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The government plans to continue with direct provision in existence until the end of 2024. The government has not committed to ending the delays in the international protection process, that greatly exacerbate the impacts of the direct provision system. This failure has severe impacts on people's mental health and ability to integrate in the community. In order to address this ongoing harm, the government must identify suitable alternative modes of accommodation immediately and introduce new modes of accommodation in 2021. Further priorities that government needs to act on right now are identified in the Catherine Day Report (page 83). These actions can and should be done immediately. 1. Carry out vulnerability assessments for all people in the international protection process to identify and accommodate their special reception needs. A pilot program has commenced, but this will need to be heavily resourced to ensure that all people can be assessed, as Ireland has been obliged to do since 2018. 2. The allowances currently paid to people in direct provision should be increased from January 2021 and regularly reviewed in line with the cost of living. (4.12) – This has not been done. 3. The right to work should be made available after 3 months. (5.1) – This has been reduced to 6 months, not 3 months. It should be reduced to 3 months or 0 months without delay. 4. Applicants should be entitled to apply for driving tests and licenses as soon as they have made an application for protection. (5.2) - This has not been done yet. Government has committed to implementing this by summer 2021 in the White Paper. 5. Applicants should have the right to access higher education on the same basis and at the same fees as Irish people, once they meet the qualifying criteria (5.5). Access to education has been expanded but not to this extent; education is a human right, delay is not acceptable. 6. To clear the backlog of current cases a one-off case-processing approach should be introduced for all applications which have been more than two years in the system (6.7). This has not been done and there has been no commitment by the Department of Justice to do so. This priority – the case processing system – is a crucial action that needs immediate implementation by the Department of Justice. The delays in the international protection process have worsened due to the impact of Covid-19, because international protection interviews and Tribunals were paused for many months. People have been left waiting sometimes for over one year for a decision even after their interview. This has a negative effect on people's mental health, ability to integrate in the community and delays the possibility of their family members joining them. As well as the once-off case processing approach for all applications which have been more than two years in the system, the government must act to ensure that interviews take place and decisions issue within specific lengths of time. The Minister for Justice must ensure that the International Protection Office has the resources, staff IT equipment to deliver this even in challenging situations such as Covid-19. Minister Roderic O’ Gorman has called the timeline of the end of 2024 ambitious. Calling this ambitious is a disgrace. We know that our government can act quickly in the common interest when it has needed to since the start of COVID-19. We’ve had 21 years of people in Ireland living in direct provision and the harm that this does to people and to our communities. The government must act now identify suitable alternative modes of accommodation immediately, while also taking immediate actions to fully implement the priorities identified in the Catherine Day Report, and introduce new modes of accommodation in 2021.

Last week, the Irish Government published a report on children’s rights and best interests in the context of assisted human reproduction, written by the Special Rapporteur for Child Protection, Professor Conor O’ Mahony. If adopted, the recommendations contained in this report would address numerous legislative gaps that prevent children conceived through AHR, from having a legal parent-child relationship with both the parents, who love and care for them on a daily basis. Equality for Children are calling on the Government and Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly to immediately adopt and implement the recommendations made in this report. We urge you to sign our petition in order to push the Irish government to take the actions our children need! More information about the report: The report by Professor O’Mahony provides clear, practical solutions, which uphold the rights and best interests of children including their right to family life, identity and non-discrimination. The report recognises the reality of AHR treatment, which can often involve needing to access services abroad. The report also highlights the need for legislation to address the real-life circumstances of individual children including those already born, so they can establish a legal parental relationship to the parents who love and care for them daily. It highlights the need to provide comprehensive legislation to cover areas such as; altruistic surrogacy in Ireland, the recognition of the rights of children born through international surrogacy, and crucially addressing the gaps in both the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015 and the drafted Assisted Human Reproduction Bill by including children already born through surrogacy, children conceived using a known donor and children conceived outside of clinical settings. The report acknowledges the distress caused to children born through assisted human reproduction and their families due to the absence of appropriate legislation “Children have been left in vulnerable legal positions for lengthy periods of time due to the failure of the Oireachtas to legislate to address their status.” Ranae von Meding, CEO of Equality for Children says, “Last week’s launch represents another crucial step forward in our campaign. By adopting all of the recommendations in Professor O’ Mahony’s report, thousands of children in Ireland will finally be able to have a legal parent-child relationship with both of their parents, something that has been denied to them to date. This includes children born to gay dads through surrogacy, children conceived using known donors and those conceived outside of clinical settings left behind in the Children and Family Relationships Act, 2015”. “Significantly, the report recognises the uneven impact the CFRA has had on children conceived outside of clinical settings and born to LGBT+ parents who cannot rely on the presumption of paternity/maternity as male-female couples can. This very principle has been a significant pillar of our campaign at Equality for Children, as it has effectively resulted in children of LGBT+ parents being discriminated against based on the sexual orientation of their parents.” “We urge the Government to act swiftly and adopt all of these recommendations into legislation governing assisted human reproduction. It is almost 6 years since our country voted for marriage equality. We are still waiting for the legislation that will allow the children of LGBT+ parents to be treated equally." “As it stands currently , in the vast majority of LGBT+ families, only one parent can be a legal parent. This must change. It’s not equal and it’s not what we voted for.”

The rights of autistic people have been gravely breached. The Department of Education and the Department of Health have conspired to share and indulge in private information of 48 autistic people in order to create barriers for them to obtain essential services. This stands in clear violation with our rights under the UNCRPD or the protection of those seeking justice under the Equal Status Act, 2000.

What if we made Greystones & Delgany greener, healthier and wilder? What if we were the first region in Ireland to create biosecurity by 2026? We can all be part of a legacy we can be proud of: handing over to our children and future generations an area that is climate-resilient and supports our wildlife to live alongside us. Please support this petition and we will bring it to the Government and Wicklow County Council to transform Greystones & Delgany (and North Wicklow). Greystones & Delgany are currently undergoing a frenzy of development, with new housing estates approved and planted in every available field left. Not only is the infrastructure (roads, public transport links, schools, healthcare, etc.) not keeping up, but nature is taking a huge hit. So what if the answer to overdevelopment was to create a Community Nature Reserve – a gift to current and future generations? Following 2 years of research by Eoin Llewellyn here are key realistic projects that can be implemented to rehabilitate nature. • Expand the Glen of the Downs on both sides of the Three-Trout stream with permanent native forest. • Return Kindlestown Forest to permanent native woodland (under the Government's new Project Woodland and/or Coillte's Millenium Forests programme) as each Sitka spruce plot is harvested, and link it to the Glen of the Downs SAC (Special Area of Conservation). • Relist and protect the Bronze Age hillforts of Coolagad (Kindlestown) and Downshill, ahead of the millennial anniversary of the Battle of Delgany 1022. (see Yasmin Fortune's research on www.glenodownsheritage.com) • Create 20-meter wide riparian ways and a nature reserve along the full course of the Three-Trout Stream, with green link path for people to walk and/or cycle to school and work. (see Eoin Llewellyn's research https://www.mywildireland.ie/projects/ • Add chestnut fencing and a raised boardwalk on South Beach to protect coastal flora and dune grasses from collapse, plus nature signage indicating plants and insects present. • Create a coastal nature reserve on 2 fields east of the railway line above the North Beach, thus extending Bray Head SAC (Special Area of Conservation) into Greystones. If this Nature Reserve was to see the light of day, Greystones & Delgany would become the first biosecure area in Ireland by 2026! At a time when successive lockdowns have highlighted the dire need for green spaces near urban centers, Greystones & Delgany could become a flagship example of a town living in harmony with nature, and a template to be replicated across the county and country. As the next County Development Plan is being drafted, let's change the story of Greystones & Delgany - from a town besieged by suburban sprawl, to a place where a greener, healthier and wilder future is possible. See - https://www.mywildireland.ie/projects/

Tá an Ghaeilge taréis a bheith an-feiceálach ar RTÉ le linn Seachtain na Gaeilge. Bheadh sé iontach dá gcloisfeadh agus dá bhfeicfeadh muintir na hÉireann an Ghaeilge go laethúil mar chuid lárnach de chláracha de gach saghas ar stáisiúin raidio agus teilifíse RTÉ. The Irish language has been freely used by presenters on our main national broadcaster during Seachtain na Gaeilge. It would be uplifting and in-keeping with our rights as citizens if our national radio and TV channels featured our national language used freely and naturally to indicate a truly bilingual broadcasting environment.

This is important as many children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are forced to wait several years for an assessments of their needs and are then placed on long waiting lists for access to recommended services. Parents of children who require an assessments of their needs should not be forced to resort to the private healthcare system in order to access these services. Accessing these services privately is very costly therefore, people who are financially better off can gain access to assessments of needs (AON) and services much faster than those who cannot afford to go private. The pathways to AONs and services in Ireland for children with ASD are also very unclear. This lack of clarity contributes to the issue of long waiting lists and poor access to such services. The issue of unequal and poor access to these services is an unfair socio-economic inequity based on financial ability and knowledge of how to navigate Ireland’s complicated healthcare system. It is important to address these issues and improve access to AONs for children with ASD in order for children to have access to early interventions which are closely linked to potential positive developmental outcomes. The first few years of a child’s life are critical to their physical, mental, emotional, cultural, personal and competency development hence why early intervention is essential. Ensuring access to assessments and services in a timely manner is a right that no child with a disability should be denied.

The rate of infant mortality in the Traveller community is 3 times higher than the settled population. For a first world country, there should not be such a large gap in these rates between a minority group and the rest of the population. The government has known about this issue for more than 13 years and yet has not done anything in order to reduce the rate. Please sign this petition so that we can bring around change.

The aim of this petition is to highlight that there is a need for more support for at home carers. These are people who have been caring around the clock to support a loved one who may be ill, have additional needs or are elderly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although they do receive carers allowance which can range from €219 - €385.50 and additional monies depending on how may dependable children there is. This petition would be used to highlight not only do they need financial support but they also need a form of relief from the general day to day strenuous tasks they encounter not only physically but also emotionally. Since the start of the pandemic last March the supports they heavily relied on for relief were reduced or simply taken away. They had and still have very little relief as many of the people they are caring for would be very high risk if they contracted COVID-19. With the help of these signatures it will highlight that more support needs to be given to carers and will hopefully facilitate in implementing a change that will ultimately support these people more effectively and efficiently.

There are a large number of young children who regularly play on the green area and roads in Griffeen Glen Boulevard. Although we have a 'Kill Your Speed, Not Our Children' sign on a lamppost as drivers enter the estate, unfortunately, we are constantly seeing drivers speeding through the entrance road and taking the left turn around the green at speed where young children are often playing. We feel that the addition of a speed ramp in the first 30-50 yards of the entrance road to Griffeen Glen Boulevard, as drivers come in off the roundabout, would greatly reduce the risk of a serious injury and improve the safety of our children and the general quality of life for residents of the road.

Amy Barrett`s father, Jerry O'Keeffe, was jailed for 10 years in November 2017. Jerry O Keeffe was charged with three charges of rape, five charges of indecent assault and one charge of sexual assault of his daughters on dates between January 1980 and March 1987. The trial brought the horrors of the sexual abuse rushing back to Amy and with no professional services to help her deal with the aftershocks Amy found herself in a very dark place. During the court case, the gardaí, her solicitors and the court service supported her and guided her through until her father, Jerry O’Keefe, was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2017. But once the trial ended, all State support vanished. Amy is seeking your support, calling on Government to fund better support mechanisms for victims of crime. Many believe victims automatically receive care plans and psychological support post-trial. Amazingly this is not the case. The state provides more support structures for the perpetrators of abuse than to the victims of abuse. As prisoners in Irish jails perpetrators of crime have care plans and psychological support. Although this is welcome and hopefully prevents those abusers from re offending what do the abuse victims receive... nothing....where is the support for victims? Due to current COVID 19 restrictions rape and murder cases are being delayed by as much as two years due to Covid-19. Many believe these delays could be devastating to victims and may result in many victims withdrawing their statements. Ireland has a long horrendous record of abuse, sexual abuse, child abuse yet nothing has changed for the victims. Please help Amy secure what should be a fundamental right of victims

Natural justice will not be served if the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby homes is allowed to close down with so many unanswered questions, not least about its own functioning and some of the conclusions in its report. A legal enquiry that publishes conclusions and testimonies that are disputed by those who gave them and then destroys evidence cannot provide closure. There are so many unanswered questions about the manner in which this commission was run and the way it reached its conclusions that it must be held to account. This commission must not be added to the list of inquiries that have added insult to the injuries of survivors and helped mask the truth. Theatening that an extension will delay compensation for survivors is not germane. Survivors want the truth. We ALL want the truth.