Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I echo the comments made around International Safe Abortion Day and note the launch today of an atlas of where safe access is across Europe. It is notable that countries like San Marino and Gibraltar have followed Ireland's example in seeking to ensure access, but there are practical barriers still in place. It will be important that in the review we address the practical, de facto barriers for people seeking to access their rights and avoid introducing any of the pitfalls we have seen in other countries which limit women's access to essential healthcare.

I would also like to support the calls for a debate on childcare. It is a matter of wages and conditions, but it is also a matter of progress in that, as identified by Senator Kyne, there are missing rungs on the ladder in terms of progression within childcare. It is important we treat it, not as an area of commercial activity, but as an area of national infrastructure because it is national infrastructure on which all of our society relies.

My main purpose in speaking today is to propose an amendment to the Order of Business, that No. 16, the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform (Amendment) Bill 2021, be taken before No. 1. The Bill would grant a five-year extension to the imminent deadline of 30 November for the registration of a right of way. This is an issue I have been raising for over a year with the Government and Ministers. I raised it first with the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, because so many of the rights of way have a heritage purpose. I then engaged on it with the Minister of State at that Department, Deputy Peter Burke, around planning and development, the infrastructure that we need and the network represented by those rights of way. Prior the summer, I had sought to put an amendment to the criminal justice (miscellaneous provisions) Bill 2020 in order to address this simple issue.

The Bill I will be introducing contains only one line, which is unusual for me. As I said, it seeks to extend the period by five years. We realised over the summer that rights of way which have been used for generations in Ireland have, in many cases, found a new purpose as part of networks of green connectivity, allowing family members of different ages to link in with towns, visit friends and connect to supports. If we had a large-scale extinguishment of those rights of way on 30 November, the consequences would be extraordinarily bad, not just for individuals, families and easement rights, but for communities and connectivity.We would also lose the opportunity to reimagine those networks and to connect them with our rights of way in a meaningful way. I am coming to the end of my time but I am delighted and acknowledge that the Government has indicated in the past few weeks that it realises this is a problem. It is a little late, but we still have a month or two. I hope that the Government will support my Bill and ensure that we extend the period by five years in order that we have the space for proper consultation and engagement on this. I acknowledge that the Law Reform Commission and Irish Farmers Association are also engaged on this.