Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I start by wishing Homeless Period Ireland a very happy birthday. This was set up five years ago in response to the very real need for access to period products in this country. It is a small grassroots organisation I am proud to volunteer with. Ms Claire Hunt, its founder, will not mind me saying that Homeless Period Ireland should have long left the stage and it should not still exist. The programme for Government committed to rolling out free period products and in February this House had not one but two period product Bills; one passed Second Stage but still has to come to Committee Stage. In the Six Counties, my colleague and Sinn Féin MLA, Ms Karen Mullan, introduced free period products to all schools, yet here in the South, schools, food banks, homeless shelters, drug projects and community centres all still rely on Homeless Period Ireland to ensure everybody who has their period can have it with dignity.

Universal access to period products is a women's health matter and we know that using improvised materials like rags and toilet roll can cause urinary tract infections. We know school days are missed because of a lack of access to period products. With the cost of living skyrocketing, it is pushing more people into poverty and having to make impossible choices between period products and food. It seems whenever there is an international day on this matter, we get people on the bandwagon before it ultimately goes back to organisations like Homeless Period Ireland to carry on the work. Periods do not stop during pandemics and they happen every month. When will that Bill come to Committee Stage and when will we get universal access to period products?