Today I’m addressing the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s annual Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians in Hanoi, Viet Nam. The theme of the Conference is “The role of youth in accelerating the achievement of the SDGs through digital transformation and innovation”. I will be speaking on measures that can be taken by Members of Parliament to improve policies in the promotion of …
Long COVID has potential to place significant burden on our healthcare services
I asked my colleagues in the Oireachtas Library & Research Service to update a previous research paper that I received on long COVID to get an updated understanding of the definition, incidence, and healthcare issues surrounding long COVID. The sad reality is that the symptoms of long COVID can not only last for months but even years and can include …
Artificial Intelligence or AI seldom gets good press
Artificial Intelligence or AI seldom gets good press; take the examples of ChatGPT which has been banned in many Universities across the world due to the potential for student plagiarism or the controversy surrounding the Hollywood writers’ strike calling it a “plagiarism machine”. There has also been concerns about the potential of Deepfakes to misrepresent reality by manipulating media by …
Today is World Environment Day 2023
How does plastic pollution affect us? An estimated 19 to 23 million tonnes of plastic leak into aquatic ecosystems annually. Plastic pollution has devastating effects on a wide array of organisms in our seas, rivers, and on land. Marine litter harms more than 800 species. More than 90 per cent of all birds and fish are believed to have plastic particles in their stomachs. The effects …
May is Myalgic Encephalomyelitis M.E. Awareness Month
M.E. has been described as “an often-debilitating disease” that has a prevalence close to one percent worldwide which would equate to around 52,000 people in Ireland or roughly the population of the county of Waterford (Bonilla, H. et al., 2023) With the number of people with M.E. / CFS on the rise following long-COVID, it is estimated that around 45% …
Long COVID rates have increased by 4% in four months
Speech by Denis Naughten TD to the Policy Forum for Ireland keynote seminar: Tackling long COVID in Ireland – priorities for services, strategy development, and research On 19th March 2020, I stood up in Dáil Éireann, pointing out that we would have to deal with the public health challenges associated with the SARS-CoV-2 virus for at least 12 months. …
Second national poll on long COVID
The most recent survey of the incidents of long COVID in Ireland now shows that one in every ten adults in Ireland have experienced the symptoms of long COVID. You can access the data behind this poll of adults in Ireland on self-reported symptoms of long COVID by leading polling company, Ireland Thinks, which I commissioned. This self-declaration by survey …
Lack of joined up thinking is a barrier to nursing home residents renting out their home
Every year up to 4,500 people leave behind an empty home when they enter long-term nursing home care. Yet despite the unprecedented demand for rental accommodation just 400 of these homes are leased out. There is something wrong when so few of these homes are leased out, particularly when the State places a financial charge against the value of …
We need real action to address housing crisis
My Regional Independent colleagues and I met last night and put the following eight asks to Government on the housing issue taht would make a real difference to the current crisis. My position on the Private Members vote on housing tomorrow evening and the proposed no confidence vote will be dependent on the Government’s response. The objective behind our eight …
Parliament must use science to provide solutions to wicked problems
This week I attended the 146th Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly where I addressed the issue of practical problem solving. Here is what I said: Report of the IPU Working Group on Science and Technology to the Governing Council 146th IPU Assembly– Item 14 (j) of the 211th session of the Governing Council 15 March watch it here: https://youtu.be/nHgK22bYRhE Thank you, Mr. President. On …