I thank the Taoiseach for coming in. One of our values as a party is equality of opportunity. I see the child poverty and well-being programme office under the Taoiseach’s office as the embodiment of that equality of opportunity. In order for children to have equality of opportunity they need a structure and a community that is empowered and supported especially when suffering the deprivation brought about by drugs and drug-related issues. In that regard I commend the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, on her rece…

No, it did not.

The Bill went on to the next Stage.

First, and with due respect, I want to correct Senator Boyhan. Tellers were not put forward for the Government amendment to the Bill. So the amendment was not voted on, and as a consequence Senator Clonan's Bill went through to the next Stage, and did pass through to the next Stage. It was largely supported by the Government Senators from that perspective, because there could not be a vote and it could go to the next Stage rather than being delayed. That was contrary to Cabinet's decision. A lot of us went out on a…

I am just correcting, the Senator was incorrect-----

It is not my view. It is a fact of what happened in this House.

Does Senator Boyhan accept that he has put on the record of the House something that is incorrect? It is incorrect. Maybe Senator Clonan would grace us with his presence, so we can ensure that is corrected. Otherwise there would have been no need for him to call me out and thank me for leading on it to make sure that it went through to the next section. Anyway, there are other important things rather than having to correct misinformation in this House, namely that this is a good motion. I completely support it. Whe…

When Senator Doherty says it is no small beans, in 2018 it was €185,000. In 2019, it was €14,000. In 2020, it was €240,773, or 38% of the income of St. John's Ambulance Ireland for that year. In 2021 it was €286,800. We have a total in excess of €700,000 that the organisation has received from the State since 2018. While I suspect that some of the 2020 and 2021 figures are related to the Covid-19 pandemic, we are still not at that ten-month place where the 2022 figures are out yet, so we do not know what it got in …

When an organisation makes public statements of apology to survivors but privately behaves completely differently, why on earth would they take up a counselling service provided by that organisation? The counselling services needed to be provided by the State.

This year eight primary schools in Greystones and Delgany came together and the parents and young people adopted a voluntary code to agree that children of 12 years of age and younger would not have a mobile phone. They agreed that they would not purchase or use a mobile phone once the children were in primary school, that mobile phones were for secondary school and that they would not do that. The collaboration of all of the schools and parents meant that no child was left in a place where their parents did not ag…

I thank Senator Clonan. Unfortunately, due to his experience and Eoghan's experience, he has articulated what is horrific and what we all agree is horrific. I was party to the Joint Committee on Disability Matters report and the Joint Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth report on the AONs, and it outlines all of the things we need to do. Deputy Rabbitte is an exceptional Minister of State. Working with her has been a great privilege of mine and I hope we will continue to do that for s…

Nobody said that.

The Senator should not be disingenuous. Nobody has said that.

It is an interpretation that is wilfully malicious.

She does not have a vote, though.

Today is 6 July. It is the first anniversary of the publication of the report of the Joint Committee on International Surrogacy. We are a year on. In that year, babies have been born and families have had happy moments of celebrating the birth of their babies and the growth of their family. Birthdays have happened. Children have started school. Children have started in crèche. They have engaged in extracurricular activities. They have joined the girl guides, the scouts, local sports clubs and all sorts of activitie…

I ask that we have statements on the operation and value of local drug and alcohol task forces when we come back after the recess. I appreciate that there is no time between now and the end of this session to deal with the matter. These task forces have been operating since the 1990s. They make an exceptional contribution to our communities, but since the economic crash, they have not seen any increase in their core funding. It is not as if the Government is not giving any money to them. It is, but, unfortunately, …

I welcome the Minister of State and thank him for taking this matter. I raise this issue on behalf of parents and residents within Dublin 8 who have a campaign seeking a secondary school in that area. Over the past number of years they undertook professional and fact-based surveys and analysis of the CSO as well as engaging with the community. Their findings are that in the area of Dublin 8 currently there are five secondary schools. That leaves a ratio of provision of secondary school places of 39 children for eve…

I am at a loss to know how the statistics and the population levels from the CSO are so at variance with the predictions from the Department of Education because, with all due respect, I would dispute the paragraph of the Minister of State's speech which states that the population is going to reduce from 2031 thereafter. The provision of that school in Sandymount - this is something we need to be clear about - is around the fact that 47% of the households in Dublin 8 have no car compared to an average of 13%. It is…

I wish to register my sympathies to Senator Dolan on the death of her father and give our condolences to her family. I echo the congratulations to Kilmainham Gaol. It is another reason I am loud and proud of being a resident and lover of the constituency of Dublin South-Central. It is fantastic. Everything the Office of Public Works, OPW, has done in opening up the space and working with Dublin City Council, and its proximity to the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham, is just fantastic, as is the history of the area and …