Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

In light of Senator Mulherin's concern about student accommodation I encourage her to support Deputy Eoin Ó Broin's Bill to address the exploitation of students.

I want to talk about the referendum and congratulate everybody involved and commend the people of Ireland who came out in huge numbers to vote. I commend Senator Ivana Bacik on the work she has done and others who have worked so hard on this when it was not easy to do so. I also commend the women who came forward with personal stories. I commend rural people who came out; they were the silent women and men. I was asked over the weekend why did I think so many rural men and women came out and I said it was probably because they had suffered most and had suffered in silence in many ways because of the pressure to conform in many rural areas and have the 2.4 children, the dog and everything else. That has been a huge burden over the years. Then we look at issues such as the Magdalen laundries and the Tuam babies. These informed the thinking and action of women over the weekend when they came out and voted so decisively. I agree this should not be divisive. People should not try to rerun the referendum.There is room for everybody. Just because I voted "Yes" does not mean that the person who voted "No" is any less than me or anybody else. We need to work collectively to put in place robust legislation that will protect the lives of women and children.

Time is ticking regarding the appeal in respect of the hooded men to the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights. I ask that the Leader raise with the Tánaiste what needs to be done to progress this appeal.