I wish to ask the Minister what plans are in place for alcohol-free events in the proposals for the night-time economy.

As the Sinn Féin spokesperson for addiction recovery and well-being, I have met with various groups and organisations. The importance of having an alternative to alcohol has been raised, especially for people in recovery. I am the chairman of St. Vincent's Hurling and Football Club in Cork. We partnered with a recovery group and gave it the use of our all-weather facilities for the month of September as part of National Recovery Month. The group got a coffee van and we had a group meeting with various people in rec…

I agree with the Minister. There are initiatives we can work on. The night-time economy can be positive and we can build on it. Coupled with that, we can have alcohol-free events and change the culture. Like the Minister, I have two daughters aged 12 and 15. Sometimes, pre-Covid we went to concerts, but virtually everything we attended at night involved alcohol. Irish society is now more nuanced and we are starting to change. One of the results of Covid is that people are looking at different ways to live their liv…

A year ago, sadly, Andrew Gearns passed away. I want to take this opportunity to express my condolences to the Gearns family. One year on, his family are still waiting for an inquest and they feel it would help them to move forward with their grief. Andrew's brother Evan contacted me, very upset and frustrated at the length of time the family are waiting for an inquest. Unfortunately, there are too many families like the Gearns family in Cork. This is not the fault of the coroner or his staff, who do Trojan work de…

I thank the Minister of State. We know the coroner is independent. We are not asking about that. What we are asking is that the service would be funded, resourced and staffed to deal with the work it has to do. The coroner's job is serious and difficult. The Minister of State outlined the role I am asking what is her role and that of the Department, not in the coroner's work but in the coroner's support with funding and staffing issues. Families must be supported, especially in this time of need, and not be left wa…

I was looking for an update on the status of the process of securing a special envoy for freedom of expression.

While there is no specific number of LGBTQIA community members in this State, the Oireachtas research team estimates that there could be up to 500,000 people in the community in the State. Many of them were probably heartened to hear that the position of a special envoy for their freedom of expression was a priority for the Government and were disappointed when it fell through. Last night we were talking about Afghanistan and about the impact of the Taliban taking over, especially on women and girls but also on the…

An awful lot of people would be qualified to carry out the role of special envoy and would be interested in doing so. Sometimes we need to look outside the box of the usual suspects. A special envoy in this specific case for the LGBTQIA community is such an important role and it sends out such an important signal of how the Government considers that community and how it wants to support members of that community. We know there is a huge amount of discrimination against that community in Ireland and across the globe…

This week, Greta Thunberg slammed politicians for empty words on climate change. I wonder if this was a response to some of the recent comments the Minister has made. The Minister and the Government have put the burden on ordinary people and have made it clear that they will have to make cuts this winter, that we might have power outages and that heating and electricity costs will continue to rise out of control. Basically, people will go cold this winter. The Government is asking people to choose between dinner an…

The Minister has the balance of the time - five minutes - to answer some of the questions.

I thank the Minister. My thoughts are with all the families who have suffered unimaginable heartbreak and have had this further compounded this week. This has added to their grief when their grief is so overwhelming that they are already just trying to cope with it. This week I was contacted by a lady whose son was born in January 2020 at 24 weeks. She has asked that she and her family remain anonymous but she wants me to tell his story here today. Her son was born in CUMH. He lived for one day. He spent that day s…

To clarify, the family were contacted, but only on Monday and only to say that there had been revelations in the media. They have not been formally contacted about what took place. There was an initial contact, but I have outlined the situation. I can contact the family after we speak and, if they are willing, pass on the details to the Minister.

I welcome the Government's decision to take in an additional 500 refugees. That is to be commended and acknowledged, as my party colleagues have done. I cannot even begin to imagine the experience of women and girls in Afghanistan over the past month. My thoughts are with those who have lost loved ones or fled their homes or who feel they are no longer safe and have no hope. The US, Britain, NATO, the UN and the EU have all failed the people of Afghanistan, but in particular the women and children. They have failed…

Nothing was built.

Stop, stop.

They are the Government's rules.

We do not.

The Minister calls this policy Housing for All. It will provide housing for some but not for ordinary people. It will provide housing for developers, landowners, speculators, investment and vulture funds, and greedy landlords but not for ordinary people who are trying to put a roof over their heads and pay a rent or mortgage that is sustainable. The Minister is there with his partners in government in Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party. Listening to the contributions of Deputies Bruton and Matthews you woul…

Will he come with me because he must not have been looking at where the dereliction was?

The Minister is sitting there in his ivory tower with his Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and speculator buddies while we are on the ground with ordinary people who are suffering. That is the difference. The Minister spoke about ideology, and there is a problem with it because the Government believes in looking after the well-to-do and the wealthy developers. People do not have homes, they are worried about how they will pay their rents and mortgages and there is nothing in Housing for All for them.