I add my voice to those who have expressed a desire to see a debate on Palestine in this House in light of the outrageous conduct of the Israel Defense Forces in recent days and indeed in recent hours in Jenin. There has been concerted cross-party support here for the rights of the Palestinian people and, in particular, for the Bill that was started in the Seanad by Senator Frances Black, which we in the Labour Party and other parties supported. I refer to the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bil…

For more than two weeks now, political debate has been utterly dominated by the controversy within our national broadcaster with the revelation of secret payments and cover-ups there. The reason it has commanded so much attention is because RTÉ is so central to our day-to-day lives and to our society. As our public service broadcaster, it sets the day-to-day news agenda. It is central to our democracy, being outside the control of profit-driven shareholders or billionaires, like so much other national and internati…

I felt that was personally directed.

Despite the publication yesterday of a lengthy statement from RTÉ we still lack clarity on a number of important questions. We have no clarification, for example, as to why the payments made to Ryan Tubridy were consistently understated. We have been asked to believe the incredible allegation, which the Taoiseach said he does not believe to be credible, that out of all the senior management at RTÉ, only Dee Forbes knew the full picture regarding additional payments made. Yesterday, I noted that we are all in the da…

I thank the Taoiseach for the response. He is right, of course. Members of the public are very hurt by this. We all hear this across our constituencies. However, the direct impact on those who work within RTÉ cannot be overestimated. We heard that yesterday from those who spoke out, who believe passionately, as we all do, in the importance of public service broadcasting. I thank the Taoiseach for pointing out that the Minister, Deputy Martin, will meet the trade union group today. That is welcome. However, I urge t…

I previously raised with the Taoiseach the issue of vacant and derelict homes. According to the CSO, about 8% of dwellings in Ireland are vacant. We observe vacancy and dereliction across our communities in our towns and cities yet the last time I looked at the derelict homes register in my area, it only had ten derelict properties in Dublin Bay South. In any constituency, that would represent a drop in the ocean in terms of the number of properties that are vacant or derelict. What measures are proposed by the Gov…

I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak on the EPA water quality report. The first message I would send is that we should not be alarmist when debating it. It states that 97% of the 148 identified bathing waters met the minimum standard required, so there are positive stories. There are other positive developments, including the new "See It? Say It!" app, where members of the public can report pollution where they see it. I welcome these initiatives. However, there are also serious problems. Urban wastewate…

I share the concerns raised by my party colleague, Deputy Ó Ríordáin, and others about this proposed amendment. This last-minute amendment was inserted in the Bill in the Seanad. As such, it has not undergone pre-legislative scrutiny or previous scrutiny in the Dáil. This is a valid procedural concern, first of all. All Members are conscious it is an occupational hazard of miscellaneous provisions Bills that we see a hotchpotch of different amendments to different sets of legislation. That is often to be expected b…

Why the urgency? We still have not heard that.

I too wish to raise the issue of the revelations about RTÉ. I know the Taoiseach has spoken earlier about the fact that RTÉ is due to issue a statement at 3 o'clock but it seems we are all in the dark until we see that statement as to the answers that we await concerning the issue of secret payments. Everyone will feel immense solidarity with the staff of RTÉ who are on ordinary employment contracts and who are trying to get on and do their jobs to the best of their abilities in keeping with the spirit of public se…

If so, if they did not tell him anything about this, does he feel that he has been left in the dark?

Five years on from the historic referendum to repeal the eighth amendment, many women accessing abortion services continue to suffer abhorrent abuse outside GP clinics and hospitals, including women who are enduring abuse from protesters outside the National Maternity Hospital just down the road from here, so I welcome the Government announcement today of the legislation on safe access zones. This law is long overdue and, indeed, a Private Members’ Bill on this was first mooted back in 2021. I hope we will see swif…

I move: That leave be given to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to amend the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015; to provide for expanded pathways to parentage for parents of donor conceived children. My Bill was drafted with great help and support from the organisations LGBT Ireland and Equality for Children. I give particular credit to Ms Maeve Delargy, Ms Claire O’Connell, Mr. Pádraig Rice and their colleagues, who are in the Public Gallery to watch this debate and with whom I was outside Leinster House j…

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

This morning I want to raise with the Minister serious concerns around child protection and children's welfare that have been highlighted in a report released today by UCD's sexual exploitation research programme, SERP. The study is about young women and children in State care and in residential care homes and it makes for very distressing reading. It provides a very alarming account of the targeting and sexual exploitation of children and teenagers in State care. The exploitation is being carried out by co-ordinat…

I thank the Minister for his response. It is good to hear the Government is working to implement measures in response to these alarming findings from the SERP study. That is very welcome. Clearly the focus of this report is a child's right to be safe and a child's right to have a safe home. A government that was serious about guaranteeing that right for every child should be prioritising moving children out of homelessness and should be prioritising not only addressing these very stark findings on children in resid…

I wish all colleagues happy Pride in advance of the big Dublin Pride parade on Saturday. June marks Pride month. It is 30 years since decriminalisation of homosexuality, but 30 years on, men who were prosecuted before that are still waiting for an official disregard of the abhorrent convictions. Seven years ago, my Labour Party colleague, Deputy Nash, introduced a Bill in the Seanad to put a disregard scheme in place. Since then, Deputy Nash and all of us in the Labour Party have worked alongside LGBTQ activists su…

Today, the Not Our Fault campaign group will stage a 24-hour protest outside Leinster House. Its members were also in the audiovisual room today and I was glad to join them earlier. I pay tribute to them and to the Construction Defects Alliance for their advocacy. I will ask two specific questions on their behalf. Last week, the Minister of State, Deputy Fleming, spoke on a Topical Issue Debate on construction defects related to the key issue of fire safety. This is an issue that was anxiously anticipated by those …

The Minister stated that costs already incurred will be recovered. What is the position regarding the reimbursement of those who have paid to make unsafe homes safe?

I want to raise with the Taoiseach the stark reality of Government failure to deliver on housing. This is a failure acknowledged even within the ranks of Government. On Saturday, The Irish Times reported the comments of a Fianna Fáil backbencher who described the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage's multitude of half-baked schemes as follows: "They make great headlines, but they’re simply not backed up by volume." I could hardly put it better myself.