I am appalled by the Government's last-minute decision not to allow this Bill to progress. Deputy Joan Collins has received support from Mandate and the FSU. The Bill is credible, but the Government is refusing to allow it to move to the next Stage to be scrutinised. It is just not good enough and shows where this Government stands on workers' rights. We can all agree that the strength of the trade union movement mirrors the strength of workers' rights. Where the union is weaker, workers fare worse. Deductions of t…

I will begin by outlining a number of questions the Minister needs to answer today, and I request that she do that. She indicated last night that her party’s chief of staff had informed the chiefs of staff of the other Government party leaders of the information that had come to light last Thursday. At that time, did the chief of staff of the Minister’s party know her confidence in the then chairperson had been eroded to the point where she could not express confidence in her, and if so, was this conveyed to the th…

The Government must scrap the TV licence and support public service media through direct Exchequer funding. This was recommended in the report of the Future of Media Commission. There has been a loss of confidence in the wake of the scandals in RTÉ and this loss has not been helped by this week's additional scandals and announcements regarding the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, the RTÉ board and who knew what when the bumper exit packages were being paid out to top executives. The Government cannot use this mes…

I commend Deputy Ó Snodaigh and Eoghan Finn in his office on their work on this Bill. The past seven days have seen more emerging scandals in RTÉ about confidential payments that could not be discussed, a lack of oversight, and the Minister in charge not being there to ensure it was being done properly. Anyone who has followed the scandals has found themselves deeply frustrated by a drip-feed of information. First, we cannot discuss these issues because they are confidential, then a minute later, the amount of mone…

Figures released to Sinn Féin show a shocking increase of 158% in CAMHS waiting lists in CHO 4 from July 2020 to August 2023. Some 348 of these children have waited over 12 months for an appointment. This is completely unacceptable. Last year, I was contacted by a lady whose daughter was in severe distress. She had to bring her to the accident and emergency department for help. CAMHS arranged an appointment but needed a report from the accident and emergency department. Otherwise, the appointment would be cancelled…

The previous Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, said we need to see continued reductions in the number of children waiting to access CAMHS and the length of time spent waiting being reduced. Enough of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. All we have seen are children waiting longer. These children are begging for help from the Minister of State and from all of us and they need to get it.

This question is to ask the Minister if she has considered a health impact assessment in respect of the sale of alcohol Bill.

I actually wrote to the Minister last week. We broadly support the Bill, but we have set our own clear policy on the night-time economy. The Minister mentioned the consultation that took place in 2021. Consultation is not a replacement for the health impact assessment. We are not looking to delay the Bill, which is moving slowly at the moment. There is an opportunity for the Minister to have this assessment done. An impact assessment goes much further than consultation and would be based on credible evidence-based …

We support what the Government is trying to do. We see this as positive for the night-time economy and businesses if it is done in an engaging way. We also need to take on board the views of Alcohol Action Ireland, which has been very vocal and has done Trojan work on this. It believes a health impact assessment would allow for service planning and migration to protect vulnerable people. It conducted research with UCC which suggests that four people a day die in Ireland from alcohol abuse. We need to put a plan in …

On the issue of leadership within An Garda Síochána, on Tuesday night there was a very serious incident on Kilmore Road and Churchfield Road in Cork. My concern, and I have actually written to the Minister, to the Commissioner and to the gardaí locally in Cork about this, is that somebody should have made a call that a serious incident was taking place. This goes back to the point about leadership. Who was making the call? Hundreds of young people could not go in and out of their local sporting clubs because a road…

I will be brief. There are not enough gardaí in Cork either, and the figures show that. In 2022, there were 734 gardaí in the county. By December 2023, there were only 699. Cork got one additional garda from the group of recruits that came out of Templemore. There was a serious incident in my community on Tuesday night. Six gardaí responded but there were over 200 young people involved. It is getting to the stage where it is dangerous for gardaí. A member of An Garda Síochána asked a Sinn Féin public representative…

I echo the comments of my party colleagues in support of this Bill. I take the opportunity to speak on it and raise a number of issues. I acknowledge the great work done by pharmacists in my constituency and right across the State. They are often a person's first port of call. They provide compassionate, educated advice on many issues. This is invaluable. I request that the Minister give consideration to extending the needle exchange programme. In many areas, this works really well. However, it is a postcode lotter…

I would ask the Minister to seriously look at expanding the scheme in relation to free buses. People in Glenville, Watergrasshill and Ballyvolane in Cork are affected by its limited capacity. The Minister is looking at extending the scheme but I would certainly say that it needs to be expanded.

To follow on from my colleague, the Minister spoke about the reform aspect and waiting for the two Government reports. People are sceptical about that because the Future of Media Commission was commissioned and brought a report out before any of these scandals. That report should be taken on its own merits. People fear that the Government is kicking it down the road until after the local and European elections. From what we can gather, Fianna Fáil, and perhaps Fine Gael, want to bring in a new household charge. Tha…

Has the Minister spoken to officials in her Department about supporting a Gaeltacht on the northside of Cork city?

The irony here is that I am asking this question in English because I do not have the Irish to do it. However, the one thing I can say, and I am really proud of it, is that my two daughters could ask this question as Gaeilge. This is because they went to a local Gaelscoil - Gaelscoil Pheig Sayers in Fearann Phiarais. The fact that there was a local Gaelscoil available to them - it was not around when I was young - meant they were able to learn the language and become fluent in it. I am on the board of Gaelscoil Phe…

It is good to hear about the initiative and that Cork city is being targeted as one of the areas where the language will be supported. I would like to see vacant buildings used. In my community on the northside of Cork, there are buildings that are free. We could have a Gaeltacht hub in the area with a café, meeting rooms, library and a place to hold events. That would encourage the schools and the community to buy in. The problem for Irish speakers at the moment is that there is no place they can go and be with ot…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas-Cheann Comhairle. The Minister of State mentioned voids and casual lets, but the whole system the Government has does not work. We are looking to have it be open-ended so when a house becomes vacant the council can do it up and apply for the money immediately-----

-----rather than sending a list of all the houses to the Department and waiting for the decision to come back. The Minister is shaking his head but I know what I am talking about. Last weekend, I was in Mayfield and on one estate there were six boarded-up houses. I contacted the council on Monday morning to say what a disgrace it was. It is not just in Mayfield, but in The Glen, Knocknaheeny and Farranree. Throughout Cork city, council houses are boarded-up while there are 10,000 people looking for houses to get of…

-----on this Minister's watch.