Today, I have a good news story from County Laois. I want to talk about something that has made us all in Laois incredibly proud. It is an incredible group of students from Rosenallis National School in County Laois. Their RNS Robotics team represented Ireland this weekend at the Vex Robotics World Championships in St. Louis in Missouri. This is one of the biggest robotics competitions in the world. They came home with the prestigious judges' award. This is an incredible achievement for such a small school in a sma…

I welcome the progress announced last week by Cuan, through the justice committee, on the long-awaited domestic violence refuge in Laois, something that has been needed for too long. We heard this week of another deeply disturbing case in Waterford. Another woman was harmed. Another family was devastated. It was a stark reminder that this crisis is not going away. The numbers speak for themselves. Over 65,000 calls relating to domestic violence were made last year to An Garda Síochána. In my county of Laois and wit…

We are talking about the Minister liaising with all the different agencies but the people out on the ground were not all part of these agencies. A lot of them were part of none of these agencies. It is wrong that some say in these Houses we will not engage with people who are not in these agencies. There was every kind of contractor and haulier. Just because they are not in the IFA or the Irish Road Haulage Association does not mean they should have any less of a voice. I met them when they were on their protest an…

I second it.

I welcome the Aire. Sinn Féin welcomes the Bill and the measures contained in it. We will support anything that makes it harder for criminals to profit from their actions and easier for the State to take back assets. Reducing the term between an interim and final disposal order, strengthening the ability to freeze funds and limiting the ability to delay proceedings are all positive steps. For over 15 years, Sinn Féin has argued that proceeds of crime should be directed back into communities. In 2021, my colleagues,…

Yes, with Senator Andrews.

Homelessness has become normalised in Ireland. That is the sad fact we are dealing with. I want to bring the House back to 2014, when it was already widely acknowledged that we were in the midst of a housing crisis. The tragic death of Jonathan Corrie just outside Leinster House shocked people and caused outrage. Mr. Corrie's death was described as a national disgrace. More beds were promised, a night café was established to give homeless people somewhere safe to go and there was talk of how the Government's 2013 p…

There is an interesting contrast between the Government Members in this House and what is going on in the Dáil. I was listening before I came in here. I commend them on speaking out and saying that the Government got it wrong because it really got it wrong. The vote of no confidence that is being debated in the Dáil at the moment is as a result of people crying out for help. This not just about protests - and I will speak about the people I stood with in County Laois for six days - but this is an accumulation of pe…

I thank the Minister of State for taking this topic which is not in his Department's remit. The reason I am raising the issue of St. Francis School in Portlaoise again - everyone has heard me speak about this school in the Chamber many times - is that the vulnerable children in County Laois cannot wait any longer. This is a school that provides care for children with additional needs and there has just been one delay after another. St. Francis School in Portlaoise is doing incredible work. It supports some of the m…

I thank the Minister of State. I would appreciate if he could get me more information specifically on this. I appreciate the response. I understand that 105 school building projects are being brought to construction or tender in 2026-27. I hope with the priority of St. Francis School that it will be moved forward as quickly as possible and that we are not looking at summer 2027 to start building. I would love if the Minister of State could come back to me with updated information. I understand everything has to go …

I wish to raise the ongoing issue faced by newly qualified paramedics in terms of the National Ambulance Service. We saw them striking outside Leinster House. I spoke about this here a couple of weeks ago. There is widespread reporting on and engagement from paramedics across the country who, for the first time, were not automatically offered permanent contracts upon the completion of their training. This breaks with long-established practice. There is some movement on the permanent contracts but the reality on the…

I commend Senators McDowell and Boyhan on tabling the amendment. It is so important. We have to acknowledge that the debate on the Bill is being guillotined. We can see the changes that have come in and the number of amendments that have been tabled that we will not have a chance to go through. It is really worrying that this legislation needs to be rushed through at such a pace. We know the amount of litigation that will result from this. We think about humane detention standards. All the Senators are asking for i…

I will speak to amendment No. 58. I am conscious that we might not get any further but I will be happy if the Minister accepts this important amendment. It states: In page 44, between lines 9 and 10, to insert the following: “(k) information provided by the applicant regarding any prior immigration permission held in the State, including, where applicable, whether the applicant previously entered or resided in the State on— (i) a student permission, (ii) an employment permit [visa] or other work related permission,…

I thank the Minister of State for coming in. We absolutely welcome this motion on the regulations and the scoping exercise. I just want to talk about the facts that are there right now. On 18 November 2025, the Government agreed to the establishment of a statutory public inquiry into spina bifida and complex scoliosis services at CHI. On 26 November 2025, it also agreed to a scoping exercise in response to the request from Dignity4Patients on behalf of the victims and survivors of Michael Shine, to be undertaken by…

I want to speak today about adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, ADHD, services in Laois and the reality of what is there right now. This service was introduced with clear demand but without proper planning or resources. That is where the problem is. The service opened in 2024. The adult ADHD service has received close to 1,000 referrals, clearly demonstrating the scale of the need that exists there. Soon after the service opened, referrals for Laois and Offaly had to be paused due to the backlog. What w…

I appreciate the Minister of State taking this on behalf of the Minister with responsibility for mental health but this is not accurate. Laois is classed as one of the services that is technically operational, but it does not have a base. It talks here about St. Fintan's campus in Portlaoise. They can use that facility where they can go into a different room every time they are there, but they also have to go to Mountmellick. The staff in this ADHD clinic are telling me they do not have a base and it is not fit for…

I welcome the Minister. I will be brief as well because I want us to get through as many amendments as we can. I am going to talk about amendments Nos. 3 and 5. Senator McDowell has outlined so much of what is important with amendment No. 3 and I commend him on that. It is about our sovereignty. I would really like to hear the Minister speak about this to this Chamber and tell us his rationale because I am really concerned. This amendment is just about one simple thing, namely, protecting our sovereignty. The princ…

I want to follow on from Senator Kelleher's comments about the National Ambulance Service. His figures are absolutely correct. I am not going to go through them again. What is really stark is that I met with 80 newly qualified paramedics outside Leinster House yesterday who had to come and protest. They had a petition with them that has been signed by 10,000 people. They do not know if they are going to have jobs in the service they trained to work in. They are fully trained paramedics who have completed three year…

Behind every change we see in Ireland, there is a woman who refused to stay silent. That is what my mother says to me anyway. She is the most important woman in my life. She is the only woman who has tuned in every single time I have stood in this Chamber for the past year. As we mark International Women's Day, I reflect on the many battles in Ireland we still have. There is progress, but we still have to strive for better. This day last year, I raised the issue of endometriosis in this Chamber, highlighting the re…

The Minister of State, in his statement, asked what we would do better and what ideas there are for a better, more cohesive, more efficient system. If we thought signing up to this EU pact would make our migration system better, we could examine it properly. The reasons we are opposing it are clear. I was listening to the Minister for justice, Deputy O'Callaghan, on the RTÉ news last night. He was talking about applications for asylum in Ireland. Ninety per cent of the applicants in January came from the North of I…