I assure the Minister that finding commonality across the Chamber would never be an issue to be uncomfortable with. I wanted to raise this matter in general but also specifically relating to Irish citizens who are not currently eligible for the SUSI grant. This issue was brought to my attention by Kuxi Ghai, an incredible law student in Kings Inns and also an incredible advocate for the SPARK one-parent family group. I thank Ms Ghai for her tireless campaign. The Minister mentioned the principles of equity. Current…

I am really happy that we seem to be in line regarding reviewing this. However, I wrote to the Minister in November and again in January, at which time we seemed to be at odds. I am glad that seems to have been rectified. I am very conscious that the Minister has included reference to the Minister for Justice. My concern is that the buck will continue to be passed between the Department of Justice and the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. There is an onus on Department of…

First, I thank and commend Senator Flynn, in her capacity as chairperson of the Joint Committee on Key Issues Affecting the Traveller Community, all the members of the committee and the wider participants on creating this vital report that so starkly presents not only the inequalities but also the structural violence faced by Irish Travellers. I also acknowledge the ferocity in the call in the report to act on the 84 recommendations. The Social Democrats will absolutely put our name to it. I am conscious that I wil…

I welcome the opportunity to discuss Amnesty International's vitally important report entitled, Israel’s Apartheid Against Palestinians: A Cruel System of Domination and a Crime Against Humanity. The report details how Israeli authorities are forcing a system of apartheid against all Palestinians living under their effective control. This include Palestinians living in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories as well as Palestinian refugees in other countries. The report documents how Israel treats Palestini…

The issue is the phraseology of apartheid and whether the Government will support the use of that particular word, which has a different weight behind it. Apartheid is both an international wrong and a crime against humanity. When a crime against humanity is committed, the international community has an obligation to hold the perpetrators to account. There is hope that by shedding more light on Israel's discriminatory system of domination over the Palestinian people, Ireland will intensify efforts to dismantle the …

I very much welcome the opportunity to speak today. I am very conscious as I do so that this is the second time in three weeks that we have met in this Chamber to discuss the legacy issues in Northern Ireland. Three weeks ago, it was in the shadow of the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, and today it follows on from the Police Ombudsman's report into collusive behaviour, which we understand as collusion. Often the work in this Chamber comes at us very fast and we must catch up as we go along. In the past day or tw…

I wish to begin by welcoming the Ukrainian ambassador and expressing our deepest solidarity, on behalf of the Social Democrats and the people of Dublin Central who I represent, with the ambassador and the Ukrainian people today. I cannot imagine what it is like to have the Russian Federation acting like a bully and a thug at the border, threatening violence on an immense scale. We stand in full solidarity with the Ukrainian people today. That is what is happening. The Russian Federation is behaving like a bully and…

There is a commitment in the programme for Government to extend the free school books scheme nationwide following the pilot scheme that was run for a number of DEIS schools in 2020. Moreover, there is a constitutional duty on the State to provide free primary education, which it fails to do every year. The Children's Rights Alliance report card for 2022 was launched yesterday and highlighted the lack of progress towards reaching the goal of free books in every school nationwide. Every year the results of the Barnar…

I thank Sinn Féin for tabling the motion, even though the Social Democrats do not agree with it. In fact, we believe the motion is disingenuous and dishonest and I will spend a large part of my contribution explaining why. We need to discuss why we need a carbon tax and why it is important to retain it, even in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis. We need to discuss what we are going to use the carbon tax revenue for and to discuss what would happen in the absence of the carbon tax. While there has been a great de…

In 2022, in a modern wealthy republic, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul released a report today entitled, The Cost of Surviving?. There are many shocking findings in the report, but one that stands out for me is the fact that 30% of one-parent family respondents said that due to the rising cost of living they were cutting back on essentials like food. I am sure I am not the only person in the Chamber who has encountered a parent who has had to skip a meal so that a child does not have do. The Society of St. Vince…

I thank the Office of the Ceann Comhairle for providing time for this Topical Issue on the urgent need for accessible and affordable medical care for those suffering from hyperemesis. The women's health task force and the medicines management programme were recently tasked with finding a solution when it comes to the treatment of hyperemesis with the drug Cariban. Cariban is the first stage in the treatment algorithm for hyperemesis in our national guidelines but it is unlicensed in Ireland and unavailable for reim…

I sense the Minister of State's frustration in the response. When I give my response back it is not aimed at the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, it is aimed at the lack of urgency in addressing the issue. When the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, was in opposition in 2018 he raised this very issue. Back then he would have brought it to the Health Products Regulatory Authority much quicker than last month. The effects of hyperemesis are not insignificant for pregnant women. It takes an extreme toll …

I thank the Regional Group for bringing forward this important and timely motion. The cost of disability report is a bleak overview of the increased annual financial burden that is associated with having a disability in Ireland. It costs between €9,500 and €11,700 more every year to live with a disability. To put this in context, the standard rate of disability allowance is €10,816 per annum. It barely covers the additional costs in most cases. Mobility, transport and communication represent almost one quarter of t…

The Social Democrats welcomes the publication of the report on the Defence Forces, Óglaigh na hÉireann, by the Commission on the Defence Forces. The report offers an insight into the current situation in the Defence Forces and offers recommendations that can help the organisation to meet the challenges of the future, while at the same time creating a safe and positive working environment for all Defence Forces personnel. Since the founding of the State 100 years ago, personnel in Ireland's Defence Forces, Óglaigh n…

Between one in 100 and one in 200 women will suffer from hyperemesis during pregnancy, a debilitating condition that causes extreme levels of nausea and vomiting. The national guidelines for the treatment of hyperemesis specifically refer to the drug Cariban as the first stage in its treatment algorithm. However, in Ireland, there is a complete lack of affordability when it comes to Cariban. A treatment can cost up to, and more than, €3,000 over the course of a pregnancy. I have asked several parliamentary question…

I thank Sinn Féin and in particularly Deputy Clarke for tabling this motion today. It is certainly a timely debate that needs to be had. The very antithesis of restorative justice is to retraumatise the victims. That is not the first time I have used those words in this Chamber related to a group of people, in particular women, who have been wronged in a most gruesome fashion. I have said that the interaction they have had with the State has compounded their suffering as they have sought justice for the wrongs infl…

This relates to increasing the number of places in universities for nursing and midwifery. Will the Minister make a statement on the matter?

That is brilliant. I have a suggestion about where some of those places may come from. A couple of months ago my office was contacted by a young woman who took part in a QQI level 5 course in nursing. She got full distinctions on the course but was unable to access university because there were a limited number of places for people transitioning from QQI level 5 to nursing at university and college level. We called around to different colleges and determined that at QQI level 5, or colleges of further education, th…

I do not need to dwell any more deeply on this. Last year, for example, 1,296 students were in colleges of further education who would have made exceptionally good nurses. They chose that pathway, studying for a year in the area, before finding there were very limited places for them in university. I worked in career guidance for early school-leavers, encouraging people to do nursing that way because they would have been fantastic in the field. They might do great over the year but the pathways are very limited. We…

What is the rationale behind recipients of jobseeker's payments having to visit post offices to receive those payments and will the Minister make a statement on the matter?