I thank the Minister for her statement on the Farrelly commission report. Yesterday, the Taoiseach took exception to my raising the need for an urgent meeting of the Oireachtas disability matters committee with the Minister and Ms Farrelly SC on the inquiry and the report. He warned against politicising the issue and he emphasised the Minister's independence from the commission, and I fully accept that independence. However, there is an urgent need to take political responsibility for what happens next. There are l…

I very much commend the Labour Party on its motion. We have a situation in this country where families are increasingly having to become almost full-time campaigners for their children's basic needs because of a failure by successive Governments to forward plan. The impact of this failure on the families of children with additional needs is immense. It is bringing many parents to breaking point. Transitioning to primary or secondary school is a very significant stage in any child's journey through life. It can invo…

Yesterday, the solicitor representing the disabled woman known as Grace released a shocking statement on the Farrelly commission report. Ms Marie-Claire Butler said her "considered and extensive submissions" to the commission were not included or referred to in any way in the report and that she felt the need to bring this to light. Grace is the person at the centre of years of many reports into her neglect and prolonged exposure to risk of abuse in a foster home in County Waterford. She has been tragically failed …

This time last week, I raised with the Tánaiste the urgent medical case of Filip Kosacki, a 15-year-old boy from Midleton. I have consent from his family to speak again on his behalf. On 16 January, Filip was diagnosed with a ureteropelvic junction obstruction in Cork University Hospital, CUH. He is in constant pain. He has not been able to attend school since early January and his mental health is now suffering. There have been very excessive delays in his treatment due to confusion between CUH, the Mercy hospital…

I raise the urgent medical case of Filip Kosacki, a 15-year-old boy from Midleton. I have consent to speak on his behalf. On January 16, Filip was diagnosed with a ureteropelvic junction obstruction in Cork University Hospital, CUH, and identified as being in need of emergency surgery. He is in constant pain and has not been able to attend school since early January. There has been confusion between CUH, the Mercy University Hospital and Crumlin hospital as to who has responsibility for Filip’s treatment. Filip’s m…

I am conscious that Deputy O'Reilly's motion today is in respect of Storm Éowyn. I commend her on tabling this motion and agree fully with it. Storm Éowyn did not have such a devastating impact in my constituency of Cork East, but it is one of an increasing number of extreme weather events in recent years that underline the seriousness of climate change and a more general lack of preparedness for those events, and also the lack of consistency and supports afterwards for those impacted. We have heard themes today of…

Will the Minister commit to funding, in a direct and integrated way through our councils, playground provision for towns and villages according to their population size and based on an assessment of existing facilities? Midleton, for example, is a thriving town in east Cork, but our playground provision nowhere near meets the needs of a large and growing local population of young families. We have no skate park. These amenities are desperately needed. We must ensure a proportionate development of community amenitie…

Playgrounds are central parts of a flourishing community - places where children get to explore, have fun, challenge themselves and connect with peers. To provide for children in these respects, Midleton requires a much larger playground than either of the two that we currently have. Ballinacurra, which is just outside Midleton, has no playground at all for a rising population. We also need a skate park in Midleton. In addition, we need disability-accessible equipment. In short, our young people deserve better. I t…

It can be invigorating to be part of a committee pursuing funds for playground provision. It brings people together in common purpose for their community. My councillor colleague, Ann Bambury, was central to such an initiative in Bandon for a very ambitious project there, but it should not be left to families to become social entrepreneurs and project managers, essentially spending vast amounts of time trying to stitch together funding grants to develop essential community facilities. It is likely that some of the …

There are 150,000 cohabiting couples in Ireland who are unmarried or in a civil partnership, and half of these couples have children together. Yet currently, if one person in the couple were to unfortunately pass away, the surviving partner would not be entitled to a bereaved partner's pension. The Supreme Court ruled in January 2024 that these partners are being discriminated against under the equality guarantee in the Constitution. It was ruled that these people should not be denied access to a bereaved partners …

Our neutrality has not just been a key military stance since the foundation of the State. It is in some ways a core part of our national identity and culture. It has been a foundation of our international diplomatic status and given generations of Irish people a sense of security from wars happening on an international stage. The subject of neutrality is one of the most vexed and divisive in our public discourse. A remarkable feature of this subject is we have yet to have in-depth debates on neutrality in any kind …

I also welcome the delegation that is here. I fully support this Labour Party motion. Family carers are a large group of people who have been tragically neglected by the State. They provide vital unpaid care, often under severe financial pressure and with huge personal sacrifice. In the case of young carers, this sacrifice can include losing out on parts of childhood and carrying unsustainable emotional burdens. Caring for a family member can be all-consuming. This often happens in a context where the person has be…

I welcome the Minister and congratulate him on his appointment. A cohort of healthcare workers with severe long Covid who contracted the virus at the height of the pandemic in high-risk settings are suffering with chronic disabling symptoms and have not been able to return to work as a result. I know this because in my previous role as a psychologist I worked with many of these workers. Some have been out of work for four years and nearly up to five years. Will the Minister grant these workers who sacrificed so muc…

The long-term prognosis for these healthcare workers is very unclear. They often suffer from a range of symptoms which include debilitating fatigue and malaise after very modest levels of activity and there is no clear treatment pathway for them. In some cases, healthcare workers have been out of work for between four and five years. Many were infected in early January 2021 following the so-called meaningful Christmas in which restrictions on movement were crudely lifted by the Government against public health expe…

On the temporary extensions of the special Covid leave with pay, these healthcare workers should not have to endure repeated last-minute cliff-edge moments regarding their financial security. They are being left in limbo for months on end while talks between trade unions, Departments and the HSE have remained at an impasse. They often do not know if they will be able to pay their mortgage in a matter of weeks. This is chronic stress heaped on so many other challenges. It is utterly heartless of the Departments of H…

I would also like to welcome our Ukrainian dignitaries and friends this evening. Monday marked the third anniversary of Russia's brutal and illegal invasion of Ukraine. The Ukrainian people have shown heroic courage fighting off Russian aggression over the past three years. Eight years prior to that full-scale invasion, parts of eastern Ukraine were seized by Russia and the local population in these occupied regions have lived under a reign of terror since. The broader Ukrainian population is now facing an extensio…

I thank the Minister and Minister of State for listening to our concerns today. I will take up the theme of loneliness from my colleague because as a society it is crucial for us to reckon with it, in particular with regard to older adults. Large-scale studies by TILDA have presented us with stark findings regarding the impact of loneliness on a person's health, quality of life and emotional well-being. According to Professor Rose Anne Kenny, who is a consultant geriatrician and the principal investigator with TILD…

Earlier this month, St. John's special school in Dungarvan, County Waterford, had to operate a draw overseen by a local Garda superintendent. The draw was not for a raffle to raise money; it was to allocate places in the school for children with additional needs. This is the kind of dystopian ritual that schools are being forced to undertake due to chronic under-resourcing of special education. There are now 20 children from west Waterford, Cork and south Tipperary who are on the waiting list for St. John's. One of…

I raise the human rights issue of adults under 65 with an intellectual disability or acquired brain injury who end up living in nursing homes or who find themselves stranded in psychiatric wards due to a lack of community-based supports. This is a desperately sad situation and another example of how much distance is opening up between our economic prosperity, on one hand, and the vindication of our disabled citizens' basic rights, on the other. In May last year, there were in excess of 1,200 with disabilities livin…

I congratulate the Leas-Cheann Comhairle on his appointment. The lack of suitable school places for children with additional needs is critical for many families in my constituency of Cork East. There are 16 autism classes in five primary schools in or around the Youghal area. These are feeder schools for Youghal's only secondary school, Pobalscoil na Tríonóide, which has only three autism classes. This equates to 96 students in primary schools who will be seeking to avail of one of 18 secondary school places. Paren…