I propose an amendment to the Order of Business, that No. 11 be taken before No. 1. I refer to the Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025, signed by all Sinn Féin Senators. This Bill seeks to prohibit socioeconomic discrimination or any sort of discrimination based on social background or economic disadvantage. The purpose of the Bill is to amend Irish equality legislation and two Acts, namely, the Employment Equality Act 1998 and the Equal Status Act 2000, in order to add a tenth form of legally defined discrimination, to include socioeconomic discrimination. This issue affects countless numbers of people across country, particularly in disadvantaged parts of the inner city. If this Bill is enacted, employers will not be able to discriminate against a job applicant or current employee because of his or her accent or the socioeconomic status that their home address might imply. Furthermore, it will prohibit service providers from discriminating against people on the basis of where they live. It will provide a legal basis to challenge socioeconomic discrimination and will give people who experience this hardship on a daily basis a practical and rights-based means of fighting back. I previously introduced this Bill as the Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021 during the term of the previous Dáil. Unfortunately, it was effectively killed by a Government amendment to delay its reading by almost 18 months. I am sure we can all agree that discrimination on the basis of disadvantaged social origin or disadvantaged socioeconomic status is unacceptable. I sincerely hope that all my colleagues across the Seanad will support this legislation.

Speaking of discrimination brings me to the neglect of and discrimination against residents of the inner city, in Pearse House and in City Quay, who are facing State antisocial behaviour and neglect. The residents of Pearse House continue to be left in limbo. There was a commitment that there would be a regeneration programme for the flats in Pearse House. The conditions in which the people there are living are appalling. We need the Minister to come to the House to discuss the matter. We also need to look at the ongoing violence and criminal activity on City Quay, which is happening nightly. Residents, including older people, are terrified to leave their homes. When we talk about discrimination and antisocial behaviour, the State is the biggest discriminator. It is guilty of neglect of inner-city communities. This needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency.

On behalf of the Green Party, I want to be associated with the expressions of sympathy for Garda Kevin Flatley. I extend my sympathies to his family, colleagues and friends.

Earlier today, some of us attended a packed briefing in the audiovisual room, held by Irish Healthcare Workers for Palestine. We sat through one of the most harrowing presentations I have ever seen in these Houses. The figures are quite staggering. A total of 300,000 children are malnourished, of whom 3,000 are acutely malnourished. There are many child amputees. There is huge psychological trauma on children. UNICEF has called this a war on children. Deep psychological scars are left, not to mention the physical injuries these children are suffering. We pay tribute, obviously, to the medical workers who are working on the ground in absolutely deplorable conditions. This again, and it can never be raised enough, highlights the need to enact the occupied territories Bill and for the Irish Government and State to continue to raise its voice. That is one thing that was said to us clearly by the medical workers and other workers on the ground in hospitals in Gaza, who are working in such horrendous conditions. Dr. Mike Ryan said we are all complicit if we do not do so. I cannot highlight this enough.

On a more positive note, the national network of No Name Clubs will gather in Tullamore, County Offaly, for its annual awards ceremony this weekend. My son, Colm, is a volunteer leader with the organisation. It is a wonderful organisation that probably does not get enough credit for the work it does with young people in providing safe, alcohol-free venues and outlets for activities for young people. We do not have enough of these activities in this country. We have heard from many youth organisations that they are underfunded. It is also about having safe spaces for young people to go to alcohol-free gigs, for instance, and to be able to enjoy alcohol-free spaces in our towns, villages and cities. We see the sale of alcohol Bill that is being pushed through and the alcohol industry trying to extend licensing hours. What we actually need is the opposite. We need spaces for young people to congregate where they feel safe and are free from the impact of alcohol. I wish the national network of No Name Clubs all the best with its celebration this weekend. Perhaps we could invite it in here at some stage to celebrate the work it does.