Yes.

Yes, by Vermillion Energy.

Some progress was made at COP27, particularly on loss and damage, and Ireland played a key role in securing that. I welcome this. However, it was disappointing to see the lack of a commitment to cutting emissions faster and, once again, there was no agreement to reduce or even phase out the global use of fossil fuels despite the huge focus on the concept of a non-proliferation treaty for fossil fuels which had been so well flagged in advance of the COP27 meeting. The loss and damage fund is welcome and it promises …

On Tuesday and yesterday, I raised with the Taoiseach the issue of the Spiritans and the horrific abuse of children perpetrated at Blackrock College. At that one school alone, we are now learning of the horrific scale of the abuse that was perpetrated. It was revealed yesterday that 25 of the 120 boys in the class of 1979 have reported abuse. That is a staggering 21%. We know that 300 individuals have come forward disclosing abuse perpetrated upon them, and yet just three of the 77 Spiritans with allegations agains…

I thank the Tánaiste for his response. I endorse his comments and his encouragement of anyone who has been the victim of sexual abuse, in school or elsewhere, to report that matter to the Garda. I would also be glad to engage constructively with the Tánaiste and the Government on the structure of an inquiry. Survivors have contacted me to express their view that an inquiry and a process should engage, in particular, in ensuring that safeguards will be put in place to ensure that abuse like this will not happen in t…

I want to return to the issue of women’s healthcare and the CervicalCheck screening programme. On Tuesday we all spoke in tribute to Vicky Phelan and remarked on the extraordinary legacy she has left and the huge work she did for women's healthcare in her lifetime. On Tuesday, the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach committed to ensuring the speedy passage of the Patient Safety (Notifiable Patient Safety Incidents) Bill 2019 to require mandatory open disclosure and restorative meetings between women and their consultants. T…

I thank the Tánaiste.

I am glad to speak on this motion. We are aware that energy prices have risen across Europe. That is not in question, but there are particular factors at play in Ireland. Bloomberg is reporting that the biggest monthly gains in electricity costs are in Dublin, where power rates have climbed by 44%. Similarly, the costs of gas and other fuels are going up and up. We can no doubt attribute this anomaly to climate change. While the current unseasonably warm weather has a sinister cause, it has been positive in that fe…

I wish to raise the issue of the Spiritans and the horrific abuse of children perpetrated at Blackrock College. I am glad that, in response to my question yesterday, the Taoiseach has committed to a debate on the matter in the House next week. I welcome the apology from the Spiritans this morning and the announcement of an independent process, but we still need to consider having a public inquiry, particularly to see what the State could have done to prevent the abuse. We also need to consider current concerns. New…

I understand.

Absolutely.

On the GIS, who in the Taoiseach's Department now oversees the commissioning and production of television and radio advertisements generally for Government information campaigns? Is there political oversight of these advertising campaigns? I welcome the news that the Taoiseach will be meeting the Irish Thalidomide Association tomorrow, 17 November. It is a long overdue meeting. Colleagues will be aware that I have circulated the text of a cross-party motion calling for action to be taken by the Government for the m…

He did not deal either with my question on thalidomide.

It is welcome that the Government recently recommitted to the SDGs, as the Taoiseach outlined, with the launch of the new national implementation plan up to 2024. I wish to speak about two goals. Goal 6 concerns clean water and sanitation, which speaks to an issue in my constituency of Dublin Bay South. I welcomed the recent announcement by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, that water quality monitoring would now take place year-round, in response to an ongoing campaig…

-----and ask the Government to rule out the developments relating to liquefied natural gas, LNG, and the proposal to build LNG terminals.

On behalf of the Labour Party, I want to express my deepest sympathies to Vicky’s family, in particular to her husband, Jim, her children, Amelia and Darragh, her parents and the extended Phelan and Kelly families. Our condolences also go to all of the 221+ group, Lorraine Walsh, Stephen Teap and to many others, to Vicky's friends and to our own colleague, Deputy Kelly, who was a very close friend of Vicky's. Vicky bravely raised her voice. She decided to fight a system that had failed her. As we all know and as is…

We should have statements this week on the serious issue of allegations of child sexual abuse that have been made arising out of the RTÉ documentary and disclosures since then into the Spiritans, Blackrock College and other schools. It is a huge issue. My colleague, Deputy Ó Ríordáin, and many others have called for an independent inquiry and survivors have also been looking for that. It would be useful for us to hear the Government’s response to these very serious allegations this week and to have the opportunity …

I commend the immense courage of all of those who have come forward in recent weeks to disclose abuse by the Spiritans and other religious orders following the powerful "Blackrock Boys" documentary on RTÉ radio. I thank the Taoiseach for agreeing at my request to schedule a debate on these allegations and the horrific and widespread abuse that appears to have been perpetrated. In advance of that debate, we must acknowledge the need for a public inquiry arising out of the disclosures of abuse. We owe it to survivors…

Cuirim fáilte ar ais roimh an gCeann Comhairle. When the Taoiseach attended the European Political Community forum in Prague on 6 October, the protests in Iran were only a few weeks old. Tomorrow marks the two-month anniversary of the tragic death of Mahsa Amini in Iran. Since then, more than 300 people have died over two months of demonstrations, and as many as 14,000 may have been imprisoned. The impetus to act grows as more and more people are detained on bogus charges. I met last week with representatives of th…

Could I take 30 seconds for the Taoiseach's response on Iran?