Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

It was wonderful to be part of a photograph of all current and former women Members of the Oireachtas. I pay tribute to all those former women Members and the immense contribution that many of them have made to both Houses.

Sunday was World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims. Last year 158 people lost their lives on Irish roads, which included 15 cyclists and 30 pedestrians. It is important that we examine issues such as poor planning which can encourage speed and give priority to individual private vehicles which have greatly contributed to these deaths.

Roads are shared spaces that should feel safe and available to everybody of all ages and abilities. They should not feel like a battleground and should not be something about which people feel nervous. One of the main reasons people choose to stop cycling is fear of danger on the road. If we are to have a sustainable future and achieve Vision Zero - the idea that no one should lose their lives on our roads - then better planning and planning for sustainable transport will be a major factor. It was notable that at the extinction rebellion gathering - a strong gathering at the weekend of activists from all parties and none who are concerned about the environment and climate change - some of the loudest cheers came from those who called for a massive sea-change in sustainable public transport.

Another occasion this weekend was the awarding of the Tipperary International Peace Award to the former President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, for his extraordinary work in ending 52 years of conflict in Colombia and I congratulate him for his award. Ireland has a key role in that process, where former Tánaiste, Eamon Gilmore, was EU envoy and helped to achieve that peace agreement. Juan Manuel Santos was one of several activists who came to Ireland over the weekend. A separate event, hosted by the Peace and Neutrality Alliance, brought activists from across the world to Dublin to participate in a conference in Liberty Hall to examine how we can favour diplomacy and democratic empowerment rather than ramping up militarisation and increasing military bases to secure peace and pass on a peaceful world to our children.

Today is World Children's Day. There is a very real question of whether our children will inherit a planet in jeopardy where the threat of war is revisited or if we can we pass on to the next generation a world that is in better shape. I welcome the initiative on early years and early years education which the Minister, Deputy Zappone, announced today. I hope the Big Start campaign and a campaign for a living wage for childcare workers will be part of that.

However, there are wider questions that we must ask about our responsibilities to children on international children's day. For instance, are the children of lone parents, who are at such greater risk of poverty, being adequately supported by the State? There are also the children who were born here but who do not have citizenship who also need to be looked after. We will be busy, but I ask the Leader that either before Christmas or early in the new year we would have a conversation about the State's duty to children. As we commemorate the First Dáil, the first duty of the State under the Democratic Programme adopted by the First Dáil in 1919 was a duty to children. It is a debate from which we would all benefit.