I, too, raise the Global Sumud Flotilla because to be quite honest, the Minister's answers so far have been weak and inadequate. The flotilla was attacked in European waters last night. It is a humanitarian fleet of over 500 civilians, among them our colleague and my friend, Senator Chris Andrews, my friend and comrade, Tadgh Hickey, and 20 more brave Irish citizens, who are doing the work that the world's governments should be doing by trying to deliver humanitarian aid to our brothers and sisters in Palestine. Th…

We need to ensure the safe passage of this flotilla-----

-----and keep our citizens safe.

Ensure that our citizens are safe. Place sanctions on Israel.

Make sure that Israel does not get away with this any more.

Keep your eyes on the flotilla.

Keep your eyes on Gaza and the West Bank. Right now, the slaughter is increasing and we have not put in place any sanctions.

He has no answer and there are no sanctions.

Condemnation.

Sanction the terror state.

The roll-out of the school transport scheme in Kildare this year was a complete shambles, as my colleague just said. On the first day of school, my phone and inbox were flooded with messages from parents who were informed at the very last minute that their child's bus route had been cancelled. We know that in some of these instances no bid was made on the route, yet parents were left completely in the dark. That kind of breakdown in co-ordination should never have happened. I hope the Department and Bus Éireann are…

Ó toghadh mé, tá mé tar éis labhairt leis na scórtha teaghlach, teaghlaigh a bhfuil iachall orthu troid lá i ndiaidh lae ar son an rud is bunúsaí atá de dhíth orthu, oideachas ceart dá páistí. Parents are sick and tired of fighting. They are carers and workers, often raising other children too, and they are forced to become part-time activists and policy experts on top of that, just to secure the supports their children need. Is é seo an tríú seachtain ar ais ar scoil agus fós, fud fad an Stáit, tá páistí a bhfuil …

We can measure the success of any society's progress on welfare, well-being and inclusion by looking at how it treats its most marginalised groups. We are failing our most vulnerable miserably here in Ireland. Last night, we heard no shortage of horror stories about women suffering as a result of poor treatment for endometriosis in this State, with an average wait of nine years for a diagnosis. At the moment, transgender people are waiting ten years for a first appointment with the National Gender Service, the only…

I thank the courageous women in the Gallery who have bravely shared their stories with us today and over recent months. Women have been forced to travel abroad due to the neglectful health system in this State. It is a system that has told young girls to get pregnant to stop their periods, allowed their mothers to go into debt seeking treatment abroad and referred our women to mental health services instead of gynaecological ones because it is "all in their head". It is a system that allows women to go into septic …

Fáiltím roimh an deis ráiteas a thabhairt ar fhoilsiú na tuarascála seo. Is cáipéis chríochnúil atá os ár gcomhair inniu. Molaim an rannpháirtíocht leathan le páirtithe leasmhara sa phróiseas, go háirithe ionchur suntasach na ndaoine óga a tógadh san áireamh. Ag an stad seo, is beag duine sa Stát nach mbaineann an cheist seo leo ar bhealach amháin nó bealach éigin eile. Is fianaise é an freagra mór millteach a fuair comhairliúchán an athbhreithnithe seo - d’fhreagair 28,000 duine an suirbhé ar líne. More than 28,00…

Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are no strangers to hollowing out our cities and public spaces for corporations. There is no such thing as public space in our capital any more. Scandalously, there is but a single public bathroom in the entirety of Dublin city today. Selling off our dearest national monument as corporate prey is one more step in that direction, and another in a series of affronts to our national history and republican legacy. Tá Ard-Oifig an Phoist mar cheann de na suíomhanna stairiúla is tábhachtaí in Éi…

No one said that.

The Minister of State said that.

Cultural vandalism.

More than a decade ago, a citizens' assembly gave a clear recommendation to change the Constitution to give citizens outside the State the right to vote in presidential elections. Tugadh comhartha soiléir. Vótáil 78% de bhaill an choinbhinsiúin ar son cearta a thabhairt d'Éireannaigh atá ina gcónaí lasmuigh den Sé Chontae is Fiche. Sinn Féin promptly brought forward legislation that would give legal effect to this recommendation. The Government parties were all ears. We heard that they were open and were listening …