Cuirim fáilte roimh an Seanadóir Eileen Flynn agus gabhaim buíochas leis an gcoiste as an obair atá déanta ar an tuairisc seo freisin. I thank the committee for its report. When we talk about the issues affecting the Traveller community, many people are shocked to learn of the stark realities facing it. It is good to see the volume of statistics presented so clearly in this report. I will refer to some of them. Suicide is the cause of 11% of deaths in the Travelling community, which is an incredible figure. Accordi…

The Currency has an article today on its website that indicates it has tracked about €13 billion domiciled in the IFSC by sanctioned Russian firms. The Irish Times has stated that about €34 billion is held in opaque Russian-linked shell companies registered in the IFSC. Colm Keena published a report in 2020 that showed a network of bank accounts allowing Russia to funnel money into the West. Cillian Doyle and Jim Stewart have carried out research that shows that €118 billion has been moved by Russian companies thro…

How is it being policed?

I wanted to raise something with the Taoiseach in relation to a report that was delivered by Down Syndrome Ireland, DSI, in the past couple of days. It relates to the fact that services delivered to people with Down's syndrome have radically fallen over the past couple of years. Of those surveyed by DSI, 65% have received no speech and language therapy sessions in the past year, while 44% have received no therapy of any kind in the past year. Some parents responded that they have received no therapy sessions at all…

The Irish fishing fleet is to be gutted by one third and 60 trawlers are to be scrapped by the Government, which will leave 100 vessels in the fleet. Fishing ports such as Burtonport, An Daingean, Schull, Baltimore, Kilmore Quay and Killybegs will be hit massively. The Irish fishing quota has been slashed from 20% to 15% and the remaining 85% of fish caught in Irish waters will go to countries in the European Union. That is incredible. I would challenge the Taoiseach to name another Government anywhere in the world…

I understand that what we are doing is a delicate and complex job. I commend the Minister on getting the Bill to the floor of the Dáil and seeking to progress it. Much work has been done in developing the legislation. Much discussion has gone into it as well. Nonetheless, as Opposition Deputies, it is our job to critique the Bill, identify failings in it and suggests improvements that might be made. There are some difficulties with the Bill as it stands. In the region of 800 babies died in the home in Tuam. I can f…

-----but there are many families who genuinely do not know if they are related to one of these babies. I have been talking to my Dáil assistant, Mr. Luke Silke, who has also been in contact with the Minister's office. Mr. Silke comes from Tuam, and he thinks we would have a much better chance of successfully identifying the babies' remains if the invitation to provide DNA samples was extended everyone in the area and not just to those who already know or suspect that they have relations there. Outside of the 800 ba…

Is linne go léir an Ghaeilge agus is seoid í. Tá sí scríofa inár n-ainmneacha agus inár logainmneacha agus is teanga ársa í ach is teanga nua-aimseartha í freisin. Tá daoine ag tógáil clainne léi, tá daoine ag déanamh a gcuid gnó léi agus tá sí mar mheán cumarsáide ar Twitter, ar Facebook, ar Instagram agus ar TikTok. Tá sí fite fuaite inár bhféiniúlacht sa tír seo. Is stór saibhir í le scéalta, ealaín, filíocht, dráma agus amhráin i nGaeilge. Is struchtúr smaointe í an Ghaeilge freisin agus gan í, bhásódh giota de…

This week alone, my office has received phone calls from single mothers looking for baby food, farmers dealing with spiralling and crippling costs due to the increase of fertiliser, members of the Defence Forces who are sleeping in cars, homeowners in Donegal looking for affordable caravans to rent because their houses are crumbling around them and students who are on a diet of Pot Noodle because they cannot afford much else. The CEO of the HSE is paid more than the Taoiseach, five times more than the President of …

Because of low pay.

Individual productivity-----

These are individual salaries.

The Taoiseach is generalising the successes.

I am talking about specific salaries.

At the top.

Mr. Robert Watt's salary is not.

What is happening in Ukraine is an absolute disaster. It is a tragedy and an inhumane injustice. Ireland needs to do all it can to help Ukrainians. Bizarrely, dozens of Government Deputies signed a petition to expel the Russian ambassador, yet the Government has said "No" to them. The Deputies, therefore, are in opposition and in government at the same time. It is a strange scenario whereby the Government will not make a decision because it has not got permission from the EU to do so. There is irony in the fact tha…

What about the Russian spies?

It did not do us any good.

And the case of the Russian spies in Dublin.