Céad míle fáilte to all those in the Gallery, who are back again. I thank sincerely an Teachta Coppinger for bringing this Bill to the Dáil on Second Stage. Her dedication to survivors is quite clear in the legislation she authors and this should be recognised. I cannot say the same for the Government. To block this proposal is unsettling and one questions why. Due process, yes indeed, but as many of us will outline, due process can be achieved without tearing and ripping apart people's, in this case mostly women's…

Most of this Government's housing policy has thrown renters around the country, and in particular in my area of the inner city and Dublin South-Central, under the bus. However, the peculiar decision to severely limit a successful programme, the tenant in situ programme, seems to be the Government driving the bus over my constituents. Why the Minister would cut the legs from under this popular programme, which has helped so many people, is a mystery. I will tell the Minister of State about just a few of the constitu…

Dublin City Council has 362 vacant homes that residents urgently need to be returned to the available housing stock. Of the approximately €50,000 needed to fully refurbish a council home, central government is funding only about 20%. Has the Minister heard of index-linked funding? Is this a deliberate decision of neglect? The voids return programme must be revoked in order to provide a quicker turnaround for bringing social housing stock into use and an appropriate budget must be calculated to make this happen. The…

Tá.

That is pathetic-----

That is pathetic-----

Fair play to you.

Listen to the defensiveness.

No.

Protect people. That is the job the Government is meant to do.

I welcome Mark and his family here. The family named her well as her name is Cara, a friend, and she has become a true friend to not just her brothers but to many in this country hoping for change and the delivery of care that the Government has failed to do. It has failed the children in my constituency and across this nation. It is a clear breach of the Disability Act and more than 15,000 children have overdue assessments. The Government parties have had 20 years to correct this but all we get are phrases like "w…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta Cummins for bringing this motion to the Dáil. It is a topic I hold dear to my heart. In my personal experience with my own children, I had little choice when I lived in Belfast prior to the Good Friday Agreement. I sent my children to the local Catholic school, particularly for protection at that time, given what was going on and the attacks on schools. It was for safety purposes. When I returned to Dublin with my young family, I wanted a more diverse education for my children. A gr…

The early years education system in our country is broken. There are thousands of children languishing on lists for places that parents can pay up to €1,000 per month to early years educators who themselves are underpaid and undervalued by this and successive Governments. In the past, the subsidies the Government introduced were welcome but turned out to be cumbersome, off-putting and confusing, to say the least. The funds given to the private providers do not reach the early years educators. Parents are paying the…

I have been involved in this children's hospital saga since its conception in 2015. I have witnessed much of St. James's Hospital, also known as the South Dublin Union, giving way to development. Gone are the 16 weeping willows planted in 1966 and it was disappointing not to see the flag hoisted this weekend. The children's hospital illuminates my street and the surrounds of Rialto and Kilmainham. It has been a ten-year plus endurance test for the community. Kathleen Lynn, a suffragette, revolutionary, medic and an…

Deputy Cleere has gone but there is a time and a place for congratulations.

This is a sensitive, distressing and very damaging space we need to talk about. I am not a begrudger but this is not the most appropriate place to congratulate a camogie team. I will start with something I have worked with all my life. The oath medics take is "first, do no harm". It has been proved CHI and those involved have done absolutely horrific harm. Harm has been done to our children and to the families trying to cope not just with the illness but also the effects of their children being guinea pigs, for wha…

To quote a wise man I know, “Inequality is our Trojan horse.” Adolescents in our inner cities face harrowing challenges in their environments due to inequality and disadvantage brought on by neglect. The term "age-friendly cities" must be expanded to include adolescents in particular, who presently have no input into the amenities and features of their surroundings in their public realm and are often left with little to no safe activities to avoid falling into troublesome behaviour, which then forms their adulthood…

This is comical.

Shame on you.

The Taoiseach should not be so hysterical.