John Lahart
Dublin South-West · Fianna Fáil · Ireland
“I remember sitting in the back seat of my parents' car as we crossed the Border for the first time, a British soldier talking to my father, seeing his gun and having an awful gut feeling about the idea that a British soldier would be stopping my father's car. I was from Dublin.”
“In the current debate, when we talk about security, defence and how Ireland is going to approach this, I always say Ireland is having a conversation about this for the first time. Nobody needs to pressurise us about this; we will make our decisions about it ourselves in a mature way.”
“However, it would also give a real indication of the challenges that lie ahead of us in order to make that feeling of home for everybody who lives on the island a real possibility. That means there is a huge amount of work to be done.”
“There are real tax implications if they live in the Republic and work in the North, or if they live in the North and work in the Republic. We have not actually established some kind of common area or system that enables people to do that and it is actually hindering economic development and progress. IBEC has said that.”
“It lends itself to a very natural system of federal government where there is a capital in each province determining - not ruling, but representing everybody in those provinces - and maybe a central government made up of representatives of those four provinces.”
“I welcome the opportunity to contribute briefly on this debate. I was listening to some of it. I echo some of the comments made by Deputy Gogarty about the provocative nature of some of the matters that he raised and the wide range of issues we would need to consider. We do not talk about the North in this House enough.”
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“It is truly remarkable that in 1888, one could board a tram in the city and travel all the way to Blessington via Rathfarnham and Templeogue, yet in 2026, we are still arguing for but have now moved much closer to an independent feasibility study to bring modern rail infrastructure to our constituency. The Minister of State will agree that the best time to build a metro in Dublin was 20 years ago. The second best time is right now. The Government must not make the people in Dublin South-West wait another 20 years to make a decision on this. Her news today is a very positive and welcome step towards making that a reality.”
“I will be fair to my colleagues. I welcome the very positive news the Minister of State announced to the effect that the Government is positively committing itself to the consideration of the feasibility study we, as representatives of the various constituencies, are requesting. This is one of the most significant investments in transport in the history of the State, but, for too long, communities in my constituency have watched major transport projects stop short of where growth is happening. We live in a country that was better connected by rail 100 years ago than it is today.”
“That is not a criticism; it is just an exhortation to say it needs to trust people, and to trust the people of the Republic to be able to have and cope with a sensitive conversation about sensitive issues. The sooner that conversation starts - here is a good place to kick it off - the sooner we discover the things that are on people's minds when it comes to a discussion about either uniting the people, uniting the territory, or creating a place all of us can call home.”
“I remember sitting in the back seat of my parents' car as we crossed the Border for the first time, a British soldier talking to my father, seeing his gun and having an awful gut feeling about the idea that a British soldier would be stopping my father's car. I was from Dublin. I had no experience of what it was like to have occupying forces on my doorstep but I know it was a gut feeling. I also know that now I have travelled a long distance, it does not mean the notion of uniting the country has become diluted for me. I hope, however, that I recognise - if I come back to the point I started with - that if we want to create a place that everybody on the island can call home, then there needs to be a much more sophisticated conversation than maybe we have been used to. The Government could do an awful lot more to lead on this.”
“I am not the world's best traveller to the Six Counties but in the past two years, I have been up there at GAA matches following Dublin and Derry. I am thrilled to say I went to see the Heaney homeplace in Bellaghy. I have not been this year and I think it ought to be on our agenda to visit and to get to know it. It was difficult for us to do it in times gone past. I want to say this as a Fianna Fáil politician. As someone who joined the party as a young man, one of the things that motivated me was that I wanted to see our country united. I still want to see our country united. I have learned, I think. I have listened, read and continue to listen.”
“There are real tax implications if they live in the Republic and work in the North, or if they live in the North and work in the Republic. We have not actually established some kind of common area or system that enables people to do that and it is actually hindering economic development and progress. IBEC has said that. I agree with Deputy Lawless as well, and this is not an attack on anybody's position. This is the citizens' assembly and I think we should trust ourselves to debate this as we are doing now, in a respectful way. In regard to one of the things we can do as well, economically, so many people in the Republic have not been to the Six Counties. I think that is a real piece of work we need to continuously work on. I know we have the all-island tourist body and it has done phenomenal pieces.”
“What kind of reaction would that receive? What kind of reaction would it receive on the opposite side of the House or this side of the House? As Deputy Gogarty asked - and I am not outlining a personal position on this - what if we said the price of a united Ireland was rejoining the Commonwealth? What would be the reaction to that? I am not suggesting we rejoin the Commonwealth but I think it is realistic to suggest that it might be a unionist part of the conversation we would have to have down the road. We had a very interesting presentation by IBEC. Some of my colleagues across the floor were with us this morning when IBEC presented some of the real practical challenges that partition causes, particularly for people who work on the Border.”
“In the current debate, when we talk about security, defence and how Ireland is going to approach this, I always say Ireland is having a conversation about this for the first time. Nobody needs to pressurise us about this; we will make our decisions about it ourselves in a mature way. In the context of the Thirty-two Counties, we often do not remember that six counties of the country are essentially in NATO, for example. Deputy Gogarty referred to those kinds of conversations. They cannot just be one-way conversations. They are real conversations that have to be had. They lead me to the conclusion that the difficult considerations are not around how much it would cost but they will be about the give and take. For example, let us say, hypothetically, that unionism would agree to a united Ireland if the Republic joined NATO.”
“That simple structure in Ireland of four provinces offered and offers a very simple federal system that could be taken going forward, and then we would decide where central government is organised from. It would clearly have to have a Belfast dimension as well as a Dublin dimension. I do not think one-upmanship in the House assists this because we all have ideas and they are all valid. I do not think there is any one Member or party that is the exclusive carrier of the flame or the ambition for unity. In the foreign affairs committee, which I chair, we often meet diplomats from other countries and when we talk about this country I often describe it as an unfinished story.”
“I do not want to name what might be the capital cities of the other provinces because that could get me into an awful lot of trouble.”
“It lends itself to a very natural system of federal government where there is a capital in each province determining - not ruling, but representing everybody in those provinces - and maybe a central government made up of representatives of those four provinces. Partition robbed us of that natural four-province political framework on the island. Even if we were to start there and re-establish four provinces, we could see the concessions that would need to be made. We could say that Belfast was the natural capital of the province of Ulster. It would require concessions on the part of the three counties of Ulster that remain in the Republic. It would require concessions on the part of the Six Counties that are in Northern Ireland to incorporate the other three counties into the administrative system.”
“However, it would also give a real indication of the challenges that lie ahead of us in order to make that feeling of home for everybody who lives on the island a real possibility. That means there is a huge amount of work to be done. The shared island project is a clear example of the kind of work that can be done, dealing with tangible projects being delivered in a non-threatening way, either reinforcing historical, infrastructural connections that used to exist but were broken and re-establishing them or creating synergies on the island, and trust, dialogue and research in relation to specific projects. However, we can be braver than that. I look at the things that partition robbed us of. We can outline a lot of them but I am thinking of how we had a natural federal system on this island with four provinces.”
“I welcome the opportunity to contribute briefly on this debate. I was listening to some of it. I echo some of the comments made by Deputy Gogarty about the provocative nature of some of the matters that he raised and the wide range of issues we would need to consider. We do not talk about the North in this House enough. I have been here ten years and it seems to me that we are only really beginning to have a discussion about it. There is nothing for us to be afraid of once we have open minds, open hearts and are respectful to the stance that everyone else takes in this House. If we were to agree on something, it would be that we all want to live on an island that every single person on the island can call "home". If we were to start from there, it would be as good a starting point as any.”
“Nexus may not have been upfront with us but we have no reason to believe that is the case. Tusla has not explained why it allowed this service to continue. According to the provider, there were inspections previously. Let us focus on the children. They need places and their parents need certainty for 1 September.”
“One of the things that strikes me about the reply, which is not the Minister of State's responsibility, is its technical nature and the lack of child-focused orientation it displays. There is no comfort in it for parents as to what will be done for their children in six weeks' time. That is the real letdown. I fully concur with Deputy Moynihan that there is an avenue available to move this situation forward. I am grateful for the Minister of State's indication in that regard. If there is a child-focused view and perspective, then the Departments of children and education will move Heaven and earth to ensure that Nexus is in a position to qualify and to jump through the hoops that are there. I thank the Chair for allowing me a bit of latitude here. I am not saying Tusla is wrong in its position.”
“Families are seeking clarity as to why a difficulty has now arisen and what steps will be taken to ensure their children are not disadvantaged. Tusla must explain why the provision of this care was okay until now. Was there an incident? What changed? Transparency on the part of both Tusla and the provider is needed before we can move forward.”
“The families affected have argued that this decision could leave their vulnerable children without appropriate educational supports at a time of severe shortage of special school and special class placements. Deputy Moynihan and I had a meeting with the parents on Tuesday, where we heard at first hand about those anxieties. Parents are frustrated that they may be forced to choose between keeping their child at home, having to leave employment to provide care and placing their child in an unsuitable educational setting. Deputy Moynihan has highlighted the crux of the issue. As the parents have pointed out, Nexus has already been supporting children aged six and over for many years. It has undergone inspections without this issue being highlighted heretofore.”
“Parents of children with special needs require certainty and predictability. Their lives and those of their children are challenging enough without having to endure distress and anxiety caused by uncertainty and unpredictability. The Minister of State appreciates that. As my colleague Deputy Moynihan said, parents are deeply concerned that Nexus in Knocklyon and other locations has been informed by Tusla that due to its registration as a part-time service provider, it cannot take children who will be aged six or older for the 2026-27 school year. Nexus has been warned it could face sanctions, fines or prosecutions if it continues to provide services for those children.”
“I thought we had left these days behind us because we have made huge strides in the provision of affordable childcare under this Government. In my constituency, however, this progress is being seriously jeopardised by the fact that some providers are being forced to withdraw from the scheme because of the unviability of their businesses. If no alternative providers are available locally and when a provider withdraws from core funding, parents are then left with the equivalent of a second mortgage cost for their childcare when a provider withdraws from the core funding system. Providers are saying they are withdrawing and maintaining they cannot cope with the increased costs in food, energy and wages. I know the Taoiseach will agree with me that when it comes to the cost of childcare and its affordability, equality must mean equality.”
“I thank the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, for that. I appreciate him bringing back our sentiments to the Minister. Before starting on a new project, why not finish the projects that are outstanding? What is happening is through no fault of the school itself. It is affecting how the school attracts students and how education is provided there. It is affecting enrolment and the school's ability to enrol. It is also affecting wider personal, physical, mental and well-being education. On top of that, the site is a building site. We really appreciate the Minister of State taking on board what we are saying, and we look forward to hearing from and engaging further with the Minister, Deputy Naughton, as the year goes on.”
“Through no fault of their own, a building, as was explained earlier, is unfinished and incomplete, yet the school still seems to max out in terms of the success and education it delivers. It remains, however, an incomplete school delivering an incomplete education.”
“I thank my colleagues for joining me in bringing this question forward. We do this sometimes in this Chamber. Sancta Maria College is unfinished business. It is an unfinished school. A school without a sports hall is not a school. A school without performance facilities and space and creative space and facilities is not a finished school either. It is what we can call an incomplete school or an uncompleted school, giving, essentially, an incomplete education to the girls who attend there and have attended there for a number of years. What a school it is, when we look at the students, teachers, the principal, the board of management and the parents council.”
“It is an issue that the rare diseases group recognises. I commend the Minister on some of the work that has been done recently. Particularly, I welcome the commitment to establish a national rare disease registry and an implementation oversight group. They are some of the things that can be done. I will defer to my colleague, Deputy Dr. Martin Daly.”
“Where there would have been orphan drugs before, we have an awful lot more hybrid drugs that are born out of existing medications. I fully understand my colleagues mentioning specific conditions. I am reluctant to do so out of the knowledge, having dealt with some constituents over the last decade and beyond, that for every condition we mention here that is in need of assistance, there is probably someone sitting at home saying "what about my condition?" that is one of the 2,000-odd rare diseases. I commend the dynamism, innovation, creativity and research that is going on among the best of our pharma companies. We are very well placed here. I have often told the pharma companies that they really ought to be pushing their weight about a little bit more. Ireland depends hugely on them. We should have far more clinical trials here.”
“As colleagues with whom I have been privileged to work will know, particularly Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan who spoke earlier, I never put this on the record but have said to groups that when we are fighting for a cause that includes the word "rare" in terms of the disease, and "orphan" in terms of the drug, we know we are fighting an uphill battle. Any advocacy work that begins with those two words means being out on the extremes and the sidelines, fighting. My colleague, Deputy Dr. Martin Daly is here and he will know far more about this than I do. One of the ways I look at this is that we are learning much more about the recognised, mainstream diseases, as it were. Drugs are becoming much more targeted and there are more hybrid approaches to tackling many of the regular and everyday conditions that we meet.”
“I welcome the opportunity to contribute to these statements on rare diseases. I chair an ad hoc cross-party committee in the Oireachtas on the subject of rare diseases and have done for some time. My speaking time is very limited. To put it in context, one in 17 people in Ireland has a rare disease. In this Dáil Chamber, that would mean ten Members would have a rare disease. If we populate those ten around the seating in the Chamber it actually brings it to life and gives it reality. We all know someone and there are possibly colleagues who have rare diseases.”
“To answer the question asked by the Opposition today, history will show that today we fulfilled one commitment to enact an occupied territories Bill and that that process began in this parliamentary Chamber in Ireland today.”
“I abhor the manner in which the Israeli Government has smeared and attempted to undermine the Irish Government at every turn. I would argue that the sanctioning of two Israeli ministers by the Minister for justice, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, last week, is far more impactful than any potential impact of an occupied territories Bill, including goods and services or not. I mentioned the critics here. I say to them that today is a good day. Is it a perfect day? No, it is not. There is always more to be done. In 2024, though, when we went before the people, we said we would enact an occupied territories Bill. We stand resolutely with the Palestinian people. Ireland stands always with Palestine. We are its strongest advocate at EU and international level.”
“Government has access to more information and carries heavier burdens in areas of governance, than a parliamentary committee. Like the Leas-Cheann Comhairle, I have represented my country on many international forums, where Ireland's commitment to enacting an occupied territories Bill is widely admired and where I expect it to be mirrored. Ireland has taken so many steps at EU level. Everywhere I go, Palestinian representatives acknowledge and recognise the leading role that Ireland played, continues to play and will always play when it comes to defending the rights of and advocating for the people of the occupied territories and of Gaza. At every meeting I attend, and as chair, I meet many representatives. I continuously advocate for Palestine, as do my colleagues, robustly and without fear.”
“We were and are grateful that IBEC did engage in detail with the committee. This is what IBEC said: it warned that any deterioration in US trade with and investment in Ireland would have material impacts for households and businesses. It advised it is important that consideration of the merits of the Bill includes a recognition that these reputational costs may impact on Irish workers, households and businesses. IBEC advised that it was clear from IBEC members and their feedback that the costs for US businesses and for Ireland's reputation will be substantially greater should services be included in the scope of the Bill. My comments in the preface to the report on scrutiny of the Bill included: As Chair, I am also conscious of the different roles and responsibilities of parliamentary committees and government.”
“Yes, the committee recommended unanimously that services be included in the Bill. The committee never divided on any of the amendments proposed for the Bill. In other words, we were never forced to a vote, such was the unanimity of the members of the committee who undertook the scrutiny. The committee also unanimously recommended that the Government continue to pursue its optimal policy scenario of action, which is being taken in relation to Gaza at EU level. It also recommended that the Government undertakes efforts to publish and establish a range of scenarios on the potential repercussions of the measure in respect of both international relations and economic effects, and to comprehensively engage with business. That recommendation arose out of how reluctant business was to engage with the committee in its deliberations on the Bill.”
“In the programme for Government, we committed to progressing legislation prohibiting importation of goods, albeit a small amount, from occupied Palestinian territories following the July 2024 International Court of Justice advisory opinion. This Bill is designed to provide for compliance by the State with that international legal obligation as identified by the ICJ in that advisory opinion, to take steps to prevent trade relations that assist in the maintenance of the illegal situation created by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory and, for that purpose, to prohibit the importation of goods originating in certain Israeli settlements. I chair the Oireachtas foreign affairs committee and chaired the meetings that carried out scrutiny of the Government's proposals in this Bill.”
“I have observed, over the past year or so and before then, that the biggest critics of the Irish Government are the Netanyahu government and Members of our own Opposition, regardless of what the Irish Government does and the esteem in which it and the Irish people are held internationally in relation to their stance on Palestine and their defence of Palestinians. I have met many of these representatives in this House and abroad who hold Ireland up as an exemplar. It is never enough for the Opposition but I will focus, in my own brief contribution here, on the following points. This is a good day for the people of Palestine.”
“All I know is this: they have gobbled up the space that could be used for a dedicated bus corridor from the Tallaght bypass to Leopardstown at a time when the M50 is saturated with traffic - a parallel public transport route. It makes no sense to me and I do not understand it. Here is probably our one opportunity in this term to give public representatives and the public a real voice in how the NTA does its business.”
“It connected the N81, which is the Tallaght bypass, all the way out parallel to the M50 to Leopardstown. There was sufficient road width and public realm space for 95% of that route to actually create a connection between the red Luas line and the green Luas line. In the absence of funding for that, there was still sufficient road width to put cycle lanes on either side of the road, proper bus corridors and actually landscape them really nicely. The bus corridor could have been behind trees and not just purely on the road. On some stretches of it there is a double cycle track, then it meets a cycle track on one side of the road and a cycle track on the other side of the road.”
“There need to be genuine public meetings properly set up and properly advertised. I will give one example. I have said this to the NTA. I could speak for an hour on this, as most of my colleagues could. The active travel scheme involves walking and cycling. My area has a number of active travel schemes that are really good but they have resulted in impeding the movement of public transport. I remember having a conversation with an engineer and asked what side of the NTA they were talking to and they said it was active travel. I asked if they had spoken to the BusConnects side. They said they had not because their budget was coming from active travel. It is still the same road space. I will finish with this. Way back in the day there was a road that we, as councillors, called the green route because it was drawn in green on a map.”
“When a scheme comes in, county councillors on the ground say it is not down to them because it is Government policy. TDs say that actually the council designed it. Everybody is fobbing off responsibility. The public wake up and the first they hear about a scheme is when they see the diggers in the road and they want to know who decided it, who voted for it, who is responsible for it and who they can talk to about it. Everybody is running a mile from it because there is not an identifiable structure. I do not know who is responsible for the schemes. I know the council designed it. When I was a councillor, I know they all had to go out to full Part 8. There is this section 156 which seems to replace that so there is only minor consultation about it. The public consultation of local authorities is just not comprehensive enough.”
“They come before a transport committee. Time is limited to five or six minutes for those on the committee - I am not on the transport committee. Then they come to do a public session in Buswells and we get to have a few minutes from an official. A senior official in the NTA said to me with a wry smile, “You’re the Deputy who writes all the letters.” I was really taken aback and said, “Actually it’s my job to do it. Let it pass.” There is not an adequate mechanism for public representatives to liaise with the NTA. Whose fault is that? It is Fianna Fáil’s and Fine Gael’s fault because we created the legislation. It was also the fault of the Green Party the last time. The Minister has an opportunity to do something to rectify this now and build in something really democratic. We have all experienced what happens.”
“The people in the NTA then came back to the double decker buses without the central door - they previously had the double decker buses with the centre door. Then they bought a fleet of buses without the centre door. A few years later they decided they liked the centre door and they did away with the buses without the centre door. Then they had the bus pull-ins at bus stops. Then they decided they did not want the bus pull-ins at bus stops and did away with the bus pull-ins. They cannot make up their minds. It leads to an impression that they do not know what they are doing sometimes. That is terribly disparaging for the really good engineers who work there, men and women, and there are some fine people. They also engage in a lot of desktop stuff which wastes a colossal amount of public money. What Deputy Gogarty said is right.”
“It has a cycle track, a dedicated bus lane and traffic lanes with the same on the other side of the road. It is an excellent piece of work. There were a lot of eggs broken making that omelette, but it is a bespoke piece of infrastructure. Back in 2010 the Dublin transportation office was all about bus rapid transit. Those are the bendy buses as the Dubs called them. They are to be seen everywhere in Europe. They are in Belfast and Derry. I remember putting around a leaflet in the 2009 local election campaign, proud as punch that this was the next piece of infrastructure that was going to come in. Then the DTA became the NTA. God knows how much money was spent on the bus rapid transit. Bendy buses disappeared because people would be standing too long in them.”
“I welcome the opportunity to speak on this. I had been a county councillor for 11 years back in 2010 when Government expanded the DTA to become the NTA. I may have the dates wrong but I am roughly right. This Bill provides a big opportunity. I agree with a lot of what the previous speaker said. There is a real democratic deficit when it comes to the NTA. I suspect the public view of the NTA is not hugely positive. I want to defend it by saying that very often when its schemes are completed the furore calms down and people say actually that is a good piece of work. I was at Parnell Park on Sunday to watch the Dubs in the hurling match. I went out the cycleway, the Fairview one. That road has sufficient width and there is room for everybody.”
“I acknowledge that An Post is growing in terms of deliveries, but this is local, it is a service issue, it is about local people and it is about workers now potentially having to engage in much longer commutes and, certainly, older people and people with disabilities having to engage in cruel commutes just to collect parcels.”
“I welcome the fact that the Minister of State will do his best to facilitate engagement directly between An Post and the public representatives who have raised this matter. I also welcome the news about 300 additional postmen and postwomen, some of whom will be employed in the local area. That is really good news. As regards the talk about dispersing what Edmondstown sorting office does to other local post offices, we have lost Templeogue post office and we lost Rathfarnham post office. They were never replaced despite great efforts by local public representatives. As for the last remaining local post office in this area, in Ballyroan, I do not want to comment on it because I do not own or run it, but just from going in and out and engaging, I just wonder about its capacity to store material.”
“It allows residents to easily collect missed deliveries and engage with a local service that is clearly valued and has employed a lot of local people historically. As was mentioned, the proposed location would require residents to travel across the M50 to Lucan simply to collect a parcel and for many, this is a significant and unreasonable burden. We have been contacted by constituents with no access to private transport or who may have significant needs and are not able to use public transport. Postal workers are also concerned about significantly longer commutes for them. Is the Minister of State aware of the plans? Has any impact assessment been carried out? What engagement has been taking place? Will he intervene to protect local services?”
“I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this Topical Issue matter, which should have included our colleague, Deputy Paul Murphy, as well. I ought to say that. The four non-officeholders in Dublin South West come together when there is an issue of serious concern to all of us, and this is one such issue of concern. It is to raise the reported proposal by An Post to close the sorting office at Edmondstown in my own parish and relocate its operations to a centralised hub in Grange Castle in Lucan. As the Minister of State knows, the proposal has caused significant concern across a wide area of south Dublin, including Rathfarnham, Knocklyon, Ballycullen, Ballyroan, Ballyboden, Butterfield and those areas. The Edmondstown facility currently provides reliable, accessible and community-focused services.”
“If we go from Citywest to Knocklyon where I live myself, it was mentioned in the documentary that 600 units overspill into adjoining estates, causing a lot of aggravation. Representatives of residents' associations in adjoining estates look for double yellow lines or parking measures to mitigate antisocial forms of parking. Then we have the people who do not have parking spaces because a sufficient number of car parking spaces were not provided in the apartment complexes. I get it that underground car parking is more expensive. However, in the answer it said that the approach provides planning authorities with a degree of flexibility so they can operate a plan-led approach and take the circumstances of the planned area or an individual site into account. It is not working, and it is going to get worse.”
“They return to their cars in the morning hoping they will still be there. This is completely unsatisfactory. There is one line in the reply to which I want to come back in my second bite of the cherry. This is not working and the Government needs to come up with some response.”
“It did not take the "Prime Time" documentary on this to educate me about it. It started in my constituency with Citywest where there was out-of-proportion development in relation to the capacity for parking that was provided by either the local authority or An Bord Pleanála, now An Coimisiún Pleanála. Why was that density allowed? I presume proximity to the Luas red line was one of the reasons. However, not everybody living in that area takes the Luas red line. There were appeals on social media a number of years ago from people in Citywest asking to rent a space in the driveway of adjoining residential estates and to pay for it over a period of a year. That has stopped now. Cars are parked overnight on major artery roads significant distances from where people are actually living.”
“International Nurses Day should not only be a moment of celebration; it should also encourage us to recommit to listen, respond and keep raising the ambition of what we can do for the nurses in our health service and health system.”
“It underlines that the training of more professionals, while essential, will never be sufficient on its own if we do not also create the conditions that encourage skilled staff to build their careers in Ireland and ensure that the people most affected by the change in conditions or the lack of accommodation are given a strong voice within the partnership system, or what used to be called the social partnership system in this country. Their voices must be heard and represented at the table for negotiations when discussions on their future take place. We need to support nurses. We need to care for those who care for us. Personally, without going into any detail, I have been at the receiving end of that care on a number of times in my life, as have members of my family, both here and abroad.”