I join other speakers in welcoming the Attorney General's decision on the Stardust tragedy. It is a huge day for the families that have campaigned for many years. It is to be hoped the inquest will go some way to addressing the issues on which they have been seeking answers.

I join my colleagues who raised questions about childcare workers. When I attended the briefing this morning, I was aware that there were issues, because as my party's spokesperson on children, I have much interaction with stakeholders in the area. It is very important that workers in this area are paid properly. They are often very well-educated and the Government has introduced a scheme to incentivise that, though I have heard anecdotally that it is not always passed on to individual workers. A more fundamental issue, however, is how we as a society want childcare to be and how we wish our young people to be taken care of. The years during which early childcare workers care for children are the most important years in a child's development. We have heard that individuals are finding it very difficult to make ends meet, which was not news to me because I often interact with people who work in the area. They are being paid a very low wage relative to the important work they do, so I hope extra funding is allocated for this. It is important to say that many good schemes have been put in place over recent years and over consecutive budgets. I and others in Fine Gael have tried to prioritise this area and we were the first Government to put a Minister for Children and Youth Affairs in place. There have been improvements and while it is important to recognise them, we need to take further steps to improve the overall sector. Improving the wages and job satisfaction of those workers and making them feel valued for the work they do is fundamental to improving the overall system.

Some comments were made in this Chamber about certain types of political work, such as advocacy, being adults' work, and about children being exploited or used by particular groups when they begin to pursue their passion and purpose. Much of the commentary and critique around young women such as Greta Thunberg has focused mainly on her mental health and her Asperger's syndrome. As the mother of a young, passionate and purposeful woman with Asperger's, I can say quite confidently that the only thing that ever negatively affects her mental health is when the world responds to her in the way many people have to Greta Thunberg, claiming she is being used or manipulated and that she should still be in school. That young girl will achieve more for this world through her activism than she ever will by sitting in a classroom daily.

Hear, hear.

This is something that should be celebrated, facilitated, welcomed, and championed. Her mental health will always be in a good place as long as people facilitate and support her, and acknowledge the big impact she is having on the world, instead of resisting, trolling, and questioning her abilities as a young woman. My daughter became passionately involved in the area of suicide and suicide ideation when she was 12, and instead of telling her where her place was, I facilitated her as best I could.

Some of these comments are coming from a Senator who supported extending the voting age to 16, yet he is now saying that this is adults' work. Senator Craughwell should have some substance and consistency in what he says before criticising a young 16 year old woman for becoming one of the biggest political activists this world has seen in generations. Instead of attacking young girls' appearances or the green movement, he should attack the people who try to dismantle and disenfranchise young women like Ms Thunberg, because that is where his energy will be much better spent.

Well said.