Yes

I move: That Dáil Éireann shall take note of the Report of the Joint Committee on Gender Equality entitled "Unfinished Democracy: Achieving Gender Equality", copies of which were laid before Dáil Éireann on 15th December, 2022. I am grateful for the opportunity to move the motion and speak today on this important report. I am honoured to be addressing the House as Chairperson of the Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality, which produced our report entitled Unfinished Democracy: Achieving Gender Equality, copies of…

Once I can contribute again at the end.

I would be very happy with that.

Yes. I thank the Minister for his comprehensive and helpful overview of the work that has been done following on from the publication of our report. I thank Deputy Cronin and the Minister for their kind words. It seems we are all in the revolution together. Whatever about a woman’s place being in the revolution, I am struck by the old slogan, “A woman’s place is in the House – Leinster House”. We are still a long way off achieving equality in Leinster House, with only 23% of our TDs being women. To put it another w…

I, too, call for the Minister to take questions in the Dáil tomorrow. It is important, in particular after we saw what was, in effect, a summary dismissal of the chair of the RTÉ board on Thursday night, that is, the forced resignation of Siún Ní Raghallaigh. I also seek a debate on rough sleeping and what the Government proposes to do to tackle the crisis of rough sleepers. There are more than 1,000 international protection applicants sleeping rough on the streets of our capital city, many around the corner from h…

Last Friday marked a new and very troubling record on homelessness. We saw that 13,531 people on the homelessness list are now in emergency accommodation, more than 4,000 of whom are children. That is a really stark figure. Each one is an individual tragedy. In Dublin alone, nearly 10,000 are homeless and yet we are seeing simply no sense of urgency or ambition from Government in tackling the issue. Its house building targets are too low. The Taoiseach has acknowledged that to me in the past. The Government's rente…

There was more grim news this week for the thousands of people desperate to find a secure and affordable home. House prices are now higher than the Celtic tiger peak yet the Government's building targets remain too low. It is four months since the Taoiseach admitted to me in Leaders’ Questions that more ambition would be needed. Instead of Housing for All, it seems we are still stuck with housing just for some. Those struggling to find an affordable home to rent must continue to compete with short-term tourist lett…

I thank the Tánaiste for his comments. I commend Naomi O'Leary. Her article makes for chilling reading. Undoubtedly, there are issues with the arbitrary deductions from workers wages and workplace practices. To return to the issue of Godart's treatment of his tenants, what is the Government going to do to ensure unscrupulous landlords like Godart will be made accountable and that there would be some comeback? Clearly, neither local authorities nor the Residential Tenancies Board currently have the power or capacity…

So far in 2024, more than 30 people have died on our roads, each death an utter human tragedy and devastating for families and friends. Roughly one life has been lost every other day since the new year. This is a shocking figure. We see that fewer than 5% of people told to hand over their learner permit following conviction for a road traffic offence comply with the law. Will the Government take on a stronger role in ensuring road safety measures are put in place? Will it act also on the safety of transport workers…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCeann Comhairle. Upon taking office in December 2022, the Taoiseach's stated aim was to make Ireland the best country in which to be a child and to improve well-being and opportunity for children. However, there are many children in Ireland today who are being failed by the State. I am talking about children who are denied care in our health system, who are waiting for surgery, who are lost in mental health services or who are not receiving the care and support they so badly need. No paren…

We are certainly ready to acknowledge progress where it has been made and we have welcomed moves by Government to review how additional funding for spinal surgery was spent by the VHI as that is important. However, I repeat that it is just not good enough for the Taoiseach to say it will take two Governments to resolve issues with children's health in Ireland. He is in government and has been for many years now and it is not good enough that we are still seeing these waiting lists. Let us look at facts. The Irish H…

Permanent. I said "permanent".

But we need the team of medics to support the consultants.

I also extend my sympathy and that of the Labour Party to the family and friends of Michael O’Regan and pay tribute to him. The news of his untimely death is very sad. I join the call for a debate this week on the aspect of the Children’s Rights Alliance report referred to. This is the third consecutive year in which the Government has received an E grade - an unacceptable grade - in respect of children’s mental health issues. In particular, the report highlights the waiting lists for child and adolescent mental he…

I start by extending my deepest personal sympathy to the family of the 16-year-old girl who died three weeks ago in University Hospital Limerick. That desperately sad news was reported in the Irish Independent today by Eavan Murray, just a year after the tragic death of Aoife Johnston in the same hospital. I understand that an inquiry has been launched into the incident. That is clearly very necessary, but we are already all too aware of the serious patient safety issues that continue to prevail at UHL. A HSE inter…

-----serious issues around patient safety and overcrowding at UHL.

In all the heat of the debate this week, we have to recall that Ireland has lots to be proud of when it comes to public service broadcasting and that has to be said. However, there are many areas where we can do better. We boast generations of talented writers and artists, many of whom have had to leave these shores to have their work seen and heard. The work of many who are here and are contributing so much to news coverage and the creation of content here at home is desperately undervalued by our national broadca…

I thank the Tánaiste for responding on the issue of workers' rights at RTÉ. Indeed, there are very serious issues for workers at levels below those top management levels at RTÉ. Trevor Keegan, chair of the National Union of Journalists, NUJ, group at RTÉ said today that the impending redundancies at RTÉ loom large and that the prospect is impacting morale among staff at all levels below top management. The Tánaiste is right about that. When will we see results? When will we see an outcome from the Minister's review…

Last night in Dublin city centre and in Cork, we saw hundreds of delivery workers in high-vis gear on bikes take to the streets to strike and to protest against the exploitation they face because of the practices of online platforms like Deliveroo and Just Eat. We know that platform workers such as delivery drivers are paying a very high price for our convenience. These workers have been utterly exploited throughout the years and we have allowed a model to develop whereby cycling across the cities on the island com…