I am sharing time with Deputy Pringle. I do not know whether I welcome the Bill. It is an indictment of our political system that it has taken more than eight years to address the injustices the Clerys workers faced in 2015. Since then, we have seen the Debenhams workers left out to dry due to a failure of this House to act on collective redundancies. More recently, we have seen the disgraceful treatment of the Iceland workers by their boss, Naeem Maniar. These are just a few examples of the failures by successive …

I support the Private Members' motion tabled by the Social Democrats. I am disappointed with the Government's amendment. The only thing in common that the motion and the amendment call for is a ceasefire, on which we all agree. We all call for this and we all need to push for it. What we are witnessing before our very eyes is the annihilation of Gaza and its people. So far more than 11,000 people are dead and more than 5,000 children have been murdered. The figure is more than 100 children killed every day. This wi…

I would like to put on the record that I agree with the last two leaders in their calls on Palestine. I raise the specific issue concerning the health service.

We saw in the budget last month the political choice to underfund our health service. At the Joint Committee on Health in September, the CEO of the HSE said the level of underfunding would amount to between €1.4 billion and €1.5 billion in 2023. On the same day, the Secretary General of the Department of Health said this budget would be a definite underfunding of existing levels of service. The Government totally ignored warnings from healthcare trade unions and patient advocacy organisations of the catastrophic co…

I did not mention the NHS.

I accept that money has been put into the health service - there is no doubt about it - but we are coming from a very low level in the first place. The national lCU audit annual report specifically stated there are just six critical care beds per 100,000 people, after a record level of money into the health service. That is less than half of the OECD average of 14.1. The reality is these two women, one of whom has waited for her operation since 2019 according to replies I have received from St. James's Hospital, ar…

She has waited since 2019.

The Taoiseach is contradicting reports that came out quite recently.

In reply to a parliamentary question last June, the Tánaiste stated that “in the absence of progress towards a two-State solution", Ireland would recognise Palestinian statehood. This was reaffirmed in September, when he stated that the Government favours recognition. With the sheer brutality of the ethnic cleansing we are witnessing the Israeli state rain down on Gaza, with over 12,000 killed to date, more than 4,000 of whom are children, a two-state solution looks further away than ever. Yesterday, Benjamin Netan…

I agree with that, but he should be calling for Palestinian statehood to strengthen our hand.

I am pleased that the Energy Charter Treaty is being discussed. Only one Government speaker has spoken on this matter so far. This is one of the most important issues facing Europe and the world. I know there are two speakers coming in to speak now but I would have thought there would have been more Green Party speakers.

I cannot emphasise enough the importance of discussing the Energy Charter Treaty. I raised this issue twice last April, once with the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and once with the Tánaiste. I was none the wiser about the Government's stance on the obvious detrimental effects of this treaty other than that it would hide behind the EU for political cover. During Leaders' Questions, I put it to the Tánaiste and he said it was clear, there was no doubt the direction of travel by the European Commission and most, thoug…

I am still none the wiser as to what the Deputy's position is on the European charter.

I will also raise the issue of the untimely death of Margaret Bracken, who was found naked in her home in Dundalk on 16 December 2019. The family has been campaigning for justice since her body was discovered in the hallway of her home. The crucial issue here is that the scene was not sealed off at the time and that two gardaí made a decision quite quickly that she had died from natural causes. All of the evidence was contaminated thereafter. Deputy Paul Murphy has raised the issues of the CCTV camera, the 999 call…

We have already done that.

A number of constituents have contacted me about the shingles vaccine following the HSE's advertising campaign telling people over 50 that it is important to get the vaccine. One woman went to her GP, thinking she could get the vaccine there, but was told she needed a prescription to take to a chemist. At two different chemists, she was quoted €460 and €480, respectively, for the two vaccines doses needed. I have heard reports of up to €600 being charged for the two vaccines. My constituent was told there is no sch…

First and foremost, I want to send my solidarity to the Palestinian people and all living under siege in Gaza now. What the State of Israel is doing now is a war crime. It breaks international law. I can think of no other words to describe it than ethnic cleansing. We are speaking on this issue later but I want to call again on the Government to condemn the Israeli state and to put massive pressure on it to declare an immediate ceasefire and an immediate end to the murder it is inflicting. Any indiscriminate killin…

The EU passed that directive in recognition that increases in the minimum wage, as the Taoiseach mentioned, are no substitute for workers' ability to negotiate their own pay and conditions. That means a greater ability for workers to negotiate with their employers through their unions. The Taoiseach said that the minimum wage has been increased, which is welcome. Any increase in income is welcome but I call for a €15 living wage for workers to be able to survive in this economy from the point of view of the cost of…

We have a moral duty in respect of what we are witnessing happening to the Palestinian people right now. The cutting off of food, electricity and water is the definition of a war crime and a collective punishment. It is a clear sign that when one side has the power to shut off the basic needs of the other, that is not a conflict; it is genocide. This is the continuation of a 75-year programme by the Israeli state to remove Palestinians from Palestine. That is genocide. Ireland needs to call this a genocide. If you …

I welcome the groups in the Public Gallery this evening who have come to listen to the debate. I thank Deputy Tully for bringing this motion forward. I congratulate and express solidarity with the section 39 workers who deal with health and disability services, the section 56 workers who deal with services to children, and the section 10 workers who deal with homeless services. They have won an important step forward in their ongoing struggle to have their work properly recognised and compensated and their services…