This question relates to a clarification on any plans either to penalise workers who avail of car-parking spaces in their workplaces or to remove those spaces.

I thank the Minister. The Climate Change Advisory Council has called on the Government to implement a levy on workers who get free parking in urban areas. The idea behind that is to change individual behaviour. However, as the Minister has stated, I am sure people do not want to be in their cars for hours on end. It is the last thing they want on their way to work. However, there are cases where there are no alternatives, particularly public transport alternatives. More than ever, people are cycling, availing of a …

The Minister will not be signing off on the measure. There is a provision in the Finance Bill 2008 that can be signed by the Minister to introduce a levy on workers. It is good that he will not be signing that. There is a lot of corporate greenwashing going on. I will give the Minister an example. Liffey Valley Shopping Centre introduced staff car-parking charges in October 2022. The average workers, who may not have an alternative to the use of a car, will pay €600 per year to park their cars to go to work. That i…

On Tuesday last, Palestinian political prisoner Khader Adnan died in an Israeli prison. He was on hunger strike for 87 days and was held in what the Israelis called administrative detention, in other words, internment. The blame for his death lies solely and squarely with apartheid Israel. We should know about the long history of fighting colonialism via hunger strikes. When will the Tánaiste contact the Israeli ambassador to state his outrage about this issue? When is the time to cut diplomatic and foreign links w…

Why did we do it in the 1980s?

Why would the Tánaiste want to deal with a murderous regime such as Israel? The Tánaiste is yellow.

I too want to welcome the spirit of this motion. We have discussed this issue on many occasions and it is extremely important. Independent living for those who are living with a disability is a fundamental civil right. This includes the right to work, the right to travel and the right to live. In the past, the situation for those who were living with disabilities was one of exclusion, marginalisation and stigmatisation. That happened in the past. While we have gladly moved on, there is such a long way to go in rela…

My question is the same as that of Deputy Bacik. The INMO is holding its annual conference today. A survey by the organisation found 65% of nurses and midwives felt patient safety was at risk and conditions were not conducive to a safe workplace. Something important the Government can do is to implement the safe staffing framework. It should be implemented and underpinned by legislation. That would be conducive to a safe environment for healthcare professionals and also patients.

I pose the question and, obviously, the Bill poses the question: what is wrong with rent control? What is wrong with making rent, in relative terms, affordable for renters? What is wrong with stopping the market-led approach that has led to spiralling rents? Thanks to spiralling rents, we now have a generation that is not only locked out but is turning to emigration. Many young people now are looking at the alternatives. They cannot find a place to rent and are faced with the possibility of having to emigrate. That…

A number of weeks ago, Deputy Wynne, who is a Deputy for Clare, and I visited Patrick Moore in Limerick Prison. Patrick is a father of two. He was sentenced to five years in prison and his crime was simply helping people with medicinal cannabis. We spoke to Patrick and his wife. It was very moving to hear that Patrick has been in prison for that time because he helped others. There was a change in the law in 2019 around the medical cannabis access programme. Fewer than 30 people can get access via a prescription. T…

My question centres around the review of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018. The review has been published and, hopefully, the Minister will be able to furnish that in the coming weeks.

That is welcome, but people will want to know when the review will become public and the mechanism. Obviously, it has to be brought before the Cabinet. Will it go before the health committee? It would be good for members of that committee to scrutinise it. It is nearly five years since the referendum, which is hard to believe, and four years since the legislation was implemented. There are anomalies, to say the least, in the legislation, particularly concerning the three-day period. That has always been an obstacle…

Can the Minister state when the report will be made available to Deputies or the health committee, and also to the public? Several people have probably read the review. Does the report recommend legislative change? Regarding the fundamentals of the current legislation, there is a lot to be changed, including in regard to the 12-week period and the criminalisation of doctors. Doctors are in a grey area regarding abortion services, particularly in respect of fatal foetal abnormalities. There is a huge grey area and d…

This month?

What plans does the HSE have for holistic, neuro-focused and multidisciplinary long Covid clinics?

I thank the Minister. We welcome that. A conference on long Covid is due to be held today. We are only beginning to understand the evolution of long Covid. Many have been affected by this extremely debilitating condition. We probably all know someone who is suffering from it. In some circumstances, it has changed their life and put it on hold. Some people who had been very healthy contracted Covid and their lives changed, although the good news is the vast majority will recover from long Covid. People who are in th…

That is all welcome. It is important that the State recognises that long Covid is prevalent and the vast majority of people will make a full recovery as long as they get the intervention, which is most important. A major concern is waiting times for those suffering from long Covid. At present, it can be up to a year before they can get that intervention. That is probably not good at all because of the evolution of long Covid. It can last longer than even a year but generally the symptoms, if somebody is to make a f…

Organised crime is an insidious reality and those who participate in that insidious reality are some of the most unscrupulous people who will use particularly grotesque violence and intimidation to achieve their ends. They are highly organised, motivated and adaptable because of the vast profits of the black or alternative economy. When inequality and poverty are factors, some people will go down the route of the alternative economy. That is no excuse. Many people who come from working-class areas never go down the…

They are thinking of other issues, such as whether the drugs will have an effect on them. This is a complex issue. We must look at different models because the current model does not work. Criminalising people does not work. It only enriches a certain number of people in society. The radical approach is to decriminalise drugs and have a wider debate around regulation. If we look around the world, it is clear we cannot police our way out of the drug industry or drug world. It is impossible. As I said, people use dru…

I am sorry about that.