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 For far too many families, the excitement of a child returning to school has been replaced by financial anxiety.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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“Friends of mine are paying €700, €800 or €900 per month to rent a damp, mouldy room in Cork with no light or window. That is what they are living in and we do not seem to be progressing. The Minister's leader said he was conscious of the additional cost in 2020. Is he conscious of the costs now? There are the costs of running a car, of homes and of renting in the city or town you are studying in. We were talking today about how much the cost of groceries is going up. This is an additional economic barrier being placed on what we consider the great leveller. We spoke about the great leveller in this Chamber not so long ago.”
“In that budgetary process and that financial framework, will the Minister reduce student fees? That is the ultimate question to be answered. Another simple question that needs to be answered is whether in September these students and their families will have to pay €2,000 or €3,000. That is a simple and fair question that has been asked on numerous occasions in the nine days since the announcement was made. In 2020, the Minister's party leader said he was conscious of the additional cost of living away from home in a city or town and that that cost had been quite significant in the preceding years. That was a comment Micheál Martin made in 2020. Does he believe these additional costs are gone? Purpose-built student accommodation is at 18% in my county of Cork.”
“I listened with great interest to the Taoiseach clapping himself and his party on the back for what they have done. I do not doubt or question the good things done in education over the years, but what about these students? What is being done for them? There were great things done in the past. Niamh Bhreathnach, the 1990s Labour Party Minister, gave great opportunities to students. I do not doubt for a minute the Minister's party has done good things. I accept and appreciate that, but what about these students and families? These families do not know whether they will have access to further education. The Minister spoke of the financial framework. Does that mean that, when he looks at the framework, he will reduce student contribution fees? I respect the budgetary process.”
“His party comes out then and criticises its brother party in government on the decision that is being made. The decision made in the programme for Government when the Minister sat down with party colleagues and Fine Gael colleagues was that we would continue to reduce the student contribution fee every year over this Dáil term. When I saw that, I accepted it and I am sure students across the country accepted it. When you are at home with your parents or guardians and waiting for a grant to be approved, you are again reminded of your place in this society. You realise how little valued you are by this State if you have to rely on a grant to go to college. That is not acceptable. Third level and further education should be affordable to all.”
“I appreciate that, and I would appreciate if that was taken back because he made that assertion about people like me. I am not using this as a political football. This is genuine. I am the youngest Member in this House. I came out of college and the only reason I went to college was that I had access to a SUSI grant, but 80% of people across the country do not have that same access to a full grant. It is in the Minister's amendment. I would not have been able to achieve third level education if it was not for the support of the State. The support is not being afforded to these students that was given to students for the past two years. This is also a matter for the Tánaiste, who waved this in our faces as a temporary cost-of-living measure.”
“I welcome the motion brought forward by Sinn Féin. I begin my own contribution by welcoming all the students in the Gallery, who came out in force this evening against this €1,000 increase in the student fees. I put on the record that I have great respect for the Minister, but I absolutely think this is an argument and a fight that the Government is losing. I say that because the Minister made an assertion in his contribution that Opposition parties are using education as a political football.”
“This year some parents took to sleeping outside the Department of Education and Leinster House, doing their very best to secure extra school places. How is it possible to plan for increased resources, supports and classes if we do not know the needs of the students? Mr. Gloster said yesterday that outside the assessment of need, significant challenges are faced particularly with essential therapies and interventions. I acknowledge that extra classes have been made available this year, which is to be welcomed. My questions are as follows. Will extra capacity be provided to the HSE? If so, what is it? Will legislation be reformed to complete assessments of need more quickly? How does the Government plan on opening extra classes and providing resources for schools if we do not know the needs?”
“On behalf of the Labour Party, I express my sympathies with the families of those involved in the car crash in County Donegal yesterday evening. Yesterday the HSE CEO, Bernard Gloster, revealed that the waiting list for assessments of need will get worse before it gets better. It is quite clear now that there are over 15,000 children waiting for an assessment of need and a prediction for 25,000 children by the end of this year. This is an absolute scandal and a failure of the State under the obligation of law to carry out these assessments of need within six months. It is quite clear that the failure of assessments of need to take place has serious knock-on effects for children, particularly in the area of school places and resources for such schools.”
“Is the Minister aware of this business case? What is the Government's stance on it as an integrated services hub for Cork? Will a business case be signed off?”
“I want to raise an important issue with the Minister. Cork City Council has sent a business case to the Government regarding the establishment of an integrated services hub. Across our towns and cities we are seeing more and more needs arising for individuals, particularly adults who are homeless. Across Cork we have charitable organisations offering beds for people to sleep, groups providing food, and many other amenities as well but what do people do during the day in terms of services? They need to be provided with a service like this, which would be the first of its kind in Ireland. It would provide food, shelter, activities, supports and any additional information people need. In the long run this venue could be the location for the provision of a supervised drug injection centre for the city.”
“The job they have been doing will now be the job of the care assistants. A complete line of work is being taken out. Care assistants may now have to feed people who cannot get out of bed, a job which was previously done by the kitchen staff. This is one of a number of serious systemic issues. As I said, I do not doubt the Minister of State's personal opinion on this but he has an opportunity, within his Department, to change what is ongoing and to address the systemic failures in care for our older people. HIQA's role in that care must be made an absolute priority for him, his Department and the Government. Families across the country are calling on him to do that.”
“If inspectors go in unannounced, they will see for themselves what is actually happening in organisations across the country. It is important to recognise that there are genuine, caring and hard-working care assistants, nurses and doctors working in nursing homes. However, that is not the case across the entire sector. The motion has a specific focus on the fair deal scheme. That scheme is not fit for purpose. We must introduce a statutory home care scheme that allows our old people to live with dignity and respect in their home and community. The overall focus is on the care being provided to older people. In a nursing home in my home town of Mallow, as Deputy Sherlock referred to, the kitchen staff are being given the option of redeployment or they will be got rid of completely.”
“Accountability is crucial when it comes to care of older people. Families and staff members across the country have spoken about HIQA's failure in its statutory remit to investigate and resolve issues when they arise locally. Ensuring procedures and processes are in place to protect the vulnerable in society is the job of HIQA but it is not happening. The motion calls on the Government to provide HIQA with stronger enforcement powers. Its staff must have the ability to perform unannounced inspections and see for themselves what the reality is. If we are real with ourselves for a minute, we will acknowledge that HIQA announcing that an inspection will take place makes no sense. The polish is out, the forms are signed and appropriate settings are put in place.”
“I second the motion. I thank my Labour Party colleagues, particularly Deputies Wall and Sherlock, for their work on it. I do not for a minute doubt the Minister of State's personal view on this issue but what we saw in the "RTÉ Investigates" programme proved there absolutely are systemic issues within HIQA. The fact HIQA took more than four months to investigate issues identified by RTÉ is beyond belief. We are talking about care of our much loved older people, who deserve dignity and respect as they age. Following the programme, staff members of private nursing homes in my county of Cork made contact with my office to inform me of very serious concerns they have raised with management and, in some instances, directly with HIQA. Often, those concerns go unnoticed and receive no response.”
“I cannot see on the HSE website the policy that the nurse has outlined to the parent, namely, that four incontinence products is the maximum number that can be provided. The number increased to six after the parent told the nurse that she had been lobbying local TDs. I ask the Minister of State to ask the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, to engage with the parent on a one-to-one basis.”
“They try to buy the incontinence products themselves. The Minister will have noted from the email that the mother has paid for all CDNT provision from her own pocket. This points to a systemic failure in our CDNT system. What the Minister said about person-centred policy and further engagement is very welcome but, as he will have noted from my opening statement, the clinical nurse has never even met the four-year-old child. That is the disappointing thing here. Perhaps there are several boys and girls of the same age under the nurse's remit but the fact that the nurse has not even met the child is an issue. This is why I do not understand how a clinical assessment could have taken place. It cannot just be a conversation between a parent and a nurse.”
“I thank the Minister of State. I appreciate that. When I offered my sympathy to the family, including the parent, the parent told me directly she did not want it. I appreciated that because, from a public representative's point of view, it was quite difficult for me that a parliamentary question did not outline specifically whether the child would be provided with the necessary incontinence products he so needs. At four years old, the child, along with his mother, has gone through so much, as outlined in the mother's email that I read in my opening statement. The Minister of State knows himself that when an email like that comes into your inbox, you directly engage on it because it is the on-the-ground issues that are directly affecting people. Often they go unnoticed because parents are afraid to speak up about them.”
“This mother has been told four is the limit; however, it has increased to six. The mother told a nurse she was lobbying local TDs. Will the Minister of State provide clarity on the number for me? The nurse the parent is engaging with in her community has met her only once and has never met her child. That does not align with the clinical nursing assessment and the policy on the prescribing of incontinence products as outlined in the parliamentary question. In the response, the HSE highlighted engagement with a toileting programme. Of course, the mother wants her son to be toilet trained at some stage, but that will not happen overnight. I ask the Minister of State to engage on this specific case or ask his colleagues in government to do so to ensure the child will be provided with the number of incontinence pads required per day.”
“It stated that, based on a clinical nursing assessment, a public health nurse may prescribe containment products to assist with the management of incontinence and that the provision of containment products is subject to parent-client engagement in a toileting programme. It added that the clinical nurse specialist for continence in north Lee is currently working with the child and his family. Furthermore, it stated the prescription of containment products is in line with the child's assessed requirements and that these will be monitored or adjusted as necessary by the clinical nurse specialist. I am sure that is probably in the response the Minister of State has. Does the Minister of State know what the policy on incontinence product provision is? How many products may be allocated to children with complex needs?”
“To be told by a district nurse not to change him if he is only wet - with the implication that he must sit in it to conserve supplies - is not only medically unsound but dehumanising. After all he has been through, particularly with his bowel and stoma history, I will not stand by while his dignity, comfort, and skin integrity are compromised to meet a quote. Only last week, a doctor speaking on a documentary about nursing home care highlighted how unacceptable it is to leave people sitting in wet nappies. Why should it be any different for a four-year-old child with complex medical needs? The Minister of State will appreciate the distress, anger and disappointment felt by this mother. Her word "dehumanising" puts it lightly. I tried to resolve this issue through a parliamentary question but the HSE response to me was quite unclear.”
“Every step of the way has been a fight, and I have had to pay privately for nearly every service he is entitled to under the CDNT system. I have remained quiet until now, but the latest development has left me utterly shocked and disgusted. Now that my son is four, he qualifies for HSE-provided incontinence pads. However, he has yet to receive any. He currently weights 21 kg and still wear Pampers size 8 - the largest I can find - despite them no longer fitting properly. Pull-ups in size 9 are available, but they're unsuitable as he wears and AFO. The most infuriating part of this situation is that I have been told he will only be allocated four pads per day. He routinely goes through at least eight nappies a day - and that's while I'm still paying for them myself.”
“I wish to address the provision of incontinence products by the HSE. Although the Minister of State is not the line Minister, I wish to raise this serious issue for families across the country. Incontinence products are essential. They are used daily. I wish to speak specifically about incontinence products for children. I refer to a specific case raised by a parent with me in relation to her son. I will read out some of her correspondence to me, with her permission: My son was born prematurely before 26 weeks in May 2021. In his first few weeks, he suffered a lung haemorrhage, two brain haemorrhages and a bowel rupture that led to a stoma for a year. He also experienced significant eye issues and has since been discoursed with cerebral palsy.”
“We can wax lyrical about how much we value SNAs and their work but ultimately it means nothing unless we ensure that SNAs are well paid, secure in their work and have appropriate conditions to carry out their work. I also want to look at the special educational needs co-ordinator role. As I have said previously, I have worked with these people and I know the level of work that falls within their remit. The SEN co-ordinator role has to be a stand-alone position in a school, rather than a promotion for a teacher. I welcome this review which has a lot of recommendations. They need to be tackled immediately by the Department and I have no doubt they will be as I accept the Minister of State's bona fides on this matter.”
“We do not know this because of the failure of the NCSE to have a centralised application system. On SNA provision, the Minister of State knows as much as I do that the role of SNAs in schools is pivotal. SNAs do not get the same level of respect as their colleagues in the school setting get. They deserve that respect. We need to get rid of the 72-hour obligation on SNAs. I know the Minister of State agrees with me on that because he understands the role SNAs play in schools. SNAs should not have to clean out school lockers or do administration work, which is not within their remit, at the end of the school year just to meet this 72-hour obligation. There is an equality issue for children with additional needs and a workers' rights issue for special needs assistants. The dogs in the street know that.”
“In my constituency of Cork North-Central, in the Minister of State's county, we hope a special school will be opened in Carrignavar. Right now, however, the resources are not in Carrignavar to open this special school. This means children will continue to travel long distances to get to school. The Government must focus on the need to provide the resources, be that through Irish Water or the local authority, to get the school up and running. It is unacceptable that every school year hundreds of children with additional needs cannot access a suitable school place near where they live or must travel for long distances. It is very disappointing that the NCSE has no centralised application system. As policymakers, we do not know whether there are children still waiting for a school place.”
“There needs to be a determined strategy now to rapidly ramp up the resourcing and staffing of these assessments. The really discouraging thing is how long we will all need to have this conversation. I acknowledge there have been developments in this area but children are still being left on waiting lists and are attending school places that are not appropriate for their needs. I saw the announcement on the inclusion of in-school therapists and I am absolutely delighted that this great initiative will be rolled out in special schools. Will we have the staff ready for September? I hope we do. Parents of children with additional needs are likely to be travelling long distances every morning and afternoon to get to and from a school that provides for that additional need. This is, of course, if they can access a special school.”
“These delays ultimately leave children attending schools in places that are not suitable for their education and without the technologies required for their learning. Schoolchildren are attending mainstream schools and losing years in education as a result of insufficient resources and waiting on assessment. These children are being failed by this State. The frustration among parents and pupils is there for all to see. We saw it when protests were being held outside Leinster House and 24-hour sleep-outs were being held outside the Department. Delays in diagnosis and assessment of need have serious consequences for a child. Delayed appropriate education has knock-on effects for almost every facet of education and these continue into adulthood, the workplace and employment opportunities.”
“While criteria for qualifying for assistive technology must be in place, it is a sad indictment that parents in schools are facing this financial burden just because a child is not ticking every box. This shows that the 18% cut in the ICT grant in 2024, from €79 million to €65 million, will not work. Nobody would deny a child access to assistive technology the child needs. It is needed to support the child's education. In this scenario, the criteria and application process are too rigid and another child may go without the resources needed for his or her education. We are acutely aware that more than 10,000 children are now waiting on assessments of need and that tens of thousands of children are waiting on essential therapies.”
“The lengthy waiting list for diagnostics and assessments of need can leave parents and children waiting months and months for diagnoses in the first instance. They then wait more months waiting for the assessment of need in order to provide children with the necessary assistive technology and sustainable school place they require. I am working with a constituent to try to acquire assistive technology for their child. The child falls just below the criteria for assistive technology but requires this resource for their education, according to the child's teachers and the school principal. It is now on the school or the parent to source this technology.”
“Most importantly, following the review, these recommendations must be implemented in a timely manner and continue to be reviewed by the Department. I compliment all stakeholders involved in the review, particularly those affected on the front line. I acknowledge the work done by schools, staff, parents and children. When it comes to additional educational needs, a large cohort of students throughout the country do not have the same access to education as their friends, family members or even siblings have. It is clear from the findings of this review and through our constituency offices that one of the biggest, if not the biggest, issue in additional needs is the severe delays in the assessments of need.”
“In other parts of Cork North-Central, the station in the town of Ballincollig - the village, as it would have been - is manned 24 hours but only opens a few hours a week, forcing the public to go to Togher Garda station. Some 20,000 people are living in Ballincollig. It is a failure of the Commissioner and the Minister, not a failure of the Garda. I urge the Minister of State, Deputy Collins, to work with the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, to assign more gardaí to Cork city.”
“I wrote to the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, in February in relation to Mallow Garda station. The issues were passed to the Garda Commissioner, who then passed them to justice liaison, and there has been no response since. One issue I raised was the fact there has been no central heating in Mallow Garda station for six years. Superintendent McPolin told me he is very conscious of the fact that no gardaí have walked out on him. There is just one doctor covering the north-west division. It is extremely important to recognise that while the needs of the many people across the north-west division are high, there is only one doctor covering the area.”
“There is crime and there are community needs in every part of the country. I call on the members of the Government to take their heads out of Dublin for a minute. I am not denying that there is crime and there are community needs in Dublin city as well, but we have crime and community needs in Cork city and county. Padraig Harrington, the GRA delegate for the Cork city division, stated that there were three retirements and two promotions in the Cork city division, so even with three new gardaí, we are two short. My colleague, Councillor Peter Horgan, said that gardaí are feeling abandoned and he is absolutely correct. Regarding my hometown of Mallow, I commend Superintendent Gary McPolin. Having met him, I understand completely the barriers that are before him as a superintendent.”
“First, although I did not bring the group in, I welcome the group from Cork North-West, I presume, and some from my home town of Mallow. This is an extremely important debate. It is very important that we have our courts system and laws in place but ultimately the main focus of my speech is on the issue of Garda numbers and-or Garda stations, in particular across my own county of Cork. The issues are persistent with staffing numbers and while communities continue to expand, we cannot see Garda numbers expanding within our own rural towns and villages, across Cork in particular. I am not placing blame here but this is about supporting gardaí and communities. Three new gardaí were announced for Cork city and 74 for Dublin. In March, there were three for Cork again and 98 for Dublin.”
“The Minister is standing over leaving certificate reform that is 100% going to support children of more affluent families. There is no denying that. They will have the opportunity to receive more grinds, go to external teachers and have better ICT equipment. Children in poor socioeconomic areas will not have those opportunities. Is the Minister willing to stand over that? I cannot believe she is.”
“The Minister referred to the TUI. There is a complete divide between post-primary teachers throughout the country on whether or not they have the correct training and whether schools are fully resourced to roll out leaving certificate reform in a mere couple of months' time. I understand packages have been put forward to resource our schools, but we are talking about 100-year-old infrastructure. There are science laboratories that are not resourced and supported and an absence of lab technicians to support teachers. I understand that teachers across the country signed up to this but they were under the pretence that schools would be fully resourced and they would be properly trained. The majority of teachers have no training in AI.”
“Surely the Minister can agree that teachers, who are not in this Chamber and are not policymakers but are the ones teaching the students at the centre of this, do not agree with leaving certificate reform. Does the Minister accept that?”
“I absolutely agree and the Labour Party agrees that reform of the leaving certificate curriculum is necessary. I say that also as a secondary school teacher whose subject, namely, business, will be rolled out in September. It has been just under a week since the vote. Has the Minister spoken to the general secretary of the ASTI since the vote last Friday? There has been an overwhelming majority from the ASTI. Some 68% do not agree with the support measures proposed by the Department and 67% of the 70% turnout of voters stated they are willing to go as far as industrial action to stop leaving certificate reform being implemented in September. This is a clear sign that those on the ground in our classrooms do not agree with leaving certificate reform.”
“I would appreciate if the Minister would outline her engagement with stakeholders, including trade unions representing teachers, regarding the proposed reforms to the leaving certificate, as of June 2025, given that last Friday the largest post-primary teacher union in Ireland voted strongly in favour of industrial action over the reforms proposed for September.”
“It is common sense that if a student is here for a four-year course, they should have a four-year visa. It makes sense. I also welcome the fact that, as we heard during the committee earlier, there are significant costs that are covered by the Department with regard to postgraduate fees, PhD fees and postdoc fees but it needs to be highlighted even further that opportunities can be made available for those doing undergraduate degrees or masters degrees. Now that we have become part of CERN, we provide far more incentives for students to continue their studies and provide Ireland with the opportunity for scientific research, innovation and skills right across all our institutions. This is a very welcome development. I congratulate the Minister once again.”
“I highlight the work of all PhD students in University College Cork in my own county. This fantastic work serves the betterment of our third level institutions. However, registration fees for international students must be looked at, given that these students must already pay considerable amounts to get a place in our universities and face the same housing and cost-of-living barriers as domestic students. In this regard, as I have raised with the Minister previously, we must extend the duration of visas for international students so that they are valid for the length of their course or programme rather than having to be renewed annually. Annual renewal puts unnecessary pressure on students but also contributes to more administrative work in immigration and college admissions offices.”
“I accept that this is a very broad area and one that it is not solely in the Minister's gift to fix but I would sincerely ask him to take action on this issue, to engage proactively with Postgraduate Workers Organisation and to ensure these students, who provide such a vital function to higher education, science and research, are not skint at the end of each month. As I have previously done on a number of occasions at this stage, I wish to highlight the issues affecting students who come to Ireland to undertake scientific research and studies. International students in further and higher education, science and research, make a significant contribution to our economy and society. Universities across Ireland are conducting vital research through the hard work and dedication of international students.”
“It is also worth pointing out as it is quite noteworthy that a student who is participating in PhD studies, and whose work has often been in further education for much of their academic time, may never have been working full time. They may have been working part time through their studies and now when they get to their PhD the remuneration can be overwhelmingly paltry. In addition, these students do not have the same protections as many others, including regarding sick leave and holiday pay.”
“It is vitally important to highlight that while Ireland has a good reputation and our scientific research institutions are performing well, many PhD students are seriously struggling due to the wages they are paid. We have heard many calls from the Postgraduate Workers Organisation for a living wage for PhD students over the last number of years. When you read the stories about the reality for many PhD students, you cannot help but feel the injustice they experience. PhD students put in long hours and work hard to contribute to Ireland’s scientific and academic research but for many at the end of the month they are short money for their bills, their rent and their common everyday purchases. That is simply not right. Those people on the ground, carrying out the work we all commend, are struggling to get by.”
“Our third level sector and our academic and scientific research programmes in Ireland provide this sector with a positive reputation nationally and internationally. That is down to the hard work and thirst for knowledge and information from our PhD students and those working in our research facilities such as the Tyndall National Institute in my own county of Cork. The Tyndall National Institute has been operating in Cork for over 40 years, as the Minister will be well aware, and continues to grow its presence and increase its research income and income from industry. It is a staple of academic society in Cork and we are very proud of it. It has provided a home for excellent research and further studies for thousands of people across Ireland.”
“I welcome the fact Ireland will become an associate member of CERN, and my colleagues in the Labour Party will be happy to support this motion. Scientific and academic research are significant assets to Ireland. This membership has been pushed for a long time by many in the academic community in Ireland, so I congratulate the Minister on having got it over the line. It will serve scientific research in our third level institutions well. Ireland becoming an associate member of CERN will provide new pathways and resources in scientific and academic research for many in the academic community, as outlined in the Minister's statement. All of these pathways, including masters and PhD programmes, apprenticeships, internships and technical training experience, are very welcome additions to the sector.”
“Today The Guardian newspaper reported on the up to 13,000 survivors of mother and baby homes living in Britain who risk losing access to essential means-tested benefits if they accept compensation. A campaign led by our British Labour Party colleague, Liam Conlon MP, shows that if the compensation is taken up by survivors it is considered to be savings and therefore disqualifies them from the means-tested social welfare supports they receive. I ask the Taoiseach to engage with his UK counterpart to encourage people there to take up the scheme and to ensure that survivors do not lose their benefits.”
“That is why we have brought forward this motion to mandate the Government to call for a new emergency special session of the UN General Assembly at which Ireland should table a resolution noting the failure of the Security Council and the international community to act to end Israel’s war on Gaza. I sincerely hope the Government will work with us on this. I struggle to say something that has not already been said for years. I conclude with the recent words of Dr. Mike Ryan, who summed up where we are now. He stated: We are breaking the bodies and minds of the children of Gaza. We are starving the children of Gaza, because if we do not do something about it, we are complicit in what is happening before our very eyes. We are complicit. We are causing this, you, us and everyone who does nothing about it ...”
“Since I was elected to this House in November, I have received approximately 5,000 emails from people in Ireland pleading with every one of us in this Chamber to do everything and anything we can for the Palestinian people. They call on us to condemn genocide, act on the boycott, divest, campaign for sanctions, stop the misuse of Shannon Airport by US military operatives, condemn the inaction of the European Union and its enabling of Israel and enact the occupied territories Bill. People call on us to take action; they are tired of words. We hear the cries for help from the people of Gaza.”
“They have had their cities, towns, schools, hospitals and lives decimated. The trauma that Palestinian people and children will carry is unbearable. We see very clearly what is happening. Hospitals and schools have been destroyed and thousands of children have been murdered. The oppressor does not want Gaza to ever be rebuilt. It does not want a new generation of Palestinians growing up and learning about what has been done to them. It wants the Palestinian people wiped out completely. European Union leaders have been turning their backs to acts of genocide throughout this entire onslaught waged by Israel and plámásing Netanyahu. Tens of thousands of innocent people are being slaughtered while Israel is being supplied with military resources by the USA, the European Union and the United Kingdom.”