8. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Taoiseach for a report on his recent meeting with the British Prime Minister. [67526/25]

Sentiment score: 0.00

When I asked the Taoiseach about flood relief for east Cork villages last week, he accused me of being sly in how I had raised the question. That adjective could be more fairly levelled at his British counterpart, Keir Starmer, who built his political career on the basis of being a human rights lawyer and unifier of the left. In power, he has enthusiastically supported the imprisonment of people for years who protest against climate inaction, along with the designation of protesters of genocide as terrorists. I fully appreciate that the UK makes its own political decisions and that we have to maintain good relations with political leaders with whom we often might have major disagreements, but it is also true that Irish citizens are affected by Starmer’s authoritarian crackdown on peaceful protests. Acclaimed novelist Sally Rooney has been prevented from collecting a prestigious Sky Arts award in person due to fears of arrest for her support of Palestine Action. Great-grandmother Máire Ní Mhurchú, originally from Douglas in Cork, was arrested in London in September, along with her sisters Gráinne and Olga, for a peaceful protest against genocide. When the Taoiseach met Keir Starmer, did he raise with him his government's aggressive and authoritarian approach to peaceful protest and its impact on Irish as well as British citizens?

Sentiment score: 0.14

22. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Taoiseach for an update on his Department’s plans to co-ordinate a range of actions aimed at regulatory reform. [67527/25]

Sentiment score: 0.00

There was a health committee session last week on the regulation of counselling and psychotherapy. In standards it has published, CORU has adopted a position that is entirely at odds with the main representative groups of those disciplines, which will reduce supervision requirements and remove mandatory personal therapy for trainees. These changes, if implemented, will degrade professional standards and undermine patient safety. CORU is showing a remarkable level of intransigence on these fundamentals of safe practice. Practitioners and representative bodies have warned that the proposals could also jeopardise recognition and mobility across the EU for counsellors and psychotherapists. We must protect high-quality training, preserve public confidence and ensure regulation strengthens, not weakens, these services. I am not expressing some fringe opinion. The health committee was unanimous in supporting the counselling and psychotherapy representative groups and the session included some strong and insightful contributions from the Taoiseach's party colleagues, including Senator Costello. Will the Government immediately pause the CORU process, bring representative bodies and practitioners into full consultation and commit to reforms that prioritise client safety and high professional standards?

Sentiment score: 0.29