Micheál Martin

We will pursue that. We will work with the Deputy and others in the House-----

-----if there is a necessity to strengthen the legislation. The new Garda Commissioner spoke to the Minister for justice this morning. The Minister rang him and met him to discuss this. The issue of enforcement will be intensified in respect of scramblers.

There is a pursuit policy there and obviously there are balances in regard to protection of lives and so on. I fully understand where the Deputy is coming from and the anger he has articulated on this.

I thank the Deputy for raising what is a very important issue in respect of CIÉ pensions. He is correct; an agreement was arrived at. I have spoken to both Ministers. My understanding is that nothing is holding it up and the Minister for public expenditure is clear that he wants this delivered. I will get full clarity and precision for the Deputy in relation to that but I am pursuing it as well.

I thank the Deputy. It is a very sizeable and important town. Thankfully, we are getting numbers through Templemore with good flow and recruitment. I will talk to the Minister for justice in respect of the presentation the Deputy has made today to see what we can do to get that to a 24-7 service.

We have to spend responsibly but I get the Deputy's point.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. At one level it is complex but, at another level, it is straightforward, if that makes sense. There are issues there. We will talk to the Minister and the HSE to see if this issue can be satisfactorily resolved, averting any necessity for further industrial action. We appreciate the work that is being done there.

Over 240,000 people who are currently renting will not have their tenancies impacted by these measures.

That is an important point. I welcome the fact that the Deputy is at least the first person on the left to welcome the rent price register. Listening to everybody else, you would imagine Armageddon was about to befall us and there was nothing at all to be recommended. This Bill fundamentally strengthens rent protection and protects renters much more effectively than anything that has gone before t…

We want buildings brought back into use as quickly as possible. We have the living city initiative and so on. With the greatest respect, we have given clear policy directions to public agencies but, as Taoiseach of the country, I cannot start arbitrating on every single building in every single area across the country. I am sure the Deputy will appreciate that. It should get moving on it and get i…

No, of course not. They should get it resolved.

Refusal of what?

I cannot be interfering in every single local authority in the country in respect of every procedural vote they have. We need to have some degree of balance in the House. I am not in the business of running Donegal County Council.

I do not mean that in a facetious way but it is a fact. I am not aware of the precise nature of what transpired but the entirety of the council is made up of councillors democratically elected by the people of Donegal. Councillors take decisions on a regular basis, either weekly or whenever they meet. We have to have some balance on the separation of responsibilities - I will not say powers.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 12, inclusive, together. I attended the G20 leaders’ summit in Johannesburg, South Africa on 22 and 23 November last. Ireland was among a small number of guest countries invited by South Africa to participate in the G20 during its Presidency, the first time for Ireland to do so. I take the opportunity to again thank the South African Presidency for this invit…

I thank all the Deputies for raising these issues. This was the first time ever Ireland was invited to be a participant at the G20. It is interesting some people questioned whether I should attend. We have a strong pro-development agenda in Ireland through our development aid programme across different Departments but mainly delivered through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and through…

It is a fair point. When you attend these meetings, you see the enormous impact of climate on many African countries, resulting in migration, economic disruption and significant disruption of food production systems. The area of mitigation and adaptation is one we need to focus on more urgently, globally and in Ireland. I will talk to the Minister on the specific issues the Deputy raised. If you …

I propose to take Questions Nos. 13 to 23, inclusive, together. I attended the seventh EU-African Union summit, which took place on 24 and 25 November 2025 in Luanda, Angola. The summit, which took place the day after the G20, was co-chaired by the President of Angola, João Lourenço, and the President of the European Council, António Costa. The summit marked 25 years of strategic partnership betw…

I think Deputy Ó Murchú was first into the breach, is that right?

We are in a very turbulent situation. The Deputy referenced Sudan, trade, energy and debt. He is correct on the debt issue. It is a great pity the USA has pulled back significantly. I hope that will be reviewed because it is a significant loss to the world and the developing world, in particular. The Deputy again skilfully brought the EU-African summit back to Dundalk's wastewater treatment plant,…

Every trade agreement will have a mediation process and mechanism. Every trade agreement must have a mechanism process. The European courts dealt with that and clarified that significantly some time ago. The bottom line is the enormity of growth in trade speaks for itself, which benefits people in this country. It benefits jobs, it benefits small companies and it benefits big companies. The benefi…

On a point of order, what is the leader's question? The Deputy is only allowed bring up one issue at a time.

We cannot be doing sleight of hand stuff like that.

On a point of order, a Cheann Comhairle, this is important.

The Deputy cannot have two or three issues at the one time.