Maire Devine (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

On behalf of the Sinn Féin team, I extend condolences and sympathies to the families, friends, and communities of Fintan Goss in Louth, Clare O'Neill in Waterford and Michael Pyke in Tipperary, and on other tragic losses in the wake of the destructive Storm Ophelia. I also convey our thanks to the front-line workers, the fire and ambulance crews, the accident and emergency staff, the ESB crews, and the local authority emergency teams. They make us proud.

I would like this House to congratulate the President-to-be from tomorrow of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, RCPI, Professor Mary Horgan. She will be the first woman to hold the post of President of the college in its 363 year history. She will be appointed tomorrow, and not before time.

I want to bring up the issues of the gender pay gap and pensions. Last December, the very first motion put forward by Sinn Féin's social protection team was on the 2002 pension changes which amended the pension system such that it saw women being more likely to lose out. They are far more likely to have smaller State pensions than their male counterparts and are less likely to have occupational or private pensions. I see there is a motion on the subject tabled by the Fianna Fáil Party which is to be discussed tomorrow night in the Dáil, and I welcome that, although it is a bit late. Fianna Fáil refused to supported our motion in December and got out of it by supporting an amendment instead. That amendment did not make a clear call and was useless. I hope Fianna Fáil will deal with urgency with the motion tomorrow night.

I raise the issue of the detention of the Catalan independence leaders. I would like the Leader to call on the EU to engage in urgent international mediation and dialogue. The EU espouses and likes to trumpet loudly the values of free speech, free association and democracy, but it seems to be silent at the moment.