I want to raise the Before We Die campaign. There was a “Prime Time” programme last Thursday night that featured people from the campaign. It is a group of elderly parents of adults with intellectual disabilities who are living at home who are worried that there is no plan in place for accommodation for their children when the elderly parents pass away. Some parents said they hoped their son or daughter passed away before them, which is a terrible thing to say, because they are so worried about what will happen to …

The Minister of State is welcome. There is no doubt that we will have to pass this legislation today because if we do not, we leave the 1,000 or so people still in wardship in legal limbo. It is really unfortunate, however, that it has been left to the last minute. The Department, or the Minister of State's predecessor, must have foreseen that this issue would arise because only slightly more than a quarter of the people who were in wardship when the Act commenced three years ago have been discharged from wardship …

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending a young carers conference. Senator Clonan was also in attendance that day. It was a very enlightening day that was held in University College Dublin, UCD. It was bringing awareness to the fact that, according to Family Carers Ireland, we had an estimated 67,000 young carers in Ireland who were carrying out unpaid care in the family caring for siblings who may have disabilities, parents with disabilities, illnesses or even addiction issues, or grandparents. Many do no…

On Monday of last week, Cavan County Council invited all the Oireachtas Members from Cavan and Monaghan to attend a council meeting to discuss the roads allocation. There were four Members of this House in attendance, namely, Senators Sarah O'Reilly, Joe O'Reilly, Wilson and I, as well as four of the five TDs representing the constituency. The Fianna Fáil councillors met the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, prior to Christmas about the roads allocation and how poor it is. We have approximately 3,000 km of local ro…

I was contacted by a lady named Vanessa. She has 12-old-year twins, John and Leah. John and Leah have dual diagnoses of autism and moderate intellectual disability, so they have quite complex needs. They both attend a special school. They are both non-verbal and they use an augmentative and alternative communication, AAC, device for communication. In recent months, they have both been trying hard to communicate - to talk - and they really need speech and language therapy. The last time a speech and language therapi…

I am sharing time with Senator Collins.

Ar dtús, is mian liom Lá Idirnáisiúnta na mBan sona a ghuí ar gach bean in Éirinn agus ar fud an domhain. I wish all women here in the Seanad and in the Dáil, all the female staff in the Houses of the Oireachtas and women all over the country a very happy International Women's Day. Some of the previous speakers have highlighted many positives that have happened and many progressive developments that have occurred. Today, I highlight the continuing high incidence of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. Unfort…

The Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, is welcome. As the Minister, Deputy Naughton, acknowledged in her speech, the debacle over the past few weeks has caused much distress and worry to SNAs, parents, principals and teachers. It all arose from the result of the review of SNA allocation and how that was communicated and addressed. I commend the actions of SNAs, principals, teachers and parents who stood up and called out what they thought was very unfair. They only did so for parents to protect their children. Som…

I am a member of the committee on further and higher education. Last week, we published a report on apprenticeships that looked at how to improve apprenticeships for young people but also how to improve it for everyone involved. Part of that was how to encourage them not to go abroad or encourage those already abroad to come back and work here in Ireland. Quite a lot of money has been spent on adverts by the Government abroad encouraging Irish people to come back to Ireland to work. I was talking to one young man w…

I raise the meeting that took place in Cavan last night, which was organised by the IFA. There were hundreds of people in that room from counties Cavan, Monaghan, Louth, Meath, Westmeath, Donegal and all around the whole region. They are very angry, but they are also very steadfast. They are not backing down on this issue. The Minister needs to reconsider his decision to continue to back Larry Murrin as chair of Bord Bia. The actions of the chair of a board which guarantees quality-assured Irish produce in admittin…

I welcome the motion for the most part. There is nothing I can disagree with bar that Ireland has a robust online safety framework. We have an online safety framework but I am afraid it is not robust enough and it does not keep up with ever-changing technology, which is a concern. We all know that access to the Internet and the use of AI has many benefits and positives. It can be beneficial for businesses and individuals, and we can see how public services and innovation can be improved. We have heard about enhance…

I second it.

I second it.

I second it.

I second it.

I second it.

I second it.

I second it.

Agus Seachtain na Gaeltachta ag teacht suas, ba mhaith liom aird a tharraingt ar roinnt ábhair náisiúnta agus áitiúla. Is é an chéad cheann ná tithíocht sa Ghaeltacht. Is gá dul i ngleic leis an ngéarchéim tithíochta sa Ghaeltacht lena chinntiú go mbeidh Gaeltacht ann sna blianta romhainn. Tá Sinn Féin ag rá le fada go bhfuil gá ann níos mó airgid agus cumhachtaí a thabhairt d'Údarás na Gaeltachta chun tithíocht a chur ar fáil do chainteoirí Gaeilge sa Ghaeltacht. Mar aon leis sin, ceapaim féin go bhfuil deis again…

Last week, members of Childminding Ireland spoke to us in the audiovisual room. A number of childminders told us that they have made up their minds to leave childminding in the next few months, or are very strongly considering doing so. They said that many of their colleagues are also thinking of doing this. The reason for this is the proposed regulations that the Minister, Deputy Foley, is considering bringing forward. I urge the Minister to sit down and talk to childminders and the organisations that represent th…