Ruth Coppinger

So the Minister has confidence in the clinical lead, or does she not?

Okay.

I am sorry; I will clarify. Parents and advocates are asking about three particular issues in this regard. First, they want to know if the Minister has confidence in the clinical lead. Second, which I do not think she referred to either, is she aware of any other devices that have been used in an off-label way - parents have said this - and inserted into children? Third, we all know that it is not…

The last thing we need are people on hunger strike outside the gates of Leinster House, especially people who were incarcerated by this State, some of them as children, for 16 years. I cancelled what I had planned to raise today because I met those people - the three women and one man - yesterday. The things they are looking for are so basic it is embarrassing. These include access to the HAA card…

-----these people out of the usual redress and this is why they are outside the gates. We need action.

Do you think they have not? Get a grip.

16. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on climate action, environment and energy will next meet. [49986/25]

I want to welcome the families and relatives to the Gallery. They are here because of what is happening in Palestine. Yesterday, a nurse was shot on the job. I have seen kids carrying other kids on their backs. It is a common sight. The worst I saw was a kid carrying a shrouded dead sibling on their back. The fact that governments have allowed this genocide to happen is a stain on the world. This…

There are other people who cannot go to the shop.

No, I cannot. I am suffering this every day.

I suffer drones over my head.

103. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Transport for an update on a direct route from the Dublin 15 area to Dublin Airport; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51872/25]

I note Fianna Fáil had a meeting on drones in Dundrum. My question relates to a direct bus route from the greater Blanchardstown area to Dublin Airport. Thousands of people work in the airport and many people have to get to it. Recently, Ongar Tidy Towns has been informed by the NTA that the expected roll-out of an N8 service has now been delayed for at least two years.

Fair play to the civil servant who padded out that answer for the Minister because my question was not about BusConnects. Rather, it was about a specific issue. The Minister dealt with that issue in a couple of sentences and the information is very similar. They have been told the project will be delivered in quarter 3 of 2026, which is next year. Given that people have been told it is subject to …

A taxi from Ongar to Dublin Airport costs €50 to €65, for example. That is what passengers are being forced to spend. We could eliminate 10,000 to 20,000 car journeys immediately by introducing a direct bus route. It should be an absolute priority. Residents have suggested that the Minister might consider extending the W4 route to the airport until the N8 is finally rolled out. Realistically, they…

Why is the red carpet being rolled out for the NFL in this State this weekend? Why is every second level school in the State being supplied with an American football starter pack and flag for a sport steeped in militarism, racism and macho culture? Why has the Irish Government agreed to fork out €10 million to allow the richest sports league in the world to play a game in Croke Park? This is for N…

The NFL is a model for how sport has been hijacked for propaganda and profit and playing on grounds that are meant to be amateur and a community space. It is an absolutely rotten sport to be promoted in this country.

We have our own sports.

And so the Minister ignores all the issues I have raised about racism, militarism and Palestine then.

I am extremely frustrated that we are here on the cusp of October making statements in the Dáil when the election was last November. It is outrageous that the Government has not got its act together to produce a number of Bills over the summer. Even the Minister of State’s party colleague is taking her to task on this issue. We are talking about this important health issue for young people but no …

The annihilation of Gaza is apparently under way. We are seeing a ground attack, the blowing-up of high-rise buildings and the orphaning of children. I am in an Ireland-Palestine solidarity WhatsApp group in Dublin 15. The videos Gazan people are sharing are absolutely chilling. We are in a new phase of the genocide. There is a global day of action today. There will be a protest at the Dáil at 4.3…

-----will the Irish Government now act unilaterally? The UN has now come out and said that this is officially genocide. The Government is legally obliged. With this body coming out with that recommendation, no more excuses are available to any government. Will the Government, for example, pass the occupied territories Bill in full, undiluted, and not just tell us that it will report back? It shoul…

Over the summer there was a series of attacks, apparently particularly directed against the Indian community. We had the case of an Indian man in Tallaght who was attacked, beaten and humiliated. He had clothing removed from him and there was the age-old racist trope of accusing somebody of colour of being violent. They were trying to accuse him of being a paedophile and there was absolutely no ev…

It is very important we call that out-----

------that they are also echoing the far right as well.