This week the Minister for education announced extra time will be granted to secondary school students with dyslexia and other and other visual and physical disabilities in their junior and leaving certificate exams but it comes with a catch - it is only ten minutes per exam. I accept ten minutes is better than nothing but it falls far short of what these students require and deserve. It is nowhere near what third level students get. The minimum dyslexic third level students get is an extra ten minutes per hour whi…

It is deeply disappointing that the Government is opposing this motion and I think there are people with disabilities across the country who are going to be very disappointed as well. Our contributions are not alarmist; they are grounded in evidence and research. We know that the annual cost of living with disability is estimated at between €10,000 and €15,000. According to the ESRI, there is a weekly cost of between €488 and €555. A household with a disabled member needs an income that is 52% to 59% greater after …

Around the world, LGBT+ people remain under continuous attack. In December alone, Kazakhstan's senate approved a ban on so-called gay propaganda, which basically amounts to blocking any information on the LGBT community. In Türkiye, a court shut down an LGBT youth organisation for supposedly encouraging people to be lesbian, gay or bisexual, while in Budapest the police have recommended pressing charges against the mayor for simply organising a Pride parade. These incidents cannot be viewed in isolation. They are p…

I move: That Dáil Éireann shall take note of the Report of the Joint Committee on Health entitled "Report on Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) (Amendment) Bill", copies of which were laid before Dáil Éireann on 9th October, 2025. Tonight we are debating a report published by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health. This was a report we worked on last summer across the committee as a pre-legislative scrutiny report on the forthcoming Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) (Amendment…

I thank the Ceann Comhairle and the Minister of State. I really welcome the remark that many of the recommendations will be included and reflected in the legislation when it is finally published. That is very welcome. I will be glad to report back to the rest of the committee on that. That is great to see. What is missing, and I think the Minister of State would agree, is clarity on the timeline here. When we engaged with the Minister over the summer there was pressure for us to progress our engagement on this issu…

I said "nearly". It has been quite a low output-----

How many Bills were passed?

Absolutely, and we had an argument about that because we thought it should have been dealt with at the health committee and that it did not need the floor of the Dáil to do it. All of the legislation could have been progressed. I had a look back over the historical span of the number of Bills passed. In some years in this Oireachtas we had 45, 50, or 60 Bills passed.

There is a low level of legislative output and it is frustrating that we have not seen this Bill passed, and other areas. Law reform is needed in lots of other areas. We were talking yesterday about vapes and other areas. There is a need for law reform and we would like to see some of that progressed, including this Bill. As I said, it is crucially important. As Deputy Sherlock said, there is a diversity of families who are affected but there is an area of work already done around LGBT families. We passed the marri…

The special leave with pay scheme for healthcare workers with long Covid is going to end in two weeks' time unless the Taoiseach intervenes. This scheme is in place for a small group of healthcare workers - the majority being women - many of whom got badly infected while at work at the height of the Covid pandemic, when the rest of us were at home and long before PPE and vaccines. These workers got very sick with long Covid as a result and many are physically unable to return to work. Today, the health committee I …

The Social Democrats welcome this long-overdue legislation to ban single-use vapes. However, I do have some outstanding concerns about the Government's plans. The first relates to the Minister's piecemeal approach to regulating vapes. We are still waiting for legislation on packaging, advertising, flavours and other products such as nicotine pouches. Second, I have real concerns about the strength of the legislation. From my reading of the Bill, it may be outdated before it even gets onto the Statute Book. In Octob…

I have listened carefully to the debate, the Minister's contribution, the other Deputies and my constituents and my conclusion is that this is a mess. The Minister said that there are people who are confused and frightened. That is certainly true. People have been in touch with my office and with those of other Deputies and they are genuinely concerned about this. People are struggling with bills and with the cost of living and they are really worried they are going to have to pay huge costs out of pocket. Whether …

I also welcome the Bill and commend Deputies Cullinane and Mark Ward and Sinn Féin on bringing it forward. I have to say that it is disappointing that the Government is once again opposing a Bill from the Opposition. This morning, I attended the working group of committee Chairs with the Taoiseach, who spoke very openly about how he is open to taking amendments from the Opposition, listening to different groups and engaging with people in a productive way to have a productive Parliament. I was surprised because it …

As a new TD, I find it deeply frustrating that Government Ministers say to us constantly that the Social Democrats have no solutions, policies or ideas and then, when we come to the Dáil with solutions, policies and ideas, they are dismissed and rejected. In his opening speech the Minister of State asked us to accept his bona fides about the 12-month delay. I would accept that if this did not happen every single time we put forward legislation. It happened the last time with our Bill to reduce the voting age to six…

The trial of Kerry man Seán Binder begins today in Greece. As perverse as it sounds, Seán is going on trial for saving people's lives. In 2017, while volunteering with a search and rescue organisation in Greece, Seán saw rubber boats in distress off the coast of Lesbos. Instead of watching people drown, he and other volunteers rushed into the water to help. Thanks to their swift and courageous actions, lives were saved. Instead of receiving a bravery award from the Greek Government, Seán ended up in jail. Serious c…

I thank the Labour Party for tabling the motion today and for giving us the time to debate this really important issue. I stand here today in defence of trans rights, trans equality and ultimately trans liberation. This is a crucial issue and one that we need to dedicate time and effort to during this Oireachtas term. As the Minister will know, this was one of the first issues I raised with her during my priority questions because for me this is a crucial issue and one that we need to work together on to deliver fo…

Ah, Peadar, no.

Jesus.

I want to raise with the Taoiseach the issue of Cork city library. In his last speech in the Dáil, the former Minister, Paschal Donohoe, asked the Government to keep in mind one public service, that is, libraries. I echo and support that call. In Cork, we have fantastic services and staff but we both know the building is not fit for purpose. Four years ago, the Taoiseach announced that €50 million would be spent transforming Grand Parade with a new public library, central plaza and boardwalk. Four years on, our pro…

As in previous years, the Social Democrats will be supporting the Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill. Risk equalisation is necessary to ensure that older and sicker people do not face huge premiums because of their perceived risk. This modest measure also helps mitigate cherry-picking low-risk groups, such as younger and generally healthier people. In the context of our two-tier health service, where approximately 46% of the population have health insurance, the risk equalisation scheme is essential. Eight years on …