I will begin by saying that I wholeheartedly condemn the violent attacks we are currently seeing in the occupied Palestinian territory and in Israel. Many Irish people feel a particular affinity with the people of Palestine. I certainly feel that strongly. It is truly heartbreaking to hear of the number of innocent people who have died and had their lives destroyed - children who have needlessly lost their lives in this conflict, killed senselessly in a conflict that began many years before they were born. It has b…

We have 30 minutes for debate. Members may take up to ten minutes, but if that happens we will not get everybody in. I ask them to be mindful of that. We have four or possibly five speakers. I call Deputy Bacik.

Thanks Deputy and the same to you.

I congratulate Deputy Matthews. I thank our Dáil clerks, our committee clerks, our ushers, our audiovisual staff, our IT experts, our catering teams, our cleaning teams and everyone else in this building. On behalf of all Members, I thank all of our staff who do such incredible work for Deputies here in Leinster House and in our constituencies. Many will think we are finished for the summer, but we all know we will be very busy in our constituencies drafting policies and legislation. That is a wrap, folks.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this legislation. I am glad we are debating it before the summer recess because we have waited long enough for the Bill. We first started discussing safe access zones in the wake of the eighth amendment referendum in 2018, some five years ago. In the interim, while we have seen some women finally receiving access to necessary and essential healthcare, we have also seen, regrettably, some women being subjected to what I believe to be unforgivable intimidation, obstruction and th…

I raise the issue of housing adaptation grants for older people and people with disabilities. I know from my office that people who avail of these grants find them massively beneficial in terms of making their homes more accessible, suitable and comfortable. We all know the cost of doing work has increased dramatically and what has not increased is the value of the grants towards that cost. What is more, different local authorities are implementing the grant scheme differently and many do not pay contractors for a …

I will raise the concept of transport police. It is something I have raised previously. Last night's documentary on Virgin Media One, "Dublin After Dark", showed exactly why we need a focus on safety and security in Dublin and on our public transport. That is especially true when it comes to late-night weekend services. Some women often feel more vulnerable using the bus, the Luas, the DART or the train alone at night after dark. Transport police would help to protect our public transport system, its users and its …

I am delighted to speak in this debate today. I wish to start by wishing everyone a happy Pride month, especially all those who will celebrate this weekend. I love going to the Pride parade and seeing the vibrancy, colour, positivity, energy, diversity and inclusion that Pride brings to the streets of Dublin and across Ireland, when it comes to parades and celebrations taking place throughout this month. I heard someone remark yesterday that the growth of Pride in rural Ireland is in itself a massive cause for cele…

This week is Carers Week. This morning, I attended a coffee morning in Clondalkin hosted by Family Carers Ireland in conjunction with Clondalkin Autism Parent Support Network. Of course, we had the launch of the Joint Committee on Autism report, which, under the leadership of Senator Carrigy, made more than 100 recommendations. Both of these are reminders and insights into the everyday struggles of families and the incredible work carers do. However, it is also a reminder of how let down people feel, particularly w…

We know the political will is there and the funding is in place to change this. What does that look like in terms of a pipeline for therapists to get into children's disability network teams and primary care centres?

I welcome the provisions of this Bill. Ireland has proven itself to be a leader in this space. In 2004, we became the first country in the world to ban smoking in workplaces, including bars, restaurants and enclosed public spaces. If we think back to that time, Irish pubs were probably the last place in the world anyone expected to become smoke-free. Many people thought the ambition of the State, and in particular of the then Minister for Health, Deputy Micheál Martin, and senior civil servants in the Department of…

I want to discuss the ongoing shortage of public health nurses in my area, particularly in the constituency of Dublin Mid-West. This shortage is having a huge impact on infant developmental checkups. To my count, this is the seventh time I have formally raised this issue, whether in the House or through parliamentary questions, since it was first brought to my attention last year. I have had two meetings with representatives of the HSE. I know the Minister of State will understand that I will continue to raise this…

I appreciate the Minister of State's support and commitment to this issue. I hope to get some information today with which I can go back to the worried mums and dads in my area because I cannot keep giving them the same outdated information. I cannot keep telling them the HSE is doing its best to recruit more public health nurses, with no timeframe. There is no light at the end of the tunnel if I keep saying that. The Minister of State has confirmed on the record that no vacancies in the public health nursing team …

I welcome plans to ban the sale of vapes to under-18s. We know the impact of nicotine when it comes to developing brains. We know that children who vape are five times more likely to start smoking. The move is welcome from a health standpoint. Honestly, however, it is the targeted advertising to young people that really concerns me, including the different colours and flavours. It is almost like these items are being marketed as products for children, like a chocolate bar, a soft drink or an accessory. Cracking dow…

There is no doubt that accommodating huge numbers of Ukrainians and international protection applicants is a massive undertaking for local communities. That is why I am so pleased the Government has recognised that undertaking through the community recognition fund. Our national response, challenging as it has been, would be nothing without the co-operation and the support of local communities, groups, families and businesses. In my own constituency, and in particular in the areas I represent in Clondalkin and Sagg…

I want to ask about the Government's commitment to tackling period poverty and making period products free of charge across all educational settings. This Government has made a huge amount of progress when it comes to women's health. Removing VAT on period products was particularly welcome but there is still a lot of work to do to address period poverty in Ireland. A Plan International study found that almost half of girls in Ireland between the ages of 12 and 19 find it difficult to buy sanitary products and to pa…

I welcome the opportunity to speak about the CSO's first survey on sexual violence. At the outset, it is important to welcome that we are starting to collect this data. I say this because we know that sexual violence is a widespread issue, but without the data, it is hard to measure the full scale of the issue and how the prevalence of sexual violence is changing in Ireland. This is why I welcome that this is the first of six future reports. These reports will be game-changing in helping us to address this problem.…

All of us here get tonnes of housing queries to our offices. The Government has introduced some fantastic housing grants and schemes to help people, but it is often very hard for people to navigate all of the schemes. My office always does its best to advise them, but there is a need for a centralised one-stop shop to help and signpost them to the best housing grants that apply to them, whether it is the help-to-buy scheme, the first home shared equity scheme, cost rental, affordable purchase, the local authority h…

Recent years have brought construction standards to the forefront. We have seen how a lack of regulation has impacted families in the form of issues with mica and pyrite in particular. In so many instances, it has had absolutely devastating impacts on people's physical and mental health. I am conscious on the surface that people might switch off when they hear us discussing this kind of legislation, because one does not automatically see or hear the human impacts of it, but there are such impacts and there is no do…

Supermarket food costs are continuing to rise at an alarming rate. The rate of inflation is, thankfully, easing, but families are not seeing that in their shopping trolleys. In fact, the cost of food is continuing to rise. An average food shop costs 6.8% more than it did a year ago. I am not just talking about luxury products, but also basics like milk, eggs, butter, meat, cereal, tea, coffee and baby formula. They are substantially more expensive and are showing no signs of decreasing in price. We saw prices went …