That was our amendment.

What steps will the Tánaiste take?

It is the assessment.

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." On behalf of the Labour Party, I am delighted to be bringing this Private Member's Bill to the Dáil for Second Stage debate today. Before I begin, I thank the advocacy groups, many of whom have joined us in the Gallery today, including LGBT Ireland, Equality for Children and Irish Gay Dads, as well as Labour LGBTQ+, who are sitting upstairs too. In particular, and it is always difficult to single out a few individuals, I would like to thank Dr. Claire O’Connell, fo…

Thank you.

Thirteen months.

I begin by thanking the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, Deputies Brady, Shortall, Duncan Smith, Wynne and the Minister of State, Deputy Burke, for their contributions during the debate. I also thank colleagues who expressed support for the Bill. First, I will address the points made by the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, around the delaying mechanism in the amendment, which, as I have said, we cannot accept. We acknowledge the Government is not opposing the Bill and that is welcome but we are concerned that a nine-month dela…

Everyone, regardless of where in Ireland they live or how much is in their pocket, deserves to be treated with dignity and respect when they are sick. Everyone deserves to have timely access to the medical treatments they need. I know the Taoiseach appreciates that, but his Government’s policies are hurting people in hospitals, not helping them. I am talking about the current HSE recruitment freeze, overcrowding, long waiting lists, the trolley crisis, a retention crisis and a lack of community supports for those d…

I thank the Taoiseach for his words for Conor Sheehan. I absolutely agree with him regarding the immense hard work and commitment of medical staff throughout the country but he has given me a standard response on the recruitment freeze. The reality is that lifting the freeze for certain contracts and grades will fix nothing. It will not entice healthcare professionals back from Australia, Dubai or Britain. It is an indictment of the Government's healthcare policies that even now, even with the improvements listed b…

Hear, hear.

I want to raise a housing issue which my Labour Party colleagues, Senator Moynihan and Councillor Darragh Moriarty, have been highlighting locally. I refer to the shocking findings by Trinity College recently that residents of Oliver Bond, the oldest and largest social housing complex in the State, have worse health outcomes than their neighbours in Dublin 8 due to the conditions of social housing there. There is a regeneration project, but people living in Oliver Bond will be waiting ten to 15 years before that wi…

Pearse Street.

I move amendment No. 1: To delete all the words after "agrees to:" and substitute the following: "— insist on an immediate ceasefire and full, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access to Gaza and support the UN in their efforts to increase the flow of humanitarian goods into Gaza; — support any decision of the ICJ on preliminary measures, which are final and binding on the parties concerned, and urge all parties to the Genocide Convention to also do so; — make an intervention in the South Africa v Israel case at th…

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. Yesterday we saw a landmark ruling from the Supreme Court in the case of Johnny O'Meara. I commend the courage of Johnny O'Meara in challenging the inequality in law relating to cohabiting couples and to note that judgement. I also note that the Government is committed to passing legislative change to give effect to that ruling to ensure cohabitees in the tragic circumstances of Johnny O'Meara and his children will be covered by social protection measures. Will the Taoiseach give …

Each year it is estimated that 14,000 women in Ireland experience pregnancy loss yet currently, as we know, there is no provision in law for any leave for women who experience an early miscarriage - a pregnancy loss before 24 weeks - or for employees who seek time off work to access reproductive healthcare treatments like IVF. We in the Labour Party brought forward a Private Member's Bill last Thursday to deal with that, to address that issue and to provide for reproductive health leave. We were very disappointed t…

Go raibh maith agat, a Chathaoirligh. It is regrettable we are seeing the debate descend into a shouting match-----

-----given the seriousness of the issues we are debating and discussing. We have all been watching, over the past 100 days, with increasing distress and horror the carnage in Gaza and the utter devastation of a civilian population as a result of the brutal Israeli bombardment. Since the attack by Hamas on 7 October, which was itself brutal and resulted in appalling death and the taking of hostages, we have seen a death toll in Gaza that has surpassed 25,000 people. That is approximately 1% of the entire population.…

I move: "That the Bill be read a Second Time." I am sharing time with my seconders, Deputies Brendan Howlin and Ged Nash, who will be taking five minutes each.

Five years ago, in 2019, I was approached by my Labour Party colleague, Councillor Alison Gilliland, who has since been Lord Mayor of Dublin and who was then an official of the Irish National Teachers Organisation, INTO. She approached me because many members of the INTO had approached her and other officials to express concern about having to take time off work to undergo treatments for reproductive health-related issues, such as in vitro fertilisation, IVF. Many others had told her and other INTO officials of the…

Hear, hear.