Catherine Ardagh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I would like to raise three issues today. The first relates to the amendments passed by Members of Parliament in Westminster yesterday. They voted to extend same-sex marriage to Northern Ireland unless power-sharing is restored by 21 October. They also overwhelmingly voted in favour of an amendment to liberalise abortion law in Northern Ireland. While I very much welcome these amendments, their passage is bittersweet. Although they represent social policies with which I agree, I still hope that the Stormont Assembly will get its act together and that the parties will come together because I would love to see these changes being implemented by the assembly in Northern Ireland. The amendments yesterday are a significant first step in ensuring that these social changes are a priority for legislators in the Stormont Assembly. If the assembly is not reconvened by October, these changes will be implemented in October. It is bittersweet. I very much welcome the changes but I would like to have seen them passed in Stormont. I really hope that the parties, the DUP and Sinn Féin, will come together in Stormont to debate these issues and implement these changes. The second issue relates to the HSE. More than six months ago the HSE offered various jobs to people on its panels without issuing contracts of employment or start dates. Some people have been left waiting for more than six months. The people who have been recruited are calling it a recruitment freeze but the HSE is denying that. The fact remains, however, that people were offered jobs but without contracts or start dates. The Minister for Health, Deputy Simon Harris, must come to the House to explain the reason people on panels have been told they would have a job but have not been given a contract or start date. That is very unfair.

The third issue relates to processing delays for social welfare payments by Bank of Ireland. We learned that a technical issue has arisen with social welfare payments for people in receipt of a disability allowance and other allowances who have a Bank of Ireland account. I ask that the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection examine the cause of the glitch between the Department and the bank and that it be resolved as soon as possible.