I did not know that.

I apologise. I did not see any TDs from his party. It is a threat that I hear is made more and more against trade unions. The member representing the FSU said that it is finding it more and more the case and that it has a severe chilling effect on collective bargaining. The threat has been used repeatedly by some employers to bend trade unions to their will during negotiations with a threat. If we want to address poverty and deprivation, lower the prevalence of low wages and deal with the crisis of falling or stagn…

Absolutely.

I will first thank my PA, Naoise McTeirnan and David Gibney, who assisted in developing this Bill. The Bill addresses a problem that the Minister of State has failed to deal with. Employers are using the removal or threat of removal of all or some of a deduction at source agreement as a bargaining chip in collective bargaining negotiations. If the Minister of State had been at the meeting yesterday, he would know the FSU said clearly that through collective bargaining, the bosses can threaten to cut off the deducti…

I want to raise the serious issue of the physical segregation of Part V council tenants in private developments. We have several examples of Part V council tenants all over Dublin being housed in one block or area of a development and physically separated from other private tenants or occupants. We have all heard the stories of the segregation of Part V tenants as regards the lack of access to amenities or where fees are required for amenities. They cannot even pay the fees and, therefore, there is no possibility o…

I would not agree with the Tánaiste. It is not about the physical cost; rather, it is about the maintenance cost of segregation. That is the argument that was put forward. A contract was signed with Dublin City Council and tenants which we are looking into in more detail in terms of access to amenities. The Tánaiste must remember that the Davitt complex was built as a build-to-rent scheme. Under the specifics of that build, the apartments are smaller with less storage because there is access to amenities. There are…

We have met two of them and they said all that, but it says in the contract that DCC has access to the amenities-----

I have received a number of emails in relation to the lack of community neuro-rehabilitation in CHO 7, which covers part of the constituency I represent, and I gave a commitment I would raise the matter. Only 15% of people countrywide have access to a community neuro-rehabilitation team. Under the implementation framework for the nuero-rehabilitation strategy launched in 2019, a team was promised for each CHO, and yet only two of the nine have been delivered and the CHO is without a team. For people living with acq…

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to impose an obligation on employers, when requested in writing by an employee, to make deductions from the wages of such employee, and, not later than 21 days, remit the amount deducted, along with the written notice of the information required under section 6 , to the relevant trade union that is specified in the written request. This Bill standardises a process common across many businesses. It provides clear information allowing for an improvemen…

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

I would have liked to have seen the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage in the House because this is a very important issue. I have dealt with several constituents over the past while who are stuck in the gap between the social housing income threshold and the income thresholds for the new Land Development Agency cost-rental projects. Many people find themselves in this position and as more of the cost-rental projects come online, we will see more middle-income earners realise they earn too much for…

The Minister of State said that social housing support is provided for those most in need. Years ago, in the 1970s and so on, social housing was provided to bus drivers, train drivers, post office workers and shop workers on an average income. Such workers were able to go on the housing list and many got social housing. That has changed drastically in recent decades. The concept of a cost-rental model was initiated by Tom Healy of the Nevin Economic Research Institute, NERI, in 2018 and was supported by the St. Mic…

Does the Minister of State know how long that process is going to take? This is happening now.

I thank Deputy Gino Kenny and People Before Profit for introducing the Misuse of Drugs (Cannabis Regulation) Bill 2022. I welcome this Bill and I will be supporting it. I also welcome the Citizens' Assembly on Drugs Use report released last week. The citizens' assembly report has given the Government a mandate to move this country's national drug policy away from a focus on punishment and criminalisation and into line with international best practice, a health and community-led approach and decriminalisation. What …

Last Thursday, Ireland was convicted in the European Court of Justice for having toxins in drinking water above EU safety levels. The court found that drinking water for nearly 240,000 people, in 23 of the 54 water supplies across the State, have levels of trihalomethanes, THMs, with the State failing in its obligation to rid public and private water supplies of toxins. The court said that THMs are of concern for human health and the environment, since the long-term exposure to high levels of chemical compounds in …

How will it do damage?

I welcome last week's provisional ruling by the International Court of Justice ordering Israel to take all measures to prevent a genocide. It has been clear from the start of Israel's assault on Gaza that it has instead been taking all measures to ensure a genocide. We have failed in our moral and legal obligation to do anything to stop it. The news of the ICJ case has been dampened by the news that several countries, led by the US and UK, will be withdrawing funding from UNRWA. This is a clear attack on one of the…

I thank the Social Democrats for introducing this important motion. It has been put to the House at a critical stage during the terror that is being imposed on the Gazan people. "Israel's military operations have spread mass destruction and killed civilians on a scale unprecedented during my time as secretary-general," are the words of the UN Secretary-General António Guterres. During his term he has seen the invasion of Ukraine; bloody civil wars in Yemen, Syria, Ethiopia and Sudan; and regional conflicts and insu…

Last week I received the following email: My mother has been a type 2 insulin-dependent patient for over 40 years. She was changed over to a Dexcom system nearly two years ago. This system enables patients to manage control over their diabetes through smart technology and eliminates the need for over five finger pricks per day. This also allowed us to share blood sugar readings in real time with a diabetic team. As my mother is approaching 74 with onset memory issues this system has effectively allowed us, her fami…

I am speaking on behalf of the Independent Group. As we speak, Israel is assaulting the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, a city it previously declared as a safe zone for refugees. This is not the first atrocity we have seen Israel commit since it invaded Gaza and it will not be the last. It is just one of the many atrocities against civilians we have witnessed, and will witness, as the Israeli state wages war against the captive, starving civilian population of Gaza. It is clear now that what we are witnessing is ge…