I will be brief. I first thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this very important legislation. If a person goes into a shop to buy goods, he or she will not pay for them unless they receive the goods and leave the shop with them. We had a situation where students did not avail of accommodation yet at the same time, they, their parents, grandparents or families paid for that accommodation and never got a refund. That is fundamentally wrong. I very much respect the people who provide accommodation and who have mortga…

In my opinion, heaven's garden on earth is our national park in Killarney. It is Ireland's oldest national park and covers 26,000 acres of mountains, lakes, woodland and heath. The nucleus of the national park is 4,300 ha. Unfortunately, a fire started there last Friday and lasted for three days. Between 2,500 and 3,000 ha are believed to have been damaged or destroyed in the fire, including an active hen harrier habitat and the hunting grounds of three or more of the extremely rare birds which live in the park. Th…

When we get new wildlife rangers, and please God we will, I suggest that retired rangers who gave a lifetime of service be brought back in for a time to impart the wealth of knowledge they built up over decades of working in the national park to the new wildlife rangers. That is one suggestion. We also need to bring in scientifically qualified people to go through the burned areas. We must learn a lot about what we are going to do about the situation on the ground and scientific research must be done in that regard…

I thank Sinn Féin very much for bringing this motion with regard to mental health surge capacity requirements before the Dáil. It is very important. There is going to be a look back with regard to 1,500 children who were under the care of CAMHS in Kerry. I have a number of questions for the HSE. When did it become aware of the overmedication of children receiving care from CAMHS? How long did it take to notify the parents of these children? How long will the look back take and what measures will be put in place to …

I want clarification on why the Minister is being allowed to continue without Members being given his speech before he started making it. It is a departure from the rules that are usually abided by in the House. The Minister is a very experienced politician and knows this himself. Ministers do not stand up to make speeches without giving a copy to the Members present beforehand. What are they trying to cover up and hide in this Bill?

It is a fact.

It is a fact.

Why has the speech not been distributed?

There are not so many of us here that we cannot be given a copy of the speech that the Minister is making.

This should be abandoned until we are given the speech-----

-----in the same manner as was always the procedure.

Why did he not give it to us before?

I thank Sinn Féin, especially Deputy Cullinane, who is an excellent public representative and spokesperson on health issues for Sinn Féin. This is a timely motion. The one thing that people who provide care for older and vulnerable people in their homes do not want is lip service from the Government. The most frightening statistic is that over the past three years, there have been 52,000 applications for carer's allowance with 24,000 of them being refused. This means that almost one in every two applications is ref…

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on this very important Bill, which would amend section 252 of the Children Act 2001. I sincerely thank the people who have worked on the Bill, as well as those who worked on the amendments, which are very important. The Bill, when enacted, will allow grieving parents to speak publicly about their deceased child. One of the most horrendous things any human being could ever endure is the loss or death of a child. The way the aftermath of such a situation is dealt with is of …

I thank Sinn Féin and, in particular, Deputy Funchion for facilitating the debate on this important matter. In May 2017, the Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill was introduced in the Seanad. The debate on it focused on the competing rights of the desire of adoptees to have the knowledge of who they are and their background information and that of mothers to retain confidentiality regarding their own details. Of course, a balance had to be struck. The concern of adopted people - this is why Deputy Funchion is to…

Counties such as Kerry are now rightfully being seen for all the positive things that they can be seen for. Working from home because of the pandemic has highlighted the fact that so much business can be done at home. Despite all we have to offer in Kerry, however, the one thing we are lacking is proper broadband throughout the rural areas of the county. I ask the Taoiseach to ensure that the Government realises the importance of broadband. It is important now to have proper broadband in one's home or for one's bus…

I wish to start by expressing my thanks for being able to make a contribution to this most important debate. At the end of the day, any Government and any Minister for housing will want to be judged positively by the people they represent in providing affordable and local authority accommodation, and having a situation whereby people can afford their own door at a certain stage of their lives, when it is available to them to do so. Yesterday would have been the late Jackie Healy-Rae's 90th birthday, if we could be …

There are five speakers, inclusive of Deputy Danny Healy-Rae. I do not want to stand up here and be critical of what the Minister is trying to achieve with regard to housing. I want to support him if what he is doing is right and if it will mean people will be able to purchase a home and attain home ownership, which is something we all want. I am sure it is something the Minister wants as well. However, I do not want mistakes to be made. I do not want us to base our business on the English model because, to my mind…

On behalf of the people of Kerry, I raise the way in which Bank of Ireland has treated the people of Castleisland, Killorglin and Tralee, where there is a branch at the institute of technology. These are hard-working customers, people who have been the cornerstone of the banks in those areas, and now they are being abandoned. It is wrong and unfair. The Government should be hauling the banks before it and saying they cannot treat their customers in this way. The next thing will be AIB and all the other banks - we h…

This has been an extremely difficult and stressful time for students, parents, grandparents, teachers and all involved in education. The general secretary of the TUI has stated the preference of all teachers is to return to face-to-face teaching and learning, but there is an understandable anxiety in the school community, particularly with regard to possible new strains of the virus. Concerns have been raised over the fact that some special needs students will not be returning for almost another six weeks. Parents …