Sonya Cashman and her family live in Blackpool in Cork city. Their household has been plagued with dirty, discoloured water for 18 months. John Mulcahy lives in Ballyvolane with his family, which includes two-year-old twins. Their household has been plagued with dirty, discoloured water for three years. Sonya and John will be speaking at a public community meeting tonight organised for all households directly affected by this issue. Last night, Uisce Éireann told the press that it would not accept the invitation it…

The best quote of the year so far was a tweet from Dr. Panti Bliss-Cabrera: I keep thinking about only a couple months ago and all the fury and outrage and furious tweeting and angry articles provoked by *any* suggestion that Israel had bombed a single hospital - and then Israel went ahead and openly bombed *every* hospital. She put the word "every" in inverted commas but meant virtually every hospital. The press reported this morning that Israel has ordered people to leave a swathe of downtown Khan Younis, includi…

I wish to raise an issue about women's rights in the workplace. A woman worker at VMware in Ballincollig working off her contract would get six months' full pay during maternity leave, but the new contract put in front of her on Monday by the new owners would cut that to 12 weeks' full pay during maternity leave. There is a company restructuring taking place and there are mass redundancies in the pipeline. This is being used by the new owners as a battering ram to lower conditions. The rights of women need to be pr…

I will ask about the European directive on combating violence against women, specifically the inclusion of rape in the directive. Every year, more than 100,000 rapes are recorded in the European Union. Backward laws prevent many more from coming forward and prevent many who do so from getting justice. I say shame on France, the Netherlands and Germany for trying to block a more progressive, consent-based definition of rape in that directive. Will the Taoiseach confirm that the Government will back the inclusion of …

The Minister of State, Deputy Neale Richmond, met the employers' organisation Nursing Homes Ireland earlier this month and agreed to its request to defer increases to minimum pay rates for healthcare assistants and home care workers from outside of the European Economic Area who hold work permits. This concession to employers was made despite nursing homes being increasingly owned by real estate investment trusts and operated by separate companies which are increasingly financed, at least in part, by means of priva…

What about the question on healthcare assistance?

Some 24 residents died in a 51-bed nursing home at Ballynoe in Cork during the Covid emergency. They were just some of the more than 1,500 people who died in nursing homes during those times. Families and loved ones have many questions they want answered about the care that was and, in some cases, was not given in the homes. Ireland's Covid inquiry is due to be set up in the near future. Majella Beattie of Care Champions told Shannonside radio that older people and people in care were often seen through a medical l…

And the human rights expert?

I would have thought you might have a view on it, but anyway.

The Tánaiste is saying there would be no sense in boycotting the St. Patrick's Day trip. Let us have a quick look at this argument. The first argument put forward by the Tánaiste relates to why should we boycott when it is clear the US is trying to end the conflict. Clear to whom? Biden has pledged $14.3 billion in military aid to Israel. As of Christmas Day, Israel had unloaded 230 planeloads and 20 shiploads of weapons from the US. The second argument implies that it would make no difference and that we have to e…

Some 10,000 people-----

-----have been killed since the Dáil last debated this issue.

Four Groups have requested a debate this week-----

-----and the Minister has not even agreed to a debate next week,-----

-----let alone a debate this week.

So it is a "No".

Clearly, there are provisions in this amendment that represent a step forward on the current position. There is a move away from the very rigid view of what constitutes a family that is embedded in the 1937 Constitution and that very directly reflects Catholic Church teaching, and that is the way it should be. It allows for the potential – only the potential but potential nonetheless – for a Government to extend rights to all family forms in our society, be the family members married or not. In its own way, it is a…

There is a proposal to delete from the Constitution the infamous woman-in-the-home clause, a backward, reactionary, sexist, archaic piece of nonsense. Everyone who wants progress in this country will support the deletion of that clause without question. It has been in the Constitution for 87 years. It has taken Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael 87 years to catch up and delete that backward clause, which was dictated by a Catholic archbishop, if not actually written by one. In any case, it is good enough that it is going. A…

Not the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, but the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond. Migrant Nurses Ireland asked the Minister for a meeting. Did it get a meeting with the Minister? It asked for a meeting with the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, on the work permit issue but it has not had a meeting with him to date.

However, the Minister of State had a meeting with the bosses, the representatives of the for-profit nursing homes. Therefore, the attitude towards the businesses is quite clear. The attitude to the women workers who do crucial, stressful work in our society is also clear. They cannot bring their spouses to this country because they are not on €30,000 per year. They were promised they would get it but now the Government is saying they will not, not for now in any case. That is an absolutely disgraceful position. It …