The Minister is doing a grave dishonour to the Women of Honour by refusing to grant the commission of investigation they want and deserve. In recounting their appalling experiences at the hands of men, among them senior officers wearing the uniform of the State, they are taking on not just their alleged abusers but the entire apparatus of the Defence Forces and the State, and by God we know how the institutions in this State like to protect themselves. We know the lengths the State will go to in order to defend the…

I too am happy to speak on this Bill and to say Sinn Féin will be supporting it. Being made redundant can be one of the most traumatic experiences in a person's life. It can be especially difficult if it occurs all of a sudden, if the employee has been a long time in the job or sector and if the employee has huge commitments, such as rent, mortgage or family commitments. An older worker may find it very hard to get another job. The redundant person wonders whether he or she will get another job with equal or better…

I also with to put on record my rejection of the suggestion from Deputy Cowen about selling off our shares in the ESB. It is sometimes referred to as selling off the family silver. That is a phrase I really disagree with. The family silver does not make money and does not pay dividends into the Irish economy. It is a myopic suggestion from Fianna Fáil that I hope will be utterly rejected. The ESB is not the equivalent of the family silver. It contributes to the Irish economy and selling it off is out of the questio…

This is the second time Deputy Durkan and I have tabled a Topical Issue on this issue. I cannot stress enough how important this is to the three schools concerned, St. Raphael's Special School, Scoil Naomh Pádraig and Celbridge Community School. It is important not just for the schools, but the children who attend and have yet to attend, their families and the entire community. The process has been going on and on with Kildare County Council for the past few years. We have now been told that the county council has …

I would also like to thank the Minister of State for his reply. Unfortunately, there is not much more information in it than the reply I received to my parliamentary question. I appreciate that is the current position. These schools have been through so much, in particular St. Raphael's which is a school for children with special needs and intellectual disabilities. Given the current state of the school, we have to do better. Since I was elected, I have, along with councillors in Celbridge, met the principals of th…

It is really disappointing to see the Government's amendment, which kicks the can down the road for another nine months. It is another example of the approach of "pretend and extend". It is said that knowledge is power in any administration, particularly one involving sensitive State documents that may be leaked to personal friends, erased text messages, deletion of official correspondence, sharp violation of the freedom of information legislation and exorbitant pay rises accepted or forgone. The public needs to kn…

I also acknowledge the major contribution made by our front-line care workers and our volunteers working in the vaccine centres. I am sorry to point out that the easing of Covid-19 restrictions has not brought any easing of stress for our leaving certificate students and their need for choice in this exam year. They suffered hugely from the restrictions and isolation imposed. No other leaving certificate students suffered as much as they did. They deserve better from the Minister and the Department of Education tha…

I want to raise the desperate situation of children with spina bifida and hydrocephalus, whose young bodies are being destroyed and mutilated while they are waiting for scoliosis surgery, which they could get in a timed, definite and planned capacity if the Government were to provide Cappagh hospital with the pitiful €5.1 million it needs to help them. That sum is chicken feed in the context of the HSE budget. Experts such as Mr. Connor Green and Professor Damien McCormack appeared before the health committee and l…

This important Bill reflects the importance of higher education across the State, including in my own constituency through Maynooth University, which is in my home town. Higher education matters to all of us. It is encouraging to see the Minister has taken on board some of the suggestions from pre-legislative scrutiny, including ramping up North-South co-operation and a role for the HEA in promoting an Ghaeilge. We in Sinn Féin feel the Bill could be a bit stronger on that, as Deputy Conway-Walsh has outlined. It i…

We call it mental health, but the news from County Kerry shows there is a sickness in the operation of our youth mental services. Dr. Ankur Sharma opened up to public scrutiny what could be serious systemic failures in the youth mental health services and their operation, perhaps at considerable cost to himself. Instead of being commended, it was reported he was asked to take leave, stripped of his role as clinical lead and reassigned to administration. While young people and their families were desperate for help,…

Anxiety is rising all over north Kildare on account of the leaving certificate. I am being contacted by parents from Celbridge, Maynooth, Leixlip and all the way down to Naas who are worried about their children because of the patchiness of the past two school years with so many of their excellent teachers out sick or isolating because they were close contacts. Students have been affected in the same way. They have had a disruptive two years and are now facing into more uncertainty around the exams. The students wh…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this issue, and particularly in a week when the nation is so closely examining the wrongs done to our women. I am also glad to see that the Bill has given up hurtful language, such as "birth mother" and "natural mother". Even so, it persists in being patronising and patriarchal, based on privacy, oddly. This is not about privacy, but kind of about secrecy and about maintaining it. We all have secrets. It is part of being a human and we all value our privacy. Equally, we know th…

My condolences to Ashling Murphy's family and to all who loved her. She certainly lit a fire in mná na hÉireann, from Derry to Cork and from Galway to Leinster House. To her family, Ashling was just their gorgeous young woman. They wished she had just come home. All of this must be very difficult for the family. The must be a before-and-after Ireland in the aftermath of what has happened. Every woman has experienced degrees of what happened to Ashling and countless other dead women. We all feel it. We are angry at …

It is so disrespectful.

We purposely sought to have education included.

As the Minister, Deputy Foley, could confirm if she had bothered to stay for a debate she was specifically included in, I have been questioning her on air quality and safety in our schools using the parliamentary question system for a long time now because I am deeply concerned at her Department's attitude to safety in our schools. I am relieved that, at long last, it seems HEPA filtration is being addressed but I cannot understand why, even at the eleventh hour, with Omicron upon us, the onus is being put on schoo…

It is a very apt time for this Private Members' Bill on residential tenancies and the extension of the notice period because at Christmas our thoughts turn to home, family, children and the life we share in our homes. I am glad that the Opposition is united in its support for this piece of work with the Simon Community. I also welcome the fact that the Minister is going to accept the Bill. It is important that the legislation be implemented because we need a radical overhaul of our housing policy and system. While …

I commend my comrades, Deputies Mairéad Farrell and Patricia Ryan, on bringing forward this important and promising Bill which would bring a bit of transparency, accountability and accuracy to the tendering process. It would also specifically address the issues of lowball tenders and bogus self-employment within its remit. It is disappointing for the Minister of State to say that the Government is going to oppose this Bill. The Government’s record on provision in this area is nothing to boast about. He cannot stand…

My party will support the Private Members' motion and I thank the Regional Group for tabling it. We welcome that the Government will accept the motion. As my colleague, Deputy Mac Lochlainn outlined, we hope it will also support our amendment. We are a tiny island. It is the first land the wind coming across the Atlantic Ocean meets. This means that as an energy source offshore wind is a big win for us. It gives us an opportunity to be able to ensure we can provide affordable energy for our people rather than the v…

I have constituents who are young families and single people who have moved to north Kildare and they cannot access a GP. Some of them are young mothers who cannot get vaccinations for their children or babies. Within 5 km of where I live, five GPs have recently retired. I have submitted parliamentary questions on this, but the replies tell me that GPs are a private matter and not the job of the Government. However, in the programme for Government, the Government promised to deliver care in the community and to str…