I warmly welcome the Palestinian ambassador and everyone in the Gallery. I am proud to stand here with the Palestinian flag raised outside as we officially recognise the State of Palestine. It is more important than ever that we take a stand as a country to make our support for the people of Palestine clear. I was struck by the words of Charlotte Phillips, a Palestinian footballer who played in the recent game with Bohemians in Dalymount. As she stood on the pitch with thousands of Palestinian flags waving and chan…

Dental services have been collapsing for years. There is no excuse for the complete neglect of the sector when it has been crying out for reform and regulation for decades. Dental services are out of reach for many people. Preventative care, regular check-ups and minor dental services are only available to people who can afford to pay. There are many failures in the current system but one of the most glaring is the abandonment of the school screening programme. Every child in the State should have a free check-up w…

I warmly welcome the Government's decision to recognise the state of Palestine. The Social Democrats have long called for the Government to match its strong words on the carnage in Gaza with action, and this is a powerful move which sends a commanding message. That message is one of hope, peace, justice and freedom for an imprisoned Palestinian people being massacred by a brutal occupier. I also pay tribute to the many tens of thousands of Irish people who have fought for the Government to take this step every week…

Government representatives have been telling us since 2020 that the occupied territories Bill is contrary to EU law. The Taoiseach refused to clarify a really important point. Has the Government sought updated legal advice to reflect the fact we are now witnessing a genocide unfold before our eyes? That can and should change the legal advice and allow the Government to enact this important Bill. Israel should not be entitled to slaughter with impunity and maintain normal trade and diplomatic relations. Things have …

Public dental services have been completely abandoned by successive health Ministers. Every child in this country should have three free check-ups during primary school, but waiting lists have got so long that some children are not being seen until they are in transition year. The number of dentists with a public contract has plummeted from 1,450 in 2012 to only about 600 today. On top of this, the sector is barely regulated. Dentists are not required to keep up competence to practise, there is no regulation of the…

I am asking about public dentistry.

Almost 4,800 children are waiting for child psychology appointments across Cork and Kerry alone, with nearly 2,900 waiting for over a year. These young people are struggling. They have taken the crucial and difficult first step of asking for help and are being denied it. Many of these children are struggling with anxiety and depression and are in desperate need of early intervention before their mental health difficulties get worse. There has rightly been a focus on the shortcomings in the CAMHS service, but we see…

When is the Government going to stop pretending that the recruitment embargo is not having an impact?

What is the Government going to do to address the crisis facing primary psychology services in this country?

It is now more than three years since the then Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin, gave a very clear commitment. In response to questions from my colleague, Deputy Catherine Murphy, he said he was opposed to the State entering long-term leasing deals for social homes. To quote him directly he said, "No local authority should be on the other side of this, engaging in a long lease with these institutional investors.” He followed up that a few weeks later with a very clear statement, "Long-term leasing is bad value. Tha…

The Taoiseach reeled off a whole load of figures to say that he wants to give context to the situation but he left out the very important figures that give further context to the situation, which is record homelessness, record house prices and a record number of people stuck in their childhood bedrooms. That context is pretty important as well. He might be new to the job but Fine Gael certainly is not, and this Government is not. The Taoiseach's party has been in office for 13 years now. Clear commitments have been…

There are now 13,866 people living in emergency homeless accommodation, the highest number in the history of the State. Tragically, included in this figure are 4,147 children, representing a 56% rise in child homelessness since the Government took office – 56% in just four years. The reaction of the Minister for housing to reaching this grim milestone was a disgrace. He actually welcomed the increase in homelessness figures. He welcomed them on the basis that the monthly increase was not as big as usual. Is that wh…

It is the highest level ever.

For years now I have been raising the issue of specialist treatment for eating disorders. The news that no new inpatient beds for adults with eating disorders have opened should be surprising but, given all of the broken promises and missed deadlines over the years, how could anyone be surprised? We should be, however. We should be shocked at the lack of urgency, the level of mismanagement and the complete lack of help and hope for so many people who are seriously ill. In 2018, when the Taoiseach was the Minister f…

As I have said, I welcome the opening of the 11 treatment hubs. Care in the community and early intervention are obviously of great importance. I acknowledge that. It is not what I asked the Taoiseach about-----

-----but we are missing the target in that area too. Some 16 treatment hubs should have been opened by 2023. Treatment remains a postcode lottery. It is not just adult services that are at breaking point but also those for adolescents. In some areas, 45% of beds are empty. According to the Psychiatric Nurses Association, the HSE's recruitment embargo is the reason for that. There are simply not enough staff for them. Is it the Government's plan to lift that embargo to address this issue? To go back to what I actual…

They are not staffed.

The amount of rainfall we have been experiencing over recent months has pushed the agriculture sector to a crisis point. We have seen almost ten months of almost non-stop rainfall and farms are saturated. A few days' break is not enough for fields to dry out. This has been an absolutely devastating time for farmers across all sectors. Some livestock farmers are having to provide supplementary feed for much longer periods than expected as animals remain indoors. Slurry tanks are at capacity and farmers’ silage and f…

I want to start by warmly welcoming the members of the Stardust families who are here today. It has been a long and difficult road to justice but their perseverance, courage and deep love of their family members has brought us here to this historic, but long overdue, day. It is less than a week since the jury in the Stardust inquest returned the verdicts that families and survivors have waited so long for - recognition that on that terrible night, on 14 February 1981, 48 young people were unlawfully killed. It is a…

Housing is often discussed in the Chamber but, too often, we do not discuss the reality of it and the real-life impact this crisis has on people's lives. The Irish Examiner spoke with some of these people this week. Kelly-Anne Healy is aged 37 and lives at home with her parents in Blackpool, Cork. She has worked since she was a teenager and always thought if she worked hard enough she would one day own a home of her own, but that dream is rapidly fading. She said, "When you’re single, people think you have this fan…