Laura Harmon
Industrial and Commercial Panel · Labour Party · Ireland
“There is not enough room for a wheelchair to go around the side of the building. There is no obvious proper entrance. The reception is upstairs. There is no lift access for anyone with mobility issues, buggies or deliveries. The classrooms are an irregular shape and are not the standard classroom size of 49 sq. m.”
“Her cause of death was recorded as “congenital debilities”. For many of those babies who died at Bessborough, the reason given for their death was congenital debility or marasmus, which was essentially starvation. The reason given for these babies’ deaths was often very vague.”
“I am speaking again about the issue of Bessborough in Cork city and to call once again on the Taoiseach to act on this. There is still time to do the right thing and to have a negotiation process with the developer now or, failing that, to look at compulsory purchase of this site. The burial records have been sealed in relation to this.”
“I thank the Minister of State for her response. Will she call for a meeting in person with the school? Could that be facilitated to give the school an update in person? Does she have an idea as to a commitment on the timeline?”
“Will the Minister of State provide an update on what has been done to progress the request for additional school accommodation for Coláiste Daibhéid in Cork city and a timeline for the project?”
“It reaches high standards academically as well as in sport, STEM and stewardship. It has fantastic students and they deserve better. At present, the school is on the edge of Douglas Street Campus on Sawmill Street. There are two buildings. One is Buckingham House, which dates from the mid-19th century.”
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“We know that at least 200 children with special educational needs nationally have had to seek some home tuition as a last resort because a school place was not readily available for them this school year. Just the other day, I met representatives of the Rainbow Club, Mahon, Cork city. The organisation is providing an invaluable service to children and families who have been locked out of education and system supports. Currently, the organisation is supporting 1,342 people. It offers an incredible service and is seeking additional supports. To expand, it is seeking a new premises. Its representatives speak very highly of Senator Rabbitte, who engaged with them previously. Ireland has ratified the Optional Protocol to the UNCRPD but children’s disability network teams remain underfunded and understaffed.”
“I welcome the Minister of State and look forward to engaging with him in his brief. It is safe to say this is one of the biggest access-to-education issues we are facing in this country. Approximately 100 children in Cork are still waiting to be offered a school place this September. I recently attended in Cork city a protest on this issue organised by Nicole Hosford. I actually bumped into her today. I believe she has been up for meetings in Leinster House today. I heard from parents and families at the protest who have had to become full-time campaigners for their children. We heard the dream of some parents. All they want is to be able to go into Buckley’s shop in Shandon Street, Cork, to buy a school uniform for their children so they can go to school with all the other children.”
“We do need to have those data but we cannot ignore the fact that, recently, more than 30 road safety advocacy groups declared no confidence in the RSA and stated it was not fit for purpose. I hope the review of that will be fruitful in terms of subsequent implementation. There is a lot of work to be done and I would welcome further debate on this.”
“When we talk about road safety, we are talking not just about people in cars but also about cyclists and pedestrians and unlocking more funding for pedestrian crossings. My Labour Party colleague in Cork, Councillor Peter Horgan, has been doing a lot of advocacy on this. He is chair of the transport committee in Cork. We need more pedestrian crossings, and it would be wonderful to see more funding for footpaths unlocked as part of active travel. Pedestrians require safety too and it is worrying to see the number of pedestrians in Cork who tell me they are walking in the middle of the roads because the footpaths do not feel safe. The RSA must also hand over data to local authorities after collisions as soon as possible. I know there are GDPR issues to be sorted but local authorities need to know where the blackspots are for crashes.”
“It is shocking that some residents in the area have been waiting almost two decades for road safety measures. Last year, I met a mother as I was going door to door. She told me her daughter was knocked down on the first day of her school holidays. She had injuries from the incident that, thankfully, she survived and is well, but it is extremely worrying. A lot of estates are being built before infrastructure is put in place, so we are ending up with roads that are, perhaps, not suitable for population increases. That is something that needs to be taken into account as part of planning because that particular road in Lehenaghmore I spoke about was essentially built on a 19th century boreen and it is not fit for purpose.”
“We also need more real-time data on our roads and we need significant investment in permanent stationary traffic cameras. I acknowledge that is in the programme for Government, which is very welcome. We can talk all we want about penalty points and speed limits. They are all good and necessary measures but what we are really speaking about, and what will actually have an effect, is behavioural change. People need to know they will be punished for infringements of the rules of the road. Road maintenance is a big issue. The Government is very focused on roads and road building. This is not a negative because the condition of many of our roads is dire. One road I speak about a lot in Cork is in the Lehenaghmore area. A project related to it went out to tender last Friday, which is welcome. I hope its construction will commence this year.”
“We also need to acknowledge that many more people suffer life-changing injuries as a result of road collisions in this country. We cannot allow ourselves to think that simply lowering speed limits is a panacea nor are harsher penalties for infringements of those speed limits or of other offences such as drink-driving or phone use. Ultimately the determining factor in the success of these initiatives will be their enforcement. We need to look at the numbers in the Garda traffic corps. Prior to the recession, the corps was 1,300 strong and after the recession we saw a massive drop to approximately 550. Despite many promises over a long time, the numbers have been creeping up and down between 600 and 750. Increasing these numbers will be critical and a big part of the solution.”
“I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber. He has a great opportunity to improve road safety for all road users in Ireland as part of his brief. At the age of 38, I am learning to drive for the first time. I am in the middle of my driving lessons. It is terrifying when I hear about collisions on the South Link Road in Cork and the fatality rates, with 174 people killed on our roads last year. I will probably be in my forties before I am actually on the road because my closest test centre in Wilton has the third-highest waiting list in the country. This is a serious issue that we need to address. There is no acceptable number of fatalities on our roads. Every one of those deaths, which is often preventable, is a tragedy for family members, friends and entire communities.”
“It is affecting their education and their mental health, and we really need to have a young carer grant established as well.”
“I raise the issue of young carers. Last week I attended a briefing on this issue organised by Deputy Mark Wall of the Labour Party. I was shocked to learn that, throughout Ireland, 67,000 young carers between the ages of ten and 17 care for family members. It was great to see that, last week, a motion on this issue was passed unanimously in the Dáil. I would welcome further discussion in this House on it as well but there was no mention in the programme for Government of these young carers. They are being left behind. Unfortunately, a lot of the time, the schools are not aware of their situation. They do not have adequate supports in place in their schools. There is no proper respite for them in terms of being able to take days off for themselves.”
“I welcome the Bill and think it is great it is being supported by the Minister. This is about collaboration, so it is about time we got on with it.”
“I agree wholeheartedly with this Bill and Senator McDowell's comments that it is unfortunate the Bill had to be brought here in the first place. I cannot put it as eloquently as Senator Clonan did about why the Bill is needed and the personal stories behind it, but he is right that this is not the fault of the specialists. This is very much a management and inefficiency issue. This country is awash with money. We are a wealthy country but it is about how that money is being spent and how we treat people in chronic pain who have debilitating conditions and disabilities. It is about restoring faith in our healthcare system and providing timely and effective treatments. It is about transparency, providing adequate resources and ensuring that the HSE is mandated to comply with specific guidelines.”
“I welcome the Minister for Health to the House, especially after her recent travels, and thank her for representing Ireland so well at the UN Commission on the Status of Women recently. Many of the points have been made and I will not get into repetition. This is very indicative of what we are hearing about health in general. When we think of health and the health service in this country, words that often come to mind are "battle", "barriers", "people travelling abroad", "waiting lists" and "trolleys". We need to change that imagery in the public perception. Many people were probably not aware what scoliosis was until recent years and until parents and children had to become almost full-time campaigners. Nearly everybody in the country is now aware of what it is and the issue at hand.”
“Maidir leis na meáin chumarsáide, tá gá le níos mó infheistíochta i TG4 i gcomhair stáisiún raidió Gaeilge don aos óg, agus molaim freisin, dá réir, go gcuirfear an maoiniú agus an tacaíocht chuí ar fáil do Raidió Rí-Rá le go mbeidh sé ar fáil ar FM go lánaimseartha lena chinntiú go mbeidh rochtain ag an aos óg ar an stáisiún sin pé am sa lá agus pé áit sa tír nuair is mian leo éisteacht leis.”
“Le dul i ngleic leis an éigeandáil tithíochta sa Ghaeltacht, tá Conradh na Gaeilge ag lorg na gealltanais seo a leanas: go dtabharfar an cumhacht reachtúil agus na hacmhainní riachtanacha, idir mhaoiniú reatha agus chaipitil, d’Údarás na Gaeltachta chun rannóg tithíochta a bhunú le cur ar a chumas talamh a cheannach agus cead pleanála a fháil freisin; go gcuirfear maoiniú ar fáil go bliantúil do Roinn na Gaeltachta chun scéim na ndeontas tithíochta Gaeltachta a thionscnamh chun tacaíocht a chur ar fáil do chainteoirí Gaeilge a bheadh ag iarraidh teach a thógáil nó a athchóiriú sa Ghaeltacht; agus go bhfoilseofar agus go gcuirfear i bhfeidhm treoirlínte pleanála Gaeltachta láidre maidir le dualgas reachtúil na gcomhairlí contae i dtaobh caomhnú na Gaeilge mar theanga phobail sa Ghaeltacht.”
“Ba chóir go bhforbrófar plean lena chinntiú go mbeidh 5% de chúrsaí tríú leibhéal ar fáil as Gaeilge. Faoi láthair, tá níos lú ná 1% acu ar fáil i nGaeilge sa Stát seo. Tá a fhios againn go léir go bhfuil géarchéim tithíochta sa tír seo agus géarchéim tithíochta sa Ghaeltacht freisin. Tá an staid tithíochta reatha sa Ghaeltacht tagtha go pointe éigeandála le cúpla bliain anuas, idir cead pleanála a dhiúltú do dhaoine áitiúla agus ganntanas tithe ar fáil ar cíos go fadtéarmach freisin.”
“Freisin, ba chóir go ndéanfar maoiniú na Gaeilge agus na Gaeltachta a ardú ina iomlán go 0.4% de chaiteachas an Stáit sa chéad chúig bhliain eile freisin. Maidir leis an gcóras oideachais sa tír seo, ba chóir go mbeadh forbairt ar pholasaí nua don Ghaeilge sa chóras oideachais ón oideachas luathóige go dtí an tríú leibhéal. Chuige sin, ba chóir go mbunófar grúpa saineolach den Rialtas chun an polasaí seo a fhorbairt agus go mbunófar freisin polasaí ar an bhFráma Tagartha Comónta Eorpach do theangacha le gach céim den chóras a nascadh le chéile. Ba chóir freisin go bhforbrófar cúrsaí sa bhreis ar an tríú leibhéal do thraenáil múinteoirí le dul i ngleic leis an nganntanas múinteoirí sna scoileanna freisin agus go bhfeidhmeofar plean leis an líon daltaí a fhreastalaíonn ar an oideachas lánGhaeilge a mhéadú ó 6% go 20% laistigh de 20 bliain.”
“Is as Baile Bhuirne mé ó dhúchas i gContae Chorcaí ach tá mé i mo chónaí i gcathair Chorcaí. Rinne mé mo bhunoideachas agus mo mheánoideachas trí Ghaeilge. Fós, caithfidh mé cleachtadh a dhéanamh. Tá mo Ghaeilge saghas meirgí. Tá mé an-bhródúil as m'áit dhúchais. Rugadh Seán Ó Riordáin, an Ríordánach, i mBaile Bhuirne. Tá sé ar dhuine de na filí is fearr sa bhfichiú haois. Maidir leis an nGaeilge agus infheistíocht sa Ghaeilge agus sa Ghaeltacht, aontaím go láidir leis na moltaí atá ag Conradh na Gaeilge agus ba mhaith liom caint faoi sin. Tá géarchéim mhaoinithe in earnáil na Gaeilge sa tír seo. Maidir le hinfheistíocht, ba chóir go gcuirfear ar a laghad maoiniú breise de €20 milliún atá á lorg ag 130 grúpa áitiúil agus náisiúnta sa phlean fáis agus infheistíochta don Ghaeilge agus don Ghaeltacht ar fáil d’Fhoras na Gaeilge.”
“I meet a lot of older people who tell me they do not want to walk on the footpath. They walk in the middle of the road, which is completely unsafe and unacceptable. We must fund more local community services, in particular mobile library services. We must also ensure we reduce energy poverty for older people. I support the calls by other Senators for a loneliness strategy in Ireland setting out how we are going to tackle this issue.”
“We are currently in the midst of a housing crisis. We cannot have a whole generation of people renting when they are pensioners - those from my generation and younger. If that is the case, we are going to have a serious ticking time bomb on our hands. It is not clear how people are going to be able to afford to live. I also wish to raise infrastructure. Accessibility is a big thing, for example, being able in the first place to leave your home and walk to the shop or travel around your local community. I met people in Cork city who live near The Lough and have not been able to even get up to it because they have acquired disabilities or they are in wheelchairs. They cannot physically get from A to B. We must look at expanding funding for active travel so that local authorities can apply for more money for footpath repairs.”
“We are an ageing population, as has been mentioned. The population is projected to grow by 800,000 by 2040 with an extra half a million people over 65 by that point. I have been really struck in the community in Cork South Central by the older people I have met on the doors and some of their stories have stayed with me. One woman told me she has nothing to do, that everyone belonging to her has passed away and she is just waiting to die now. I meet people all the time who say they only see their grandkids on Skype as their sons and daughters could not afford to live next to them. The housing crisis is also contributing to this issue of loneliness. The ALONE organisation has said there has been an 83% increase in renters in old age and that 25% of the people they engage with do not own their own home.”
“From my experience in the community when I was canvassing, you would see a lot of loneliness and isolation among older women. Sometimes they outlive their partners, and loneliness is a huge contributor to a number of different health issues, be it cardiovascular problems, depression or anxiety. There is probably an initiative needed with other Departments in the context of how we tackle loneliness. We will be having a debate on aspects of this matter later.”
“The regional hubs are welcome, but they need to be resourced. I would welcome an update on how the roll-out of free HRT is progressing. It is great to see the roll-out of free period products. That matter was not really talked about until a number of years ago. It is good to see the progress there in destigmatising periods and the issue of women's health in general. A challenge on healthcare generally is tackling misinformation and disinformation, particularly in relation to vaccines. It is concerning when we hear of decreases in the uptake of the HPV vaccine. It is encouraging to hear the Minister speaking about plans in that regard. One matter the Minister mentioned is that, in general, women live longer than men.”
“I welcome the Minister and congratulate her. It is clear she has hit the ground running in her brief. I wish her well. The first issue I wish to raise is that we will always need to have stand-alone discussions on women's health because it is a specific subject, just as we must also have stand-alone discussions on Traveller women's health or LGBTQ women's health. There are so many different areas within health. Even within postcodes, it is probable that there are variations. Will the Minister comment on BreastCheck screening and if there are plans to extend that based on age to younger women in the between 20 and 49 age group. Endometriosis was mentioned by a number of Senators. It is concerning that we were promised a national framework on that in April of last year and that such a framework has not been fully published.”
“More than 115 countries worldwide now provide some form of voting rights to their citizens, be it in presidential or parliamentary elections. It can be done through embassies and consulates abroad. It is, therefore, possible. Some Senators in this House have also been supported by our citizens abroad. We are unique in the NUI and Trinity College Dublin panels that some have this ability. If it can be done in this case, perhaps it can be done elsewhere too. One way of valuing our citizens abroad is to look at involving them in our presidential election as a start. Of course, our President represents all Irish citizens, be they living on this island or throughout the world. It would not just be symbolic but very meaningful and right that we would extend the franchise in future for that election.”
“I was always struck by the words of former President, Mary McAleese, when she said that many of her neighbours who she grew up with could not vote for her when she was running for the Presidency. This is something we need to look at. As Senator Murphy rightly pointed out, the constitutional convention in 2013 voted 78% in favour of extending voting rights in presidential elections to citizens abroad and 73% to those living in the North as well. In 2017, a commitment was given to hold a referendum on this matter, but we have not seen action on it. I would welcome it and believe we need to look at this matter. Equally, without a referendum, we could extend the period when citizens can return home to vote. It could certainly be looked at.”
“I am always reluctant to use the term "brain drain" because I think people make decisions whether to leave or to stay and those are very well-thought-out decisions as well. It is striking that we now have the highest levels of outward youth immigration since 2015. As other Senators have alluded to, that is in part due to the housing crisis. We are losing a lot of valuable workers, such as teachers and gardaí in particular to other shores. We need to consider why that is. I wish to speak about the presidential election we have coming up this year. It was, of course, former President Mary Robinson who lit the candle in Áras an Uachtaráin, which is still lighting, as a symbol for the Irish living abroad.”
“I am not sure if we have ever fully reckoned with that as a nation or recovered from it. Over 1 million people left Ireland at the time, so it is important to commemorate that. Even in my own family, there has been a history of emigration. My grandmother was born in Boston in the thirties and then moved back. She and her then husband moved to England in the fifties and, in the sixties, they came back. Many of my aunts and uncles moved abroad during the recession of the eighties and they came back. Part of my coming of age - politically as well - was the last recession and seeing so many friends leaving. Many of them have now come back; some of them have not yet returned.”
“I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, and welcome him to the House. It is encouraging to hear his words about the diaspora and the plans for a new strategy in that regard. Our diaspora is a huge strength for Ireland. It is not just soft power; this is real power that we have, showing how well Ireland is regarded across the world. It is very important that we continue to support them and value them. I have had the pleasure of going to the EPIC Museum, the museum of emigration, many times which is a fantastic amenity. It is very important to have those focal points to celebrate those of us who have left our shores and emigrated. In 20 years' time, which will come around quickly enough, we will have the 200th anniversary of the Great Famine. It is important that we plan towards that.”
“The University College Cork Students Union also carried out research recently which showed that a very worrying 28% of respondents said they had gone to lectures hungry and that 57% said they would not be able to pay any sort of unexpected bill that might arise. The situation with the cost of living and housing is greatly impacting students and our higher education sector. Of course, it often takes a family to put somebody through college. This affects more than just individual students; it also affects the wider family. I call for a debate on this issue with the Minister, in respect of which I have tabled a Commencement matter. Hopefully, we can engage in a debate on it.”
“Of course, this is a symptom and consequences of the wider housing crisis in Ireland. It certainly has not been a priority for successive Governments. I was president of the Union of Students in Ireland, USI, ten years ago. Accommodation was also an issue then. The situation has gone from bad to worse. The Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science has committed to publishing a dedicated student housing strategy in quarter 2. We await that strategy. I hope it will contain clear targets and will support technological universities to be able to borrow more in terms of acquiring more purpose-built student accommodation.”
“I want to raise the issue of student accommodation. I attended a briefing in the audiovisual room this morning by the University of Galway Students Union, which recently published a report to which 1,700 students at the university responded. The report contains some stark findings. It found that 78% of respondents had struggled to find accommodation, and one in 20 was living in temporary or emergency accommodation while trying to find somewhere permanent to live. Nearly one third of respondents said their experience trying to find housing had impacted on their studies. Going to college should be an exciting time for students. It should be about making new friends and furthering their educational attainment rather than worrying about housing. I am very worried that the student housing situation is impacting access to education.”
“There is a shortage of gardaí in the city as there are in many cities across the country. I call on the Minister for Justice to specifically address this issue. We had a discussion on community safety in the Chamber last week. A specific discussion on Garda numbers and recruitment in Cork and in Ireland would be welcome.”
“I want to raise the issue of gardaí in Cork city. It is alarming that the Garda Representative Association, GRA, said that there is a shortfall of 125 gardaí in Cork city and that this is affecting the health and safety of gardaí in the city because of the work they have to do and the extra work they have to pick up as a result. The official figures from Garda management state that there are 673 gardaí in Cork city. However, the GRA said the figure is estimated at 478. That is because many of the gardaí stationed in the city are actually working in national or regional units so they are not directly answering calls in the city. The GRA also estimates that, at any one time there are only 90 gardaí answering calls in the city due to rostering and leave arrangements.”
“They should have more control over where they live, the conditions they live in and who they live with. Anything short of that is inhumane; it is degrading treatment. The over-reliance on agency workers in these services was very concerning. They found that 12 agency staff were supporting one individual over a period. There was a lot of change in staffing, which was very disruptive to the people in question. HIQA also found that Sunbeam House did not have sufficient governance and management systems in place to protect people who were at risk of abuse. This is deeply concerning. We need swift, immediate action on it.”
“I want to raise a concerning issue this morning in respect of Sunbeam House, a residential service for people with intellectual disabilities. We saw the reports about this. There were 482 safeguarding incidents reported to the HIQA chief inspector. They were found to have staffing and management issues and poor behavioural support for the residents who had been living there. I support the comments from Inclusion Ireland that we cannot allow history to keep repeating itself through institutional practices and human rights being denied to people with disabilities. We are just three months out from a general election in which disability was one of the key issues. People with disabilities want to have their voices heard. We need further action on this. As a society, we have to face this together. In 2025, people should have a choice.”
“I know Ministers are busy, but I challenge any Minister to come to Cork and spend a day trying to get from A to B on a bus, without the ministerial car. They would find it pretty difficult to make it to meetings on time. I hear from business owners all the time that employees are late for work frequently because they cannot get there because of the bus. Students are also late for college. Lecturers are late. It is affecting how the city operates. It also affects people's stress levels and mental health.”
“For students who are commuting to such places as University College Cork, UCC, and MTU, these prices need to be looked at. I will raise it separately with Bus Éireann and the National Transport Authority, NTA. I welcome the commitment to providing transport police in the programme for Government. That needs to happen. We would certainly welcome it in Cork as there are a number of safety concerns and there have been a number of antisocial behaviour incidents on our buses. The tap-on service on the buses is also being trialled in Cork. That would make it more accessible for everyone. However, ultimately we need to see a complete scaling-up of the ambition when it comes to public transport in the country as a whole, including Cork.”
“People are being pushed into cars because the bus service is not reliable and then we have parking and congestion issues. I will mention the 214 bus in particular which stops beside where I live in Wilton. It is extremely unreliable. I know the route is being looked at, as is the 220 route in Cork, in relation to ghost buses. A student in Munster Technological University, MTU, launched an app in recent weeks - his name is Sasha Mitichkin - called no show bus tracker. It is feeding the data to Bus Éireann. Young people in particular are deeply affected by this. It is also worth noting that the cost of the Bus Éireann service is overpriced. It is cheaper to get from Dublin to Cork on a bus than it is from Kerry or Waterford to Cork using the bus service.”
“I welcome the Minister of State to the House. It is good to see him. I wish to talk about public transport in County Cork and Cork city in particular. I raise the issue of the need for the light rail project to progress in Cork city. This is something even the Taoiseach spoke about recently in regard to it needing to be a priority for Cork. We really need to see action on the project. The Cork Chamber will agree with me too on the issue of connectivity in Cork and the need to improve it. There is certainly a need to improve connectivity between the city and the airport as well in terms of options for services to promote tourism and to make things easier to allow people to get to the airport, particularly for business purposes. Like many other cities, Cork is impacted by congestion. It is becoming a bit of a vicious circle in Cork.”
“Local authorities need to be funded properly to do the excellent work they do, which includes making sure drains are cleared regularly across the city.”
“Cork is vulnerable to flooding, as many cities and coastal areas in Ireland are. Ireland needs a proper flood prevention system, particularly in Cork. We need to consider how we look after our rivers, too. The practice of dredging does not tend to work in the long term, so we need more natural solutions. I am thinking of River Glasheen in Cork, for example, which my neighbours have been adversely affected by. In places like Riverview Estate and Clashduv Estate, they fear when they hear any rain warnings what will happen to them because they have had a situation where water came halfway up their doors. This poses a major issue in terms of insurance for properties and businesses. We need localised flooding plans, almost on a street-by-street basis. In places like Douglas Street in Cork, businesses are adversely affected.”
“I welcome the Minister of State to the House. Storm Éowyn was a particular type of storm in terms of wind. We have had other types of storms, particularly in recent years. This is becoming part of our daily life and of the calendar year. There is often a series of storms. With climate chaos, this is something we have to be prepared for. We are probably the last generation of humans on this planet who will experience some semblance of normality in terms of weather and climate. Scientists are telling us that, the way things are going, there will be more storms and adverse weather conditions that we need to prepare for. I want to speak about Cork city. The word "Corcaigh" comes from "corcach", which means "marsh". Essentially, it was built on marshland and is surrounded by water.”
“He pointed out that €7 million could fund 1,400 agility awards for individual artists across the country, or it could fund between 350 to 1,400 bursary awards. There are larger awards of between €5,000 and €20,000 to fund more high-calibre project realisations. It really is a kick in the teeth to artists applying for funding for projects but who are being rejected or told there is not enough money there to see this wastage in the arts sector and in public spending in general. That is without mentioning the need for artists to have a basic income in this country. I call on the Minister, Deputy O’Donovan, to address the issue and discuss how artists will be better supported in Ireland.”
“I want to state my deep concern about over spending and wastage of public funds. We have seen printers that do not fit into rooms, great walls, spenny security huts and astronomical bike sheds. The phase "an embarrassment of riches" comes to mind with the emphasis on "embarrassment". When will this parody of public spending end? You could not make it up. Today, I want to zone in on funding of the arts in particular. I share the concerns of Praxis: The Artists Union of Ireland about the over spending on the failed IT system, the estimated cost of which was €6.7 million with a loss of €5.3 million. This needs to be investigated. We need to ensure this does not affect spending in the arts and investing in our great artists and new talent in the arts across Ireland. I was contacted by a visual artist, Billy Lingwood, from Cork city recently.”
“We hear that one in 20 female students has seen such an advertisement or has been directly propositioned. There is no stand-alone law outlawing it at the moment. There are laws around intimidation and coercion in this country. The Minister has said he is working with the Attorney General on the matter and we would greatly appreciate an update on that work.”
“I do not think that is to do with the fact I am a little more aware and worldly now. It is because we hear, day in and day out, about women being attacked and murdered in their own homes. Femicide is an epidemic in this country and we absolutely need to get a grip on it. The issue is connected to the housing crisis. Many women do not have refuges to go to and are trapped in situations because they need to keep a roof over their heads or over their children's heads. That is compounding the issue. Things are interconnected. Another issue under the brief of the Minister, and one I raised in the House last week, is sex for rent. Unfortunately, people are trying to take advantage of the housing crisis by propositioning people to provide sex in lieu of paying rent. It is abhorrent.”
“We all agree that crime needs to have consequences but many people living in addiction are already in the prison of their own addiction cycle, which they cannot escape. That applies to drugs, alcohol, gambling and whatever else the addiction may be. It would be transformative if we were to have a more compassionate and healthcare-led approach to addiction. We in Ireland are behind the curve. This is where justice needs to link with education. Even from a young age, we need to educate people about what addiction means as a healthcare issue. Other Senators, particularly the women Senators, have spoken eloquently about women's safety and domestic violence. I can safely say that as a woman, I have never felt less safe in this country. I felt more safe in my 20s than I do in my 30s.”
“We have fine buildings that are, in effect, closed most of the time. People do not know where to go if they need a garda. The current Garda recruitment drive is very welcome. Pay and conditions for gardaí must be adequate. On an average garda salary nowadays, it would be very difficult to purchase a home in this country. Many gardaí emigrate, as do teachers and others in key worker professions. Part of the recruitment also needs to involve a gender perspective. We need to get more women into the Garda. We need to get more diversity in terms of ethnicity because people need to be able to see themselves reflected in the Garda and to feel comfortable reporting a crime. It was encouraging to hear the Minister speaking about addiction and the need for more of a focus on supporting people with addictions outside prisons.”
“I meet people all the time in Cork who say they no longer bother going into town. They stick to the suburbs because they do not feel safe in the city. Cork is a wonderful city with wonderful nightlife and wonderful restaurant options. Businesses must be supported in this. We hear of business owners suffering from having to close their doors if there is crime on the street that is not being tackled. A welcome development in Cork city is the provision of a mobile Garda station. It is, in essence, a van that travels around and functions as a Garda station. It has been very effective. That initiative needs to be promoted more. When people see more visibility in terms of Garda presence, they feel safer. It is very unfortunate that we have a number of Garda stations in Cork that are not open, including Bishopstown, Ballincollig and Douglas.”