As the Dáil returned for the first time in two months, Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy began with a call to action for more to be done to combat threats and online abuse of politicians.
Ms Murphy appealed for members across the House to unite and take action against an issue that she said was impacting all sides of the House.
"In recent times we have witnessed an alarming rise in the serious threats and online abuse directed at a significant number of members of the Houses of the Oireachtas, of all parties and none, a phenomenon that can no longer be ignored," she said before the first Leader's Questions of the new Dáil term began.
Ms Murphy said the abuse frequently comes from unverified profiles and online platforms that foster "unhealthy narratives that bear little resemblance to fact or reality".
She told the Chamber that she is concerned for present members of the Oireachtas and also about the deterrent effect abuse has on decent people, stopping them from entering public life.
The Ceann Comhairle said space must be created where diverse perspectives can be expressed safely and that consensus legislative intervention is required.
"I am therefore, requesting a meeting with all party and group leaders, with a view to formulating an appropriate consensus response to deal with the issue.
"Our Constitutional obligations require us to protect citizens from unjust attack, and we have a collective responsibility to uphold those principles.
"The challenges posed by social media platforms demand our immediate and cross-party attention," she added.
Harvey Morrison Sherratt 'failed by Government' - McDonald
The first issue raised in Leaders' Questions was the case of nine-year-old Harvey Morrison Sherratt by Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald.
Harvey died in July and was subject to delays in accessing urgent scoliosis surgery.
Ms McDonald said his parents have been left shattered and heartbroken, telling the Dáil that he waited years for spinal surgery as his condition worsened.
"He was failed by Government. Harvey's case is not an isolated case. Such failures are shamefully a hallmark of your Government," she told the Taoiseach.
Ms McDonald asked why the waiting list for spinal surgery is growing despite the Government's "fine words".
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the experience that Harvey and his family had with hospitals and the clinical world was unacceptable.
He told TDs that Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill and Tánaiste Simon Harris will soon meet Harvey's parents.
The Taoiseach said he understood their anger and that of other parents whose children do not receive surgery at the right time.
He said the issue of stronger advocacy rights for parents when they come up against clinical decisions not to operate on a child must be examined.
16,000 children waiting for assessment of need - Cairns
Returning Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns also discussed Harvey’s case, and criticised the Government’s progress on the issue of disability.
She said: "16,000 children are overdue an assessment of need, essential therapies are non-existent, and hundreds of children left in agony waiting for spinal surgery.
"The only things disabled people are guaranteed by your Government are broken promises and a waiting list.
"Children like Harvey Morrison Sherrat have suffered years of trauma and pain.
"His mother said all he wanted was his iPad, Hunky Dorys, the odd lollipop and timely access to healthcare."
Ms Cairns said parents were faced with "an uncaring system - knowing everyday means their children are further at risk of never reaching their full potential."
The Taoiseach said it was important to create the other side of the narrative as well - pointing to an "unrelenting investment and exponential growth in services."
He said the State investment in special education had risen 43% since 2020.
Labour's Budget focus
With the Budget now less than three weeks away, Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik called on the Government to ensure an emergency cost-of-living package was included.
She said the Government has shown no indication that they will use the €9.4bn Budget package to bring "struggling families any meaningful respite".
Ms Bacik called for targeted energy credits to be reinstated, an extension of the ban on families being disconnected from the network, and a second targeted rate of child benefit in the upcoming Budget.
"Ireland is a rich country, but for far too many people, it feels poor. Despite high GDP, child poverty rates now match those experienced by families after Fianna Fáil crashed the economy in 2007.
"This crisis is really hurting children, children more than anyone," she said.
Mr Martin said the Budget will prioritise tackling the issue of child poverty and those most in need.
He said that the "most effective intervention" in terms of poverty and living standards was work and jobs, adding that employment has risen by 506,000 since 2019.
Mr Martin said inflation has considerably eased since Covid-19 and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and living standards have improved significantly with wages increasing by up to 3.5% this year alone.
He said the Government will include targeted resources as opposed to universal allocations in the Budget.
"We want to do it in a mainstream way. It’s not economically stable as we come out of this high inflation period of the last two or three years after Covid that we continue to do large, standalone cost-of-living packages,
"We have to mainstream provision in terms of the various mechanisms that we have," he said.
