I welcome this long overdue legislation to further regulate vapes and to finally regulate nicotine pouches. As has repeatedly been the case with these new nicotine pouches, regulation arrives too late. The use of vapes and nicotine pouches has surged with a new generation increasingly dependent on nicotine. The Minister of Health and her predecessors have not shown the level of urgency required with a piecemeal approach to regulation that is consistently behind the curve. It took the previous Minister of Health, St…

I begin by welcoming the commencement of section 232 of the assisted human reproduction Act which took place yesterday, and the changes to the Children and Family Relationships Act that resulted. This provides a pathway to parentage for some donor-conceived children. I know there were celebrations in many households across the country who benefit from those changes, which are welcome. When does the Minister intend to commence the rest of the Act and what is the update on the supplementary legislation that is requir…

I thank the Minister. I welcome the commitment to advance it because the pace of change has been far too slow. It is now 26 years since the commission on AHR, four years since the Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy, and seven months since the health committee published our report providing pre-legislative scrutiny of the legislation. There is real frustration about the delays here. We need to see urgent progress. In relation to the case, and I mentioned this to the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, whe…

I do think it is a situation of the Government's making. People absolutely have the right to take cases but people do not want to go before the courts. These families do not want to have the legal costs and the stress imposed on them by going before the courts. I think the Minister would agree with me that we need to expand personal freedoms generally in this republic. We need to vindicate the right to procreation, the right to private and family life and reproductive freedoms. There is much work left to be done, i…

There is a deepening crisis in dental services. Last week, the Committee on Health produced a report setting out 19 recommendations as to how this crisis can be tackled. Has the Minister had a chance to consider the report? Will she implement the recommendations?

I thank the Minister. It is welcome that progress is being made because it is now seven years since the national oral health policy, Smile agus Sláinte, was published and we still do not have that implementation plan. I was not impressed by some of the excuses we received from officials at the committee, one of which was to blame Covid-19 for the failure to do this over the last number of years. We have been here before. Previous Ministers have promised an implementation plan, but it was never delivered. I hope tha…

Children in particular are being failed here. Too many children are leaving primary school without receiving a screening. We know that children should be screened in second, fourth and sixth classes. Some of them are not being screened until fourth year in secondary school or later. We know that, in 2023, only 104,000 out of an eligible 208,000 children were screened, so half of them were not screened that year. There are real issues with workforce planning and having adequate staff in place to do that. It is a rea…

I begin by thanking Sinn Féin and Deputy Ó Snodaigh for all of their work on this. I was delighted to cosign the Bill on behalf of the Social Democrats. It is now 33 years since homosexuality was decriminalised, but some men are still living with the negative impacts of criminalisation. Let us be clear. The prosecution and conviction of gay and bi men for consensual sex was a gross violation of their human rights and did immeasurable damage. These arrests and convictions destroyed lives. These laws also had a negat…

I wish to make three points on this. I hope the events of the past week have been a wake-up call for the Government because people across the country are under huge pressure with the rising costs of living. The Social Democrats have put forward real solutions to that, including a targeted €400 energy credit. I urge the Government to implement that as soon as possible. I hope the Government understands that we have to have better energy security, energy independence and move away from imported fossil fuels. The Mini…

Right across the country, people are being pushed to the pin of their collars. They are struggling to pay for basics, such as food and fuel. They are also struggling because of the Government's inability to provide basic health services. This is most evident in the dire state of primary care services for children. Figures released to me show that in just 11 months, the number of children waiting more than two years for an initial speech and language therapy assessment rose by an alarming 149%. Some 1,200 children h…

My question relates to the development of a new library for Cork. In March 2021, the Taoiseach announced that €50 million would be spent transforming Grand Parade by providing a new public library, plaza and boardwalk. Staff at the library do a fantastic job but the building is not fit for purpose. It does not reflect the services and it is not befitting of the second city. We are five years later and we have no new library. Even more concerning is that there is very little information about this project. We urgent…

We can have the ambition but we need the delivery and it has now been five years since the Taoiseach came to Cork and announced there would be a new city library, and there has been no development. The issue here is that nobody is taking responsibility for the project. The Government says it is the responsibility of the council. The council says it is waiting on the Government. This passing of the buck must stop. I have tried really hard to work with everybody constructively on this. During my time as a councillor,…

The Minister of State's Department is responsible for libraries. My point here is that his Department and the Department of public expenditure and reform, the Department of housing and local government, and the city council need to work together to deliver this project, which was promised over five years ago. The real frustration here is the lack of information and the lack of public consultation on this key project. A campaign group has been set up to push for action on this project. It has set out its vision for …

Five years.

No one is.

I call the Government to account for its promises.

After more than €2 billion of public funds and a decade of construction, we still have no idea when the national children's hospital will open. When we were told yesterday at the Oireachtas health committee that the 18th completion deadline will be missed, it was not a surprise. I am beginning to wonder why we get project deadlines from BAM at all. We would be better off asking Mystic Meg at this point. BAM is giving the run-around to the Government, the hospital development board and ultimately, the Irish people. …

Today's statements on Bessborough are welcome and very important but they will be meaningless unless the Government takes action on foot of the debate today. I urge the Minister to listen to the contributions from across the House, including by Members from her own party, who are calling on the Government to intervene. The bottom line is that apartments should not be built on what is very likely a mass grave. It would not be accepted anywhere else and we cannot accept it here. Níl sé ceart. Last week I spoke at a p…

I thank Sinn Féin for tabling the motion, which the Social Democrats will support. Cancer services were once the jewel in the crown of our health service and an example of what the system could achieve if sustained investment was matched by political will, but the focus on delivery has waned over the lifetime of the current strategy. As a result, we have delayed diagnoses and treatment, missed targets, shocking regional disparities, ageing infrastructure and major staff shortages, none of which were acknowledged by…

I am going to be the third Member to raise issues with the National Ambulance Service this morning-----