I thank the Minister of State for taking this Commencement matter and the Cathaoirleach for choosing it. In the Programme for Government: Our Shared Future, we stated we would support the establishment of a joint labour committee, JLC, in the childcare sector and the drawing up of an employment regulation order, ERO, which would determine minimum rates of pay for childcare workers, as well as their terms and conditions of employment. This subject has been particularly close to my heart. I lobbied hard for this to b…

I appreciate that we are still in February and there is still much time. My request is that the Minister of State be poised and ready to respond as soon as he receives that report, so that it can be implemented urgently. Many contracts in this area run on a fixed-term basis. It would be lovely to issue long-term contracts from September this year and for them to be at the new rates, which are appropriate for the retention of staff in this area. This area is predominantly staffed by women. The high cost of living ha…

Today is a happy day. Two children were born in Kyiv. Their Irish parents travelled there in recent days for the birth of their much longed-for babies. Other babies will be born later this week. They have been born into a context where our Government has advised people not to travel due to the impending possibilities that could occur in Kyiv. Often in this House we get up and give out about officials, the Government and Ministers, and we hustle and hustle. Throughout the increasing tensions in Ukraine, though, I ha…

I want to share with the Senators an extraordinary witness contribution at the Joint Committee on Disability Matters, Mr. Craig Kelly, who is president of Ability@Work, which is aligned to the Cope Foundation in Cork. He wants to work with employers and prepare them to employ people with disabilities. He has an intellectual disability but, to use his own words, that does not define him. He submitted applications for jobs. In the course of an interview he declared that he had a disability by speaking about his suppo…

I welcome and support the Bill. How could I not do so? We last debated this issue in October and it is now February. What progress has been made? I hope the Government is not minded to leave this matter inextricably linked with the review of the operation of the primary legislation for termination services because too much harm is being done daily in the meantime. I am concerned that too few people are prepared to offer services for fear of their own safety. I thank the Together for Safety group for all its work an…

I wish to begin by endorsing Senator Ruane's call for a debate. I would like to note that I previously did so as well. Our data is being collected, our privacy and the entirety of our lives is being collated for marketing and sinister purposes, unbeknownst to us. It is Thursday, so I am here to talk about this morning's meeting of the Joint Committee on Disability Matters. We heard two representative experiences, the first being the Irish Thalidomide Association. I do not need to explain that, except to say that it…

This is a great Bill, with great reorganising and modernising terminology, but I echo the concerns. While my colleagues who spoke earlier referred to more rural concerns, we end up with potential problems even within Dublin, where the likes of Ballyfermot has resources concentrated in Clondalkin. There were recent incidents in Cherry Orchard, Ballyfermot, that show the effects of such a concentration. In the context of all this, we need a reappraisal of Garda stations. I am part of a task force of local and public …

I begin by congratulating Senator Flynn on her ongoing major impact as a Member of this House and on our nation. This is very fine legislation to bring forward. The information we got brought me to looking at the Luxembourg guidelines and into an area of beginning to perhaps have the words needed to articulate many things around this that are very wise. The opening of the press release that came with the Luxembourg guidelines when they were announced states: "Words matter because they affect how we conceptualise pr…

For different reasons to Senator Gavan, I too call for us to have a debate on the recent Pensions Commission report. There has been a process and we now have a report. I look forward to reading and dissecting the report from the joint committee so that we can have a debate that involves both reports, which would be beneficial. The concerns I am hearing in my office relate to a proposal in the report of the Pensions Commission to impose PRSI on occupational pensions. A concern that is being raised in letters, phone …

I thank the Tánaiste for bringing this Bill forward. When I saw it I was delighted. I am married to someone who was a representative in the hotel branch of the ITGWU some years ago. When we were dating, there were establishments he would not go to because they used tips to pay wages. The reputational damage that is attached to some establishments in this city is well warranted, and long may they endure that until they prove otherwise and show transparency with regard to their staff. Tips should never be used to sup…

I rise today to bring to the House's attention, in the context of the evolving situation in Ukraine, the mixed reports on the ground of people living their normal everyday lives, and those reports from the international arena. I note that there are Irish families who are expecting babies in Ukraine. Between now and May, 14 babies are going to be born. I want us to have empathy for those families in what is already an anxious time but with heightened anxiety and distress. I am liaising with the solicitors, the advoc…

I welcome this as a technical Bill and a necessity. Listening to some of the commentary, I am chair of the drugs task force and gardaí always show off their fantastic resources. We reach out to them all the time in the community. Even when it is outside the community of our particular drugs task force and matters arise or in the wider area of my home constituency in Dublin South-Central, they are fantastic at intervening and responding. It is similar with the local policing forums. I commend them on that and take t…

I apologise for missing some of the debate. I was tied up for other reasons. I will go back and listen to what was said. It is clear that quite horrifying personal stories have been told today, as was the case in the Dáil, of life experience in a culture that is quite chilling. I brought my daughter to the vigil because I wanted to stand with a sense of hope that somehow the world in which she will grow up will be transformed and changed in some way. I worked for several years as a counselling psychologist and a ps…

When is it proposed to sit again?

Yesterday, the joint policing committee of Dublin City Council heard a report from Detective Inspector Daniel Kelly on human trafficking statistics and actions for 2021. He said that there were 44 victims recorded by the Garda, 28 of whom were female and 16 were male. Some 19 victims were identified as being of labour exploitation and 25 were victims of sexual exploitation. The Minister of State, Deputy James Browne, was before the Seanad in October. During that debate I raised the need for the public to be able to…

It is great that we are in the Chamber and are able to have such very different conversations and consider such very different points. One of the announcements that I really welcome is the one on the right to request remote working that was made by the Tánaiste and more details were provided on that today. I have heard various debates and interviews over the course of the day on the issue and am aware of the concerns of both employees and employers. Issues like health and safety, access to broadband and related mat…

Today I want to bring good news to the Seanad that yesterday a memo went to Cabinet regarding the special purpose surrogacy committee. This special three-month committee, with the possibility of a fourth month, will deal with complexities and hopefully find a pathway to parenthood for mothers of children born via international surrogacy. I thank the three Ministers - the Ministers for Health; Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth; and Justice - who have driven this initiative. Particularly, I want t…

I completely and utterly support this Bill. I commend the Labour Party for bringing it forward, and the INTO for campaigning on it. There is no question but that we need red-circled time for people who are going through reproductive health issues. I have got up previously and stated that I have done 13 in vitro fertilisations, IVFs. By the time one adds it all up, it is a re-mortgage and we do need the funding that follows that. Before one arrives at that stage and is accepted for IVF, one has to prove that one has…

I am sharing time with Senator Conway. I welcome the Minister and Deputy Kehoe. I congratulate the committee on a fine report into which, clearly, a lot of hard work went. In anticipation of the motion, I canvassed the views of principals and deputy principals in my home region of Dublin South Central in light of the recommendations in the report to ascertain their feelings and experiences. The replies summarise both primary and secondary schools and offer some feedback. The first issue on the minds of all the seco…

I wish to associate myself with Senator McGreehan's remarks. We need to do everything we can to highlight gender-based violence. The problem is that, in many instances, we do not know. There is a culture of masking it and pretending that everything is right when it is not. As such, it is good that we have 16 days to highlight it. Every Thursday morning, I come to the Chamber and give out about what I have heard at the Joint Committee on Disability Matters. This morning, though, I bring good news. The Minister of St…