Paul Lawless

The population is now more than 5.4 million. Last year, over 25,000 immigrants arrived into this country. That is a net figure of more than 60,000 people. In one year, that is equates to the population of Sligo, Ennis and Castlebar. Yet, this Government has failed to deliver the necessary infrastructure to sustain that level of development. Over the past five years, just over 100,000 houses were b…

I very much welcome the motion brought forward by my colleague Deputy Paul Gogarty. In recent weeks, the new Commissioner has taken office. It is really important to say that the previous Commissioner left the morale of the force in tatters. This is why the Minister for justice, Deputy O'Callaghan, now has a major job at hand in recruitment and retention in the force. I believe the first thing tha…

I welcome the Bill and commend the great work of the members of An Garda Síochána and those officers who work in the Criminal Assets Bureau. It is important that we tackle criminals at source. The best way to do this is by tackling the proceeds of crime. We welcome that the turnaround time will be reduced from seven years to two years. This is something for which we in Aontú have called for quite…

I welcome this fundamentally important Bill. Aontú has been campaigning for this for a long time. The right to be forgotten is crucially important for cancer survivors. We welcome and support this right 100%. The State has effectively punished cancer survivors and victims on the double. The first way is in terms of delayed treatment and diagnosis. The Irish Cancer Society this week launched a repo…

The rural pub is the heart and soul of rural communities. In many villages and towns, it is the last remaining space for villages and clubs to come together to support rural organisations. The rural pub is closing in dramatic fashion. Recently, a report by the Vintners' Federation of Ireland, VFI, found that there was significant pressure. One in four pubs has closed since 2005. This represents mo…

As a result, there are no taxis-----

-----at night time and publicans are forced to operate an informal taxi service-----

-----which is causing massive pressure. Will the Taoiseach address the key issues in the pub sector----

-----in terms of tax, excise duty and transport? We need greater flexibility for taxi services.

And economic viability. That is important. Economic viability and no taxis.

Taxis.

11. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on EU and international affairs will next meet. [37587/25]

Aontú has raised concerns about the economic threats of the tariffs for quite some time. An Aontú Private Members' Bill sought to urge the Government to take steps to mitigate the consequences of the tariffs. In response, Deputy Alan Dillon, the Minister of State with responsibility for enterprise, stated that there is no threat to Ireland as regards these tariffs. I warned at the time that this w…

There exists a huge chasm between Government rhetoric on housing and the reality locally. I draw the Taoiseach's attention to the housing situation in Mayo. The first home scheme, introduced in 2022, has delivered, on average, just six houses each year across the county. The affordable housing scheme, introduced in 2019, has delivered just five units, which is less than one per year. The cost-rent…

Housing delivery has collapsed under Fianna Fáil. This is a very serious issue. I ask the Taoiseach to please not deflect and to give us the reality.

Will he actually address this issue?

What about all the other schemes I mentioned?

I welcome the motion brought forward by Sinn Féin. I also welcome the visitors in the Public Gallery. Aontú has done quite a lot of work on this issue. It is really important that the lived experiences of so many women across Ireland are brought to the floor of the Dáil and put in front of the Minister. The fact is endometriosis is not a minority condition. It affects one in ten women. There are m…

Last year the Government sought to introduce censorship laws under the guise of hate speech legislation. The Government essentially sought to assert itself as the arbitrator as to what is and what is not hate. Recently the European Commission warned Ireland that we are outside the laws in terms of hate speech legislation. An Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, recently told an NGO that we will be working o…

Does the Deputy support changing the legislation, the legislation he supported last year? I have no difficulty-----

The Irish people said "No" and the Government dropped it.

So the Deputy wants the Israelis to-----

When the Ministers were announced, I was delighted the Minister of State, Deputy Canney was being given this responsibility. He realises the importance of the western rail corridor. The Claremorris to Athenry line is fundamentally important for our region. The Minister of State is only up the road and knows the value of this. I ask him to drive on this project and make sure that the legacy of Seán…

I welcome aspects of this legislation. We will be supporting it. However, I have raised many very valid points in this House around viability and around reducing the costs. I have brought points to the Minister about people with planning permission who want to build, who have a housing need, who are renting and cannot afford it, and he has not engaged with any of those points. I ask the Minister t…

I welcome the students in the Gallery this evening. No doubt some of them would have voted for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael on the premise that those parties told them before the election that they would reduce student fees. Student fees were €2,000 and now the Minister is seeking to increase them to €3,000. That is actually a 50% increase yet the parties opposite went to the people, and told these g…