Barry Heneghan

Will the Minister provide an update on the Department's consideration of a second-tier child benefit scheme? Research by the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, and Social Justice Ireland shows that a growing number of families are experiencing real deprivation despite being just above the income thresholds for most supports. A targeted measure like this could be transformative. Is it be…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. Aontaím leis. Child benefit already plays a vital role, but recent estimates are that between 150,000 to 230,000 children are experiencing poverty and we now have clear evidence that a large number of families are still being left behind by this threshold. There is a major impact on these families. They are still working hard, but they are struggling with the cost o…

I welcome the fact that the Department is looking at that. Budget 2026 should be focused on that but a second tier payment should not replace what we already have. We need to build on it. It would target families facing higher costs while protecting the certainty and simplicity of universal child benefit. There is an opportunity to act on this evidence. The system works well for many but the peopl…

I welcome the Government decision not to oppose the motion. Continued investment in public transport is essential if we are to deliver on our climate obligations. We need to acknowledge, as others did recently, that there are now 1 million daily users as well as the expansion of the Local Link network. We need to make it easier for people to use public transport. Everyone here has travelled to Eur…

8. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on climate action, environment and energy will next meet. [32403/25]

I heard a Member of this House say that this Government is anti-climate change measures. I ask her to look at the programme for Government. I am a recently qualified mechanical engineer who helped to contribute to the programme for Government. Another Member spoken about the private wires Bill. Yes, 50% of Dublin's electricity is used by data centres, but what do the Members propose we do? Are the…

I am sorry, but I did not interrupt the Deputy. Maybe the data centres develop their own on-site energy and help us reach our climate goals.

Regarding the task force, I welcome what Deputies McAuliffe and Brabazon said about north Dublin. What steps are being taken to make development of residential space above shops in Dublin's inner city easier? There are major issues with licences for fire safety. Is there any update on the proposed late-night licensing reforms and the Give Us The Night campaign? Young people in Ireland feel they a…

Yes, 6 a.m. We should bring it up. In Berlin it is 24-7.

They boost the economy.

I rith an toghcháin, agus mé ag caint le daoine ag na doirse, bhí go leor daoine ag cuir ceist orm faoi seo. An cheist a bhí acu ná, “cá bhfuil an t-airgead ag dul?”. Caithfimid bheith níos soiléire faoi na háiteanna ina bhfuil an t-airgead don LPT ag dul. Is rud é sin gur gá dúinn díriú isteach air. For most households, the message is pretty straightforward. Property values have gone up. In Dubl…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as an gcúirt a thug sé ar Ghaelcholáiste Reachrann. Bhí gach duine an-sásta é a fheiceáil ansin. I thank Deputy Ó Muirí and the other TDs in Dublin Bay North for asking the Minister. It was good to see her there and the school was delighted that she visited. Has the Department been speaking to the planning authorities and trying to expedite the building of this…

I welcome the fact the Minister stated she is committed. I thank all the TDs in Dublin Bay North for a unified push towards this. It is very important. The school has been waiting 25 years. It cannot wait 35 or 45 years. The students who are there now do not trust the system. I welcome the fact the Minister has committed to that and that it will go to tender by September. With all the pressure we …

Tá sé deas é sin a chloisteáil. Tá mé thar a bheith sásta leis sin. It is important the children know that education through the medium of Irish is being taken seriously by the Government. In the previous Government, we saw a decrease in the number of children learning through the medium of Irish. It is something the Government needs to turn around. In the programme for Government, there are clear…

What everyone has said today is completely true. We are witnessing one of the darkest moments in modern history. In Gaza, the population is being bombed, starved, displaced and deprived of the most basic human rights. When I met a young man who lives in my constituency whose parents are still in Gaza, I could not look him in the eye and say I am not doing everything I can to help him and his fami…

I have a question for the Taoiseach that is especially personal to me as my sister and her wife are expecting their child. Real fear and frustration is being felt by the LGBTQ+ parents who are still not legally recognised as their children's parents. As it stands, the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act 2024 risks leaving families behind, especially those born through surrogacy or donor conce…

5. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Finance if he will provide an update on the review of the help to buy scheme; if consideration is being given to adjusting the eligibility criteria or value thresholds in response to recent changes in house prices and inflation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28246/25]

My question concerns the help to buy scheme and its future direction. The programme for Government commits to both retaining and revising the scheme. Given the significant rise in house prices, particularly in north Dublin, has consideration been given to adjusting the eligibility criteria or value threshold to ensure the scheme remains relevant and accessible to first-time buyers of my generation…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. I welcome the Minister said that. I have met developers in north Dublin and across the country and they told me that the Housing Finance Agency was meeting just once a month. Completed buildings are sitting empty in the middle of a housing crisis, yet there does not seem to be a sense of urgency in the Department. Housing is not the Minister's Department, but as Mini…

I thank the Minister for his answer. It is exactly that - the board is meeting once a month. Developers and investors are seeing this. It is holding developers up and adding many costs for them, which they do not like and discourages the building of homes. The scheme is valuable and it is right that it is being retained. I look forward to the budget and seeing what this Government will do. Revisi…

I thank my constituency colleague for bringing up data centres and the State data centre. The programme for Government talks about expediting private wire legislation. As Deputy Ó Muirí just said with regard to the decarbonisation of data centres, as we are all aware, 21% of our electricity is being used by data centres. While other Deputies will attack data centres, there are 53,000 jobs indirect…

I wish to address something to which reference has already been made, namely our climate targets. This is a matter I have already spoken about. We know it will be beneficial for the Government if we invest millions of euro in our ports and expand them. While there is going to be huge offshore renewable energy coming into the Port of Cork, the latter is not a viable location for brining in the big …

It is deeply harrowing to witness the devastation unfolding in Gaza, as every Deputy has said. As we speak, infants are starving. Families are without clean water or basic medical supplies. According to the WHO, nine out of ten people in Gaza now face crisis-level hunger. I have heard Deputies across the Chamber refer to the Great Famine but it is actually the great genocide that our people faced …

I commend Deputies Connolly and O'Rourke on their amendments to the proposed legislation. Many younger Deputies, myself included, may not be too aware of the State's involvement in residential institutions, which finally closed in Ireland from the late 1980s up to the mid-1990s. I have watched recordings of Deputy Connolly in previous Dáileanna setting out, or painting a picture if you like, of th…

What we are witnessing in Gaza is an humanitarian disaster. Thousands of people have been killed. Thousands more are missing under the debris and rubble and more than 1.5 million face starvation. Entire neighbourhoods have been obliterated. Children are dying of hunger. Hospitals, schools and refugee camps have been bombed, and still the world hesitates. I condemn the atrocities carried out by H…