addresses the harmful content around cyberbullying, self-harm…

I pay tribute to the incredible hard work done by the board of management of Hartstown community centre. For the last three years, it has worked long hours and made great sacrifices to look after the centre. Over the years the centre has provided vital services from childcare to Sue's reiki and mental health support. There are clubs, dance classes and a stage that is not being used now because it requires renovation. This place is the heart of Hartstown. We know community centres like it all over the country. An au…

I also want to add my condemnation of the collusion found by the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland in connection with loyalist murders in 1990. That would be a good topic for a debate in this House. I want to talk about the impossible situation in which multiple families in Carpenterstown find themselves because the Archdiocese of Dublin insists on prioritising a date of birth admissions policy for primary schools over a siblings-first policy. I know this is well intentioned but it is causing havoc for families…

I am out of breath.

I thank the Cathaoirleach. We have spent the last six years tirelessly working to find solutions for Brexit and to deal with the democratic will of the UK to leave the EU, even though the majority of people in the North of Ireland did not want it. Now those who campaigned the hardest for Brexit, and for the hardest of Brexits, are obstructing the only mechanism they could agree on to make it happen, even though the majority of people in the North of Ireland support the protocol and making it work better for the ent…

There seems to be a difference this week. We have had 1 February and St. Brigid's Day and now we have the Ulysses centenary. I am glad the winter is behind us. We all seem to be feeling a bit more upbeat. Today I want to focus on neurological services and the shortage of neurological nurses nationally. It is a worry. The Neurological Alliance of Ireland has said we need an extra 100 neurological nurses. In Beaumont Hospital there should be 15 but there are ten. In St. James's Hospital there should be 14 but there a…

If there was ever a weekend to demonstrate how wrong the British Government's proposals on legacy are, this was it. In light of the dignity and resilience of the Bloody Sunday families and survivors this weekend and over the past five decades and the people of Derry who have supported them, to be there was moving. The Cathaoirleach was there, too. I am grateful to the journalists who covered the 50th anniversary in such depth. Everyone, regardless of age or background, should know the horror of what unfolded on 30 …

I thank the Minister of State for being here this morning. It has been a turbulent January. We had Covid spiking. Now a lot of people are nervous about society re-opening so quickly and that will be stressful for many. We also had the tragic events in Tullamore which rocked us all, as well as tragic suicides. I want to send my condolences to all families affected by loss and premature loss. This is an opportune time to talk about our mental health and specifically the resourcing and management of psychologists in t…

I thank the Minister of State for the update. The report is a year old and now that Covid is, hopefully, coming to an end we need to prioritise this matter. The solutions are there. We need to increase the number of psychologists, address the inequities and support people through the process. The Department should look to the North and what it does in the area of funding because there are examples there that we could use. Under our current system, someone could become an assistant psychologist and be paid but train…

Broadband absolutely is one of the biggest issues on which I am contacted and it is all about delivery and timings. The Minister of State heard today that people do not care about the background. They just want their broadband. It is incredibly frustrating when they were given a timeline. Here is an example from rural Dublin. We tend to forget that there are also rural areas of Dublin that do not have broadband. It is actually more difficult to secure funding for things like hubs in rural Dublin than it would be in…

I commend the members of the Seanad Special Select Committee on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union on their report. Like Senator McGreehan, I was not a member of the committee, but I recognise it is a very valuable report and I thank the members of the committee for it. I agree with others' comments about how when we work collaboratively North-South and east-west, it enriches the work we do. We see it on the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement where MPs atten…

I welcome the new legislation on the right to request remote working and I look forward to the pre-legislative scrutiny of it. Let us be clear. This legislation alone will not revolutionise the way we work. It is part of a bigger national remote working strategy that recognises the economic driver that remote working can be for places that do not have red ribbon job announcement moments and it can also invest in communities, community infrastructure and hubs. We are helping communities transition, but we need to he…

This is the first chance I have had to engage with the Minister. It is nice to meet her here in the Seanad. I thank her for the comprehensive update. She has an incredibly challenging brief. This period has been quite challenging for people who are creative and need to connect with people. That is their passion and vocation in life. As my colleague said, we have to make sure that people are not left behind. If a basic income for artists and creative people is what comes out of this, that is a good thing because cre…

Friday is the deadline for the greater Dublin area draft transport strategy for 2022 to 2042. Within that is the revised greater Dublin area cycle network. The last strategy was in 2013. I am not sure that people are aware that the new cycle network is in the plans, so I would like to bring people's attention to that. On close inspection, it seems that the concept of a Liffey Valley greenway has been dropped in those plans, which is disappointing. The Liffey Valley is thankfully protected under a special area ameni…

Hear, hear.

Christmas is a special time of year, with family and friends coming together to celebrate during the festive period. Sadly, however, it will not be a happy occasion for everyone, with empty seats at the family table, including my own. However, whatever pain I might feel does not compare with the pain and sorrow felt by those who for decades have mourned the loss of family members murdered as a consequence of the Troubles. In some cases, they have never found the bodies of their loved ones. Those families have been …

I am out of breath from running down the stairs. I welcome the extension of the temporary Covid-19 waiver for Republic of Ireland cross-border workers in the context of the transborder workers' relief. If it were not for that extension, Republic of Ireland workers were going to be facing a cliff edge in terms of double taxation. They were being told that from a public health advice perspective they had to work from home, but the tax rules stated they had to go to the office or face a financial penalty. Although it …