Paul McAuliffe

I thank my colleagues for giving me a little extra time on this issue. Last Friday, Father Séamus Aherne reminded the people of Finglas that 25 January was Burns night, celebrating the famous poet Robbie Burns, who spoke about old acquaintance not being forgot. I suppose for our community, as Father Aherne said, 25 January will be remembered as the day when our community was shaken by the tragic d…

Last night in Finglas, hundreds of people came out to support the Lynch family and to tell the Garda, Government and particularly those who recklessly and dangerously drive e-scooters and scramblers illegally that enough is enough. Grace Lynch was a beautiful young girl with her whole life ahead of her and that was robbed from her on Sunday afternoon. Our community is sad but we are not surprised …

This week, I and many of my Government colleagues welcomed the over €12 million allocated in local sports partnership grants. What was not welcomed was the method of the county breakdown in which it was allocated. It is not just about this round of grants; it is across many grants that are distributed through local authorities and local community development committees. There is a narrative in her…

I did not mention Wicklow, Tánaiste.

Absolutely. It is very welcome.

I welcome each of the provisions of the Bill because behind many of those provisions are either victims or groups who have campaigned for the Government to act. The Minister has hit the ground running in the past number of months. The breadth of the Bill demonstrates his good faith in having worked with many of the people who sought these provisions. I spent all of Christmas listening to the Oppo…

The rest of it is working.

3. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Taoiseach for an update on the implementation of the Dublin city task force report. [67575/25]

I think this is the second set of statements we have had on artificial intelligence. A bit like the previous speaker, I do not think anybody in this House is an expert in AI in the same way as there are in industry. That is part of the challenge for us as representatives of the people. That is why we are here. It is for us to understand, articulate and predict an industry that is rapidly changing.…

I want to raise the issue of a victim's rights when the perpetrator of a crime is leaving prison or other institution. Prior to being a TD I was not aware of the very significant rights that exist under the victim's charter, including the right to know where a person is imprisoned, changes to his or her custody or location, and so on. That applies to those in prison but also to those people who ar…

I appreciate that matters before the court are often in the control of the Judiciary. There is a clear separation of powers between what happens in this House and what happens and how decisions are made in a court. As Ms Bourke sat across from me at my clinic, and she was there for some time, I could only agree with her. She feels that a crime was committed and that while justice was administered …

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the statements following the meeting of the European Council in December. I thank the Taoiseach for outlining some of the matters that were discussed. Ukraine, the Middle East and EU enlargement were referenced. It is only a matter weeks since the European Council meeting and yet the entire world has changed in those few weeks. I might touch on some of the in…

It is not often in this House you feel like you are making any progress at all, but I wish to congratulate the Minister of State on bringing forward this Bill. I know it is something which she and many of us in Fianna Fáil have been working on for some time. I should probably also note the support of the former Minister, Stephen Donnelly, when he was in the House. In August 2023, a number of peop…

107. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment if he or his Department plan to make changes to the warmer homes scheme to allow alternative sources of home heating for older homes that require extensive home energy upgrading work and whereby a heat pump might not be suitable; if he plans to extend the scheme to allow for more targeted home energy upgrades whe…

As the Minister of State will know, the better energy warmer homes scheme is an incredibly popular scheme. Now that the Government has expanded eligibility to fuel supplement recipients more and more people are availing of it. The Taoiseach said that 26% of homes are eligible for the fuel supplement. The changes earlier in the year to the European Commission's rulings on state funding of replaceme…

I appreciate the response. The most important point the Minister of State made is that this is a fully funded scheme. Unlike the other grant schemes available to local authorities under which the responsibility falls on the individual owner to decide how they will replace their boiler, this is a fully funded scheme and it is up to the SEAI to provide the solution. There is difficulty, however, for…

The Minister of State is right that this scheme has transformed the scheme but because of that decision not to replace a gas boiler, a very expensive heat pump system is being put in place. That is fantastic for those who avail of this but that transforms the scheme itself and the cost of the scheme. It will mean that fewer people will have access to the scheme if those resources are used. There i…

I appreciate that.

2. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on housing will meet next. [64218/25]

In my constituency between Shanowen Road and Collins Avenue there are proposals to build new apartment developments. While the additional new housing is incredibly welcome, unfortunately the under-utilised industrial estate there is currently occupied by Santry Boxing Club. Would the Taoiseach agree as well as powering ahead with the provision of new housing, Dublin City Council needs to have a mo…

96. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Education and Youth to provide an update and timeframe for the new ASD classes at a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [70806/25]

I welcome the support the Minister of State and his Department have given in opening new ASD classes in my own constituency over the last number of years. I also welcome the recent visit he made to St. Michael's House Special National School when it was opening its new building on a great day for that community. I wish to ask the Minister of State about the Finglas Parochial National School and th…

I thank the Minister of State. We welcomed the sanction of special classes in the Finglas national school. It is an incredibly historic school and one of the original model schools. The difficulty is that, in the meantime, there is a temporary provision in a local community hall where, only on a part-time basis, education is being provided. The difficulty with that is that many parents moved their…

I thank the Minister of State, and particularly his office, which I have been in touch with many times on this issue. We do not control the planning process and it was unexpected that the additional information would be required. The difficulty is that parents like Marie, Leanne and others who have been in touch with me were effectively offered half a place. They were told they had to take it and …

No it is not Would the Deputy stop?