Micheál Martin

I cannot hear a thing.

I read that report and I will engage with the Minister of State, Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan, and the NPWS. I think we have roughly doubled the staffing level of the NPWS in the past five years and have provided it with additional resources, correctly so. The Minister of State is very focused on the enforcement dimension. There has been good success also in terms of conservation and the biodiver…

I am not quite clear about what the Deputy articulated in that minute, in terms of whether it was more spending, more tax or whatever.

We appreciate the role of the fiscal council. Its reports are a valuable part of the budgetary process. We fully accept there are issues in terms of how we manage our public finances in the context of the revenue. However, the Future Ireland Fund and the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund have been a success and they have not been funded by borrowing to date.

It is interesting that if we look at Irish expenditure over the last number of years in terms of the argument around the sustainability of public expenditure, there is no doubt that there have been a lot of increases, but one metric to evaluate is to look at total gross voted expenditure as a ratio of national output. Basically, we are kind of tracking fairly consistently over the last years, at a…

It did increase sharply during Covid.

I appreciate the comments Deputy Coppinger has made. The violence last night in Belfast, the racism on display and the burning out of families because of their ethnicity have to be roundly condemned. It is very dangerous. It puts Northern Ireland in a very difficult and challenging spotlight in terms of where the North goes into the future societally. Some areas are potentially becoming no-go area…

I am the Taoiseach.

The Deputy is confused on this one; there is no question about that. The International Protection Act 2026 has been introduced by this Dáil and supported by this Dáil. It will provide a very fair, sustainable, efficient and robust asylum procedure. It will also result in faster dealing with applications and appeals that may be made against those decisions. It will be much faster. It also enables u…

What Deputy Lawless said there is misinformation. It is absolute misinformation.

It is absolute nonsense and I think it is wrong.

Nonsense, just bloody nonsense.

I thank Deputy Crowe for his robust advocacy on behalf of St. Joseph's Secondary School and its extension application. I take on board what he said. There has been significant investment in school buildings but, clearly, there is a necessity for more. I will engage with the Minister for education on this issue to see if we can move forward and advance this extension for the benefit of the students…

It is absolutely not sustainable and it is not safe for people either. It is not appropriate. It is wrong that people should feel the need to use tents at times. The facilitation of that is something I have issues with. The Government does not support that. The Minister has sought accommodation in different locations but also, the Act itself will lead to much faster treatment of applications. Abo…

The Deputy is being unfair to his colleagues, Government TDs who are-----

-----people of considerable experience and who have had significant impact over the years in respect of Cavan-Monaghan. There has been increased funding overall in terms of roads this year. I will engage with the Ministers for housing and the environment, local authorities and the Minister for public expenditure to make sure we can deal with the significant challenges that people undoubtedly face …

It is a very reasonable point the Deputy is making. It is a good scheme and it has been a good, welcome initiative. We always evaluate initiatives in terms of how they are working. I will speak to the Ministers for energy and Finance in respect of this.

I thank the Deputy for his comments. This is a very important issue for people generally, but young people and young couples in particular, in rural Ireland. Given the housing crisis we are in, we simply have to look at every avenue to increase housing capacity. The Minister and the Minister of State with responsibility for housing have been working substantively on this with significant proposal…

I pay tribute to St. Joseph's Gaelic football club for its ambition and energy and for serving the community so well. This project represents the manifestation of a further milestone in the club's development and history. I will ask the Minister and endeavour to engage with Uisce Éireann to see if anything can be done here to facilitate what is a very significant community facility for the wider c…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I also recognise the strength of his advocacy in regard to the ring road in Galway and the absolute necessity for it. It is with some degree of dismay that we read that there will be a judicial review of the planning. I urge the authorities - and I will engage with them - to see if mediation can bring about a speedier outcome to the issues that have been …

I condemn, and I have condemned, what happened on last evening. "Racist pogrom" is a good description of last night in north Belfast. I made the point in my earlier remarks that there were certain media outlets of a particular political disposition that sought, from observing some of the interviews, to raise tensions. That is unacceptable and I roundly condemn that. Everybody has a responsibility…

This is parliamentary democracy. By 86 votes to 62, the International Protection Act 2015 was passed in this House. It has been signed by the President. Why are Members inventing and deliberately misinforming people? That is what is going on here. This law has been debated in this House at length.

It has been passed by this House. People have different perspectives, as they are entitled to. It has been passed, signed, and is coming into law. That is all. This is a new development where TDs are coming in to say that a matter was only won by this amount or that and we must have another debate, despite the fact that legislation went through all Stages. This is misinformation and let us call it…

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I cannot get involved in every single scheme with Uisce Éireann but I would say to Irish Water that it needs to reflect on its relationship with public representatives because the number of TDs who are complaining about not getting replies is too high. Something needs to be resolved here to have a proper flow of information. I will check with Irish Water b…

A number of TDs have been raising this kind of issue from time to time.