Nessa Cosgrove
Labour Panel · Labour Party · Ireland
“The Minister of State recognised that there was a grassroots movement and the documentary "Groundswell" captured it. There is also the documentary "Gasland", which was made in America and came out in 2010. We know it is going to come from America. Again, this is the Trojan horse.”
“The amendment defines "fracked gas", which does not appear anywhere in the Bill. This, with amendment No. 13, would make clear that the importation of fracked gas would not be possible under the Bill. LNG particularly when sourced in the US, is usually derived from fracking.”
“I move amendment No. 3: In page 8, after line 39, to insert the following: " "hydraulically fractured gas" means liquefied natural gas, or natural gas in any other form, that has been produced, in whole or in part, by means of hydraulic fracturing within the meaning of section 5A of the Petroleum and Other Minerals Development Act 1960;".…”
“I am sorry but I just do not buy the argument that it is security. A floating LNG storage facility in Qatar was blown up. It is actually more of a risk to our security to have a floating LNG terminal. This whole thing is mad.”
“All of us were probably at the IFA briefing yesterday. When they gave us the briefing document I saw that it was exactly the same as the one last year and I wondered whether it had got anything it looked for. I was told not really, apart perhaps with regard to areas of natural constraint.”
“Historians, no doubt, are going to refer to this legislation in that way, because the reserve is not going to be used solely for emergencies. We are trying to define what an emergency is. There is no definition. Seven years ago, we led the way in the international community by committing to phase out oil and gas exploration.”
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“The Minister of State is very welcome and I thank him for coming in. I also welcome Sarah Benson. It is fantastic that she is here. I thank the original signatories of the Bill, Senator Clonan and the former Senator Martin, and Senator Noonan for introducing it again and allowing us to be part of it. I have just come back from the Irish Congress of Trade Unions biannual conference. The general secretary and the president of the ICTU raised what has become an epidemic of violence against women and girls. It is becoming more prevalent in all of our lives. We have spoken today about the number of people and women who have been killed.”
“I commend my fellow Senator, Nicole Ryan, on her honesty and bravery and for bringing home the importance of not only this Bill but also this amendment. I worked with children and young people in child protection for many years and I could see the shame she was talking about. I could see the realisation that "My house isn't like everyone else's house" and the long-term trauma caused as a result. Senator Ryan is fantastic. That is why she is a great Senator and will continue to be. It is for her bravery and her honesty. I hope this will be considered.”
“We can look at economies of scale by first targeting products that have a bigger reach before gradually encouraging smaller producers to introduce bilingual packaging. This measure will help to ensure people use the cúpla focal. It will take away the fear of speaking Irish for many and allow others to immerse themselves more fully in the language outside the Gaeltacht. The inclusion of Irish with English on food packaging is a straightforward way to raise literacy rates. It will create more opportunities for people to use Irish in everyday situations. People coming here as tourists are delighted to see Irish packaging. It has been successfully done in Canada, where packaging includes French as well as English text. Why cannot we include both Irish and English? Ní mór dúinn a bheith cróga agus ár dteanga a choinneáil beo.”
“We all know the expression "tír gan teanga, tír gan anam". Last year, the Central Statistics Office reported that the number of people using Irish had decreased in the 2022 census. The number of people who have Irish increased but the number using it has fallen. The number who use an Ghaeilge on a daily basis went from 73,000 in 2016 to 71,000 in 2022. This is a shocking state of affairs when it comes to our own language. Bilingual packaging is one measure that could help in this regard. Both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, in their election manifestos, undertook to ensure customers' right to be served in Irish and to increase the visibility of the language on signage, packaging and advertising. Bilingual packaging should be prioritised over other initiatives.”
“County councillors in both Donegal and Sligo all agree on the need to find a way to fund local authorities such that they can support the creation of permanent structures for the specific use of farmers markets. The Our Rural Future policy document refers to creating sustainable and cohesive rural communities. To do that, we must support regional rural policy. We need to encourage sustainable tourism, in which these farmers markets play a huge part. People coming to Rossnowlagh and Strandhill really benefit from attending the farmers markets. This is exactly what rural policy should be about. If we are talking about creating new markets for Irish produce, this is one way of doing it. In the minute and a half remaining to me, I will focus on the need for bilingual packaging on food.”
“The final Strandhill farmers market, which was such an important and vibrant part of the local community, took place in December 2024. More than 2,000 traders were supported and nurtured by the market. Many businesses grew products that were initially sold in the market before going on to be stocked throughout the region. There was a lot of indigenous growth. Other traders went on to set up successful cafes in the town. From listening to traders in my area, with the wild Atlantic raging around us, an issue is the need for permanent structures specifically for farmers markets. Access to hand-washing facilities, power and food preparation facilities is very important. It is really hard to have only temporary structures when the wild Atlantic is blowing.”
“Enthusiasm is really high among traders and the market is doing a fantastic job of attracting both traders and customers and bringing communities together locally. People are drawn in not only by the local fresh produce but also by the sense of community and the vibrancy of the market. The organisers emphasise the value of building community wealth and keeping people spending money locally. A genuine economic wealth is created, delivered and retained within the community. Another example is Strandhill farmers market, which had been operating out of hangar one at Sligo Airport for the past 11 years. The old, disused hangar would have been just left there all that time if it was not being used by the market. Recently, unfortunately, the hangar became unavailable as it is now being used by the rescue helicopter service.”
“Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit go dtí an Teach. As all the Seanadóirí have noted, we in Ireland produce food of the finest quality. In recent years, we have become increasingly aware of the importance of generating local markets for sustainable local products and services. I will focus in my contribution on farmers markets and the benefit they provide environmentally, economically and socially for local communities. Products and services that are delivered and consumed within the region in which they are created are less detrimental to the environment, as we can easily understand by way of the concept of food miles. Rossnowlagh farmers market in south Donegal celebrated its first anniversary last week.”
“Unbalanced development is not even good for people who receive a disproportionate size of the pie. It drives economic overheating, inequality and societal breakdown and we all see this every day, particularly those of us who come up to Dublin from the country. Genuinely balanced regional development leads to a fairer, more equitable and more prosperous future for everyone. I hope we can work together with the Minister to ensure there is true regional development, particularly in the north and west.”
“If the Government is genuine about committing to regional development, it is essential that upgrades to the N17, N59 and N15 are done if our region is supposed to grow. Unbalanced regional development is not accidental. It is the logical conclusion of policies that for decades have treated our public as a group of city states with investment and development concentrated particularly around Dublin and its hinterland. That is very obvious today with the protest from the Raise the Roof campaign. Dublin is bursting at the seams. A visible and illustrative example of this is the ongoing humanitarian disaster of defective concrete blocks. While we all welcome the new redress scheme, we need to ensure that the details match the need for 100% redress for all affected homes.”
“Community-based entrepreneurs and the food and agriculture sectors are the lifeblood of our economy but if we are to make the most of these enterprises, they need to be supported by infrastructure and investment, which can only come from the Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael-Independent Government and must be delivered through stronger, better-resourced and more democratically accountable local authorities, a topic we have discussed many times in this House. Developments like the western rail corridor, which links Sligo to Mayo and Galway and will, hopefully, be extended to Donegal, must become part of the national development plan. They could be transformative and deliver real social and economic change at a fraction of the cost of metro north.”
“In 2019, the EU downgraded the north-west region from being more developed to being a region in transition and in 2022, downgraded it to a lagging region. I know the Minister of State is aware of this. This means that the people in Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal have a lower GDP than most people in the EU. It means that productivity and average educational attainment are lower than in other parts of the country - even on the Continent - even though the region is so rich in natural resources, creativity and talent.”
“Given that the Minister of State is a west of Ireland man, he will have great emphasis on regional development. Atlantic Technological University has been one of the most outstanding successes in the north west in recent times in tying together the campuses of Sligo, Mayo and Donegal. This has created a truly world-class university in the heart of the north west. This achievement must be followed by infrastructure that will reverse the decline experienced by the north west in recent years. I know many other Senators referenced this, particularly those from the west and the north west. The decline of the north west is not just a theoretical trope trotted out by the Opposition parties, as is very obvious here today. It is sadly a hard reality.”
“By supporting Deputy Bacik's Bill, the Government could show that it is serious about addressing historical abuse in residential settings and compel guilty organisations to take responsibility for their crimes.”
“Who holds ownership of them now? Most importantly, what has this done to help those who were abused by members of the order? My Labour Party colleague Deputy Bacik published the civil liability (child sexual abuse proceedings against unincorporated bodies of persons) Bill in 2024. This Bill addresses the issue and would enable the State to compel religious organisations and others to pay redress to those who survived horrendous abuse in residential settings. It would also address the imbalance of power that currently exists by facilitating civil proceedings against unincorporated bodies such as religious orders and provide a mechanism for recovering assets from associated lay-run trusts to which assets have frequently been transferred.”
“This is particularly but not exclusively the case for religious orders, which in some cases have transferred a significant amount of their wealth from into the possession of trusts administered by lay organisations. This allows the orders to claim poverty and avoid paying redress, should they become liable to do so. I became familiar with this kind of behaviour during the financial crash, when it was quite common to hear of developers going bust after first protecting their assets by transferring them to their wives. We cannot allow religious orders and others to use this developers' wives-type scam to evade restitution. A recent “RTÉ Investigates” programme showed that the Christian Brothers alone held, sold or transferred 800 properties from their ownership over the past 35 years. What has happened to these properties?”
“I do not need to list and detail the crimes committed in the residential institutions operated chiefly by religious orders on behalf of the State. We are unanimous in our condemnation of this abuse, and I am sure in our belief that those abusers who are still alive should be punished to the full extent of the law. The others who facilitated, covered up and denied the abuse should have to acknowledge their complicity and pay reparations to the victims and survivors of that abuse. A number of organisations whose members have been responsible for some of the most horrendous examples of abuse have deliberately and cynically put their assets beyond the reach of victims by transferring them from one body to another.”
“I have tried to engage the Departments of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration and Education on the matter. I am hoping the Leader will bring this case to the Department of justice so that it can intervene in the matter.”
“The other party to the dispute complained to the IPAS centre management. Rather than listening and trying to de-escalate the situation, the management took it further and punished Olesegun and his family. As a result, Olesegun and his family were told they would be relocated to an IPAS centre in Athlone. This was supposed to take place on 30 May. Representations from all of the elected members in the area saw this being pushed out to 5 June and then to 13 June, due to a hospital appointment. I am now asking that it be pushed out for one more week to 20 June so that Olesegun's youngest son can finish his junior infants' year in the school. It is a matter of justice, fairness and child welfare that the deadline be pushed out for one more week.”
“He could have focused his attentions on his own family but he was determined to contribute as positively as possible to the life of his new community and threw himself into work designed to bring the community together. He was an adult supervisor at the Foróige club. He helped to organise the food stall for the St. Patrick's Day parade and he is a weekly contributor to The Sligo Weekender . Without seeking to, Olesegun Ifade became a new leader in his new community from the small, cramped conditions of an IPAS centre. However, disputes and tensions arose, which is natural from time to time in the circumstances. However, how these tensions are managed in IPAS centres is the issue I want to raise. Olesegun alleges that during the course of a dispute between families his wife was assaulted.”
“I am sorry that I have to raise this very concerning matter today. I had hoped that common sense and the inherent human decency of officials at the Department of justice would have resolved this quietly. I, along with Deputies Martin Kenny and Eamon Scanlon and Leitrim councillor, Eddie Mitchell, have raised this issue with the Department. Deputies Marian Harkin and Frankie Feighan have also raised the matter on behalf of this family. Olesegun Ifade and his family, originally from Nigeria, moved into an IPAS centre in Dromahair, County Leitrim, when it opened 12 months ago. Olesegun has a wife and two small children, one of whom has just a week to complete his year of junior infants' class in the local national school.”
“It is not beyond the capability of insurers to ensure the liability insurance so many of our children have to take out when they are in school is extended to every child to cover them while they are on school grounds, regardless of whether that is during or outside school hours. Play, active play in particular, is so important for the development of children and this should never be jeopardised by rising insurance costs.”
“I was delighted to hear the Minister of State recently announce that the Tidy Towns committees would have their insurance costs covered by local authorities and IPB Insurance. While this is very welcome news, I ask that the scheme be extended to include all playgrounds. Playgrounds are public amenities that add a great deal of social capital to an area. It is hard to continually return to the same parents every year to raise funds. Many parents do not have the money in the first place. Why are school playgrounds, pitches and recreational areas not available to all children outside of school hours? Schools are told that children are not insured to be on the premises outside of school time but why not?”
“We have called on the State to develop new initiatives such as pooled group insurance schemes or broaden the remit of the IPB Insurance to support the voluntary and community sector. I commend the Alliance for Insurance Reform which has been doing great work raising this issue and engaging local public participation network, PPN, groups which can see first-hand the difficulties faced by so many communities regarding insurance. Many playgrounds in cities, towns and villages are managed by the local authority and their insurance costs are covered but many others are not. This is obvious in rural areas where communities have traditionally been responsible for covering the cost of insurance.”
“We also knew we were eligible to secure more supports from organisations like the Sligo LEADER group to help with the initial set-up costs. However, when we spoke to many other parents involved in similar community groups we soon realised that we were only starting on the fundraising journey. We did not realise we would have to fundraise to cover insurance costs every single year. Sadly, many of these playgrounds were forced to close or were ineligible for insurance. Many stayed closed while others had to remain closed for long periods due to an inability to cover the cost of rising insurance costs, despite no claims. The Labour Party has been raising this issue for many years.”
“I, too, welcome the Minister of State and this debate. The Labour Party, in our submission on the new action plan on insurance reform, highlighted a number of areas of reform, including transparency, high premiums which do not match up with the reduced number of claimants, competitiveness, tackling fraud and investment in innovation and skills. The areas I will focus on today are affordability and availability. In cities, towns and villages throughout the country, including my area of counties Sligo and Leitrim, many community groups formed for the sole purpose of developing playgrounds for their children and communities. I was one of those parents who started on the journey of developing a playground in my local housing estate. Sligo County Council was extremely helpful in helping us to secure the land.”
“I ask the Minister to introduce a mandatory reporting Bill on breast density or else allow a backbencher in the Government to maybe do the same.”
“Before more families are left grieving. Before more lives are needlessly lost. Please don't let this opportunity to do the right thing pass [us]. Signed, Martha Lovett Cullen I say to the Department that this is the most important thing we can do, as almost 50% of women have dense breasts, 10% have extremely dense and 40% have heterogeneously dense. Dense breast material shows up on a mammogram as being white. Cancer or potentially cancerous material also shows up as being white. Up to 50% of cancers in women with dense breasts may be missed. Breast density not only potentially masks cancers but is also a significant risk factor in the development of cancer. Every woman deserves to know what her level of breast density is and what the consequence of that is. That is why there must be mandatory reporting.”
“That's a message from the women, families, and people of Ireland: this matters. We are waking up to this silent failure in our screening system, and we are demanding better. Once we hit 10,000, you will have no choice but to listen, because we will not be silent. We are not asking for the impossible. We are asking for a single, crucial line in a results letter. A line that tells women their breast density. A line that gives them knowledge. A line that could save their lives. Ireland is behind. Other countries already notify women of their breast density such as the US, Canada, Australia, parts of Europe. Why not here? Why not now? And ask yourself this - what if it was your mother? Your daughter? Your sister? What if it was you? Wouldn't you want to know? [We] have the chance to act before more women are failed like my mother was.”
“Information that had been visible on her mammograms all along. Information that was never disclosed to her. Dense breast tissue significantly increases your risk of breast cancer and makes it harder to detect on a mammogram. It is one of the most important pieces of information a woman can receive after a scan. My mum never got that chance. She died asking, "why was this allowed to happen?" She should still be alive today. And my family and I will never stop asking the question: what if she had been told sooner? If she had known her risk, she might still be here. That's the reality. As of today, June 9th, the petition I started calling for mandatory breast density notification has reached 9,639 signatures and is fast approaching 10,000. That's not just a number.”
“I will read out a latter from Marian's daughter, Martha, who spoke at our briefing in the audiovisual room last week. She wanted me to read this out today: To the Members of [the Oireachtas], My name is Martha Lovett Cullen, and I lost my mum, Marian Lovett, to stage 4 metastatic breast cancer last August. She was 61. She was a mother, a writer, a researcher, and a feminist. She spent her life fighting for justice and if she were still here, she would be the one writing this. But she isn’t. So I’m doing it for her. My mum went to every BreastCheck appointment. She trusted the system. In August 2022, she received a letter saying her mammogram was clear. One year later, in October 2023, she was diagnosed with incurable breast cancer - the same week she was finally told that she had dense breast tissue.”
“We heard testimonies from Siobhán Freeney, a survivor of breast cancer, and Martha Lovett Cullen, whose mother, Marian, died from breast cancer less than a year ago. Along with dozens of other women who stood outside Leinster House last year, Siobhán and Marian, whom I spoke to before and after the event, had something in common. All had received clear mammograms and assumed this meant they were clear of breast cancer. In fact, all that these clear mammograms had indicated was that cancer had not been detected. Six months after her clear mammogram, Siobhán received a diagnosis of stage 3 invasive cancer. Some 12 months after she received her clear mammogram, Marian received the devastating news that she had stage 4 terminal cancer. A year later, she was dead.”
“The Minister is very welcome. I thank everyone for raising the issue of breast density. I particularly thank Senator Costello. She is such a strong advocate for those with breast cancer. We really thank her for that. I have learned a great deal just from listening to her. I am delighted Deputy Carroll MacNeill is the Minister for Health. She is very proactive. I am delighted that we can make statements on breast cancer today. Exactly two weeks ago, I hosted an event in the audiovisual room addressing the topic of dense breasts. It is very reassuring to hear so many people bring the issue up today. Like so many other Senators, I had no idea about dense breasts until I was approached by two women in my area. The event was attended by many Senators and TDs.”
“I honestly believe we have nothing to lose. We are going over and back and around in circles. It is almost as if we want to outdo each other as to how sad we are but we all feel the same way. Let us not just talk any more; let us do something.”
“The idea that we are doing enough is not okay. The Opposition is often accused of speaking empty platitudes but the Government has been sitting back for the last number of months. There is no doubt that we were brave at the start but why can we not be brave now when we really have nothing to lose? We see the influence that Israel has around the world. These states are all bought. America in particular is bought and Europe is also bought by Israel. We can see how much influence it has. We do not have to be, however. The mechanisms are there. The Opposition and Government can work together to enact the Bills that have been proposed. Why water down the work Senator Black has been doing, supported by the Opposition? Why not support the Sinn Féin Bill? Why not place an embargo on the transport of arms?”
“Europe will not be able to hold its head high and say it did enough but we could. The Sinn Féin Bill debated in the Dáil yesterday should have been supported. There is no reason for us to hide behind Europe. We can be brave, we can stand up and we can do more. As we have heard, warplanes and ammunition are passing through Shannon. That can be stopped. Everyone is exhausted. As a country, we feel this so much because we have been victims of genocide ourselves. The Irish people want us to do more. I am delighted that Senator McDowell pointed out in his address that Israel is delighted with Hamas. It has supported it and wants to encourage it even more because it wants Gaza to be wiped out. It does not even recognise the Palestinian people. Israel wants Palestine gone as a state but we do not. We know what we need to do.”
“The Minister of State is welcome. It is very hard for me to come after that. All of us here know what needs to be done. I also disagree with the idea that the Opposition really does believe we are doing enough. We do not believe we are doing enough. The world has changed and is never going to go back to the way it was. We have been really brave over recent years. We know what it is like to live under a state-enabled famine and a colonial genocide. We can do more. We have nothing to lose now. We are seen as a pariah and renegade state in respect of Israel as it is. In my opinion, we should go all in. We have the tools to do it. The occupied territories Bill, which includes services, is ready to be passed. We have nothing to lose. Why are we hiding behind Europe?”
“I would like to see the Department of housing and local government account for the failure of local authorities, like what has been said here before, to collect the vacant homes charge. I question whether the vacant homes charge, which is supposed to be levelled at five times the rate of the property tax, is actually being collected at all currently, and I urge the Department to address this. If we could have another discussion on this, I would also like to question whether there is a need to exclude holiday homes. I would welcome a discussion on those two aspects of the Bill, but other than that, I am delighted to be supporting and seconding it.”
“Presumably, this would have previously contained large yards necessary to the trades that went on at the time and are no longer required. This is just one of 14 regeneration sites proposed for Sligo town in the 2024 to 2030 county development plan, which in total takes in 32.3 ha. I could go on and on about Sligo, but I would love to see exclusions from development. There is one part of the Bill I want to talk about. I would love to see exclusions from development of land that is being actively farmed within towns and village boundaries or which is being used for leisure and community activities. When we see brownfield sites such as 80 ha available within Sligo town, we see that we do not need to go further on our precious green spaces. I will quickly address the vacant homes tax.”
“They are, as we could see today in the briefing Senator Noonan organised, often hidden from the eyes of the public. Large parts of the towns are often redundant. For instance, in Sligo town, behind one of our main streets is High Street, a street itself that no longer fulfils the function usually associated with that name and features substantial portions of abandoned and derelict and abandoned properties. In fact, the dereliction became so bad that a large section consisting of five substantial terraced properties had to be demolished with urgency last June when it began to collapse. These buildings have been unoccupied and a blight for many years. Behind this building on High Street, there is a vast area of 1.9 ha, which goes to meet Old Market Street, forming a rough triangle with Castle Street and Teeling Street.”
“I refer to developments such as the Mill apartments in Ballisodare, just ten minutes from Sligo town, where 60 to 80 apartments were abandoned unfinished when the Celtic tiger's roars turned into a death rattle. Substantial premises on the main street in Bundoran and on the approaches into Ballyshannon are abandoned and derelict, not just for years but for decades. This story is repeated in every town and every village right across the country. Regarding the development of empty spaces within urban centres, the layout of many of our towns and villages evolved or was planned more than 100 or 150 years ago. They met the needs of a population that no longer exists and their layout, which may have made sense at the time, no longer serves a functioning purpose.”
“We all welcome, of course, advancements made under the vacant and derelict refurbishment grant schemes in recent years, but the numbers show that more needs to be done. In April, the Minister, Deputy Browne, announced that 2,000 have been brought back into use since the scheme was launched in 2022 and we are delighted. Well done on those 2,000 homes. Now there are only another 161,000 to go. To bring back home the scale of the problem, this is about 8% of national housing stock. The vacant and derelict grants work well for a certain portion of people and a certain portion of properties. They are not perfect – no scheme is – so let us see what we can do to bring the other 161,000 back into use and what we can do to bring hoarded land into play for development.”
“In towns and villages, including in the Gaeltacht, people are crying out for housing while landowners are hoarding sites suitable for development and owners of derelict buildings are getting away scot-free. Derelict buildings not only deface our landscapes and streetscapes and undermine communities and counties such as Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal, but they also contribute to the homeless crisis and the chronic and systematic housing shortages we endure and will continue to endure as long as Government parties continue to block efforts, such as this Bill, that could address this crisis. The 2024 crisis showed that there were 163,433 homes vacant or derelict and that 48,000 had been vacant since 2016.”
“I follow my colleagues in saying that the Government’s continued lack of urgency in dealing with the housing disaster - our most serious and seemingly intractable challenge - has been exposed again by the introduction by Fine Gael of this amendment. This Bill, which addresses dereliction and vacancy, should not be allowed to be delayed any longer. Dereliction and vacancy are twin scourges that blight our cities, towns and villages and, without exaggeration, are leading to the deaths of communities. Vacancy and dereliction hollow out our towns and villages. They cause particular issues where there are not sufficient new houses being built to replace them.”
“I thank the Minister of State for her response. It is great to hear her referring to the EU directive on the minimum wage. I will be continuing to try to bring forward the Bills I mentioned. Particularly in the construction sector at the moment, we need apprentices but it is very difficult for people to work on less than the minimum wage rate. It is true that the sub-minimum rates do increase when the minimum wage rises, but a lot of young people are trying to work and pay rent. I will continue to push this. I thank the Minister of State for her response.”
“You are double-jobbing trying to do an unpaid internship or work experience while having to do another job at the same time. Any good employer would say it does not have to be done like this. If an employer is willing to take someone on, they should at least be paid the minimum wage.”
“It is fine that people's wages go up when they are in training programmes, but they may have to give up their current job or even have to move somewhere else, because it is often hard to find someone to take you on as an employe. If you are then being paid minimum wage, it is virtually impossible for many. In the middle of a housing crisis, there is a struggle to get people to take up apprenticeships. Young people want to earn. They want to start working in trades but last year, SOLAS reported that around 20% of apprentices failed to complete their apprenticeships, with sub-minimum rates of pay being given much of the blame. This brings me to the difference between an internship and an apprenticeship. I know this from doing unpaid work experience when I was a student. It is virtually impossible to live.”
“My predecessor in the Labour Party as spokesperson on workers' rights, Deputy Marie Sherlock, introduced a number of Bills during the last Seanad which are currently awaiting Committee Stage, namely, the National Minimum Wage (Inclusion of Apprentices) Bill 2023 and the National Minimum Wage (Payment of Interns) Bill 2022. These Bills address the patently unfair situation of people, often young people, carrying out exactly the same work as someone else but being paid less than the minimum wage. As we all know, the current minimum wage is €13.50 per hour, but I have seen jobs advertised online for apprentice electricians offering as little as €9 per hour, which is even less than the €9.45 per hour rate for under-18s. I know from working in MSLETB and in training centres that it is very hard to get people to start off on the minimum wage.”
“It is often repeated and it is the truth that the people who have the least money spend the most locally, so increasing the wages of those at the bottom of the economic pyramid circulates more money in the local and national economy, driving sustainable community growth and employment. We have seen a roll-back on workers rights with this Government, which is very disappointing. We have seen a roll-back on pensions, on sick pay and on trade union recognition. The most pertinent of all those roll-backs was the move from the minimum wage to the living wage. I am not going to talk about the living wage today. I am going bring attention back to the minimum wage and to the legally binding minimum wage to provide some level of protection to those who need it most. It does not include apprenticeships and interns.”
“Higher wages did not cause the recessions of the 1980s, they did not cause the 2008 crash, and they did not cause the shortage of builders and tradespeople which has meant we now face into the housing catastrophe we have been in for a number of years. Higher wages, despite what some neoliberal thinking might want us to think, certainly does not cause inflation. Better wages do not cause economic turbulence and uncertainty or inflation. On the contrary, if we look at our history, we can see that the times when we enjoyed the most prosperity as a nation were the periods when we deliberately and systematically increased the spending power of the least-well off. This is what the minimum wage does. It raises the boats on all tides.”