I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak during statements in advance of World Pharmacists Day. It has been said many times in the Chamber that pharmacists play an extraordinary front-line role in terms of that preventative and community care piece. We know there are over 1,900 community pharmacies across this country. In some ways, they are the unsung heroes of our health system. While there is a lot of focus on our doctors and nurses and other parts of the health service, it is the pharmacists, many of who…

Hear, hear.

I must say to the Minister as Minister for foreign affairs it is an appalling situation that on the one hand, Ireland goes into the EU Council of Foreign Ministers to advocate for the cause of Palestinians and yet here at home adopts a mean spirited and hypocritical approach with regard to refusing so many Palestinian students visas. There is a 70% refusal rate this year. It was only 15% last year. My specific question relates to the EU Digital Omnibus package, Ireland’s position and the Minister’s role in that. Ef…

In accordance with Standing Order 85(2), the division is postponed until the next weekly division time.

I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 39 and the name of the Member in each case: Deputy George Lawlor - To discuss the funding of men's sheds. Deputy Paul McAuliffe - To discuss wait times for operations at the National Orthopaedic Hospital Cappagh. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan - To discuss lack of resources and staffing issues at Cork University Hospital. Deputy Louise O'Reilly, Richard Boyd Barrett and Paul Murphy - To discuss proposed inc…

My question relates to periodic payment orders, PPOs, specifically a long-standing commitment by the Minister for justice to implement legislation to effectively make periodic payment orders a reality for families across the country. At the moment, they are not. Every year, the State Claims Agency has to settle hundreds of medical negligence cases. A small number of those cases involve families and individuals who have catastrophic injuries, either at birth or as a consequence of a procedure that has gone very badl…

I am conscious the Minister of State relaying the reply on behalf of the Minister for justice. Any of us not living in a situation where a family member has a catastrophic injury have no real insight but from the families I have met and families I am aware of, the stress and burden they have to endure day in, day out, and the worry of not being able to provide that care are enormous. The toll it takes on families is enormous and then they are put through this arduous process every few years for an interim care orde…

Thank you, Taoiseach.

Yes.

I will refrain from abusing my position to appeal to the Taoiseach to work on Carrignavar.

With the agreement of the House, I propose that each Member be allocated two minutes each. Is that agreed?

Yes. We can have 1 minute, 45 seconds each.

I too must raise the report from Children's Health Ireland, CHI, today. There are one to two e-scooter-related incidents presenting to emergency departments every single day, with a 50% increase in traumatic brain injuries over the past 12 months. As we rise today, I have to ask how in all conscience we can walk away from here, knowing that every day for the next eight weeks, a child is going to be injured due to an e-scooter. I listened to the Garda Commissioner yesterday calling for a full ban, and the Taoiseach …

I move: “That the Bill be now read a Second Time.” We in the Labour Party passionately believe that we need to have a serious overhaul of how waste is collected and regulated across every county in this country. In that context, I am very proud to see our Labour Party Bill proceed to Second Stage in the Dáil today. The Bill is the Waste Management (Single Household Waste Collection Service) Bill 2026. This is an issue that I have been working on for a number of years, both in my time working for SIPTU and while wor…

In the spirit of solidarity, as a proud Corkonian who is very proud to now call Dublin home, I extend my support to Mayo as well. They might just do it this time round. I thank all those who came to support the Bill today, including Deputies Ivana Bacik, Mark Ward, Gary Gannon, Paul McAuliffe and Roderic O'Gorman. It is very clear that while we may all have a slight difference in emphasis about what we want to see, there is very much a clarion call that we do need to see some change, particularly in Dublin, and an …

I want to thank my colleague, Deputy Kenny, for bringing forward this really important motion and welcome the support across the Opposition. He does appear to be getting to some Deputies in Sinn Féin. No one wants to be talking about going back to school but the back-to-education allowance has landed this week and many parents are having to deal with an existing cost-of-living crisis. It beggars belief that after years of budgetary surpluses the at-risk of poverty rate and the deprivation rate continue to go in the…

I move amendment No. 1: In page 3, between lines 13 and 14, to insert the following: “(a) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (1): “(1A) The Minister shall, not later than 12 months after the coming into operation of this subsection, and every year thereafter, prepare and lay before each House of the Oireachtas a report on progress towards making contraception services available without charge to all women which shall include— (a) the number of women who availed of contraception services i…

I thank the Minister. I feel very strongly that in bringing forward amendment No. 2, and I have listened carefully to the Minister's response, that judgment should not be passed on why a 16-year-old girl might present to a pharmacy seeking contraception. It would be very worrying if the message were to go out that we are trying to control or dissuade behaviours. The history of our State has been trying to control and dissuade behaviours when we know that behaviours are happening. The intent behind this amendment in…

I move amendment No. 2: In page 3, between lines 17 and 18, to insert the following: “(b) in subsection (6), by the substitution of “16 years” for “17 years”,”.

As the Minister of State knows, the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Drugs Use published a report two weeks ago. It is a detailed report, with 161 detailed recommendations set out over 134 pages. I have to convey to the Minister of State the deep dismay and disappointment caused by her comments in response to the report some 24 hours after its publication. Will the Department of Health issue a detailed response to each of the recommendations?