Sorca Clarke

When the Irish people voted to repeal the eighth amendment, they voted to trust women and to trust the decisions they made about their own healthcare, their own bodies and their own lives. However, they also trusted legislators. They trusted them to listen to that O'Shea review when it came through and to act on the decisions or recommendations that came out of it. Ultimately, when repeal happened…

Thank you, Deputy.

Deputy Healy-Rae can follow up with the Minister in writing.

Thank you, Deputy.

Thank you, Deputy.

For almost three years, we have witnessed horrific destruction in Gaza and the suffering of the Palestinian people. Children have been killed, families buried under rubble, hospitals attacked and entire communities wiped from the map. We have seen starvation, displacement and collective punishment inflicted on a civilian population. When apartheid existed in South Africa and when war engulfed the …

You did.

I want to raise the case of a 54-year-old man in Athlone, a constituent of mine who has now spent six and a half months in Tullamore hospital without access to the treatment he requires. He was told he would be transferred to St. James's Hospital for specialist care but it has since transpired that there is no pathway or any arrangement in place for that to happen. His treatment in Tullamore is co…

The Minister has the details.

There is a deeply concerning and worrying direction of travel here. We have around 50% of the recommended beds nationally for CAMHS. That recommendation is contained in the Department's own mental health strategy. We know that CAMHS is already operating at half the capacity that experts said was needed almost 20 years ago. Against that backdrop, the proposed closure of the CAMHS unit in St. Vincen…

I have read some statements on this issue which are quite frankly very concerning such as "It will reopen if staff can be recruited". That is literally the job of the Minister of State and her senior Minister. I do not think it is reasonable to expect anybody whose child needs a CAMHS bed to accept that the Ministers may have woken up and suddenly realised they are in government. This is actually …

That is not a point of order.

That is not a point of order. If Deputy Healy-Rae has a complaint, there is a format for making it. This is not it and that is not a point of order. Please respect the Chair. If Deputy Healy-Rae has an issue with the Minister, there is a pathway for him to take it up. This is not it.

I am going to call this out for what it is, which is an abject failure of renters the length and breadth of this State. The Government's amendment is absolutely tone-deaf. It is the most layered piece of political spin I have ever seen put on paper. There have been 7,000 eviction notices in just three months, which is the highest number ever recorded. Thousands of families are living in fear and p…

In accordance with Standing Order 85(2), the division is postponed until the weekly division time on Wednesday, 20 May 2026.

I thank the Deputy.

I thank the Deputy.

Deputy Hearne-----

Deputy-----

Has the Deputy finished?

I am going to ask him to withdraw that comment.

I thank the Minister.

Thank you, Deputy.

The Minister to respond.

Thank you, Minister