Rose Conway-Walsh

I appreciate that the Bill before us will provide for revisions to corporate governance arrangements within the HSE. I welcome this. If ever an agency needed governance reforms, it was the HSE. There have been too many incidents of governance failures at this agency. I refer to the CervicalCheck scandal, which revealed 162 women were not informed about missed abnormalities in their smear tests; th…

The INMO is telling untruths, then. It is telling untruths, as it says there are not safe staffing levels. You can hold up whatever documents you like, Minister.

The Minister can hold up whatever document she likes, but I am telling her that there are not enough staff in Mayo University Hospital in the emergency department section to provide safe service there. I am also telling the Minister that it is a deterrent for so many people who want to, and probably need to, go to hospital. They want to do everything to stay out of hospital. Those nurses and other…

I am sorry but the Minister needs to get with the programme.

I welcome the establishment of the commission of investigation, which, unfortunately, is long overdue. The reality is that we will never know how many victims are not alive to see this day. Louise O'Keeffe had to fight tooth and nail to hold the State to account for the abuse she suffered. This Government and its predecessors have known for decades of the horrendous abuse endured by children who s…

Hear, hear.

Hear, hear.

The Minister's response is not good enough. It is as plain and simple as that. She should hear the stories of all the women in the Gallery. I am proud of my party colleagues, particularly Senator McCormack and my party president, Deputy McDonald, for bringing this motion before the House. It would never be brought to the House by the Government. Since the beginning of the Sinn Féin campaign to ac…

I am really glad the Minister of State, Deputy Seán Canney, is here, and the reason for that is the western rail corridor. He has always been committed to it. I commend him on how he worked when in opposition to secure the western rail corridor – first the link from Athenry to Claremorris and then the link from Claremorris to Collooney. Therefore, I do not need to tell him how important it is; he …

The fact we are here today discussing amendments so soon after the Government's watershed planning Act of 2024 confirms that it did not get the reforms right first time. Sinn Féin called for additional scrutiny back then and, par for the course, we were not listened to. The issues this Bill seeks to address should have been part of the discussions on the original legislation. Again, we are asking…

I commend the students who gathered outside the gates this evening and the students who are here this evening, including the new student union representatives, for pushing back against this desperate situation. Parents and students need to know how much they will be paying in nine weeks' time. They need to know this now. People have to budget. Members of this Government do not seem to get this but…

I thank my colleague, Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh, not only for bringing this motion to the House, but for the battle he continuously fights to protect our rebel history and respect our patriot dead and their families. Sinn Féin has set out a clear vision in Aengus's Bill to develop the 1916 cultural quarter in line with the Moore Street Preservation Trust. The GPO and the surrounding lanes and house…

At every turn, this Government chooses to denigrate our history. Why will it not name the new hospital after Kathleen Lynn? It would be a fitting tribute to the Mayo woman who served as the most senior ranking woman in the 1916 Rising, who set up Ireland's first children's hospital and who led efforts to eradicate TB. The Government should choose a fitting name for the national children's hospita…

Today marks a full year since the announcement of the appointment of Ms Bríd O'Flaherty as chairperson of the inquiry into the historical licensing and use of sodium valproate in women of child-bearing age. It is almost six years since the then Minister for Health announced the inquiry in November 2020. Why is the inquiry yet to commence? Thousands of women in Ireland were prescribed Epilim despi…

Six years on; it has to get started.

The recent “RTÉ Investigates” exposé was shocking and shameful and the sheer lack of compassion and respect shown to the residents in that programme was appalling. We can only imagine the pain they and their families suffered, as well as the worry it has caused to others as a result. I commend RTÉ, although it should not be up to RTÉ to expose these atrocities that are going on. My first question…

One hundred and forty-one countries enable their diaspora to vote. People living in my constituency and members of my own family can vote in the presidential elections. It is mind-boggling that Irish citizens in the North and our international diaspora cannot vote in presidential elections. The Minister of State said this will be looked at and that there is so much we agree on. We have to stop com…

1. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment if he will provide a list of companies operating in Ireland which are trading with or linked to companies located in occupied Palestinian territories; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33465/25]

My first question asks the Minister to provide a list of companies operating in Ireland which are trading with linked companies located in the occupied Palestinian territories. In 2020 the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights published a listing of all businesses involved in the illegal Israeli settlements. It was a highly significant development, naming those in the cor…

As I said, when that UN database was updated in 2023 several companies with offices in Ireland remained on it following the update. It is widely known that these include Airbnb, Booking.com and Tripadvisor. The International Court of Justice ruled in July 2024 that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories is unlawful, that Israel should put an end to the occupation, desist from creating new …

I take on board what the Minister is saying but last week a number of organisations, including the Global Legal Action Network, GLAN, and the Ireland Palestine Alliance launched a High Court action challenging the refusal of An Garda Síochána to investigate Airbnb Ireland and its senior executives for alleged activity in Israeli settlements. Surely companies must abide by international law as a pr…

3. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment if he will provide an update on his action plan on competitiveness and productivity. [33466/25]

I thank Deputy Lawlor for facilitating me as I must leave shortly to chair a meeting of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Defence and National Security. I ask the Minister to provide an update on the action plan on competitiveness and productivity. I am aware that the closing date for submissions to the public consultation on the action plan is tomorrow. I ask the Minister to provide information o…

I thank the Minister for that update and welcome the work that has been done. What engagement has the Department had with the unions on the action plan? My fear is that workers' rights will be sacrificed on the altar of productivity. We need to be very careful in this space to bring workers and businesses together and ensure that there is not further division and polarisation between them. I am af…

I am glad to hear the Minister say that. As he knows, Fine Gael having been in government for 14 years, indigenous businesses have so far been left behind. The figures for foreign direct investment speak for themselves. The Minister talks about competitiveness and he is not wrong in the figures he is putting forward. However, he dismisses the figures relating to the competitiveness of the regions.…