I thank People Before Profit-Solidarity for bringing this Bill before the House. This is the second time in two days that this issue has been debated in the Chamber. It just goes to show how the Government has lost control of the housing crisis. Levels of homelessness continue to rise, despite the winter ban on evictions. It is an extremely important issue that needs to be raised time and again. Like Deputy Mitchell, people are coming to my office on a daily basis extremely worried about what the future will bring.…

What about the six months?

While Sinn Féin welcomes the idea of expanding responsibility for community safety beyond An Garda Síochána, it is not clear what the purpose of the group is separate to the role of the Policing Authority. While establishing these committees could be a welcome move forward, the Government must also stick to previous commitments. A task force was to be set up to enable the community of Cherry Orchard to deal with a number of high-profile incidents that resulted in gardaí being attacked or rammed with cars. I spoke w…

I welcome that progress has been made on the Citizens' Assembly on Drugs Use. Sinn Féin has been calling for this for the past four years or more. I am from an area of high disadvantage and have seen the devastation drugs have inflicted on my area since I was a child. I have lived in a community that has seen intergenerational addiction and trauma within families. When I say "high disadvantage", I am speaking about Government policy of the time placing thousands of families from the same socioeconomic background in…

I will speak about the Mental Health Commission's report into CAMHS. One of the concerns escalated relates to the 140 children who were lost to follow up. Will the Minister of State set out a timeframe for completing a review of all open and lost cases in CAMHS? Will she publish a multi-annual funding plan for improving CAMHS, including to extend access to CAMHS to young people up to the age of 25?

I thank the Minister of State. As I said I have met the HSE numerous times. It came before the Oireachtas Sub-Committee on Mental Health on Tuesday. It was probably one of the more positive meetings we have had with the HSE. I acknowledge the work done by the staff in CAMHS. They are doing their best. It seemed to be systemic failures that impeded them from doing their best for the children they look after. An issue that came up at the meeting, about which I was concerned, is that CAMHS has said it has identified 1…

I thank the Minister of State. Is it possible for the Minister of State to indicate the number of open cases that need to be reviewed? If she has any figures on this I would like to get them. There is a gap in the system when young people turn 18 and go into adult mental health services. The Minister of State mentioned referring them back to GPs. I do not know whether that is appropriate in all cases. We probably need to extend CAMHS to the age of 25. One of the responses I received from the HSE on Tuesday was with…

I received a very worrying response to parliamentary question this morning outlining the number of people being spiked with drugs without their consent. In 2021 there were 62 incidents reported to the Garda. Last year that nearly doubled to 106. These are only the ones reported to the Garda. Very often they go unreported. Just this week, third level student bodies issued warnings in the lead-up to Rag Week. I am sure the Tánaiste and the Minister for Justice will agree with me that spiking a drink is a cowardly act…

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I am sharing time with my co-sponsor, Deputy Gould. The Health (Amendment) (Dual Diagnosis: No Wrong Door) Bill 2021 is important legislation that aims to plug the gaps between mental health and addiction services. This was one of the first pieces of legislation I submitted after I was elected. The reason was that, having worked in front-line addiction services, I have seen at first hand how vulnerable people can fall through the gaps between addiction and mental h…

I thank my colleagues for supporting me and for all their contributions. They are vital. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton. This is my first engagement with her as the Minister of State with responsibility for drugs. I wish her the very best in her new role because it is an important one. It is something we need to do better on as a society. I also thank the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, for being here. In fairness to her, through all my time here - three years at this stage - she has never ducke…

Okay. The response I got this week said it had not responded yet and it is ten months down the line.

It is fine, work away. If it is good news the Minister of State can interrupt me. I have no problem with that. According to the response from the HSE, CHO 3, which includes Limerick, Clare and north Tipperary, has been identified as the first adult diagnosis team and many of the team members have already been recruited. That is welcome. However, the response also stated that CHO 3 had recently identified possible issues with the building site and that the HSE was advised in December 2022 that a building inspection …

The purpose of the Civil Defence Bill 2023 is to modernise the existing legislation relating to Civil Defence matters, which is contained within the Air-Raid Precautions Acts 1939 and 1946 and the Civil Defence Act 2012. Sinn Féin supports the intention of the Bill, which seeks to introduce a newer, more rounded version of multiple pieces of legislation, some of which dates back, as I said, to 1939. Civil Defence was established in 1951 and falls under the responsibility of the Department of Defence. It has played …

I will bring up the matter of pandemic bonus payments for workers in the Clondalkin Addiction Support Programme, CASP. It is a unique service in Clondalkin whereby a person with an addiction issue can avail of both medical and holistic treatments. Its methadone dispensing clinic caters for approximately 70 clients on a daily basis in respect of harm reduction. This clinic did not close during the Covid pandemic when HSE and CASP staff worked side by side. HSE staff have rightly and deservedly received their pandemi…

For many years, Sinn Féin has been calling for the introduction of body cameras for gardaí to assist them in keeping communities safe. The Bill has been long delayed and the Government should have got its act together many years ago. As noted by previous speakers, other European countries have been using body cameras for more than a decade. Fine Gael has been in government for almost 11 years but it is only now introducing this legislation. What priority has it placed on protecting front-line gardaí and keeping com…

Last night Sinn Féin had a successful motion aiming at reforming and resourcing child and adolescent mental health services. The Government did not oppose the motion. The Government chooses not to oppose Opposition motions as a tactic when it does not want the political fallout from having to vote against them. Our motion included a raft of solutions to improve children's access to mental health supports and to reduce waiting lists. It was also about transparency and accountability within the HSE. Can the Taoiseach…

Will the Government support it?

I note that the European Council expressed its condolences to the family of the Irish soldier, Private Seán Rooney, who lost his life while on a UN operation in Lebanon. It also expressed its sympathy to Private Shane Kearney, who was injured in the incident. I offer the same condolence and sympathy to the families of both men. I did not have an opportunity to do so before today. I am the son of a retired soldier. My da went to serve his country in Lebanon with the United Nations force. I have spoken about my fathe…

I move: That Dáil Éireann: acknowledges: — the commitment, dedication and hard work of staff within the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), children's health services and organisations that prioritise the mental health of young people; — the work of the Mental Health Commission in reviewing CAMHS cases, and in publishing the interim report; notes that: — the Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly TD, and Minister of State at the Department of Health, Mary Butler TD, have allowed the waiting list for…

I also want to acknowledge the Ministers of State, Deputies Rabbitte and Butler, for their time tonight and last week on this serious issue of CAMHS. I will not question their bona fides or interest in mental health but interest is not enough; we need action. I am tired and frustrated and I have listened to all the contributions and there seems to be a lack of action. My frustration is nothing compared with the frustration the people in the Gallery feel when they are trying to get the care their children and famili…