I will hold on to the words "in the coming weeks". I am aware from my own sources - and to be fair, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, is in regular touch with me as well - that that is actually faithful. I want to puncture one misleading piece in all this. We are not putting in a piece of legislation that has extrajudicial impact. We are saying if an Irish couple is going to pursue surrogacy expecting the support of the State, including an Irish passport and the right to both parents in this State to have lifelong rela…

We have all had emails this morning about protests this afternoon and there is an unprecedented number of emails regarding Gaza. There is no question that the savagery on all sides there has been horrific since 7 October. I want to raise the point that, throughout this, when I go through the newspapers, I notice every day where Ukraine appears in the newspapers. It is falling further and further back in the headlines and it has certainly been way off the front pages for quite some time. It is appalling that, right …

I am very grateful to the Cathaoirleach for selecting this Commencement matter. As a member of a Government party, I should be able to be out in the constituency of Dublin South-Central lauding the fact the Government has moved on an apartment and duplex remediation scheme, that it has delivered on it with Cabinet approval for it on 18 January and that the codes of practice were published back in July to give guidelines to both owners' management companies, OMCs, of buildings and the fire regulations people in the …

I know the Minister has held a number of online briefings. I have no doubt about his commitment and that of the Government to this matter. The Taoiseach is one of the people whose apartment was affected by it. I hear a little glimmer of hope in that the interim scheme is opening very shortly or in a matter of weeks. I hope it is not just that the announcement will take place in a matter of weeks and we will still be looking at late 2024 before there will actually be money in people's hands. When there is an emergen…

I will raise two matters. First of all, I ask for a debate on health. At this moment in time, there is industrial action within the HSE but it is not getting an awful lot of publicity. It is not being talked about but there are real-life consequences. While I would not, for one moment, condemn industrial action, the reasons for it need to be discussed. The reasons for it need to be discussed and we need to have this debated on the floor of the House. I am chair of a drugs task force and many of the other chairs aro…

The area and village of Drimnagh is a very distinct community within the constituency of Dublin South-Central. It has its own unique character and is led by a representative organisation called Dynamic Drimnagh, which comprises a number of representative groups and organisations within the community and speaks for the community. Back in 2011, the people of Drimnagh were promised a primary care centre. This community of Drimnagh is the size of Killarney; it has that level of population. In December 2019, the then Mi…

I appreciate that the Minister of State is not in the Department of Health. I commend him on the incredible work he is doing in his own Department. I raised this matter in July 2020, February 2021 and June 2021; on 23 February 2023; with the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, in March 2023; and with the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, on 1 June 2023. I can tell the Minister of State that three quarters of the speech he has just delivered has been the same since July 2020. Three years on, there is no reason to bel…

It does not say "Yes" either.

This is quite racist.

May I raise a point of order?

I thank the Senator. On a point of order, we have something called employment equality, which also covers race. One cannot adjudicate on someone on the basis of race and exclude him or her from applying for a job on that basis.

That is the law of our country. Apart from the racist sentiments, I would have thought that the intelligence services of Ireland would benefit greatly from someone from a bigger intelligence agency coming in and bringing all of that experience with him or her. I do not think that, just because someone is a foreigner, he or she will give away all of our secrets. It is contrary to the law of the land.

I understand employment law.

What Senator Craughwell is saying-----

What we are talking about-----

That is shockingly racist.

It is.

It is not at all. It is racist.

Yes.

I bring good news today. I commend the Minister, Deputy Foley, on bringing a memo to the Cabinet this morning for Cabinet approval of the guidelines to be issued to schools in support of a voluntary ban on the purchase of smartphones for children in primary schools. The Minister has very rightly done the maximum she can do in making schools a conduit to support parents in saying "No" to their children and ensuring that none of the other children in their peer group have a smart phone. No parent wants their child to…