I thank the Minister of State for his contributions. I think we have found some groundwork on which we can make progress with this. I am not going to lie to the House and say I am not disappointed that the Minister of State is not going to withdraw his amendment. It is a lost opportunity. The Minister of State mentioned that the Minister had committed to undertaking a review within a time which falls well short of the nine months for which the Government is seeking to amend our legislation. That said, there is comm…

Like previous speakers, I acknowledge the work and tireless efforts of all those who met and continue to meet the asks of the wider community throughout the pandemic. In March 2020, none of us here knew what lay ahead and nor did the public outside. I recall having a phone conversation with a HSE manager at the time and, to be frank, I was not the better of it when that conversation ended because of the sheer scale of what was being presented as a possibility. We have moved out of the emergency phase and lockdown a…

I will start by making a comment on Deputy Crowe's contribution. It was a very well-merited and passionately given contribution but not all of us got that experience of full-time education in third level institutions. We cannot forget about those other learners. I was one of those people who returned to college as an adult and a single parent while raising my daughter alone. We should not exclude people like that because when all we hear is one side of what college represents, we can mistakenly and absolutely unint…

I take them in the spirit the Deputy meant.

I am not trying to in any way criticise. I am simply putting on the record that we do not all have that experience. It is as valid and meritable for everybody else who gets there regardless of which route they take. I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Higher Education Authority Bill 2022. It provides for the necessary items relating to the internal governance of universities, technological universities and institutes of technology by reforming the size and composition of their governing bodies. This is very w…

Can the Minister please provide an update on the engagements and progress made to date with regard to the Women of Honour? I will draw the Minister's attention to the fact that again this week at the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence, we repeatedly sought a reply to correspondence on this issue that was sent to the Minister's Department last December.

When I first asked the Minister about abuse in the Defence Forces almost a year ago, he told me that a robust system was in place and that there was a supportive workplace culture. Following that documentary with Ms Katie Hannon - I will give credit where it is due - the Minister had a turn of heart at that point. That was most welcome for those who had such negative experiences. After that documentary, the Minister told me that "real change" would be delivered and that there were "too many stories in this space th…

I am deeply concerned that the approach to which the Minister appears to be wedded will result in another failure for these women in their fight to get justice. When the Minister mentioned dignity and equality issues in his press release the other day, essentially he undermined the seriousness of the allegations these women made because they are so much more than that. When he mentioned the terms of reference of the review group he has put in place, he was effectively putting responsibility for any further action o…

The Minister of State and I could speak for the rest of the evening about the lack of adequate mental health services for young people in Longford-Westmeath. I want to give the Minister of State a specific example of the impact this has. Cillian is a 14-year-old boy in second year. When he was in third class he was given a psychology follow-on referral from his GP because of concerns raised by the school. He went to multiple appointments; his mam was told they would be in touch but that never happened. Today the HS…

There is an uncomfortable sense of déjà vu in this debate. We had these conversations last year and those conversations have taken place repeatedly across households the length and breadth of the country. When we finally got to the hybrid model last year, those who campaigned for it and those who at times pleaded for it were glad that it was put in place. I ask the Minister to do the same again this year. We are now in early 2022 and we are weeks away from mock exams. However, we are still stuck in a similar vortex…

I hope the Taoiseach will agree with me when I note that the statement issued by the Women of Honour group last month in response to the proposed internal review by the Department of Defence should now trigger a reconsideration by the leaders of the Government parties. It is accepted that violence, abuse, coercion and harassment of women and girls is systemic in Irish society. The evidence also tells us that this abuse is worse again for women in environments that are heavily reliant on power structures. In its sta…

I want to begin by expressing my support and respect for the adoptees, the mothers, the children and the advocates whose ongoing efforts have kept this subject very much alive over decades at this point, particularly those in my constituency or those who have been directly affected by the events relating to the Castlepollard mother and baby home in Westmeath. I also agree with them in terms of the disappointment they have been expressing in the past few days regarding the contents of this Bill. They speak of a jour…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion. It is absolutely necessary that we, as women, do so, and I include myself in that. I have played by the rules. I have played by societal rules even when I knew they were not fair and placed a disproportionate burden of responsibility on me, as a woman, because from the time we are young girls, we are conditioned to develop an awareness that young men and boys are not. Think about that. It is very wrong. We get advice and safety tips that we never ask for. We are to…

Yesterday, the Taoiseach stated that the Minister for Defence was anxious to do the right thing for and by the Women of Honour group. How can the Government reconcile that statement with the Women of Honour saying that their request for legal representatives to be present was ignored until after the terms of reference were set? They describe the terms of reference as costly, self-serving and pointless and state that they had no involvement in their creation. I am deeply concerned. These women engaged with the Minis…

As has been observed many times, we have a series of housekeeping Bills that must go through the Oireachtas and this is one of them. The Appropriation Bill has two primary purposes, the first of which is to give the legal authorisation for the expenditure that occurred in 2021 on the basis of Estimates voted by the Dáil over the course of the year, and the second of which is to provide the legal basis for spending to continue into next year in the period before the Dáil votes on the Estimates. The sums granted by t…

I commend the work of Deputy Ó Broin and all involved on bringing this Bill to the floor of the Dáil. I commend the Simon Community on the work it is doing. The automatic extension of notice periods for residential tenants, where the tenant is certified as being at risk of homelessness, is a really important intervention. My constituency of Longford-Westmeath has not been immune from the rise of homelessness that we have seen. Westmeath County Council has implemented a devolved regime under the midlands homelessnes…

This morning, some parents in my constituency received the following message from their local school: "If someone in your household has Covid-19 and cannot isolate from others, your child would need to stay at home for 17 days even if they feel well and get a negative PCR test." This refers to something that public heath advisers and the HSE refer to as constant exposure or ongoing exposure, where there is one person in the house who tests positive but, for whatever reason, cannot isolate and does not have access t…

I will indeed. I am referring to what is called constant exposure or ongoing exposure. Will homeschooling be facilitated for those children who are required to stay out of school for 17 days? Second, where a parent is required to be at home to provide vital care for a child, will that parent have access to the pandemic financial supports, whether illness benefit or the PUP?

No, the child. If you have a child-----

No, this is for children who are out for 17 days.