Ruth Coppinger

What ruling?

I have not seen that.

I checked the Standing Orders.

There was nothing wrong with me raising what was in the public domain.

I wish to raise a matter of very serious importance, namely the use of pepper spray by An Garda Síochána. My concerns arise from what happened last Saturday at Dublin Port. A group of protesters went to the port in solidarity as we approach two years since the genocide in Gaza began, and in light of Ireland’s continued favourable trade with Israel. This was part of a global movement. In Italy last…

I hope I get the extra half minute now that the Minister of State got. I will tell the Minister of State what I agree with. I agree that this Government that is meant to support the Palestinian state has utterly failed to carry out action in the past two years to do that. It would not even pass the occupied territories Bill.

We are the second biggest trader with Israel.

It is true.

The Minister of State asked me a question. I totally agree that workers and young people throughout the world have been the only saving grace as this horrific genocide that we are seeing livestreamed on our phones each day has occurred. Only for the protest movements that are happening, there would be no action at all. The EU has been an utter disgrace throughout this and obviously the US has been…

Nobody would have to protest if the Government actually undertook and carried through its so-called support for Palestine. The injuries sustained include one person who has a broken wrist.

One young woman I know is on crutches. I got a phone call after and went down myself, and I actually saw a second round of pepper spray used. The impact on some of the people and the effect of it was absolutely horrific. I remind the Minister of State there is broad protection for the right to protest, nationally and internationally. If you are walking on a road or even if you are going to block a…

I absolutely do to stop a genocide. They were not blocking the port tunnel. They were up at the port. The Minister of State does not know what they were going to do because they were actually blocked by the Garda. They were not actually blocking anybody.

For a genocide? To block a road to stop a genocide? Absolutely.

Not every day, just one day

They were right; okay.

The Minister of State will not wait for any report. He will just-----

It is about gardaí breaking their own rules.

You are the one who has broken lots of laws with your housing and your properties.

It is disgraceful.

The disabled community is reeling in the aftermath of this budget. People are sharing ideas online of how they are going to spend the extra tenner a week. They are absolutely gutted by what the Government did. The Disability Federation of Ireland has called it a major setback. The Government's argument that it is providing services instead of allowing people to live independent lives is utterly in…

I know we are a smaller group, but one of the Ministers should be here on budget day to hear what the smaller groups have to say. I mean no offence to the Minister of State.

The absence of the Ministers is not a sign that there is an interest in what we have to say. An independent life is what we all aspire to. What hope can young people have of an independent life and a home of their own after this budget? Two thirds of people under the age of 35 live at home with their parents. What hope can a disabled person have? What hope can a family paying €3,000 euro on avera…

In the old days, housing figures came out and we took them to be public housing figures. I find it actually laughable in recent years the way the housing figures encompass everything that is built in the country and the Government takes the credit. I see this as the Government’s drive to reach the housing targets it missed by pumping money into private developers and construction companies in a de…

The Tánaiste made an infamous promise to parents in 2017 that nobody would be waiting for a scoliosis operation for more than four months. When are we going to reach that point? It seems that 226 children are on the CHI spinal surgery list. In August, 135 were actively waiting, ready to go. The numbers on the spinal outpatient lists are over 461. The CHI spinal surgery management unit said there a…

There are three issues. Does the Minister have confidence in the clinical lead of the paediatric spinal surgery management unit? This is the person who took Harvey Sherratt off the waiting list without parental knowledge or consent. How many other children were taken off the lists in that way? Second, does the Minister have any knowledge of any other medical devices that have been used in an off-…