Rose Conway-Walsh
Mayo · Sinn Féin · Ireland
“The very open nature of the Irish economy and over-reliance on FDI and a small number of large US firms exposes an economic vulnerability that covers an underlying deficit of €13 billion. With an all-island approach, we can tackle that properly.”
“An all-island development agency is critical to this prosperity. Competing for investment from multinational companies, based on five interlinked pillars of growth, transformational regions, sustainability and impact as promoted by the IDA is necessary to compete on a global stage.”
“I would need much longer than three minutes to discuss the fiscal implications of a united Ireland, such is the depth and breadth of the work already done. I commend all of those who have done it. Leaving all politics aside, the economic benefits of reunification present unprecedented opportunities for sustainable growth.”
“This morning, workers at Aer Lingus woke up to the devastating news that up to 500 jobs will be cut at the airline, impacting both staff at head office and flight crews. By all measures, Aer Lingus is a profitable company, reporting operating profits of €282 million in 2025. Its parent company, IAG, has operating profits of €5 billion.”
“We need to encourage student mobility across the island. I ask the shared island unit to intervene to provide funding for students from here going to Queen's University and Ulster University. Regarding the data, the NI Executive should work with the ONS, HMRC and the NISRA to improve the data on tax receipts in the North.”
“Will the Government meet representatives of the unions, the Irish Air Line Pilots Association, IALPA, Fórsa and other unions, to ensure that impacted workers receive full and fair redundancy packages and that we have full transparency, while also committing to wider statutory redundancy reforms?”
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“I welcome these initiatives but last year, in 2024, we saw no real growth in Ireland's SME bank debt, with continued low demand from applicants and an overly cautious approach to risk from the banks. SMEs with any form of credit challenge find it difficult to access credit from the traditional financial institutions, even more so since the departure of Ulster Bank and KBC from the market. These are the sources where most small and retail businesses go to look for credit. Despite what the Minister says he is doing to make credit more accessible for SMEs, a recent report from IBEC revealed that 63% of SMEs still consider the application process to be overly complex and lengthy.”
“Will the Minister outline the measures he is taking to ensure small- and medium-sized businesses can access affordable credit and avoid being burdened with high borrowing costs? Access to affordable credit is a significant barrier to our SMEs that want to expand and grow their market share. As they try to navigate their way around all of the challenges they face, they need access to credit.”
“There is one thing that the Minister can do. Will he please reinstate the tenant in situ scheme? Right now, there are children that I am dealing with in my constituency who are frightened of losing their homes.”
“How in the name of God are children growing up in homelessness, in impossible situations or in poverty supposed to compete with those on the other end of the scale who can afford grinds and everything else that they need in order to get the best life chances? They cannot compete because of the failures of Governments throughout their childhood that have pushed them into these situations. The isolation, stigma and impact on self-esteem of poverty do not stop when children reach the age of 18. They continue on beyond that, with reduced life choices and widening inequality, leaving scars on those children for the rest of their lives. I thank the Labour Party for tabling this motion today. Research from the ESRI reveals that one in five children is now living below the poverty line once housing costs are factored in.”
“Just last month, the number of children experiencing homelessness in Ireland reached a new record, with over 5,000 children in emergency accommodation, but that does not count all of the children who are in overcrowded, impossible situations. A total of 226 of those 5,000 children come from the west of Ireland and many come from my own constituency in Mayo. The impact of what they are experiencing - being pushed into poverty and forced into impossible situations - on their physical and mental health is enormous. They are experiencing increased anxiety, developmental delays and lower educational attainment.”
“No child in Ireland in 2025 should grow up without a home or without hope for the future. If this Government runs its full term, every single child in Ireland will have been born and grown up under a Fine Gael Government. Thousands of those who are children now are going to look back in the years ahead and ask why did this happen and why did they have to grow up in these circumstances. Those on the Government benches opposite are at pains to tell us how well the economy is doing, reciting statistics on low unemployment, GDP and economic growth when, in reality, child poverty has reached crisis levels in Ireland and shows no sign of improving. In fact, quite the opposite is the case.”
“I urge the Government to consider the proposals in this motion to finally end the rip-off of Irish households and to hold the energy companies to account for their extortionate prices. The Government cannot leave families in the situation they are in going through this winter like this. The energy credits have to be restored as an immediate measure. The Government can have all the plans it wants, and I see in its ridiculous amendment all the backslapping and the good intentions, but there are people tonight who cannot afford to turn their heat on. There are people who cannot afford their electricity bills. The Government has to do something about it.”
“Can the Minister of State imagine what it is like for a single mother to have to buy a few gallons of home heating oil at a time, then to have to drag that drum through the house, climb up to the oil tank and pour in enough oil for a couple of days for heating? That is the reality for too many people I know who are living in fuel poverty. In the rip-off, get prices under control and support struggling families. That is what the Government needs to do. I know we are over-reliant on international markets for our energy and there is no hiding of that. We import 80% of our energy, leaving us almost entirely exposed to the markets. Now is the time to diversify our supply, to invest in renewable energy infrastructure and to grow our indigenous energy sector and create Irish jobs.”
“When is the Government going to wake up on this? Let me be clear on the actions Sinn Féin wants the Government to take. It is asking the Government to support struggling households. Allocate a €450 energy credit, a real and sizeable measure that would be felt immediately. Hold energy companies to account over the extortionate rates charged to consumers. The wholesale prices are 75% less than they were in their peak in 2022. Why are these savings not being passed on to customers? Take action to reduce the unjust network charges. The CRU draft decision published in July revealed that the cost for data centres will decrease, but cost for households and SMEs will increase. Stop keeping carbon taxes on families who are already struggling to heat their homes, keep their cars on the roads and have no alternative.”
“It is beyond time that we end the rip-off of energy bills facing every household and business up and down the country already on their knees with the cost-of-living crisis. More energy increases come at a time when we are already paying the highest levels of energy prices in Europe. That is a badge of dishonour for this Government. How many homes are going to be cold tonight as people try to hold out and not turn on the heat until next month? This staggering cost of energy in the State is a direct result of political choices by this Government. We know 300,000 and 175,000 customers are in arrears in their electricity and gas bills, respectively. If the Government follows through on withdrawing energy credits this winter, the energy regulator has warned that the number of households in arrears could spike dramatically.”
“Some common sense needs to be applied to this situation, particularly now in the winter months where it can be dark and visibility on rural roads is significantly reduced, compromising safety. We are simply asking for the reinstatement of previously operated routes that served the students of Derryfadda and Boleyglass for 40 years. Why are we putting children in situations where their health and safety are compromised when it could be easily fixed? I have written to the Minister of State twice on this matter and would really appreciate a response.”
“This means that either children are expected to make their way there on foot along an already busy road with no cycle lanes or street lighting or their parents are expected to drive them down, pull in and wait to either drop off or collect them, further compromising road safety at this location. There has been a substantial back and forth between residents of this area and Bus Éireann, with Bus Éireann conceding the route meets the criteria to be reinstated, there being ten students along the road who would avail of the service. A bus is already in operation on this route for primary school pupils so why can the previously operated route at post-primary level not be reinstated?”
“In 2021, a bus route that had serviced these areas for more than 40 years ceased operation due to the decline in student numbers. Since then, as in many rural areas, student numbers have risen and they meet the criteria to reinstate the route. However, Bus Éireann and the Department have failed to do so. Instead, parents and children are expected to travel to the nearest designated collection drop-off point, which happens to be located at the intersection of the R315 and the L1723, a busy commuter route with a significant blind spot on approach for other road users.”
“Up and down the country, but especially in rural areas, the inflexibility and lack of common sense of the Department and Bus Éireann constitute a real issue. I will ask the Minister of State two questions before I outline a case for him. Why is there separate vetting in every Bus Éireann office for drivers? I am thinking of where someone crosses over the Galway border from Mayo. Drivers often have to get up to ten separate Garda vettings. It does not make any sense when we have a shortage of drivers. I heard the Minister of State mention the fact that over-70s could only do short bus runs for Bus Éireann yet could drive hundreds of miles on private buses. This needs to be addressed quickly. For over a year, I have been trying to resolve the dangerous situation on the Derryfadda and Boleyglass school route in Mayo.”
“I also want to raise the necessity of Mikey and other children and young adults being provided with suitable transport, which can carry the oxygen tanks they now need, in order to meet the needs of the families and children with scoliosis who have been failed over and over again in so many ways. What kind of stupid bureaucracy denies these children and families something as basic as transport? This has to be sorted out. This is the first day back of this Dáil. If we cannot save the lives of these children, what are we doing? We absolutely have to do this. We have to do everything possible and have accountability. We did not have accountability for Harvey, but we need accountability for the other children who are waiting.”
“When I spoke to Harvey's mum, Gillian, last week, I asked her what immediate steps need to be taken to ensure no other lives are lost. She outlined two very practical and immediate measures. The first was insourcing. Why are we not bringing in consultants and surgeons from abroad to carry out life-saving surgeries and operations as a matter of urgency? The second was the ring-fencing of a small section of private hospitals to carry out surgeries on non-complex patients, thereby freeing up public hospitals for more complex surgeries where multiple treatments are required. I ask that the House be updated on a weekly basis until all of the children on the waiting list have received their life-saving surgery. If we are not about saving lives here, what are we about?”
“This has happened despite promises in 2017 from the Tánaiste and then Minister for Health, Deputy Simon Harris, that by the end of the year no child would have to wait more than four months for scoliosis surgery. This is evidently not the reality for families up and down the country. In the Irish Independent today, Mary Regan reported that the number of children waiting for spinal surgery continues to rise. Right now, there are 135 children on the waiting list, an increase of 108 since the start of the year. Only seven children have received surgery abroad since the previous Minister for Health instructed the HSE to send any child waiting more than four months for surgery to the UK or New York to receive their life-saving treatment. We know some children are not medically fit to travel as their scoliosis has deteriorated.”
“My sincere condolences to his parents, Gillian and Stephen, and my deepest gratitude to them for the campaign they are leading to save the lives of other children who wait for operations. I fully support their pursuit of a full independent statutory inquiry. Mikey Henry from Mayo is a young person who has experienced the consequences of a failure of care in Children's Health Ireland, CHI. His story has been raised by me and others in the House He is 17 years of age. When his parents first tried to access an operation to address his scoliosis in 2022, the curve in his spine was 82°. This week, the curve in his spine is 130°. Mikey's scoliosis has deteriorated to the point that it has damaged his lungs and left him struggling to breathe on his own, requiring oxygen during the day and a mask at night to breathe.”
“I welcome the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030. However, the Minister and I know that the road from here to Mayo is paved with good intentions and unimplemented strategies, many of which have been outlined here. The subsequent action plan and its implementation will be the test of whether the strategy will bring about genuine change or is just another collection of words. The fact is that the Government is breaking the law, as Cara Darmody continues to point out again and again, as regards assessments of need. The tragic and avoidable passing of Harvey Morrison Sherratt over the summer must bring an end to the neglect of children with significant medical needs in the State.”
“Whatever the Minister is doing, I ask her to please address that and to look at it. I was not even going to bring this up but the Minister saw the women in the Public Gallery last night for the endometriosis care motion. The Minister pointed out phantom clinics they were to go to in all these places and implied there were so many services about the place that they just were not going to. Why then are those women in such pain? The Minister spoke about them choosing to go to abroad when the services are not here for them. The Minister can shake her head all she wants but she needs to recognise what is happening on the ground. The health of the women who were here last night is deteriorating. The organs in their bodies are being eaten by endometriosis and the Minister is saying there are enough services and support.”
“The Minister can hold up whatever document she likes, but I am telling her that there are not enough staff in Mayo University Hospital in the emergency department section to provide safe service there. I am also telling the Minister that it is a deterrent for so many people who want to, and probably need to, go to hospital. They want to do everything to stay out of hospital. Those nurses and other staff members are absolutely run off their feet. They are expected to operate on a corridor with trolleys each side of it, patients in pain moaning, looking for help and trying to get a bed when they cannot get a bed, yet the Minister is telling me the hospital has enough staff. It does not have enough staff. I can tell the Minister that. I am very grateful for the service the staff provide but there is not enough of them there.”
“The Government claims the recruitment embargo in the HSE has been lifted since last July but there have been no positive effects in Mayo. I met representatives of the INMO last week again. In fact, I have very direct experience of being in the emergency department in Mayo University Hospital in the last number of weeks. I commend the staff there for the job they are doing but they are expected to do that job even though there are not enough of them. I know the Minister wants to answer me back and I know she cannot in this situation. She should please let me tell her that there are not enough staff members.”
“However, I have concerns that this Bill will do little to implement meaningful change in respect of its stated aim of exercising the highest standards of prudent and effective financial and budgetary management. If the Government really wanted to enhance budgetary governance, it would introduce the multi-annual funding framework it promised in the programme for Government. Sinn Féin will be tabling amendments on Committee Stage to provide for multi-annual funding and for staffing frameworks, because that is the right thing to do. This is the only way proper planning can take place and efficiencies can be made. I take this opportunity to ask the Minister for Health to please address persistent staffing issues across the HSE.”
“I appreciate that the Bill before us will provide for revisions to corporate governance arrangements within the HSE. I welcome this. If ever an agency needed governance reforms, it was the HSE. There have been too many incidents of governance failures at this agency. I refer to the CervicalCheck scandal, which revealed 162 women were not informed about missed abnormalities in their smear tests; the 2023 nursing home review, which revealed serious governance lapses after a resident was raped by a staff member in the HSE nursing home; and we will all remember the treatment of the whistleblowers who faced suspension and disciplinary action for raising concerns of financial misconduct and care home abuses.”
“For heaven's sake, will the Government please do something? I thank the Deputies who brought forward this motion. What is outlined in it is what the Government needs to do. It has been outlined over and over again. Can the dental care system please be fixed? It is a basic human right.”
“My husband is also suffering. He was told he needed dentures and was referred to get all his teeth removed first but no one in the county will do it. He was even sent to the north for treatment, but they couldn’t help him and he had to come back [to Mayo] untreated. He’s now left in limbo, unable to eat properly, in pain, and with no idea [of] where to turn. Our family is at the end of our rope. We feel ignored, abandoned, and forgotten by a [Government and a] system that is supposed to care for its people. This has become an emergency. We don’t have the money to go private, and yet the public system is impossible to access. That about sums it up. I do not know how many times last year I spoke on dental services and the lack of them in County Mayo. We were referred to the HSE and back again, and when there was nothing there, back again.”
“If there was ever an example of a do-nothing Government, it is when it comes to dental care. I want to read out a letter from somebody in County Mayo: I’m writing to you as a desperate mother from Mayo. For the past five years, my family has been unable to access any dental care through the medical card in our area. No one is accepting new patients, and despite endless phone calls, pleading, and searching, we’ve hit a brick wall over and over again. My 23-year-old daughter is on a disability payment and has been in constant dental pain. She has many cracked teeth, cavities and a likely infection, and she is getting to the point where she may not be able to eat soon. She’s trying every day to find someone who will see her, but there is just no one available. She is only 23 and deserves so much better than this.”
“She said the medical professionals admitted she probably has endometriosis but offered no other support. She went on state that she has an autoimmune condition and that her endometriosis is causing health problems. She stated she is now more nervous than she has been previously. She stated it is spreading to her organs, especially her bladder and kidneys, as she has had problems previously. This is what is happening to women. This is what is happening to the women in the Gallery tonight. The Minister's response is not good enough.”
“Ms Conlon reported that the pain she experienced every day was all over her body and described it as unbearable. She said daily tasks were impossible. She said that mentally and physically, it was unbelievably difficult. She said it has been a long battle and going abroad should not be the answer but is something she must do. She feels she is being exported. She thinks those suffering from endometriosis should get help in Ireland and should not be ignored. Only that she has the support and help from her family financially, she would not have the option to get help aboard to end her torture. Michelle, also from Mayo, wrote to me today. She stated that she was meant to be going for surgery to check for endometriosis. Instead, she was booked for a scan last week and the surgery was cancelled.”
“I particularly welcome Ms Sinéad Conlon and her father Dermot, who have come all the way from Mayo this evening. I want to tell the Minister about Ms Conlon's experience in her words. I want the Minister to look her in the face when she is giving her response to this debate. She said she was never listened to as a teenager and it took until the age of 23 to be referred to a specialist, who advised her to have a child because it would help the problem. After having surgery for endometriosis in Ireland and taking the advice, she was still left in horrific pain every day. She got no help or advice and was left completely hopeless. As a self-employed person, she had no income. She asked how she was supposed to live and provide for her child.”
“The Minister's response is not good enough. It is as plain and simple as that. She should hear the stories of all the women in the Gallery. I am proud of my party colleagues, particularly Senator McCormack and my party president, Deputy McDonald, for bringing this motion before the House. It would never be brought to the House by the Government. Since the beginning of the Sinn Féin campaign to achieve adequate endometriosis services, I have spoken to many people from Mayo who are suffering with this debilitating condition. The Minister paints a particular picture, but women tell me they cannot live with the pain. They are sent to mental health services. If the picture the Minister is painting is correct, why are they being sent to mental health services?”
“Let us call it what was - it was torture of children. The terms of the commission should be expanded or an additional commission should be created to carry out these investigations. What redress will be available to victims? We have seen huge delays in setting up redress schemes following previous commissions. The mother and baby institutions payment scheme only opened for applications this year. That commission first met in 2015. The Minister must ensure that we do not get a decade of delay in a redress scheme being established and she must ensure that the schools and institutions at which abuse took place make significant financial contributions to the redress scheme. This must be done in tandem with the commission gathering evidence. It is a sorry state of play that we are here again.”
“Perhaps a society in which it is permissible to lock up women for the crime of pregnancy, a society that offered the children of those women up for forced adoption and even for medical experimentation and trials, and a society where physical abuse of children was commonplace. Why will the Government not investigate the physical abuse of children in schools? We all know it happened. One only has to listen to "Liveline" in recent weeks to hear of the torture that was inflicted on children as young as five. It was torture, and it was facilitated by our schools and our State. Where are the trauma supports for those children? Where is the forum for their truth to be heard, the harrowing stories told by elderly men and women of the torture they were subjected to day after day? This was not corporal punishment.”
“I welcome the establishment of the commission of investigation, which, unfortunately, is long overdue. The reality is that we will never know how many victims are not alive to see this day. Louise O'Keeffe had to fight tooth and nail to hold the State to account for the abuse she suffered. This Government and its predecessors have known for decades of the horrendous abuse endured by children who should have been in a safe place, yet it is only setting up the commission of investigation now. That said, I do welcome the commission. I pay tribute to those children who for years felt they had no voice and that they were not listened to, with State authorities failing to question those responsible. Those authorities have questions to answer, too. What sort of a society turns a blind eye to a child making an accusation of sexual abuse?”
“As enterprise spokesperson for Sinn Féin, I am interested in our getting the line up and running as quickly as possible. We had much discussion in the past few days on student fees and the absolutely dire situation many families are in because of the cost of education. Accessing education is very important and that is why we need the line. It would open up transport. Tourism is also a factor. I just met representatives of the Irish Hotels Federation and they would tell you how important rail is. When people come to this island, they want to be able to travel by rail. I am glad to see the Minister of State in the position he is in, and I have every faith and hope that he will do the right thing regarding the western rail corridor.”
“The western rail corridor, no more than Knock Airport, would be a catalyst for development in the region. It is what people want. I certainly welcome the all-island strategic rail review but I am concerned that the Claremorris–Collooney part is not in it. Although this is the case, can I have a commitment from the Minister of State, as someone who is now in government, to open both parts of the line fully? Could he indicate, even today, when the Athenry–Claremorris part will reopen? It is not often in this House that we have cross-party agreement but there is cross-party agreement on this project. We have the money to go ahead with it. Indeed, we had money many times over that we could have levered from the EU, but we did not avail of it. That is history, however.”
“I am really glad the Minister of State, Deputy Seán Canney, is here, and the reason for that is the western rail corridor. He has always been committed to it. I commend him on how he worked when in opposition to secure the western rail corridor – first the link from Athenry to Claremorris and then the link from Claremorris to Collooney. Therefore, I do not need to tell him how important it is; he knows. What I want is to get the Claremorris–Athenry line up and running. The Minister of State and I know from conversations, whether with Colman Ó Raghallaigh from West on Track or those involved with the Bradley report, that the project is absolutely viable. Not only that, but it is also necessary for businesses and the growth of the region.”
“Another cohort of students I want to talk about today are the children of internationally recruited healthcare workers. I spoke to one today at the INMO conference. Her child came here to Ireland to live and she has to pay international fees of up to €19,000 per year. That is totally wrong.”
“He says that students were promised by Simon Harris that there could potentially be plans to abolish student fees in the programme for Government. That is what was promised but it looks like that promise is now with the others in the pre-election commitment dustbin. Nicola in south Mayo also wrote to me explaining that although a single parent with two children, one of whom is autistic, because she is a full-time nurse in Mayo University Hospital she does not receive any kind of social welfare. She is fearful that her child benefit and maintenance payments will both stop in August, just when her youngest, results pending, hopes to be heading off to college. All of these are hard-working people, contributing to society in a range of ways.”
“I commend the students who gathered outside the gates this evening and the students who are here this evening, including the new student union representatives, for pushing back against this desperate situation. Parents and students need to know how much they will be paying in nine weeks' time. They need to know this now. People have to budget. Members of this Government do not seem to get this but my constituents do. Ger in east Mayo has twin daughters. She says that she cannot choose between her twins, who are both young talented women. What a position for parents to be in, having to choose between their children. Then there is Joe who in his third year of global commerce at the University of Galway.”
“The short-term solution to that would be to reintroduce the scheme. I cannot sit down without speaking about those who are in dire need due to defective concrete blocks. Will the legislation be done in the coming days to enable those who are trapped in this situation, either due to the cap or the lower rates, to get the higher rates and go ahead and rebuild their lives?”
“Over five years, it could deliver 125,000 social and affordable homes, which would really make a difference. We would shift from the Government's preference for large private developers to empowering local councils to lead housing delivery, enabling local builders to build. We would also make housing a constitutional right, which it needs to be. I encourage the Minister to examine those proposals, which would empower local authorities. By contrast, the announcement last week of a league table for local councils on their housing performance is a ploy to deflect the blame for the disgraceful homelessness and housing need figures, for which the Government bears absolute and sole responsibility. The Minister has to reinstate the tenant in situ scheme. There are families in Mayo who are in fear of being made homeless right now.”
“Some 12 months is an awful long time for people to be homeless. We do not have any homeless accommodation in the north County Mayo but there are things that can be done there. If residential-zoned land was opened up at the discretion of the council, we could make progress. I also raise with the issue of finance for home building. The setup fees demanded by banks are ridiculous and are without foundation. It is crazy the numbers I hear from builders. The interest rate on payments of 10% and 15% to builders are also not feasible. They are making everything unaffordable. As the Minister will know, Sinn Féin has brought forward its own housing plan, A Home of Your Own, which would give local authorities a central role in the building of homes.”
“They know the needs of the individual areas, not least the growing numbers on the housing waiting lists in each municipal area. It is only fitting that they retain oversight relevant to regional, spatial and economic development plans and local area plans. In my own constituency of Mayo, I see first-hand the pressure council staff are under to cope with the housing emergency, as they try their best to provide housing and accommodation against a never abating stream of people in dire housing need. I will ask the Minister to open up the reserved residential-zoned land in areas where the council identifies housing need. The reason is I know local builders who want to and are ready to build. There is one in particular I approached the council with last year who will not get a decision on an application for a year.”
“The fact we are here today discussing amendments so soon after the Government's watershed planning Act of 2024 confirms that it did not get the reforms right first time. Sinn Féin called for additional scrutiny back then and, par for the course, we were not listened to. The issues this Bill seeks to address should have been part of the discussions on the original legislation. Again, we are asking the Government to accept Sinn Féin's amendments to this Bill to strengthen the legislation. I note these technical changes will enable local authorities to retain a number of functions until such time as the relevant sections of the 2024 Act are commenced. It is important that local authorities remain central to planning.”
“At every turn, this Government chooses to denigrate our history. Why will it not name the new hospital after Kathleen Lynn? It would be a fitting tribute to the Mayo woman who served as the most senior ranking woman in the 1916 Rising, who set up Ireland's first children's hospital and who led efforts to eradicate TB. The Government should choose a fitting name for the national children's hospital and it must protect and develop the GPO and the Moore Street cultural quarter. The Government is not going to get away with this. The people of Ireland will rise up to make sure that it does not, that it honours our patriot dead and that it does the right thing. Aengus Ó Snodaigh talked earlier about the Government's strategy of delete, delete and delete. The Government will not be allowed to delete this.”
“It is on the steps of the GPO that Pádraig Pearse read the words of the Proclamation, and it is from within that building that the revolutionary Government of 1916 led the 1916 Rising, a Proclamation that after more than 100 years is yet to be fully realised. That tells us a lot about the Governments we have had in the interim. Dublin became the city that fought the biggest empire in the world from the epicentre of the GPO. The question people have been asking this evening and in the last week is about why Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are hellbent on extinguishing the memory of those who died for Irish independence. This Government plans to ignore the vote of the Dáil to name the national children's hospital after Dr. Kathleen Lynn. It is outrageous.”
“I thank my colleague, Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh, not only for bringing this motion to the House, but for the battle he continuously fights to protect our rebel history and respect our patriot dead and their families. Sinn Féin has set out a clear vision in Aengus's Bill to develop the 1916 cultural quarter in line with the Moore Street Preservation Trust. The GPO and the surrounding lanes and houses of Moore Street are hallowed ground for Irish people. The Government's proposal to sell off this incredible piece of history to private proprietors is beyond comprehension to most Irish citizens.”
“I understand the need for robust regulations and terms of reference but it is wholly unacceptable that this taking so long.”
“Today marks a full year since the announcement of the appointment of Ms Bríd O'Flaherty as chairperson of the inquiry into the historical licensing and use of sodium valproate in women of child-bearing age. It is almost six years since the then Minister for Health announced the inquiry in November 2020. Why is the inquiry yet to commence? Thousands of women in Ireland were prescribed Epilim despite emerging evidence of its harmful effects during pregnancy. In France, a redress scheme has been established. In Britain, an inquiry has been held and the government there has committed to a redress scheme. Why is the Government here so reluctant to do the right thing by women in Ireland? When will the Minister for Health reply to the Organisation for Anti-Convulsant, OACS, which has requested a meeting? This inquiry needs to get up and running.”