Marie Sherlock

I am working on the basis of what was said to The Complex.

I think this is the third time this week that I have risen to talk about support for arts and cultural spaces, not only here in Dublin but across the country. Since I came into the Houses five years ago, and I am sure Deputy Boyd Barrett is the exact same, I have spoken out about the closure of arts spaces and studios, particularly here in Dublin, because the reality is that culture cannot compete…

What screams back at me from this reply from the Department is that there are no ideas about how to support and secure the future of a place such as The Complex. There is a fobbing off or passing the buck to the local authority. A capital scheme was referenced in the reply. Anybody who has any notion about any of our communities across the country would know that €300,000 was totally insufficient …

I very much thank Deputy Cullinane and Sinn Féin for bringing forward this very important Bill. I express real disappointment that the Government is opposing this legislation. We have to be honest here. As recently as September, the Secretary General of the Department of Health talked about the Department remaining committed to achieving the Sláintecare targets of ten weeks for outpatient appointm…

My question is on that same topic because I understand the Minister attended two meetings with both members of the board and management of the Complex, along with the former Minister, Paschal Donohoe, over the past number of months. He is obviously very familiar with the situation. The Complex's ask is very simple, in that it has secured funding from DCC and it has a loan but the third part of the…

I suspect I will be raising a lot of the issues Deputy Whitmore raised. I am coming to this from a position of enormous frustration because of the lack of co-ordination and planning within the Department of education in tandem with the Department of Health over many years. The parent notify system, in theory, is great. I know the date was, of course, brought forward this year to allow both Departm…

I thank the Minister of State for that. We all appreciate the expansion in the number of places but the reality is that there was a time when Ministers here would get up and say that one did not need an assessment of need and that the education system did not need a diagnosis to provide additional support. Of course, that is the case for special schools but what we are seeing now is a potential de…

I move: That Dáil Éireann: recalls that it is now a decade since the passage of the Gender Recognition Act 2015; notes that: — trans healthcare in Ireland is consistently ranked as the worst in Europe, with over 2,000 people on a waiting list for healthcare; — stories from transgender people constantly highlight how Ireland's flawed healthcare system is not working, with invasive and insensit…

This is disgusting.

The Deputy has time to speak to the motion.

The Deputy has time to speak to the motion.

Great.

What is he on about?

Deputy, we just want to hear-----

In January 2024, the Taoiseach's Government committed to a public information campaign on the benefits of immigration. Why has this not happened? Has that plan now been abandoned? I heard the Taoiseach's comments earlier. The reality is that some migrants are more welcome than others, judging by the changes to the family reunification system last week. Migrants are the backbone of many sectors in …

Yes, but you promised-----

Go raibh maith agat a Chathaoirligh. I thank the Minister of State for taking this question. We had to postpone to tonight so he could be in the Chamber to take this. My question relates to commercial vehicle roadworthiness testing centre operators and tester regulations. I very much support improvement and adherence to the highest standards regarding commercial vehicle testing. I also very much s…

I hear a very clear admission by the Department that the directive does not set out specific criteria regarding a drive-through lane. The business I am talking about serves Dublin's docklands. Businesses from Tipperary and other parts of the country bring their vans to be tested there because they are up in the docklands early in the morning and can get those vans tested during the day. It does no…

We move to the final Topical Issue tonight and it gives me great pleasure to be in the Chair as an issue relating to my home village is being discussed.

76. Deputy Marie Sherlock asked the Minister for Health the steps she is taking to protect the incomes of front-line healthcare workers who continue to suffer from long Covid and who are in receipt of the special scheme of paid leave, which is due to expire in the coming weeks; if she plans to protect these workers by extending this scheme or recognising long Covid as an occupational illness; and …

My question relates to the special sick pay scheme for Covid sufferers in the health service. As the Minister knows, it is expiring at the end of this year. We spoke about this in June. The Labour Court ruled that it should be extended to the end of the year. What interventions is the Minister making to ensure those 120-plus workers have decent financial support into 2026 in recognition of the fac…

Every long Covid sufferer out there will acknowledge that this scheme has been extended. They are very grateful that it has been kept going until now, but the reality is 159 healthcare workers are out there, including nurses, healthcare support workers, social workers and those working in mental health institutions, who face the prospect of a dramatic drop in income because of a condition they acq…

I do not think anybody is suggesting that full pay is sustainable into 2026 and beyond, but what should be sustainable for a small amount of money is a recognition that it is an occupational illness, with a new scheme put in place. The reality is that the science in 2021 suggested that people would be fully over long Covid at this stage. In June, I said I believed the Department was splitting hair…

I very much welcome our having these statements today, and the big breakthrough that has happened over the past week in terms of the agreement to the inquiry. Obviously, we have to see what the exact form of that inquiry will be. We have seen scandal after scandal in spinal services within CHI over many years. It is very welcome that there will now be a proper investigation of that. I know we have…

The fate of hundreds of thousands of young people, workers, families and those with a disability relies on what the Government will publish in its new plan for housing tomorrow. It is not a dramatic statement to say that young people are leaving our shores, workers with good jobs and decent incomes have zero hope of being able to buy, workers of all ages are condemned to a rental market with exorb…