Mark Ward
Dublin Mid-West · Sinn Féin · Ireland
“The second largest part of the subvention is the €4.1 billion that relates to public debt. Ireland would have no legal liability to pay any part of this. The cost of defence and international relations is approximately €2.7 billion and almost none of this expenditure relates to activity taking place in the North.”
“It has not allowed us, as a nation, to reach our full potential. I also think it is important that we take the current financial situation in the North seriously. It is always disappointing when Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael use the North as a stick to beat Sinn Féin. Even the Labour Party used this tactic this week.”
“It has been a long-standing policy of Sinn Féin to bring waste management back to public control. Privatisation has failed ordinary people. Bin companies act like a cartel in how they raise their prices. When one company increases its price, the rest follow.”
“The total subvention includes central British Government costs allocated to the North that would not be relevant to a united Ireland and here is why. The subvention from the British Exchequer to the North was €16 billion in 2023.”
“I thank Deputy Sherlock for bringing forward this legislation to bring bin collections back to public control. I am disappointed but not surprised that the Government is opposing this legislation. Fine Gael has a long history and policy of privatising public services.”
“We have a situation that allows multiple bin trucks to operate on the same street. On my road there could be three different companies coming down the road, sometimes at the same time. This goes against everything we are trying to achieve to make waste collection more environmentally friendly.”
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“Older people are an asset and they need to be valued. I have numerous examples of older people who are not being valued or are not getting the service they deserve. I will raise two cases, the first of which I raised only two weeks ago. Maureen is 86 years of age. She has Alzheimer's disease and is at risk of falling. Maureen has already fallen twice. She is waiting for an appointment with an occupational therapist to make her home safe. I made representations to the HSE in June of last year. I only got a response two weeks ago, which stated that the current wait time for occupational therapy for Maureen in 184 weeks. That is three and a half years for an Alzheimer's patient to get an appointment. I also want to talk about Mary. She is 74 years of age and has a tumour on her back.”
“I want to take this opportunity to wish the Minister and the Minister of State really well in their briefs. There is a belief out there that the health service is broken and cannot be fixed, but I genuinely believe that with the right political will it can be, especially in respect of health reform. If the Minister gets it right, she will get support on this side of the House. It is not about politics or throwing stuff back and forth. It is about getting the right healthcare for our citizens, which they need. Older people should be valued. They are living fountains of knowledge accumulated through life's experience and education. They help our younger generation to navigate complex professional and emotional challenges. They act as mentors and emotional pillars for many families in need of stability.”
“In my area of Dublin Mid-West we saw a 10.3% increase in the number of incidents of domestic violence in the past year alone. Women deserve better. They deserve to feel safe in every space they enter. I do not want to live in a society that treats 50% of its population as less worthy just because of their gender.”
“We can imagine the trauma of being physically and mentally abused and having the courage to reach out for help only to be faced with a Hobson's choice of staying in the home with the abuser or becoming homeless with children. We know that the most dangerous time for women who experience domestic abuse or relationships involving physical violence is when they attempt to leave the home. A quick search on the Women's Aid website this morning revealed that 274 women have died violently in Ireland since 1996. I hate bringing up statistics because behind each statistic is a real person, a family member - somebody who has been failed by the system. Some 63% of the women were killed in their own home, with 55% being killed by a partner or ex-partner. Almost nine out of ten of these women knew the person who killed them.”
“We must have a zero-tolerance approach to gender-based violence. This issue is compounded by a judicial system, political system and society that fail to confront the problem. I have seen at first hand the incredible work done by Saoirse women's refuge in my area. Those involved informed me of the stress a woman has to go through in the legal system. The process of obtaining a safety order can be difficult logistically as well as mentally. Often, a physically and mentally abused woman must bring her already traumatised children into the Family Courts. There is no privacy or space, and they often feel unsafe. We must make court proceedings more survivor-friendly. More and more women now have to choose between homelessness and a place that is no longer safe.”
“Will the Minister ask the NTA to take on the Airport Hopper route and employ the 14 drivers who lost their jobs yesterday?”
“Yesterday, we heard the news that the Airport Hopper bus service is ceasing operations. This means that people in Clondalkin, Lucan, Palmerstown and Tallaght have no option but to get a taxi or drive to the airport. What was a €10 journey will now cost passengers €60. The 14 drivers who were employed by the Airport Hopper received an email to say their jobs had gone. They arrived at the yard and all the buses had disappeared, which is a new take on ghost buses. Privatisation of public services has failed. We have seen this with the unreliable service of Go-Ahead Ireland. That company is now tendering for new routes, despite it not being able to look after the routes it has already. This is unbelievable. Will the Government reverse its policy on privatising public transport?”
“I acknowledge Ray Burke from Pieta House, who is in the Gallery. I also thank the parents who got in touch with me over the past number of years. They trusted me with some of the heartbreaking stories they had to face. Only today, I received a response from the HSE regarding a young eight-year-old boy called Seán. Seán's mam gave me permission to raise his case. I submitted a representation to the HSE in May of last year. The response I received today, nine months later, was unacceptable. Seán was aged only eight when he was referred for primary care psychology in 2022. Three years later, the psychology services are unable to give Seán an appointment. That is simply not good enough. There is no treatment for a young boy who was referred in 2022, and is now aged eight, for mental health treatment. This is not good enough.”
“The Government did commit to one thing; the regulation of CAMHS. Deputy Clarke, our new spokesperson on mental health, and I will help the Minister of State out on this one. As she knows, we introduced legislation in the last Dáil term. It passed Second Stage. The Government tabled a time-bound amendment to it and it was kicked down the road. We will reintroduce that legislation. The Government basically passed it so we will look for its support to let it proceed through the Houses. It was passed in the previous Dáil term. A time-bound amendment was placed on it, but the Government actually passed that legislation. We will bring it back in. As the outgoing spokesperson on mental health, I thank all the stakeholders I engaged with over the past number of years. They gave me invaluable help.”
“These are the children who will need the more acute CAMHS services. That is one of the reasons more children are going into CAMHS. There were 72 beds for CAMHS inpatients when the Minister of State was appointed. Only 51 of these are operational at the moment. When she was appointed five years ago, there were only three public beds for adults with eating disorders in the State. Guess what? Five years later, there are still only three adult eating disorder beds open for the public. This is simply not good enough. As the Minister of State knows, mental health is one of the most fatal health disorders we have. It is not getting the care it needs. I read the programme for Government. As was stated, there is less mention of mental health in this programme for Government than in the previous one.”
“On a personal level, I congratulate the Minister of State on her appointment as Chief Whip. I welcome that the issue of mental health will have a seat at the Cabinet table but, to be honest, I do not have any confidence that things will improve. The past five years are evidence of that. In 2020, since the Minister of State took over the role, there has been an 81% increase in the number of young people who are waiting for a first-time appointment with CAMHS. She cited an increase in referrals to CAMHS, but it has to be asked why. Why are more children being referred to CAMHS? It is because they are not getting the primary care mental health services they need. For example, at this very moment, 18,000 children are waiting for primary care psychology services. They are languishing on a waiting list.”
“As the Minister of State will be aware, Go-Ahead has been fined millions of euro but it has not been a deterrent to it because it has been carrying on regardless. I should not say it has been carrying on, because it is not going anywhere at the moment. It is time to return private buses to public transport. It is also time to properly invest in public transport. I am always bemused when I hear Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael TDs from my area say they will arrange meetings with the NTA and the relevant Ministers. I would say to them, "You are in government." I ask them to use their positions in government to influence the parties to change their positions and return public transport from private operators because that is the only way things will work and commuters will get the service they require.”
“Countless numbers of residents from Newcastle have contacted me to say the W6 was simply not showing up. There is nothing efficient and reliable about the W6. The NTA needs to fulfil its promise. It also needs to be accountable for the promise that it made but the Fianna Fáil Minister also needs to be accountable and make sure the NTA is accountable as well. The Government is trying to get people out of cars but it will not happen by magic. It needs to have that proper public infrastructure in place. I have also been made aware of other problems on Go-Ahead routes in my area, including the S4, the S6 and the L55. It is simply not good enough. Privatisation of our public services is not working. It has not worked in water or waste management and is simply not working in public transport.”
“This is the only bus that runs from Clondalkin to Tallaght. Many commuters and residents have been on to me who have missed work or been late for work but, more concerning, I have had numbers of people contact me that they have missed vital appointments in Tallaght hospital and lectures in Tallaght University Hospital. We also have some unreliability issues with the W4, which is leaving residents of Fettercairn stranded. I received the following communication from the NTA in November about the W6, which is also a Go-Ahead service. It stated, "the W6 will provide a more efficient and reliable travel option for commuters, improving access to jobs, education, and other services ...". That sounds great on paper but the reality is much different.”
“I take the opportunity to wish the Ceann Comhairle and the Minister of State all the best in their respective roles going forward. I wish them every success. We are discussing road safety today. One of the most efficient ways of reducing road accidents is to reduce the number of cars on the road but to do this you have to have an adequate, properly-funded and reliable public transport system in place. I have had many commuters in my area contact me about unreliable bus services in the area. The main culprits, and the Minister of State probably heard it all over the news in the past week or so, is Go-Ahead bus services. Go-Ahead is a private operator providing a public service. It is clear that this model is not working. The W2 bus runs from Liffey Valley, through Neilstown and Clondalkin village and ends up in Tallaght.”
“That is three and a half years of waiting time for an 86-year-old Alzheimer's patient. That is simply not good enough. I put it to the Government that, not only has it failed but it has broken the social contract with this lady and other people like her. The onus is on the Government to fix the broken system that has allowed this to happen. I have seen nothing in this programme for Government that gives me any confidence that this will be resolved going forward. I urge the Government to go away and really look at how it can resolve this. We cannot have a situation where an 86-year-old lady who has Alzheimer's disease and is at risk of falling is waiting three and a half years for an appointment. It is simply not good enough.”
“The brain develops most during the first five years of a child's life. I raised this matter directly with the HSE and was informed the developmental checks in Dublin Mid-West are basically suspended. I put it to the Minister of State that this is simply not good enough. I will raise the case of an elderly lady from my area. She is 86 years of age, has Alzheimer's disease and is at risk of falling. She has already fallen twice. She is waiting for an appointment with an occupational therapist to be able to make her home safe. I made representations to the HSE in June last year, outlining the urgency of the case. It was so urgent the HSE did not get back to me until last month, six months later. The response, when I got it, stated the current waiting time for occupational therapy is 184 weeks for this lady.”
“There is only one mention of public health nurses in the whole programme of Government. Many parents have contacted me in recent weeks to say their children are not getting the vital developmental checks they need from public health nurses. When a baby is born, developmental checks are carried out at regular intervals. During the baby's first week, a public health nurse visits the home and typically checks the baby's weight and overall health. The public health nurse then carries out a developmental assessment when the baby is three months old. Babies in my area, Dublin Mid-West, are not getting this assessment due to a shortage of public health nurses. Parents are concerned that there could be a delay in diagnosing certain conditions. Developmental checks are crucial to identifying whether additional supports are needed.”
“Ireland can make a stance on this to say enough is enough, and that starts by progressing the occupied territories Bill in its totality.”
“I welcome the ceasefire and the release of the Israeli and Palestinian hostages, and I wish with all my heart that this piece will continue; however, even during this truce, world leaders like Donald Trump are speaking about the ethnic cleansing of Gaza. Trump has said the Palestinian population should be displaced to Egypt and Jordan. Both of those countries, other Arab nations and Palestinian leaders have rejected this. What the Palestinian people need is support to return home. They need an end to the genocide and to apartheid, and real sanctions imposed on Israel so it will face the consequences of the war crimes it has committed. These sanctions would also prevent future war crimes. Ireland, by failing to sanction an apartheid and genocidal state, is enabling apartheid and genocide.”
“Ireland has been at the forefront of the international response to the horrific genocide in Palestine, including recognition of the State of Palestine. I welcome and am very proud of this, but it is time to go one step further. It is time to back up words with action. Speeches like this are all well and good but words without action are futile. Words without sanctions are futile. It is time that Ireland led the way and said that enough is enough. It is time that Ireland enacted the occupied territories Bill. It is time for Ireland to introduce sanctions. If the world does not start sanctioning Israel for its illegal land grab, its genocidal attacks on the Palestinian people and its apartheid regime, Israel will just continue with impunity.”
“They are often located on high vantage points towering over the Palestinian population who they have forced out of their homes. Today, more than 750,000 illegal Israeli settlers live in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, controlling a significant portion of its land and the majority of its water and natural resources. The European Union's position is absolutely clear: Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. Despite this, EU countries, shamefully including Ireland, continue to make settlements financially viable. The occupied territories Bill does not preclude trade with Israel. It only precludes trade on lands that Israel has illegally invaded and claimed as its own.”
“While the world is rightly focused on the horrific genocidal war in Gaza, we are also seeing one of the biggest land grabs in decades in the West Bank. More homes have been destroyed, families displaced and settlements built. How can we repeatedly condemn this as illegal but continue to trade in the goods produced on these illegal settlements? It is clear hypocrisy and it must stop now. I was lucky enough to spend some time in the West Bank. I saw at first hand these illegal settlements. While the word "settlements" might bring forward images of wagons rolling across the prairie, the truth is much different. These are fortified settlements, often on the best lands in the area, surrounded by armed members of the Israel Defense Forces or Israeli militia.”
“These are illegal settlements. Israelis live on these illegal settlements. They also set up business and enterprise on that land which they stole from the Palestinians. The occupied territories Bill would prevent Ireland from doing any trade with businesses that were set up on these illegal settlements. It is as simple as that. Any person with a shred of humanity would recognise that trading with businesses set up on illegal settlements is wrong. Sinn Féin is calling for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to deliver on their pre-election commitment to speedily enact the occupied territories Bill. As was quoted, in the words of a Fianna Fáil Minister, "if this is not the time to act, when will that time come?". In the six years since Senator Frances Black first tabled the occupied territories Bill, the situation in Palestine has deteriorated.”
“There has been much public discourse about our political system. We saw it in the context of the low turnout in the general election. I recently met a group of young people who informed me there is a mistrust on the part of the electorate. They accused politicians of not sticking by their word and of talking out of both sides of their mouths. We have another example of this today with the Government not supporting the progression of the occupied territories Bill in its totality and not in its watered-down version, as Mary Lou McDonald described it. The Government has reneged on its commitment to the Irish public. One of the young people asked me what the occupied territories Bill is. I explained it in the best way I could. Over the decades, Israel has forcibly removed Palestinians from their land. It then set up settlements on that land.”