Obviously, supply is important and I do not think any of us are saying it is not. The level of housing being built does not match the increase in population over the past several decades. The problem is that we have over-relied on the private sector. The private sector is important. The Social Democrats are not saying there is no role for the private sector to play in this space. When it comes to supply, it has to be more nuanced than just supply, supply, supply. We have to look at affordability. We have no evidenc…

I echo what Senator Cosgrove just said. There is an opportunity to not guillotine the debate tomorrow and it would be fantastic if that opportunity was taken. Senator Harmon talked about the terminology of landlords being outdated. While I wish that were true and I wish it were archaic, the reality is it is not. There were 5,000 eviction notices issued in the past three months. It is almost like we are approaching Famine-level evictions in Ireland and, like the Famine, these evictions are based on economic reasons …

The Minister of State talked about consulting different organisations, and we appreciate that he has done that. It is worth pointing out that, for example, Threshold has said that despite the proposed improvements to security of tenure, it is extremely concerned about the decision to allow landlords to set rents to market levels between tenancies, particularly after a renter leaves voluntarily or is evicted for breach of contract. It urges the Government to remedy this gap in the legislation. It is important to not…

Before he left the Cathaoirleach said he would allow an extra speaking slot.

He did. I thought it had been communicated.

I am pleased to have co-sponsored Senator Harmon's Bill. I acknowledge the work of Sophie, who is in the Chamber, and the work of my friend Samantha O'Flanagan and what she has done in Fórsa. I am very conscious of the sensitivity and complexity of the issue before us. As we have heard in all of the contributions this evening, SNAs and teachers do vital work supporting children with additional needs to reach their full potential, as Senator Clonan so eloquently put it, and to learn and thrive in an inclusive enviro…

The consequences of road deaths are felt in the silence at the kitchen tables, where an empty chair shows the space where a loved one once sat, in a school desk which now sits empty, in communities that are gathering far too often for funerals instead of celebrations. Every death on our road sends shock waves far beyond the collision itself, leaving families, friends, colleagues and entire towns grappling with sudden and unimaginable loss. Over recent decades, improvements have been made. Road safety has been on th…

Once again, this Government is introducing a Bill that, quite frankly, it is trying to gaslight us with. The very idea that somehow introducing market rent is a good idea and will decrease rents or will in some way increase supply is absurd and insulting. The framing of the Bill from the Government is that it is about protecting renters in some way, yet every renter I have heard from is terrified about the consequences of this and what effect it is going to have on their lives in the coming months. The Government h…

Reporting by Aoife-Grace Moore in The Journal last week highlighted the disconnect between what women are advised to do following a sexual assault and how the process of getting support and justice through our legal system operates in practice. As reported, a woman was sexually assaulted by a stranger in a car park. She escaped and immediately ran back to the hotel she had just left. She reported what happened and engaged fully with An Garda Síochána. She did everything the State asks survivors to do. Despite this,…

I echo the support for Senator Cosgrove for bringing this motion forward. I am delighted we were able to use our time in the Cross-Party Group for this. Here are just a few quotes from women talking about their experiences after having their children: "I got one phone call in the six weeks after I gave birth and the one question I can recall that nurse asking me was if I loved my child", "My mental health was only important while pregnant" and "After a traumatic birth I developed anxiety disorder." For women, child…

I share Senator Clonan's frustration at timed amendments. It is hard to come into the Chamber with ideas, solutions and progressive policies and legislation only for these to be delayed time and again. There will always be a reason to delay any individual Bill but as we hear this for every Opposition Bill, it is hard to take seriously any specific justification other than a desire to kick it down the road and put it on the long finger because of a lack of desire to work collaboratively on a cross-party basis to get…

This week, we learned of the horrific plight of Seamus Culleton, a Kilkenny man who has been held in deplorable conditions by ICE agents for nearly five months. Seamus's sister Caroline and his wife Tiffany have been living through a complete nightmare and are deeply concerned for his physical and mental well-being. His family have not received regular contact from the Department of foreign affairs on his case. As a core pillar of work for the Department is consular support, I am incredibly frustrated to hear that …

The Senator is so diligently sharing time so that we all get more. The kind of flooding we have seen in recent weeks is not a once-off event. We cannot say we are having once-off extreme weather events. They are ordinary and are no longer extraordinary. Rain continues to fall. This has laid bare the extent to which governments have failed to take flood risk management seriously. One of the clearest failures in that regard is the absence of a modern and effective flood warning system, which other jurisdictions have …

I thank the Minister for coming in. I really appreciate her spending the time on this issue. I know it is an issue she cares about. I am raising it today because I have received significant feedback from many women suffering from endometriosis about the continued challenges they face. I know we have the endometriosis framework and that the endometriosis surgery abroad interim scheme is temporary. However, I fear that, given the state of endometriosis care in Ireland, it is likely to be in place for several years. P…

It would be great if the Minister could answer some of my other questions, particularly that important piece about fertility. I am delighted to hear that there is a time limit for introducing this scheme. Best efforts are being made but with the reality of training and building up expertise, will we get there in two years? I suppose that is why the feedback from patients has been to ask for the scheme to work as well as possible for patients while it exists. I recognise that it is a bridge until the end goals of th…

I will repeat a lot of what Senator Ryan already said on the question of flooding. We have seen the most horrendous floods. There is still high risk of flooding this week. We have serious questions to ask about the lack of a public flood warning system. The Minister for housing was pointing blame at Met Éireann last week, utterly shifting responsibility as if Met Éireann does not fall under the line division of his own Department. I find this Government to be quite effective at pointing out blame for serious Govern…

I thank the Minister of State for coming in. I really appreciate her passion about this area and especially online safety, but for a lot of us and much of the public watching, there is no faith in the Government's ability - I am not talking about the Minister of State specifically - to address these issues. We have been told it is difficult to regulate, that these things are unexpected and that we are in this position of catching up, but when we have legislation in place relating to non-consensual sharing of intima…

I recognise that this loan facility will provide desperately needed support to the people of Ukraine, who are obviously continuing to endure an awful, brutal and illegal war. Ireland should absolutely stand with Ukraine. I support the measures that provide humanitarian and civilian assistance to the Ukrainian people, in line with our long-standing position of neutrality. The invasion of Ukraine has repeatedly been condemned by the UN, which has reaffirmed that this war represents a clear breach of international law…

Yes, with my colleagues Senators Harmon and Higgins.

I welcome the Minister, Deputy McEntee, in her new role. It is historic to have a woman in this position for the first time and I congratulate her on that. I welcome this motion and that successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments have finally seen fit to fix their absolute bungling of Defence Forces funding, recruitment and retention of personnel and infrastructure. They have stood over the atrophy of the Irish Defence Forces for the past 20 years, to the point that the ability of our Defence Forces to man sh…