Micheál Martin

That is the point. The Garda has indicated there are up to 200 complaints and lines of inquiry. We do not interfere with prosecutors in this jurisdiction. We do not interfere with the Garda. The Deputy has used another phrase, "kicking the can to" Europe. It is another dishonest betrayal of the reality. He knows the legislative framework as well as anybody else. The European Commission is respons…

-----because we understand fully the very negative impact social media can have, and is having, on many children the length and breadth of the country.

The Deputy just made a reprehensible assertion at the commencement of his last comment. The idea that we would give priority to not standing up to big tech over the generation and sharing of child abuse material is an absolutely shocking and reprehensible assertion. How dare you?

Who the hell do you think you are? Do you have some moral superiority over everybody else? You do not have moral superiority over anybody else in this House. Everybody in this House is at one in terms of going after anybody who would generate and disseminate child abuse material, and the legislation is there to do that. The State does not get involved in a Garda investigation. Politicians do not …

-----in terms of the European Commission. It is important that the European Commission, on behalf of everybody within Europe, pursues X and the platform in respect of this.

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. Without question, there should be no cover-up in respect of any medical misadventure, any error or any wrongdoing. Hospitals and the medical community should own up immediately. That is good practice. It is unacceptable that for decades many families have had to go long periods endeavouring to find out the full truth in respect of what happened to their lo…

Disciplinary action was also initiated in respect of that.

Historically, it is fair to say the cultural norm in medicine was not to disclose openly. Over time, that has changed, to be honest to all involved, but we still have a distance to go. We learn through error and medicine is not failure-proof, although the more you create a systemic approach to medicine, the less error you have. The cult of the miracle worker or of the brilliant person was always a…

I thank Deputy Aird for raising this important issue and the critical economic relationship between Ireland and the United States. Not too many Deputies in the House seem to want to mention that. "Economic relationships" seems to be a dirty word. It is enormous. The European Union-US economic relationship is the biggest in the world. It cannot be dismissed. The implications of any implosion of US-…

I will alert IDA Ireland to Deputy's comments on Laois. I know Deputy Fleming also has an interest there, as do other Deputies. Deputy Stanley has his hand up as well. I hope he keeps his hand up in respect of the economic relationship between the US and Ireland. Notwithstanding everything that has happened, there have been significant investments even since all of the turbulence. I will not name …

I was very surprised it was not raised on Leaders' Questions.

Ar dtús báire, gabhaim buíochas le Mick O’Brien as an méid oibre atá déanta aige ar son Thithe an Oireachtais i rith na mblianta. Gan amhras, is duine den scoth é agus tá muid go léir fíorbhuíoch de. I want to congratulate you on everything you have achieved, particularly your work on the historical restoration. You have been a phenomenal officeholder here, in many ways reflecting the outstanding …

I say that with a sense of humour. It is the first time, I think, that I have ever witnessed "Happy birthday" being sung in Dáil Éireann, so you have broken new ground. It appears you were a soccer referee. You would have made a great Ceann Comhairle in another life, clearly. Thank you for everything, and also to Lorraine, Michelle, Jennifer, Karl and the family. Enjoy your retirement. It is well …

I appreciate Deputy McDonald raising this issue. I was surprised that nobody raised it on Leaders' Questions given the urgency of it and the importance of it. Fifty-six schemes have been completed and a further 100 schemes are at different stages of development. I am blaming nobody and have not blamed anybody other than the fact that we are experiencing severe weather events more frequently. Weath…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. It is a very important one. I also wish to convey my condolences to the family of Martin and Sharon and those the Deputy has met . We have to prioritise victims and survivors of criminal violence and we are doing that. Deputy Bacik is a person with a significant legal background. Perhaps she and the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, could engage on the substa…

It is unfair of the Deputy to use the language that she has used in identifying the Government's response. The Minister, Jim O'Callaghan, has seized on this issue and the legislation is anything but the status quo. The Minister is going as far as he possibly can within constitutional limits. A complete ban or a blanket ban on the disclosure of counselling records is simply unconstitutional. That i…

It is a significant change and there are other elements of that legislation also that represent significant change from the status quo. At least that should be acknowledged. There are constitutional constraints.

I will talk to the Minister for education with respect to the college the Deputy has raised. There is a broader issue. We have dramatically increased spending for second level and primary schools in terms of investment. The national development plan represents a further expansion and increase in projects. We will continue to keep all of this under review and do everything we can to progress as man…

The Minister for Health is seized of the situation across the country, including Mayo. We have allocated significant additional resources to the Health Service Executive this year, compared with last year. Population is growing and there are lots of pressures on acute hospitals. I will talk to the Minister in the first instance with respect to the issues the Deputy has raised. Obviously, during th…

I met with the Deputy, the local authorities and the tidy towns group in Aughrim. I pay tribute to them and the local authority for the exceptional response. It again underlined the importance of community-based facilities and community centres. These are two communities under enormous pressure from weather events. In this case it was not a particular river breaking its bank, rather it was all of …

It is across the country. It is Wicklow and Wexford as well. It is a consequence of what is happening.

It will be banned in public parks, on public lands and on public roads. Coillte has a responsibility to ensure its trails, walkways and so on are not used by illegal scramblers using scrambler bikes. There will have to be a zero-tolerance approach to the use of scramblers where the public are engaged. They should be used in proper sporting facilities where they were originally meant to be used. Wh…

We are rolling out advanced paramedic cars across the country. I was involved in establishing the pre-ambulance-----

I was responsible for establishing the pre-ambulance emergency council, which ushered in the new era of professional first responders that transformed the whole ambulance situation. There is a broader issue with how ambulances are deployed. The council and the national authorities responsible have a clear view as to what is the best and optimal deployment. Not everybody in this House agrees with t…

I have not had any specific contact although I am aware of the comments by Mr. Larry Fink that Dublin could be one of a number of potential locations for Davos, or an alternative to Davos. I notice some of the officials connected to the event were less strong about it. Be that as it may, this year is a huge event for the country with the European Presidency. The European Political Community of lea…