Charlie McConalogue

I recognise the work of the county council in working with the group. The future provision of sporting facilities is something we want to see being done on a collaborative basis as much as possible, particularly with local authorities trying to bring sporting clubs together to ensure there is synergy in the utilisation of existing land and the investment in facilities. I acknowledge the merits of …

I thank the Deputy for raising this. The programme for Government commits to supporting local authorities in the acquisition of new lands for parks and playing pitches to help build liveable communities. While neither of my Department's sports capital funding programmes - the community sport facilities fund, CSFF, and the large scale sport infrastructure fund, LSSIF - provide for the acquisition o…

It is a real challenge. I have met lots of Dublin clubs over the last period of time. Access to land is a real difficulty for them in meeting the needs of their local communities. Certainly, in order to develop thriving communities, if we are developing new houses, we have to make sure we are developing the recreation and sporting facilities to be able to match that as we go forward. It is somethi…

I thank Deputy Moynihan. I know this is something he has been raising with local authorities and advocating very strongly on. I have engaged with them on this issue as well. I look forward to working closely with the Deputy to see how we can make progress on this really pressing need.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 140 and 147 together. I thank Deputy O'Meara for raising this issue. The programme for Government commits, as the Deputy knows, to continued sports funding to get more people participating in all levels of sport, particularly targeting cohorts in society where there are lower than average participation levels. The community sports facilities fund, CSFF, provides g…

There has been engagement between our two Departments and we will certainly continue to collaborate to see how best we can work together and ensure that, through good co-operation, we are serving local communities well. With the community sports facilities fund coming up now and to be completed by the end of this year, there is a real opportunity there for schools to assess the potential they have…

I thank Deputies O'Meara and Byrne. They make eminent sense in relation to the potential at school level to serve the community as well as serving the school population during school times. I will be engaging with the Minister for education and her Department to see how we can better pursue that objective. I thank the Deputies for raising the matter on the floor of the Dáil today.

I thank the Deputy for raising this. On behalf of the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, I thank him for addressing it on the floor of the Dáil. I join the Minister, Taoiseach and the Deputy in strongly condemning the deliberate callous attack on the house in Edenderry, County Offaly, over the weekend which tragically resulted in the loss of the lives of Mary Holt and young Tadhg Fa…

I join Deputy McCormack in extending my thoughts and prayers to the lady who was injured in the attack. I wish her a speedy recovery. Deputy McCormack's point in relation to Garda resources in Edenderry and Offaly is massively important. I understand that at the end of October, there were 399 gardaí assigned to the Laois-Offaly Garda division, a 45% increase on ten years ago. They are also support…

I thank Deputy Murphy for raising this issue today. The climate action plan includes targets to retrofit the equivalent of 500,000 homes to a building energy rating, BER, of B2, cost optimal, and the installation of 400,000 heat pumps in existing homes to replace older, less efficient heating systems by the end of this decade. The national retrofit plan sets out the Government's approach to achiev…

I will relay the urgency of the need to increase the capacity to the Minister and the Department as a result of this debate. As I indicated in my previous contribution, we have seen a significant increase in the number of applicants. The number has gone from 3,000 homes in 2021 to 13,500 in 2024. There has been a massive increase in the number of applicants, which is obviously putting on pressure …

I thank the Deputy. I am taking this Topical Issue matter on behalf of the Minister for Education and Youth, Deputy Naughton, to outline to the Dáil the current position of the joint school project for St. John Bosco Junior Boys School, St. John Bosco Senior Boys School and Mary, Help of Christians Girls National School in Dublin 7. The joint school building project the Deputy outlined the backgro…

I certainly will bring that back to the Department and to the Minister and the Deputy’s emphasis on the urgency of moving this project on. I know that whenever three schools are brought together for one project like this, it is a big commitment on behalf of all three schools. It is not easy to keep everybody on the one page and it is important the project keeps moving. I will reflect back to the D…

On behalf of the Minister for agriculture and the Minister of State, Deputy Grealish, I thank Deputy Whitmore for bringing forward this Bill and for her many contributions in relation to it. The Department has committed to making a difference around dog control, breeding and welfare. The Minister also wishes to emphasise that this timed amendment, as put forward, is focused on providing sufficien…

I thank all Members of the House who have contributed with substantive points throughout the debate and discussion this afternoon on a significant and important topic in the times we live in. As the Minister, Deputy O’Donovan, said in his opening statement, the online safety of our children and young people is a top priority for the Government and all of us. We all want our children to enjoy thems…

I welcome this Bill. It will deliver some much-needed changes to the original legislation. It is unfortunate it has taken a year to get to this point. That is longer than it should have taken. I worked hard at Cabinet on securing the decision in October 2024 that whenever the new rates came in, they would be applied retrospectively. It has taken 12 months for that to come to the Dáil in this legis…

It is a good job you are not in government.

It has been two and a half years since Sinn Féin promised its own legislation. It is a good job that Deputy O'Reilly is not in government.

What have you done, Deputy O'Reilly?

What-----

I think you are a little bit biased.

I thank the Deputy for his question. While I have not met with Basketball Ireland over the past six months, I did meet with it in April for an introductory meeting regarding its development and other plans. I understand the question relates to playing of matches against Israel. In this regard, the draw for the 2027 Women's Euro Basket qualification group which placed Ireland in a group with Bosnia…

As was outlined in my response, it is a matter for the national governing bodies and international sporting organisations to make their own decisions in this regard. From the point of view of the Government, it does not have a role in any individual sporting organisation's decisions. However, when it comes to the issue of Gaza, the Government has led out internationally and has taken a very strong…

As a Government, Ireland has taken a very strong line in leading out and opposing what was happening in Gaza. I have already outlined that. However, the matter of participating in international competitions or otherwise is a matter for sporting organisations. That has always been the case and that will remain the case. It is not appropriate for the Government to get involved in an independent orga…

Euro 2028 is a really exciting opportunity for Ireland to co-host, along with England, Scotland and Wales, an internationally important soccer championship. We will host seven games in the competition, including a quarter-final. The Government will invest just over €92.9 million in supporting the event. It is anticipated the tournament will generate €449 million of socioeconomic benefits for the c…