Tá fáilte roimh an Taoiseach. Tá sé an-tábhachtach a chloisteáil go bhfuil an Rialtas ag tacú leis an nGaeilge. In relation to housing, as the Taoiseach knows, more than 16,000 people are homeless in Ireland, with 5,000 children homeless. I believe housing is a huge threat to our economy. It is affecting how people progress in their lives. In Cork alone, there are over 700 derelict and vacant properties within 2 km of the city centre. While it was welcome to see the new dereliction levy in the budget, which will be…

I now call on Senator Cosgrove. I believe she is sharing time with Senator Noonan. They have four minutes each. Is that agreed? Agreed.

I welcome our guests in the Gallery. I see Deputy Gary Gannon is also there. They are all very welcome.

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. It is safe to say this budget is giving "friends in high places" vibes. What I mean by that is that it is a budget for developers and in many ways for big businesses, for the likes of Starbucks and McDonald's. Instead of asking, "Do you want fries with that?", this budget in many ways asks, "Do you want elitism with that?" This budget represents a reward for many of the Government's supporters or friends in high places, just as last year's budget represented the buying of votes an…

I am sharing my time with Senator Cosgrove.

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit agus gabhaim buíochas leis as bheith anseo linn inniu. Families in Ireland are facing extreme challenges in accessing school transport. Children all over the country, particularly those in rural areas, are being let down by inadequate transport links. This is an access to education issue. In August, parents in many areas across Ireland were notified that school buses would not be provided for this academic year. On behalf of the Department of education, Bus Éireann had to reduce it…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. I will be echoing a lot of the points made by Senator Cosgrove. I welcome the roll-out of the new auto-enrolment scheme. This something we in the Labour Party have long been calling for. I also welcome the appointment of Patricia King, former general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, ICTU, to the board. ICTU has a positive role to play here. This is something the Labour Party highlighted as this Bill was being progressed through the Oireachtas. This scheme will work to ad…

I propose to share my time with Senator Stephenson.

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I will not oppose the Bill on this Stage but there is significant work to be done on it and a lot of scope for amendment. I acknowledge the visitors in the Gallery. I thank the many individuals and organisations that have engaged with me in recent weeks on the Bill and raised their concerns. I refer in particular to Mental Health Reform for providing several briefings on the Bill. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to modernise Ireland's mental health laws. I will…

I welcome everybody back. I also wish Bridget Doody the best and thank her for her service here. We will certainly miss her. I wish the same to Martin Groves. I wish Martin Hughes the best in his role. I raise the issue of student fees. We are back from the summer recess and we hear there will be a €500 increase in the student contribution fee. It is being portrayed as a decrease but an increase is an increase. An increase on last year is being proposed in the budget. The House should have clarity from the Minister…

I welcome the Minister of State. I would like clarity on the issue of student fees and supports. I was president of the national students' union, USI, ten years ago. Student fees, the cost of living, student housing and access to education were all issues then and are more prominent now than ever. It needs to be a priority for this Government. It is dismaying and alarming that the Minister for further and higher education, Deputy Lawless, went on the airwaves a couple of weeks ago and announced that there would be …

I thank the Minister of State for the response. First, I note the positive indications regarding the student grant and the Government seeking to improve that and improve those supports. That has to be noted. However, it is an extremely disappointing and disrespectful answer to students and their families that this Government cannot give clarity to students on what the fee is going to be this September. I have people calling me - students and families - who are worried about the cost of living. They are sitting arou…

As we approach the all-Ireland finals I take this opportunity to wish the Cork hurlers well on Sunday. It is deeply saddening we have a group of 33 young GAA players and 14 mentors from Palestine trying to come to Ireland to play and participate in hurling in this country but they are being denied visas. The Minister for justice needs to give an explanation to the House on this. We need to do everything we can in our power as a country to culturally, socially, economically and politically isolate Israel. We need to…

I acknowledge Mark Ryan and his brother David, who was in the Dáil Gallery yesterday, for their tremendous work in this regard. This commission is welcome but it certainly is not before its time. Irish society and the State need to reckon with our painful and shameful history of violence and sexual violence against children in our schools. This needs to inform our future as a nation. I want to record my utmost respect for survivors, those who spoke out, and everyone who has brought us to this point. They have done …

To clarify, the Cathaoirleach used his discretion earlier, as I was covering the Chair, to give the earlier slot to the Cross-Party Group. I used my four minutes so it now Senator Stephenson's turn to speak. She has six minutes.

I fully support this Pregnancy Loss (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025. I commend Senator Nicole Ryan on bringing forward this extremely well thought-out, researched, detailed, compassionate, caring and health-focused Bill to the House today. I thank the Sinn Féin Senators for bringing forward this Bill. I have been struck by this debate. I was not actually going to speak but it is important to say that representation and diversity really matter in politics. We now have more women in the Seanad than ever. Today, …

I welcome the visitors in the Gallery, including one of my best friends, Patrick Dempsey, and his sisters, Tiffany and Gabrielle. On this Bill, I welcome the Minister. It is good to have this engagement. The social welfare system, as it stands, is failing couples who are not married or whose marriages have not been formalised. The Department of Social Protection is inconsistent in that it measures both members of an unmarried partnership when means testing for jobseeker's or carer's allowance but provides not guara…

I thank Senator Ryan for her extremely powerful contribution. I am sure people watching will identity with that. She eloquently put forward how this impacts children and adults in this country. Gender-based and domestic violence is an epidemic in Ireland. It needs to be addressed and we need to seriously improve and step up to the mark in supporting survivors and those affected by it. That is what this Bill seeks to do. I will speak to the substantive Bill later. The Cross-Party Group is accepting this important an…

I thank the Minister of State for his comments today and clarifications on a number of issues. I hope we can make sure this Bill is enacted. It will have a huge impact on our society and on those seeking the protections they desperately need. This is a cultural issue. The Bill will not solve it. As my colleague Senator Stephenson said, it is a wider issue that is ingrained in our culture. It is part of the patriarchy. Domestic violence and abuse does not just happen within heterosexual relationships. It affects the…

I speak about two issues. The first relates to student fees. As we heard over the weekend, the Minister, Deputy Lawless, announced the intention to again increase student fees by €1,000 in the upcoming budget. I have been contacted by many students and families over the past 48 hours who are extremely stressed and worried about this and the lack of clarity in relation to it. We know from a study last year by UCC students' union that more than a quarter of students have gone to class hungry. We know that rents are r…