You should be.

I want to raise with the Taoiseach the issue of union busting and anti-union tactics by companies which are in receipt of huge State contracts and whether he thinks that is acceptable. One of the companies is one of the largest mechanical contractors in the State, Jones Engineering, which has a contract for the national children's hospital and potentially other State contracts. It has consistently been hostile to members joining the union of their choice, Unite, so much so that it has attached three senior shop ste…

On the issue of children's health in this country, the Taoiseach gave a glowing introduction, but we have the ongoing scandals at CHI. The latest is no disclosure to parents of the failure of CHI to operate or give treatment to boys with undescended testes leading to potential infertility and cancer issues. Yet, that did not meet the threshold for disclosure. I do not have time in this interaction but does he agree that this is now systemic? It is not one thing here and one thing there. One of the issues parents ha…

There is a huge shortage.

On that same issue, Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a muscle-wasting progressive illness that normally starts affecting boys aged between two to three years. It is a life-altering condition. One parent said her four-year-old could be knocked down by gust of wind. The condition is progressive. Walking can sometimes become difficult and the patient can become a wheelchair user. The disorder has no cure and needs to be acted on extremely quickly. Givinostat is a drug that has been shown in other trial areas to be extre…

Is this a government of climate deniers? Has the Government just given up any pretence of trying to deal with the climate crisis? We are due to reach a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 23% rather than 51%. We are not going to reach one third of the targets for agriculture. We have the worst emissions in Europe. We are now the dirty country of Europe. Half of Dublin's electricity is going on data centres. One of the Ministers of State, Deputy Michael Healy-Rae, proposed to put forests on peatland – something…

What is our country's security strategy going forward? It seems to be so tied in with the EU that we cannot assert our own so-called values and beliefs. For example, the Taoiseach says there is a genocide on Gaza, as does the Tánaiste. Ursula von der Leyen says it is Israel defending itself. It was an incredible statement that was put out over the weekend, after Israel had bombed Iran, to say that this was Israel defending itself. We have also seen 330 Palestinians murdered at food sites, which are now becoming kno…

We are doing all this to impress the EU but it is not what the Irish people want.

The Taoiseach mentioned the Middle East. That is why I mentioned it.

And the Israeli equipment?

I welcome this opportunity, particularly as it is the first time I have taken part in a housing debate in the new Dáil with the Minister present. It is important that we get our points across to him. I was also outside at the protest. I am looking forward to a huge turnout on 5 July for the Community Action Tenants Union protest, particularly because young people are in despair. They are either sleeping in cars in order to stay in college because they cannot get accommodation or they are dropping out of college. Af…

How important does the Tánaiste think the issue of gender-based violence is? The United Nations and the WHO say it is the greatest threat to the health of women and girls in the world. There has been a record number of calls to Women's Aid and a rise in calls to gardaí regarding gender-based violence. I am struggling to find one measure the Government has introduced in its six months. Today, however, the Government had a chance to allow a Bill to progress that would actually deal with something very concrete, that …

Not every issue has to be defensive either.

There is an irony in the Tánaiste saying we should all work together when the Government is stopping my Bill. The Government could have allowed the Bill to progress. We could debate it and it could amend it on Committee Stage. The problem with the Bill the Minister seems to be talking about is that it will not exclude the potential for counselling notes to be admitted. That is the problem. The actual potential of having one's therapy notes accessed is what creates the trauma and is what is putting people off taking…

This is the kind of thing we have to listen to during Leaders' Questions.

I send my sympathies to all affected by the crash in India. It is absolutely horrific. Thousands of people are taking part in a march to Gaza today. They are trying to break the criminal blockade which is allowing thousands of people to starve, be killed and so on. It is something the Tánaiste commended when he spoke of doing anything that can be done to keep the eyes of the world on this when world leaders are clearly not doing enough. People who are going include health workers from this country, ordinary people …

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." In starting the debate on my Bill today, I am thinking in particular of the family of Annie McCarrick who disappeared 33 years ago but only now is a man being arrested in relation to that crime. Obviously, women do not disappear; something has to happen to them. We recall many other women in the 1990s who just suddenly disappeared and the State was very slow to investigate in the way it should have. I also think of the family of Tina Satchwell. For many years, just…

We should register that it is poor the Minister is not here himself. No offence to the Minister of State but it is also poor that he is not even in the area of justice. He is in the Department of heritage and housing, I believe. This does not send a good message. What the Minister of State has read out is even more disappointing than I thought it was going to be. Listen to what the Minister is saying; he is saying that "Elevating the rights of a victim of an alleged sexual offence in this way inevitably comes at th…

No, that is a fact. The idea that judges are always right and should have arbitration on this is not right. I do not agree with giving all power to a judge. I thank the Sinn Féin Deputies who have stayed and contributed to the debate on a Thursday evening. It is a pity there were not more parties. How many more women and people, because we had male victims in the Gallery when First Stage of the Bill was taken, will have to suffer this during the year we are waiting for the Minister? A year is a disgrace. Why would …

Unfortunately, in Blanchardstown we have been suffering with this for more than a year and a half and nobody is listening. Manna Drone Delivery began operating in Blanchardstown and it, apparently, has 170,000 drone flights done. The plan is for 2 million. The company has now linked up with the massive multinational, Deliveroo. Let us be clear: the company is not delivering blood or medicine; it is delivering burgers and lattes for profit. So many residents have been raising this with public representatives in the …