Deputy Farrell is taking his time but I will try not to go over my allocation. I welcome the opportunity to speak to this important matter. I used some time last week during the Order of Business to raise related matters. I welcome the Minister's commitment to the important elements of developing stand-alone legislation related to stalking and non-fatal strangulation. Much has been said and I just want to add one or two elements to the discussion. Given the weekend just gone by was the anniversary of the murder of …

There has been much talk in recent days about needing a new culture of respect. Treating women's sport equally is one of the many things we can do to contribute in that regard. Some 62 current and former Irish women rugby players wrote to the Minister of State seeking support to make meaningful changes at all levels of the women's game in Ireland, from the grassroots to green shirts. What is being done to support these women in their ambition to make the game of Irish women's rugby a world-beater?

One of the issues raised by the players was the fact that these reviews have not been published. The commitment by the IRFU to publish them is welcome. It shows that the input from Sport Ireland and the Minister of State to help mediate between the players and the IRFU is essential. I ask that he and the Minister continue the good work and continue to support the players and any sort of mediation or resolution. We spoke earlier about the importance of funding women's sports. However, there is also a level of instit…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important Bill. Yesterday, the Minister laid out the long history of legislative false starts on this issue and the litany of legislation that tried to address this issue in what were often difficult or dangerous ways. Previous legislation proposed criminal penalties for attempting to contact mothers who did not want to be contacted. This legislation does none of that. It is important to acknowledge that we are taking, as Deputy Jim O'Callaghan said, that unenumerated righ…

The public is looking to all of us in this House to show leadership on the issue of gender-based violence. One of our roles as legislators is to ensure that the laws we have provide effective protection. The Minister for Justice has spoken in the past of making strangulation a stand-alone offence. Strangulation is a common and often fatal feature of domestic violence. Similarly, the Law Reform Commission has recommended making stalking a stand-alone offence. That is something that the Minister for Justice has said …

I thank the Minister for sharing time. She mentioned the two issues, namely, the non-fatal regulation and the specific offence of stalking. I raised these matters during Questions on Promised Legislation this morning. I am glad that the Minister remains committed to driving forward in respect of both of them. While we are gathered here this evening because of the senseless murder of Ashling Murphy, like previous speakers I make reference to the fact that 244 women died in violent circumstances in recent years. I ha…

Like others, I wish to extend the Christmas cheer, thank the staff and my fellow Deputies and wish everyone a joyful and restful Christmas. Vaccine efficacy wanes over time and the national immunisation advisory committee, NIAC, and the European Medicines Agency, EMA, say the Johnson & Johnson vaccine needs to be boosted after three months. The EMA even said it should be two months. The booster roll-out is progressing well but is focusing on cohorts by age. We are dealing mostly with young cohorts who got the Johns…

I raise the issue of accessibility of testing services. While this is obviously a nationwide issue, I will give just one example from my constituency. Until recently, the HSE had a community testing centre at the old health centre on Emmet Road in Inchicore. That is now closed and people in the area who are looking to be tested are having to go out to Citywest or Dublin Airport. According to the Central Statistics Office, CSO, there are places in my constituency where 75% of households do not have access to a car. …

-----instead of forcing people to schlep all the way out to Citywest when they do not have a car?

I would like to start by indulging in some parochialism by congratulating St. Patrick's Athletic on their win at the weekend in the FAI League Cup.

I am getting there. What we saw at the weekend was a packed Aviva Stadium, which shows the potential of the League of Ireland. What we have, in reality, is a League of Ireland that is struggling day to day. What we need is meaningful support for the league. We need better facilities and investment in academies. Post Brexit, young people who are looking to improve themselves and build a career in football can no longer access academies in the UK. We need to reform the unrealistic target of 30% matched funding for th…

It is timely that we gather today to discuss this issue, yesterday having been UN International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. It is important we recognise the sumud — the steadfastness — of the Palestinian people in the face of ongoing, grinding occupation. In our debate on the cross-party motion on de facto annexation earlier in the year, we spoke with a clear voice about the breaches of international law perpetrated by the Government of Israel. We also spoke about the settlement building, the lan…

I was recently contacted by the daughter of an 89-year-old constituent with advanced Alzheimer's who has recently lost any home care support they had. I am not the first Deputy to raise the issue of home care support and, more importantly, the lack of home care support. While there has been some investment in the area, the challenge is that the individual private companies do not have to take these hours and can avoid providing the support. There is an absolute lack of home carers. Will the Government invest in hom…

I will pick up a theme that several Deputies addressed, namely, missed opportunity. In discussing the Marine Survey Office we need to bear in mind that Ireland has been in the spotlight because of our fisheries for reasons that are not good. There have been long-running investigations and exposures of slavery, forced labour, exploitation and of human trafficking. Credit is especially due to the International Transport Workers Federation, ITF, for its ceaseless work in trying to highlight these issues and contribute…

My colleague Deputy Smith and I are here to represent and raise the concerns of the St. Michael's estate community. They have been waiting and waiting for the regeneration. As Deputy Smith said, they have been fighting for 21 years for the regeneration of St. Michael's estate. They need clarity. They need certainty that the regeneration will provide housing that is affordable for that community, that they will be able to access it, and that they will not be priced out of it. There is a huge concern that the cost re…

The disconnection from market rents is a positive aspect. It is the sort of thing that needs to happen. Yet, we need to factor in the tenant’s ability to pay. Otherwise, we are still creating properties that will be unaffordable for a huge number of people. The reality is that the threshold at which social housing becomes unavailable to people is far too low. It has not been reviewed in a long time. The threshold needs to be raised. As that is raised, the upper threshold for cost rental also needs to be increased. …

I would like to raise reform of the coroner service nationally. I must give credit to Deputies Gould and Ó Laoghaire, who have been raising this issue consistently. In 2000, a full comprehensive review was published by the Department of Justice, which recommended radical reform. Recent research by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties has shown this reform simply has not happened. The system is under-resourced, regionally disjointed and, ultimately, ill-equipped to provide the justice and compassion needed by many …

Threshold is running a campaign for a statutory deposit protection scheme. Such schemes protect renters and have been shown in other countries to work quite well in protecting renters and their deposits. Such schemes are also promised under the programme for Government. The obvious home for such a scheme would be the Residential Tenancies Board. However, anyone who has dealt with it will have experienced delays and frustration in doing so. I am sure it would claim it does not have the resources to deliver this. Whe…

Like all the previous speakers, I welcome this Bill as a positive step. However, I disagree with the Minister of State’s comments that human trafficking and people smuggling are different. They are hand in glove. People smuggling is often the engine that facilitates the movement in human trafficking. I do not think one can be separated from the other. It is perhaps this false dichotomy that has given rise to the criticism of IHREC and others that the Bill is silent on the victims and their rights. We need to look a…

Yesterday, like many other Deputies and Senators, I joined outside Leinster House a number of parents of children born through surrogacy who are looking for the most basic of rights for those children to be recognised, namely, the right to a family. They expressed their shock and dismay at some of the proposals coming forward. We have a special rapporteur on children who has recommended creating clear pathways for parenthood. When will the Government follow through on those recommendations? When will these families…