The Minister of State rightly mentioned the increase in the number of CAMHS referrals, which amounted to more than 300,000 in the past year, according to what she told me the previous time we spoke. I want to put on record the good work CAMHS staff are doing, despite the challenges, to provide all these appointments. Even so, the number of children who are awaiting their first appointment with CAMHS has doubled, to 4,500, and that is under the Minister of State's watch. CAMHS is only for children with acute and mod…

I thank the Minister of State. We welcome this Bill and are supportive of it, although there are some issues that we would have with the Bill which I will touch on later in my contribution. The children in our communities deserve to be protected from criminality and kept safe in order that they can have a better future. We cannot allow the criminal gangs to continue to be such a scourge on our communities. Older criminals using children for criminal activity is not a new phenomenon in disadvantaged communities. How…

I want to speak about people with psychosocial disabilities and mental health difficulties in prisons. It is reported that 17 men and women are currently waiting in prison to be admitted to the Central Mental Hospital. Four of them are so gravely unwell and suffering from psychosis that they must be barrier-handled, whereby only prison officers in full riot gear and shields can deal with them. That is absolutely inhumane in a modern society. One man has been waiting for two years to be admitted to the Central Menta…

What plans are in place to extend youth diversion programmes to the under-25s? When could such an extension be made? What is the estimated number of young people who could be diverted from the judicial system as a result? May I have a statement on the matter?

I welcome the discussion paper that was published at the one-day conference on youth justice held in Croke Park. I have already suggested that the diversion programmes should be for young people up to the age of 25. The idea behind that is to divert those who have committed minor offences - and I stress minor offences; it has to be stressed - from the judicial system. Their rehabilitation should be able to take place within their communities. I have often spoken in this Chamber about how we can best resource our co…

I agree with the Minister of State. We are on the same page on this one. In order for this to work, we have to resource our communities and put in place the proper resources in our communities to allow them to build resilience to crime, to build up youth diversion projects, as the Minister of State mentioned, and to build up addiction services. Some of the areas I represent are crying out for addiction services for those under 18 years of age, for example. Those are some of the things that can be put in place. Many…

At yesterday's meeting of the health committee, the new CEO of the HSE, Mr. Bernard Gloster, said to me in response to a question that we have serious questions to ask about whether we should continue to maintain more than 70 partially staffed child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, teams or whether we should reduce the number to 55 or 50 full teams. I submitted a couple of questions to the Minister a couple of weeks ago, when I first got an inkling of this, but I have not received a response. Therefore…

I thank the Labour Party for allowing me the opportunity to speak on the challenges people with autism face. I did not get time to speak on this until this morning. I did my research this morning and could easily speak the same words I spoke this time last year because not much has changed. I commend the parents and campaign groups on all the work they do and welcome the groups to the Gallery. I want to mention a group in my area, the Clondalkin autism parents support network. Groups and parents should not have to …

In the limited time available to me, I will concentrate on mental health and the waiting lists for mental health. Currently, we are at a record high of 4,490 young people waiting for an appointment for child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS. Some 752 of these children have been waiting for more than a year for a mental health appointment. These are the figures I received at the end of March. I also received figures in February, because I have been mapping this for the last while, and the figures are onl…

I appreciate the Minister of State taking the question. What supports are in place for the Shamrock and Olive Tree Boxing Project, to assist it in bringing a small group of Palestinian boxers and coaches to Ireland in August, as part of a sporting and cultural exchange? I ask the Minister of State to make a statement on the matter.

Just to provide a bit of background, the Shamrock and Olive Tree Boxing Project sport and cultural exchange is between Ireland and Palestine, the shamrock being the symbol of Ireland and the olive tree being the symbol of Palestine. It is an all-Ireland initiative. We have boxers and clubs from Dublin, Belfast and Waterford taking part, linked in with El Barrio Boxing Club in Ramallah. For the sake of full disclosure I should say that I was not part of the group at the start, but I was invited to be part of the del…

I agree with the Minister of State that we have a big history of boxing in this country. I also want to take the opportunity to wish Katie Taylor all the best in her fight at the weekend. My understanding is that the Department offered to support Katie Taylor in putting on that fight over the weekend when it was running into difficulties. I am asking for the same level of support, if any is available, in this instance. I am just not talking about financial support. When we were over there, the Ministry of Sport in …

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I welcome the CSO report, which will be a vital tool in combating domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. The information in the report will allow Governments to develop adequate services and supports. I thank everybody involved in the report. It is not an easy thing to do to give that information. I join the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre and urgently call on the Minister to reform the justice system into one where those who are victims of sexual violence can report in safety and confidence so they can get justice …

What about nappy wipes?

I commend my colleague, Deputy Brady, for his hard work on this Bill and his dedication to the Palestinian cause over the years. The intention of the Bill is to end Ireland's involvement in Israel's illegal enterprise. If the Bill is passed, Ireland could become a catalyst for other European countries to follow. The National Treasury Management Agency was established in late 1990 to manage the assets and liabilities of the Irish Government. It also has responsibility for the management of ISIF, an independent wealt…

I wish to raise the issue of the lack of public health nurses in the constituency of Dublin Mid-West. Information that Deputy Ó Broin and I received indicates that there is a shortage of public health nurses in Rosse Court resource centre in Lucan, Lucan health centre, Rathcoole health centre, Steeple House health centre in Clondalkin and Rowlagh health centre. A campaign is under way to fill the vacancies, but eight posts remain unfilled. One parent who contacted me said the small children affected were the most v…

I begin by thanking my colleague Deputy O'Reilly for the work she did on this motion. I also wish the Minister of State all the best in his new role and more importantly I hope he will take a hardline approach in his meeting with retailers during the week. The Government is out of touch with the struggles of ordinary workers and families. I will explain why. I will talk about one of the most successful grassroots community initiatives in my area, namely the Clondalkin Cares Food Bank. To the Government's shame, a f…

I thank the Minister for his response. I will have to compare the information I received from the NTA with what he just said. In 2022, more than €2.85 million in fines were incurred by Dublin Bus and Go-Ahead - €1.642 million for Dublin Bus and €1.212 million for Go-Ahead. In 2021, their total €1.134 million in fines comprised €697,000 for Dublin Bus and €437,000 for Go-Ahead. Despite Go-Ahead only having 10% of bus routes in Dublin, it amassed 42.5% of fines in 2022 for failures in punctuality, reliability and ser…

I understand the issue with drivers, but there is also a difference in parity between drivers at Dublin Bus and drivers at Go-Ahead. The latter do not have contracts or conditions as good as the former and Go-Ahead is not as attractive a workplace as Dublin Bus. This is an issue with the private provider. Go-Ahead operates the 76, 18, L51 and L52 routes in Clondalkin, Palmerstown and Lucan. The 76 route goes to Tallaght. Residents contact me regularly having missed appointments at Tallaght Hospital because their bu…