This morning on The Agenda we spoke to Aontu TD for Meath-West Peadar Toibin, who is calling for the law to change in relation to how applications are made and processed for properties to be used as housing for people seeking international protection in Ireland.

Deputy Toibin branded the current process as "chaotic" and says that the system is being used for speculative purposes by businesspeople - claiming some people are even getting rich off the back of it.

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Gardaí have been urged to investigate an online forum where thousands of images of girls and women from across Ireland have been posted without their knowledge.

The pictures appear to have been taken from both the public and private social media accounts of those targeted, with some posted alongside sexual threats.

Investigative Journalist at the The Journal, Patricia Devlin, spoke to us on The Agenda this morning on this.

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Mum Debbie Adams has been waiting a year to address an inquiry into the prescribing of epilepsy medicine containing Valproate to pregnant women. 

Her daughters, aged 13 and 11, were diagnosed with Fetal Valproate Syndrome (FVS) in 2020. This came after years of diagnosis for individual symptoms.

Last June, an inquiry was launched into the prescribing of valproate, which can cause serious birth defects and development disorders. 

Families were told the inquiry would begin "within weeks" but there is still no sign of it starting.

Debbie spoke to us on The Agenda this morning about this.

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A mother has launched a campaign for new legislation — called ‘Francis’ Law’, named after her son — to end the automatic reduction of sentences during mitigation in rape cases.

Mitigation covers a range of factors — from pleas of guilty to the rehabilitation of the perpetrator — which can considerably cut the final term handed down.

Mother Georgina Tuohey recently had a third case of rape and/or sexual assault on three of her children finish in the criminal courts.

She was left outraged at the length of sentence given to her former partner, Brendan Cornally, in the last case, concerning her son Francis, who has special needs, and the overall term Cornally will serve for all three sentences.

Georgina spoke to us on The Agenda this morning about this.

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Take a deep breath: it’s less than 24 hours before Leaving Certificate English paper one lands on exam desks at 9.30am on Wednesday. If you are feeling anxious, you are not alone. 

It is normal for Leaving Cert students (and their parents) to feel stressed.

We were joined on The Agenda this morning by Guidance Counsellor and Education Columnist at The Irish Times, Brian Mooney, who gave us his “Leaving Cert Survival Guide” tips for both students and their parents.

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A current defence strategy in defamation cases — which has yet to succeed — is to be strengthened under proposals from Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan.

A law lecturer in Trinity College Dublin said no defence under Section 26 of the Defamation Act 2009 — which allows publishers to argue publication was fair and reasonable and in the public interest — has ever succeeded in this country.

Eoin O’Dell said that no Section 26 defence has ever succeeded in this country, and Eoin spoke to us on The Agenda this morning about this.

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This morning on The Agenda we spoke to Meath-based Independent Senator, Sharon Keogan, who says that plans to house migrants at Thornton Hall and build a prison "haven't disappeared”. 

Senator Keogan took to social media after receiving a letter from Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan, and this morning on The Agenda she gave us all the latest on this.

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Efforts must be made at the Department of Defence to ensure that the father of Dundalk soldier Michael McNeela can receive the army pension given to his late wife in recognition of their son’s death, Louth TD Ruairí Ó Murchú has said.

We spoke to Deputy Ó Murchú on The Agenda this morning about this.

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There is an epidemic of sexual viol­ence in Ireland, and people across the country are reaching out for support in numbers never seen before.

This is the reality behind the huge increase in demand for frontline services provided by Dublin Rape Crisis Centre last year.

This morning on The Agenda we spoke to CEO of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, Rachel Murrough, who has a piece in the Irish Independent this week about the rape myths and victim-blaming this is still prevalent in Ireland today.

Rachel says “it must end”.

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There is a €20,000 reward available for information that leads to the conviction of the person or people who organised a nearly fatal attack on a postman in 2008. 

Robert Delaney is a father of two and at the time was living with his partner in an apartment in Tallaght.

He was a happy-go-lucky kind of guy, his dad Terry says, however Robert’s life changed forever when one day when he came across a young man being assaulted.

Robert intervened and hit the assailant and broke up the row and the subsequent events then turned very serious and led Robert and his family to where they are today.  

Afterwards, Robert learnt that the man he hit was a man whose father had connections to dissident republicans. 

Robert took the initiative to go and see this criminal - to try and make peace. He had a one to one with him… but one morning at 6am, Robert’s doorbell rang and his life changed forever… and the lives of his family…

Roberts father Terry spoke to us on The Agenda this morning about this shocking story.

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