While I agree with most or all of what has been said so far in the Chamber, I want to take a small step back and a step forward. I want to step back and look at the root causes of the onslaught we are witnessing on television. As another Deputy said already, the spark that ignited the current flame was the attempt by the Israeli Government to confiscate homes and to expel Palestinians living in occupied East Jerusalem. This was an action of annexation. It was a deliberate action inflicting conditions of life calcul…

I join with my colleagues in the Chamber in recognising the strength and dignity of the families of Ballymurphy in demanding justice over all of these years. So many other families are in similar situations and are still yearning for justice. References have been made to the anniversary of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. In recent months, we heard news of demands being made of the British Government with regard to the reopening of the inquest into the murder of Pat Finucane. We have seen the British Government av…

Deputy Joan Collins was unable to make it. I will concentrate on Dublin 12 in my constituency but many of the issues impact on the constituencies that border our constituencies. The Minister has been in the House before to hear me speak about Scoil Colm, which will now be opened as Our Lady of Hope as a special school. That has given some hope to parents. However, there is still an under-supply of special schools which is pushing more and more children into special autism spectrum disorder, ASD, classes. We hear of…

I thank the Minister. I wanted to raise the similar issue of early years provision. I was saving it for my follow-up question. A family I am trying to do my best to support in my constituency faces a challenge with the Early Start programme, which is under the remit of the Department of Education. The family has a child with a diagnosis of ASD and they are being told there are no special needs assistants available under the Early Start programme. A child in the programme does not get a special needs assistant even …

Something the Minister said earlier stuck with me. He said he was glad to be able to use the United Nations to talk about how this situation has worsened, but the reality is what we are seeing is not new. It has been going on for a long time. I was in Palestine as a human rights observer in 2014 and I witnessed all the things the other Deputies have spoken about and which we are seeing on the television. They were not new then either. This conflict and all that has gone with it, including the dispossession, the apa…

We have spoken about this issue many times. I reiterate that the Minister speaks very well on this issue, and I believe he is sincere. He has been very good at supporting Palestine with Irish aid, and in that way. The frustration for the rest of us comes from that activity seeming not being followed through with the strong action needed to confront this sort of situation. For example, if the Minister believes in a two-state solution, then why not recognise the state of Palestine? It seems the two-state solution may…

Deputy Joan Collins could not make it, unfortunately, so it is just me. I am happy to speak on the Deputy's behalf. She and I both want to highlight concerns that were raised with us by the board of management of Mary Queen of Angels 2 Boys’ National School. It is a local issue but it has the potential to be a much wider one that would be very beneficial to address. Mary Queen of Angels 2 applied for the hot meals scheme. An interesting anomaly is that Mary Queen of Angels 1 boys' national school, which shares the …

As the Ceann Comhairle pointed out, one school is being funded for hot meals and the other is being funded for cold meals, and they are located right beside each other. I appreciate there are resource limits and it is a pilot scheme but it seems we are missing a trick here in being able to provide cheaply and easily an extension by simply treating the two schools on one site as one unit. I have no doubt there are many other schools, both in and outside the scheme, that could also benefit from this. Treating them as…

At the end last year, we had a report from the arts recovery task force with a series of recommendations on supporting and renewing the arts sector in the wake of Covid. Will the Minister give us an update on this? Has any progress actually been made in implementing these recommendations, particularly that of a universal basic income pilot? As we heard today from other Deputies, the arts sector is really struggling and this would be an essential way of supporting it.

There has been much talk in the media about the various areas which are suffering. Many areas have suffered in the wake of Covid-19 but, in recent weeks, most of the discussion has focused on restaurants and pubs. The live music venue and the general arts sector which is struggling. This proposed universal basic income is the best way to address the precarious nature of this sector. While I welcome the development from the oversight group and the work done to date, a clear timeline or date for when this trial will …

The urgency of climate change cannot be understated with any seriousness or reasonableness. As such, the importance and urgency of this legislation equally cannot reasonably or seriously be understated. This important legislation provides a starting point for systemic change and is a key step towards setting an agenda for ensuring our planet's future, our children's future and our shared future. That word, "shared", really must be our priority and focus as we go forward. Climate change does not affect everyone equa…

I echo the strong words of my constituency colleagues. Ballyfermot Sports Centre is at the heart of the community. When its representatives met me and the other Deputies, they stressed its importance to the community and the significant number of schools, community groups, clubs and associations that use its facilities. It has a significant impact on the community at large as it provides alternatives to the antisocial behaviour that is often discussed in the House. It is a real success story and it needs to be supp…

Deputy Ó Snodaigh has gone easy on the number of people in the community who benefit from the sports complex to show how valuable it is. I thank the Minister of State for his flexibility and positive answer. We look forward to working together on this.

This is a great opportunity. Many people have spoken about vaccine nationalism. My Green Party colleagues and I had a positive meeting with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, regarding the issue of vaccinations for Palestinians. This is a particularly vulnerable group, given the cruel and repressive occupation they are under, and we have seen the impact of vaccine nationalism there. I urge the Minister to use the opportunity to raise this issue and to drive action on it with our EU colleagues. Recent…

In his opening statement, the Minister commented on not wanting people locked out and ensuring access to education for all. I want to raise a particularly vulnerable group, namely, children who are leaving the experience of State care. This vulnerable group has complicated and broad-ranging needs. No two individuals really are the same in this case. If we look across at our nearest neighbour, many universities like Portsmouth, Greenwich, Keele and Birmingham have introduced a specialist designated staff member to d…

I am struck by An Taoiseach saying that it is important for Northern Ireland to have effective government. I think that is a requirement for everyone, but when we realise that much of the New Decade, New Approach agreement is uncosted and that the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee in Westminster recently heard that the €2 billion pledged already will be insufficient to meet the commitments in New Decade, New Approach, it raises questions as to how effective the agreement will be. One of the other issues we need to…

I am right down here in front of the Ceann Comhairle.

We will have to get the Ceann Comhairle a bigger chair so he can see me sitting here.

We will get the Ceann Comhairle a few phone books to sit on. Like everyone else, the Green Party welcomes this Bill. It is a much-needed modernisation, expansion and improvement of necessary services that work with very vulnerable people. There are a few interesting things to note in the Bill. The improvement of the child and adolescent mental health side of things is more than welcome. This is a very specialist service within the child and adolescent mental health services. It is excellent to see that. I will avoi…

I am curious to know the plans of the Department for autism-specific schools and the unique services they can provide for the children who need them. My concerns are of course with the dedicated campaigners for an autism-specific school and inclusion in the Dublin 12 area. Deputy Bríd Smith has been very supportive of them and would love to hear the reply to this question.