Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I join Senator Conway-Walsh in expressing sympathy to all of those who were caught up in the appalling tragedy of the awful fire at the Grenfell Tower in London. We are still seeing reports of increasing numbers of people having been killed. I send sincere sympathies to all of those who are bereaved by the tragedy. I agree that it would be useful to have a debate on the state of housing stock in respect of fire safety and especially on the practice of cladding blocks of apartments, which clearly has particular implications in the Grenfell Tower tragedy. I understand we are still waiting to see what exactly was the cause of the fire and of it spreading so fast, but it seems that quite a number of experts have suggested that the cladding was a big factor. I also wish to express sympathy to the family of the man who was killed in the Finsbury Park mosque attack.

All of us in the House would also like to express sympathy to the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Katherine Zappone, on the sad loss of her wife, Dr. Ann Louise Gilligan. The Minister was a colleague in this House prior to the last general election.

I join Senator Catherine Ardagh and others in their comments on the process of the appointment of the outgoing Attorney General, Máire Whelan, to the Court of Appeal. It is rich to hear Fianna Fáil criticising the practice of cronyism, but certainly the process of the appointment appears to have been deeply flawed. I join my own party leader, Deputy Brendan Howlin, in calling for that decision to be reviewed, as he did last Friday.

In the context of the announcements today by the Taoiseach, Deputy Leo Varadkar, I ask for a debate on women in politics. I join others in wishing him well as Taoiseach but I was very disappointed to see the lack of commitment to ensuring we have a more balanced gender representation among Cabinet and Ministers of State. Many of us thought the Taoiseach might use the Minister of State appointments today as a means of addressing the imbalance that exists in the Cabinet. It is very disappointing that there was not more promotion of women in the Cabinet, but in the Minister of State appointments the Taoiseach has missed an opportunity by demoting one very able woman and not promoting any new women to the ranks of the Ministers of State. For one who has very overtly and explicitly modelled himself on Emmanuel Macron and Justin Trudeau, I believe it is a terrible shame that the Taoiseach has missed this opportunity. Those two leaders in France and Canada have explicitly moved to ensure better gender representation in their Cabinets by their choice of Ministers. It is a real shame and a missed opportunity that the Taoiseach, Deputy Varadkar, has not done the same in Ireland. I ask the Leader for a debate on the need to ensure the promotion of women in politics, to ensure enhanced gender balance among our political representatives, and to ensure support for the Women For Election group, an organisation that has done a significant amount to bring women forward and to support women in running for political office. It is very important.

Finally, I join Senator Higgins in wishing everyone a happy World Refugee Day.