Annie Hoey (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Senator Norris back to the House. It is great to see that he is doing well. I wore a suit that matches his for the special occasion.

I want to be associated with my Labour Party colleague's comments on the naming of viruses. It is important that we think about the words we use. We noted how a former President of the United States used the naming of the virus as a quite racist weapon towards the end of his tenure.

On direct provision, the announcement today was very welcome. I have friends in Mosney who have been there for over a decade, and I am sure they hope there is light at the end of the tunnel. I hope we will truly see an end to direct provision and the institutionalisation that comes with it. The hope is that asylum seekers will no longer be ghettoised and instead be welcomed into the heart of our communities. The plan to dismantle direct provision presents an opportunity that we must not miss.

I want to mention the issue of Gaeltacht fees for students. Students in Hibernia College are having an issue with being charged a Gaeltacht fee of €650 for a mandatory two-week course online. The original fee was €750. Calls have been made to both the Minister for Education and the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to intervene to determine whether there is a solution because the students will be State employees when they receive their qualifications. I request that the Minister step in.

I attended a really good session yesterday with Travellers who ran in local elections. They outlined the experience of Travellers running for election. We talk a lot about representation at national and local levels but we need not only to pay lip service but also to determine what we are going to do to ensure more diversity in representation. I ask the Leader for a debate on that issue.