Pádraig Rice

I move amendment No. 52: In page 26, line 32, to delete “a mental disorder” and substitute “mental health difficulties”.

I move amendment No. 55: In page 27, lines 9 and 10, to delete “a mental disorder” and substitute “mental health difficulties”.

I move amendment No. 57: In page 27, line 18, to delete “a mental disorder” and substitute “mental health difficulties”.

I move amendment No. 58: In page 27, line 25, to delete “a mental disorder” and substitute “mental health difficulties”.

I move amendment No. 59: In page 27, line 32, to delete “a mental disorder” and substitute “mental health difficulties”.

I move amendment No. 60: In page 29, line 6, to delete “a mental disorder” and substitute “mental health difficulties”.

I share the concerns expressed by others. The Mental Health Commission has recommended that a dedicated authorised officer unit be set up in the HSE. I would be interested in the Minister of State's thoughts on that. I share the concern regarding full-time officers. What resources will be put in place to ensure that happens? It is all well and good saying we should have people available 24-7, but…

I support the sentiments of previous speakers on enshrining wider assessment. If the Minister of State agrees this needs to be done but does not agree with the actual amendment, I encourage her to consider inserting a Report Stage amendment that will achieve something similar. I ask her to consider doing that on Report Stage, if she agrees this is worth doing and is worthwhile.

I move amendment No. 78: In page 33, lines 34 and 35, to delete “a mental disorder” and substitute “mental health difficulties”.

I move amendment No. 80: In page 33, lines 39 and 40, to delete “a mental disorder” and substitute “mental health difficulties”.

I move amendment No. 88: In page 35, lines 1 and 2, to delete “a mental disorder” and substitute “mental health difficulties”.

I move amendment No. 89: In page 35, line 4, to delete “a mental disorder” and substitute “mental health difficulties”.

I move amendment No. 117: In page 52, lines 7 and 8, to delete “a mental disorder” and substitute “mental health difficulties”.

The Minister of State mentioned ECTs in her remarks. The Social Democrats will oppose section 83 which allows for ECT for children. According to the Psychological Society of Ireland, it has not been used in the State on children in more than two decades. It is still contained in the Bill. I accept that ECT is subject to the approval of the High Court. We believe that it should never be used. In 20…

I echo everything said by Deputy Hearne. Nothing causes more frustration for people in housing need than seeing council houses boarded up. It causes huge frustration for people when they look out and see a house across the way that has been boarded up for weeks and months while they are living in an overcrowded house. Intergenerational families are stuck living together while there are houses acro…

I wish the best of luck to all those sitting State examinations - the junior and leaving certificate examinations - across the country. Sitting State examinations can be a challenging and gruelling experience but it can be extra challenging for those with additional needs and dyslexia. Unlike other countries and third level, the State does not provide additional time to students with dyslexia dur…

While I welcome the review, as I set out, we now have reports going back as far as 2008 that have called for this change to be made. Many people will view the Minister of State's answer as a delay. What we want is an answer on whether the Government will provide the additional time for students' exams that has been called for. It is ten minutes extra per hour in their exams. It is also worth sayi…

It is really hard to know where to start when it comes to CHI. The report that was published is shocking, disturbing and deeply upsetting for families across the country. It confirms what we have known and what we have said in the House for some time, that unnecessary surgeries took place on children. We know what happened and now we need to know why that happened. I have a list of questions as l…

What is happening in Gaza right now is horrific and unjust. Israel's actions are disturbing, disgusting and criminal. We are witnessing an evil that is difficult to comprehend. While Israel is blocking the provision of aid and while food is being withheld, Gaza is on the brink of famine. We cannot continue business as normal when Israel is allowing children to starve. As a TD, my job is to be a me…

Next week marks the tenth anniversary of the momentous marriage equality referendum, which was a landmark moment in our social and political history. Today, ILGA-Europe published its report ranking European countries on LGBT human rights and policy protections. Ireland was ranked 14th on that list, which is mid-ranking. There are significant gaps in access to trans healthcare, gaps around hate spe…

The waiting time for the driving test needs to be treated like the emergency it is. The situation is getting worse, not better. As of April, the average wait time for the Wilton driving test centre in Cork was 35 weeks. In March, the relevant figure was 31 weeks. For the test centre in Mallow, the average wait time is 36 weeks, which is nine months. These are not just numbers. They represent thous…

I first raised the issue of children enduring unnecessary hip surgeries with the Taoiseach in March. It is nearly two months later and we are still none the wiser about what went on. A draft audit of the surgeries in three hospitals between 2021 and 2023 has been in the public domain for months. That audit found a large portion of surgeries in two of those hospitals were potentially unnecessary. T…

115. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Health if her attention has been drawn to a series of investigative reports into transgender healthcare in Ireland (details supplied); if she will commit to reclassifying trans healthcare as part of sexual health rather than mental health, in line with the World Health Organization; to provide an update on the new model of care currently being develo…

I am deeply concerned about the state of transgender healthcare services. In 2022, Ireland was found to have the worst transgender healthcare services in all of the EU by Transgender Europe, TGEU. The only dedicated gender clinic has approximately 2,000 people on the waiting list. Only 162 were removed last year. Waiting times are between three years and ten years, which is not acceptable. The jou…

I thank the Minister. The pace of change is far too slow. This issue has been going on for many years. We need an acceleration and the delivery of high-quality services for people across the country. The current system is operating on an outdated model. As the Minister said, in 2019 the WHO reclassified transgender healthcare as a sexual health issue. Despite this, the services are still being tre…