I commend Deputy Colm Burke on the Bill. I welcome the opportunity to speak, as it will allow me to talk about the care of our older people. In this regard we are really talking about ourselves because, if we are lucky, old age will come to us all. I am sure that most of us here would like to live independently at home for as long as possible and then, if necessary, with some form of independent but sheltered arrangement in the community. The word "independent" matters. It is one of the great injustices of old age …

With regard to public transport and Covid-19, I want to raise the roads less travelled within and between the towns and hinterlands of north Kildare and the connectivity between these areas and the rest of the country and, in the main, Dublin. For many in north Kildare, Dublin is so close but for medical appointments or a visit to family and friends the lack of public transport makes it a step too far. Public transport is our future. For climate action purposes we simply must get more cars off the road by making pu…

I am glad to see the Minister back again. I congratulate him on his new post. I hope the United Nations report on biodiversity did not keep him tossing and turning in the leaba last night. Between that report and the screening of "Unquiet Graves" on RTÉ 1 yesterday, I certainly did not get my seven hours' sleep, but I digress. Few politicians get to debate not just the kind of future we will have but whether there will be a future at all. We are living through and causing an extinction event but, judging by the byp…

This is such a serious issue for expectant parents that it requires us to choose the terms we use very carefully, but the only word that comes to mind to describe the position is "bonkers". It is straight up bonkers that an expectant father can go for a pint in a dry pub with a €9 meal and will soon be able to go for a pint without a meal in a wet pub, but he cannot accompany his partner in the delivery room for the once-in-a-lifetime experience of bringing a new baby into the world. It is straight up bonkers that …

I thank the Minister of State for her response. I still believe a solution must be found. There is no shortage of personal protective equipment, PPE. At the start of this pandemic, we were all very anxious and there was a shortage of PPE. Naturally, it had to be kept for our healthcare workers but there is no shortage now so a solution can be found. Labour can go on for 24 hours, or more in some awful cases. The birthing partner — it might not be the father but could be the mother or best friend — should be able to…

I commend my comrade, Teachta Cullinane, on bringing forward this important motion. For many of us, time is of the essence in catching and treating cancer. Medicine is so advanced that a person has the opportunity to become cancer-free if a diagnosis is made and treatment is begun as soon as possible. Since the Covid-19 crisis, I have been contacted by people and families all across north Kildare who are anxious about their screenings for cancer being delayed. For too many people, early diagnosis and treatment are …

Ba mhaith liom comhghairdeas a dhéanamh leis an Aire Stáit as ucht an phoist nua atá aici. Go n-éirí an t-ádh léi. Tá a lán obair thábhachtach le déanamh aici. I have spoken to many parents throughout north Kildare whose children require special education. Parents of children on the autism spectrum and with other special needs feel invisible. These are children who rely heavily on the classroom for support, order, regularity, security and routine. This helps them to relax, learn, flourish and reach their full poten…

Public consultation is mentioned frequently in the programme for Government, as well as engagement with citizens. In north Kildare, it has been suggested that the water supply will be moved from the Poulaphouca reservoir, the water from which is six times softer than water coming from the River Barrow. This has caused consternation and upset for people living in north Kildare. Swapping from a high-quality drinking water supply from the Poulaphouca reservoir, and doing this over people's heads, should not be the way…

I was here. Déanaim comhghairdeas leis an Leas-Cheann Comhairle agus leis an Aire. In the beginning the words were "comfort" and "health protection". Comfort came first for the millionaires and billionaires. With Covid-19 they were assured there would be no penalties for the tax exiles outstaying their revenue welcome because we were all in this together. We were all in this together for only as long as the Government needed the feel-good headlines. In what passes for national conversation during the lockdown, the …

Go raibh maith agat. I want to raise the promised legislation for people living with intellectual disabilities. Under the previous Government these became the new dispossessed. We cannot allow that to become permanent. Mothers in north Kildare have contacted me about their children with intellectual disabilities, the lack of respite services and unacceptable delays in vital health services. The Government signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities two year ago. Since then, that signature ha…

Childcare, a two-syllable word, is enough to put the heart across any parent, first from finding it, then from paying for it. Fees are among the highest in Europe. It could be called the baby mortgage. Parents who are already working flat out to keep a very expensive roof over their heads are paying an absolute fortune for the privilege of dropping their children off in the dark of the morning and collecting them in the dark of the night for most of the year. Many parents remarked to me that they have enjoyed being…

I stand across the Chamber from the Government party that gave us austerity and billions lost and owed. The Minister might need reminding about the smaller figures, those living month to month and week to week, those who on a Thursday night might be checking their coat pockets for the surprise fiver or checking down the side of the sofa for the extra couple of euro because they are desperately saving for a home of their own. In north Kildare, a modest three-bedroom house costs between €350,000 and €380,000. One wou…

I welcome the summer provision announcement from the Minister, but I along with many parents across north Kildare despair that the scheme might be another case of the Department speaking first and thinking later. My head is bursting and my heart is breaking from listening to all the thoughts and worries of exhausted parents of children with special needs and what they have relayed to me over the past few weeks. I hear in their voices the realisation that the love they have for their children with special needs is n…

More than 1,000 people in nursing homes across the State have been killed by Covid-19, at least that is according to the HSE figures. Over 112 of these deaths occurred in my constituency, Kildare North, where we paid a remarkably heavy price. We learned from the Special Committee on Covid-19 Response last Tuesday that the HSE, the Department of Health and the Minister for Health had no proper plan for protection in place in nursing homes, despite knowing that our elderly were at particular risk, despite having the …

That is what came across from the committee meeting.

Is mór an onóir dom bheith anseo agus ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil le muintir Chill Dara Thuaidh as mé a thoghadh. I thank the voters of Kildare North who expressed their faith in Sinn Féin to lead a Government of real change, returning me to the Dáil as their first female Sinn Féin Deputy. Politics is all-consuming and I want to thank my mam, brother, sisters and my children for their unwavering love and support. I also thank my republican family, the Ruth Hackett Cumann, and Sinn Féin activists across Kilda…