Mark Wall
Kildare South · Labour Party · Ireland
“I understand that the Electoral Commission is undertaking research on this, but we really need to see changes in our voting system to ensure that everyone can take part on voting day.”
“We are seeing lower turnouts in our elections and extending postal votes to a wider range of people would be one measure that could help us all address this issue. I appreciate that the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage may be waiting on the research to be received from the Electoral Commission on postal voting.”
“The Minister is 100% correct that we all want to see recruitment to our Defence Forces continue. However the figures she has given far from the 11,500 sought by the Commission on the Defence Forces by 2028. The Minister mentioned 850 a year. Is that the height of the ambition? It is not going to take us near 11,500.”
“They cannot engage in the democratic process like every other ordinary citizen because they work 24-7, 365 days a year, with no break. This Bill is a small but necessary step to ensure that family carers feel that they can use their voice by voting.”
“There is no single issue here. This is about housing, pensions, pay and conditions. Has the Minister dealt though with the representative organisations on the single public service pension scheme? She might confirm that and let us know whether there is any update.”
“I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to entitle certain persons caring for others to be entered in the register of postal voters, for that purpose to amend the Electoral Act 1992, and to provide for related matters.”
The complete record
Every one of 679 lines we hold for Mark Wall, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 5 of 14.
“I thank the Minister of State for his detailed reply on behalf of Minister of State with responsibility for special education. I put on the record that of the 11 classes he has announced for Kildare, eight of those are in Kildare North. I am asking for Kildare South, the area I represent. There is a huge and growing population in Kildare. On Monday we were told we have to add another 50,000 to that population. That is okay too but we do not have the special classes. Every time I ask a question in here, the reply I get is that there are X number of classes in Kildare. As I have said, all those classes are full. I also want to talk about the process the Minister of State outlined, where parents apply.”
“I hope the Minister of State can bring us some good news on behalf of Government and not tell me and all the parents listening about a list of schools that already exist in Kildare South. On behalf of the many parents who have contacted me, I will tell him that they are already full.”
“The current situation in Kildare South is at crisis. Parents who are holding down two jobs just to pay the mortgage and their other bills are being told to apply to other counties. One asked me today if there were not children in these other counties who needed a special class or school. The answer is, yes, there are and these schools in other counties are full too. I am dealing with one lady in Newbridge who has already applied to over 50 schools looking for a place for her child. We now see Government operating a drip-feed approach in terms of announcing new classes. This is simply not good enough and is only adding to the stress parents have. They are relying on WhatsApp groups, local papers and local reports on local radio stations to try to find out if there is a new class opening near to where they live.”
“They even tried the surrounding schools but they are all full. The local feeder school for Newbridge had only one place available for which the parents of 15 or so children applied. Kildare town has one of the biggest number of primary school children in the country yet a number of local families cannot access a special class there. Parents in the Ballitore and Narraghmore area have contacted every local school in their area yet they recently found themselves numbered in the late twenties for one local school that had one place. Kildare South was also promised a new special school, but this was eventually located in Craddockstown, which is in Kildare North. While this is a wonderful school with great staff and great reports, it is already full as so many parents in Kildare South cannot find a special school place.”
“My office has been inundated with calls and emails from worried parents who cannot find a special class or a special school place for this coming September. These are not isolated calls. It has now reached the stage where it is one of the biggest issues we deal with in the office on a daily basis. Parents in places like Kildare town, Suncroft, Newbridge, Calverstown, Crookstown and Athy, and at this stage almost in every other town and village in south Kildare, cannot find a school place and they are growing more and more desperate for their children. There is a clear demand for additional classes across Kildare South for autism classes and classes for children with mixed or moderate learning disabilities. I have had a number of parents from one school in Newbridge who cannot find any school places.”
“I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this matter, which is very important to the constituents in Kildare South. It is always good to start with some good news. I want to put on record my thanks to the Minister and the Government for the announcement of three additional special classes in Kildare South in St. Evins National School, Monasterevin, St. Conleth's National School, Derrinturn, and Scoil Bhríde in Lackagh. They are most welcome indeed. A number of weeks ago, I raised the concerns of the community of Lackagh regarding the need for a special class. I welcome the fact that its calls have been listened to and that Lackagh will get the special class it deserves in September. Unfortunately, that is where the good news stops for so many parents.”
“Yesterday, the cross-party interest group for family carers, of which I am co-chair along with Deputy McGreehan and Senator Tully, met in the audiovisual room. We heard from family carers Angela Briggs and Matthew Murphy about the 24-7 care they provide for their loved ones. They outlined the stress some 34,000 carers went through recently and are still going through after receiving tax demand letters from Revenue. The Tánaiste knows carers save the State over €20 billion each year. Will the Tánaiste let us know what the Government is doing to remove carer's allowance and benefit payments from the tax net, similar to other payments like jobseeker's allowance? Will the Tánaiste committee to meeting the cross-party interest group to discuss this important matter?”
“In 2015, it was to cost the Department €2.2 million but - I will say it once again - there is already a €4 million overspend on this project.”
“I will ask the Minister again whether he can give the House some indication as to what this project will finally cost. I am sure he has that information by now. The initial cost was to be €2.2 million. A total of €6.4 million has been spent on it so far. Questions remain as to what steps the Department has taken to investigate this. Has anyone been held accountable for the fact that there has been a €4 million overspend on money that is so important? We all appreciate the importance of education in this State and the job the Minister does day in, day out for third level and higher level education. Has anyone been held accountable? What steps has the Minister put in place? What will the final cost of this project be?”
“What has happened in the meantime in the Department? What is it doing about the €4 million overrun? What will the final cost be on this project which, as the Minister said, is badly needed?”
“The Minister will be aware that this was highlighted by the Comptroller and Auditor General at a meeting of the Committee of Public Accounts recently. Obviously, concerns were raised at that meeting that, as the Minister correctly said, this project was initiated in 2015. At that stage, the cost was €2.2 million. The cost indicated to my colleague, Deputy Kenny, is that it has now risen to €6.4 million, and we are still at the pre-project phase. What lessons have been learned? The Minister mentioned the report he received. What lessons have been learned about the overrun of almost €4 million? I have no doubt, given the job the Minister is doing, that an extra €4 million in his budget would be very welcome for him as well as for the many students about whom I and all colleagues in this House ring the Minister.”
“I am taking this question on behalf of my colleague, Deputy Eoghan Kenny. Will the Minister inform the House of the steps his Department has taken to investigate the significant overspend on the new SUSI IT system, and will he make a statement on the matter to the House?”
“Towns like Kildare, Newbridge and Kilcullen will now see more welcome new housing estates, but infrastructure has simply not kept pace. The demand for GPs is a huge issue. The out-of-hours service KDOC needs to be extended to Kildare South. The lack of social infrastructure is of great concern to many in Kildare South. There are no playing pitches and there is a lack of swimming pools and playgrounds. The Minister, along with the rest of the Government, will be judged on delivery, and delivery alone.”
“We are not sure about the status of the plan or whether it depends on what will happen with trains on other lines in other projects. As the Minister well knows, the DART+ project has full planning permission. I welcome today’s announcement, mentioned in the Minister’s speech, of a number of school projects in Kildare South that will make a difference, but given the population of Kildare already, some of the schools will already be full and demand will remain. I again appeal to the Government to recognise the need for another special school in Kildare South and the largest possible number of special classes to assist the more than 50 schools and the already stressed families who contact me every day seeking places for their loved ones.”
“My party and I welcome every euro spent on public transport, but even with the news the Minister is announcing today, the relevant projects are years away. The plan itself is very light on delivery dates, yet commuters and people who must attend hospital appointments are stuck in what is a car park every day. We mentioned several solutions in a Private Members’ motion last week, but the Government voted against that motion. I ask the Government once again to consider these short-term measures. In my hometown, Athy, the first train each morning is at 6.40 a.m. Doctors, nurses and other workers cannot get to Dublin for work starting at 8 a.m. This is simply not good enough. I question the Government’s language around the DART+ South West project, which could improve the lives of commuters in County Kildare.”
“I welcome the chance to speak on the Government infrastructure plan. I want to outline a number of issues that have arisen in my home county, Kildare. Last Monday, councillors in Kildare County Council discussed a variation of the current Kildare county development plan to cater for an additional 50,000 people in the county over the coming years. As everybody in this House knows, Kildare is a very welcoming county and its infrastructure has played its part in population growth; however, the problem that homeowners and potential homeowners raise with me is the already oversubscribed demand on the current infrastructure in the county. Over recent weeks, I have repeatedly raised in this House how the M7 and N7 become car parks each morning for those commuting to Dublin.”
“That is the type of sentiment I get day in, day out in my office. Why are people with disabilities always the ones who have to fight? Disabled people state that they need more than words; they need action. I have given the Government an action it could take. A total of 692 people are in receipt of the grant in question, but almost 500,000 people may need it. That is the action that needs to be taken. As we always say in this House, action speaks louder than words. Disabled people are tired. That is the sentiment I am getting from them. They are tired of fighting for their children and for themselves. The Government’s inaction has forced that tiredness upon them. They need to see action now, and they need payment. I welcome the fact that the Social Democrats tabled this motion. We support it, but we have tabled an amendment to it.”
“Like other colleagues, in my office in Kildare South – I am sure it is the same for the Minister of State in his office – I receive calls from people on a daily basis who tell me that they simply cannot turn on their heating. What is proposed here is a solution that the Government could introduce straight away. I will conclude with a few lines from a constituent whose story I shared previously in this House and with whom I have been in regular contact in the meantime. What I am about to read into the record accurately sums up what the disabled community thinks of the Government’s actions. The person in question wrote: I do not believe that they will put finance into services that matter most, even those that people will benefit from. It is just words to distract the public and kick the can down the road.”
“The Minister mentioned that 692 people are in receipt of the heating supplement yet he also mentioned 231,000 people are in receipt of disability allowance and 170,000 people are in receipt of carers allowance. That is 692 people versus 231,000 and 170,000 people. The Cathaoirleach Gníomhach must get my drift that if the Government is serious about helping people with disabilities, it now has an outcome and needs to share, advertise and allow people get the heating supplement urgently so those with disabilities can have a quality of life and not just the 692 people for whom I am sure it is very welcome. I ask the Minister of State to bring this message back to the Minister, Deputy Calleary, and to ask the Government to make a difference. The heating supplement will make a difference if it is offered to those who need it the most.”
“As somebody who has worked in local government and at national level for almost 25 years, it beggars belief that there is a payment that so many people know so little about. Will the Government make it easier to apply for that payment and will this payment be judged sympathetically by the community welfare service? Will the need for form after form for such a payment be reduced? At the end of the day, this heating supplement could actually make a difference and is part of what this motion calls for today. It could make a difference as to whether a person turns on their heating or not. It could make a difference to the quality of life for so many disabled people.”
“I heard the Minister speaking this morning on the heating supplement that the community welfare service administers, and he said he would share details with all the Members of this House. Does this Government, the Minister and everybody here not realise the problems that so many people have contacting their community welfare officer? Does the Minister not know the problems those with a disability have in filling out such forms and getting bank statement after bank statement for a system that, I will say again, has lost its personal touch and has become centralised? As part of this motion from the Social Democrats, I am asking the Government to give a commitment that the heating supplement will be properly advertised.”
“This is the money that could have been used to increase the income disregard for the disability allowance to €250, increase the funding for the employability and workability programmes to support people with disabilities in the work place, and provide 1,000 extra places on the wage subsidy scheme, restoring the link to 70% of the national minimum wage and introduce reforms to improve the scheme. Implementing these measures would have still leftover finance to provide even more supports for people, like increasing the income threshold for the medical card or cutting public hospital parking charges in half for those who need them most. I want to address the Minister's speech. The Cathaoirleach Gníomhach and the Minister will not be surprised that I will bring up the community welfare service once again.”
“The Government favoured a VAT cut rate of nearly €700 million for fast-food chains that were already making millions of euro in profits while disabled people and their families can barely afford to keep the lights on. This VAT rate cut could have funded the new cost-of-disability payment starting at €25 per week with money still left over to do more for these households. To add insult to injury, the Government provided a tax cut to developers amounting to over €500 million.”
“Given the Minister's update this morning on the disability support grant, why did the Government choose to get rid of these short-term payments in the absence of this new payment and it coming into force? Nobody has that type of money lying around. For some households, it is the difference of being above the poverty line and whether the Government likes it or not, that is a fact. I have counted at least eight programme for Government commitments to addressing the cost of disability, including a new payment and extending free travel to children who receive the domiciliary care allowance. However, the Government has not yet addressed a single one of these commitments. What it has done is continually increased costs faced by these households.”
“These costs are quickly absorbed by inadequate social welfare payments like the disability allowance. I am very disappointed by the lack of progress this Government has made in progressing a cost-of-disability payment. It cannot continue to put this on the long finger. Disabled people are having to make very tough choices such as whether they can turn on the heating or have something to eat. Budget 2026 marked a decline in the standard of living for many disabled people. The past number of budgets provided access to the disability support grant, a once off cost-of-disability payment that Government paid three years in a row. However, the cost of disability is not a once off. The failure to continue this payment, even on a temporary basis while a new payments was designed, has left disabled people losing nearly €1,400 a year.”
“This amendment would also ensure that any future cost-of-disability payment supports for older people whose disability ceases to be recognised on the current social protection system once they begin to receive a State pension after moving from one of the listed disability payments. Our amendment also seeks to substantially increase the income disregard for the disability allowance and the blind pension in recognition of the higher costs of living and the 25% increase in the national minimum wage since it was last increased to only €165 in 2022. I have continually raised the ongoing cost-of-living crisis and its impact on people with disabilities. The Cost of Disability in Ireland report from Indecon shows that people with a disability face extra cost from €9,000 to over €12,000 a year.”
“I will not move it then. As Labour Party spokesman on social protection and disability, I welcome the opportunity to speak on this very important motion. I sincerely thank colleagues in the Social Democrats for bringing forward this motion. It is very timely given the cold and unpredictable weather we have been experiencing over the past number of weeks. The Labour Party has an amendment to this motion to ensure all disabled citizens are captured within the motion. I welcome the spirit of this motion, and our amendment would ensure that all disabled citizens were included. The Labour Party amendment would extend the emergency payment to older people with a disability in receipt of a State pension.”
“Quite clearly, the use of social media and AI is proving to be a risk to the health and well-being of our young people. This is something on which I am sure everybody in this House can agree. We must put the protection and welfare of Ireland's young people before the profits of profit-driven billionaires. There is no negotiation. There is no discussion. We must always put young people first. I look forward to working on this, listening and dealing with the Minister's amendments as she brings them forward on the various Stages of this Bill. As I said, we will co-operate and ask questions in every way possible.”
“I have previously highlighted that the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund has invested in an equity firm which made a €10.5 million investment in a private, for-profit provider. I also ask the Minister to make a commitment to the House to divest from such equity firms. There is already a shortage of workers. Without adequately addressing the ongoing workforce challenges, the Government will risk further deepening the recruitment and retention crisis in the sector. I ask the Minister to address that, as I have asked previously in this House. I will finish on one final point about child protection, one on which there should be no negotiation. We have all been deeply disappointed by rhetoric from some Government Ministers regarding social media companies and the use of AI, comments which parent will find very disappointing.”
“She asks that the Government use publicly owned lands across Fingal to build publicly owned facilities that are community-led and not for profit. I also highlight that overall, the State-led approach, while welcome, is very much light on detail on issues like staffing. What are the plans for the recruitment of educators? Will they be paid at the current rates or higher? Will they be employed by the State or in whose community? These are key questions that we hope the Minister will answer in the very short-term. We should already have a national childcare agency. I have highlighted before that more than €350,000 has been spent on an agency and we still cannot see whether it actually exists. I also highlight the hypocrisy of the Government investing in State-led childcare facilities when it continues to profit from the current crisis.”
“The other issue is in relation to the Minister's announcement about the public childcare models of early education that she will bring forward as a pilot scheme this year. She stated that her Department is investing €135 million to fit out or acquire childcare facilities. I firstly recommend that the Government ensures these new facilities are located in key areas of need, where there is a real lack of childcare facilities in the area. I have highlighted previously to the Minister that in my own county of Kildare, in Kilcullen town for example, many working families are struggling to find childcare due to the shortage of places. These are the areas where the Government must invest first. Likewise, my colleague from Donabate, Councillor Corina Johnson, highlights that Fingal ranks among the highest for childcare costs in the country.”
“It is a system that is not working. It does not work for parents, it does not work children and it does not work for the sector. The crisis in the early years sector is having a knock-on effect on working families. Many families coming to me about childcare costs are saying that one parent is looking at leaving work entirely. As we all know, this has the most impact on women and their employment. They are reducing their hours and giving up their careers because the Government has not got to grips with the crisis in this sector. The Government needs to have the ambition to invest in a publicly funded system of early education. UNICEF has suggested 1% of GNI. This would equate to nearly €3 billion of investment in Ireland. We are currently a laggard in this regard and only invest about 0.4%.”
“We should be facilitating the development of more public residential care beds to ensure that we can accommodate all children when they are in a crisis. Further investment is then needed in the requirement for more foster carers, which I have mentioned before in this House. Nearly €200 million paid to private providers could have been used to set up nearly 150 new residential centres, accommodating nearly 600 young people. That would reduce the need to rely so heavily on private care, as the Government is doing at the moment. On childcare, I want to raise the issue of the continual deficiencies in the early years education and school age childcare system. We have one of the lowest spends in the world on childcare, while parents are spending a second mortgage on childcare fees, as has already been stated here tonight.”
“As I mentioned previously, the Ombudsman for Children has also commented on the SEAs, stating they do not meet the needs of the most vulnerable children in this country. I am concerned about these facilities, following reporting from The Journal that these young people are facing criminal charges due to damages in some of these facilities. These actions will only further traumatise a young person who is already in a very vulnerable state. Fixing a broken window or door should not be a private provider's main concern. It should be addressing the young person's immediate care needs. The privatising of the care of vulnerable young people is a growing concern. I would welcome a further debate on this issue in this House.”
“The facilities themselves are, in the main, not fit for purpose as they can range in accommodation type from hotel rooms to apartments. This point has also been made recently by the Ombudsman for Children. The latest figures available to me show the Government paid 31 private providers for special emergency arrangements from 2021 to 2024. One provider received nearly €41 million from the State over this period, including more than €17.5 million in one year alone. The next provider on the list received nearly €24 million during this time frame. So far, the State has nearly €200 million to these private providers, from 2021 to October 2024. Can the Minister explain why the Government seems to be privatising and outsourcing the care of vulnerable young people?”
“The other area on which I wish to concentrate is the State's provision of residential capacity and the privatisation of residential care of vulnerable children, particularly those who are in special emergency arrangements. The State's provision of residential capacity is continuing to decline. In 2020, the number of Tusla centres was at 127. This is currently only at 114 according to the latest figures, and does not include Tusla special-care centres. The special care centre bed capacity has actually decreased from 17 in 2020 to 16 in 2025. During the same period, privately provided bed capacity has increased from 321 in 2020 to 342 beds. More worrying are the figures relating to special emergency arrangements, SEAs. These are largely unregulated and private providers and do not meet the care needs of vulnerable young people.”
“It is very worrying that they are writing to us all about the lack of consultation in the preparation of this new service. It would seem the experience that these GALs have had over a long period - 15 years plus - is not being taken into consideration in the development of such an important new service. It is being said that one of the most important aspects of a child being in court is that they have representation. Surely, we should be listening to those who have that experience over the last period of time and those years. Again, I support the calls that the Minister would meet with the GALs' representative association in the quickest possible time, and listen to their concerns. Most importantly, we should listen to their experience of the day-to-day work they do on behalf of so many children while protecting them in this country.”
“I welcome the Minister to this House and the opportunity to discuss the Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2025. I am very conscious that the main aim of this wide-ranging piece of legislation is to promote the welfare of children who may not receive adequate care and protection. No one in this House could ever disagree with that aim. As the Minister said herself in her opening remarks, this Act has been amended a number of times and it extends over a number of key areas like childcare, foster care, residential care and child protection. I wish to address a number of these areas in the time available to me. The Minister mentioned in her opening remarks about stakeholder engagement. However, I, too, share the concerns Deputy Kerrane and other members of Sinn Féin have raised about GALs in this country.”
“In his speech the Minister said Uisce Éireann, as the national water authority, is now in a position to engage with developers on this initiative. I have been contacted by some developers who want to build houses that are badly needed in a housing emergency. Do they contact Uisce Éireann, the Department or the local authority? How quickly will this be up and running? Perhaps the Minister will give us some information on this.”
“I ask the Minister to look at what is going on in the Curragh Camp at present and to assist through Irish Water in every way that we can. I also want to raise Ballymany Manor in Newbridge, which is a new estate on the edge of the town. Unfortunately, this particular estate has been subject to water problems every evening since it was built. Young children who come home from school and people who come home from work are unable to take showers because the water has been reduced to a dribble. I have engaged with Irish Water on this on a number of occasions and it tells me that work is under way or is promised. Unfortunately, this work has not yet happened. I ask the Minister to look at the particular areas I have highlighted this evening. I want to speak about developer infrastructure.”
“I welcome the chance to speak to the Minister on this issue. I want to raise a number of local issues in my area of south Kildare. In recent years there has been very welcome development in the Allenwood and Kilmeague area, after long representations by many public representatives. We are having continuous problems during this work with outages and a lot of businesses and homes are suffering. Will the Minister look at this and give an update to the locals in the area? Not for the first time, I want to raise the issue of the Curragh Camp. In recent days the water has been out there. The Minister is familiar, I am sure, with the fact there are a number of schools and the Army facilities on the Curragh Camp. A school has had to close because of the lack of water facilities.”
“We saw what happened during Covid when people were working from home. Productivity went up and everybody had a quality of life that so many of our workers in this country deserve. This is really a workers’ rights issue - there can be no doubt. Over the years, the Minister of State and I have spoken about what we can do. What we in the Labour Party seek is for the Government to recognise that this is an emergency; this is chaos at the moment. People’s quality of life is being affected and so is their productivity, day in, day out. The Government needs to work with employers and agencies to ensure a right to flexible work. More importantly, we are calling for the Government to look at intermediate and short-term measures to try to solve the problems for so many commuters.”
“That is something that we in the Labour Party welcome but the problem, as the Minister of State and I both know, is that these will take three, four, five, six or seven years. I will give an example of a project. The M4 bus corridor project has been going on for seven years. My colleague Councillor Angela Feeney informs me that the project has been ready to go for a number of months. It could have made a difference. The problem is that the legislation to allow the hard shoulder to be used as a bus lane has never been completed. The construction has been done but only after the construction was done did the Government decide we needed legislation to allow it to be used. That is what is going on. From conversations I have had with members of the Government, I know we all recognise what is going on in this.”
“What we need, and as outlined in this motion, is something that the Government does not seem to recognise: the right of workers to flexible work. We need the Government to recognise that it needs to lead on the right to flexible work and show leadership by talking to the various Secretaries General and allowing those workers to work from home remotely. Those workers do an outstanding job as we all know. I am sure the Minister of State and his Government will agree with that. In the short time that I have left, I wish to raise a couple of issues. We have proposed a number of options for the short term. I know the Minister of State will come back to me and talk about investment and multimillion euro investment.”
“Recently, TII officials held up their hands and said there was nothing they could do about it, yet commuters are locked into their cars this morning. What is really worrying is many of those commuters have been late - they have contacted me in the car while I was on my way in - for appointments, including very important appointments in hospitals. I want to take a point made by my colleague Deputy Kelly about remote work. A lot of the people who have contacted us over the last number of weeks are working for the State. Over the last number of weeks, they have been told by various and many Departments that they must come back into work again - from two days to three and from three days to four - yet they will say that they can work from home and have been doing so for a long time.”
“I am glad the Minister of State is here today because he will know this is not the first time I have raised issues around the car parks that are the M7 and N7. I have been speaking about this for a number of years and An Cathaoirleach Gníomhach will know that. We have had a number of conversations on this and what we can do to solve the problem. This morning, I left my home at 6.30 a.m. and I walked through the doors at 10.05 a.m., having had to take a small phone call on the way. I am among thousands of commuters this morning who were stuck on the M7-N7 and, by extension, the M50 because of an accident on the M50. Recently, I spoke to TII about the number of accidents on these roads. I want to put on the record that, in the three years before this morning, there had been 2,100 accidents on the M50 alone.”
“It can change and they could have a better life and make better life choices if such a card was accepted by Government and introduced in the quickest possible time. I appreciate the Minister of State staying with us today. I ask him to work on this card with me, Maria, and everybody who suffers. I plead with the Government to fast-track the introduction of this card. It could be life-changing for so many people.”
“I have Crohn's disease and I know there are other people in this House who unfortunately have that disease too. We are among over 40,000 people in the country who suffer from this chronic disease. Many more thousands have chronic bowel diseases and problems which need such a card. Believe me when I say that when you get a flare-up from this disease, your life is put on hold and there is only one room in your home that you are concerned about. This is why it is so important to introduce this Bill. When a person with such a bowel disease gets an invite to go out with their friends, as many of us do, their first concern is not what to wear or how they might look, but finding out if the location has publicly-accessible toilet facilities. That is the quality of life for so many people in this country.”
“She created the "No wait card Ireland" social media page and I encourage everybody listening and looking in today to support that page and the Bill I am launching today. I am asking the Government to work with me and Maria on this Bill for the sake of so many people. Of course, the reason for the need for this Bill is the lack of public toilet facilities in this country. That is something that will take time and we must have further conversations about it. However, time is something those who need such a card simply do not have. We need to reassure businesses that they would have no liability for allowing people holding this Government-issued card the use of their facilities. I have already reached out to their organisations to discuss this important matter.”
“There will be no cost implications under the Bill on businesses to make any adaptations or other changes to staff toilets for the purposes of their use. This Bill is not just about access to toilet facilities. It is fundamentally about recognising the lived realities of people with chronic medical conditions. It is about creating a caring Republic. It could be life-changing for so many people. I want to use this opportunity to thank Maria Crowe from my home county of Kildare. Maria contacted me a number of months ago and we met up to discuss her condition and the problems she was having with businesses refusing her the use of their facilities. I was immediately struck by how brave she was and how she wanted to help others who were suffering in the same way as she was.”