Two weeks ago, representatives from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO, were before the Joint Committee on Health. The INMO's submission was extraordinary. It said that 3,400 students are on placements in Irish hospitals. Covid means they are in a vulnerable position. The failure by the HSE "to remunerate them amounts to exploitation". That is awful. The statement also notes that 50 nurses are infected by Covid each week. Student nurses feel very let down, unrecognised for their work but also financia…

The world we used to live in prior to Covid-19 seems like a very different world from the one we are living in now. In former times, many student nurses could take up other jobs in nursing homes and so on, but they can no longer do so for all sorts of reasons. Financially, this has left them out of pocket. Living on an allowance of €50 a week, with the responsibility that is entailed in their roles, is having a hugely detrimental effect on their well-being. Nursing is a very hard job and the people working in the p…

I am sharing time with Deputies Bríd Smith, Boyd Barrett and Barry. We are at the beginning of another lockdown, the second. The vast majority of people have adhered to the guidelines. They have made enormous sacrifices of their liberty with financial, family and health implications and they will continue to make them. In some ways a second lockdown was almost flagged. If we are facing a third lockdown in February, the spirit of the people who had made such sacrifices will be broken. There is a limit to what people…

If one takes away all of the headlines over the past number of days, because an immense amount of money has been thrown at the economy due to Covid-19, one sector that this pandemic has had a disproportionate effect on are services such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy and psychology. Of these services, most people were waiting for 12 months or more prior to the pandemic and it has exacerbated the whole situation. Even before Covid-19 we had many debates in this House about people…

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I wish to share my time with Deputies Barry and Boyd Barrett. I am thankful for the opportunity to have this debate. It is an important debate not only in this Chamber but also in the State itself. I wish to remember Marie Fleming, whose life ended seeking legislative change in regard to assisted dying in Ireland. Marie's incredible bravery and the fight she brought to the highest court in the land brought national attention to the most profound decision anybody co…

I am happy to give four minutes to one of the other Deputies. Deputy Bríd Smith will take three and I will take two.

It can be shared wherever-----

I thank all the contributors to the debate, and I was happy to give Deputy Fitzpatrick some time, even though I diametrically oppose what he said, but everybody should have their views heard. It is a shame there was not more time for the debate because I would like to have heard other people's views, even though I completely disagree with them, but that is what the debate is about. This is quite a complex debate. It is a very profound debate about mortality, our lives, futures and friends and the people we love. Th…

Next Thursday, a very important debate will take place in this House when the Dying with Dignity Bill 2020 is discussed. I understand there is a variety of views not only in political parties and this House but society as a whole on the subject. I call on the Minister to support a vote of conscience, not only in his party but across the Government parties. It is very important for society as a whole that there be a rational debate on the matter.

I thank the Minister of State for taking this important issue. I raise the issue of the Moria refugee camp on the island of Lesbos in Greece. As the Minister of State is aware, a fire two weeks ago destroyed the camp and people were left destitute. All their belongings were destroyed and thousands of people are now without any kind of shelter on the island. This is a humanitarian crisis that has been festering for many years and has not been addressed by the Greek Government or the EU. The situation is now also set…

The EU's response to refugees fleeing from persecution in the past decade, particularly in recent years, has been shameful. It has allowed people to drown in the Mediterranean. That is a fact. It has also allowed this camp on Lesbos to fester. Pictures on BBC and RTÉ television of people living in the camp show them living in conditions worse than those for animals and the EU has let that happen. I refer the Minister of State to the EU's commitment. Ireland has stated that it will only undertake to accept 36 childr…

I want to raise an issue that I have raised numerous times in the term of this Dáil and the last Dáil. It is the lack of progress around the medical cannabis access programme. I see the former Minister for Health in the Chamber. To say parents and patients are extremely frustrated is an understatement. The law was changed last year and many people had hope. Since then, there have been numerous issues with lack of reimbursement and lack of access. When will the medical cannabis access programme commence?

Deputy Harris is across the Chamber.

People Before Profit will support this Bill. I want to cut to the chase. There have been many debates on renters and housing in this Chamber. Renters are being ripped off in the State. A small cohort of landlords are doing extremely well out of this. They are doing so well that they have commodified the basic human right to shelter. Does the Minister know how that has happened? It has happened because his Government and previous Governments have facilitated it. Getting to the juicy details, billions of euro have be…

In the upcoming Brexit legislation, how will the Government deal with the Dublin regulation, formally known as the Dublin III Regulation? The reason I ask is that a gentleman, Lehlohonolo Kalele, who is a citizen of Soweto and who is at present studying occupational safety and health in UCD will be deported, as of Saturday, back to Britain. There are other individuals in the same position. If he is deported via Britain, he will be deported back to Soweto. Obviously, this causes a conundrum for the Government in rel…

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to make provision for assistance in achieving a dignified and peaceful end of life to qualifying persons and related matters. I am introducing the Dying with Dignity Bill 2020 on behalf of Solidarity-People Before Profit. I do not do this in jubilation but with determination that this very personal issue is discussed openly and rationally. If enacted, this Bill will make legal and medical provision for achieving a peaceful end to life for those with …

I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."

I wish the Minister of State well and hope he will be progressive and bold in his job in the next years. The Government needs to be bold because this is like Groundhog Day. We are talking about things we talked about two or three years ago in this Chamber. People have been talking about this issue for decades. It is welcome that we are talking about a health-led approach rather than a criminal justice approach, which simply does not work. Last year's alternative approaches to possession of drugs for personal use we…

I wish the Minister of State well in her new job. As a result of Covid, the past six months have affected the well-being of everybody but old people have suffered disproportionately. A total of 56% of all deaths have been in nursing homes and the vast majority of deaths in the State have been of older people. There was, and still is, a sense of fear with regard to how old people interact. Even the word "cocooning" was almost derogatory and some older people took its use to task. In all of the grimness there was a b…

I doubt the Minister of State will disagree that the past six months have been extremely detrimental for children with special needs and their level of access to the services they need. The effects on children and their families are probably unquantifiable. Those effects are ongoing. The lack of routine and structure has been detrimental. The cessation of services and difficulty in accessing ongoing services have caused regression in learning and peer-to-peer relationships. In many cases, certain challenging behavi…