It is about pay parity.

The lack of access to GP services has become a serious matter of concern for many of my constituents in County Wexford. For those patients lucky enough to have a GP, the waiting times for appointments are far too long, especially in rural areas with some waiting for up to three weeks. This needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency. What about the people who cannot get a practice to take them on as patients, particularly people whose family doctors have retired or citizens who have moved from one village to anoth…

Currently, if I apply for a driver test in my county of Wexford, I will get an invitation date for a test on 25 August 2025. I would then have to wait another three to five weeks after that for my actual test date. As of 21 January 2025, the number of applications in County Wexford was 5,643. The volume per centre is as follows: Gorey, 2,723 and Wexford, 2,920. The estimated waiting times for an invitation date in each centre is 20 weeks and 25 weeks, respectively. We can add another three to five weeks onto that f…

I thank the Labour Party for bringing this motion before the House. I have listened attentively to the Government's claims that housing is the number one priority. Nobody seems to know when exactly this revelation appeared before them. One could argue that both Government parties have been in full control of housing for 14 years, yet they have failed to deliver both affordable and social housing on any meaningful scale, missing targets year after year. Some 15,000 citizens and more than 4,600 children are in emerge…

I thank Deputies Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire and Pauline Tully for bringing forward this motion. Carers are fed up with the Government paying lip service to what they do and with how valuable they are portrayed in society. The facts are that many carers find themselves having to give up their jobs, take a substantial hit in their household finances and often having to take on a round-the-clock, dedicated carer's role. Just think for one minute what doing away with the means test would mean to these families. Immediately,…

I thank the Minister of State for his statement and acknowledge the importance of the horse and greyhound industries and their annual impact on the economy. The thoroughbred sector generates approximately €2.6 billion, directly and indirectly supporting more than 30,000 jobs, and the greyhound racing industry supports more than 4,000 jobs, almost all of which are in rural Ireland. One issue I will raise with the Minister of State is animal welfare. There are always a few who treat their animals badly and cruelly an…

Housing is one of the greatest problems facing our country today. From Dubai to Toronto to New York and from Canada to Australia, we have lost another generation of young people. They are leaving because they simply cannot afford to buy or rent a home in their own country. Domestically, our young people have lost any hope of ever owning a home of their own. Rents and house prices have increased so much that it is forcing families and individuals to vacate their homes and apartments, usually winding up in a relative…

I have been asked by constituents to bring forward this issue to the Government. One person dies every hour from cancer in Ireland. Population-based programmes in Ireland published in September 2022 stated the burden of breast cancer is estimated to increase to 50% by 2045. The American Society of Breast Cancer Surgeons stated that all women over 25 years should have a formal risk assessment. Yet the formal screening age for breast cancer in Ireland is 50 to 69 years, as stated in the BreastCheck booklet. Research …

I thank Deputy Pauline Tully for her Trojan work in advocating for better services and conditions for people with disabilities and for bringing the Private Members' motion to the Dáil. One of the Government mantras is "Let's make the country a great place to do business in." However, on reflection it is not a great place to be disabled in. A recent workforce survey found 817 staff vacancies currently exist across children's disability network teams. Here are some facts from my own constituency of Wexford. New Ross …

I was contacted last night by some concerned staff at Wexford General Hospital. They were told by a senior member of staff that their seasonal flu vaccines and Covid vaccines would not be provided to them in their workplace due to a funding issue. As the Tánaiste knows, this is a preventive measure for the health and safety of workers who are at high risk and it also limits the rate of absenteeism. I ask the Tánaiste to raise this health and safety issue with the appropriate authorities to verify if this is the cas…

I thank the Rural Independent Group for bringing this important topic to the floor of the House. Over the past few years, we have seen vast changes in rural Ireland, including the closing of small post offices and rural Garda stations. An array of bureaucratic rules and regulations foisted on our farming communities are taking their toll. There is not a parish in my constituency that has not seen at least a third of its young folk leaving for foreign shores, some unfortunately never to return. Planning laws must be…

Sinn Féin agrees with this Bill and recognises the urgency to make necessary changes to fully register all approved housing bodies, which account for approximately 61,000 dwellings, either owned, leased or managed by AHBs throughout the country. We see AHBs as an important cog in the supply of cost-rental and affordable homes, particularly for the homeless, for elderly citizens and for both young couples and single people who find themselves being presented with notices of termination through no fault of their own,…

I thank the Regional Group for bringing the motion forward at this timely junction before the budget. Every single Deputy either knows someone who is a carer or perhaps has a family member who is a carer. We have all come across cases of people who are just beyond the threshold to receive the carer's allowance. For example, John lives with his wife in County Wexford. His wife has Alzheimer's and needs 24-7 care. His household income is just €10 above the threshold. John is literally housebound. He gets one hour res…

I want to raise the issue of the lack of 24-7 acute mental health beds in Wexford. I ask this in the context of the closure of St. Senan's Hospital way back in 2006. Nine acute mental health beds were closed at the hospital and it was promised they would be relocated elsewhere in County Wexford, but this never happened. Fast forward to today, somebody who has a mental health difficulty or breakdown outside the hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. between Monday and Friday has nowhere to go but to the accident and emergency de…

I thank Claire Kerrane and Kathleen Funchion for developing our childcare policy. Childcare is an essential linchpin in the creation and sustaining of a good, healthy society. The benefits are enormous to any state or country. The added value is immeasurable and is a solid social investment in the future of our citizens. Childcare is the fundamental block to building and sustaining cohesion, a stable society and a strong economy. This is why Sinn Féin has tabled this motion. The cost of childcare five days a week i…

I wish to raise the issue of the national advocacy service, NAS, that will go out to a strike next Monday with a protest planned outside the Dáil on Tuesday. The crux of the matter lies with the employers, the Citizens Information Board but ultimately with the Department of Social Protection, which funds the CIB. The staff at the NAS have not received a pay rise for over 14 years. The Labour Court has heard the case and has brought forward recommendations. While they were accepted by email from the CIB, they are no…

The attack on Natasha O'Brien has once again brought to light how the safety of women must be made a top priority of this Government and by all parties and none. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, has stated that a zero tolerance approach is to be adopted with regard to domestic, sexual and gender-based violence and we all agree. However, how many times have we heard this? We need the Judicial Council to produce its review on sentencing guidelines, especially when it comes to suspended sentences and the criteria used in…

I thank my party colleagues Deputies Farrell and Ó Broin for introducing the Bill. It is a short but sensible and practical Bill that protects both students who are renting a room in a home and the proprietor of that home. Under the current setup, students and workers staying in digs have little or no protection under the legislation. For instance, students have no rights to lock their doors or use kitchen facilities. They can be evicted overnight. Their rent can be increased at any time and without notice and they…

More than 180,000 people suffer with eating disorders and approximately 1,000 new cases occur each year. Evidence shows that people with eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of all mental health conditions. In my catchment area of Wexford, there is poor access to out-of-hours services to CAMHS liaison teams in the four general hospitals in CHO 5. In fact, therapy for eating disorders was not available in all teams. In some areas, liaison teams were not able to offer specific evidence-based treatment to …

What about the register?