What the hell?

The Bill before us is a Bill of optics to create an illusion that the Government is dealing with a health crisis that it created. It is like rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic or an old-fashioned three-card trick that moves people from list to list without getting them the necessary treatment at the end of it. I will give the Minister some examples. In 2015, there was an agreement to place a much-needed primary healthcare centre in Rowlagh in my constituency. Planning permission was granted in 2018, followed…

-----but rests solely and squarely on the shoulders of Government for not providing public health nurses in Dublin Mid-West. I am calling for action now so that no more children fall through the cracks.

The parents are dead.

I am going to read out some statistics from last year. There were over 45,000 reports of domestic abuse to Women's Aid, over 22,000 contacts to the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, over 49,000 domestic abuse incidents recorded by gardaí and over 65,000 domestic abuse calls recorded by gardaí. Behind every single one of these statistics is a person and they are mainly women, like the women who are here in the Gallery and the women who are watching at home. Women who have hopes, dreams and aspirations and have a right to f…

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to amend the Act of 1962, to provide for a verdict of Iatrogenic Suicide and related matters. Today Sinn Féin is introducing “Jake’s amendment” to amend the Coroners Act. This Bill will introduce the term “iatrogenic suicide” into the Act, allowing the coroner to return it as a verdict. Iatrogenic suicide refers to the ending of one’s own life where the primary cause is the effect of medical treatment, including treatment by way of prescribed medicat…

I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."

We have had this conversation many times about admitting children into adult psychiatric facilities. The Government had four years to get this right and it has failed. It is draconian. The practice is wrong. Every human rights organisation has said it is absolutely wrong. The Government also had four years to get the regulation of CAMHS in place. It is not in this Bill. It is literally not good enough. We will be voting on a Bill that does not regulate CAMHS. There were numerous reports, including the Maskey report…

While most of the world celebrated Pride last week and this week, in Ireland there are still men who have criminal convictions for just being gay before 1993. Can I have an update on the Disregard of Historic Offences for Consensual Sexual Activity Between Men Bill 2025? When will it be completed and when will these men have their criminal convictions quashed?

I thank the Minister. It is hard to believe that only 32 years ago it was illegal to be gay in Ireland. In 1993, when the law was changed, I was only 18. I was not aware of this rule when I was 18 but you can bet your life if I had been a young gay man, I would have been. Gay men at the time would have been driven underground. They suffered trauma and abuse. Ireland has come a long way since 1993, mostly for the better. It is hard to believe that being gay was a crime until 1993. It is still hard to believe that th…

I welcome the Minister's comments on the Bill that was introduced this week by Deputy Ó Snodaigh and several other Opposition Deputies, the Disregard of Historic Offences for Consensual Sexual Activity Between Men Bill 2025. The timing was to coincide with Pride last week and this week. We still have people around the world who are subjected to tyranny and abuse just for being gay. In its essence, this Bill aims to eradicate the historic criminal convictions imposed for the offences of consensual sexual activity be…

That is a crime.

Absolutely.

No more so than you.

There is a need for robust legislation to tackle terrorism and terrorist activity. I know everybody can agree on this. This is needed, particularly given the current global climate. However, the vagueness in this Bill is more likely to lead to abuse by the Government to stamp out political protest, political activism and free speech. I listened to the Minister’s speech. Intention and the glorification of terrorism are open to interpretation. We cannot have a vague Bill. I will outline why. The Minister is a Dub lik…

Badly.

I speak in support of both amendments tabled by Deputy Carthy and Sinn Féin. It is clear the Government has been dragging its feet on the Offences Against the State Act. In 2020, Sinn Féin called for a review of this Act. A review was put in place later that year and we called for an end to the Act. Every year there is an extension of this emergency legislation and, based on the Minister's earlier comments, it looks like we will be back here again next year and probably the year after that if urgency is not applied…

We do not believe you.

We need reliable public transport but that is not always the case for residents of Dublin Mid-West. By the time a bus or train arrives at a stop, it is often at capacity and simply passes by. Worst of all are the so-called ghost buses, buses that are on the schedule but simply disappear and do not arrive, leaving commuters stranded on the way to work, college or other important appointments. There is a huge amount of development ongoing in Adamstown, Kishoge and Seven Mills. However, there are not enough trains ava…

There are reports the Citywest complex in Saggart will be purchased by the State to become a public International Protection Accommodation Services, IPAS, centre. Citywest currently accommodates 2,000 people seeking refuge. It is deeply disappointing residents and elected representatives only heard this from newspaper reports. Deputy Ó Broin and I have contacted the Minister for Justice to try to get answers on behalf of residents and none have been forthcoming. We are strongly of the view no decision should be mad…