I am old enough to remember the worst days of the conflict. I knew people who were killed, maimed and imprisoned, with communities and futures destroyed. Individuals or members of a Government or political party who threaten, by their actions or inaction, to bring us back to those days need their heads examined. I was secretary of the Sinn Féin delegation to the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation some four years before the Good Friday Agreement. One of my remaining impressions of that period was the reticence and a…

Staffing levels in the health service have been a problem for decades and successive Governments have failed to get to grips with the fundamental issues of recruitment and retention. At the core of these issues is the working conditions our healthcare professionals, in particular nurses and young doctors, are forced to face every day. When gruelling 24-hour shifts or the threat of violent abuse or assault are the reality, is it any wonder that our young graduates are heading to Britain or Australia? Since the begin…

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to regulate the sale of nitrous oxide gas by prohibiting its sale in a reusable cylinder or disposable cartridge to a person who has not attained the age of 18 years and for that purpose to amend the Child Care Act 1991 and to provide for related matters. I am introducing the Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2023. This Bill would amend part of the Child Care Act 1991 and make it an offence to sell containers of nitrous oxide gas to a child or young person…

I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."

The core problem is the failure of successive Governments to deliver an adequate supply of social and affordable homes. We can all agree that the housing crisis is devastating lives across the State as people cannot afford sky-high rents or find suitable accommodation. That is because of the failure of successive Governments to take steps to deal with the crisis. That is the situation we are in. The point of the eviction ban was to buy time to increase the supply of social and affordable housing but that time was w…

The chief fire officer for Dublin Fire Brigade told the Joint Committee on Health last week that the combined resources of the NAS and Dublin Fire Brigade cannot meet current ambulance demands in Dublin city and county. I sat through the meeting so I know what he actually said, which seems at odds with what the Minister was saying. You would think that would be a wake-up call for the Government that there is something very wrong with the way it is resourcing our ambulance services. Dublin is a growing and expanding…

Officially, 10,500 people, including 3,500 children, are homeless in the State. That is a failure as far as I am concerned and I think that is a failure for anyone listening at home. That does not include those who are sofa surfing or living in unsuitable and overcrowded accommodation as well as parents and children stuck in their granny's boxroom. We all have that experience. We have all met them, knocking on doors. We know those families intimately at this stage because they call our office practically every week…

That is insulting. That is insulting to our supporters.

The cost-of-living crisis shows no sign of ending. That is a fact. I do not know what bubble the Minister is living in.

Most constituents who come to me say they are suffering at this stage. A report launched by Barnardos this month shows food poverty is worsening, with one in ten people surveyed forced to use food banks in 2022, while 29% reported skipping meals to ensure their children could eat. Those food banks are not only in Sinn Féin constituencies; they are right across the State. The Ministers should wake up to what is happening to people. People are going hungry under the Government but Ministers are living in a bubble and…

People are starving and the Minister is sitting there smirking in her corner.

You are smirking. Your speech was full of smirks.

You were smirking and looking down on people. That is all you are good at.

You were smirking at my constituents-----

-----and my voters.

How dare you.

How dare you.

I apologise, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle.

I never lose my temper in here but I am not going to listen to this nonsense coming from the Minister anymore.

We have a terrible history in this State of treating people who have been let down by the failures of Government as opponents, enemies or costly and troublesome problems. Whether it was those who were unfairly charged in nursing homes, those whose lives were destroyed by the hepatitis C bad blood scandal in the 1980s or the small number still alive who suffered the lifelong birth effects of thalidomide, Governments consciously planned strategies and schemes to see that they were not treated fairly or given the answ…