The answer may be that it is both. When we look at the individual issues within our health service, there are fundamental questions about the operability of, in particular, section 24 into the future. I am looking in particular at budget 2024 announced in October 2023. With the benefit of hindsight, it was a complete work of fiction. The HSE had to come out and effectively out the Government by saying what the budget was providing for 2024 simply was not enough. We had to have a summer economic statement. We had to…

There are key questions about how this very good model is consistent with this very political decision to effectively try to make the HSE deal with any cost overruns itself and take corrective measures and to pass the buck on to the HSE for what may be understandable cost overruns into the future. We need to be extremely careful about section 24 of the Bill in particular.

There is much to be proud of and celebrate in the ten years since the passing of the marriage equality referendum and the Gender Recognition Act 2015, but it is incumbent on us to call out and name the lived reality of so many of our friends in the LGBTQ+ community. It is terrifying to see the very real mental health crisis happening at the moment. My colleagues and others referred to the research by Belong To and Trinity College Dublin, which refers to figures as high as 75% of 19-to-25-year-olds reporting suicida…

I sincerely thank Sinn Féin for this detailed motion. When you look at the detail and the very specific calls that are in this motion, it behoves us all to look at how women, and particularly teenage girls and young women, are being absolutely failed in this country. As I speak this evening, I think of the conversations I have had over the past four years with women who have had to muster the courage to ask me on their doorsteps to speak up for them. They have told me what they are going through. They have told me …

I support amendment No. 30. The rationale for this extension is far from clear. It is obviously a matter of great concern to those who understand the intricacies of involuntary detention or involuntary treatment, the timeframe and the process surrounding all that. Those who have approached us, and I think everybody in the Opposition, believe there are very significant grounds for inappropriate care of the individual without the necessary safeguards being in place. The other important point is there have been calls …

The fundamental reality is there is a misalignment regarding the ages at which children age out of paediatric mental health services and physical health services. It is 16 for mental health services and 18 for physical health accommodation. We need to put in place safeguards for children who are admitted to an adult psychiatric facility. That is why we propose in amendment No. 63 that the District Court has to play a critical role. We have spent some time talking about this and are disappointed the Minister of Stat…

Time and again, we have heard from Government that it recognises that dereliction is a problem in Dublin, yet there is not a single penny in Dublin City Council to compulsorily purchase derelict properties in the city. There are 4,500 derelict properties across the city but only a tiny fraction of these are on the derelict sites register. Nearly 5,000 people are facing eviction notices but this Government has turned its back on both the tenant in situ scheme and the acquisition of second-hand properties. I listened…

It is not its fault.

You need money for that.

You need money for that.

That is not true. We supported the Land Development Agency.

My question relates specifically to the ask for a new special school in Dublin 1. In response to a recent parliamentary question, which I submitted to the HSE about the number of children's disability network teams, CDNTs, that do not have special schools in their catchment area. We learned that, of the 93 CDNTs across the country, 16 are not in the catchment area of a special school, namely, west Limerick, west Cork, north-west Cork, east-central Cork, north Cork city and Blarney, south Cork city, Thomastown, Clon…

I thank the Minister of State. I am conscious that he is relaying the message from the Department. It is not very heartening to see that the Department has completely ignored the specific request with regard to Dublin 1. The reality is that schools in the Dublin 1 area are having to make do in the context of a declining ratio of special needs assistants to children because the number of children needing an SNA is going up and the number of SNAs is staying the same. In addition, children are having to leave their CD…

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to make provision in relation to the availability of general practitioner medical and surgical services throughout the State, and to provide for related matters. I am very proud to introduce my first Bill in the Dáil on behalf of the Labour Party. There is a reality that access to GP care is not equal across this country. It is a stark reality for the many people in my constituency and people in many parts of the country, for those born here and thos…

I move: "That Second Stage be taken in Private Members' time."

I move: That Dáil Éireann: notes that: — investigative journalism by RTÉ has again exposed distressing and unacceptable practices and conditions in private Irish nursing homes, 20 years on since the Leas Cross scandal; — the failure of the State to provide sufficient public long term residential care places has led to the growing privatisation of nursing home care, while the State picks up the majority of costs through the Fair Deal scheme; — 30 per cent of nursing homes were privately owned 20 years ago, rising to…

When will the Government publish the long-awaited policy framework on the use of commercial drones in this country? It was due in 2023. It is now 2025 and we still have nothing. All the while, Government Ministers, when abroad on trade missions, have been promoting Ireland as a destination for unmanned aircraft or drones. Of course, drones can have a positive impact, particularly in the area of health, but there is a reality that communities are crying out for some sort of protection. All the while the Government h…

In Ulysses , James Joyce referred to O'Connell Street from the GPO to Parnell Street as "the dead side of the street." Some 102 years on, not much has changed. Indeed, things have got worse if we think of the wasteland of the Carlton Cinema site and Moore Street, where the top floors of many buildings are held up by bricks. I thank Sinn Féin and an Teachta Ó Snodaigh for this important motion. While I agree with the vast majority of it, there is an issue regarding the need for ideas as to what we now do with the ma…

As the Minister knows, the scheme for special leave for those who contracted long Covid is due to expire on in four days on 30 June. A total of 166 employees of section 38 organisations and the HSE are currently in receipt of this payment. To be frank, the response to date has been downright disrespectful and degrading to those who gave so much and risked so much at a time of such uncertainty and risk in this country. What plans has the Minister put in place and what actions has she taken to protect those health wo…

As the Minister knows, people's lives have been turned upside down by long Covid. This is not any ordinary type of illness. This was contracted in the workplace, yet there has been a persistent refusal by this State, in sharp contrast to the vast majority of EU member states, to recognise Covid as an occupational illness. The refusal to extend this scheme or to put in place a long-term framework for those who contracted Covid in the workplace reflects a shocking lack of empathy and respect for those workers. The re…