It was said last week that the Covid inquiry was close. I want to know how close. Is it closer than the election or closer than Christmas? At this point, can we get some answers? I have asked for a date four times now, which is absolutely ridiculous. Do we not believe the hospitals and nursing home staff deserve closure? Many of them have left their posts due to mental stress. Lessons need to be learned, as we are all very aware, so I really need to know whether we are going to have the inquiry soon. Will it be ful…

I am delighted the Minister, Deputy Foley, got off her chest everything that is wrong with Sinn Féin. She has now left the building. We will keep going. The expenditure of €9 million on phone pouches is unbelievable. That is €9 million. It is so unbelievable that I had to say it twice. It is even more unbelievable when we start doing the sums on how €9 million of taxpayers' money could and should have been better spent. My colleague Deputy Clarke and other colleagues have already set out those figures. Perhaps repe…

On initial inspection, budget 2025 would appear to be great value for the taxpayers' money. However, I ask any of the Ministers or Ministers of State here if any of the extra beds mentioned in the budget are part of the recently agreed public-private partnership to develop more than 530 public nursing home beds at the developer's stated cost of a whopping €471,698 per bed. Not content with building the most expensive children's hospital the world has ever seen, this Government is now building the most expensive nur…

This Bill is a short one, brought forward in response to a recent High Court decision. It is not right or proper to discuss the circumstances of the case but, for clarity, the case revolves around a conflict between the mandatory sentence for murder applied to adults of 18 years and over. Section 156 of the 2001 Act states a child cannot be sentenced or committed to prison. This conflict was highlighted in a recent case in which the accused was convicted as a minor but turned 18 prior to sentencing, thus becoming l…

I thank Deputies Kerrane and Funchion for bringing this motion forward. Irish parents now pay some of the highest childcare fees in the OECD. Some pay the equivalent of a second mortgage, at nearly €1,400 per month, with my own constituency of South Kildare ranking among the most expensive counties for crèches in Ireland. This is an intolerable strain on parents who are already struggling with high mortgages, rents and the cost-of-living increases. Government failures to properly engage with parents and providers m…

I thank Deputy Carthy. I welcome the O'Farrell family here. I wish it were under other circumstances. It is almost 13 years since Shane O'Farrell's family was given the worst news any family could face - that Shane was not coming home. He had been the victim of a hit-and-run, struck down while cycling home by a car driven by Zigimantas Gridziuska, who immediately left the scene of the accident before handing himself into gardaí the following day. He was a known criminal. As if losing Shane was not enough, his famil…

This Government promised to look after our older people. Why then is it being reported that elderly patients are continuing to be removed or discharged from University Hospital Limerick, UHL, outside normal discharge hours? Are their families being informed? I am told staff are being prevented from speaking out. I want to know why. Is this policy and, if so, why is it continuing? It is unacceptable to move people between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. in the darkness of night. Most of these people are suffering from Alzheimer'…

I appreciate the opportunity to contribute to the debate, particularly on the issue of domestic violence in all of its forms. It does not have to bruise or break to be abuse. There is mental, emotional and psychological abuse; destroying the victim's self-esteem day in and day out; financial control; depriving the victim of financial independence; isolation from family and friends and any support network; and coercive and controlling behaviour. The Garda is the first line of enforcement and of protection for women …

When the Government came to power in 2020, its programme for Government promised a statutory home care scheme along with various other commitments for fair and affordable home care, removing inpatient charges and medicine costs. Further to that, in 2022 the Government committed to its implementation by 2023 yet here we are, more than halfway through 2024 and close to the end of the Government's five-year term, and what has it delivered? This scheme seems to be plagued by the same thing as the national children's ho…

I move: That Dáil Éireann shall take note of the Report of the Select Committee on Budgetary Oversight entitled "Examination of the Commission on Taxation and Welfare Report", copies of which were laid before Dáil Éireann on 20th September, 2023. I am happy to introduce the Examination of the Commission on Taxation and Welfare Report produced by the Select Committee on Budgetary Oversight. As Members know, the commission was established by the Minister for Finance in April 2021 and was driven by one purpose, which …

I assure the Acting Chair that I will not take the ten minutes allocated to me. On behalf of the committee, I thank all the stakeholders. Their work was invaluable to us. The amount of work the civil servants have put in has been invaluable. I like to think that, down the road, the report will not be left gathering dust on a shelf but will be implemented and will be a launching pad for a continued discussion on what is becoming an increasingly important area of influence on policy formation.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this matter. I recognise the work that went into the review on the modernisation of our criminal justice laws, but to be brutally honest, there is little or no point in doing this until this Government provides sufficient garda numbers to enforce the laws. It is a missed opportunity. The Government has had this, but it has continued to sit on its hands and has failed to provide sufficient gardaí to staff our Garda stations, so the situation will not change. Other Members have s…

I thank my colleague Deputy O'Rourke for the opportunity to shed a little light on this, although perhaps not for everyone. Ireland's electricity prices have been spiralling skywards while the Government has sat on its hands, choosing to give energy credits that swelled the coffers and profits of energy providers while leaving electricity prices at eye-watering levels. Ordinary working people are struggling to find the extra €150 a month while ESB profits have ballooned 30% from €676 million in 2022 to a mind-blowi…

Over two weeks her pay-as-you-go meter cost her €500 just to run an air-to-water heating system. How affordable is this on an old age pension? The Minister of State and I both know it is not. A young mother with the same heating system was left paying a bill of more than €3,000 to keep her house warm. It is no wonder we have food banks, and we have the Minister of State's colleague in Monasterevin looking after the food bank to fix the problem the Government created. We could not make it up. Spot the inequalities. …

Fair point, thank you.

For hundreds of years, Ireland's people have been emigrants, leaving our shores for other countries, both near and far, whether driven by famine, unemployment, as in previous years, or, more recently, because they cannot find or afford housing. These emigrants faced rules and regulations at their destinations because the countries in question put in place controls and requirements. Common-sense laws and regulations all applied at the point of entry and were accepted by those seeking entry as part of the process. Fo…

I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach, and I thank Deputy Tully for bringing this motion to the floor today. I would like to say I am shocked by the figures in the Family Carers Ireland report, but in all good conscience I cannot say that. As Sinn Féin spokesperson for older people, I know only too well how much these selfless people do and how poorly valued they feel, especially when considering the millions they save the State every single year by caring for their elderly, disabled and vulnerable loved ones. Most o…

This week, Deputy Ward, who is the Sinn Féin spokesperson for mental health, arranged a meeting with Families for Reform of CAMHS, which I attended. These families report that 70% of parents surveyed were unhappy with the handling of complaints relating to their children in CAMHS, saying that they were not listened to and were worried about how the complaint would adversely affect their child's care. I know the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, was not there, and I mean that respectfully, but had she been there, sh…

I wish to share time with Deputies Buckley and Mythen.

I thank Deputy Clarke for bringing this very important issue before the House and for the opportunity to speak on it. I cannot over-stress the panic and worry that parents of children with special needs in my constituency of Kildare South are going through at this time of year, as they try to find an appropriate school place for their child in the coming term. We can imagine how the parent of a child with special needs feels, who knows well how important the school routine is, not only for their child, but also for…