I am pleasantly surprised to find that I have a lot more than just five minutes of a speaking slot. I am not sure I will need all of it, which will probably be good news to the Minister of State. I wish to start by echoing the thoughts of many in the Chamber on the success of BreastCheck and the screening programme. I acknowledge the hard work done by the staff of BreastCheck, the positive impact that has had on homes across the country and the lives that have been saved by it. Indeed, Deputy McAuliffe made the poi…

The recent budget provided a welcome increase of just over 20% for the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner. We have seen problems with the administration of the general data protection regulation, GDPR, regime here. Data protection authorities in other countries have tried to sidestep us. The Data Protection Commission has been called out for being a roadblock in the enforcement of GDPR. This is a reputational risk to us and, ultimately, an erosion of the fundamental right of European Union citizens to priva…

I agree with many of the comments made by Deputy Verona Murphy. Having spent a week in Fethard-on-Sea a few years back, I concur that it is definitely an excellent holiday destination. I also agree that we should not be wasting money on tourism but should be spending it carefully and in the right way. There are many opportunities to pick the low-hanging fruit in order to significantly increase our tourism offering and the value of the current offering. I want to talk to the Minister about Kilmainham Mill, a piece o…

Like many areas of youth work and many areas in general, the Garda youth diversion projects have been under significant strain in the past 18 months or so as a result of Covid. This has allowed many of these projects to reach out and find new ways of working. Much of this outreach was effective in reaching out to young people who might not have been involved previously in the centre-based work of youth projects. I am on the board of a Garda youth diversion project in Crumlin called Crumlin Lower Advancing Youth, CL…

It is good to discuss in the Chamber the climate action plan. We are also discussing other matters, those being the recent UN meeting and the national development plan, NDP. The national climate plan and the NDP are inextricably linked and our climate action depends on them working in harmony. Our ability to face down climate change depends on all of our plans and organs of government working in harmony to address the seriousness of the issue. I am not the first Deputy to mention the August IPCC report and what it …

I believe I am sharing some of that time. I certainly have not prepared to contribute for 20 minutes, and I hear incredulity from behind me at my having 20 minutes, so I assume I am sharing time with Deputies Jim O'Callaghan and Durkan.

I did not think I would be sharing that much. I had better get moving. I will be as quick as I am forced to be. I welcome the Housing for All plan. I think one of the key issues regarding the housing crisis facing renters and people looking to buy is affordability and people being unable to find suitable homes. We are talking about a home, not just a house or a place to stay. To build communities is at the heart of Housing for All. One of the things driving that affordability is the roll-out of cost rental. Cost re…

I am sharing time with Deputy Haughey. Like many colleagues, I want to express my concern around the situation in Afghanistan. In some ways, it is hard to find the words to express that concern. It is a very serious, multifaceted and multilayered issue and there is an immediate urgency to it, but it also speaks to wider problems we face here and as part of a global community. On the immediate urgency of the situation, although we have made commitments to take in 500 refugees from Afghanistan, the programme is due t…

The reply I received stated that the decision was taken in light of the resources needed for the several missions being run in the area. The House recently passed legislation relating to being able to clarify the chain of command in the context of multinational operations. That is very useful legislation but it is only needed now, rather than also in times gone by, because we are not able to produce the same strength for UN peacekeeping missions. We were undertaking missions by ourselves but are now joining with ot…

I thank the Minister. This is a matter that the Minister and I have spoken about at times before. I do not doubt his sincerity and commitment to addressing this issue. I am pleased to see there are commitments in the programme for Government on the difficult issue of child poverty. There has been work across government to address the issue of food poverty to ensure no child goes hungry. There has been work on school meals. As expressed in the Ombudsman for Children's report, there is a commitment to a right to hous…

Like previous speakers, I agree that this is a welcome Bill in terms of its reform of Garda structures. Many Members have spoken about the lack of community gardaí and the lack of gardaí on the ground in general. The Dublin metropolitan region has made a lot of strides over the years towards small-area policing. This needs proper resources and more community gardaí. According to the figures from the Department of Justice, the number of community gardaí in Dublin was at a high of 510 in 2009. The figure currently st…

This is a difficult subject because it is a very difficult, layered and multifaceted problem. I have been contacted in recent days by residents of the Oliver Bond flats complex, just down the road from here in the south-west inner city. They are concerned about the ongoing drug-dealing in the community and the intimidation and lawlessness that goes with it. There is huge concern and anger within the Oliver Bond complex regarding this kind of behaviour. Residents feel theirs is a forgotten estate. I can understand w…

I thank the Minister of State for that response. Estate management is a much more difficult task when an estate is not receiving the funding or support it needs. It is a much more difficult task when the estate is facing an uphill struggle in terms of disadvantage. The Robert Emmet CDP, which the Minister of State mentioned, is doing excellent work. Some of the excellent work it is doing highlights the depth of the problems here. In a recent survey, it said that 98% of residents were afraid to complain to Dublin Ci…

I want to start by pointing out that the programme for Government refers to domestic violence as an epidemic, and that was long before Covid hit our shores and long before we saw, as Deputy Paul Murphy said, a pandemic within a pandemic. Many Deputies present in the House today have quoted the figure from Women’s Aid of a 43% increase to its helpline, and the Garda is reporting a 22% increase in domestic assaults. The pandemic has heightened and highlighted the challenges we face in terms of dealing with domestic v…

Thank you. I was just about to finish as I had run out of things to say. I will leave it there.

I have written to the Taoiseach and the Departments of Justice and Foreign Affairs about the independent commission on information retrieval, which is an integral part of the various agreements on Northern Ireland, including the Stormont House and New Decade, New Approach agreements. The agreement setting up the commission was signed in 2015 and was laid before the House in January 2016. It requires legislation here. Every reply I receive indicates that the commission will be established as the legislation is passe…

Apologies, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle. Unfortunately, as a Dublin Deputy, I had to go home to deal with family issues. I was attempting to stick to the schedule. It is not fair. We talk about this job not being family friendly, but it is not fair to-----

What I wish to raise as a Topical Issue matter is the issue of support for parents who are engaged with Tusla in respect of child protection concerns and whose children are in care. The reality is that this group of parents are often quite stigmatised and receive very little support. Tusla will do its best to support a family to prevent a child coming into care but once a child comes into care, the child becomes the centre. We are told children's welfare should be paramount. The child becomes the centre and the par…

Regarding voluntary care agreements, a recent study by UCC highlighted some of the contentious issues and outlined options for reform. If it has not already done so, it would be useful if the Department engaged with the team in UCC that conducted this research and suggested these reforms. I sent the Minister's office some information. These independent advocacy services are important, and they are commonplace in other jurisdictions. In Ireland, they occasionally provide support for parents who are in care, but that…

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. We are discussing a very important issue that can be cut down to essential human rights and human dignity. Travellers in Ireland suffer through the intersection of poverty, social exclusion, poor access to education, poor health outcomes, high levels of homelessness and higher levels of mental health difficulties and suicide. All of these interact with each other in very difficult and complex ways, creating huge problems for the community. We must acknowledge the role o…