Marie Sherlock (Labour) | Oireachtas source

Like so many others, I was overjoyed to see the women's team make a remarkable breakthrough in qualifying for the World Cup next year. I want to extend my heartfelt congratulations to Vera Pauw, Katie McCabe and all on the team. As has been said so many times, they are an inspiration to all girls in sport across this country. I refer in particular to the words Amber Barrett spoke last night with regard to her relationship to Creeslough and the dark times in Donegal at the moment.

It is important to say that just five years ago a number of those players, along with Stuart Gilhooly in the PFAI and Ethel Buckley in SIPTU, had to call a press conference to talk about how they were treated like fifth-class citizens. It is great that the FAI has responded. However, I would like the House to have a discussion with the Minister of State, Deputy Jack Chambers, to ensure proper resources are put in place for women's football in this country. We know just one of the players plays here in Ireland. The rest have to go abroad, which is brilliant if they want to do so. In terms of the support for players and allowing them to play professionally here, it is not an option right now and I would like to have a discussion on that in the House.

I also want to call for a debate with the Tánaiste on the range of business supports available at the moment. Over the past 24 hours there was a report by Fergal McCann and Niall McGeever from the Central Bank on the level of distressed businesses at the moment. Some of the figures in the excellent report are stark and frightening, in particular the role that loan forbearance is playing in keeping some of these companies open. This is not just about companies, but also the jobs that are at stake. I would like to have a debate in the House on what will be put in place. We have the temporary energy support scheme, the details of which we need to see. There are other measures that need to be taken to ensure jobs are not lost on a massive scale this winter.