Mark Wall (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I join with colleagues in remembering those who lost their lives in Creeslough last Friday. While we discussed the future of this island in this House last Friday a terrible tragedy was unfolding in that beautiful village.

Over the weekend, like many colleagues have said, and having spoken to family and friends, we were taken by the community spirit and togetherness of the village. I thank all those people who gave of their time and showed their community spirit. I thank the emergency responders from both the North and South, as has been said.On behalf of the Labour Party group in this House, I send our condolences to the families who have lost loved ones and those whose loved ones are still receiving treatment.

There are two other matters I wish to raise with the Leader. I wish our women's international soccer team the very best in Hampden Park tonight. I have watched every match the women have played in their campaign this year and attended their match against Sweden here in Dublin. They are a credit to this country. These young women are bringing the women's game to the fore and showing young girls what it means to put on that international jersey. They must be credited and thanked for everything they do and we send them our best wishes.

However, there is another side to this story I want to raise. Many of these young women, unfortunately, must go to England to pursue their dream of a professional career. Some in the squad are amateurs and are still playing here in the national leagues. As my colleague Deputy Ó Ríordáin said this morning, it is time we looked at creating a contract through Government intervention and with the FAI so we can grow the game at local level and increase that representation at national level. I congratulate the IRFU on recently awarding 43 international contracts to its professionals and creating a professional atmosphere for women's rugby in this country. It is time we grew such an atmosphere in soccer through whatever initiatives we can. It is essential we support the women's international game. Tonight we hope to have a good news story where a women's international team qualify for the World Cup for the very first time.

Tomorrow during Private Members' business in the Dáil my party colleagues will bring forward a motion to provide a mechanism for community workers to get a pay increase they have not received in 14 years. We are all aware of the great work done by section 39 workers, community employment, CE, supervisors and all such workers in our communities. It is true to say that without many of them, many of our community facilities simply would not function and many families would not have the supports they and their loved ones so badly need. I have spoken to many people in the sector over recent days. They consider themselves the forgotten workers of this country despite the work they do being essential. I hope the Government will accept this motion tomorrow and that in the future we can discuss once again the great work done by all those people in all those organisations.