I welcome this motion. There is nothing in it that I disagree with. I welcome and want to see the amended version of the motion passed here today. It needs to be much stronger than it is. While I welcome that Fianna Fáil is bringing forward this motion at this late stage, part of me is cynical and wondering if this is an effort to counteract its presidential candidate Jim Gavin's disgraceful remarks last week when he said it was "unconscionable" that the bombing is still taking place and that he believed the Israel…

I attended a pre-budget submission presentation by Rehab yesterday in the audiovisual room. I commend the work it does through its various entities: Rehab Enterprises, RehabCare and the National Learning Network. The speaker who was due to deliver the first speech, Padraig, is a wheelchair user. He was taking the train from Cork, where he lives. He had booked a wheelchair-accessible taxi from the train station to Leinster House. The taxi arrived on time and was wheelchair accessible but when he saw that the wheelch…

I want to concentrate on a couple of issues. The first is third level student accommodation. At the moment, it is reckoned that we are short 25,000 to 30,000 beds. This means students are forced to compete with workers and families in the private sector. As a result, they are paying extremely high rents. The rents in some student accommodation are becoming very high. The Higher Education Authority, HEA, projects that the gap could grow to 68,000 by 2035. That is an alarming figure, so we need to see increased inves…

If I may start by joining my colleagues in wishing Martin Hughes the best of luck in his new position and congratulating him on it. I am sure he will carry it out in a professional way just as Martin Groves and Bridget Doody did. I thank them for their courtesy, support and professionalism and wish them long and happy retirements. I wish to raise the issue of children and safeguards for children in our country and ask for a debate on it. A number of issues occurred over the summer that are of huge concern. The firs…

This discussion is on migration, which covers both immigration and emigration. As a state, Ireland is no stranger to emigration. We have had millions of people leave our shores over the last couple of centuries. Unfortunately, we still have quite a number of young, highly skilled, highly qualified people leaving our shores. They are going to Australia, Dubai and various parts of the globe, some for the experience and to travel the world but many because they cannot afford to live here and they see no prospect of ge…

I wish the Minister a good afternoon. I welcome the commission of investigation into the handling of historical sexual abuse. I welcome the fact it is day and boarding schools and that it is religious and non-religious and it covers all schools. It is not before time. There are many people waiting a long time to air their stories, to be listened to and importantly, to be believed. It is really welcome there is now a format for doing that. I commend all those who bravely spoke out. It cannot have been easy for them.…

I come from County Cavan. We have no rail network and nor do Monaghan, Tyrone, Fermanagh and Donegal. The entire area has no railway. We did but the Government at that time, some 60 years ago, had no foresight and decided to end the rail service to Cavan. Not only did it do that but it allowed people to build over the rail line, take it up and sell the sleepers. I know Cavan is included in the all-island strategic rail review, and there are proposals for a connection from Portadown to Monaghan and Cavan but it is w…

Last week, I received an email about student accommodation from a third level student who was from County Cavan and studying in Dublin. In the email, he stated he had a savings fund that was supposed to cover his housing for the four years he would be studying. He had entered into a year-long rental contract at €1,000 a month. The place was in shambles with broken furniture, and he felt he had very few rights and supports. He then had to move to digs where he had no renter's rights or access to a kitchen and had to…

The Pregnancy Loss (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025 is vital and well-drafted legislation. I commend my colleague, Senator Ryan, on all her work on the Bill and for sharing her personal story. I also commend other Members who have done so. That is not easy. I come from a family of ten. I am the second youngest and I was an adult before my mother admitted she had a miscarriage on her fifth pregnancy. She lost twins. She and my father talked about it then. I should have had two more siblings. The impact it had on…

I live in a rural area of County Cavan, about 3 miles from the village of Kilnaleck. Some 12 or 13 years ago, there was a branch of Ulster Bank with an ATM that was open all hours, a branch of Cavan Credit Union and a post office in the town. Now, there are none of those. There was an ATM service provided through one of the shops when the ownership changed, so at least that is there during opening hours. The post office there was one of the 257 that have closed in the past decade. It is one of seven that closed in …

The national drugs strategy is coming to an end, so one would imagine that preparation should be ongoing to review the current strategy in order to learn from it and inform the next strategy or where we go from here, but stakeholders have expressed concern that there has been a lack of consultation on the ground. There are many organisations that work in our communities. They know what is going on. They work with people with addiction problems and with those people's families, yet these organisations are not being …

I raise the issue of home care hours for older and disabled people. I am regularly contacted by families of older and disabled people regarding home care hours. Where hours are sanctioned, carers are possibly not turning up for their shifts, or when two carers are required, only one turns up. This happens regularly at weekends. Where needs have changed and a person requires more care, the HSE will say the hours are sanctioned but that it cannot identify carers to provide the slot. On the other hand, I hear from car…

Am I permitted to read a letter to Members from survivors of Ireland's industrial and reformatory school system?

Can I be permitted to speak on the Bill at a later Stage or now?

I want to explain why Sinn Féin has opposed the Bill. There are supports in this Bill that are welcome for survivors. However, in good conscience, we could not support it when it excludes some survivors from different residential institutions. We feel there should be equal access to support for all, irrespective of whether they had received a settlement from Caranua or any other type of settlement from any other scheme. The legislation is excluding people on spurious grounds and it does not take a human rights appr…

If I may, I will read this open letter to all Members of the Seanad from the survivors of Ireland's industrial and reformatory schools system, dated 30 June 2025. To whom it may concern, We, the Survivors of Ireland's Industrial and Reformatory Schools System, write to you today with heavy hearts and unwavering determination. For decades we endured cruelty, neglect, abuse and the erasure of our dignity in institutions run by the state and religious orders. Our childhoods were stolen, our innocence lost and our Stor…

I wish to raise the issue of boarding-out regulations, that is, the service for older people. Not everyone is familiar with boarding-out services. This is a service for older people who are mobile and generally in good health and who do not require nursing home care but who cannot live on their own because they might not quite manage or they do not want to because of loneliness and so forth. Instead, they can live in a house in the community, which is arranged by the HSE. A family can take up to six residents to li…

The Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, told me that he was unable to be here because of questions to the Minister for rural affairs in the Dáil. What he is saying is really reassuring, but I have been hearing that for a number of years and nothing has been done. When I first raised this issue in 2021, 51 providers were involved. Now there are only eight. That tells you that people are leaving. It is not because they do not want to continue. It is because they cannot continue because of the cost pressures of infla…

Our public dental service is basically not functioning, or functioning to a very low standard. In 2006, there were 330 dentists working within the public dental service. Last year, there were 253. Considering that the population has increased by about 1 million, it tells the story that children are not getting the check-ups they should be getting throughout primary school. They should be getting three check-ups, in second, fourth and sixth class, but many are not getting any or only getting one, or it could be into…

I speak in support of this Bill. I spent many engaging hours as part of the Committee on Disability Matters during the previous Government term, along with Senators Clonan and Flynn and a number of others. I engaged with the Acting Chair, Senator Rabbitte, as the then Minister of State many times on the issue of disability as well. I learned so much from the engagement with disabled people who were advocating on behalf of themselves or with advocates, perhaps family members, engaging on their behalf. The committee …