To answer Deputy McAuliffe, I do not think the Opposition has any issue with legislation going through this Chamber. He has heard complaints about the lack of it going through up to now and I think he used the term "do-nothing Government" himself, so obviously it is working.

Sentiment score: -0.31

However, the issue here is the time for dealing with the individual issues. A number of people have spoken about how this Bill definitely lives up to its name of "miscellaneous". There are a number of issues we all need to do proper due diligence on. The one an awful lot of us intend to speak to are the provisions on counselling notes. We are talking about survivors who have been through the worst acts of sexual violence and who, in a very vulnerable time in their lives, went through counselling as a means of dealing with the particular act or acts that were done to them. What we do not need is to continue with an invasion of what should be privacy. This should be a means for them to deal with an absolute horror that was done to them and not something that could possibly be brought into a court in any way, shape or form. I accept the Minister is moving some of the journey but we really need to make sure whatever has to be done is done. He has questions there on constitutionality but we have to find the means for a solution that abates the fears of those who are victims and survivors. Anything else is just unfair and a continuation of a failure and the wrongs that were done to people. Whatever about any other specific issue being dealt with in the Bill, we should ensure the sanctity of counselling for people, and women in particular, who have been through absolute abject horror. It is fair to say nobody is going to have an issue with dealing with sex for rent and the disgusting practices we have seen grow out of the housing crisis. We all know we need to deal with the-----

Sentiment score: -0.24

They will be safe enough as I am moving on to community service orders. The Minister and I have had many interactions before in relation to all the good work the Garda does and the work done on early interventions, of which there are not enough. I have spoken many times before about the TEAM Project in Muirhevnamor and the youth diversion project operating out of the house in Cox's Demesne. They have done huge work, especially since they have been able to involve themselves in earlier interventions, but we need to see far more of that. I have said to the Minister more than once that there needs to be a proper, real discussion on the issues that are out there, particularly in relation to the complex cases caused by addiction, the drug menace, the 169 organised crime gangs that are in operation across Ireland and the drugs epidemic that is impacting across the entire society but which is particularly prevalent and harmful within working-class areas where people are sometimes under the jackboot. That means drug debt intimidation, violence and all the rest of it. There is also the estate management aspect and ensuring we have the addiction services, the early family interventions and ensuring we can look after our most vulnerable while also protecting those impacted by the chaos, the violence and all the rest of it. As I said, it has most impact in working class areas.

Sentiment score: -0.14