That is very different.

Today, Women's Aid published its annual report for 2021 revealing a shocking number of disclosures of domestic violence. There were over 33,000 such disclosures last year. Over 2,300 cases of sexual abuse were disclosed to the organisation last year. Disappointingly, we have yet to see publication of the third national strategy on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, which has been promised for some months. As Chair of the Joint Committee on Gender Equality, I should say we have engaged with the Minister for…

I thank the Taoiseach for the update on his meeting with the Ukrainian Prime Minister and for his expression of support from the Government for the rapid accession of Ukraine to the EU. I join him in expressing solidarity with the people of Ukraine and support for its speedy accession to the Union. I met last week with the Ukrainian ambassador, Ms Gerasko Larysa, in Leinster House. In previous weeks, I invited members of the Ukrainian Action in Ireland group to meet with the leaders and Whips of other groupings in …

We heard an important briefing today from Dóchas on the Horn of Africa crisis, where up to 20 million people could go hungry due to drought and the fallout from the brutal war on Ukraine. What additional aid will Ireland commit to the growing food crisis in the global south? How can we use our position on the UN Security Council to find solutions to the Russian embargo on Ukrainian grain exports, while being conscious that Russia is clearly weaponising food production in Ukraine? I also wish to ask about our positi…

I thank the Taoiseach for his update on the work of the NESC. One of the five areas on which NESC is strategically advising the Taoiseach is aspects of the Covid-19 pandemic. We are all conscious that a lack of hospital bed capacity was one of the key reasons our lockdowns had to be so extensive in order to protect bed capacity in hospitals. We see reports that the emergency department in Our Lady’s Hospital, Navan, is to be closed. Has sufficient capacity been put in place in Drogheda hospital to ensure we do not …

On Tuesday, the Labour Party called for an urgent debate this week on special education, given the mounting issues in the area. We are very disappointed that the Government did not support the proposal put forward by my colleague Deputy Ó Ríordáin to amend the Order of Business to have the debate this week. We are glad it is being scheduled for two weeks' time but the reality is that every week counts for children with autism and their parents. We are very deeply concerned that the right to an education is not bein…

I welcome the opportunity to respond to the report of the joint committee on urban regeneration. I commend Deputy Matthews and his colleagues on the really important work the committee has done. I offer the Labour Party's support for its recommendations, which chime very much with calls made by our spokesperson on housing, Senator Moynihan. They are sensible recommendations. Everyone across the country acknowledges the need to regenerate urban centres by bringing derelict or vacant properties back into use includin…

Today's report from the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, makes for truly alarming reading. Even in the unlikely event that we meet all of our goals in the climate action plan and see those policies fully implemented on time, we know our greenhouse gas emissions would only fall by 28% by 2030, just half of what is legally required in accordance with the Government's own laws. Labour has offered constructive engagement with the Government, we support the ambitious climate targets and along with most of our colle…

Following the recent Stormont election, as the Taoiseach has said, the approach of both the British Government and the Democratic Unionist Party, DUP, to the protocol has been deeply unhelpful and the people of Northern Ireland will suffer from the lack of a functioning Executive. We support the Taoiseach and all those engaged in trying to ensure that the Executive will be up and running again. We are conscious that there are very serious issues facing communities in Northern Ireland that require a functioning Exec…

I also raise the outrageous delays in Dublin Airport over the weekend. Clearly, these have had a devastating effect for so many people. We know 1,000 people have missed their flights and that people missed out on job opportunities, work-related travel, funerals, weddings, holidays and so much more. Clearly, this is a huge issue of consumer rights and a huge issue for those passengers who were so seriously inconvenienced over the weekend. However, it is not just a matter of poor planning by the DAA, although that is…

I thank the Minister for his response on the aviation strategy as it relates to airports such as Shannon, Cork and Farranfore. I also heard what he said about the recovery of aviation. However, this was not unpredictable. Airlines sold flights, so the number of people who would be flying out of Dublin Airport last weekend was utterly predictable. Clearly, there was a serious problem, a serious failure of workforce planning. In terms of the issue of staff conditions and pay, the trade unions at Dublin Airport have b…

Or a parent.

Truly shocking figures on homelessness were released over the weekend, with over 10,000 people without a home nationally, almost 3,000 of whom are children. There are more than 7,000 people in Dublin without a home, a shocking figure. We also have obligations to the Ukrainian community here. I welcome the Ukrainian Action in Ireland representatives who are in the Public Gallery. We are all very conscious of the need to deliver on housing and to deliver an effective housing policy. Earlier I attended the re-launch o…

My Labour Party colleagues and I were glad to stand in support of the Medical Laboratory Scientists Association on picket lines outside hospitals around the country yesterday. I was glad to join members of the Medical Laboratory Scientists Association in hospitals in my constituency. We are all conscious that there are long-running issues that had driven the medical laboratory scientists to take this action. In some cases, these issues have been ongoing for 20 years or more. I refer, for example, to long-standing p…

It has become clear, in particular in recent days, that the optimal solution to the issue of the national maternity hospital for both the Opposition and the Government is that of full public ownership - freehold ownership, not the conditional ownership represented by leasehold, however long it may be. I ask the Taoiseach again to take into account the clear and overwhelming majority of those of us in the Opposition who wish to see the hospital built on publicly owned land, who are concerned to see €1 billion of Sta…

I thank the Taoiseach for his full response. I am sure the apology will be very much welcomed by those who have been so badly failed. The Taoiseach speaks of an absence of proactivity and the need for stronger legislation. Yet clearly, there is a responsibility on the Government to take those proactive steps and to deliver the amendments to legislation that are needed. This is not just about the provision of special schools. It is also about providing adequate supports for children in mainstream schools. The issue …

What about the planning?

I thank the Taoiseach for the update. On behalf of the Labour Party, I express our solidarity with the Ukrainian people and our condemnation of the brutal Russian invasion of which there is condemnation across Ireland. I am conscious of the immense national effort and the work that has been done by many in the public service, the Irish Red Cross and local authorities around the country to support Ukrainian refugees who have come here and to address their need for accommodation. We have engaged with the Minister for…

I thank the Taoiseach for the update on the shared island dialogue in the wake of the Assembly election. I reiterate the point that I know is shared by so many colleagues, which is our grave concern and alarm about the unilateral action the British Government is proposing to take, or indeed threatening to take, on the protocol. Its cynical attempt to describe it as a measure to protect the Good Friday Agreement will, in our view, damage the institutions. We are very concerned, as I know all Deputies are, that if th…

A leasehold is conditional ownership.