Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Before I start, I wish to congratulate my constituency colleague, the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, and his wife, Caoimhe, on the birth of their new baby.

There is a lot to be discussed. When I was working on my speech and deciding what I was going to cover, I concluded there are a few key areas that come under the remit of my spokesperson role, but there is also a more substantive issue to discuss.

On climate, I do not believe the Government is doing enough to address climate change and to assist families and communities to make the changes we will expect of them. The entire carbon tax should be ring-fenced to assist families and should be for a just transition and not just the increases in the carbon taxes people are seeing year on year.

Implementation is also key on this issue. It is not just about the big figures. It is about whether people are feeling it on the ground. The Irish Timespoll should really ring alarm bells for the Government, because it shows there is a resistance to climate change measures among the community. People are not feeling support from Government in dealing with climate action, and people are seeing sticks from Government rather than policy carrots. That is a worrying feature.

On biodiversity, I acknowledge the work of the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, in the area and the fact that funding is now back to pre-financial crisis levels for the National Parks and Wildlife Service. However, that was a very low bar. We should have done much better even then, never mind two years following the declaration of a biodiversity emergency. Much more is needed and required, particularly given that the increase in funding for the National Parks and Wildlife Service this year, which is approximately €18 million, is less than what the greyhound industry got from the Government in this budget.

I welcome the provision of funding for workers in the childcare sector. It is to be hoped standards for workers in the childcare and early education sectors will be dealt with.

The Government has frozen unaffordable rents for parents. That represents a missed opportunity to invest in families across the country.

Those are the key areas I wanted to cover as part of my spokesperson role. When I was thinking about what I would talk about today, I spoke to a woman who is in her mid-80s, lives alone in a council house and relies on her State pension. I asked her what she thought about the pension. She told me a few euro here and there does not make much of a difference to her or people like her. She said what she wanted the Government to do is to collect all of that money and make a difference for someone or a particular group of people. Indeed, she asked me if I had heard the interview with Adam Terry yesterday. If Members have not listened to the interview, I would suggest they do so. It shone a light on a real stain on this country, namely, how we treat children like Adam.

Adam is ten years old and lives in Cork. I listened to the interview as he described how he rolls around on the ground and tries to crack his back to alleviate the pain he is in. He said he feels as if he is at the bottom of the barrel and everyone has forgotten him. He said he does not like to socialise anymore because he is afraid he will start crying when he is talking to his friends. He is ten years old. This is not the kind of experience we should expect our ten-year-olds to have to suffer.

I am probably in politics a short enough time to still believe we are all here to do good, and all Members got involved in politics to do good and help make things better for the country. If a Deputy is a Member of a Government that has repeatedly failed children like Adam, or a Government that is not moving heaven and earth to ensure Adam and children like him get the supports, treatment and health services they need, then I would have to ask why they are in government at all. I ask Members of the Government to ensure this is not their legacy. I am sure it is not what they wanted or envisaged as their legacy. I ask the Government to stop making parents go on national media and bare their private family lives to try to get help for their children. I ask the Government to let parents do what they should be doing, which is looking after their children and focusing all of their energy on their children and their children's health.

I wish the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science was still in the Chamber, because in 2017 when he was Minister for Health, he spoke on the issue of paediatric scoliosis waiting lists. He said the Government was going to get it fixed and described it as an "absolute priority". He said no child would longer than four months for treatment. That was 2017. It is now 2021. Adam is ten years old. He and children like him are still waiting.

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