This is a great opportunity to make statements and look at the innovative developments the Minister of State is leading on in the Department. I thank her most sincerely for the constant advocacy, work and dedication that she shows in this Department. I speak about it every week at my own parliamentary party meeting, as I said to the Minister of State before, also to ensure that she gets all of the supports she deserves. No better woman. I am very proud to have her as a governmental colleague. I think she has been e…

There is no doubting the Minister of State's strong work ethic and I thank her for taking this matter. In early July, the Oireachtas Joint Committee on International Surrogacy published a report that was very well received by the three Ministers to whom it was relevant, namely, the Minister for Health, who is the lead Minister on the issue, and the Ministers for Justice and Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. They made recommendations that can be broadly put into two categories, the first of whic…

To say I am not impressed by that response is mild, to be perfectly honest, and with due respect to the Minister of State, who is merely the messenger. That the Departments have a view to developing a policy paper is a wholly inadequate and absolutely unacceptable response. There are children in this State who have the right to the two parents, that is, the mother they have only ever known and their second father in the case of same-sex couples. Last weekend, I had to fill in a form for my daughter that described m…

It is total obfuscation by the Department of Health in actual fact. The fact is that every common law jurisdiction that influences our jurisdiction in courts has already legislated for surrogacy. The position that is being put forward by the Department of Health is absolutely untrue.

I will begin by associating myself with the remarks of Senators Ruane and Flynn. In terms of certain videos broadcast online, people are to be condemned for their behaviour and condemned for ramming a Garda car and my thoughts go out to the gardaí who were in that car. At the same time, stigmatising a whole area and community as a consequence, and labelling the people of that community with the hashtags that have been seen on social media is equally outrageous. It shows a complete ignorance about the real lived exi…

I support the motion. The sooner we get through this motion and get on with the excavations in Tuam the closer we will be to families having some sort of closure, which is long overdue. I am mindful and grateful that this is the honouring of a commitment made in July. It is now September and according to the briefing note, it will be 2023 before there are excavations on the site. In the meantime, we will have winter and I am concerned about the possible further deterioration of remains during that time. We must mov…

Last night, we saw frightening lawlessness in evidence in Cherry Orchard, including the ramming of a Garda car. Just before lunch today, the Garda Commissioner, Mr. Drew Harris, condemned the ramming and called it disgraceful and concerning. He stated that the Garda had stood up the public order unit, as it had done over the weekend, and that a full investigation is now under way. I would like to say that last night was a one-off, that no one had said anything about this to the Government before now and that no one…

We have seen some horrific changes in this area in the past couple of months, in particular. The fears following the war or as a consequence of the weaponising of energy from the war of Ukraine, and the effect of that on families, communities and disadvantaged communities, in particular, is something that I would like to hear about from the MEPs in the course of this session together. I am mindful of organisations contacting me about the issue. Indeed, one organisation contacted me today to say that the cost of its…

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, for taking this Commencement matter at very short notice this morning. I appreciate that. He is well aware of the issues arising for homeowners in particular due to apartment defects. I applaud the work of the report of the working group examining defects in purpose-built apartments and duplexes between 1991 and 2013, which was published on 28 July. The report points to a number of factors as having created the situations where homes have been left with fire defects, wa…

I thank the Minister of State. With respect, what I have heard is a description of the working group and its work and report. I have not heard an answer. From the Minister of State's reply, I note that the Government is planning to respond and accepts that this issue is not the fault of the homeowners. However, there are homeowners today who are living in apartments with bills sitting on their kitchen tables that they are expected to meet. They cannot draw down finance or borrow. There is no back-up or support. In …

Yesterday there was a protest by those affected by cystic fibrosis. I have no doubt that other Members mentioned it yesterday. A number of people's lives and health outcomes are impacted by the failure of the HSE and the pharmaceutical company to find a resolution in the row on the Kaftrio medication. That is one instance. In another instance, a product called Ozempic is used for people with type 2 diabetes. It is a weekly injection. Another similar product requires a daily injection. It has also been proven to ass…

I welcome the fact that the Bill is finally before this House and we, in Fine Gael, support the Bill. We need to get movement on the areas of the original Act that have not been commenced. Significant hardship has been caused to individuals, and families, in the time that we have waited for this legislation and the statutory framework that it facilitates. I am delighted that the Bill is here and we are on the road to putting all of it in place. It is shocking that it has taken until 2022 to repeal Acts that date fr…

Next Tuesday.

I appreciate the Minister of State taking this matter at short notice. CityWide Drugs Crisis Campaign has highlighted in advance of budget 2023 that drug and alcohol task force community projects are places where lives are changed and lives are saved. These organisations do extraordinary work. During the past year, in one drug task force area in which I have experience, alcohol and cocaine were the most common drug problems. There was an increase in cases treated for cocaine of 83%. Alcohol treatment also increased…

I thank the Minister of State but what we really need to know is that, when it comes to budget 2023, the cost-of-living hike and crisis that are facing these organisations is going to be met with increased core funding. While I appreciate the initiatives that have been taken - the community enhancement has certainly been valuable - it is the core funding that actually needs to be increased. Even if we did not have energy, cost-of-living and inflation crises, 2013 was an awfully long time ago. How can extraordinary …

I very much welcome the legislation. I will give the Minister the opportunity to address some of the matters raised in pre-legislative scrutiny. Overwhelmingly we welcomed the legislation and the reform and putting in place of supports for the guardians ad litem . Observations that arose out of submissions, such as the Barnardos submission to the pre-legislative scrutiny in the children's committee, indicated that many proceedings involve everything to do with a child's life. If the process is before the District C…

Now.

We can send her the clip.

Now.

Now.