Women are familiar with that situation. I am on a committee as well as in the Seanad Chamber. Today, I wish to raise the issue of access to justice, in particular for women. We have good laws, but they are not enforced or people do not have the resources to access justice to see them enforced. I wish to raise two barriers that prevent women accessing justice. The first relates to the housing assistance payment, HAP, and accessing free legal aid. The problem is that HAP counts towards income when calculating eligibi…

Guím Lá Idirnáisiúnta na mBan sona do gach éinne sa Teach. I used to love International Women's Day. It was a day to celebrate one's feminist heroes such as Kathleen Lynn - I am wearing a brooch commemorating her. She was a proud republican woman who fought for the freedom of her State, but she also played a significant role in addressing inequalities in mothers' and children's health and in the roll-out of the vaccination for tuberculosis. I hope the Government will review its decision not to name the national chi…

I second the motion. I am delighted to be able to be in the position to do so because as my colleague, Senator Warfield, said, the housing crisis is definitely out of control. This motion could not be timelier. It addresses many of the problems faced by renters such as short-term letting, prices being driven up, people being forced to move home and rents that are too high and insecure. Our motion also draws attention to the poor standards in the private rental market. This is the aspect on which I want to focus in …

I raise the very concerning report in today's edition of The Irish Times that Forest Industries Ireland lobbied the Government to appoint the author of the Mackinnon report and offered to pay some of the costs. Regardless of differing opinions on the Mackinnon report, and putting aside the fact that we all accept there are deep systemic problems in the forestry sector in Ireland, this is about industry and the influence it has within Departments. This report was commissioned under the previous Government and it onc…

I too welcome this Bill. Everybody knows illegal dumping is the scourge of many communities. The Bill addresses a very specific problem identified by the DPC in investigating the use of surveillance technology in the area of illegal dumping. We know this Bill would place the use of CCTV by county councils on a secure legal footing and enable them to investigate and prosecute offences. I welcome this Bill from the Labour Party and it is an example of the constructive role that the Opposition can play in drafting new…

I thank the Minister of State for coming into the House today to address what I see as a very urgent issue. It has come to my attention that under the Civil Legal Aid Act 1995 housing assistance payments, HAP, including homeless HAP, are being taken into account as a means or an income when a person applies for civil legal aid. I am sure the Minister of State, in his role in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, knows that HAP and homeless HAP are never paid to the tenant; they are paid directly…

Given that it is subject to regulations, I hope the Minister will change the regulations to ensure that interpretation is not taken in terms of HAP. How is it legal that the State in one case is treating tenants in local authority housing or that of housing bodies differently from those tenants, eligible for social housing, but who due to the chronic shortage of social housing are forced into the private rental market with a top-up HAP? This is clearly discriminatory. I also suspect that this is in violation of the…

I welcome the Minister. We are here to discuss the Ag Climatise plan published last December. However, we all know that before the ink had even dried, the Minister of State, Senator Pippa Hackett, was instructing Green Party members to ignore the plan for emissions on agriculture. Perhaps the Minister could start with confirming if we should ignore this plan as well. We know our agricultural system is failing farmers. Despite the fact that Bord Bia says our food exports are growing by 60% and the sector is booming,…

I am afraid that I will not get to come in.

The Senator could have kept talking. I welcome the Minister and commend Senator Hoey on her work in respect of this issue. I welcome the Bill being brought forward by the Labour Party. We have heard today that the exploitation of our student nurses and midwives is absolutely scandalous. They are filling vital roles in a healthcare system that has been deprived of resources and chronically understaffed for years. During the pandemic, more than 4,000 students have been working on the front line. The work they are und…

I raise the issue of the housing assistance payment, HAP, and figures that were released to Deputy Gould. These figures show that this system of housing supports is not working and that it is time for a review of all rent subsidies. HAP does not offer security of tenure or help people in need of long-term housing and HAP limits are not in line with market rents. HAP rates are particularly low for single people and this has long been raised as an issue. It is near impossible to rent a property within the HAP limits …

I would like to raise the distressing news that the delay in the Stardust inquest commencing is due to the Department of Justice and its stonewalling of the legal teams representing the families and the release of funds. We were given repeated commitments by the Minister for Justice and by the Taoiseach, when he announced the budget last year, that there would be sufficient funding put in place for the inquest. This is the largest inquest in the history of the State. This weekend is the 40th anniversary of the horr…

What a shame it is that Ms Claire Hunt from Homeless Period Ireland cannot be here today because she has, from her kitchen table, provided menstrual dignity to thousands. She has sought no plaudits or awards. In fact, all she wants is for Homeless Period Ireland not to exist. When the cross-party motion was passed in the Dáil and Seanad, it was seen as a really positive step towards making this happen. All political parties were on board to ensure no one who menstruates should have to exclude themselves from daily …

I will move on to the other purpose of this Bill, which relates to the need for access to be universal because, as Senator Moynihan said, universality is an important part of addressing the stigma and shame around menstruation. We help to break that down through the visibility and accessibility of products. Universal access brings an end to the days of shoving the tampon up a sleeve or having to ask friends or strangers if they have spares, regardless of incomes. Universal access in every bathroom across the countr…

I congratulate the Minister on becoming a grandmother and on the safe arrival of baby Arthur. I hope the mother is thriving. Like other Senators, I commend the staff of the Department of Social Protection and its associated agencies because the pandemic posed a significant challenge and they certainly rose to it. I thank them for all their hard work in such challenging circumstances. I will address the pandemic unemployment payment and the uncertainty around its continuation or its staying at the same level. This i…

I wish everybody a happy new year. I raise the decision by the Government to sanction a pay rise of €90,000 per year for the post of Secretary General of the Department of Health. I ask the Leader of the House to ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Michael McGrath, for his rationale for that decision. I would like him to outline the pension liabilities that this increase is going to have on the State. I would also like to know if the Minister has factored in the likelihood of Secretaries Gene…

I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach and welcome the Minister. I will start, as many others have, by paying tribute and commending all of the women and children who came forward and shared their stories. They should never have had to do it but when they took that step to disclose the most personal and harrowing stories, the least they could have expected was to be believed. This week has been distressing and emotional for many. Survivors, their families and their representatives slowly are making their way through the r…

I also wish everybody a happy Christmas. I thank you, a Chathaoirligh, the ushers, Martin Groves, Bridget Doody and everyone else in Leinster House. I try not to name them because I am afraid I will leave somebody out. I am sure everybody in the House will agree that the perfect Christmas present would be Sam staying in Dublin this weekend-----

-----and will join me in that call.

I know you do not mean that, a Chathaoirligh. On a positive note, Senator Currie spoke about the importance of the parties in the North working together. Last night, proof of that co-operation was evident in the announcement that in the North, schools will be supplied with period products free of charge from next year. I again call on the programme for Government commitment to provide free period products to women and girls to be implemented as soon as possible. I wish to raise a very sad and annoying issue. Despit…