The legislation is necessary to update our laws on veterinary practices and to meet our obligations under several EU directives, including the nitrates directive. It provides for the introduction of regulations and monitoring mechanisms regarding veterinary prescriptions and their dispensing in the importation, sale and use of fertiliser, as well as the creation of a national fertiliser database. It is a long time coming. I recall being in a knowledge transfer group, long before I went into politics, where vets exp…

On Friday, I visited St. Finbarr's Boys' National School, Bantry, which is working with the local mixed-ability sports club, the West Cork Jesters, which is one of the first clubs of its kind, to develop an all-weather pitch for the whole community. The students believe strongly in having an inclusive school and I hope there will be support for that application for funding. That visit was also a reminder for me that, despite being elected to represent all of our constituents and not just the electorate, we rarely h…

We need more secondary school places for children with disabilities in Cork South-West. In particular, there are insufficient specialised units for young people with autism, or autistic young people. The lack of proper spaces and adequate supports is a breach of their rights under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and it is a source of considerable concern for families. What assurances can the Minister of State give them that she will provide sufficient school places?

Respectfully, all of those figures mean nothing to families who cannot find a place or an appropriate place. The Minister of State says there are 15 special schools in County Cork. That is wonderful but there is not one special school in all of Cork South-West although it is one of the biggest constituencies in the country. The inadequacy of education and healthcare supports for children with disabilities is one of the issues I raise most frequently. I have repeatedly called for the provision of resources for natio…

I thank the Minister of State for her reply but I am just not convinced from her answer that she fully grasps the scale of the urgency of the issue. The Minister of State highlighted there that there is more of a problem with secondary school places but that does not make any sense. We know how many people are coming through the primary school system so I do not understand how forward planning cannot be done to ensure there are places for those students. Schools need more resources, as does the NCSE given the diffi…

I thank the Leas Cheann-Comhairle for facilitating the discussion of this Topical Issue matter. The Central Statistics Office, CSO, recorded 2,892 victims of sexual violence in 2021, with roughly 80% of these being girls and women. For that same year, Women's Aid received 1,104 disclosures of sexual abuse, including 411 disclosures of rape. This is a specific and serious dimension of the epidemic of gender-based violence. Today, I am focusing on one aspect of this broader issue, namely, sexual assault treatment uni…

I thank the Minister of State. I have no doubt that she understands the significance of this area. I urge her to speak to the Minister for Health about how the HSE can develop increased capacity and geographical spread to deal with this horrific epidemic. I draw attention to the fact that the initial data show that one fifth of those who attended these units last year - over 200 people - were aged 14 to 17, a particularly worrying number. We do not know if this is due to an increase in rates of assault and violence…

I thank Deputies Joan Collins, Pringle and Connolly and their teams for this motion. It is a very effective and simple solution to the lack of basic community infrastructure across the country. The ring-fencing of development levies for amenities and material improvements is a common-sense approach that will help enhance localities and provide people of all ages with facilities to socialise and be active members of their community. The lack of basic facilities, from playgrounds to public toilets and active infrastr…

I move amendment No. 2: In page 5, between lines 24 and 25, to insert the following: “Report on operation of Scheme 2. (1) The Minister shall cause a report on the operation of the Scheme to be commenced on the day that is six months after the establishment day and to be laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas as soon as practicable after its completion. (2) A report under this section shall consider the following matters: (a) whether and to what extent persons engaged in the management, administration or operati…

It was incredible and somewhat excruciating to watch the Minister speak for almost seven minutes and not reference the main concerns that were raised in the Chamber, particularly the concerns raised by Deputies Boyd Barrett and Connolly. The Minister is right to highlight that this is one aspect of what has been going on in regard to mother and baby homes. For the past three years on the children committee, chaired by Deputy Funchion, we have been working on the birth information and tracing legislation and the bur…

It is completely disingenuous to give that justification for excluding people who spent less than six months in institutions from the scheme. Some people highlighted time spent in institutions as a matter to look into in the context of redress. It is completely disingenuous. The Minister is completely and blatantly ignoring all the concerns that have been raised in the House, and all the concerns raised with Deputies by the general public, by acting as if he believes this is the right thing to do. We all know that …

-----and that we would all be talking today about the fact that somebody might get €3,000 or €5,000 for something like being separated from their parent or child at birth, or that people might get that amount for being incarcerated, for forced labour, for illegal adoptions and all the horrors, including illegal vaccine trials on children. People might get €3,000 or €5,000 for that. I said it before and I will say it again - you would get more if you fell over a pavement. The entire thing is an absolute disgrace. I …

Under Standing Order 83(3)(b) I propose that the vote be taken by other than electronic means.

I move amendment No. 26: In page 14, to delete lines 19 to 22. This amendment seeks to remove another exclusion based on spending a minimum amount of time in an institution. The section relates to people who make another application to the scheme in the unlikely situation that another institution is added to the list of institutions, and the arbitrary six-month criteria is relevant here as well. The arbitrary six-month exclusion has been widely criticised and highlighted as having no basis in evidence other than as…

These amendments - I am speaking to amendment No. 50 in particular - seek to ensure applications are processed in a timely manner. The current wording is too ambiguous and allows for too much scope. Survivors have waited years for any form of justice, and it is essential those who are eligible receive their redress as soon as possible. The only way this is possible is by adding this limit. I have no faith this system will be survivor centred, as with other schemes supposedly to help survivors. This would be bureauc…

After that can we come back in?

That is what I mean, though. The debate will not be finished. We can come-----

The National Ambulance Service has been under-resourced and overstretched for years. We have an insufficient number of operational vehicles and paramedics are being forced to work dangerously long shifts due to staff shortages. It is no exaggeration to say that it is costing lives. This issue has a particular impact on rural populations. I have constituents in west Cork who are fearful of what will happen in an emergency situation given that they live so far away from a hospital. A major issue is that the ambulance…

Every year in Ireland around 290 women get cervical cancer. Almost 90 of those women die from it. In women aged from 25 to 39 years cervical cancer is the second most common cause of death due to cancer. It is the responsibility of individuals, families, communities and the State to do everything possible to drive this number down. This week is European Cervical Cancer Prevention Week and an important week to highlight that cervical screening is one of the best ways to protect from cervical cancer. Recognising the …

I thank the Minister of State for her response and for her commitment. I would appreciate an update on the laboratory. The Minister of State is also right to highlight that awareness and accessibility are essential to the success of the programme and ultimately to the prevention of deaths. The Department of Health and the HSE must continue to promote and explain the relevance of the service, and this must include multifaceted campaigns to reach everyone between the ages of 25 and 65. The Minister of State mentioned…