Will the Tánaiste engage with them to make sure that happens? That is what I ask.

They are not.

The Government caused it.

Yes, it did.

I will start by echoing Deputy McGuinness's comments on foster parents and how they have been left behind in this budget. Much was made of the fact that they are getting a double payment for Christmas but that is really a drop in the ocean when compared with the costs foster parents pay to look after children, providing a very valuable service for the State. They should be recognised for that and it is symptomatic that they have not been. I will talk in general about what could change rather than about specifics wi…

I welcome those in the Gallery who are here to listen to this debate. Deputy Joan Collins was due to speak this evening as well but, unfortunately, she had a doctor's appointment so she had to leave. As we all know, sadly, we are facing into a strike next week by organisations that do not want to put the people they assist at risk, who provide vital services for many of the most vulnerable people in our society. They have been forced into this position by a Government that refuses to recognise the value of the serv…

I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the debate on budget 2024. I want to give particular thanks to RTÉ and the media for, as usual, giving us a full rundown on the budget this morning before the Ministers even arrived to deliver it. There was a time when leaked budget information resulted in the resignation of Ministers but these days, it is standard practice. We could be forgiven for confusing last year’s budget with this year’s, given it is just as underwhelming and nonsensical. Against almost ever…

As part of last year's budget, the Government introduced an enhanced electricity credit of €600 that was applied to electricity bills. However, many in the Traveller community were left behind as they did not receive this energy credit. Despite engagement between the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, and the National Traveller Money Advice and Budgetary Service, MABS, the issue has still not been resolved. Many families have missed out on a credit that would have eased a significant financial burden during this cost…

I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the debate. I welcome this legislation and many of its provisions regarding sexual offences. I particularly welcome the provisions that were introduced on the back of the O’Malley review, which contained 51 recommendations with four overarching themes. These were promoting better awareness of victims’ rights legislation; promoting education about the meaning and importance of consent; improving interagency co-operation and exchange of information, especially in res…

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak today on school transport. I would like to take this opportunity to highlight an issue that has affected multiple schoolchildren who use the Bus Éireann school transport service in my constituency of Donegal. There is a major communication issue between buses and schools regarding drop-off times. It seems that the drop-off time of schoolchildren to schools is decided by Bus Éireann, based on fulfilling all the needs of the area, without prior discussions or arrangement wit…

Nothing happens in a vacuum. The significant increase in the number of victims of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, particularly since Covid-19, is staggering. This has come following a rise of misogyny, which is spreading and radicalising our young boys and men. We are facing a very serious crisis here. It feels like we, as a society, are going backwards. It seems like misogynist views and language are used more frequently and are often deemed more acceptable today than ten years ago. Sadly, I can think …

I am thankful for the opportunity to speak on today’s motion regarding the suspension of the scrutiny requirement for the Eviction Ban Bill 2022. I thank People Before Profit-Solidarity for bringing this motion forward. I absolutely support this motion and the Bill on which it is based. It is essential that we accelerate the passage of the Eviction Ban Bill so that tenants are given proper long-term tenure security, particularly going into this winter. This Bill was passed in February, yet the Government continues …

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to speak on this motion regarding fuel increases. I also thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward the motion. I fully support this motion and its calls for the Government to reverse its plans to increase the price of petrol and diesel on 11 October by a further 2 and 2.5 cent and a further 8 and 6 cent per litre on 31 October. These are increases that are going to severely hurt families and that will add significantly to the current cost-of-living crisis. They are coming …

I was not expecting to be up this quickly. This question requests the number of people and waiting times for genetic testing for each of the years 2018 to 2022 and if it could be broken down by the length of time they are waiting.

That is interesting because I have been trying for some time to get an answer from the Department of Health to this question. I have submitted a number of questions and emails to try to get a response. The day after I submitted this question as a parliamentary question, I got a reply from the HSE, which is different from the reply the Minister for State just gave. It states that it talked to Children's Health Ireland and got figures from the organisation that 1,620 people are waiting for genetic tests. St. James's …

It is important.

The point I was making is that it is the exact same question, word for word. This one was answered on 11 September by the HSE. There is a problem, which must be recognised. The Minister and Minister of State come to the Chamber and read off scripts that are clearly different from the information we can get from other sources. Straight away, there is a problem. The political system needs to address that problem urgently. It does not inspire any confidence in the health services.

There is no point in that either.

I thank An Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to speak on affordable housing. I thank Deputy Cian O'Callaghan and the Social Democrats for bringing this motion forward. I strongly support this motion and I urge the Minister to consider the calls in the motion, as well as introducing rent controls. Article 43 of the Constitution guarantees the protection of property rights. However, this is not an absolute right. The protection is qualified by the words "as best it may" and Article 43 provides that the right "ought…

While I appreciate the Minister's response regarding the disgraceful situation with the children and young people at the hospital, he had a debate instead of providing information on the Order of Business. If we did that during the Order of Business, the Ceann Comhairle would be very quick to jump on us and say we were making statements and having a debate. The response to this question should rightly be given in a debate here and the Government should agree time for such a debate as a matter of urgency because thi…