Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Mulvey agreement is outdated and precedes a number of significant changes. Protracted negotiations should not be needed because the only stakeholders who matter, whom the State should have to accommodate or please, are the women of Ireland. It should not have to negotiate with others. A stronger approach is needed. Ninety-nine years is not a long time in the context of the generations to come. The structures are clear. It could be the case that a company with its own motivations could have mortgaged properties, could have created debt attached to properties and could create a long and more protracted negotiation in 99 years' time. Let us not bequest that to the women of the future. We are in a different fiscal situation now and the State can access funds in a way that it perhaps could not have a few years ago. I ask the Minister of State to reconsider our approach on this issue without delay.