Pádraig Rice
Cork South-Central · Social Democrats · Ireland
“There is no clinical reason this should not be extended to oral contraceptives. Pharmacists are highly trained healthcare professionals. They should be allowed to operate at the top of their licence. They are available in every community and are very accessible.”
“I welcome the Bill. We spend a lot of time inside these Houses talking about other parts of reproductive healthcare and not enough about contraception, so it is really welcome that we are having a focus and discussion on it and are moving forward with changes.”
“The oral contraceptive pill has been around for well over half a century and is one of the safest and most well-studied medicines available. In 2019, the World Health Organization publicly stated that oral contraception should be available without needing prescription.”
“I move amendment No. 8: In page 5, between lines 20 and 21, to insert the following: “Report on prescription-free oral contraceptives 4. The Minister shall, within six months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on a proposal to allow registered pharmacists to dispense prescription-free oral contracepti…”
“We are talking about the prescription of oral contraceptives as called for by the World Health Organization, as set out by the Irish Pharmacy Union and as endorsed by the previous health committee. We are looking for a report on that with the detail of the various elements, if more detail is required.”
“It is important that we allow pharmacists to operate at the top of their licence and give them as much power as possible, and alleviate pressures on GPs. As I said, this is recommended by the World Health Organization and endorsed by the previous health committee and the IPU. That is the background to this amendment.”
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“In fact, the Irish drug and alcohol survey found that 37% of 15- to 24-year-olds had an alcohol use disorder. This should be setting off alarm bells. We also know that every day in Ireland on average four people die from drinking, and more people end up in hospital due to alcohol-related harm. The Government's own research estimates that alcohol costs our health service a staggering €1.5 billion per year. Therefore, I hope the Minister and the Government agree the 2018 Act should be enforced as intended. I hope the Government will work with me to progress this legislation. Yesterday in the House, the Minister for justice said that if the Social Democrats tabled legislation, the Government would give it serious consideration and I hope it does. I thank Sheila Gilheany and Eoin Ryan from Alcohol Action Ireland, who are in the Gallery today.”
“Beyond addiction, there is a growing understanding that alcohol is deeply damaging to the nation's health and well-being. Alcohol is a group 1 carcinogen, which means it causes cancer. According to the HSE, alcohol is one of the most preventable causes of cancer after smoking. Every year in Ireland, 1,000 people are diagnosed with alcohol-related cancers. The less you drink, the lower your risk. Therefore, any suggested association between sport and alcohol sends the wrong message to children. This link must be broken. According to Alcohol Action Ireland, approximately 50,000 children take up drinking in Ireland every year. Starting to drink as a child, which is the norm rather than the exception in this country, is a known risk factor for later alcohol dependency.”
“These are blatant alcohol advertisements wearing a very thin disguise. I am of the firm belief that what the alcohol industry is doing with zero advertising is already illegal. Since the Minister for Health will not stand up to the alcohol industry, I am tabling this legislation to remove any ambiguity, or the so-called loophole, in the 2018 Act to ensure it is implemented as intended. The Bill would amend the existing Act to explicitly include alcohol free or low alcohol products in the advertising provisions. In doing so, I simply want to make explicit what is already implicit in the law. We cannot stand back and allow vested interests to trample all over public health measures in the pursuit of profit. The unfortunate reality is there is not a family in Ireland that has not been impacted by alcohol in some way.”
“In 2022, zero alcohol advertisements made up 25% of the spend of alcohol brand advertising in outdoor spaces, where most of these restrictions are in place. I take it that everybody in the Dáil believes that zero alcohol products are not suitable for children. Why, then, do we think exposing them to zero alcohol product advertising is? I have no issue with zero alcohol products but let us not for a second think the alcohol industry is pushing them because they want people to drink less. Obviously it does not but it has identified a loophole in the law and it is exploiting it. Why would it not? No one, including the Minister for Health, is stopping it. We cannot allow it to continue to just add 0% to the end of advertisements with absolutely no change to the branding, name or colour.”
“In the 2018 Act advertising is defined as any form of commercial communication that directly or - this is the important point - indirectly promotes alcohol products. Surely, at a very minimum, what the drinks industry is doing constitutes the indirect promotion of alcohol products, which is prohibited under the 2018 Act. A recent example of the alcohol industry flouting the law is the Six Nations rugby championship. Anybody watching the home games would have seen the Guinness logo emblazoned all across the field of play with a "0.0" tag at the end. The Guinness branding and logo are iconic. Anyone who sees them, even with the 0.0 included, sees the full-strength alcohol product and the alcohol industry knows this. Why else would drinks companies so aggressively promote products that account for just 1% of the total alcohol market?”
“Just as these measures came into force, big alcohol brands began brand sharing, that is advertising zero alcohol products using the same parent branding, logos and colours. Unsurprisingly, the onslaught of zero alcohol advertising has been at its most intense in the very places where the 2018 Act restricted alcohol advertising, spaces which were specifically chosen to protect children. Some may say these companies are entitled to advertise their 0% products in these spaces but I do not believe this is the case. We must remember the zero alcohol versions of major alcoholic drinks share identical markers to their master brands, they just have a 0% tag at the end. When people see the advertisement for a major drinks company, even with a "0%" slapped on, they see the alcohol brand and it is the flagship product they think of.”
“I move That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to amend the Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018 by restricting the advertising of alcohol-free and low-alcohol products bearing any statement of any trade description or designation, or a display or other publication of a trademark, emblem, marketing image or logo, of an alcohol product with the aim or direct or indirect effect of promoting an alcohol product. The Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018 was landmark legislation designed to reduce alcohol use in Ireland. A key objective of the Act was to limit the amount of alcohol marketing that children were exposed to. To help to achieve this, the Act included important restrictions on alcohol advertising near schools, playgrounds, public transport, cinemas and shops and during sports events.”
“We should not be here making statements; we should be dealing with the necessary legislation. It is time for action. The time for talk is truly over. We need decisive action here. I raised this point with the senior Minister previously. Time and time again, we have statements in this House on health issues instead of dealing with health legislation. All the time we call for more productivity in the health service. We need more productivity from Parliament and more productivity from the Department of Health in particular on health legislation.”
“During the same period, the only real action taken by the Government was to ban the sale of vapes to under-18s, something most people thought was already the case. That 2023 legislation should have been the vehicle used to ban disposable vapes and restrict flavours, packaging and advertising. In 2022, the previous health committee recommended regulating flavours and marketing in that Bill but it was ignored. Two public consultations on single-use vapes had to be held before the Government finally accepted that action should be taken. Now with the end of 2025 in sight, we are still none the wiser on the regulation and banning of vapes. I accept that there is an EU notification process which must be adhered to, but that cannot even be initiated until we have draft legislation. This needs to be a priority.”
“The Minister of State and her predecessors have shown a shocking lack of urgency when it comes to vapes. Under the watch of successive Ministers, youth vaping rates have skyrocketed. Is this any wonder with flavours like cotton candy, cherry cola and bubble gum readily available in any corner shop or indeed with stores showcasing vapes like pick and mix rather than the display of highly addictive products? The numbers speak for themselves. In June, a study by The Lancet into Irish nicotine use found that, between 2015 and 2023, vaping had more than doubled across all age groups going from 3% to 8%. The dual-use of vapes and cigarettes also more than doubled, increasing from 1% to 3% while vaping among 15- to 24-year-olds went from 19% to 30%.”
“They deserve better and need better supports. The lack of school transport available to children with additional needs is just an example of this. I would like the Minister of State to intervene and urgently respond to the issues outlined in the debate this evening. I would also like to see a full review into the ongoing issues with the scheme in order that they will not continue to be repeated year after year and that we can resolve this and have a better system in place for children and families right across the country. It is really important that we get to the bottom of this and find solutions for families.”
“They have urgent queries and the least they deserve is to be able to talk to somebody directly to try to resolve some of the problems. I would like that to be looked at. The failure of the scheme is having real consequences for families. There is a parent of a child with additional needs who has been back in school for over a month without the transport they were approved for in June. These parents are alternating taking time off work in order that they can get their child to school. These are families who are missing out on time at work in order to get their children to school. They are already under severe financial pressure because they are paying privately for therapies and services for their children that the State is refusing to provide. Time and time again, the State is failing children with additional needs and their families.”
“The problems with school transport are not new. If anything, this has become an annual fiasco. My colleagues Deputies Whitmore and Cummins have been raising this matter and calling for a restructuring of the scheme for a long period. In the time afforded to me, I want to refer to the consequences for some of the families in my constituency of Cork South-Central. Several families in Cork have contacted me and described their real frustration about the fact that they are continuously being advised to contact the local Cork office using an online web form. These are families who are desperately in need of answers, who want to speak to somebody and who are being expected to wait for responses through the website.”
“Collectively, we should set the goal of becoming the best country in Europe to be LGBT. It is a target that we can reach if we work together to do some of the things on the checklist. I say to queer people across the country, particularly those who are still struggling with their sexuality or gender identity, that it does get better. Coming out is transformative. It has a positive impact on your life. As the Minister of State said, this is a good place to be LGBT. I commend the Minister of State again. I welcome these statements.”
“There is a lot of work to do. Some of it has been mentioned. We have talked about trans healthcare, which is lifesaving. We need to improve the Gender Recognition Act. We need gender recognition for non-binary people. We need to ban conversion practices. We need to update the incitement to hatred Act. We need to commence the assisted reproduction Act. We need to commence, in particular, the Parts relating to the Children and Family Relationships Act, which are ready to go. I do not understand why they have not been commenced. We need to pass the disregard legislation. We have not even started to talk about intersex rights, which need to be radically advanced. We also need to improve sexual health services across the country. I could go on. There is a lot of work to do and we need to work together, across these Houses, to advance rights.”
“The senior Minister used to be a schoolteacher. If she were giving a C-plus to a student, she would tell him or her to do better. The Government got an F grade in respect of trans rights and intersex rights. There is work to be done. Many people in the House have talked about the progress that has been made. It is always worth acknowledging that it is rarely the politicians who make progress. It was the activists. People took cases. People, including David Norris, Katherine Zappone and Ann Louise Gilligan, sued the State. Lydia Foy sued in respect of gender recognition. These are the people who forced the State, kicking and screaming, to make progress on rights. Other activists, such as Arthur Leahy and Siobhán O'Dowd, who was mentioned earlier, pushed and pushed. That is why we have seen progress on these issues.”
“Ten years on from the marriage equality moment, we must look back and think about what has changed and improved, and ask what we have done in the decade since. We have not done enough and have not made enough of that moment and the huge swell of support that was there. While we have won the right to walk down the aisle, many of us still look over our shoulder as we walk down the street and I do not think it is good enough. We are ranked 14th in Europe for LGBT human rights and policy protections. We have been stuck at 14th for many years and are not making the progress we need to make. I welcome the national LGBT strategy. In a previous role with LGBT Ireland, I did a painstaking analysis of the previous Government strategy. We went through every single action and graded it. The Government got a C-plus for that strategy.”
“I am now proud to be an openly gay Member of Parliament. I am just one of many from the different parties in the Houses. However, it was not always like this. It was often a lonely path for many. One person in particular who walked that lonely journey was former Senator David Norris. He was the only out LGBT Member of the Houses for 24 years. I thank and commend him. His was a powerful voice. He did Trojan work for a very long time. I often think of his words on the day of the marriage equality referendum. He said, "The message from this small independent republic to the entire world is one of dignity, freedom and tolerance. Liberté, fratnernité, égalité." I often think of those words when I come to this House.”
“I commend the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, on her speech, for her allyship and for speaking out. I know it is not easy. She has our full support. We hope to work together to progress trans healthcare and the Minister of State has the support of many of us across the House. I look forward to working with her to progress that. I thank her for her allyship and her words. They matter to many people. I am delighted to be contributing to statements on Pride. I am proud to be a member of the LGBT community. Being a part of the community has been one of the most positive aspects of my life. The LGBT community is like a second chosen family for many of us. It is a tribe like no other. I am also proud to have spent many years working as an LGBT advocate with Cork Gay Project and LGBT Ireland, and as a volunteer.”
“I hope this will change in the future but it is regrettable that we must wait another three years to find out. The Social Democrats will support this limited legislation but I call on the Minister to be more ambitious. Multi-annual funding needs to be delivered as soon as possible. We need the Minister and her colleague, the Minister for public expenditure, Deputy Chambers, to set out a definitive pathway to multi-annual funding and to increases in capital funding. Otherwise, we will keep seeing the same budgetary issues in health year after year.”
“My final point about the corporate plan relates to elective hospitals, one of the most non-committal parts of the whole document. The best the document could do was state, "We will continue the development of the ... elective hospitals in Dublin, Cork and Galway." This document covers a three-year period. The four new elective-only hospitals were to be delivered by 2028. While I accept that target is no longer achievable, one would expect by 2027, the final year of the corporate plan, planning applications would at least be submitted. There is no mention of that, just a vague commitment to continuing development. Overall, the corporate plan is a disappointment. I accept the service plan, soon to be the performance delivery plan, is a more specific document but that does not excuse how flimsy the corporate plan is.”
“According to the Comptroller and Auditor General, "The HSE's control systems are failing to highlight the level of non-compliant procurement occurring", yet the corporate plan is silent on this issue. The corporate plan also mentions the long-promised reforms of home care but makes no mention of the statutory right. Is this no longer a priority? It is one of the most important parts of the home care reform programme. The Tánaiste, Deputy Harris, first committed to a statutory right to home care in 2017 during his tenure in the Department of Health. Eight years later, we are still waiting. Not even the regulations needed to underpin the statutory scheme have been legislated for. Never has the case for alternatives to nursing homes been greater. This must be prioritised.”
“However, there is no mention of the eroded medical scientist workforce, which is jeopardising the ability to deliver safe laboratory services. There is no reference to the botched medical laboratory information system or how the HSE intends to get the project back on track. My understanding is this new IT project was to be delivered to more than 40 public laboratories but to date one has only been rolled out in Beaumont hospital. There are serious questions about the HSE's procurement process for this project and many others, yet procurement is not mentioned once in the corporate plan. This is disappointing considering only last year the Comptroller and Auditor General identified serious levels of non-compliance with procurement rules in the HSE.”
“In terms of dental care, the HSE corporate plan also makes a vague commitment to improving access to emergency and routine dental care. When will this happen? Public dental care waiting lists are at breaking point. The medical card scheme is haemorrhaging dentists but one would not think it from reading the corporate plan. Where is the ambition? I cannot understand why we are still waiting on the Department to publish a new dentists Act. The current Act remains largely unchanged since its enactment 40 years ago. It is not fit for purpose. A complete overhaul of the underpinning legislation and the medical card scheme is urgently required. They are relics of the past and must be modernised, not just modified. I also mention laboratory services, which get a passing reference in the corporate plan.”
“It was first recommended in the 2017 specialist perinatal mental health service model of care. According to the implementation plan for Sharing the Vision, the new mother and baby unit was to be delivered by quarter 4 of 2024. That unit is nowhere near being established. St. Vincent's, the proposed location, no longer seems able to accommodate the unit or at least not any time soon. Despite being promised in the 2022 and 2023 women's health action plan, this commitment was quietly dropped from the successor plan for 2024 and 2025. These units are commonplace in the UK, France and Australia yet Ireland does not have a single unit. Delivery of this unit must be prioritised. The adverse effects of separating mothers and babies are well documented.”
“While I agree with the sentiments and objectives expressed in the new corporate plan, it is difficult to have faith in them being realised. This is an aspirational three-year plan with aims that are not matched by deadlines or key performance indicators, KPIs. I appreciate it is the job of the service plan to say how, but the corporate plan should at least say when. Women's health is a priority under the healthy communities section of the corporate plan. My main concern in this regard is there is no commitment to replacing the women's health action plan. The current plan runs out at the end of the year and the corporate plan is for the next three years. Many initiatives in the first two action plans have yet to be delivered, for example, the long-promised mother and baby unit.”
“The existing annual cycle of service planning is not fit for purpose, especially in the context of implementing Sláintecare reforms. In fairness to the Minister, I have little reason to doubt her commitment to delivering multi-annual funding. My fear is the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation will continue to be a barrier to implementing this crucial reform, which is ironic given that reform is in the title of the Department. The HSE corporate plan under this Bill would also inform the strategic direction statement. Given that the new HSE corporate plan for 2025 to 2027 was published just last week, I will use this opportunity to discuss some of its contents.”
“What is more urgently required and should take precedence is the move to multi-annual funding. We raised this during the Estimates process in the health committee. That would provide a more sustainable and coherent model of service planning, especially with respect to staffing and major service developments. Multi-annual funding was first committed to in the 2016 confidence and supply agreement between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Almost a decade later, with the same parties in government, it remains undelivered. A commitment to multi-annual funding appears in the new programme for Government but delivery must be accelerated. Without this important change to the budgetary process, this Bill just tinkers at the edges.”
“There have also been population increases and demographic changes, not to mention the money that should be front-loaded into the Sláintecare reforms. At the core of health funding issues appears to be a different view between the Department of Health and the Department of public expenditure. This is despite the fact that the entire Government has a collective responsibility to ensure there is an adequate level of patient care. That is why the greater level of oversight provided for in this Bill, while welcome, will not address the real problem, which is the dysfunctional method of allocating the health budget. The provisions in the Bill related to corrective actions are a necessary safeguard but we should focus on addressing those problems further upstream.”
“Under section 17, the Minister for Health, in consultation with the Minister for disability, will prepare an annual statement of health service priorities to guide its development. While welcome, this is a small change. There have been serious issues in recent years with what have been characterised as HSE overspends. I argue that Government underinvestment is the root of this issue. That is not to excuse the HSE's ballooning spend on outsourcing and agency staff but there must be an acknowledgement that funding has not matched what is required to deliver services and Sláintecare reforms. This has been repeatedly pointed out by the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council. Health spending has undoubtedly gone up in recent years but there was a lot to catch up on after decades of underinvestment.”
“There is a juxtaposition which needs to be teased through to see if certain parts are understaffed and resources are stretched. We constantly hear there is enough staff but that is not what is said on the ground. One of the main purposes of this Bill is to replace the HSE's annual service plan with an annual performance delivery plan. I have no objection to this in principle but I would appreciate if the Minister outlined in more detail how this new performance delivery plan will be different from the service plan. I assume it is more than just semantics. I note the Minister of the day will have a clearer role in shaping and influencing the final performance delivery plan.”
“I welcome Second Stage of the Health (Amendment) Bill 2025, which regrettably is the first health legislation to be taken on Second Stage since the general election last November. This is one of only two health Bills listed for priority publication yet it was only published last Friday, just shy of the summer recess. Nevertheless, it is worthwhile and modest legislation. To pick up on some comments by the previous speaker, we hear two different narratives constantly. There is a narrative from the Government that there is plenty of staffing and an increase in staffing. We hear from nurses, doctors and people working in hospitals that they are short-staffed, posts are not filled and there is no maternity leave coverage under the pay and numbers strategy. Some services are particularly short-staffed.”
“Her pain was often chronic, leaving her bedridden and unable to move. She described it as feeling like her insides were being stabbed. She has attended her GP repeatedly over many years. As she herself said, what she got was an eyeroll and some paracetamol. It was not until April of this year that she finally got a referral to a gynaecologist. This is after four years of debilitating pain as a result of which she missed out on countless days of school and college. When she went to the gynaecologist, one of the solutions proposed was to get pregnant to ease her symptoms. This is unacceptable but it is the reality of care in this country. Ultimately, we need the framework and we need better care. That starts with better understanding and, crucially, better services.”
“As Rachel herself has said, "No woman should have to leave Ireland—or empty her life-savings—to receive the care her own health service should provide." Like so many women before her, the State turned its back on Rachel, exporting the problem. Rachel is now fighting to ensure that no woman has to suffer the same fate. She has sent the Minister a concise proposal outlining the ways in which early diagnosis, early recognition and referral pathways for endo can improve if the political will exists. I ask the Minister to consider the proposals carefully, and it would be great if the Minister could meet her. I also received another correspondence from a constituent which I would like to briefly share with the Minister. This is a woman who is just 18. She had been suffering from endo since she was 15.”
“However, Rachel never had a UTI; she had bladder endometriosis. When she eventually got an appointment with a consultant gynaecologist in Ireland, she was told her endometriosis was "too advanced for the Irish medical system". The waiting list was one to three years. As a result, Rachel was forced to travel to Poland for treatment. Once she was there, she discovered the true severity of her condition. Due to a decade of misdiagnosis and mistreatment in Ireland, Rachel's endometriosis had spread beyond her reproductive organs. It turned out that she had been living with multi-organ damage for almost a year and that her organs were failing. In Poland, away from family and friends, Rachel had to have major surgery to save her life. Had her endo been diagnosed and treated earlier, this would not have been necessary.”
“However, 14 months later, we are still being told the framework is nearing completion. This is the line the Department of Health has rolled out time and again. Obviously, the framework is no panacea, but it is an important step in improving the model of care for endo. Even at the most basic level, it would provide us with proper data on disease prevalence because what gets measured gets managed. Like others, I want to share some of the stories of those who have come to my office in recent times. Last week, I heard from Dr. Rachel Marie O'Connor, a physician who recently underwent lifesaving surgery for endometriosis. Like so many women, she had to go abroad for treatment. For a decade, Rachel endured excruciating pain because of her undiagnosed endometriosis. She was repeatedly prescribed antibiotics for UTIs.”
“There is a widespread culture of women's concerns being dismissed, minimised and invalidated within the Irish medical system. This is a cultural problem and an attitude problem, and it needs to change. Women's healthcare for far too long has not been a priority for the State. In recent years, two women's health action plans have been published but they consisted largely of repackaged initiatives that had already been announced or were already in train, and there is no implementation plan alongside the 2024-25 action plan. Publishing glossy plans is all well and good, but delivery is key. The Minister talked about the national endo framework. It is now two years since the development of the framework was announced. It was due to be published within a year, by April 2024.”
“I, too, thank Sinn Féin for this motion and for putting a spotlight on this important issue. I also commend the campaigners in the Gallery. They should not have to be here, they should not have to share their stories and they should not have to email their TDs and lay out their pain, but I commend them on their work and their advocacy in respect of this matter. I urge the Minister to take action and ensure we are not back here again. It is estimated, as we know, that one in ten women and girls may suffer from endometriosis. It affects women and girls from eight to 80. Yet, in the words of the Endometriosis Association of Ireland, "endometriosis is a misunderstood, misdiagnosed and mistreated condition". It is no coincidence that it is women who are being misunderstood, misdiagnosed and mistreated.”
“That starts with the Government creating a way forward for them, investing in them, reducing student fees, increasing grants and supports, cherishing students and young people and providing them with the supports they need to have fulfilling lives in this country. At the moment, far too many of them have no hope of staying here because of rising fees, the rising cost of living and poor access to housing. They deserve better. Students in this country deserve a brighter future here.”
“I commend the student union officers who are here today and protesting outside. I used to work for UCC Students' Union as a welfare officer and I have seen at first-hand the hardship students face. I encountered students who were living in their cars, students who were sleeping under hedges on campus and students with no relationship with their families who were still forced to pay high fees. We are doing a huge disservice to students by linking their requirement to pay fees to their parents' incomes because some of them have no relationship with their families. The Minister must factor that in. We need to provide better access to education and give people opportunities and a path so that they can achieve what they want in life.”
“In my county, Cork, there was an increase of €836 between 2023 and 2024. Year-on-year, students face higher costs of living and, on top of those, potentially even higher fees. This is unsustainable and unacceptable. We have also seen rises in grocery prices. This is an issue that the Social Democrats have been highlighting. There has been a 40% increase in grocery prices in four years. Students and their families are under huge financial pressure. We need to see a reduction in fees over the lifetime of the Government and their elimination. These costs are not temporary; they are ongoing. They represent consistent rises in the cost of living. The Minister can bring down the costs for students by reducing student fees year after year. I used to work for a students' union.”
“Our fees here are already far too high. Students are paying far too much to access undergraduate education. This is on top of findings from the OECD that indicate we do not invest enough in our education system. How can we expect students to continue to pay the price when the Government invests so little in their futures? Increases in fees comprise a huge barrier to access to education that is preventing people from attaining their educational goals. We also have to consider that it is not just student fees that are increasing. Students are also facing cost increases across the board, including in groceries, accommodation and transport. We have seen consistent rises in the costs faced by students. In 2024, it was estimated that the average cost of going to college was €15,500 per year. It was even higher in Dublin, at €19,500.”
“The Minister has gotten this badly wrong. He has created huge levels of uncertainty and huge levels of stress for students, parents and families right across the country. The students of Ireland deserve better. They deserve clarity. Fees in this country are already far too high. Students are paying too much money to access what is a human right: basic education at third level. A recent report from the European Commission found that Ireland has the third highest university fees in the European Union when the maximum annual cost is considered. However, Ireland ranks highest on average rates of tuition paid annually. We are outliers in Europe in the fees people are paying. A total of 11 countries in Europe charge no fees at undergraduate level, with 14 more countries charging students less than €1,000 per year.”
“The regulations only apply to what is imported for sale in Ireland and home-produced products. The onus is on retailers to label the products. They can simply add a sticker to the product. Will the Taoiseach be led by the facts and ensure that the Government introduces alcohol labelling next May?”
“Today, the HSE made an unequivocal statement that alcohol consumption causes cancer. That is why it is ramping up efforts to inform people of the link between alcohol and cancer. However, at the same time, this Government is rowing back on its commitment to alcohol health labelling, or at least Fine Gael is. I will read a quote to the Taoiseach: "Alcohol causes cancer, and we would be negligent not to tell people that." Who said that? It was deputy leader of the Taoiseach's party, Deputy Jack Chambers, during a debate on the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill in 2018. Is this still Fianna Fáil's position or is the Taoiseach's party, like Fine Gael, now on the side of the alcohol industry without regard to the fact that alcohol labelling has nothing to do with tariffs?”
“A 21st-century library could be more than a library of books; it could be a library of things. Will the Minister engage with Cork City Council on this key project and, crucially, will he provide the additional funding required to deliver this world-class library for Cork city?”
“My question today is about the new Cork city library. Four years ago, the Taoiseach, Deputy Martin, announced €50 million would be spent transforming Grand Parade and providing a new public library, a new central plaza and a boardwalk. The vision was big. We were promised a new 7,700 sq. m library with capacity for 1 million visitors per year, but like so many other key capital projects for Cork, the Government has failed to deliver. The promised new library is nowhere to be seen. In the four years since, inflation has soared and the project is now short. The current library is not fit for purpose. The roof leaks and parts of the building have been closed to the public. Cork deserves a world-class library - a cultural and community space in the heart of the city.”
“If it is to be achieved, we need to accelerate the delivery of Sláintecare reforms. By 2028, four new elective hospitals were due to be delivered, but no planning applications have been submitted nor have business cases been approved. In May 2023, the then Minister for Health announced the delivery of six new surgical hubs within 18 months, but only one new hub has been opened 25 months on. Can the Minister commit to accelerating the elective care reforms and, crucially, funding them so that the dependency on outsourcing can be reversed?”
“My question relates to the insourcing and outsourcing of public healthcare. Yesterday, the Minister for Health published the HSE review of insourcing and outsourcing, which I welcome. The report confirms that the health service is over-reliant on these arrangements to reduce waiting lists. Despite the huge sums of public money involved, proper oversight has been severely lacking, leading to alarming and shocking abuses of the National Treatment Purchase Fund, NTPF, and clear conflicts of interest. While it is welcome that insourcing arrangements are to be phased out by June 2026, we also need to end the over-reliance of the health service on outsourcing to private hospitals and other external companies. This aim is referenced in the review, but there is no timeline or action set out. Obviously, this cannot be done overnight.”
“The State must right the wrongs of the past. We are running out of time for some of these men. The Government must urgently act to disregard these historical convictions and must deliver true equality for LGTB people in Ireland.”