Mary Fitzpatrick
Industrial and Commercial Panel · Fianna Fáil · Ireland
“It would help inform policy, not just in the drugs space but in all areas of mental health, physical health and our social well-being. I draw the House's attention to the publication this morning of the Government's latest progress report on housing - Delivering Homes, Building Communities.”
“This morning's news coverage is dominated by calls from medical professionals for a ban on e-scooters. This follows calls for bans on social media. The Government has moved to ban vapes. We are actively engaged as a country in banning a lot of things at the moment and there is very good reasoning behind a lot of these proposals.”
“That is just in the first quarter and it is up 33%. More than 46,000 new homes have commenced. There is a lot of activity in terms of supply. Affordability is a huge issue for a lot of people but, in the last year, more than 20,000 first-time home purchasers acquired their own home.”
“I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach for her forbearance and patience with us. I thank Martin and all of the staff of the Seanad Office on behalf of the Fianna Fáil group. It is a tremendous personal honour and privilege for me to serve with all of the Senators.”
“We all understand the value of our local democracy and the incredible role our elected representatives undertake to represent and champion their communities and ensure they are properly served. The Minister came into the House and gave a response which, unfortunately, there was not a hard copy of to share with Senators.”
“Population growth and changing demographics mean that electoral areas must be reviewed and it is really important to ensure that there is fair and adequate representation. Every citizen's voice should carry equal weight, regardless of where he or she lives, so the boundary review is really important.”
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“The Minister for Justice will be aware that in the negotiations on the programme for Government, the Minister of State was one of the strong advocates and champions of ensuring it would contain strong commitments to increase safety in the retail space and specifically address retail crime. I thank my Fianna Fáil colleagues Senators Comyn and Rabbitte, who are here, and the Fianna Fáil Group in general for supporting this Private Members' Bill. We have a lot of competition regarding our Bills but the fact that this is our first in this Seanad term indicates the strength of support from the Fianna Fáil Group in the Seanad for addressing this issue. I also thank RGDATA, which nominated me to contest the Seanad election. It represents more than 3,000 independent, Irish-owned food retailers, including the Spars and Centras.”
“I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I thank the Minister for being here to consider this legislation which seeks to protect retail workers in their workspace. More than 300,000 people work in retail in every town, village and city in the country. They provide a vital front-line service in all our communities. What this Bill seeks to do is protect them from attack, be it verbal or physical, in their workspace. Before I speak about the Bill itself, I want to acknowledge my former Seanad colleague Deputy Malcolm Byrne, who introduced a similar Bill in the previous Seanad. I also acknowledge the Minister of State and Chief Whip, Deputy Mary Butler, who herself was a retailer prior to her political career. Dealing with the public in the retail space, she progressed into politics.”
“I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to amend the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994 to create specific offences for assaulting or threatening retail workers carrying out their employment.”
“I propose an amendment to the Order of Business, that No. 9 be taken before No.1. The Protection of Retail Workers Bill 2025 seeks to provide protection to people working on the front line of retail. There are more than 300,000 people working in retail throughout the country, in every town and village. We buy our milk and newspapers from them. They are essential in all of our communities. Unfortunately, far too many retail workers are going to work every day and night in fear of being assaulted, be that verbally or physically or through threats to their lives and their livelihoods. These assaults can be in the form of verbal assaults, casual sexism, casual racism, aggressive behaviour, physical assaults or more grievous bodily harm. I hope we can debate this Bill tomorrow in the House.”
“I also acknowledge all the culture that exists here and all of the enterprise and employment that is created here not just for those of us who have privilege of living in the capital but for everyone who visits as well.”
“It is really important that we acknowledge the achievement of enterprise in the capital and the contribution enterprise is making in the capital not just in raw terms of creating employment and providing services but by the State and the Government in particular supporting these enterprises. The chamber members are calling for an acceleration of investment in infrastructure and services and for them, housing is the number one priority. They are also asking for help in tackling rising costs and economic uncertainty. I ask that at some point in the schedule the House take times to debate the future of our capital because it is home to our great academic institutions from the National College of Ireland to Trinity College, TUI Dublin, DCU and UCD.”
“I draw the House's attention to the publication yesterday of the 2025 quarter 1 business outlook report from Dublin Chamber of Commerce. This body represents more than 200 businesses in the capital. Being a Dub, I am always looking for an opportunity to champion our great capital but it is really important for everybody in the House to recognise that by 2040, more than 54% of the country's population will live in the city. A total of 1 million people live in Dublin and 50% of the gross value added in the country is generated in Dublin along with 55% of all tax returns.”
“I acknowledge the increased presence of gardaí in my area and across the capital, which is welcome. I am not suggesting the job is done, but it is welcome and the people of Dublin Central and across the capital welcome their presence and are supportive of the new gardaí who have come to the capital. We hope they stay here for a long time to come.”
“I acknowledge the ownership an tAire has taken of this issue since he took office. It is welcome that he proposes to introduce exclusion orders and that he is preparing the Defamation (Amendment) Bill to introduce a defence of retail defamation. I acknowledge the work of An Garda Síochána under Operation Táirge; the more than 8,000 arrests last year are welcome. However, the Minister acknowledged that the low level, insidious, casual, opportunistic shoplifting has a really corrosive effect. Although An Garda may have made more than 8,000 arrests, there is a role for the courts to play in this as well in sentencing and prosecuting those crimes. I urge the Minister to engage with the courts and impress upon them the importance and severity of the impact of the issue on our communities.”
“RGDATA represents more than 3,500 individual, family-owned SuperValus, Spars and Centras, which are the shops where people buy a bottle of milk or a sliced pan. They are there early in the morning when we go to work and late at night when we go home. RGDATA estimates that theft is costing them, on average, €40,000 a year. That is €40,000 they have to find before they pay for stock, rent, insurance, electricity or staff. It is an enormous amount of money that is making many of these businesses struggle for viability. I know the Minister gets this. I hope he has come to the House with an update for us on his Department's work to develop and produce a retail crime strategy, which is urgently needed.”
“They face racism, sexism and verbal and physical assaults. It is not an overstatement to point to the fact that many shop owners in Dublin had to employ security staff wearing bodycams before gardaí in Dublin were wearing bodycams. That is an indication of where safety in the retail space stands. I know the Minister is aware of this and that he appreciates this is not a victimless crime. It is estimated that apart from the personal human impact on individuals working, owning and trying to operate these establishments, and on their customers and the communities they serve, there is a financial cost. The estimated cost is €1.6 billion per year. That is an enormous amount of money to be losing in the context of investment in our economy and community.”
“I welcome the Aire to the Upper House. Comhghairdeas to him on his appointment as Minister for Justice. He has been a breath of fresh air since taking office. His hands-on approach to the bread-and-butter issues of justice in our communities and throughout our country is welcome. I wish him well in his role. He has a big task ahead. I am seeking an update on the Department's work on the production of a retail crime strategy. The Minister will be aware that the CSO recorded a 12% increase in thefts last year. Forty-six per cent of that increase came from retail. Those thefts were from retail establishments. We are talking about the small Spar, Londis, Centra and local corner shop, as well as the Dunnes Stores, Tesco and Lidl on our high street. Shop owners and shop workers are being threatened on a daily basis.”
“There are 55,000 planning applications for apartments that have not progressed because of the agitation by those in the Opposition who basically undermined and destabilised the environment for any investment in the provision of homes. We have to have apartments building for our urban areas. There is a place for them. It is not for every community setting, but in the city we need it. I look forward to the rest of the debate and thank the Minister for his time today.”
“That brings me to my next point. The vacant and derelict homes grants which were introduced for €50,000 and €70,000 have been a great success. There have been over 11,000 applicants already. Those grants need to be continued. The over-the-shop grant also needs to be introduced and increased. When someone is refitting an over-the-shop property, there are building regulations and fire regulations that have to be complied with, and there are additional costs. It would open up spaces in cities, towns and villages throughout the country. On the topic of apartments, as the Minister mentioned, those in the Opposition who campaigned and drove out investment in the building of apartments in our country should hang their heads in shame.”
“It is not sustainable for the individuals who are being accommodated there or for the community. On the one-size-fits-all housing approach to the country, I believe that a specific intervention is needed for the capital and the inner city. Nurses working in the Rotunda, Mater and Temple Street hospitals, gardaí working in Store Street, the Bridewell and Mountjoy, and teachers working in St. Peter's National School and all across the city are travelling from Louth, Wicklow, Meath and Wexford, which is not sustainable. My constituency of Dublin Central has a population of 120,000 people. Every single working day, that population increases to over half a million people. That means that there are 400,000 people coming in every day, many of them to work. Why is that? It is because there is not a sufficient supply of homes.”
“It is really important and a great initiative on the part of the Minister. That office, along with the all-of-government approach I have mentioned,, should help us to meet our objective of achieving our commitments in the Lisbon Declaration on the European Platform on Combatting Homelessness. It is very important to recognise that last year alone, the financial cost of emergency homeless accommodation was somewhere in the region of €360 million. While that is a very large figure, it does not reflect the human cost of emergency accommodation, and the instability and insecurity of it. Everything must be done to achieve our commitments under the Lisbon declaration by 2030. That includes the declustering of emergency accommodation in the inner city.”
“We need the Department of Finance because it has the finance experts and we need it to come forward with proposals to help us to fix this. We can do a certain amount but the Department of Finance will have to play a very significant role. The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media has to come to the table with the legislation, the regulations and the controls on short-term lets. I am not talking about letting a room in one's home on Airbnb; I am talking about full family homes, particularly in this city. At a time when families are living in hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation, there are tourists living or staying in family homes. It is wrong and has to be stopped. I fully support and I would like to hear more about the Minister's strategic housing delivery office.”
“The Minister has my admiration and support but he and his Department cannot do this on their own; they need the support of all of the Government. When we wanted to solve Covid, we treated it like an emergency. The State made choices that were, at times, unpopular and uncomfortable for people. This was necessary because we all wanted to defeat Covid and get to a safe place. I believe that everybody in this Government wants to get to a safe place where every one of our citizens has access to a home that is adequate and meets their needs. This is why I speak of an all-of-government approach. Such an approach involves the Department of Finance. I mention that Department first because it knows that it will cost somewhere in the region of €24 billion a year to fix the housing crisis.”
“This State stepped up to the plate, increased supply and innovated by introducing affordable cost rental housing, giving powers to local authorities and the Land Development Agency, and using modern methods of construction. We have a bigger challenge in this term - I do not envy the Minister's task - because we have to get to over 300,000 new homes by 2030. We have a commitment as a State to eliminate homelessness by 2030. That is a commitment made by the State and it is a big challenge. The only way we can do that is by increasing supply. In the few minutes of speaking time I have left, I would like to mention some areas we would like the Minister and the Government to focus on. We need to massively scale up to the next level in order to get to the 60,000 homes a year that are needed. This necessitates an all-of-government approach.”
“The pipeline is strong, however, and we should be encouraged by the fact that, in the year to February, more than 64,000 homes commenced. That is a good, important and strong pipeline. Housing construction in Ireland is at the highest levels in Europe. We can take encouragement from that. I do not think any of us can get comfortable or start sitting on our laurels but we need to acknowledge that in the past four years, we had Covid, Brexit and war in Europe, which we had not experienced in decades. Our population increased and our economy came back stronger after Covid. We are at full employment and purchasing power is at its highest. The way we live has changed. We no longer live four to six people in a household but one to three people in a household, so there is a doubling of the housing requirement.”
“The vacant and derelict property grants which were introduced had more than 11,000 applications. They have been a huge success. They give funding to individuals to take a vacant property and turn it into their home. Last year a record number of first-time buyers drew down a mortgage. More than 26,000 individuals and families drew down a mortgage for the first time. That equated to more than 500 first-time buyers every week drawing down a mortgage. Renters' protections were strengthened. Rent caps were enforced. A €1,000 renter's tax credit was introduced for 400,000 renters for the first time. Affordable cost rental as a model of housing was introduced. The Minister is right: the output last year was disappointing in the end. The last quarter did not perform in the way we all wanted it to.”
“We put the Land Development Agency on a statutory footing so that State-owned lands could be used to deliver homes for our people. In that period, more than 130,000 new homes were built, as the Minister himself mentioned. In some of the years in the previous decade, fewer than 7,000 homes were built. That 130,000 new homes were built meant 16,000 individuals and families were either prevented from entering homelessness or exited homelessness because the supply was increasing. Importantly, the supply of social homes was increasing. More than 42,000 social homes were delivered and more than 12,000 local authority voids, that is, the vacant boarded-up flats you might see around Dublin city or in other towns, were brought back into productive use as family homes.”
“I was proud to take it on to try to address a decade of undersupply, which the Minister himself mentioned. The challenge was to change housing policy, housing legislation and housing funding. As we begin the debate today, it can feel daunting because it is a huge challenge to get to 300,000 new homes, to make that commitment and deliver on it. It is worth acknowledging, however, the progress that was made over the past four years. That is important because the statistics do not lie. It is not a lie to say that, in the four years, the legislation, policy and funding changed. Funding increased from less than €500 million a year to more than €4 billion a year. Legislation changed so that local authorities had the power to build homes, not just social homes but affordable homes to purchase and to rent. We introduced affordable cost rental.”
“I thank the Minister for coming to the House today and for facilitating an early debate on housing for this Seanad. It is the single biggest threat to far too many of our citizens' lives, young and old. I really appreciate and I believe the House really appreciates the priority the Government and the Minister, in his new Ministry, are giving to housing. I wish him well. He has our absolute support. When I say it is the biggest challenge facing this generation I speak as a mother of three young adults. I live with their experience of it. I was first elected as a local authority member back in 2004, however, so I have more than 20 years' perspective on the housing challenge. When I was privileged enough to be nominated by the Taoiseach in 2020 as the Fianna Fáil housing spokesperson in the Seanad, I took on that task.”
“As we here we all hold out breath waiting for announcements from the other side of the pond, which the President of the United States is heralding what he calls liberation day, whatever transpires later this evening and whatever the outcome of his pronouncements, I hope we as a country stand united together, but united also with our European partners. We live in an incredibly challenging world. We are challenged environmentally, economically and socially. Now, more than ever, when we as a civilisation are probably more educated, more privileged and more developed than at any other time in the history of the planet, it is important we pull together. Tomorrow, the Tánaiste and Minister for trade will come to the House. It is important that everybody in the House engages constructively with the Minister following those pronouncements.”
“This is a club that has engaged many inner-city residents and has taught them to get up off the couch, the sofa or the chair and go out and learn to run. They are an incredible group of people and they are supported by others such as Ruthanne, who did an incredible job coaching people for the first ever city half-marathon. I also commend all of the team at the north-east inner city office, NEIC, and Dublin City Council on supporting and making this first ever city half-marathon a reality. It was a great event. I congratulate all the participants, not just the winners, but everyone who participated. The city really came alive for it.”
“Today is World Autism Acceptance Day 2025 and it is an important day in the calendar when we are asked to pause and to recognise the importance of neurodiversity, to give recognition to the strengths and talents of autistic people, and to promote and champion understanding, acceptance and support for neurodivergent people. I congratulate everyone who participated in Dublin city's first ever half-marathon last weekend. The sun shone in Dublin city and it was a truly glorious day weatherwise. More than 12,000 individuals set off and did the first ever city half-marathon. It was a huge success. In the north inner city many local people got involved, and I commend a young man, Dwayne Edgar, who, during Covid, set up the Inner City Running Club.”
“Other businesses and organisations have also come on board, including the Drumcondra Triangle Residents Association, along with Dublin City University, DCU, other big stakeholders and some businesses in Drumcondra. It is a huge achievement and a great signal and it sends out a strong message of inclusion and understanding of diversity in our village of Drumcondra and our capital more widely. I thank everyone who supported the initiative and congratulate everyone on the prestigious achievement of making Drumcondra a village and community that is autism friendly and a place where everyone can feel included, supported and understood.”
“This morning, I share the great news with the House that Drumcondra is the first village in Ireland to receive the prestigious autism friendly award. The award celebrates communities across Ireland that have demonstrated a strong commitment to fostering autism inclusion and understanding. It is awarded by AsIAm, the autism campaigning organisation. The autism friendly project in Drumcondra has been driven by an amazing young woman, who is a mother, Lucy Crean, and others. In a voluntary capacity, they worked with stakeholders in the village and engaged more than 20 organisations and businesses, including the great GAA club, Na Fianna. Senators will all be familiar with its hurling prowess and success this year.”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit. He will have a further ten minutes to come in at the end of contributions from the Senators. Before I call Senator Joe Flaherty from Fianna Fáil to make his contribution, I welcome the students of St Peter's in Wexford, who I understand are the guests of the Ceann Comhairle, Verona Murphy, who I am sure wishes she could be here with them at this moment to share in this debate. However, she does have other matters to deal with and I am sure she will do that very competently. They are very welcome. Fáilte rompu go dtí an Seanad.”
“They can face a court ordeal of being sued for defamation. It is absolutely farcical that these people, who provide an essential front-line service, provide employment and support our communities, are being hindered in this way. Their businesses are being undermined. The provision of the service they offer to our communities is being undermined. The employment they provide is being undermined. I ask the Deputy Leader to ask the Minister for Justice that, when bringing forward the defamation Bill commenced last year, he makes amendments to it to protect retailers from vexatious and spurious defamation claims.”
“I ask the Deputy Leader to ask the Minister for Justice to introduce legislative protections for retailers to protect them from spurious and vexatious defamation claims. The Deputy Leader and I are aware that shopkeepers are up early in the morning, providing essential front-line services in all of our communities. A recent survey of retailers found that 94% of them have been impacted by shoplifting in the past year alone. This will not come as any surprise to anybody looking at the CSO crime statistics which recorded an 8% increase in thefts. In the Dublin metropolitan area where I live, there was a 13% increase. Half of all of these thefts were shoplifting offences but we have the ridiculous situation today that if a retailer asks someone whether they have paid for goods in their shops, they can face a defamation claim.”
“On top of that, companies can apply for the repair and lease whereas it is an individual in the case of the vacant and derelict property grants and they are limited to two properties. I acknowledge all of that. It is all powerful and positive interventions by the Government to turn vacant properties into liveable homes. I urge the Minister of State to go back to the Department and to work with the Department to fulfil on the commitment we made to introduce the over-the-shop grant. I believe the €100,000 grant will go a long way to accelerating the conversion of over-the-shop spaces into liveable homes. There is an additional cost for compliance with building regulations and fire safety when doing an over-the-shop conversion. This merits the additional increase in the grant to €100,000.”
“I accept that as a legitimate explanation for staying with the one-stage payment. I also acknowledge the amendment that was made to the local authority home loan. In essence this meets the need of people on low incomes who are unable to secure a mortgage from a commercial bank for a mortgage to combine it with the vacant property grant. The combination of both is very powerful in enabling low-income people to buy vacant properties, combine it with the vacant property grant as an extension of their mortgage and turn it into a liveable home. That is all very welcome. I must acknowledge the repair and lease scheme as well. The Minister of State is correct that it is an interest-free €80,000 loan and there is no limit on the number of properties as there is in the case of the vacant property grant.”
“I thank the Minister of State for his kind words. Solving the housing crisis is our number one priority. The work the Government and the Minister of State do, and which all of us can do to support the Government to achieve that outcome, is a privilege for us. I acknowledge in the Minister of State's reply the fact that the croí cónaithe grant can be used in combination with the SEAI grants. In providing both grants combined, this can provide up to and in excess of €100,000 to convert vacant properties into liveable homes. That is really welcome and this is why it has been successful. I acknowledge the response from the Department on the staged payments. It would represent an additional burden on local authorities' vacant housing officers and housing officers if there were to be staged payments.”
“I appreciate the Minister of State is taking this Commencement matter at short notice and his presence is very valued, but I hope the Department has sent the Minister of State with an update on my two queries. There is a huge opportunity for us to do more with those grants and for those grants to play an even greater part in increasing housing supply in areas in towns and villages where there is a huge need, where there is already a community that would welcome additional residents, and, most important, where the utilities connections are already in place for fresh water, wastewater and electricity. All that is needed is the human activity brought back again to bring life into the towns and villages and these vacant properties. I look forward to the Minister of State's response.”
“I am also hoping the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, will have been sent here today with an update on the question of amending the payment schedule for the grants to staged payments. I advise everyone I speak to to engage early with the vacant housing officer because every vacant property has its own unique circumstances and its own unique challenges and opportunities. The way the grant is set up at the moment, once the grant is approved following application, the applicant has up to 13 months to draw it down. That is a reasonable amount of time because it can take time to secure contractors, for the contractors to be available, and for the works to be complete, but there is an ask that the payment would be made in stages and that there may be a facility for either a first or second stage payment.”
“I believe that if those grants were extended, as Fianna Fáil promised in its manifesto, to include an increased grant of €100,000 for over-the-shop developments, those grants would enable property owners in towns, villages and cities and elsewhere throughout the country to turn those vacant properties into liveable homes. They would not just be providing essential homes for people but would also be providing new life into the towns and villages. It would be a significant stimulus of regeneration in urban and rural communities. My Commencement matter seeks an update from the Department on where it is at in amending the grants to extend them to the over-the-shop grant of €100,000.”
“The previous Government did not just provide the funding for the grant but also ensured that the grants would be delivered locally by each of our 31 local authorities. It gave the local authorities the funding for the grants and also gave the local authorities funding to establish vacant housing offices and dedicated vacant housing officers. The response has been tremendous. There have been more than 11,000 applications for those grants and they have been very successful. There is an opportunity, as I am sure the Minister of State will agree, to go further with those grants.”
“I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. In a world where we are surrounded and bombarded daily with bad news housing stories, I want to talk about one positive housing story. The croí cónaithe vacant property grants were introduced by the previous Government in 2022. I had the privilege of working with the previous Minister, his Department and our local authority members to introduce those grants, because we all know the fastest and most sustainable way to increase our housing supply is to use the vacant properties that are already built and connected to fresh water, wastewater, public lighting, and roads and are close to our communities, schools and all the other community services. Those grants have been successful.”
“Free HRT should be dispensed in the same manner as free contraception. It should be treated as just a continuum of women's fertility, health and journey. I urge the Minister of State in her new role to work to achieve that outcome.”
“I acknowledge the work being done by the Department, the Minister of State, the Minister and all of the stakeholders. It is good news. Women will be pleased to hear that there is a date of 7 March for Estradot transdermal patches. That in and of itself is really positive news. I ask the Minister of State to go back to the Department and ask for a date by which HRT will be made available for free. I appreciate a negotiation has to take place between the Department, community pharmacists and the Irish Pharmacy Union but I urge the Department to conclude those negotiations as soon as possible. It is almost discriminatory that women of menopausal age are not availing of free HRT in the same way women of a fertile age can avail of free contraception, as is right, and they get two free GP visits.”
“I hope the Minister of State has been sent here today with word from the senior Minister in the Department that work is under way to address supply-side shortages and ensure the free roll-out of HRT takes place promptly.”
“I hope the Minister of State has been sent to this House with an answer on the actions that are being taken to address the supply-side shortages, but also to ensure that free HRT is made available to everyone. The previous Minister, Stephen Donnelly, and the previous Government must be commended. The Minister of State and I worked on this and Fianna Fáil was the first political party to bring forward a women's health policy. We are very proud to have the proposals we made in that policy adopted by the previous Government, including free contraception and free IVF and fertility treatments and the establishment of menopause and gynaecological clinics. All of those were groundbreaking and historic innovations which were revolutionary for women's health. This Government must continue that work.”
“When women are prescribed HRT, it is not the case that one size fits all. Every woman's physiology is different. It can be an iterative process. Women who do not have medical cards have to pay for GP visits and prescription fees when it comes to HRT. The dosage can change. When a woman goes to her local pharmacy and the pharmacist does not have the prescribed dosage, there is then a need to try to make up the difference. The cut patches and prescribe gels instead of patches or tablets instead of gels. It is creating great uncertainty, distress and expense, all the while undermining women's health and their ability to enjoy full and happy relationships, participate fully in the workforce and participate fully socially and culturally.”
“This is causing significant distress, worry and expense for those who depend on HRT, for the physicians who prescribe it and for the pharmacists who dispense it. HRT is a lifeline for women. It is not an overstatement to say that it saves women's lives, protects their mental and physical health and saves their social and professional lives. In addition, HRT salvages and saves long-term relationships for many women and men. The importance of HRT cannot really be overstated. Women comprise half the population. As a result, half of the population will go through menopause at some point in their lives. It is only right that this Government has committed to provide HRT free to those women. It is also right that the Government, the State and the Department take action to ensure there are sufficient supplies of HRT.”
“I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Murnane O'Connor, for coming to the House. Déanaim comhghairdeas leis an Aire Stáit on her appointment. I am sure she will be very successful in her new position. I am disappointed that the senior Minister is not here to take this matter. but I genuinely appreciate the Minister of State's time and the support from the Department. I am seeking two things. First, I am seeking clarity on what actions the Department and the Minister are taking to resolve the supply side shortages relating to hormone replacement therapy, HRT. Second, I am looking for an update on the provision of free HRT, which has been promised by the Government. It is not an overstatement to say that the supply side shortages relating to HRT are giving rise to significant issues for patients, doctors and pharmacists.”
“We in this House enjoy the great privilege of this Order of Business and the opportunity to speak on Private Members' matters and Government issues. There has been an unseemly row rolling on in the Lower House for the past six weeks and I know from listening to constituents-----”
“When our Taoiseach meets with President Zelenskyy, I am certain he will reaffirm our country's commitment to continuing to support the people of Ukraine in their defence of freedom, independence and democracy. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Local Authority Members Association, LAMA. Almost 100% of elected local authority members have signed up and are members of LAMA. I want the House to recognise the tremendous service LAMA has provided over 40 years and to acknowledge that service over four decades of previous elected representatives. It would be appropriate for the Deputy Leader to invite the executive and members of LAMA to visit the House at some point during their 40th anniversary year of 2025, and for us as a House to engage with them on their past 40 years and their ambitions for the decades to come.”
“I join the Cathaoirleach and the Deputy Leader in offering our best wishes to the people of Bulgaria on their national day. This week marks three years since Russia illegally invaded Ukraine. We in the Upper House and the Lower House marked that and reaffirmed our solidarity with the people of Ukraine. I acknowledge the great leadership being shown by our Taoiseach. I understand he is to meet with President Zelenskyy, who is due to travel to Washington in an attempt to broker a deal with the support of the US. I believe everybody in this House is committed to supporting the people of Ukraine and to ensuring they have a free, independent, democratic country and their independence, democracy and right to self-determination are respected.”