We have had Irish people in charge of MI5-----

-----and foreign intelligence agencies.

I wish to talk about, and put on the record of the House, the situation that confronts the people of Gaza this morning. The Israel Defense Forces, IDF, has assembled a force of 300,000 troops on the border with Gaza and Gaza is 360 sq. km. To put that in context, the United States invaded Iraq, a country the size of France, with just over 120,000 troops. Israel is proposing to saturate the Gaza Strip with 300,000 troops. That is 1,000 troops per sq. km. The consequences of this are clear to everybody. We have seen …

I wish to raise, by way of update, the situation in respect of Children's Hospital Ireland, CHI, as it impacts on disabled children with scoliosis and other complications arising from having been left on waiting lists for catastrophically long periods of time. I reiterate that the medical device directive at European Union level came into effect around 2018 or 2019, and was then translated into the medical device regulations, MDRs, in 2021. As such, it was the sole topic of conversation in surgical units throughout…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit go dtí an Teach. I wish to raise the shortfall in funding for our institutes of higher education and third level sector, which is at €307 million. I welcome the additional allocation of €60 million in the budget yesterday. That is a very welcome development. Last year, it was only €40 million. If we are to continue at that rate, however, it will take up to a decade to address the shortfall in third level funding. I want to specifically address the impact that is having on one parti…

I welcome Sally-Anne Fisher from the senior leadership team in Trinity College and Zaid Al-Barghouthi and Ahlan Wa Sahlan from the Union of Students in Ireland. They are very welcome. It is an issue that impacts not just the institutions themselves but also the student population, as the Minister of State alluded to. As she is aware, I have three adult children myself, who are attending university. If we want to have the Nobel prize winners of the future, which we absolutely need for the economy and the development…

I thank the Minister of State.

I move: That Seanad Éireann: acknowledges that: - Ireland has promised to fully ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as per the Programme for Government; - the National Disability Authority and the Disability Stakeholder Group have recently published reports that show Irish Government Departments are failing to make sufficient progress to meet the minimum requirements for disabled Irish citizens, as set out by the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD); - di…

Yes, with Senator Craughwell. I will do 12 or 13 minutes and he will take up the balance. I thank the Minister for coming here. It is very much appreciated. I want to talk about the Green Paper on disability reform. I have it here with me and I have gone through it with a fine-tooth comb. It is an extraordinary document. I want to give the context in which it has been published. Ireland is an outlier when it comes to disability rights. Ireland is an outlier when it comes to every single outcome for disabled citizen…

-----during the day, Chair, if I may continue uninterrupted.

No. Excuse me. Chair?

Senator McGreehan does not understand. This has nothing to do with the Committee on Disability Matters; it has to do with the people I invited. They are the people who should be front and centre. How ironic, in a discussion about employment for disabled citizens, that this debate is rescheduled to a time when many disabled citizens cannot attend because they are in the workplace or their place of study. For example, my son could not attend this afternoon because he is in Dublin Business School. It says on page 6 th…

I will speak for another 30 seconds.

I will respond to the amendments I believe will be brought forward, and which I have had sight of, when we come to the closing remarks. I ask the Minister not to proceed with the proposal as set out. I know it is a consultation and this debate is part of that. I am rebutting it. I am elected to the House and have a right to speak on it. I ask her to instead make disability allowance a universal, non-means tested payment that will begin to address the extra cost of disability. That would take people out of poverty, …

Hear, hear.

On a point of order, that is inaccurate.

That is not factually correct.

The Acting Chairperson allowed points of order earlier, and should allow my point.

I will address it but that is factually inaccurate.

I thank the Minister for her response. This is not an attempt to close down the conversation. It is the beginning of opening that conversation and having it in the clear light of day. I want to address a point the Minister made. She said that, based on current CSO figures, giving everybody with a disability a weekly universal payment of €350 would cost €18 billion a year. That was never suggested by me or anyone else. What we are suggesting is that people in receipt of disability allowance receive that as a univers…