Are we not next, a Cheann Comhairle?

On behalf of People Before Profit, I extend my solidarity and support to the families of the 48 who never came home from the Artane fire in 1981. I hope that today is the day they finally get the truth and justice they deserve after their 40-year long struggle. Next Tuesday at 5.30 p.m. outside the Dáil, the Raise the Roof campaign will hold a major rally demanding secure and affordable housing for all. The coalition of trade unions, housing groups, political parties and student unions will put forward a motion in …

All those statistics are cold comfort to Amy and her husband, who were in my office this week. Amy is out of work on illness benefit at the moment and her husband is a bus driver. Their net income after tax is €48,000. They are facing homelessness because of an eviction on grounds of sale. The only accommodation available costs €3,000 in rent per month. Because they are over the social housing income threshold, they are not entitled to social housing. If they end up homeless, they will not even be able to get HAP. …

It could not be worse than it is.

They have spent two Christmases in a hub with their family.

It is the Raise the Roof model. The Tánaiste will see it outside on the streets next Tuesday.

Did the Tánaiste read the ICTU plan?

Protesting in here certainly does not work.

The failure of successive Governments to vindicate the rights of people with disabilities is testified to by many failures. However, one that sums it up is that for 11 years, there was a campaign by people with disabilities and disability activists just to get governments to honour their commitment to ratify the UNCRPD. It took 11 years of campaigning from the first commitment to ratify the UNCRPD to its actual ratification in 2018. It was only because of relentless, ongoing protests by the disability community tha…

Not according to them.

I did not interrupt the Minister. The Government got a kicking in the recent referendum precisely for that reason. People with disabilities felt insulted, treated with contempt and ignored. They expected to be given rights in that referendum. My God, I certainly am not a fan, as I do not think anybody could be, of the previous constitutional wording, which did nothing for people with disabilities. The reason people voted "No" to the new proposal was that they had expected to be given rights but they were not being …

I was not aware until a bus driver who works for Dublin Bus contacted me that a major transport conference is taking place in Dublin this week. It is the Transport Research Arena conference, which I believe the Minister for Transport, Deputy Ryan, and the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, are at to discuss sustainable transport. The driver asked me why there are no bus drivers at the conference. The same driver keeps me informed about issues affecting bus workers. He outlined what is required if the authorities w…

The National Youth Council of Ireland, NYCI ,report suggests that half of young people are very unhappy with their housing situation and more than half feel their mental health is seriously being affected by this issue. They have good reason to feel that way. I will give two examples. This week, I met a family who are being evicted. They are a working family who got a notice to quit on grounds of sale. They are in receipt of the HAP now but they are being evicted. If they are made homeless and put into emergency ac…

There will be another national demonstration this Saturday in support of the people of Gaza and Palestine. The very simple demand will be for sanctions on Israel now. The simple inescapable fact is that the genocide that Israel is inflicting on Gaza and the horrors that have been inflicted on its people could not happen if Israel did not get EU favoured trade status, weapons from Germany, the UK and the United States, and impunity for decades for crimes against the Palestinian people. This is a fact. Without this s…

You could not make this stuff up. An open letter has gone around to the Taoiseach and all Deputies in this House to protest to the German ambassador about that suppression of free discussion and freedom of assembly. I encourage Members to sign that letter.

Is there to be no answer for me?

I asked about the conference in Germany.

For years now, film workers have been saying that film producers who get the section 481 tax credit are failing to vindicate those workers' rights. As a result, they suffer vulnerability to blacklisting and complete insecurity of employment. Similarly, writers, directors and actors say that film producers who are getting public money are not respecting their rights under the copyright directive, including the right to royalties. The stakeholder forum was supposed to address these issues. I attended it. It was a goo…

Notwithstanding what the Minister said, at the forum it was clear that actors, writers and directors are saying they are still being forced to sign buy-out contracts by producers. The producers have the whip hand. They-----

-----buy out contracts to effectively sign away those people's right to future royalties. If a film is very successful, and goes on Netflix and Amazon, those actors, writers and directors do not get the downstream royalties because they have been forced to sign a buy-out contract. Similarly, film crews stated they have been blacklisted and that their rights under the fixed term workers Act are not being vindicated. What was interesting, when I met loads of new people at the forum, was that all were talking about th…