I thank the Minister of State. I welcome that response. She has been honest and sincere and I am glad she is willing to meet with the parents in the area. They will be delighted with that and it is an excellent suggestion to meet with CHO 5. I could not agree with that more. It brings them into it and, in terms of accountability for them, that might be no harm. In light of the Covid restrictions, I understand how difficult it has been to get services resumed but many families with children with disabilities or disa…

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle and I am sharing time with my colleagues. I want to first of all thank my own colleagues, Deputies O’Reilly and McDonald, for bringing this Bill forward. I welcome the fact that we are here and are able to say that this Bill is not being opposed. That is a good move and step on the topic of domestic violence. This Bill is about creating opportunities for those who are experiencing domestic violence to address the dangerous situation they are in and to further reduce the stigma that…

My question is about the current discrimination of stay-at-home parents whereby they are excluded from the access to the after-school programme. We sent a correction to the Minister's office and I hope it was received. It is not about the total national childcare scheme, NCS, but specifically the after-school programme. The Minister will be aware I already raised this issue.

I am conscious that I raised this issue in the last round of questions. I would not be raising it again if I did not feel it was not still an issue. It consistently comes up, not just in my constituency but throughout the country. From Donegal to Cork, people have issues specific to the after-school part of the programme. I am aware that last time around, the Minister said it was a new enough scheme and he was willing to have a review of that. Perhaps, he could elaborate further on when he sees that review happenin…

I welcome that part in terms of engagement and consultation. The reality for many people, however, is even though it might seem like a two-hour course is something a person could do and end up getting 45 hours, some people might not be in a place right now in their lives where they can access that, or have the capabilities to engage in it. I feel that kids are falling through the cracks as a result. Does the scheme the Minister is talking about cover after-school programmes or is it just for a full day-care place i…

When does the Minister plan to publish the report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes?

I welcome the fact that there is a date for publication. I, along with many others, have been anxious to get a date but I am also mindful that today marks exactly three weeks to Christmas Eve. I have been speaking to many survivors and various representatives over the past two weeks. I have had a number of online meetings. People are concerned that the report is to be published and everyone would leave them high and dry over the Christmas period. Unfortunately, that has been their experience of dealing with the Sta…

There a few final points I want to make. It is really important that survivors and people affected by this get the report first. While that might seem like common sense to everybody, there has been a history and a pattern of things being leaked and of people hearing media stories. I was contacted by people who thought the report was being published this week and that was not the case. It is really important that survivors get copies. Some people have even contacted me to ask whether they will get a copy or will hav…

I am taking this on behalf of my colleague, Deputy Louise O'Reilly. Why is the extension to maternity leave not being introduced until April 2021 as opposed to an immediate introduction after the budget or in January 2021?

I thank the Minister. As a parent, I welcome any extension in parental leave or maternity leave, although my children are probably past that stage. We did see a number of very genuine calls during the Covid pandemic for an extension, perhaps even a once-off emergency extension to maternity leave, for very valid reasons. People were trying to juggle childcare or get back to work during the pandemic and people felt robbed of certain time in the early years, particularly with extended family. It would have been fantas…

I thank the Minister. On a further point of clarification, let us say somebody is due to return from maternity leave at the start of December and their child is not two years old yet, are they able to take that additional leave sometime next year or is that not an option? While that would be welcome, it can be difficult for many people to try to organise childcare and also try to organise their own job, depending on what job they do. Many people will take some unpaid leave and some parental leave because to take it…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this topic. We have had a number of debates on domestic violence in this Chamber. As we know, there has been a significant increase during Covid, or it has just highlighted it more rather than there being an increase. Domestic violence and coercive control are unfortunately widespread. It is often hidden. The situations that people, mainly women, find themselves in are extremely complex. Between March and June of this year, 21,000 calls from women or from other concerned citize…

I raise the waiting times for driving tests. While it is an issue nationally, the number is particularly bad in my constituency of Carlow-Kilkenny. Of the two counties, County Carlow is unfortunately faring worse with 1,119 currently waiting on a driving test. In a county like Carlow, where access to public transport is extremely limited where it is available at all, there is a huge amount of people who are unable to access employment or are unable to get to their jobs. This is really being exacerbated by the Covid…

I thank the Minister of State. As a point of clarification, and if the Minister of State does not have the information to hand perhaps she will forward it to me, if there are 18 temporary driver testers and a further 18 will be hired, does this mean there will be 36 in total? Will they all be kept on in a full-time capacity? I was going to mention the theory test. There is an issue with the backlog of driver tests, and we will probably see this issue continue for a long time, and there is also a backlog with the th…

I will limit my remarks to the impact of Brexit on businesses, particularly in the south-east region. The biggest issue facing many businesses is the monumental bureaucratic process the English government requires businesses to undertake to bring their products to the English market. This has been a massively challenging and quite daunting process of change and adjustment for many businesses in the south east, in particular my constituency of Carlow-Kilkenny. I will highlight one company in my constituency to shine…

The Minister of State might recall a few weeks ago when we debated the cross-party disability motion that I mentioned this issue, but I raise it again today because there is a serious problem with assessments in general in Carlow-Kilkenny. It relates specifically to appointments for speech and language therapy, although there are also issues with occupational therapy. Speech and language therapy assessments are separated into two categories. Currently, 929 children in Carlow-Kilkenny are awaiting an appointment for…

I welcome that. It is important that essential therapists and clinicians are not used for contract tracing or swabbing. That is not to diminish Covid-19 and the seriousness of it. I understand why there was something of a panic at the start of the pandemic. Now, however, we are well into the pandemic and we can no longer use it as an excuse. The Minister of State has acknowledged that she wants staff to operate in their correct roles. That is very important. We already had a problem with waiting lists and waiting t…

I was not planning to speak right now. I was going to wait until later but I could not let pass the Minister's statement that he will not accept any amendments. I do not know what that says for the democratic process that we are supposed to have here, but it certainly does not say much. Yesterday and last night, we had a five-hour debate in which Members on all sides of the House spoke from the heart. It is the first time I have witnessed anything like it. They spoke with passion and emotion on behalf of survivors.…

I wanted to take the opportunity to contribute again as I am conscious that we probably only have 90 minutes left in the debate so we will not reach most of our amendments. Not only are we rushing the legislation, we are rushing this crucial part of the debate and will not even have the opportunity to put forward the arguments for why we tabled these amendments. As the day has progressed, it has become increasingly clear this is a shambles. I wish to put some of the rationale for some of our amendments on the recor…

I will be brief as we are up against the clock. To reiterate, I have an issue with the fact that we have not had an opportunity to discuss our amendments in detail, regardless of the position the Minister set out at the start. It is unfair and wrong that we are not getting that opportunity at least. The Minister said that he wanted to look for solutions, and that the solutions were not necessarily in this legislation. I do not know if he meant his legislation or the amendments I and others have put forward. I do no…