Like this sometimes is breaking the mould of maybe how we sometimes have stereotypical ideas of who is taking drugs and particularly

a drug like cocaine.

Absolutely.

And I have to agree with Gabby who mentioned that we are talking average and normal.

And I'm not saying that in a pejorative term.

It could be anybody and it is anybody.

And I just have to commend Anya, Hannah, Anne-Marie and Maureen.

Tonight, we have the particular accounts of women, but does that resonate? Like anecdotally, would you hear and see stories like this in a place

And therefore we have stats like today, nearly 32,000 people spending 24 hours, over 24 hours waiting to be admitted.

I think trying to compare any hospital with another hospital is like comparing apples and oranges because there are no two the same.

There are no two with the capacity or the demand.

And you just simply can't.

I mean, you look at that headline today and a lot of people are interpreting it as 70,000 people weren't treated.

70,000 people were triaged.

and we have to give...

They either decided not to wait or they were

What's your thoughts on it tonight?

Well, I'm chair of the Joint Oireachtas Women's Caucus in work.

And I just want to commend the work done by Dublin Rape Crisis Centre.

They do incredible work, especially on the very important issues of consent.

When you're talking about sexual assault, rape and domestic violence, etc.

And I just think they missed the mark today.

And for my own reasons, I think, look...

So, um, let me ask you firstly, Alison, what exactly will the 660,000 euro, which is a nice amount of money, uh, what will that, uh, funding provide?

It is.

It's a great amount of money, and the good thing is that it's recurring annual funding, so this is going to be in place and it's gonna happen every year.

Gonna be split into two areas.

So 360,000 of that is going to go to provide four crisis nurses at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda.

So they are, uh, very specialist nurses.

They deliver, um, r- really key out-of-hours support for anybody who's either suffering a mental health crisis, uh, everything from anxiety to suicidal thoughts.

And th- those hours are times maybe that people do experience more, uh, mental health crises, if you like.

candy story it's not a sweet shop

You know what? And this is what, you know, it's this Americanization that's moving in because they are selling a lot of American sweets as well.

And you'll often see the word candy written across over the door.

And this is one of my big issues.

Vaping itself, we have a really big problem.

We have to look at the likes of vaping.

And I have it on good authority that one or two of these shops, and I won't mention any, are still selling HHC vapes.

Alison, you're back.

that example of a woman driving the wrong way on the Donor slip on the M1.

You can get your license and having never been on a motorway before, you can drive on that motorway.

We need motorway lessons.

Anyway, that's another aside.

Look, we do need to hold the social media platforms accountable.

There are many, many reasons why.

TikTok did not make these young men do what they did.

And they're still refusing.

What are the key actions?

Well, I suppose the fact is you're saying that word action.

This was a strategy that was drawn up and released anyway, but now this is going to be put into action.

And some of the key things are really practical, Cahill, and they are designed to help women and children in this country.

Not that we're ignoring men and boys.

But at the same time, this one in particular is for women and girls.

Some of the key actions then.

How have you found that since you entered the Oireachtas? Did it strike you that it's very male-dominated?

So tell me about the idea behind this Hidden in Plain Sight campaign.

Well, I suppose it's all about raising awareness.

This is the second time, the second part of this campaign.

I was in on the launch as well before my career here.

Well, no, it was last year.

I hosted the conference in Drogheda for the Seroptimists.

where the first part of this campaign was launched.

so let me find out then, Alison, why or the circumstances under which somebody might be trafficked into this country.

Is there any comparison available for how much more abuse female TDs and Senators have to put up with compared to their male counterparts? Or are their male counterparts receiving almost as much abuse?

There has been no direct comparison.

There hasn't been a survey done.

And we do know that men receive abuse, but it lands differently with women, Michael.

And the abuse is certainly very, very different.

It's highly sexualized.

Whether it's to do with your appearance, threats to attack your family.

When I hear statistics like that, that 96% of female TDs and senators have been subjected to online abuse, and worse, some receiving threatening messages, sexually explicit content, it makes me think, why would any woman want to put herself forward for public office, bearing in mind that she might have to face that?

What kind of messaging and what kind of posts are we talking about here, Alison?

Well, you're talking about everything from threats of violence, threats of sexual violence in particular.

These are rape threats and the like.

Unfortunately, yeah.

And it's absolutely shocking to think that and maybe our male colleagues get it as well, but it doesn't seem to be as prevalent.

But it also could be something along the lines of, you know, your physical appearance.

being targeted, when you've got a really important message to say, or you've an announcement or you're working really hard on something, it doesn't have to be really, really shocking.

Have you changed how you use social media, Alison, because of this? Of

Alison Common, Fianna Fáil senator, why are the government parties imposing a whip to oppose the motion from the opposition, uh, TDs? Why is it that the government seems happy to go along with the idea of this game being played at a neutral venue, given all the things that have just been outlined to us by Duncan Smith?

Thanks very much, Matt, and I'd just like to, from the outset, uh, thank, uh, Deputy Smith for acknowledging that the Irish government has, uh, led the way in Europe in holding Israel to account, and, uh, we will continue to do so.

And, uh, uh, for me, it, this is about, this is nothing to do with defending what is happening in Gaza.

Anybody, uh, who, who's looking at the suffering, the loss of life, the, the catastrophe, will utterly condemn that.

But it's the question of whether the Irish government, whether governments in general, should intervene to prevent international sporting fixtures from, from taking place, and my view, it should not.

Um, we don't org- not organize these sporting fixtures.

The, we need to be very careful, I think, about intervening with them.

... get an opportunity to qualify for the World Cup or for the next European championships.