John Lahart

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. I would like to reinforce what my colleague Deputy Brabazon said. A number of backbench TDs were actually chatting about this recently. In the old days, there were six houses connected to a sewerage pipe and in the modern context, there might be up to ten. As the Deputy said, very often it is at the last house on that connection where a block…

8. Deputy John Lahart asked the Taoiseach to report on the work of the child poverty programme in his Department. [13734/25]

I add my voice to the well wishes to Deputy Boyd Barrett. Regarding the well-being side of the child poverty and well-being committee within the Department, our commitment as a Government to establish DEIS Plus is an important milestone. The Taoiseach will appreciate that in constituencies like my own, there are a breadth and intensity of challenges that simply do not exist in other communities. T…

The Ceann Comhairle was elected by secret ballot by a majority of Members. She is the first woman to hold this office.

It is already easy to forget that one of her first duties was to chair the election of a Taoiseach. The people who took a wrecking ball to process in this House sit on the opposite benches. Getting down to the business of last week, it is difficult, as anybody here can testify to the fact, for the public to appreciate the visceral and toxic atmosphere pervading the Chamber last week and to wonder …

It is almost 100 years since W.B. Yeats rebuked the audience in the Abbey, berating them saying, "You have disgraced yourselves once again."

Those words came to mind last week. While the tagline "You cannot be in Government and the opposition at the same time" is an easy and actually lazy chant-----

-----and this point was made in the Dáil reform committee, it does not reflect our evolving democracy. The truth of these episodes is Ireland elects a disproportional number of independents by international comparison. In other parliaments, there are cross-benchers; those who waive the designation of opposition or government and choose to be designated as other. There are Deputies who wish to be i…

On that last point actually, nobody has worked harder in this House than my colleague, the Cathaoirleach of the Seanad, in developing relationships with congresspeople at state level and leveraging the Irish connection with literally hundreds of congresspeople. That is a significant network and a significant opportunity for lobbying for our interests. I welcome the Minister of State and thank him…

Glaoim ar an Teachta Maitiú Mac Craith.

Rachaimid anois go dtí ceisteanna chuig an Aire Stáit agus freagraí.

The EU recommitting to the simplification piece, to use the Minister of State’s language, and reducing the cost of business, including up to 35% for SMEs, would have been music to the ears of businesses. Will the Minister of State expand on that? Will he update us on preparations for the Presidency, what it means for the country in practical terms, when it begins and ends and its rubrics? Finall…

I have more questions.

I think I might have let it go out of my head when I was told that I could not ask it.

I am sure you will.

It was on preparations for the Irish Presidency.

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for facilitating me. My question concerns the withdrawal and cessation of the Airport Hopper public transport bus service from Tallaght to Dublin Airport, which ceased without warning very recently. My key concerns are that there was a lack of public communication of the fact that the service was going to cease and that passengers were not informed that it was cea…

What about Sinn Féin's legacy?

I am grateful to the Minister of State, Deputy Harkin, for taking this topical issue. I want to raise the issue of the Sacred Heart school in Killinarden in my constituency. It is a DEIS school. I am grateful for the fact that the DEIS programme has been essential in addressing the disadvantage in the school. Sacred Heart and the Killinarden area are ninth out of just over 3,000 disadvantaged are…

I thank the Minister of State for the response. My understanding from the school is that the FSSU has got involved a second time. Part of its advice to the school was that it reach out to the community. I want to let the FSSU know, as a TD from the area, that it really needs to grasp the breadth and intensity of the challenges that face the school in this area. It is not possible for this school t…

Jimmy Stynes was a great footballer. He was one of the first sportsmen in Ireland to go to Australia and play Australian rules football. He is the late Jimmy Stynes, I regret to say. He was a neighbour of mine. My claim to fame is that I played a bit of football with him when I was a juvenile. Why am I mentioning him? When I was seven, eight or nine, his mum had a company car. She worked for a com…

On a point of order, can the Deputy name one neofascist in this Chamber?

Can the Deputy name one neofascist in this Chamber?

In the course of Deputy Devine's contribution, I incorrectly understood or misinterpreted her as referring to people on this side of the House or in the Chamber. I have known her for a long time. We were colleagues on South Dublin County Council and I understand that nothing she said was not allowable under Standing Orders so I apologise unreservedly for that and I hope she accepts that it was sai…

You talked about them wasting their time dancing.