I am sure the Minister will agree that many of the allegations of the Women of Honour relate to incidents that are heinous in nature. Women have been subjected to gross violations. A culture of sexism is absolutely unacceptable in any workplace. This cannot be seen in isolation; it must be seen as society-wide and in the context of how sexism and misogyny circulate in society. When women come forward, they do so to challenge terrible historical and present abuses. We have seen that through the #MeToo movement, wher…

I thank the Minister for taking this important matter. The primary care centre in question was earmarked ten years ago, and probably longer. Deputy Ward and I have lived in that area. The current health centre in Rowlagh is antiquated for north Clondalkin's population of nearly 20,000. More than five years ago, 35 primary care centres around the State were earmarked and meant to be completed. At this moment, however, nothing has been done as regards the Collinstown site. Judging from the response to a parliamentary…

I welcome the response but it was slightly ambiguous. It still does not give clarity as to when this will happen. We could have been discussing this matter five years ago and the same answer might have been given. I am slightly concerned about the ambiguous nature of the Minister's response. At the end of the day, the people who will benefit are the people of north Clondalkin, who badly need this centre. I suspect that, if this were to happen in a more affluent area of Dublin, there would be a different response.

I commend the Social Democrats on this very good motion. It breaks down the stealth charges that people are incurring during one of the most traumatic times in their lives. It is good to see people in the Public Gallery for the first time in a long while. It warms every Deputy's heart. The charges are stark. I am unsure as to whether any member of the Government could justify such costs for someone with a cancer diagnosis. The list goes on: day charges, car park charges and so forth. I received a letter from a cons…

Two years ago, we were in the throes of a general election. We were all going around knocking on doors trying to get back into the Dáil and some of us did while others did not. Little did we know what was to come four or five weeks later. It really does feel like a lifetime ago; not only the general election but what has gone on in the last two years across the world. It has been a truly unprecedented event, not only in our lifetime but across generations. Many of us never heard of Covid-19 but we got to know it ve…

I raise the matter of orthopaedic surgery waiting lists. I am not sure if the Taoiseach saw the reports over the weekend about a little girl called Ava Cahill. She has spina bifida and has been waiting more than a year and a half for corrective surgery. You would need a heart of stone not to be moved by Ava's situation. There are other children like Ava in Ireland waiting for corrective surgery. There is a crisis at the moment in orthopaedic surgery. Even the top leading surgeon in the country has said that the car…

I move amendment No. 1: A. To insert the following after "attainable standard of physical and mental health": "by ensuring that they are not being overmedicated due to shortages in staff across CAMHS, Primary Care and Early Intervention teams" B. To delete the words "broaden the CAMHS review to include" and substitute the following: "ensure the CAMHS review is independent and is broadened to include" C. To delete the words "immediately conduct a review” up to and including “resignation from the service;" and substi…

My question centres on the ongoing cataclysmic humanitarian situation in Yemen. Has the Minister spoken to his counterparts in the EU and have they considered sanctions against the Saudi Government relating to the ongoing humanitarian crisis?

This is the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. This has left tens of thousands of people dead, including 10,000 children either killed or maimed. Some of the pictures that have consequently come out of Yemen are almost incomprehensible. It is grotesque to watch how a country such as Saudi Arabia, which is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, basically inflict absolute terror on Yemen, which is one of the poorest countries in the world, and that juxtaposition of having one of the wealthiest countries i…

The Minister visited Saudi Arabia last summer. Did he speak to his counterpart in regards to not only the human rights violations in Saudi Arabia, but also the situation in Yemen? Has the Minister spoken to his counterparts in the EU about action against Saudi Arabia? What is going on in Yemen is war crimes, not according to me but according to NGOs and civic bodies, on the basis of the ongoing bombing of civilian areas. If there was ever a need for unity on violence against Yemen, it is in this situation. Obviousl…

I raise the lack of capacity in autism spectrum disorder, ASD, units in secondary education. The State has made considerable progress in the capacity of ASD units in primary schools, which is a good thing. However, there is an acute shortage of ASD feeder schools, particularly for children who are leaving primary settings and moving to secondary education. I am sure these issues arise across the State. A number of families in Clondalkin have contacted me in recent days to tell me there will be no places whatsoever …

We all were young once. Growing up is a difficult business in some ways. Some of us breeze through it and some of us do not.

Okay. Sometimes it is a generational thing. It is difficult, especially now. Being young now is very difficult. It brings its own challenges. One of them is in regard to intervention. We say that when a young person needs intervention it has to be there because early intervention is key. Most of us would say that intervention by mental health services for young people in this country is very arbitrary. If one is waiting more than three months for intervention, and in some cases for six months or a year, there is so…

We will be supporting the Sinn Féin motion. I want to send my solidarity to the Murphy family at this terrible time. They probably cannot comprehend that Ashling will no longer be in their presence. None of us this week should have known about Ashling Murphy. In the past week, her life brought every village and town together like never before in a spontaneous call of solidarity in song, in deep shock but also terrible silence. Many of us tried to understand why this has happened, why in daylight, such a darkness sh…

I wish to start with very sombre figures. Our fellow human beings are behind the figures. As of today, Covid-19 has claimed 5.5 million people worldwide. It is an incredible statistic. Nearer to home, 150,000 people in Britain have died of Covid-19. On our island, 10,000 people have died, thus far, as a result of the pandemic. It has taken a terrible toll on those people, their families and society as a whole. There is hope; without it there will be despair. The pandemic continues to separate us in some ways, but a…

I again emphasise the amount of public money that has been invested by governments in private companies to research this vaccine. It runs into tens of billions at this stage. At the crux of this argument, because we can talk about and almost intellectualise why companies have to have property rights to what they create, we are talking about an emergency that the world has not seen for the past 75 years. We are talking about people dying unnecessarily while big pharma creates huge amounts of money and profits for it…

I will associate myself with the Ceann Comhairle's earlier remarks on fellow Deputies and staff. They have done a tremendous job in an extremely difficult year. Earlier this year, the Government brought in legislation around ticket touting that banned above-price resales. It was progressive legislation, but there is also a practice going on, which I never heard of until recently, called "price scalping". This happens when something is in demand and there is not enough supply, for example, in relation to gaming cons…

I wish the Minister of State happy Christmas. I will start on a positive note because we have to be positive during the ongoing pandemic. Hospitalisations and ICU admissions have plateaued or fallen. That is a good indication of the direction of things. So far, so good. However, there are dark clouds on the horizon. You only have to look at Britain where the cases are going through the roof. Britain is probably two to three weeks ahead of us with its booster campaign. The indications are that we could be facing an …

I want to set out my stall from the outset. It is no secret that People Before Profit and I do not believe in a two-tier health system. Even though we have a two-tier health system, I think the vast majority of people in this House do not believe in that system any more. If you look at other countries around the world that have a universal healthcare system, the outcomes are much better. The Minister of State can call me old fashioned or out of date but my party and I are ideologically driven by that and in favour …

Hopefully we will not have to use or implement these powers. Everyone in this House understands the legislation that we have passed over the past 20 months to tackle this constantly evolving virus, but Members would not be honest if they said they were not uncomfortable with some of the powers that have been provided, regardless of whether we opposed or sanctioned them. Those powers have been draconian in the face of a pandemic. People have lost their liberty and there have been travel restrictions. If we had told …