Máire Devine

Hear, hear.

With paltry sick leave and a living wage kicked to touch, in his contribution, the Minister did not do an awful lot to instil confidence. His first point was that "nothing prevents parties who wish to exercise their right to collectively bargain". He can tell that to the 700 workers in Covalen. I do not think they would find that very comforting at all. Trade unions are the only organisations that…

It is time Bill was dealt with. It is good to see that the Minister has acted on the prompting of my colleague Deputy Ó Snodaigh. It is good to have this debate in the Chamber. I thank everybody who has got it to this stage, including the guys up in the Gallery who have pushed for it. The Minister promised this would happen in February but he has acknowledged that he is a few weeks behind. I hope …

Oh, that is nasty.

What about the flats? There is one minute to go.

Withdraw that remark.

Say sorry.

How many female TDs do you have sitting on that side?

"Responsible" seems to have been the mantra from the other side all throughout the day as well as talk of how great those TDs all are but the Government did not read the room. It hid, it dithered and it ignored for months on end people who were trying to get it to listen to them about the hardships they were going through. The fuel issue last week was the straw that finally broke the poor camel's …

The Government has lost the confidence of the people. Certainly, it lost the confidence of this side of the House a long time ago.

What does that mean?

It is timely that the young women in the Gallery are here. I wish them a céad míle fáilte. It just feels a little bit late for me as it is ten days after International Women's Day. I know it is to do with the schedule but it kind of reflects women's place. All the recent research that has come out in the last week and our own research from the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, Women's Aid and internatio…

I am a bit astounded by the Minister's response. I do not think it sets the tone. She is really doing herself a disservice. She is doing the Government a disservice. Most of all, she is doing all those people in the Gallery a complete and utter disservice. She has attacked the vulnerable. Why is it that the vulnerable get attacked time and again? These people have fought, rallied, protested, campe…

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." Hello to all the activists and supporters in the Gallery this evening as well as those who cannot be here. I thank them for all their support in helping us prepare for this important proposed legislation. Céad míle fáilte. My heart goes out to all those who have been victimised by sexualised AI deepfakes. I know this Bill cannot repair the treme…

I thank all those who contributed. I also thank the stakeholders involved. We have come a long way from Bebo. That is a flashback. The Minister mentioned that the Attorney General thinks the existing definition is okay. The stakeholders and victims feel it is not, but that is for us to work out at the committee. We can discuss the matter, listen to people's opinions and come to a conclusion on the…

Deputy Daly and I do not often agree. In fact, we very rarely agree, but I say "Well done". He articulated the concerns for this generation - our new generation - going forward with the explosion of AI and social media and all that stuff that is really scary. It is good, but most of it is scary for young minds and bodies. We really need to grab hold of it. I ask the Minister of State to push this …

Am I finished now?

Okay. Very quickly, then, I just wanted to say-----

-----that mental well-being is a community concern.

In September, we celebrated the tenth anniversary of The Tree of Hope. It is community, not necessarily professional. It has to be me, you and everybody.

That went very quickly.

What does that mean?

I remind the Minister of State of the issues I raised in respect of Crumlin hospital.

Answer the question.

Of the many laughable statements and assertions made by Fine Gael in yesterday's budget press release, the most pathetic was from the "Beyond GDP - Quality of Life Assessment" section. According to it, "wealth inequality in Ireland has declined over time, reflecting rising assets for those in the middle of the wealth distribution and falling liabilities for those at the bottom." It also claimed th…