Ivana Bacik
Dublin Bay South · Labour Party · Ireland
“Just today I and other local representatives got an email from the owner of two restaurants in Dublin city centre about this issue. The Minister of State’s brief includes not only the circular economy but also small business.”
“The Bill Deputy Sherlock and the Labour Party are proposing is not one we suggest is a silver bullet or a panacea but it offers one small, constructive mechanism to address the dysfunction in waste services.”
“In Dublin Bay South we have superb Tidy Towns organisations that I am proud to work with from Ringsend and Sandymount across to Portobello in my area to Rathgar, Rathmines, Terenure, Donnybrook and Ballsbridge. We see really important work being done by Tidy Towns organisations.”
“The owner says he no longer has space to accommodate additional recycling bins, cannot leave recyclable waste out for collection and cannot leave flattened cardboard outside for collection. Private waste companies must send a vehicle to collect this directly from premises. This is costly, inefficient and unnecessary.”
“I do not mean just in Dublin, though Deputy Sherlock and I are focusing on Dublin and most of the TDs present are Dublin ones, as clearly this has ramifications across the country and the dissatisfaction and the concerns Deputy Sherlock’s constituents and mine are expressing are ones felt across the board.”
“We want to see a move, as Deputy Sherlock has it in the Bill, from competition in the market to competition for the market and this Bill would represent an important positive step on that journey to quality public services provided by the State and to remunicipalisation. Deputy Sherlock has set out the detailed provisions in the Bill.”
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“We are hearing other issues as well. Take Pearse House, a large flat complex just a few hundred metres from here, which is in the process of being regenerated. In recent weeks, we have heard from the Department of housing that there has been a hold on regeneration plans, partly because that building is listed. Residents are devastated. They are facing appalling conditions, with sewage overflowing, unsafe stairwells and damp houses. It is not just Pearse House, either. Regeneration is badly needed at Oliver Bond flats, Mercer House and in developments throughout the country. It is ironic that Pearse House is listed because it is one of Herbert Simms’ developments, built in the 1930s. Simms built 17,000 homes across our capital city between 1932 and 1948.”
“Whatever the salary, what everyone is struggling to understand is what will the housing tsar do that the housing Minister cannot do himself. The Minister is currently failing on housing. Let us take some examples. On infrastructure, we learned yesterday about the lack of funding for Uisce Éireann at a time when we are hearing so much from developers and house builders about delays due to infrastructure. We heard yesterday that the extra €1 billion for Uisce Éireann in the budget did not actually represent additional funding. It is what my colleague, Deputy Nash, has called a three-card trick before the election, a bit like the promise of 40,000 homes last year. Lack of infrastructure is slowing delivery. We are hearing it in Mallow, where 469 houses are being delayed due to infrastructure problems. We are hearing it in Dublin, too.”
“The so-called housing tsar debacle has left more questions than answers, and not just about salary either. The Minister for housing has been very quiet in responding to these questions. We need to hear from him in the Dáil. He must come to us to explain how he proposes his new housing activation office will work. He cannot leave explanations to the Minister of State with responsibility for nature and biodiversity, as he did on the radio last Friday. Over recent weeks, we have heard plenty of noise from Government about unblocking blockages, tackling shortfalls, maverick approaches and boots on the ground, but no detail. Will there be legislative underpinning for this new office? Will it do more than check the Minister's homework? Crucially, how much will it cost?”
“This is a difference he could make in government and that is why it is so disappointing that one of his Ministers is talking about delaying that necessary move to a living wage to 2029 and citing competitiveness as a reason for doing so. The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Burke, knows the issues really affecting competitiveness in this country: lack of infrastructure, chronic housing shortage, and spiralling energy bills. That is what is driving competitiveness issues for small businesses and our economy, not low paid workers. They should not be bearing the brunt of a cost-of-living crisis.”
“I have certainly acknowledged positive advances made for workers' rights, fought for and campaigned for by trade unions and the trade union movement. At a time when we are seeing significant divisions emerging between the Tánaiste and his senior coalition partner in Fianna Fáil, perhaps this is the time for him to carve out a space on workers' rights that emphasises the difference between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, not just on "fixers with nixers" but on issues that actually matter to working people. The Tánaiste's predecessor, Leo Varadkar, spoke very positively about workers' rights. The Tánaiste has spoken very positively about workers' rights.”
“Instead of trying to pin competitiveness issues on the lowest paid workers in the State, will the Tánaiste commit to honouring the Low Pay Commission's approach-----”
“In fact, Fine Gael's recent record in workers' rights is stronger than his partners in Fianna Fáil. At the first sniff of a previous economic downturn, Fianna Fáil leapt to cut the minimum wage, shamefully, by €1. The Government must do more now. Lowest paid workers in Ireland were promised a living wage by 2026, calculated at €14.75 per hour, a floor which no one should fall beneath. Disappointingly, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Burke, has moved the goalposts, shifting that deadline again, this time to 2029. He cited the need to take account of competitiveness issues but that is a red herring. The Low Pay Commission is already required by law to take competitiveness into account under section 6 of the Act.”
“It is ten years since Labour, and my colleague, Deputy Nash, established the Low Pay Commission with the support of the Tánaiste's party, Fine Gael, and the commission has done a good job. Thanks to its evidence-based approach, we have seen nine successive increases in the minimum wage so that each year, those on the lowest salaries have been given more money in their pockets to pay for basic necessities and to put aside for the future. Our common goal should be to ensure workers in this country are not just living to work because they must spend every waking hour toiling to cover the cost, but that they are able to work to live. Those minimum wage increases would not have happened without the Low Pay Commission. They would not have happened were the Tánaiste's party left to its own devices and I say that not to cause offence.”
“This is partly why there has been such uproar about the outrageous almost half a million euro salary proposed for Fianna Fáil's housing maverick; a housing oligarch or a housing tsar with a Russian oligarch price tag. We might call it a "fixer-in-chief" or even "a fixer with a nixer" and what an extraordinary nixer this is. It is interesting to hear the Tánaiste and Fine Gael colleagues distancing themselves from this. Indeed, people will be glad to hear he has just said no decision has been made yet on how to populate this new office. When households are stretched, people need reassurance from Government. On the issue of reassurance, the Tánaiste needs to give workers a reprieve on low pay. Those who are on low pay need to have hope for the future. This year marks 25 years since the introduction of the minimum wage.”
“I wish everyone today a happy May Day. Many workers across the State are looking forward to a day off on Monday; a public holiday introduced by the Labour Party to mark International Workers' Day. It is important we mark this day. Its purpose is more than just celebrating the progress made on workers' rights in the past 100 years because May Day is also when we shine a light on the continued exploitation, poverty and inequality experienced by far too many people still. Today, we think of all those working families struggling to pay their bills. We heard only yesterday a spike in food prices last month has pushed our annual inflation rate to 2% and, more and more, people are struggling to makes ends meet in a cost-of-living crisis.”
“They told him about rock-bottom morale, a lack of resourcing and the collapse in the numbers of gardaí. The Government is failing to recruit the numbers of gardaí that are so badly needed-----”
“I raise with the Taoiseach the ongoing issue of policing levels in our communities. Across the country, we all hear from communities who have immense concerns about the shortage of gardaí on the streets, a lack of community gardaí and problems of low morale within the Garda. In my constituency of Dublin Bay South, this week alone we have seen an appalling incidence of antisocial behaviour and quite serious criminality, with gangs congregating around the City Quay and Pearse Street areas. There is a shortage of Garda resources to deal with such matters. My colleague Deputy Kelly is attending the Garda Representative Association, GRA, conference today. It is unfortunate that the Minister for Justice, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, will not be there. Deputy Kelly told me about the stories he heard from gardaí at the conference.”
“-----who are desperately worried because of the review of RPZs announced by the Government. The reason is there are so few homes available to rent. If they cannot afford to pay their rent any longer, they have nowhere else to go. It comes back to delivery of homes. The Government is ignoring the crucial recommendation of the Housing Commission that the Government should introduce a radical reset of housing policy. We in the Labour Party called for the State take a far more active role in direct delivery-----”
“There is so much to challenge in what the Taoiseach just said, with respect. First, he cannot stand over his Government's figures on delivery of homes when it promised 40,000 homes last year and the actual delivery was 10,000 short, a shocking shortfall. It is utterly indefensible. No one, even in the Government or in Fianna Fáil, will stand over that figure. Second, the Taoiseach said we would never get rid of the RPZs; I did not say he did.”
“Will it be underpinned by legislation? All we have been told is it will put boots on the ground and co-ordinate delivery of housing. This is meaningless and already the job of the Minister for housing, the housing Department and the Land Development Agency.”
“With the Government's changes to the scheme, it seems it has given up on it. Has it given up on ending homelessness altogether? Of course, there is another new policy, shrouded in secrecy so far and announced by the Minister, Deputy Browne, who said he was going to create a new housing "maverick", a fixer-in-chief. The Taoiseach does not like the name "tsar", and nor do I, with its Russian connotations, so he is calling it the new housing activation office. However, it is another new policy that is clearly putting Fine Gael noses out of joint, as the Tánaiste has made clear. It also comes at an extraordinary and unjustifiable price tag. Maybe the Russian name is appropriate because it is a price that might be approved of by a Russian oligarch, but it is not acceptable. What exactly is the housing activation office? What will it do?”
“Earlier this month, I think we all read with interest that Fine Gael councillors from Cork as well as Deputy Colm Burke had signed a cross-party letter to the housing Minister calling for urgent funding for the tenant in situ scheme to ensure it is effective to keep renters out of homelessness. Today, Fine Gael Councillor Tom O’Leary from Fingal told the Dublin Inquirer , "I just cannot get over that they didn’t maintain the same level of funding", wondering "Why would you mess with a successful scheme that keeps people from being scattered into the wind?". He is right. The Government's changes to this scheme will render it unworkable. We are hearing from councillors around the country that evictions from the private rented sector are driving the monthly increases in homelessness.”
“It has not launched anything like the "radical" reset the Government's Housing Commission sought and that we in the Labour Party offered. Instead, Fianna Fáil has adopted a new strategy. It is a flying-by-the-seat-of-your-pants approach to housing, with a series of solo runs, none of them based on evidence. Let us take some examples. This year alone, the Government has said it might get rid of rent pressure zones and might give tax breaks to developers. It is flying kites and no one can keep track. We are trying to figure out what the Government is planning to do on housing. Even the junior coalition partner, Fine Gael, is being kept in the dark.”
“Last Friday, we learned 15,418 people were recorded as homeless in March, another shameful new high. Nearly 5,000 children are now growing up in Ireland without a home. Each homeless child is a tragedy. There are now 22 more children homeless than there were last month. This is a national scandal. It is the civil rights issue of our generation. As legislators, we must do all we can to see this housing disaster addressed. We must build affordable and social homes, protect renters and tackle vacancy and dereliction, but the Government is not doing enough of any of this. The Taoiseach's party, Fianna Fáil, has held the housing brief for nearly five years. For most of that period, it has simply doubled down on failed Housing for All policies. More recently, it seems, the party is diversifying.”
“We all fervently hope that that visit will be accompanied by an announcement of additional resources, particularly an increased allocation of therapy services. This sort of last-minute action does not resolve the ongoing structural and fundamental problem for children across the State who require special education or have additional educational needs. We need to hear from the Minister a clear plan of action. Our motion with its nine clear requests sets that out and would offer hope to parents and children currently being failed by the State.”
“Teachers and SNAs are not therapists. We need to see all of these measures in place. I will finish by referencing a particular school in Templeogue, the Libermann Spiritan School, which opened in 2023. It was very welcome. It serves 43 children aged from four years to 18 years from across south and south-west Dublin. It does very positive work but has serious resource issues. The school principal, Vivienne Wynne, tells me she has never encountered a crisis as severe as the one unfolding now, yet the request for increased services has been denied. I understand that the Minister of State, Michael Moynihan, is visiting the Libermann school at 1.45 p.m. An invitation to local representatives only issued yesterday afternoon.”
“I acknowledged to the Taoiseach yesterday that progress had been made. We have seen some good examples of new special schools and special classes opening - we will be the first to acknowledge that - but there are still enormous gaps across the State. In Dublin 6 and Dublin 6W where the Involve Autism group has been campaigning, there are serious gaps in the system. Children are still being bussed out of the area at enormous cost - a human cost to them and their families and an enormous financial cost to the State - in order to access special classes elsewhere. Even where special classes or schools are set up, there is a lack of wrap-around therapeutic supports. Involve Autism asked me to raise directly with the Minister its concern about the lack of recruitment of therapists and for support services that are so badly required.”
“In my home area of Dublin Bay South, there is a huge amount of voluntary effort under way, just as there is across the country, to try to provide a means of filling the gaps that the State has left. We have seen events such as the Sensoria festival on Merrion Square; initiatives like NIRP, which worked with Dublin City Council to secure autism-friendly and neurodiverse spaces; and Ranelagh Rockets, the fantastic GAA initiative in my constituency that has been working tirelessly to provide sports facilities and sports amenities for children who have no other outlets for sports. All these groups are showing the power of community and proving that it is possible to achieve an accessible society. However, they are filling gaps left by the State. Look at the serious gaps in particular areas.”
“With respect, it amounts to a gaslighting of children, parents and staff to table an amendment that is full of statistics and figures but does not really answer the primary issue for parents and children who are dealing every day with the Government’s failure to vindicate the basic right of every child to an education. I think of the many parents who have told me about the battles they have been having to secure that education for their children. Theirs are harrowing stories. A mother told me of the long months on a waiting list to achieve an assessment of need for her three-year-old daughter. A grandmother is in despair because her daughter cannot get a school place for her six-year-old son. We all hear about these issues every day in our constituencies.”
“I acknowledge the enormous campaigning work done around the country by many parents, local representatives and groups such as Education Equality, Involve Autism in my constituency and the national group AsIAm. They campaign tirelessly on behalf of their children, but they should not have to do so. The reason they are on sleepovers outside the Department of Education, lobbying us and in here today is because the State is failing their children. The Labour Party's motion sets out nine clear requests of the Government. If it adopted those nine requests, or even if the Minister committed today to adopting them, it would give some positive news to parents like Ali Field and others that something would be done for their children. Instead, what we have seen, as Deputy Kenny said, is a disappointing amendment from the Government.”
“I second the motion and commend my Labour colleague, Deputy Eoghan Kenny, who has devised this motion and tabled it with such passion and strong advocacy. I welcome those in the Public Gallery who join us for the debate. We have quite a number of parents and groups campaigning on behalf of children who have been deprived of their right to an education by the State. I will single out from my own constituency the Neurodiversity - Irishtown, Ringsend and Pearse Street, NIRP, organisation, whose representatives are here, and one of our Labour councillors, Ali Field, who is in the Chamber. Six years to the day today, Ali was protesting outside Leinster House, calling for a school place for her son James. It also happens to be Ali's birthday. Happy birthday, Ali. I hope she will hear some good news today.”
“It is, therefore, rather surprising to see what is a positive proposal from the Minister, Deputy McEntee, being described apparently as woke and bizarre in a critical sense - anonymously it must be said - by some of her colleagues in government. It seems that, as with marriage equality and repeal, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael TDs are often out of step with the national mood. Does the Taoiseach have any comment to make on this?”
“I was curious to read today about apparent opposition from some in the Taoiseach's party and in Fine Gael about the prospect of expanding parental choice in education. I very much welcomed the proposals from the Minister, Deputy McEntee, to create more multidenominational schools in Ireland. The Labour Party has always stood for increased choice in schooling. I have campaigned successfully in my own communities for new multidenominational schools. The former Minister, Ruairí Quinn, really led on seeking to expand parental choice. Yet, 90% of primary schools in this country still have a Catholic ethos. This is out of step with the changing dynamic in Irish society. The majority of teachers favour separating church and education. We know that many more parents now are choosing to send their children to multidenominational schools.”
“The delay in accessing and securing appropriate places caused immense frustration and distress for those children and their parents, many of whom we have met. We in the Labour Party have put forward a set of nine clear asks in our motion for tomorrow. I ask that they be taken on board. We are calling on the Government to adopt a plan that will provide parents and, crucially, children, with clarity and appropriate school places.”
“The Taoiseach gave some figures. Of course there are some good news stories throughout the country. I have visited schools that have superb facilities. I acknowledge that. There are some new builds that are really impressive. As the Taoiseach stated, however, there are still immense challenges. In the Dublin area, there are immense challenges. The Taoiseach referred to growth and expansion. There is not sufficient growth or expansion to meet the growing demand and needs that exist. I will provide some figures. Some 14,221 children are overdue assessments of need. Nearly 13,000 are awaiting first contact with a children's disability network team. Last September, shamefully, 126 children with special educational needs were not given school places.”
“Ours is supposed to be the land of saints and scholars, but how can teachers be expected to teach when they are also expected to carry out the roles of a therapist and an SNA, and our SNAs are so overburdened? The Taoiseach often asks where the solutions are in this House. I have a set of solutions here for him. We have our motion. It is before the House tomorrow. I am asking the Taoiseach to commit to passing our motion and to giving parents and children the certainty and clarity they need.”
“The Taoiseach is hearing it, as are his colleagues in government. During the Easter recess last week my colleague, our education spokesperson, Deputy Kenny, attended the different teachers’ conferences around the country. He engaged with and heard directly from teachers about their frustration on this issue. A recurrent theme he heard about was desperate experiences. One primary teacher he spoke with had 28 pupils, several of whom had learning difficulties, and just one SNA in the class. There was another teacher who was told that no special class in the school would be sanctioned, despite it having more than ten children on a provisional waiting list.”
“It is a fair point because the simple fact is the State has a legal obligation to vindicate the right of all children to an education, yet it is being taken to court for failing in that duty all the time. While sometimes the State settles or the issue is resolved, at other times we see the State adopting an approach to litigation like something we would expect from a faceless private corporation. This shows contempt for children and their families, because they want nothing more a diagnosis and to be able to get a suitable school place in their community. It is not a tall order, but those who take the cases feel they have no choice but to do so. It is not just children and their families who are crying out for help. We are also hearing the frustration from teachers, principals, SNAs and school staff.”
“We are all aware of this crisis because across the country we have all heard the immense frustration from parents, grandparents, siblings and teachers who are desperately trying to do all they can to ensure the children in their lives are provided with appropriate education. Parents are writing to all of us TDs. They are sleeping out in the streets in protest and some are going to the courts. All this is in an effort to move the Taoiseach's Government to provide for that basic right to an education. I quote the brilliant young activist, Cara Darmody, whom the Taoiseach has met. She has asked how Cabinet Ministers can expect the children of Ireland to grow up to respect the law when they see flagrant law-breaking by their own Government.”
“As we know, childhood is short, and children being failed by the State today do not have the luxury of time. There are massive negative consequences for any child who receives inappropriate schooling or, worse, no schooling at all, yet across the State we see systemic failures in provision for children with additional needs. That is why, once again, we in Labour will be using our Private Members' time tomorrow morning to propose a motion on special education. That motion has nine sensible, simple and strategic asks to address the ongoing failure of this State to provide school places for children with special or additional educational needs.”
“The Labour Party has a Bill which would give the State the power to compel religious orders to pay their fair share. It would provide a legal remedy for the current situation. I asked the Taoiseach his view on that. He said the Attorney General is examining options and the Minister, Deputy Foley, will go back to the orders. I ask the Minister to do all she can to ensure the orders will indeed pay their fair share of redress and we will see justice for survivors.”
“I join the Ceann Comhairle in welcoming our colleague from London, Mr. Liam Conlon, MP, for Beckenham and Penge, to the Distinguished Visitors’ Gallery. He is here with Donal Sheehan from his office. I commend Liam for his work on bringing forward Philomena’s law in Westminster, legislation that will secure additional justice for survivors of mother and baby homes, many thousands of whom live in Britain despite having been in homes in Ireland. However, we need to do more here for survivors of mother and baby homes. On Tuesday, I asked the Taoiseach about how the Government will respond to the report from Sheila Nunan on her negotiations with the religious orders responsible for running the homes. It is very disappointing to see that only one order has come up with a substantial offer to contribute to the redress scheme.”
“We are seeing children, journalists, aid workers and medics all being slaughtered and no humanitarian aid has entered the Gaza Strip in over a month. More than 1 million children have no access to food, safe water, shelter and medical supplies. Will the Taoiseach back calls for an international inquiry into that specific horrific killing of the humanitarian workers? What more can Ireland do to push for aid to enter the Gaza Strip?”
“The horrific killing is continuing in Gaza with reports of 29 more people, including several children, killed overnight in Gaza City by Israeli bombardment. The Gaza Strip lies in ruins with no sign of any renewal of the ceasefire. I support the calls for an independent international inquiry arising from the cold-blooded killing of 15 humanitarian workers at the end of March in Gaza who were buried in a shallow grave and found a week later. We should remember that the Israeli military said first that they were militants and then had to change its story after a video emerged of the emergency workers in their uniforms and their clearly marked ambulances which were fired upon. This is yet more evidence of clear crimes against humanity by Israel.”
“Can this board manage this complex transition to the new world-class children's hospital that we all so fervently hope will be available and accessible soon to the children across Ireland who need it?”
“I thank the Taoiseach for clarifying that there has been engagement with Daniel Collins's family. However, I understand there is still no surgery date. We all wish Daniel and his family well. However, the reality is there are far too many families and far too many children still awaiting necessary surgery dates. Quite apart from the trauma all those families and children are going through, there is a broader issue. Our health spokesperson, Deputy Marie Sherlock, pointed out the broader issue of systemic failure highlighted by this HIQA report. To return to that issue of confidence, there are three fundamental questions. Is the Taoiseach confident that the board is capable of implementing the HIQA recommendations and can guarantee the provision of safe surgeries for children who need them?”
“I am thinking of all those families impacted by the use of corrosive springs, families waiting on a surgery date and of course thousands of children waiting for the opening of a world-class children’s hospital who are awaiting the Taoiseach's response on this.”
“With more reports to come, what is obvious now is that there is a dysfunctional culture and that trust must be restored. It is difficult for parents to hand children over to an institution that has been criticised, as CHI has been by HIQA. With this damning report, and more to come, it is hard to see trust being restored without robust action. Looking at how that robust action may now be taken, I ask, first, whether the Government will examine the model used following the cervical check scandal and how trust was rebuilt there? I am thinking of the important work of the 221+ Group, for example. Second, can the Taoiseach say whether the board of CHI now retains his confidence and that of the Minister for Health?”
“The publication of this latest HIQA report on spinal surgeries compounds these fears. The resignation of the board’s chair, Dr. Jim Browne, yesterday only further confirms the doubts and concerns. It reports so-called experimental spinal surgeries and unnecessary surgeries. We know about the lengthening waiting lists and doubts about so many aspects of the move to the national children’s hospital. Some commentators are suggesting since yesterday that problems at CHI start and end with the actions of one rogue surgeon. However, while the details of reckless experimentation are horrifying, clearly the problems at CHI go deeper than that. The HIQA report is deeply concerning in indicating systemic failures at a broader level.”
“Advocating for Daniel on the airwaves is not something that Louise or Alannah should have to do. They painted a heartbreaking picture of the real-life impact of dysfunction in the health service. The thought of a child in pain is appalling. Persistent pain or worsening health are the last things any of us want for our own children or for anyone’s child. We all know Children’s Health Ireland has important work to do to ensure the protection of children's health. It is tasked with ensuring our children receive the highest standards of care when they are sick. It is also overseeing the movement of three hospitals onto the new campus at St. James’s Hospital. We will now be wondering whether Children’s Health Ireland will ever fulfil its commitment to provide surgery to children like Daniel within four months.”
“There were 233 children on a waiting list for spinal surgery at Children’s Health Ireland, CHI, hospitals at the end of February. Of those children, 43 who had been approved for surgery had been waiting more than six months and 15 of those had been kept waiting for more than a year. These children are in agony. It is a national shame on us all that they are kept waiting so long. This morning, "The Oliver Callan Show" radio programme heard from Louise and Alannah Collins, mother and sister to 14-year-old Daniel Collins from Tralee. Daniel has severe scoliosis. In the 14 months since he was told he needed surgery, his surgeon in Crumlin has not been able to offer him a single date. His back initially had a curve of 22 degrees. There is now a 95% curvature to his spine so he will need two surgeries and has no date for either of them.”
“Her landlord is happy to sell to the council and does not want to see a family made homeless but the home does not qualify as it has not been in HAP for two years. Across the country, many of us are hearing stories of families being excluded from the scheme because of changes that have been made and a smaller allocation for the scheme. On the Taoiseach's watch, child homelessness is at record highs and rising and it is shameful to see this. The tenant in situ scheme was one measure to seek to address and alleviate child homelessness. Will the Taoiseach reconsider the changes that have been made and ensure that families will be protected and that the scheme will become effective to secure people in their homes?”
“The February figures for homelessness showed that 5,653 children are without a home. Child homelessness has deep and lasting impacts on children's lives and well-being. It is associated with childhood poverty. The tenant in situ scheme was a key measure brought in by Government that sought to address the root causes of child and family homelessness and enable people to stay in their homes as social tenants yet it has simply become ineffective in protecting families and children from homelessness. The Irish Times reported yesterday on a young woman with children aged three months and 18 months who is facing homelessness because of unnecessary restrictions on the tenant in situ scheme. She is on HAP.”
“What will the Government do to compel religious orders and associated lay-run trusts to pay their fair share of redress? I have drafted legislation for the Labour Party to address the imbalance of power to make it easier for survivors to seek justice by providing the Government and the State with additional powers to effectively compel the payment of redress. I would be very happy to share that again with the Minister.”
“The Minister, Deputy Foley, today published the report by Sheila Nunan on negotiations with the religious bodies involved in running mother and baby homes. It is disappointing to see how little the orders are prepared to do towards paying their fair share of redress. The vast majority are dragging their feet and delaying on the issue of redress. I think just one substantial offer has been made by one order, along with two fairly derisory offers from two other orders. There has been nothing at all from the others. These orders are not short of money. An investigation by Noteworthy for The Journal showed that the religious orders involved in historic abuse sold over 75 properties worth more than €90 million between 2016 and 2022 alone.”