Marie Moloney (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I would like to condemn in the strongest possible terms the abuse to which a young man, Jack Grealish, has been subjected over the last couple of hours simply because he has not agreed to sign up with the Irish team. It just goes to show how dangerous social media can be. It really needs to be regulated. The use of false names and pictures on Twitter, in particular, by people who do what they like could destroy this young man's confidence and career. Indeed, it could destroy whatever chance there is of his playing for Ireland. I suggest, for want of a better pun, that we should put the boot on the other foot. If this was happening the other way around, and the English authorities wanted a young man who was born and raised in Ireland to play for their team, how would Irish people feel if English people were subjecting him to this kind of abuse? We would be up in arms over it. I strongly condemn the abuse that Jack Grealish is receiving.

I agree with Senator Darragh O'Brien that we need a debate on the health service. I suggest that we focus particularly on the crisis in the nursing sector. Senator O'Brien and I know well that we can call for the Minister to come in, but it is obvious that he will not be available at short notice. While I will not be supporting the Senator's amendment today, I support his call for a debate. For once, the shortage of nurses, which is a feature of the current nursing crisis, is not a matter of funding. That is particularly true in the psychiatric services. We should do whatever we can to encourage and entice our young nurses to come back to this country and work here. I know of an Irish woman who has come back to live in this country, having trained as a nurse in America and spent 12 years working in a hospital there, but is unable to register with An Bord Altranais. Given that she is 40 years of age, it is scandalous that she needs to do four more years of college. We should be helping people like this and getting them into the workforce.