Full transcript: I will pick up a theme that several Deputies addressed, namely, missed opportunity. In discussing the Marine Survey Office we need to bear in mind that Ireland has been in the spotlight because of our fisheries for reasons that are not good. There have been long-running investigations and exposures of slavery, forced labour,…

Full Transcript: Patrick Costello TD – My colleague Deputy Smith and I are here to represent and raise the concerns of the St. Michael’s estate community. They have been waiting and waiting for the regeneration. As Deputy Smith said, they have been fighting for 21 years for the regeneration of St. Michael’s estate. They need…

Full transcript: In 2000, a full comprehensive review was published by the Department of Justice, which recommended radical reform. Recent research by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties has shown this reform simply has not happened. The system is under-resourced, regionally disjointed and, ultimately, ill-equipped to provide the justice and compassion needed by many bereaved…

Full transcript: Threshold is running a campaign for a statutory deposit protection scheme. Such schemes protect renters and have been shown in other countries to work quite well in protecting renters and their deposits. Such schemes are also promised under the programme for Government. The obvious home for such a scheme would be the Residential…

Full speech transcript: Like all the previous speakers, I welcome this Bill as a positive step. However, I disagree with the Minister of State’s comments that human trafficking and people smuggling are different. They are hand in glove. People smuggling is often the engine that facilitates the movement in human trafficking. I do not think…

This week I met with campaigners ‘Irish Families Through Surrogacy’ as they protested outside Leinster House. During Questions on Promised Legislation I raised this with the Minister and the need to act.

Full transcript: I wish to start by echoing the thoughts of many in the Chamber on the success of BreastCheck and the screening programme. I acknowledge the hard work done by the staff of BreastCheck, the positive impact that has had on homes across the country and the lives that have been saved by it….

Full transcript: The recent budget provided a welcome increase of just over 20% for the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner. We have seen problems with the administration of the general data protection regulation, GDPR, regime here. Data protection authorities in other countries have tried to sidestep us. The Data Protection Commission has been called…

Full speech transcript: I agree with many of the comments made by Deputy Verona Murphy. Having spent a week in Fethard-on-Sea a few years back, I concur that it is definitely an excellent holiday destination. I also agree that we should not be wasting money on tourism but should be spending it carefully and in…

Full speech transcript: Like many areas of youth work and many areas in general, the Garda youth diversion projects have been under significant strain in the past 18 months or so as a result of Covid. This has allowed many of these projects to reach out and find new ways of working. Much of this…