Eoghan Kenny
Cork North-Central · Labour Party · Ireland
“The barriers facing families today may be different but the principle has not changed. The Labour Party believes opportunity should be determined by talent, effort and ambition, not by the balance in a parent's bank account. Technology has transformed education for the better and it is now an essential part of modern schooling.”
“Parents across Ireland are sitting at kitchen tables trying to work out how they are going to pay for another school year. For far too many families, the excitement of a child returning to school has been replaced by financial anxiety. Increasingly, parents are being forced into debt simply to educate their children.”
“Having been a teacher in two schools, I recognise that these tablets and these laptops that are provided to schools break and that maintenance for them is coming out of capitation grants that cannot be fulfilled by the schools because they are using capitation grants elsewhere.”
“I raise the issue of the lack of a plan for a new public sector pay deal and the lack of engagement on this matter. SIPTU, Fórsa, Unite and the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO, are now to ballot their members for industrial action, up to and including strike action.”
“We need to stop pretending otherwise and introduce enforceable protections for families. As schools become more dependent on technology than ever before, the Government has cut the ICT grant by almost €15 million. That grant stands at just €35 million with no dedicated funding for repairs or maintenance.”
“It is a guidance letter once again, a guidance circular that was produced by the Minister at the time in 2017 that gave absolutely no consequences to the school for having branded school uniforms. In my opening speech I, as well as my colleagues, welcomed the free books scheme.”
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“When will workers see the Government at the negotiation table with trade unions to deliver a fair public sector pay deal for workers across this country so that we can stop strike action from happening?”
“I raise the issue of the lack of a plan for a new public sector pay deal and the lack of engagement on this matter. SIPTU, Fórsa, Unite and the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO, are now to ballot their members for industrial action, up to and including strike action. The public sector pay deal expired on 30 June and formal talks have yet to begin on a successor agreement. We are in the final week before Dáil Éireann goes into recess for the summer and trade unions and workers in the public sector are none the wiser about their future income and job security. Despite the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, looming back to school costs, winter on the horizon, the cost of fuel, third level education costs, and rents being reset to market value, the Government is leaving these workers in limbo.”
“The Minister outlined the cost of school transport. School transport should be free. I do not care if it is €1.32 for families right across the country. It should be free. We should have free school transport in this country for every single child. No financial barrier should be put before a child who needs access to schools, predominantly children living in rural areas. In relation to the engagement and consultation charter Bill, of course consultation with parents is essential, but drawn-out consultation right now will not pay for the significant back-to-school costs that parents are sitting around the kitchen table right now wondering how they will be able to afford in the next month or two.”
“It is a guidance letter once again, a guidance circular that was produced by the Minister at the time in 2017 that gave absolutely no consequences to the school for having branded school uniforms. In my opening speech I, as well as my colleagues, welcomed the free books scheme. It was an essential piece that was brought in within the Department of Social Protection and the Department of education that genuinely helped families. However, that free books scheme is now being undermined 100%, unfortunately, by a lot of schools mandating children to have digital devices. That free books scheme was extremely welcome. I welcomed it as a teacher; I welcome it now as a politician. Unfortunately, it is now being undermined by many schools across the country mandating children to have digital devices.”
“In relation to the Minister's comment that "decisions about digital devices should be grounded in pedagogy, informed by engagement with parents and students and mindful of affordability for families", her own Department has created a senior cycle reform, leaving certificate reform, and almost 40% of that leaving cert work is project work now that almost includes the use of a digital device consistently. The Minister said when speaking about school uniforms that Circular 32/2017 makes it clear that schools should take practical steps to reduce costs for families, including use of generic items where possible, avoiding unnecessary exclusive supplier arrangements. It is just not happening. That circular needs to be revisited and schools need to be issued with further guidance.”
“Having been a teacher in two schools, I recognise that these tablets and these laptops that are provided to schools break and that maintenance for them is coming out of capitation grants that cannot be fulfilled by the schools because they are using capitation grants elsewhere. If we had a ring-fenced maintenance fund for these laptops and tablets, it would provide the necessary funding to be able to maintain them. As regards the Minister's reply, guidance to schools is not enforcement to schools. As regards providing guidance and letters to schools that say, "My Department believes that it is not necessary to have laptops and tablets; I am issuing guidance on this", without those enforcement mechanisms being put in place, schools can still mandate children to have a personal digital device, which is what they are doing.”
“Sinn Féin should get back to the priorities in this motion. The Minister in her speech referred on a number of occasions to encouraging schools: I encourage schools to consider how existing ICT supports and funding could be used to meet students' needs before any expectation was placed on parents ... Using the words "encourage schools" is extremely blasé in that it does not pay for digital devices. Saying to schools "I encourage you to look into not using digital devices" does not pay for those digital devices that are required. The Minister referred to a digital learning plan. In our motion we have called for a ring-fenced maintenance fund to be provided by the Department of education for schools.”
“To finish the debate, I thank all Deputies across the House for their contributions. I am quite surprised by the contributions from some Deputies in Sinn Féin, which holds the finance Ministry in the North of Ireland, where there is currently a €700 million shortfall in the Department of Education.”
“This debate comes down to one simple question: do we want an education system where every child has the same opportunity to succeed or do we want opportunity to increasingly depend on what their parents can afford? The Labour Party has made its choice. Poverty should never determine potential. Education should be the ladder that lifts children out of disadvantage, not another bill that pushes families further into it. Education should open doors; it should never open overdrafts. I commend the motion to the House.”
“At least 47 schools have been referred to the financial support services unit in the Department in the academic year 2026 because they cannot make ends meet. That is not a failure of principals or teachers; it is the consequence of political choices. The Labour Party believes there is a better way. We call for enforceable national guidelines on digital devices, the restoration of the ICT grant to at least €50 million, a national loan scheme so every child can access a device where required, the reversal of increased transport and examination fees, the restoration of the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance, proper capitation funding and genuine choice for parents when buying school uniforms.”
“We need to stop pretending otherwise and introduce enforceable protections for families. As schools become more dependent on technology than ever before, the Government has cut the ICT grant by almost €15 million. That grant stands at just €35 million with no dedicated funding for repairs or maintenance. Schools are expected to deliver 21st century education with 20th century resources. The Government is not reducing the cost of education; it is simply moving the bill from the Department of education to the kitchen table. The pressure on families does not end there. Parents have seen school transport charges increase and State examination fees return. Schools continue to rely on so-called volunteer contributions because capitation has failed to keep pace with the real cost of running a school.”
“If access to learning depends on family income, then we are failing in our duty to provide equality of opportunity. The Labour Party welcomed the free books scheme because it genuinely helped many families but let us not pretend free books make education free. Free books do not pay for the hidden costs. Families do not experience Government decisions one at a time; they experience them all together. Government sees separate policies where parents see one enormous bill. The Minister has written to schools stating laptops and tablets cannot be made mandatory; however, parents, teachers and children know the reality. If a child cannot complete assignments or fully participate in class without a device, then that device has become mandatory in everything but name.”
“They represent parents taking out loans, relying on credit cards and sacrificing their own needs or the needs of other children because they refuse to let their children fall behind. As a former teacher, I know that teachers learn quickly. We see the child who quietly falls behind because they do not have the same resources as everyone else. We see parents apologising because they simply cannot afford another payment. Teachers will always do everything they can to support those students, but teachers should not ever be expected to compensate for Government failures. This is no longer simply a digital divide. It has become an education divide. A child without access to the technology required by their school is not simply missing out on a laptop but on opportunities.”
“It has heard from principals, teachers and parents, yet the response has simply not matched the scale of the problem. The research tells us that almost three in every ten secondary schools now require students to purchase digital devices. Even more worrying, almost one in five DEIS schools has introduced these requirements. The very schools established to reduce educational disadvantage are now asking some of the most financially stretched families in Ireland to spend hundreds of euro on technology simply so that their children can participate fully in school. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul has received 3,000 requests for assistance with educational digital devices. Those are not just figures in a report.”
“The barriers facing families today may be different but the principle has not changed. The Labour Party believes opportunity should be determined by talent, effort and ambition, not by the balance in a parent's bank account. Technology has transformed education for the better and it is now an essential part of modern schooling. If digital learning is essential, then access to digital technology must also be essential. It cannot depend on whether a family can find another €430 at the end of August. Equality of opportunity means very little if opportunity comes with a price tag that thousands simply cannot afford. The Government cannot claim it did not know this was happening. It has had the research from the ESRI and the University of Limerick. It has heard the warnings from Barnardos and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.”
“Parents across Ireland are sitting at kitchen tables trying to work out how they are going to pay for another school year. For far too many families, the excitement of a child returning to school has been replaced by financial anxiety. Increasingly, parents are being forced into debt simply to educate their children. In one of the wealthiest countries in Europe, that should shame every single one of us. Education is supposed to be the great equaliser. It should be the pathway that allows every child to achieve their potential, regardless of where they come from or what their parents earn. That has always been a core Labour Party belief. It was the principle that guided Niamh Bhreathnach when she transformed education in this country. She understood that Government should remove barriers to education, not create new ones.”
“I move: That Dáil Éireann: notes that: — research by the Economic and Social Research Institute and the University of Limerick from a survey of more than 720 post-primary schools showed that more than three in ten mandated the purchase of digital devices, including 17 per cent of Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS), and that there is a risk of growing inequalities in the education system; — the Barnardos Back to School 2025 survey showed the average cost of digital devices for second level schools has reached €430, up from €121 in 2022; — since 2015 the Society of St Vincent de Paul has received nearly 3,000 requests for assistance with educational digital devices; — savings to parents from the Primary Schoolbooks Scheme are now being undermined by requests for mandatory Information and Communications Technology (ICT) equipment that is more and more essential for schoolwork; — the Grant Scheme for ICT Infrastructure 2026 for schools was cut by €15 million, to €35 million in 2025, remained at €35 million in 2026 and there is no dedicated funding for repair or maintenance; and — manufacturers have warned that the shortage of memory chips will lead to significant price increases for laptops and tablets; further notes on school costs that: — The Zurich Cost of Education in Ireland 2026 survey, shows an annual cost to parents of €1,794 for primary school and €2,928 for secondary school, and that the number of parents taking out loans to help with costs doubled from 2025 to 2026; — Budget 2026 discontinued the two double Child Benefit payments, removed energy credits, the €400 once-off Working Family Payment, and the once-off family support €100 lump sum per qualifying child; — State Examination Fees have been reimposed on Junior and Leaving Certificate students; — the School Transport Scheme fees have increased to €100 per child with the family cap increasing by €95 to €220, the fee for primary school children doubled from €50, and increased by a third, €25, for post-primary students; — the increased cost of energy, insurance, waste and other essential services are not being met from the Capitation Grant, leaving schools reliant on voluntary donations; — at least 47 schools have been referred to the Financial Support Services Unit of the Department of Education and Youth in the 2025/2026 school year, due to rising costs, an increase of 38 per cent on last year; — the Back-to-School Clothing and Footwear allowance (BSCFA) has been extended to 2- and 3-year-olds, but the €100 cut in the rate in 2024 has never been restored, and the income thresholds remain very restrictive; — parents are provided with no support for other substantial costs including mock exam and correction fees, school trips and tours, after-school and summer extracurricular activities and camps, and students in transition year have additional expenses above normal year-to-year costs; and — the 2017 circular on affordable uniforms is not being enforced, with large numbers still using crested or branded uniforms rather than generic uniform items; recalls that: — the Minister for Education and Youth has written to all schools noting that they cannot make it mandatory for pupils to purchase laptops or tablets, but there is no enforcement of this guidance; — there is still no ban on voluntary contributions forcing parents to have to fund essential school activities; and — the introduction of new curriculums for Leaving Certificate subjects has imposed further extra costs on post-primary schools; and calls on the Government to: — address the growing inequality from the digital divide and ensure all children have access to digital technology in school at no additional cost to parents; — introduce enforceable guidelines for schools on the requirement for laptops and tablets in schoolwork that protects families from the costs of having to buy digital equipment; — restore the school Grant Scheme for ICT Infrastructure 2026 to at least €50 million, and ensure there is a separate stream of funding for the maintenance and repair of equipment; — ensure students have access to a national loan scheme when laptops or tablets are required for school project work; — remove State Examination Fees, and reverse the increases to the School Transport Scheme fees; — restore the €100 cut to the BSCFA and expand income thresholds to increase eligibility and ensure more working families qualify; — ban voluntary contributions and ensure that school capitation rates are increased in Budget 2027 to meet the actual costs of running a school; and — mandate schools to use non-branded uniform clothing and ensure that parents have a choice of supplier to ensure competition on costs.”
“The Tánaiste will be well aware that last night SNAs overwhelmingly voted to reject the proposed SNA workforce development plan. I understand Fórsa's education divisional executive committee will meet next Wednesday, 8 July. I accept what the Minister, Deputy Naughton, said about there being significant stakeholder engagement on the creation of this workforce development plan but the reality is that SNAs do not accept it. One of the core issues is the 72-hour obligation on SNAs. I suspect that this issue forms part of the reason for the rejection of the plan. My question is fairly simple. What now?”
“I want to focus on students. They rightly expect access to modern facilities, smaller class sizes, adequate academic supports and quality learning environments. These expectations become increasingly difficult to meet when institutions are under a sustained financial strain. Ireland has an international reputation for the quality of its higher education system. Protecting that reputation requires investment. It is far more cost-effective to invest now than to allow standards to decline and attempt to rebuild capacity later.”
“The request from the Irish Universities Association is for €250 million over the next five years in capital spending to upgrade digital infrastructure in the seven universities, and €475 million over four years in capital spending to decarbonise universities and create fully sustainable campuses. We regularly hear about Ireland's ambition to be a global leader in innovation, research and skills. We want to attract investment, develop indigenous enterprise and prepare our workforce for the industries of the future. None of these ambitions can be achieved if our universities are expected to do more each year with increasingly stretched resources. I ask the Minister to continue engaging with them through the budgetary process.”
“There has been significant investment in scientific research but we have to ensure that we match European funding with national investment across the country.”
“On the broader aspect to this, we invest significantly in educating talented scientists. We must ensure that, having provided funding to educate these talented scientists, we do not put them in the position where they feel they must leave Ireland because they cannot see a stable research career here. I do not have statistics on that but if we are going to engage with and fund young people to become fantastic scientists, we must ensure we provide the funding to make sure they can have a stable research career here, if they wish to have one and if it is possible. Has the Department examined ways to complement the European funding model that we have alongside more predictable national investment? I do not expect him to go into that in detail. There is a budgetary process involved there.”
“Major projects often take many years to develop, requiring sustained investment, international collaboration, and the ability to recruit and retain highly skilled researchers. This is not simply about supporting academia. Research and innovation underpin Ireland's future economic success. It is good that the Minister referenced the Horizon Europe programme.”
“I thank the Minister. The EU Presidency obviously gives us a greater opportunity to work with our European counterparts and, as the Minister is the honest broker chairing that, it is essential that we gain significant experience from the amount that we can invest in scientific research. It would probably be remiss of me not to mention University College Cork in my county, which does a significant amount of scientific research. I am very proud as a Cork man that we do such fantastic scientific research. One of the biggest issues raised repeatedly by researchers is the need for greater certainty around long-term funding. Scientific research cannot be planned on a year-to-year basis.”
“Will the Minister give an update on his discussions with the European Research Council, ERC, in relation to the multi-annual funding framework for science? Ireland has built an international reputation for excellence in scientific research. Our universities and research institutions consistently compete successfully for European funding and Irish researchers have made significant contributions in areas ranging from health and pharmaceuticals to climate science, artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing.”
“That includes a centralised application system like the one we have for those who are heading into undergraduate programmes to provide them, as the Minister said, with a one-stop-shop. That is the level of engagement we must have with those young people who are seeking apprenticeships but also with career guidance teachers, employers who are willing to take on apprenticeships and the higher institutions.”
“I am willing to work with the Minister on this. Our objective should be to remove barriers and not create them. If Ireland is to meet its future skills need, we must make apprenticeships as visible, accessible and attractive as every other education pathway. I welcome the Minister's views. This CAO style application system for apprenticeships is not going to happen overnight but that is the ambition the Department should have. It is the ambition we should have in this House as policymakers and public representatives. There is an opportunity to give every young person across the country, no matter what pathway they want to go down, the best possible opportunity to access that pathway.”
“It is an opportunity so employers have more of an understanding of how to get the apprenticeships but also apprentices would be able to access local employers or national employers.”
“In relation to apprenticeship.ie , I ask the Department to promote this more strongly and more to career guidance teachers in our secondary schools who are probably aware of it but I am not necessarily sure how many parents or young people are aware of apprenticeship.ie. It is a simple fix. It probably would not need a lot of funding to promote that. The main focus of the question is on the fact they are no longer confined to the traditional trades anymore where they approach a local plumber or carpenter to take an apprentice on. It is covering areas like ICT, finance, biopharma, logistics and engineering. They are providing young people and career changers with excellent opportunities to earn while they learn.”
“As I have mentioned already during these questions, given the growth in apprenticeships in Ireland, is the Department considering plans to introduce a CAO style type of application process to secure an apprenticeship? We all know there is a significant number of people who are waiting and trying to get an apprenticeship and trying to get a company to take them on for their apprenticeship. There is the CAO system and an application process for students who are going into further and higher education from sixth year. Is that going to be brought in for apprenticeships?”
“Over the last 18 months in the Chamber, we have had robust debates about apprenticeships. There are a lot of challenges facing apprenticeships. I will specifically mention pay and conditions for apprentices. I know that is being worked through with the Department, albeit perhaps through a piecemeal approach. I again want to put on the record that the number of people taking up apprenticeships in every sector is positive, and has been so for the last 18 months.”
“I am sure that the Minister is aware of this but I want to put it on the record. The figure of 72% came to me through Munster Technological University, MTU, in Tralee, which the Minister is very familiar with and has visited. It is important to put that on the record, but it is also important to outline the broader aspect of it. We hear a great deal about the need to build more homes, deliver major infrastructural projects and strengthen Ireland's competitiveness. None of these ambitions can be achieved unless we invest in the people who train our apprentices. Investment in apprenticeships is not simply an education issue, but an economic necessity. I know the institutions where staff have worked tirelessly to accommodate record numbers of apprenticeships, like MTU in Tralee. It is important that we continue to put this on the record.”
“Is the Department looking at giving additional funding for the institutions to provide them with the opportunity to employ more staff, including technicians and administrative staff, so that they can keep pace with the number of students coming to them looking for help with their apprenticeships?”
“That is appreciated. Institutions have come to me directly to say that, although they understand that they are the ones that deploy staff to the busiest departments of their institutions, they feel that there is not enough funding coming to them to do so, given the increase in apprenticeships in all of their institutions. While I thank the Minister for giving me the opportunity to focus on one particular institution, there is a broader aspect to this question. We have seen a significant number of people taking up apprenticeship roles in this country, which is positive and I thank the Minister and his officials in the Department for that.”
“There is a positive aspect to this question. In the context of the way in which apprenticeship provision is funded through his Department, does the Minister expect the funding in question to be used to increase administrative and support staffing in line with the growth in apprenticeship numbers, for the recruitment of additional lecturing staff, technicians, and heads of trades, given that some institutions have recorded an increase in apprenticeship registration of up to 72%, without any corresponding increase in administrative staff. We have seen an increase in the number of apprenticeships people are taking up. In lie with that, the number of administrative staff and those teaching apprentices must also be increased.”
“They do not have any relief when they have to pay €1,000 for school uniforms and no relief when they have to pay €700 for an iPad that has really disregarded the free book scheme in this country. While the 9% VAT cut favours large business and corporations, it does not favour hard-working families who are struggling behind their own front doors. We speak about the retrofitting of homes. These retrofit grants are only applicable to the majority of people who have huge incomes in this country. Ordinary, hard-working people cannot afford to make up the extra funding needed for these retrofitting grants. There was huge fanfare for the EV scrappage scheme and the €8,000 people would get, but how are people supposed to pay €30,000 extra for the EV?”
“I will touch on some of the stuff my colleague, Deputy Nash, has said. He has given these costed proposals to Government to implement for families across this country. He has spoken about the fact that we use the word "crisis", which makes it seem like this is a short-term issue. This has been a crisis in this country for many years now. Many families and individuals right across Ireland are genuinely struggling behind their own front door. During the week, we saw huge fanfare for the VAT rate being cut to 9%. My aunt has had a hair salon for the past 25 years. On the face of it, the VAT cut is acceptable and seems workable but will the person get the cheaper cup of coffee or a cheaper haircut?”
“If Government accepted that one group under financial pressure deserved immediate action, why did it reject the Labour Party's proposals to support the thousands of other workers, families, pensioners, carers and those living with disabilities who are under just as much pressure every single day? The Government cannot pick and choose whose cost-of-living crisis it responds to. Relief cannot depend on who is most visible. It must reach those who are doing everything right, working hard and paying their taxes, and yet are still wondering how they will get to the end of the month. The people of my constituency are not asking for special treatment. They are asking for fairness and practical action. The Labour Party has put practical solutions before this House. Families cannot wait until the next budget. They need action now.”
“I supported the measures brought forward by Government because those people needed relief. I voted for that package. Fuel is only one part of the cost-of-living crisis, however. There are thousands of people who will never organise a protest. There are families quietly struggling behind the front door of their home. If I am a mother or a father trying to find the money for school uniforms, I cannot park my worries on O'Connell Street and hope someone notices. If I am trying to keep up with the mortgage, the rent, childcare costs or the weekly grocery bill, I am fighting that battle around my own kitchen table. Those families deserve the same urgency.”
“These people are not looking for handouts. They are looking for fairness. At the beginning of May, the Labour Party put practical and fully-costed proposals before this House and before the Government in the form of a mini budget. We proposed measures to help PAYE workers keep more of what they earn, targeted energy supports, a summer double social welfare payment, the restoration of the €100 cut to the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance, additional support for families through child benefit, and a range of practical measures to ease the pressure on households. The Government voted down these proposals. In recent months, we saw fuel protests across the country. These protests highlighted the very real financial pressure many people are under.”
“I thank Deputies Tóibín and Lawless and Aontú for bringing forward this very important motion. As every TD will tell the Minister of State, we are meeting people across our constituencies who are doing everything society asks of them. They get up early in the morning, go to work, pay their taxes, raise their children and contribute to their communities. However, despite doing everything correctly, they are still struggling to make ends meet. These are families sitting around the kitchen table trying to work out which bill can wait until next week. They are the parents wondering how they will afford school uniforms in a few short weeks' time. They are the workers whose wages disappear within days of payday because the rent or the mortgage, the groceries and the electricity bill leave them with little or nothing to spare.”
“That means expanding capacity, creating thousands of new childcare places, reducing costs for families and properly valuing the people who educate and care for our youngest children because every child deserves the best possible start in life regardless of their postcode or their parents' income. We have long accepted that access to primary and secondary education is a public good. It is time that we recognise that high-quality early years education is too. The question that I pose for the Government is no longer whether we can afford to build a universal public childcare system, but whether we can afford another generation of children and families being failed by the one we have.”
“Providers need certainty and early years educators deserve decent pay, secure careers and recognition for the skilled professionals that they are. For too long Governments have relied on schemes and subsidies to prop up a system that remains fundamentally broken. We need to stop asking families to navigate a patchwork of supports and start building a childcare system that they can rely on. The Labour Party believes that childcare is not a luxury, nor is it simply a support for parents. It is an investment in our children, families, economy and future.”
“I thank Deputy Kerrane and Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion. The Minister will be well aware that every TD in this House knows that parents are struggling with childcare. In my constituency of Cork North-Central, I meet these parents regularly. They are doing everything right. They are working hard. They are raising their families. They are trying to get on with life, but they are being let down by a childcare system that simply is not working. This is about far more than the cost of childcare. It is about a shortage of places, a workforce crisis and a failure to treat early years education as the essential public service that it is. Yes, fees have fallen for some families and that is welcome, but what good is affordable childcare if there is no place available? Parents need affordability and availability.”
“I want to mention Cork's first LGBTQ+ inclusive GAA club, Na Laochra Aeracha, who have faced significant hurdles fielding their team due to the Ladies Gaelic Football Association, LGFA, strictly enforcing 2010 city limits rather than the expanding city boundary agreed upon by councils in 2019. Because of these restricted boundaries, the club cannot meet the minimum number of players required to legally register a women's team in competitive leagues. These matters can be resolved and I encourage the association to do it. I ask now that the Minister would engage constructively with the LGFA to do so. Having inclusive teams like this in our games only serves to grow our sports.”
“Gay dads still face significant legal inequality in family law in the context of parental recognition, where many male same-sex families cannot get both parents legally recognised on their child's birth certificate from birth. I put it to the Government and the House that we passed marriage equality and changed the law. That work does not end there and I believe we have the numbers in this House to right the wrongs that still exist. I call on the Minister for justice to meet with Irish Gay Dads and begin this work. I only have a few minutes, so I cannot acknowledge every group or person but I would also like to commend Belong To, whom I have met with and regularly engage with, in particular on its research and advocacy in protecting young gay people online.”
“Starmer's Labour Government scapegoated trans people and painted them as an enemy to women. Rather than standing up for a minority group under attack, they furthered the misery and culture war on trans people. I know for certain that trans people in the UK will be happy to see the back of him. I genuinely hope his successor stands up for trans people and trans rights and changes tack from punching down on people who simply want respect and dignity - a bare minimum expectation from a leader who hoists the red flag. For same-sex partners, the fight for equality continues for what is an administrative change on the State's part that has brought consequences for family life and parenting. I commend the advocacy of Irish Gay Dads.”
“I welcome the statements on Pride this week. Pride is as important as it has ever been. Pride is protest and it is a call on people to stand in solidarity with those who identify or whose way of life is under attack. I pay tribute to my colleague, Senator Laura Harmon, on her work and advocacy as cathaoirleach of the rainbow caucus. Speaking up for trans healthcare is so important, given that Ireland ranks bottom in Europe for healthcare provision. It is vital that we discuss Pride and highlight the culture war on the trans community. Many colleagues in this House, in government and in opposition, are allies who stand up to the hate levelled at trans people and I thank them for their advocacy and decency. We have seen the resignation of a Prime Minister in the UK in recent days.”
“It is simply not working and it is unacceptable for us, as politicians, to stand in this House and to speak about it year after year, from Dáil term to Dáil term, without actually fixing the problem. We have a system that is not working. We must change it for the benefit of the people across this country who rely on this care and for the very dentists who provide it. It is a system that is not working and we must change it. It is as simple as that. We must provide effective dentistry care in this country for everybody. There is a socioeconomic issue here as well. People who are on medical cards may be those who are less well-off than those who can pay the all-out cost of dentistry care. There is a socioeconomic problem here as well. It is vulnerable people who are being left behind.”
“If a constituent comes to me seeking my support in accessing a dentist who will take them on as a medical card holder, I have to ring around - and I do it because they are constituents of mine - different dentists across the county to ask them if they will take on a medical card holder. In the north Lee catchment area, which covers my constituency of Cork North-Central, 66 dentists have left the dental treatments service scheme in the past five years while just over 20 have joined the scheme. Give or take, about 40 dentists have left that scheme. That should speak wonders to those who are in charge of our health service. It should speak wonders to the HSE in relation to the system itself and the scheme being provided.”