Tom Clonan
University of Dublin · Independent · Ireland
“It is appalling; you could not make it up. However, as this is a very grave and dark thing, they raised these concerns by way of protected disclosures in February 2025. Here we are, 18 months later, and no action has been properly taken. Those protected disclosures have not been processed about a child safety issue.”
“I thank the Senator. The Adult Safeguarding Strategy Bill that I hope to introduce fills the gap that exists in Irish legislation around adult safeguarding for our elderly citizens and for all of us who at some point in life will need care. This Bill is consistent with what the Government has set out in the programme for Government.”
“They told me one of them was informed of a child sexual assault or the potential for one - even a rape of a child - and under the guidelines, this requires mandatory reporting, so they set about reporting it to An Garda Síochána and Tusla.”
“A woman came into the clinic and expressed concerns - and I am sorry to use this language here - that she had discovered her spouse - her husband - was accessing child pornography images and films through his devices. These are crime scenes. This is the sexual abuse and rape of children.”
“This should be dealt with with energy and urgency, because all this talk about process is not child-centred. It is administration-centred and it is a classic HSE tactic to cover up, deny and delay grave matters. I want to know why this particular manager is pushing back on mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse.”
“I thank the Minister of State for reading out the statement on behalf of the Minister, Deputy MacNeill. None of these remarks are directed personally at the Minister of State, but to be honest, ChatGPT could have written that response. In it, the Minister, Deputy MacNeill says she and the HSE cannot comment on individual cases.”
The complete record
Every one of 631 lines we hold for Tom Clonan, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 6 of 13.
“SFOR bombed Serbia. It bombed the Chinese embassy and blew up a television station. Is that what the Minister wants us to get involved in without the protection of the triple lock? Because, by default, that is what she is suggesting. I have other points but I am running out of time. On culture, I published a doctoral thesis 25 years ago which set out in forensic detail all of the problems and solutions around culture in the Defence Forces. I brought into the public domain the systematic and systemic sexual violence against male and female troops and the bullying and harassment and discrimination. Here we are 25 years later. The Women of Honour came forward with fresh disclosures and reinforced that the culture has not changed.”
“I am posing a hypothetical question to illustrate the point that by removing the triple lock the Minister will allow a community of decision-makers who are unaccountable, do not come to the committee and do not answer our questions to make decisions like that. Their track record of decision making has been absolutely catastrophic for the State, our Defence Forces and our security. We are Europe’s weakest link because of the decisions of that community of decision-makers that the Minister is asking us to trust in the absence of a triple lock. The Minister keeps talking about peacekeeping. Stop. She is incorrect. It is peace enforcement – it is war fighting - Chapter VII - like Afghanistan or when the Implementation Force, IFOR, became the Stabilisation Force, SFOR. They very often expand into full-time combat operations.”
“For example, the one that is mooted for Gaza will be an international military force to guarantee security, most likely led by a Muslim country. Perhaps it will be Türkiye or Sunni Muslims, like the Gazans. Their mission will be to disarm Hamas. That will be a fighting mission. Does the Minister want to send Irish troops there?”
“The other thing is the Minister spoke about peacekeeping. Does the Minister think there will be a peacekeeping mission in our lifetime? I tell her now there will not be because that era, the Cold War era of classic peacekeeping Chapter VI missions, is over. That is why the UN Security Council put an end to the UNIFIL mandate in Lebanon. I heard Members of this House ask whether Irish soldiers could not stay on? If Irish soldiers stay on without a UN Security Council mandate they will be slaughtered either by Hezbollah or the Israelis. There is so much misinformed, ill informed conversation and discussion about what this means. What there will be is peace enforcement missions, that is, Chapter VIIs, coalitions of the willing, stabilisation forces.”
“That is an inaccuracy and a false narrative that is being repeated over and over again. When the Minister says that I will not say she is misleading the House or the people-----”
“On the points the Minister made about the triple lock, she stated,“With regard to the triple lock provisions, it is time to face facts” and then said something that was not factual, namely, “The legislation currently in place allows ... members of the UN Security Council, by means of a veto or, indeed, threat of same, to bind this country's hands”. That is not the truth. The UN Security Council permanent members do not care whether we deploy or not. The reason we have the triple lock is that it was a sovereign decision of the people through these Houses of the Oireachtas, reinforced by sovereign commitments and statements made in Europe. It is a decision of the Irish people not to deploy without a UN Security Council mandate. It is not the decision of Russia, Trump, Putin or Xi Jinping. It was a decision of the Irish people.”
“Does the Minister think it is acceptable that decision-makers across the Departments of the Taoiseach and Defence, the Defence Forces themselves, the Department of justice and An Garda Síochána should not be amenable to oversight, questioning and discussion from members of our committee and these Houses of the Oireachtas or should it remain opaque and unseen? We know in Ireland that when something lacks oversight or governance it always ends in tears. I have grave concerns about our national security and intelligence architecture and infrastructure because I see no evidence in any of the statements that there is an actual understanding of what the key challenges are that confront us both internally and externally. It is all very vague. To what end and to whose benefit are we going to spend €0.6 billion on armoured vehicles?”
“I and other members of the committee have no idea, for example, why the Minister is spending €0.6 billion on armoured fighting vehicles. We have no idea why she signed a memorandum with the French or by what process that was negotiated and involving whom. We have no idea about so many things because we do not have a strategy. This is a community of decision-makers who over the last three decades have allowed our defence to go down onto its knees and have made poor decision after poor decision to the extent that we now have no defences – no credible or meaningful defences – in the maritime, ground, air or cyber domains.”
“I agree with the Minister, but we cannot have an informed debate here if we have no parliamentary oversight of defence and security. We are the only country in the European Union and among our neighbours in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that has no parliamentary oversight of defence and security. We are the only country in the EU where security is dealt with by the primary intelligence agency of the State, namely, An Garda Síochána. The Minister is not allowing the defence and national security committee to examine, oversee, discuss and interrogate Ireland's national defence and security by imposing extremely narrow parameters. Does the Minister support expanding the scope of reference for the national defence and security committee because without that oversight and governance, we have no idea what is happening?”
“Okay. We do not have a defence strategy published and therefore, in the context of this plan, will the Minister explain to the House why she is spending €600 million on armoured fighting vehicles to equip, I am assuming, mechanised infantry formations and mechanised armoured formations? What threat is that going to meet? What is the Minister's concept of that threat? Does she expect a land or ground invasion of similarly equipped mechanised infantry? If not, what is the purpose of that? Is it fit for purpose in the 21st century, based on all we have learned since Russia's invasion of Ukraine? Is that where we should be spending €600 million? I would be curious to know. The Minister stated that it is "essential the Houses of the Oireachtas debates issues around the security and defence of the State".”
“There are votes in this even if they do not believe in the inalienable rights of disabled citizens, although I know many of them do. The Government’s actions speak louder than words. It is turning the clock back in every aspect of disability rights.”
“For me as a parent and carer, this letter reinforces that it is not just the person with additional needs, but the stress it puts on their families. A 12-year-old girl is worried. Shame on us collectively. We had Government promises running up to the election that it would do the devil and all about disability rights but it is rowing back on SNAs. The elderly parents of disabled citizens are being told they are legally obliged to care for and accommodate their adult disabled children until they die. The Taoiseach and the Government have had to apologise for that. What trajectory is it on? At their parliamentary party meetings, will the Government Senators please prevail upon their Ministers to straighten up and fly right on disability because the people are exercised about this? They saw the result of the care referendum.”
“She wrote that, in case the Government thought what it was proposing would not affect him, it would because "people in the school [industry, by whom she means SNAs] don't just help [neurodiverse] people but everyone, the teachers, students and visitors". She asked, "please do something and write back." She has taken the time to write to us. She has a little poster that the Leader might give to the Minister, Deputy Naughton. He might also ask the Minister why she is doing this. The poster reads, "Don't take away SNAs". Where are we when 12-year-old girls are writing to this House to find out why absolutely essential supports are being taken away from disabled citizens and schools? That denies them their constitutional right to education.”
“This is because the new allocation will be based on what is called primary need, a medical model of disability that is ableist and deterministic in its nature and contrary to the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. I know there are Senators who are former Deputies from both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael who have experience in this area and who share this young girl’s frustration. Holly asked how they were going to help her family. Holly writes: "You guys remind me of another person in power (hint he's orange)" because they say one thing and do another. She explained that, if we were wondering why a 12-year-old girl was writing this, it was because her brother Ciarán was ten years old and had autism and ADHD.”
“I want to raise issues about disability rights. I received a letter from a 12-year-old girl called Holly from Killiney in Dublin who was writing about her ten-year-old brother Ciaran, who is in third class in Our Lady of Good Counsel in Johnstown, Killiney. She is terrified about what will happen to him arising from the proposed changes to the provision of special needs assistants in primary school. I have permission from her parents to read this here. It was addressed to "Dear people of the Taoiseach". That is the Government Senators, by the way. She said her name was Holly and she was 12 years old. She writes: "I'm writing to you because what [you are] doing to “help” [neurodiversity is taking] away their SNAs".”
“On the Ukrainian side, their courage is held together not by the absence of fear but by love of their freedoms and their desire to remain free and to survive. To be honest, how the same group of people who have been in combat for four years can continue is extraordinary. To shorten the war and bring it to a conclusion, there should be no appeasement of Vladimir Putin. He is a war criminal. If the Trump Administration thinks it can get a deal by appeasing him, they are wrong. It will prolong the war. We need to end this war and have a just and final peace. We have to end the killing.”
“I want to raise, as we are going into year five of conflict in Ukraine, the courage and fortitude of the Ukrainian people. Since the invasion began, I have written about 40 in-depth analysis pieces for The Journal and other newspapers, giving very forensic accounts of how the Ukrainians have managed to stop Putin's special military operation. From Kharkiv to Kramatorsk to Sloviansk to Zaporizhzhia to Kyiv to Odesa to Lviv, what the Ukrainians have achieved has been extraordinary. It has benefited all of us here and the values we hold and freedoms we enjoy. I acknowledge this sacrifice because Moscow's and Putin's hold on Russia is held on the balance of fear. We know this because of Prigozhin's rush to Moscow not so long ago, which almost succeeded. Putin's leadership is quite brittle. It is based on fear, intimidation and brute force.”
“We cannot be constrained in our aspirations by the workings of the apparatus of State. That is something that follows from the deliberations and the iterative process that is the passing of legislation which happens in these Houses. It is not a criticism of the Minister or the Minister of State but, as Government parliamentarians, some of these explanatory notes on time delays and such concerns really are non sequiturs . They have no basis in logic. I commend my colleagues and thank them. I thank the Government Senators for their very eloquent statements. I note they share our common positive interest and I thank them for not opposing the Bill.”
“I was proud to be a member of the INTO at the age of 19. It is where I got all my stubborn pugilistic skills. This is not the TUI, INTO or ASTI congress, where the Minister comes and makes a speech and hears certain motions from the floor. In a situation such as that, some of the concerns might be appropriate to raise but not in the Parliament. There is a separation of powers between these Houses and the Executive. We are a priori and paramount. This is what my grandparents fought for in the War of Independence. It is why the Oireachtas, Dáil and Seanad were established. I ask the Minister of State to communicate this to the officials because I am assuming it was an official who drafted this. It is like something out of "Yes Minister". It is Civil Service-ese.”
“A lot of the concerns set out put the cart before the horse. It is this idea that people cannot legislate because there is a standard operating procedure in a Department. That is neither here nor there. This is vocational house and we try to make a positive contribution for the common good based on our life experience and our professional experience. We have had Ministers come in here with time delays that have no logic when the concerns raised could be dealt with in Committee Stage debates. These are technical measures that are taken to undermine the basic principle of the House. It undermines us but it also undermines the Government as legislators and people who have been elected and have a mandate to represent the people and the common good. As I say, this is not Liberty Hall. This is not the INTO headquarters.”
“However, having read the Bill, it would be remiss of me not to highlight a number of issues and unintended consequences that would arise if the Bill is enacted as it currently stands. So far, that is fine. It is an observation. We all know we are going to work together. The Minister, who I assume did not draft this herself and that it was drafted by her officials who, unfortunately are not here, raised concerns about negotiations taking place, IR processes and so on. This is the apparatus of State. It is the Executive and its outworkings. This is a Legislature. I am sure we are all familiar with the separation of powers. Senators Harmon, Cosgrove, Noonan and Stephenson are not trade union officials at a congress putting forward motions while the Minister sits and listens. This is Parliament. We are here to legislate.”
“As a parent of a child with additional needs, I cannot speak highly enough of the SNAs who allowed my son to realise his full potential and allowed him to have his fundamental right to an education and participation in society. I commend the Bill and I commend the SNAs. I thank the Minister for not opposing the Bill. Without prejudice to the Cross-Party Group and the engagement they will have with the Minister, I take issue with some of the remarks she made. I am assuming the remarks were drafted for her. I would appreciate it if the Minister of State could communicate some of my concerns around this. The Minister stated regarding the Bill: I absolutely believe the intention of the legislation is good.”
“I did my leaving certificate when I was 16 and the teacher training was a three-year course, so I was just barely older than the children I taught in a national school in Lucan called Scoil Mhuire in the Woodfield Heights and Airley Heights area. It was what we called a scoil leath-thumtha. We taught the core curriculum trí Ghaeilge and other subjects through English. I am familiar with Sophie's experience and journey. As a person who was a young teacher, I really appreciate the work that teachers do and that SNAs do. I had 37 children in the class at the time. We did not have SNAs back in the 1980s. I really appreciate the work they do.”
“I am very grateful to Senators Harmon, Cosgrove, Stephenson and Noonan from the Cross-Party Group for tabling the Bill. I thank everybody here and our guests. I have been lobbied very intensively and very effectively by people, including Samantha O'Flanagan. In terms of my own interest in the Bill, a long time ago, more than 40 years ago, I went to Coláiste Mhuire in Marino, coláiste de chuid Choláiste na Tríonóide. Rinne mé céim san oideachas trí mheán na Gaeilge chun a bheith i mo mhúinteoir bunscoile. I went to Trinity College through the school of education in Coláiste Mhuire. I was a primary school teacher.”
“I think it is okay to talk about workforce planning and legal or illegal immigration because they are legitimate concerns. When one nationality or ethnic group is identified in a pejorative fashion, that group is subjected to hostile scrutiny. That is hate speech. Do the MEPs agree?”
“We are in breach of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The HSE, in a letter it sent to an elderly woman trying to look after her adult child with Down's syndrome, told her that she is legally responsible to "indefinitely" accommodate and care for her child until she dies. That applies in the case of children aged up to 18 years, students aged up to 23 years and disabled citizens until the parent dies. This flies in the face of the people. Can the MEPs get me in front of the disability platform in advance of Ireland talking over the Presidency? Can they get me in front of the European Disability Forum, EDF? Can they facilitate me to address the mechanism for reporting on the EU's disability strategy for the period 2021-2030? Do the MEPs think it is okay to talk about pay inequality in a country?”
“The MEPs are very welcome. I know the sacrifice they make in terms of lost time with their families when it comes to operating in Strasbourg and Brussels. I thank them for their public service. We are well represented in Europe, notwithstanding the differences we might have. On disability rights, in advance of our Presidency, Ireland is in an outlier in the European Union. We do not have legal rights to services, supports or therapies for disabled citizens. We are the only country in the EU without that. We are in breach of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. We are in breach of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU. Ireland is in breach of principle 17 of the European Pillar of Social Rights, specifically as it applies to dignity, services and participation.”
“That includes the provision of accommodation until you die." That is not good enough. What is going on? Senators must talk to their Ministers at their parliamentary party meetings. What is the Government doing? It is turning back the clock. The objective circumstances of living for disabled citizens are deteriorating. In advance of our Presidency of the European Union, I will be talking to the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights about this absolute disgrace and the manner in which the Government is abandoning families. It is flying in the face of the people who, in the largest ever vote in a referendum - 75% - rejected the previous Government's Dickensian wording. Yet, the Government persists.”
“I have a letter here from a head of service in the HSE to a mother who had to bring her adult child with Down's syndrome to an emergency department because she could not cope any more as she is too old. The letter she got from the HSE states she should be aware "there is a legal obligation for parents to support their child financially if the child is dependent", and that this applies to all children to the age of 18, and to 23 if in education, but "indefinitely if the child has a disability". The previous Government failed to get that wording into the Constitution on the advice of the Attorney General. Now, this Government is trying to introduce this abandonment of families with disabled citizens. The letter continued: "Accordingly, you are legally obliged to support your daughter.”
“Yet, nobody has been held to account, either for the spinal or urology waiting lists where teenage boys and girls are being denied routine urological surgery interventions, meaning that they become infertile, their little reproductive organs cannot develop properly or they become incontinent as teenagers. The risk that they are exposed to renal cancer, colon cancer, testicular cancer is increased many times because of the lack of these interventions. What is going on? When it comes to intellectual disability, we discover there is now a pause, one designed to destroy the few supports available for neurodivergent and neurodiverse children in our schools. What is going on? I will tell the House what is going on.”
“His heart is pushed into a part of the chest cavity where the heart is not normally found. He had to go undergo surgery as an anaesthetic risk to be manually extubated after almost eight hours of surgery by an anaesthetist because if he had gone to intensive care intubated, he would not have made it. All of this is predictable and avoidable. Children's Health Ireland, CHI, presented last week at a conference of the Irish Hospital Consultants Association, IHCA, congratulating itself on its move to the children's hospital, which is probably the most expensive hospital in the world and in the history of humanity.”
“I raise the issue of disability again in this House. What is happening on the watch of this Government? It campaigned on a note of disability in the general election after the previous Government lost the care referendum. The wording of that referendum was designed to indemnify the State from any responsibility towards disabled citizens and their inalienable fundamental human rights. It was defeated by 75% of those who voted. Here we are, having campaigned on a disability platform, we find that 500 spinal surgeries have been cancelled in the past two years. That is two every week. Every single one of those cancellations is a family like mine, with a 17-year-old son struggling for breath because his spinal curve is so pronounced that his lungs are compressed.”
“That is a missed opportunity and a failure here. I commend the Government’s attempts to deal with this but we need to do more. We have to declare this an emergency and mobilise the assets of the State in the manner that we did for the financial crisis.”
“Approximately 1,500 disabled citizens under the age of 65 are inappropriately placed in nursing homes in Ireland, some of them for as long as 20 years, because they cannot get accessible housing units. Does the Bill reinforce or correlate with the provisions in the national housing strategies for people with disabilities from 2011 to 2016 and from 2016 to 2021 and the newly published national strategy for housing for disabled citizens up to 2027? Are disabled citizens protected or enhanced in any way? Has the Bill been referenced to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities? Is it commensurate with the legal requirements the State has in relation to participation in society and inclusion in communities for disabled people? I have had a cursory look at the Bill and it does not.”
“While I recognise this is an attempt to deal with some of the fundamental, underlying causes of rent insecurity and the fear of being evicted, it has echoes going back to the 19th century when we looked for fair rent, fixity of tenure and freedom to move. Imagine, here were are in the 21st century and over a period of maybe two decades, we have lost those principles. The concept of house ownership, fixity of tenure and fairness of rent has evaporated. Respectfully, I absolutely accept the Minister’s sincerity and his bona fides. I know the Government is trying to do something about this but it is not enough. My questions about disability are as follows. Does this Bill protect disabled citizens? One in four homeless people is disabled. On average, disabled citizens are on the waiting list for social housing for in excess of ten years.”
“I come from a Finglas where hundreds of thousands of people like me have made a valuable and worthwhile contribution to Irish society. For people who do not have a roof over their heads or are in insecure rental accommodation or in a family hub or homelessness provision, that human capital is lost. My father was a garda. He put five of us through university on a garda's wage. He was also able to buy a house in the community he policed. The average rents in Dublin of €2,178 per month in the city centre and €2,320 per month in the greater Dublin area put such rental accommodation beyond the reach of teachers, gardaí, nurses and most public servants.”
“In 1970, before Ireland joined the European Union, before we had a pot to produce something into and when Ireland was still the land of the candlestick and the pitchfork, we were building thousands and thousands of social and affordable housing units every year. I remember standing on Ballygall Avenue in Finglas with my sister in 1970 and seeing prefabricated housing units on the backs of lorries at the end of Ballygall Avenue going through Finglas village to Finglas south and Finglas west. My sister thought they were dolls’ houses. They were not perfect. Finglas south, Finglas west and other parts of Finglas have had social problems but at least people had a home. They had a roof over their heads. For human capital, you absolutely must have a home in order to thrive and to make a contribution to society.”
“We have to recognise that this is a crisis that requires an emergency response and emergency intervention. The homeless crisis fits the definition of what constitutes an emergency as set out by the Government in 2007 in a booklet that went to every home in the country. We have an emergency, a crisis, but I do not see the assets of the State mobilised in the manner in which they should be in order to respond to this emergency as they were in the financial crisis, for example, when we had the intellectual honesty to recognise that our financial system had become so dysfunctional that it required the Irish citizens to bail out the banking debt, so the debt was socialised. If we could do that for financial institutions, surely we can do it for our citizens in regard to the provision of affordable and social housing. I grew up in Finglas.”
“To buy a two-bedroom house or apartment, he or she needs to be in the top 1% of earners within the EU. This basically puts a home or an apartment beyond the reach of most Irish citizens. I have a 25-year-old, a 24-year-old man who is disabled, a 21-year-old-daughter and an 18-year-old son and they cannot reasonably expect to own a home within the next five to six years. All of the life decisions that they would like to make are out of their control. We know that shelter is a functional prerequisite for human self-actualisation. In Maslow's hierarchy of needs, shelter is right there among the top. If as a society and a political collective, we cannot provide shelter and homes for our citizens, it is by definition a dysfunctional society.”
“I am going to address the Bill from the perspective of disabled citizens. I will make some brief points and leave some questions for the Minister in regard. I acknowledge the points that the Senator made about the construction of houses. I know that we have not reached the targets that were set out. As a father to four adult children aged from 25 down to 18, I do recognise and acknowledge that an effort is being made to address the building of social and affordable housing. However, it is also clearly and patently not enough and I imagine that is something that we all agree on. There are 16,900 homeless people in Ireland and the homelessness phenomenon is intimately linked to the provisions of this Bill because in order to buy a one-bedroom house or apartment in Dublin, a person needs to be in the top 10% of earners in the EU.”
“I commend my colleagues in Sinn Féin and across the Civil Engagement Group and the Cross-Party Group. We are here to be constructive and to advance the public interest. We would like to work with the Minister on that but I ask for no more of these timed amendments. They are cynical and beneath the Government.”
“When the Minister is talking to her colleagues in Cabinet, I ask her to say that this 18-month time delay is not useful, constructive or necessary and that it is creating stress and frustration in what is properly an already arduous process. There are five Stages to getting a Bill through this House. Without timed amendments, Senator Ryan's Bill might have got to Final Stage before the next general election. This time delay does not serve the purposes of these Houses. It does not just undermine us, but everyone in this House. We are all here on a mandate. In saying all of this, I do not mean anything personal. However, I suspect the Minister shares my unease about her being directed to come here and delay this by 18 months. To reiterate, all of the concerns the Minister has raised can be addressed at the various stages.”
“To reference Quentin Tarantino, this is "Kill Bill". That is the design and intent of this. All of the issues the Minister has raised can be dealt with on Committee Stage. That is what this House is designed for. That is what we are all about. Then we see these time delays introduced. Everyone spoke very articulately and I know we are all on the same page here and want to do the right thing but there was nothing in what the Minister said that intellectually justifies this 18-month delay so I have to ask myself what is the purpose of it. I hope we can continue and progress in a collegial and constructive way. We see the division in other parliaments and the damage it does to polity and public trust in politics.”
“This is the second time that I have seen it. Similar amendments have been applied in respect of other ideas coming forward. What is the purpose of the Seanad? It is to discuss and debate. It was originally designed in order that people could bring life experience to the Houses, advance the national discourse, try to do good and intervene positively. At a time when public trust in politics and politicians is being eroded, we are seeing these time delays being used. I know this is an instruction from Cabinet. From having dealt with the Minister, I know she is a person of absolute integrity. If I may be so bold as to say so, from her body language the last time this happened and even here today, I think she is probably uncomfortable with this deep down. It is a very paternalistic and cynical instrument to delay the passage of a Bill.”
“When the Government time delays by 18 months, it closes down that discussion. I remind the House that this is not a polarised Parliament. Westminster is very polarised. It has led to very undesirable and antidemocratic outcomes. Washington has become polarised. We are not polarised; we are collegial. I have a question for Senator Byrne. How many Private Members' Bill slots will Senator Ryan get in the next 18 months or two years? It is probably one. The use of this guillotine and time delay is meaningless in the context of how we might improve, amend or ameliorate the Minister's concerns about the Bill. I just had to laugh. I have the Order Paper. On page 132 scheduled for Christmas Day 2026 is a Second Reading of the Disability (Personalised Budgets) Bill 2024. Welcome to the club. The Government time delayed my Bill for 18 months.”
“I thank the Minister for coming along this evening. I commend my colleague, Senator Ryan and Sinn Féin on proposing this Bill. I am not going to go over the discussion that has just taken place, but will rather address the instrument by which the Government is using to delay or postpone the Bill. The Government has time amended the Bill for 18 months. To echo Senator Ryan's question, why is it 18 months? Why not six or 12 months? This is a Parliament parley. It is where we come together to talk and discuss. It is the Oireachtas - a gathering of people to discuss. All the issues were set out by Senator Murphy O'Mahoney very articulately and by the Minister about the concerns and clarifications. Can they not be addressed on Second, Committee or Report Stages? That is what they are for.”
“She was part of the south Dublin brigade of the IRA. She came to live with us and she looked after me, and she was probably what we would call today a dissident republican. Because of my mother's difficulties, I got quite the education as part of my republican formation. Senator Rabbitte mentioned strong women. In the time that I have been here, there are not enough of them, but there are great women in this Parliament, in both Houses. I commend the great women of the Cross-Party Group, and Senator Noonan, on this initiative. I commend my colleagues across all the parties who have shown great solidarity in this regard. I congratulate Senator Cosgrove on the Bill. I am delighted to hear that the Government has committed to support her and work with her. It is something that will benefit all of us - men, women and society as a whole.”
“In the absence of an teaghlach, it is really important that we have these supports. I conclude by saying my mother, Bláithín McIntyre, experienced some difficulties after her last pregnancy and she took to the bed, which we now know probably meant that she had post-natal depression. This was in Finglas in 1969 and the Holy Faith nuns, after talking to my older sisters, knew that my mum was in difficulty so they took me into St. Canice's Girls' National School. At the age of three, the nuns took me into the national school, and I spent the best part of a year in junior infants with the girls there. It had a very important formative effect on me. Again, on how the community steps in, that is when my grandmother came to live with us. Máiréad Begley was from Kerry and was a member of Cumann na mBan during the War of Independence.”
“However, women today, Irish women who are having babies, go from - and the throughput is very fast, one can be out of the Coombe or Holles Street very quickly, they can be home within 24 to 48 hours. There is then a period of isolation which is unnatural. Irish women are expected not only to carry the economic burden of this Republic and to participate fully in our economic activity, but to carry the burden of child rearing and everything that childbirth brings in the postnatal space. As a parent, I have experienced parental bereavement with our little girl Liadain, and I know from working with Senator Ryan and my great colleagues across all the parties, that the postnatal period, whatever the situation is, can be very complex and challenging and demanding.”
“I thank the Minister of State for coming along today. I am here to support my colleagues in the Cross-Party group and Senator Cosgrove for this Private Member's motion. I also want to thank the Government for not opposing it, but more importantly, for supporting this motion on maternal mental health supports. I want to say, as a man and as a father, I have had five children and have been in and out of the Coombe plenty of times, as well as Holles Street hospital. It is a very fast-moving, tough environment for everybody, and all sorts of unexpected and unanticipated outcomes arise. In the past, as a species, when we had babies we had the extended family, what our Constitution, Bunreacht na hÉireann refers to as “an teaghlach”, the household. We had grandparents, aunts, neighbours and so on and they would all step in and support.”