These matters are deeply traumatising and upsetting but they are not surprising. That is the point. There has been knowledge of these deliberate and criminal practices for a considerable length of time. We now need to put things to rights. There is the scandal of illegal adoption itself. There is also the scandal of the trafficking of children to America and elsewhere. There is also the ongoing scandal, to rub salt into the wound, of the State and its agencies deliberately blocking and frustrating adopted people in…

We need time to be provided for the Taoiseach to give a full explanation to the Dáil as to why big bonuses can now be paid again to bankers at AIB, a bank that was bailed out by the taxpayer to the tune of €32 billion. Fianna Fáil had been out of Government for ten years but it has only taken it ten months in office to resume the payment of outrageous bonuses to elite staff in this bank. This is an unacceptable situation and a kick in the teeth to every person in receipt of the PUP who will face a tax bill, to stud…

In fact, it is a kick in the teeth to every family and worker who struggles in these extraordinary times. The leader of Fianna Fáil and the current Taoiseach needs to explain in full his Government's decision-----

----- to resume big bonus payments to the fat cats at the top of an institution that the taxpayers of this State bailed out and paid for very, very dearly.

That is not what I asked for. I asked for a full statement of explanation from the Taoiseach to the Dáil as to why there has been a change in policy and why these bonuses will resume in an institution that the taxpayers of this country bailed out to the tune of €32 billion. What I hear from the Taoiseach now is an assertion that in fact bonuses will not be paid. He needs to be careful not to mislead or to place inaccuracies on the record of the Dáil. People deserve an explanation from the head of Government as to w…

I am speaking about-----

On several occasions, I have raised with the Taoiseach the need to give priority to the vaccination of family carers. I am disappointed they are still being ignored by the Taoiseach's Government. I said before that family carers are not looking to gazump anybody else, but they believe they deserve a level of priority and special mention beyond the general population. Their big concern is that they provide care for vulnerable people in their family homes. If the carers fall sick, then who will pick up those responsi…

Bhí grá agam i gcónaí don seanfhocal “Is beatha teanga í a labhairt”. Is íomhá galánta é. Cuireann sé i gcuimhne dúinn go bhfuil an Ghaeilge beo mar theanga. Inniu, ba mhaith liom tacú leis na cainteoirí, na grúpaí agus na pobail ar fud na tíre atá ag ceiliúradh Sheachtain na Gaeilge. Ba mhaith liom freisin tacú leo siúd ar fad atá ag troid do chearta teanga ar oileán na hÉireann. Déanaim comhghairdeas faoi leith le dream Dearg le Fearg as ucht an obair inspioráideach atá ar siúl aige ó Thuaidh agus iad ag troid ar…

The lives of an entire generation have been defined by a housing crisis. It is a crisis created and worsened by bad Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael policy. For so many people, the aspiration of purchasing or owning their own home has been reduced to a distant pipe dream. For years, people have been calling out for a government that will take the housing crisis seriously and implement a plan that will once again make housing affordable for workers and families on average incomes. When the Government took power last June, …

Sinn Féin is for public housing and affordable housing. We are very clear on that. The evidence of the Taoiseach's housing failures is there for all to see and is very real. It is not propaganda. The suffering and anger of workers, families and younger people, in particular, who cannot afford a home is real; it is not fiction. The Government's proposed shared equity loan scheme will prop up unaffordable prices, line the pockets of developers and leave ordinary people out in the cold. That is the simple, plain fact …

I support Deputy Gannon's call with regard to the mother and baby homes commission. It would be an act of extraordinary bad faith, even by the standards of this Government, to cynically allow a motion to be passed by the Dáil with no intention of acting on it. The matters set out in the course of the debate are of the utmost seriousness. They deserve the serious attention of the Government. At a minimum, the Minister, who failed to answer core questions that were put to him by the proposer of the motion and other M…

Last week I raised with the Taoiseach the urgency of affording priority for vaccination to family carers. He told me that advice and guidance on this had been sought from the National Immunisation Advisory Committee, NIAC, by the Minister for Health. It is very disappointing and concerning that family carers are still left at the back of the queue for vaccination. Why is that the case? I am asking the Taoiseach directly if he will correct the position in this regard. Has the Government received that advice from the…

I am not. I am asking a question. It is my job.

Just over a year ago, the Northern Ireland Executive and the political institutions were restored following negotiations and the publication of the New Decade, New Approach agreement. Leis seo, bhí deis ann ré nua a chruthú don Rialtas sa Tuaisceart, a bhí bunaithe ar chomhionannas, freagracht agus dílseacht do chomhroinnt chumhachta a bhí fíor agus fadtéarmach. Chomh maith le muinín a atógáil, bhí dúshlán mór ann don Fheidhmeannas mar gheall ar an bpandéim agus an Bhreatimeacht. Despite these massive pressures, Mi…

There are 500,000 family carers in this State. They provide 19 million unpaid caring hours per week and they save the State €20 billion every year. They do their work looking after vulnerable loved ones with compassion and love and their value is immeasurable. The challenges and the risks they face during the pandemic have increased dramatically. I want the Taoiseach to listen to the words of Mike Molloy who cares for his mother who suffers from Parkinson’s: I'm part of an army of hundreds of thousands of people in…

Family carers are among the forgotten people during this pandemic. We must remember they carry out the work they do with little support, and in some cases with no support from the Government. The work they do is unseen. It is hidden away in the privacy of their family homes and they do not get to clock in and out. It is a 24-7. It is a commitment undertaken day in, day out and it is done with a spirit of love and care, as I am sure family carers have told the Taoiseach. The risk they face during this pandemic is en…

In the space of one week the Government has missed two deadlines for a decision on the leaving certificate. Will the Taoiseach acknowledge the real distress this dithering and indecision has caused for leaving certificate students and their families? Will he confirm that we will have an announcement today, that it will bring the kind of clarity leaving certificate students need and that it will afford them the level of choice required after two academic years marked by disruption? Will the Taoiseach also confirm wh…

I want to read a quote to the Taoiseach: Under our proposals, people aged 65 will receive a State pension...which will be paid at the same rate as the State pension of €248 per week. This payment will not be means tested but entitlement will be based on an individual's employment record. In contrast Fine Gael will only pay those who are 65 a payment of €203 per week, which will result in an annual loss of €2,340 for this age group. Those words should sound very familiar to the Taoiseach because they are, as he know…

Let me say very directly to the Taoiseach that he is in no position to make arguments to working people about the sustainability of very modest pension payments for them when, at the same time, the gold-plated pensions that the Taoiseach and his predecessors enjoy are not to be touched. There is a central hypocrisy in his approach - big pensions for the big boys and crumbs for working people. It is a mark of decency in any affluent society - in any civilised society actually - that working people have the right to …

I ask him again to confirm that the Government's proposal will see pensioners left out of pocket by €45 a week and more than €2,000 a year? I want him to justify that for those working people.