Funding is a big issue.

Hear, hear.

Today is the International Day of the Girl Child. I call for a debate with the Minister for Justice on the need to increase efforts to detect, prosecute and eliminate the barbaric practice of female genital mutilation, FGM, in Ireland. FGM is a transnational public health, human rights and gender injustice issue that more than 125 million girls and women in 29 countries in Africa and the Middle East have been subjected to. This House and the Lower House acted in recognition of this in 2012, when they passed the Cri…

It was dead.

I second the motion.

Let him finish. I can speak later.

I have a short few minutes. Can I come in later on?

I second the motion.

I will not need six minutes. To be quite honest, I am glad that Senator Craughwell was here to take the second slot this afternoon. I thank Senator Clonan for tabling this motion. How we treat our children, our elderly and our disabled people is a reflection on our country. We have failed in how we look after those three cohorts of people, especially those with disabilities. The Indecon report stated that they would require an increase in the budget of €27.30, yet yesterday €12 was allocated. It is simply not enoug…

This Commencement matter is on the non-commencement of section 6 of the Civil Registration (Amendment) Act 2014. This Act was passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas on 27 November 2014 and was signed into law on 4 December. As per section 1(3) of the Act, the Minister must commence certain sections. This last happened in 2020 with SI 550, which commenced sections 5, 7, 8 and 9. This was brought to my attention yesterday by the assistant registrar general of the Department. I was misled by a contradiction on the Ir…

That is fine.

I thank the Minister of State. I appreciate today is a busy day for the Minister. I appreciate the Minister of State coming to the House to take this important matter. It is important for the fathers out there. This is important legislation to ensure their names go on birth certificates. They have been waiting for this legislation for nine years. I understand that it is being drafted at this moment. The urgency is there for these fathers who have been waiting for this legislation for a long time. Not having that na…

I will share time.

Three minutes each.

The Minister of State is welcome. I was trying to get excited about coming to the House this afternoon but there was nothing exciting in the budget. It fell short in many areas this year. The expenditure reported for 2024 is €96.6 billion. In 2024, the Government will gift €6 billion of taxpayers' money to the NGO sector in order that activists can use it to ask the Government to pass laws they like. This figure increases year on year. Earlier this year, €5.5 billion was set aside for spending on Ukrainians in Irel…

I am calling for a debate with the Minister for Transport on an issue about which I have been in touch with him over the past few months. That is the extension of the cycle to work scheme to those with disabilities that affect their movement. Obviously, the scheme does not discriminate explicitly against such people, but rather it is a sin of omission. I was contacted over the summer by Councillor Gabe Cronnelly. He and many with disabilities would love to get a helping hand from the Government in order to green hi…

I am calling for a debate to be scheduled on the setting of minimum standards for the Government's response to problems and situations regarding the care of people in this country. Last week we heard that when it comes to providing accommodation for migrants and refugees, villages of tents are all we have at the moment. The attitude is one of saying "That is just how it is". That is just how it is because of the decisions of this Government. I spoke last week of the awful conditions in which Ukrainian refugees are …

The Minister of State is very welcome. I want to ask about the current state of play regarding the fight against human trafficking here in Ireland. There are many issues dealt with in these Houses and in Government Buildings which are pressing, obvious and apparent and which demand attention be given to them, as well as that attention being seen to be given to them. There are other issues that will never affect the vast majority of the people of this country, directly at least, but that for those they do affect hav…

I thank the Minister of State. It was reported in the UK press last year that migrants across the UK are being preyed upon by immigration advisers and solicitors who are taking advantage of the lack of protections for advice seekers. These rogue practitioners are charging extortionate fees for free application forms and are putting in spurious applications and appeals that have no chance of success. These criminals and confidence tricksters exploit vulnerable persons by extorting large sums of money from them, ofte…

I would like to raise the issue of child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, which Senator Joe O'Reilly brought up last week. The Inspector of Mental Health Services has said that she cannot currently provide an assurance to all parents in Ireland that their children can have access to a safe, effective and evidence-based mental health service. I agree with this assessment. Young teens from the age of 12 to 15 seem to be caught in this loop. They cannot quickly access services, whether it be Pieta House, …