I thank the Tánaiste for the response in respect of the individual case I raised. Again, however, this will be an immense source of frustration for parents who in so many cases have been forced to go public and to air private issues around their children in order to secure what should be the right of each child. It is simply not good enough to hear that the Attorney General's advice is being sought and that amendments of the section 37A process are being considered. This is too little, too late for those who are cu…

This week I was contacted by a woman in Dublin who suffers from the terrible condition of anorexia. She tells me she has no life but is fighting to get it back by getting treatment. A huge obstacle she is facing in getting treatment for this awful disease is that she is on the housing assistance payment, HAP, and cannot find a rented home near the hospital where she is getting treatment. Hers is just one story of the difficulties so many people are having in securing accommodation where they are on HAP. Research fr…

Yesterday, along with other Opposition speakers I called for a debate this week on the operation of An Bord Pleanála. I am asking the Minister to commit to having that debate at least before the summer recess. We are all conscious that the drip-feed of allegations about impropriety or conflicts of interest have the potential to undermine seriously public confidence in our planning and construction system. This is at a time when the President has rightly described us as having a housing disaster and has referred to …

I welcome the amendment and thank the Minister for setting out in such detail the extent of the public information campaign. It is some years since this was first mooted and discussed as part of the process of achieving an effective legislative framework on birth information. I am pleased it is at such an advanced stage. I am also pleased that the stakeholder advisory group and NALA are involved, as well as the weighting of the international component, which is clearly very important. I echo the comments of Deputie…

I, too, welcome the review. As I said, it is very important and positive to see a statutory framework finally being put in place, after many previous attempts, whereby adopted persons can access birth and identity information. A review will be very helpful in seeing just how effective the legislation is, whether the mandatory information session ultimately operates as a restriction on the access rights of individual adopted persons, and if in time it can be removed.

I support the calls for an urgent debate this week on An Bord Pleanála. There has been a drip feed of allegations and very serious matters have been raised about conduct, processes and governance. It is timely that we would have that debate this week. We are all conscious that there are only a small number of weeks left before the recess. We have the summer economic statement to come and there are quite a number of other urgent matters before us. This week would seem the right and appropriate time to have the debat…

I mark the sad passing yesterday of Mr. Liam Cahill, the journalist, adviser, author and historian. Yesterday, when visiting Portlaoise, I had the pleasure of meeting with members of the local Money Advice and Budgeting Service, MABS, team in their office. I heard from them how their calls have reached record levels this year and how so many households and individuals are contacting them with serious money issues and huge pressures in paying for childcare, rent and mortgages. These are working people who were previ…

That is what is required. Ireland needs a pay rise and we need to see people having more cash in their pockets so they can meet the cost-of-living crisis.

I am glad to speak for the Labour Party to pay tribute to Austin Currie. As a politician and civil rights campaigner, he leaves a tremendous legacy and had the extraordinary achievement of serving as Minister in both jurisdictions on this island. Reviewing the remarkable journey of Austin Currie's life and his strong legacy on peace and integration, one can only imagine what it must have been like for him at such a young age - 24 - to take a seat in the then unreformed Stormont Parliament, having won the 1964 by-el…

The barbaric imperial war of conquest against Ukraine by Putin's Russia is a challenge to which the EU is responding. The Taoiseach has given us a comprehensive update on the recent meeting of the European Council on 30 and 31 May. The Taoiseach has also spoken to us about the meeting of the European Council in Brussels later this week. I believe, and we in the Labour Party believe, that we need to see more and stronger actions being taken against Russia by the EU at this point. It is clear that we must continue to…

I am glad to speak for Labour in the debate on this opt-in and I welcome the opportunity to do so. As we know, it has now been just over three months since the Commission published the proposal for a directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence. That was on International Women's Day and, of course, it is now midsummer. It is very welcome to see this proposal. Preparations have been extensive and have included stakeholder consultation and a detailed impact assessment report. The purpose of the…

In 2019 this House declared a climate emergency. Last year we passed legislation to keep oil and gas in the ground through the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act although it did not apply to existing exploration licences. That Act commits us to a legally binding path to net zero by 2050. Later today we will debate the annual transition statements. We are waiting on the Government's sectoral target ceilings. Here in Ireland, the Government is not acting quickly enough and we know that globally…

Every week I hear, as I know we all do, from constituents in my constituency in Dublin Bay South about the immense difficulties they face in finding a home and getting support with housing. I hear from renters who are looking at unaffordable rents - rents are as high as €4,000 per month for a house in my area - and renters who are facing eviction and cannot find another affordable home to rent. I hear from young couples and individuals who cannot afford, or even aspire to afford, to buy their own homes. This immens…

I thank the Minister. The Labour Party certainly believes in constructive and responsible opposition but we are a party of the left. We believe in the need to ensure investment in public services for all. We do not believe in tax cuts for some at the expense of public services for all. That is our concern. Our concern is that during the pandemic we saw, rightly, the State stepping up to deliver investment. We need to see that level of ambition now in addressing the housing crisis and cost-of-living crisis. We have …

It is the level of ambition.

I was delighted to quote the President earlier. His remarks were absolutely correct.

I raise the issue of the failure to deliver progress on Ireland's climate action plan in 2021. Among the more than 100 measures on which we did not see delivery on time was the move to ensure sufficient availability of electric vehicle, EV, charging points for those who wish to switch to EVs. This is being raised with me constantly in my constituency and it is an issue for many people around the country. Many who wish to switch to an EV cannot be facilitated in doing so because of the lack of publicly accessible ch…

I welcome the opportunity to debate climate action and discuss the interdepartmental negotiations on sectoral targets. We know that the deadline is drawing ever close as weeks pass coming up to the end of this term in mid-July. Our global climate and biodiversity crises are existential and fundamental to our capacity to live and to the survival of our planet, but it is not all doom and gloom and we should never feel powerless. That is always an important message. We must ensure that there is always some optimism an…

I welcome our guests from Ukraine who are addressing the Seanad. I condemn yesterday's action by the British Government in moving to publish legislation to undermine the Northern Ireland protocol. The legislation clearly amounts to a breach of international law. We have all seen that the introduction of the Bill is already damaging the relationship between Britain and the EU. It is a reckless and dangerous approach to a sensitive issue and it has the potential to undermine seriously the Good Friday Agreement and th…

I entirely agree with the Taoiseach about the British Government's actions amounting to a breach of trust. One of the most alarming things about this development is the breakdown in trust between the Governments across the islands and the breakdown in trust in the relationship between the British Government and EU negotiators. As the Taoiseach said, Maroš Šefčovič and his team are seeking to negotiate in good faith. There is now a dawning realisation across the EU that the British Government is not negotiating in g…