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.”
The complete record
Every one of 951 lines we hold for Nessa Cosgrove, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 17 of 20.
“The Minister of State, Deputy Murnane O'Connor, is very welcome. Imagine going to the GP for a routine check-up, the equivalent of a national car test, NCT, when you reach a milestone birthday. The GP measures and weighs you, takes your blood pressure and temperature and listens to your pulse. It is, I assume, a thorough examination. The GP reassures you. Everything is clear and you appear to be perfectly healthy. If you keep living an active and balanced lifestyle, you can expect to live to a healthy old age. Six months later, you receive the devastating news that you have a 7 cm growth. It is stage 3 invasive cancer. It was there at the time of your check-up but the GP did not stop it because it was as if you were wearing a coat that prevented them from carrying out a proper examination. This is what happened to Siobhán Freeney.”
“When the Government is looking at this diversion programme, I urge the Minister of State to listen to the voices of people such as those in the National Youth Council of Ireland. The Irish Traveller Movement brought out a survey that reported there were no targeted youth projects for young Travellers in most counties, who are one of the most marginalised groups within our society. This debate is very important but it has to be listened to. If we are going to be really serious about diverting young people away from crime, we need to listen to youth services and properly fund youth and community services.”
“There is also the addiction that young people are falling into themselves without the proper supports. I have met with the National Youth Council of Ireland, NYCI, and it has raised some really constructive measures. It is not just diversion programmes and Department of Justice funding. Some of these services are under Tusla or the Departments of education and children. The education and training boards fund many of these UBU targeted youth projects as well. The NYCI has asked for multi-annual funding. It cannot programme plan because it is only getting funding on a yearly basis. Youth workers and social care workers are not being attracted into the sector because of the low pay and because they do not have consistent long-term contracts. There are no pensions, which is a very big issue for youth workers.”
“I agree with Senator Andrews' comments that a lot of youth services are restricted to working with young people from ten years up to 18. Organisations such as Foróige or Youth Work Ireland are moving towards working with young people up to the age of 24 but often those early years are missed. We cannot address the area of youth crime in isolation. We must have a full combat poverty strategy. There was a fantastic combat poverty strategy at one stage where the needs of young people were truly met. Young people and children have needs just like we do, including personal development needs. If these needs are not being met, it is very difficult to continue on your life and particularly with education, early years and dealing with years of addiction maybe through their own family members who have been left neglected in their own communities.”
“It baffles me that youth services always have to fight for resources. This is an opportunity to see that we are moving away from a more punitive style of justice. It is great to see that this diversion programme is happening but it cannot be taken in isolation. None of the young people with whom I have had the experience of working want to go down the route of a life of crime. They can see this if they were properly supported, with family support and community support. The education system is not suitable to their needs. Young people I have worked with through the years are starting to feel really supported in some ways, which could be through school completion projects or the home-school liaison project, which I was involved with for years. Then they turn 18 years of age and all of a sudden all those supports are taken away from them.”
“I welcome the Minister of State. I have worked as a professional youth worker for the past 25 years. This is an area close to my heart. As Senator Kelleher said, mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí. These are children we are talking about. I do not think anyone wakes up in the morning and says, "Do you know what, I am going to get involved in crime." If we review the statistics of young people who are involved in crime or heading into crime, the majority have lived with some level of disadvantage. They have lived through years of poverty and neglect. Often they have had early childhood experiences resulting in needs that have been unmet. I commend youth workers, and not just the youth diversion programmes but the general job of youth workers, where they have worked for years underpaid and often in very difficult situations.”
“In my constituency in Sligo, during Covid, a woman, Paulina, was assaulted when she was working just for asking somebody to put on their mask. There was a similar situation in Letterkenny. While other workers stayed at home, these people were going out to work in low-paid jobs and providing essential services. There was a lot of clapping people on the back and recognition of cleaners, care workers and others in low-paid jobs at the time but as soon as Covid ended we rowed back on that. Is there any way we could bring statutory sick leave back up to seven days? I know Fianna Fáil as a party is now in a position to be able to look at this, ensure we are moving towards a living wage, and to change the narrative around that. Otherwise, we are very happy to support this Bill.”
“It is unfortunate to see the Government rowing back on basic provisions for workers, going back to five days from the commitment to seven days for sick pay and reneging on pension auto-enrolment. Most important, it is delaying the move from the minimum wage to the living wage. Having said that, I am the Labour Party spokesperson on workers' rights and it is important to me that these concerns are listened to, without taking away from the Bill. I note that we marked Workers' Memorial Day on 28 April, a few days ago. People should be able get up in the morning, go into work and come home from work in a safe space. I hope there is recognition for that. As other Senators have said, I am not sure the Bill will bring anything new but at least it ensures people are recognised, appreciated and respected.”
“I welcome the Minister to the House. I thank Senator Fitzpatrick for bringing this Bill forward. As a party that always stands up for workers, the Labour Party welcomes the Bill and the sentiment of it. It is poignant that it is union week, and it is coming up to May Day. I am proud to say that my Labour Party colleague Ruairí Quinn brought in a public holiday on 1 May to celebrate workers’ day. This morning, we were at a briefing on the protection of SNA workers and teachers. It is important that we not only look at the protection of workers, but also at payments for workers. I know this has particularly come up with retail and hospital workers, who are some of the most low paid in our society.”
“If we really want to see a commitment to reach our climate action targets and not pretend that investing in fossil fuel infrastructure will meet that, we need to instead invest in balanced regional development by opening up the western rail corridor and improving links between Sligo and Dublin.”
“I live in Sligo, which, despite being a regional centre recognised in the framework as performing a similar function as a city in our region, does not receive the support it needs to grow and develop in a sustainable manner. The deficiencies in our rail network illustrate this perfectly. The planning framework should support our communities and promote genuinely climate positive infrastructure projects such as the reopening of the western rail corridor, allowing populations throughout smaller towns and villages in Sligo, Mayo and Donegal to commute to larger centres to work while being able to live in their own villages, supported by essential services such as schools, GAA clubs, primary health care centres and community centres. I urge Members to support my amendment. This framework will last until 2040.”
“In parts of County Leitrim, to which I have referred in terms of the threat of fracked gas, there is widespread belief that the rural heartland of the county is being transformed into a sacrificial zone. The wholesale plantation of unsuitable non-native Sitka spruce now covers over 20% of all of the land in the county. There is a very real risk posed by future exploration of precious minerals such as gold and a fear that allowing the importation of fracked gas will be a Trojan horse for the exploitation of significant gas reserves under the county as a whole. Leitrim is being sacrificed. These concerns need to be listened to. A chronic shortage of housing has been reported in the Gaeltacht, exacerbated by the proliferation of holiday homes and short-term lets. Housing in the Gaeltacht is not addressed in the framework.”
“True competitiveness will be achieved by working toward self-sufficiency and becoming a net exporter, not importer, of energy. Spending money in the building of new fossil fuel infrastructure such as an LNG terminal is not an investment. Rather, it is a monumental frittering away of our climate and financial future. I have other concerns about the framework document that I need to address. A number of county councillors from rural constituencies have contacted me to express their concern that the planning framework could drive another nail into the coffin of rural Ireland. For example, there is no acknowledgement of the ongoing humanitarian disaster in Donegal. The defective concrete block scandal, whereby a plan to restore thousands of homes in Donegal to a liveable condition is required, needs to be included.”
“However, once the initial capital investment has been expended, the cost of generating electricity from renewable energy sources is minimal. As I said, our commitments to deliver our climate targets and reduce emissions by 51% by 2030 are legally binding. They are accompanied by penalties for failure to meet these targets. The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council and Climate Change Advisory Council described the Government's seeming willingness to pay these penalties as staggering. We could pay anything from €8 billion to €26 billion per year in penalties. If the Government allocates just 10% of the planned national overall spending budget over the next five years to climate action measures, this could be enough to halve our projected penalty costs.”
“A third available pipeline from Scotland to Carrickfergus is also connected to the Irish gas network through the North-South network. The same document assessed the risk of a failure to each pipeline and the results showed that the failure risk for interconnector 1 is once in 49 years and for interconnector 2 it is once in 52 years. For two failures to occur at the same time is extremely unlikely. The third pillar is competitiveness. LNG is consistently more expensive than piped natural gas - in fact, it is five times more expensive than natural gas. While gas is used to provide heating and hot water in some homes, its chief use in Ireland is being burned in power stations in order to generate electricity.”
“Maintaining a seven-day strategic reserve requires six replenishments per year, each of 170,000 cu. m of gas, equating to an additional 500,000 tonnes of carbon per year. It will take five years to build a terminal and if we are to reduce our 2018 emissions by 51% by 2030, how does building this terminal make sense? Should we unveil a new piece of fossil infrastructure the year we are hitting the 51% mark? This brings me to the second pillar, which is security of supply. This document states that the inter-island gas network has been extremely reliable since its introduction 30 years ago. At the moment, everyone knows that we have two gas pipe gas lines supplying natural non-fracked gas from Scotland. Inter-connector 1 lands north of Dublin and interconnector 2 at Gormanston.”
“The SEAI report of 2023 states that 85.8% of our energy still comes from fossil fuels, so we have five years to reach 51%. This target will be rendered completely impossible if we allow the development of LNG infrastructure, which also flies completely in the face of, and contradicts, all three pillars of the national energy policy. The first pillar of the national energy policy is sustainability. LNG is high in methane, which is 80 times more warming than CO2. If it were a matter of filling the terminal once in case of emergencies, it might be justified in some way to build a reserve, but it is not. LNG needs to be vented to maintain safety of this volatile explosive gas. We either vent the gas into the atmosphere, or into the grid, or we use it. We are obviously going to use it.”
“The overall ambition is to adhere to our legally binding target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 51% over the decade 2021 to 2030 and to achieve net zero emissions no later than 2050. This target should inform everything we do in the context of energy procurement, generation and storage. The national energy policy referred to on page 132 of the framework insists that all energy policy relating to planning should be built on the pillars of sustainability, security of supply and competitiveness. We in the Labour Party support these ambitions and want to work with the Government in achieving a just transition to reach our targets. However, the ambitious target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 51% by 2030 will be difficult to achieve as it is.”
“I move amendment No. 1: To insert the following after “That Seanad Éireann”: “, subject to a clear prohibition on the development of a Liquid Natural Gas terminal,”. While generally perceived as a document which sets the agenda for accelerated housing delivery, the draft revised national planning framework is concerned with all aspects of life, including a 26-page section on climate transition and our environment. Therefore, I bring forward this amendment primarily because of the recent policy reversal by the current Government with regard to the building of LNG infrastructure. There are three core considerations relating to energy in this national framework, namely, energy procurement, energy generation and energy storage.”
“Our over-reliance on the private sector to provide houses for students has led to the loss of beds that were supposed to be dedicated for student use. The beds are often relocated for other services. I could go on and on but will just commend Senator Harmon once again. I support her in saying that while the housing catastrophe continues and we are unlikely to see the elimination of sex-for-rent exploitation, we can pass this Bill, which would criminalise those advertising sex for rent and create a clear offence that could be reported to the Garda. This Bill will not end the housing catastrophe but will forbid the advertising or requesting of sexual services for no or low rent. It would send a clear message that this predatory behaviour will not be tolerated in Ireland and that perpetrators will face serious consequences.”
“As Senator Harmon has outlined so clearly, every town and city with a substantial college or university is experiencing a shortage of student accommodation. In the north west, the development of the Atlantic Technological University has been one of the biggest success stories of recent years. We have seen the amalgamation of six college campuses into a single university entity. This means in excess of 23,000 students can access a genuinely world-class education in the north west. However, the success of this project has come with a cost. In Sligo alone, 10,000 students study full time, part time or online, and while new flexibilities, particularly around online study, relieve some of the pressure on accommodation, there are significant shortfalls.”
“The need for shelter is one the most basic needs of a person, and those who are targeted with sex-for-rent ads are often the most vulnerable. They include those in poverty, those fleeing domestic violence and those with mental health issues. While we legislate against this outrageous and unacceptable behaviour, we also need to address the ongoing systematic shortage of available accommodation. Symptoms of the housing shortage, which increases the vulnerability of people to exploitation, include increased numbers of house purchases, which have risen by 13% in County Sligo and are expected to rise by another 10% in 2024, and increased rent levels, which in Leitrim, in my constituency, have soared to whopping 98% since the start of the pandemic. I want to talk about student accommodation in particular.”
“Tá fáilte romhat, a Aire. Beir bua agus go n-éirí an t-ádh leat i do phost nua. I commend my colleague Senator Laura Harmon on introducing this Bill and welcome to the Gallery all the people who have worked very hard with her on bringing it forward. I also commend the Cross-Party Group. This Bill is about protecting the vulnerable and marginalised, and it is about clamping down on predators who are taking advantage of the housing crisis to target vulnerable people. It is vital we do not view the content of this Bill without considering the context, as Senator Harmon has outlined. A chronic housing shortage that has endured for more than a decade now and resulted in more than 15,000 people without a home has produced a huge number of vulnerable people at risk of this most heinous form of exploitation.”
“It calls for clear guidance to be provided as to what women's breast density means and the availability of any additional screening options, such as an ultrasound or MRI. It also calls for GPs to receive this information so they can properly advise patients. I commend Martha on her work. I ask the Minister to consider drafting this legislation as a matter of priority.”
“What Martha is asking for, and why she has approached me, is something that is already done in every state in America, as well as across much of Australia and Canada, and by several of our EU neighbours. She is asking for information that is easily derived by the radiologist who is taking the mammogram. He or she should pass the information to women at the time of their screening. Women clearly need to know whether they have dense breast tissue. They also need to know the potential consequences of that information. More than 7,500 people have already signed Martha's petition calling on the Minister for Health to introduce a Bill for mandatory breast density notification to ensure that all women are clearly informed after a mammogram whether they have dense or non-dense breasts.”
“Marian's daughter Martha has inherited her mother's sense of justice and compassion. She has channelled the very sad loss of her mother into energy to highlight the issue of dense breast tissue. It is not just about one woman. Dense breasts, although I had never heard of the condition before Martha approached me, are very common. It is estimated that between 43% and 50% of women have dense breast tissue. While the level of density can be genetic, it is also affected by factors such as age - younger women naturally have denser breasts than older women - and body weight. Regarding the latter, women with a low body mass index are likely to have dense breasts. The use of medication, such as hormone replacement therapy can also increase breast density.”
“What Marian did not know at the time of her mammogram was that she had dense breast tissue. Neither did she know that having dense breast tissue makes the screening for potential cancers through mammograms less effective. Dense breasts have less fatty tissue and a greater level of fibrous and glandular tissue. They do not look or feel different from non-dense breasts. A self-examination or examination by a health professional will not reveal whether a woman has dense breasts. A 3D mammogram, however, will reveal it. If at the time of her mammogram Marian had been made aware of the fact she had dense breast tissue and had been informed of the potential that it made her clear test result less accurate, and made her more prone to developing breast cancer, she could have asked for an ultrasound or MRI scan to confirm the clear results.”
“I raise the issue of dense breast tissue. Marian Lovett was an extremely talented and much loved art curator and mother. I was never lucky enough to meet Marian who raised her family along with her life partner Shane in a rural part of County Sligo. Anyone who knew or met her spoke about her personal qualities and she was a fierce advocate for social justice. Marian passed away last autumn at the age of just 61 as the result of breast cancer. She received a clear mammogram in 2022 but just a year later, was diagnosed with terminal stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. While there was initial hope that treatment could at least prolong Marian's time with us, it was not to be. In 2024, she suffered a dramatic and catastrophic health incident as the cancer rapidly spread and took her life within the space of a couple of days.”
“If they are not available in this jurisdiction, can opportunities become available beyond our borders, whether privately or publicly, funded by the HSE or the Department of Health? Part of the theme of World Down Syndrome Day was to improve support systems. I know we are discussing a small cohort of people but this is a support system that could change their lives, because early intervention is crucial.”
“I thank the Minister of State. It is really good to hear such a positive response. With regard to delays in treatment, parents and experts are saying that if it is not treated within the first 18 months, the delays in treatment can lead to irreversible and permanent regression in people. From speaking with parents of children who are displaying symptoms of Down's syndrome regression disorder, they are hoping that we could establish a task force that would encompass all the different professionals in the HSE and Down Syndrome Ireland. It would look to see what the best pathways for children and young people are to receive the required testing and acute diagnosis.”
“We need to equip medical professionals to work with families in promptly recognising an issue with a child or young person's development and then swiftly moving on to assessment, diagnosis and treatment. I know I am running out of time but I call on the Minister of State to work with the HSE and the Minister for Health to set up a task force to take in a number of different professionals together to look at Down's syndrome regression disorder. Since I have brought this up - I know you are giving me extra time, a Leas-Chathaoirligh - other concerned parents have contacted me about it. There is not enough research done about it. There is treatment available in other countries. Could people who are displaying these symptoms of Down's syndrome regression disorder be directed to proper treatments in other jurisdictions?”
“I ask the House to imagine if any person with a learning delay or disability were to display symptoms of suddenly not being able to toilet or dress himself or herself and bursting into these uncontrollable fits of laughter. None of us would be expected to wait for 18 months not knowing what is going on. How can we approach this in a way that ties in with the proper assessment and diagnosis of this under the Equal Status Act and Article 25 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities? People should have equal access to healthcare and appropriate diagnostic treatment. This is not a criticism of the excellent staff who have helped Constance, but something is wrong.”
“Currently, as testing is determined by the observation of symptoms, a treatment for one condition may be trialled while the individual is undergoing other treatments and other testing for another condition. The crux of the whole matter, however, making it very confusing, is that recovery with the right treatment is possible for this. It is crucial, though, to get an accurate and timely diagnosis. Eighteen months on from the onset of her symptoms, Constance is still undergoing assessment under the leadership of an advanced nurse practitioner. This matters because treatment in the first two years of the onset of symptoms has been shown to have a dramatic and positive impact on the outcome for the person with Down's syndrome.”
“An analogy that has been used to help me understand this is that while most of us have a hearing aid listening to what is going on in our body, people with Down's syndrome have a satellite dish, so the body's response to a simple infection can be completely overwhelming. There are other similar conditions, including Down's syndrome disintegrative disorder and paediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome, PANS. There are a number of other conditions. With some of them, symptoms can be mirrored in one another. Sometimes, these behaviours may also be confused with autism. If the cause of the condition varies, so do the treatment and the pathway to recovery.”
“Assessments and interventions followed from diverse health and social care professionals - therapists, physiotherapists, speech and language therapists and behavioural and occupational therapists, along with psychology and education services - all trying to help Constance's family to understand what was going on. A range of diagnoses could have explained the deterioration in Constance's quality of life. One is Down's syndrome regression disorder, which is an autoimmune disease caused by the body's response to something, perhaps an infection. People with Down's syndrome, as most of us here know, have an additional chromosome. That particular chromosome - chromosome 21 - seems to increase the frequency of autoimmune diseases, infections and brain or neurological disorders.”
“A loss of previously acquired developmental skills in any individual, such as toileting skills, eating independently and dressing oneself, is known as regression and is naturally frightening and worrying for both the individual and the individual's family. Constance also developed behaviours that were not characteristic of her personality at all. Constance has always been a gentle, sociable and loving young woman, but suddenly she became withdrawn from her friendship group and peers, and now she has inexplicable outbursts of anger and uncontrolled inappropriate laughter.”
“Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. World Down Syndrome Day took place on 21 March and many of us will have celebrated in all our constituencies with wonderful music and dance. There were performances celebrating World Down Syndrome Day, and I was fortunate to attend a wonderful event in Sligo Town Hall. When I was there, I spoke to the mother of a young person, Constance. Constance is now aged 20 and has Down's syndrome. Constance has always been a very bright and enthusiastic child who has made really good and consistent progress in her development and mastery of life skills. Then, about 18 months ago, Constance's progress slowed and actually started to reverse.”
“Now that we have raised the issue, I hope the Minister of State will take this on board. Since Lauren's mother brought this to my attention, the parents of other children with Down's syndrome and additional needs have brought this to my attention. It is a simple thing that could be done very effectively.”
“Equality does not need identical treatment. Equality means giving everyone what they need to reach the same destination, in this case, satisfactory access to treatment and discharge. Equality demands that adults with additional needs have those needs met. That can be as simple as a staff member going around the emergency department from time to time to assess the mood and needs of those present. While I know we are often limited, it may mean providing a more homely area or room where those with additional needs and their families may be able to wait in a more suitable environment. There can be failure to access through ignorance. Often this does not come up because people with Down's syndrome are often not able to say and so we rely on their advocates, caregivers and parents to be their voices.”
“The capacity of individuals to deal with the immediate environment clearly impacts the urgency of their needs and therefore should form part of the triage assessment. It is not appropriate that adults with additional needs are treated in the same way as other adults while awaiting assessment. It is also clearly not appropriate that they are treated as children; they are not children. Failure to acknowledge and act upon these two realities demonstrates the way in which we as a society do not always look beyond meeting the needs of the majority. It does not benefit anybody to treat everybody exactly the same. It does not benefit the adult with additional needs who may become distressed and disruptive while waiting and it does not benefit the adults with no additional needs who are also exposed to and absorb that distress.”
“Lauren was very clearly distressed by this and, as she was leaving, a very kind hospital staff member apologised that she was exposed to these scenes but they made it clear they were severely limited in what they could do to lessen the experience. Nearly six months on, Lauren has not fully recovered from this incident. She experiences panic attacks and has difficulties sleeping, two unwelcome developments that Lauren did not suffer from before this experience. I ask the Minister of State to work with the HSE and to have a wide review of how adults with learning difficulties or additional needs are triaged. Triage is defined as a preliminary assessment of patients or casualties to determine the urgency of their need for treatment and the nature of treatment required.”
“For 12 hours late at night, Lauren sat in the emergency department until her parents were able to gain permission from a nurse to go home for the evening and return the next morning without losing her place in the queue. During that time, Lauren was exposed to aspects of life she was unequipped to process or deal with. Some people with Down's syndrome are hypersensitive to what is going on around ,them and Lauren is one such individual. She is both caring and sensitive. This caring, sensitive young adult saw people who themselves were in great distress and in pain. She witnessed scenes which left her with a sense of disorder. She witnessed some very unwell people, including some people who were under the influence of intoxicants and some people who were handcuffed by the Garda.”
“Before she was 18, Lauren had always been assessed as a child. As those of us who have had children attend an ED know, children are assessed and they are moved on either to the paediatric ward or at least to a more comfortable environment, much more promptly than adults who are waiting. In her two admissions last year, however, Lauren was an adult and was treated as such by the staff as she passed through the triage system to determine the urgency of the case. The prolonged nature of this experience has had a profound and negative experience on Lauren. I commend Lauren's mother, Maura, whom I know very well and who has been a very strong advocate on behalf of her daughter.”
“Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. Go n-éirí an t-ádh léi ina post nua. As other people have said, we really hope she succeeds, for people with disabilities, their families and their caregivers most importantly. I wish to talk about the specific issue of triage for young adults with additional needs in emergency departments. I will give an example. Lauren is a young adult from Leitrim with Down's syndrome. Like many young adults with Down's syndrome, Lauren occasionally suffers from episodes requiring medical assessment beyond the scope of that which can be provided by her GP. Since becoming an adult, on two occasions last year Lauren's GP advised her family to bring her to the emergency department, once in Mullingar and once in Cavan, to determine whether treatment was required.”
“Some other members within that grouping talk about looking at redirecting. There is kind of a change in narrative about humanitarian aid. It is really important that we support countries such as Egypt as they continue to support Palestinians in their healthcare systems, which were bad in the first place. When I meet healthcare workers, they say that we cannot normalise attacking hospitals. We have seen that 15 healthcare workers were shot in the back, with their arms tied, and put into a mass grave. That is horrendous and we cannot normalise it. If there is anything we can do as a country, it is to ensure we do not normalise attacking hospitals. We must keep this human.”
“It is very important the Government listens, implements this and works with trade unions. As regards international relations, I had a number of meetings this week with Irish Healthcare Workers for Palestine. It is very concerning that not only medicines but also doctors are being blocked from entering Gaza. I met a number of doctors and human rights lawyers working with people with disabilities. In any conflict or warzone, the most vulnerable groups are young people, children and adults with disabilities. It is very worrying that Israel is saying that assisted devices such as crutches, hearing aids and glasses are being redesignated as dual-use items. That is something we can intervene in as a country. We need to work within the EU. In particular, Fine Gael can work within the European People's Party. There is a bit of concern.”
“The Minister of State is very welcome. I thank the Tánaiste for coming in as well because I know he is probably flat out today with various things. Everyone here has said we are in a worrying state of affairs now. I welcome the Tánaiste's remarks about working collaboratively. I am also encouraged by the fact there will be major capital infrastructure projects and that we can open our economy up to supporting indigenous companies, including in terms of regional development within our own country. It will be really important that we look at adopting the EU directive on collective bargaining. Now more than ever, I believe trade unions will play a really important role in ensuring jobs and workers are protected and that workers will have a legal entitlement to collectively bargain.”
“The Government has the power to enact the occupied territories Bill, although I know we are not talking about that legislation. This is what Irish people want. Please do the right thing. Please listen to what Irish people want. We received more than 800 emails about today's debate. We can see the protests happening all around the country week in, week out. We have the power and please do not let us become inhuman, complicit and complacent to what is going on.”
“Through the Department's granting of these exemptions we are being complicit in and facilitating Israel's war on Gaza which has claimed nearly 50,000 lives, almost 18,000 of whom are children. In April 2024, the UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution calling for an arms embargo on Israel. We need to ensure Irish airspace and our airports are not used to transport weapons. It is time to act. We have all said we want to be on the right side of history. The Irish people want to be on the right side of history. What is happening is inhumane. It is no longer human and it is getting worse every day. Every day we wake up to more killings, bombings and shrapnel injuries. When will enough be enough? We have something, as a Government: we have the power to enact this Bill.”
“There is no doubt that this recent rise coincides with Israel's invasion of Gaza on 7 October 2023 and Ukraine's defensive war against Russia. All Senators have spoken about how, under Irish law, all aircraft carrying munitions of war over Irish airspace must apply for exemptions from the Minister for Transport. Irish-registered aircraft carrying munitions anywhere else in the world are also required to seek the same permission. To go back to what Senator Ruane spoke about, Department of Transport data shows that exemptions are almost invariably granted when sought. Since 2016, the Department has refused just 1% of the 9,848 applications, which beggars belief.”