Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I express my solidarity with the women of Poland who engaged in a public strike on Monday to register their justified opposition to the measures currently being debated in the Polish Parliament to further restrict access to abortion in a country that already places significant barriers to women who need to access an abortion. It is unacceptable that an abortion access regime that already only allows abortion where a pregnancy carries a risk to health or life or results from rape or incest, or where there is fatal foetal abnormality, should need to be tightened. It is cruel and degrading and I applaud Polish women across 60 cities for the strike action they engaged in on Monday.

I also acknowledge solidarity with the kids who are outside protesting today. They are very vibrant and are screaming and hanging off the railings, all aged about six or seven. They are protesting about the school for which they have been waiting ten years to be built, which is called St. Mochta's. I would like other Senators to go out and support the children today.