And they will never be able to buy their own home.

No problem.

Absolute nonsense.

I wish to begin by welcoming the Ukrainian ambassador. I was extremely disappointed to hear Senator Malcolm Byrne use an issue like the horrific invasion of Ukraine to try to score a cheap party-political point. He could have taken one moment before speaking today to check with me or with any of my Sinn Féin colleagues and we would have informed him that our MEP, Chris MacManus, is unwell at the moment and that is why he missed the vote. This issue is surely beyond party politics. He should do better.

The issue I want to raise this morning-----

I thank the Cathaoirleach. The issue I want to raise this afternoon is the Raise the Roof protest, which will take place on Saturday. I urge as many people as possible to come out onto the streets at 1 p.m. on Saturday to call out this Government for its housing failure. It was truly shocking to see the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O’Brien, last week declare that in fact there was no housing emergency. I think that is a statement that will come back to haunt him for some consi…

Well said.

It is important to visit those facts.

Like my colleague, Senator Ó Donnghaile, I welcome this debate and congratulate Senator Clonan and his colleagues on tabling the motion. It is great to have someone in the Chamber who has genuine military knowledge and experience that we can and should listen to.

Some of the Senator's contributions on the current war in Ukraine have been extremely valuable. Like others, I have been listening to his contributions on Eamon Dunphy's podcast, "The Stand". They give us all a really good insight. This is a timely and welcome motion. The Senator is right that we should focus on light, not heat, and on what we all agree on. It is clear we all agree that there is a significant deficit in spending on our armed forces, particularly in the context of the pay and conditions of the membe…

How tight?

Disgraceful.

Well said.

I will begin by echoing that call by Senator Buttimer for an urgent debate on human rights. It would be very important to have it during the World Cup, if possible. I also wish to raise issue of football. It is fair to say that the FAI has had a turbulent recent history. A criminal inquiry into FAI matters brought by the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement is ongoing. One would have thought that having gone through all of these horrendous recent scandals, the FAI would now understand the absolute import…

Well said.

It is good to see the Minister of State. On behalf of Sinn Féin, I welcome the Personal Injuries Resolution Board Bill 2022, as it relates to the programme for Government commitment to enhance and reform PIAB. It also addresses the commitments in the action plan for insurance reform to provide for a new and enhanced personal injuries resolution board. Overall, this Bill is a positive step in the reform of the claims landscape, and it follows the adoption of the personal injuries guidelines in 2021. Anyone who talks…

Well said.

I agree with the last speaker on the importance of the gambling Bill. I hope that Members of this House will think very carefully before accepting the hospitality of Paddy Power in the future.

This morning I raise the 88 patients on trolleys in University Hospital Limerick today and the harrowing letter by 72 non-consultant hospital doctors based there. Think about that figure: there are 72 doctors highlighting the fact that patients are being lost in the acute unit and that sometimes patients wait for days before they are seen by a doctor. They apologise to patients. They say that when they issued warnings in the past, those warnings were ignored by hospital management. It gets even worse than that. The…

I welcome our guests in the Chamber this afternoon. On behalf of Sinn Féin, I welcome this Bill. I was proud to second the First Stage of this Bill in the Seanad a few weeks ago. I recognise the work of Senator Ardagh in particular, her colleague Senator Buttimer and my own colleague, Deputy Guirke, who has also been a champion of this Bill. As others have mentioned, when this Chamber works on a cross-party basis, we can often get a lot done. This Bill, as has been mentioned, seeks to amend the current legislation …