Mark Ward

As we speak, there are boats on the way to Gaza, boats with aid for a starving population and with support for a population inflicted with genocide. The only arms on these boats are prosthetic arms for children who have lost limbs during this genocide. There are also 22 Irish civilians on these boats. One of them is my friend and comrade Senator Chris Andrews. I have been in regular touch with Chr…

Collinstown Football Club in my area is right at the heart of my community. There are 28 teams with over 400 players. Since 2019, it has been waiting for a dressing room from South Dublin County Council through a sports capital grant. Nothing happened until 2024 and the club had to apply for more money because of the delay which meant costs had spiralled. This football team, which caters for boys…

7. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on Health will next meet. [48903/25]

I acknowledge that the Minister of State mentioned legislation is coming down the line. This is really welcome but it cannot come soon enough. If it is sensible and gets to the core of the issue, the Minister of State will receive support on it. Again, as Deputy Graves said, we are again having statements. There is a vacuum, and when there is a vacuum it is like the Wild West when it comes to vape…

39. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence to provide details of the Government’s decision to remove the triple lock; if the UN General Assembly can sanction peacekeeping missions by bypassing a veto at the UN Security Council; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49268/25]

The EU studies have shown harm to reproductive health of people working in medical settings caused by nitrous oxide. These studies showed there is a decreased level of fertility in these workers. My fear is that people who are misusing nitrous oxide, also known as laughing gas, are taking much more concentrated doses than those who took part in these studies. There has also been a 175% increase in…

Migration must be managed in the context of Ireland. We should not simply allow it to be determined by global and domestic market forces. The Government must manage migration in a fair, efficient and enforced manner that has the best interests of the people of Ireland front and centre. The Government must consider Ireland's needs in terms of workers for key sectors such as health. I visited Galway…

I thank Deputy Paul Gogarty for bringing forward this motion and giving us an opportunity to discuss antisocial behaviour. I may not agree with everything in the motion but I do agree with its sentiments. Basically, something needs to be done to address antisocial behaviour. I agree with the Minister when he said that a lot of the stuff Deputy Gogarty spoke about was not antisocial behaviour but …

9. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on housing will next meet. [48902/25]

I do not know how the Taoiseach has done it but he has pulled off an amazing feat of illusion. Somehow the Taoiseach has normalised the housing crisis. I want to be clear that it is not normal for people to be still living in the back bedrooms of their parents' homes. It is not normal that rents have skyrocketed and that most young people feel they will not be able to buy their own home. It is not…

Dropping the 40,000-----

It is the first day back in the Dáil and it is important that we talk about Harvey Morrison Sherratt. Harvey was born with complex health conditions, including spina bifida and scoliosis. Harvey spent years on waiting lists for life-changing spinal surgery. Harvey died on 29 July this year. Harvey was just nine years of age. Harvey lived in my area of Clondalkin and, over the last couple of years,…

I join the Minister in commending the work of CAB over the years in seizing assets from organised crime gangs. I also join in his comments concerning An Garda Síochána taking drugs off our streets, which is very much needed. Sinn Féin supports the aims of this Bill, but as the Minister mentioned, there will be a Committee Stage and we may seek to table amendments to further strengthen it then. I w…

As the Minister of State said, this is the last Bill to be taken prior to the recess so I want to take this opportunity to thank all of the Oireachtas staff for all their work over the year, and let them know I will not be taking my full ten minutes and they might get out a little bit earlier. I am happy to speak on this important Bill. I thank my colleagues, Deputies Quinlivan and Daly, for the w…

He would not have minded.

What the hell?

The Bill before us is a Bill of optics to create an illusion that the Government is dealing with a health crisis that it created. It is like rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic or an old-fashioned three-card trick that moves people from list to list without getting them the necessary treatment at the end of it. I will give the Minister some examples. In 2015, there was an agreement to place …

-----but rests solely and squarely on the shoulders of Government for not providing public health nurses in Dublin Mid-West. I am calling for action now so that no more children fall through the cracks.

The parents are dead.

I am going to read out some statistics from last year. There were over 45,000 reports of domestic abuse to Women's Aid, over 22,000 contacts to the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, over 49,000 domestic abuse incidents recorded by gardaí and over 65,000 domestic abuse calls recorded by gardaí. Behind every single one of these statistics is a person and they are mainly women, like the women who are here i…

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to amend the Act of 1962, to provide for a verdict of Iatrogenic Suicide and related matters. Today Sinn Féin is introducing “Jake’s amendment” to amend the Coroners Act. This Bill will introduce the term “iatrogenic suicide” into the Act, allowing the coroner to return it as a verdict. Iatrogenic suicide refers to the ending of …

I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."

We have had this conversation many times about admitting children into adult psychiatric facilities. The Government had four years to get this right and it has failed. It is draconian. The practice is wrong. Every human rights organisation has said it is absolutely wrong. The Government also had four years to get the regulation of CAMHS in place. It is not in this Bill. It is literally not good en…

4. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration for an update on the criminal justice disregard of certain convictions related to consensual sexual activity Bill; when it will be completed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36639/25]

While most of the world celebrated Pride last week and this week, in Ireland there are still men who have criminal convictions for just being gay before 1993. Can I have an update on the Disregard of Historic Offences for Consensual Sexual Activity Between Men Bill 2025? When will it be completed and when will these men have their criminal convictions quashed?