Rebecca Moynihan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leader for outlining the Order of Business. Members will have to excuse me as I am recovering from a cold - not Covid - and my voice is not great today. I raise the issue of the loophole in the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021 that allows landlords who have not previously increased rent to compound it over recent years. We are living in a time when the livelihoods of many people have been impacted by job losses, the stop-starting of hospitality and the Covid pandemic. Could the Leader imagine the uproar if mortgages were increased by this amount? There have already been rental increases in every county, with an increase of more than 7% nationwide. However, some counties have been particularly affected. There have been rises of 17.3% in Limerick, 15.5% in Kilkenny, 16.1% in Clare and 11.8% in Mayo.We need to ensure that if we bring in rental limitations, for example, linked to the consumer price index, or 2%, that is exactly what it is and that it is not allowed to be increased beyond that or compounded.

I want to raise the issue of the TRIPS waiver. We all sat around in this House and congratulated Ireland on getting a seat on the UN Security Council. I often wonder why we have influence in the EU and a seat on the UN Security Council if do not to use our influence, as a small country, to advocate for things like the TRIPS waiver, which would be very similar to what we did, as a country, for the HIV epidemic. As Senator Davitt outlined, this is the week for us to do so. This is the week to put pressure on our EU partners for a TRIPS waiver because, as we have seen with the variants, we are not safe until everybody is safe. It is up to us to make sure that people in the global south are as protected as we are as we await the roll out of the booster programme.

I wish to raise the issue of safe access zones, which I raised with the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly, in this House. I would like him to confirm that people who travel for abortions and terminations are exempt under the Covid legislation. He would not confirm that in this House even though it is clear in the legislation. Senator Gavan offered to give him the time to confirm that. However, the Cabinet has just agreed that people will get commercial antigen tests, whether they are vaccinated or unvaccinated, when they come into Ireland. An abortion is an essential medical procedure. Most people travel after 12 weeks, so it is going to be a surgical abortion for people. People will be in a facility from early in the morning until the afternoon and you do not want people running around London, Manchester or Liverpool seeking commercial tests and adding to their expense. The Minister for Health needs to come in here and confirm the exemption. He has refused to do so for the whole of the pandemic. I clearly asked him to do so in this House and Senator Gavan offered to give him time. There are new rules being introduced for travel, so the Minister for Health needs to confirm that this is exempt under the legislation.