Mary Lou McDonald

The US-Israeli assault on Iran is an act of aggression that threatens to set the entire Middle East ablaze. A sovereign state has been bombed, its leader assassinated and 185 innocent schoolgirls killed. These are not defensive actions. They are the actions of powerful states acting in defiance of international law. Let me state very clearly: the Iranian Government is brutal and repressive. It has…

Wow. That is really dangerous.

The rhetoric we have just heard from the Taoiseach is very dangerous. He has, in effect, offered a defence and rationale for the indefensible and brazen breach of international law. These strikes were launched while negotiations over Iran's nuclear programme were reportedly making progress, while diplomacy was under way and while talks were described as constructive. Now, instead of dialogue, we h…

You are not a serious-----

A reported 37 families in Hazelwood in Bridgetown, County Wexford, were hit with eviction notices on Friday. These families are panicked, stressed and worried about the upheaval in their lives. There is a serious lack of homes available to rent in the area, and even if they could find a new place, they would be hit with massive rent increases due to the Government's new legislation. People feel th…

16. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first meeting of the delivery and monitoring committee for the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, which he chaired on 8 December 2025. [15023/26]

Holy Family School for the Deaf in Cabra is a centre of excellence for deaf education and is in fact the only campus in Ireland catering for deaf pupils from the ages of three to 18 years. This is education for deaf children and young people in the deaf community. It is a special school, providing a very specialised service. It is a wonderful school and they need in-house Irish sign language, ISL,…

Just for clarity, I am not talking about teachers. I am talking about interpreters.

In just four days the Government's rent hike Bill comes into effect. Its legislation allows landlords to hike up rents to the market rate and renters will be hit with massive rent increases, the likes of which we have never seen before. We know that corporate landlords and vulture funds are rubbing their hands in glee, popping champagne corks at the thought of the huge profits they stand to make a…

Is waffle atá i gceist anois. This is on the Taoiseach. There is no balance here. The biggest landlord in the country could not be clearer. It knows that it can hike rents by 25% as a result of the Government's rent hike Bill. It knows that it will make an extra €21 million in rents each and every year. That means millions going into the pockets of corporate landlords and thousands coming out of t…

Answer the question.

Not to screw renters.

Answer the question.

The dark shadow cast by what was done to children in Ireland's industrial and reformatory schools is a horror with which our country has never fully reconciled. Indeed, it may be impossible to do so. The scale and depth of the abuse, violence, hurt and life-lasting trauma suffered by victims has rippled and reverberated for decades, sometimes as quiet as uncertain as a whisper, sometimes powerful …

The Government's plan to take away special needs assistants from vulnerable children was met with massive public anger. Last night, we held a public meeting against the Government's proposed SNA cuts and more than 1,000 people turned up - parents, SNAs and teachers all calling out Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael for their cruel treatment of children. They are now determined to fight back against this, t…

What the Taoiseach has given us is a demonstration of a complete unwillingness to accept realities on the ground. In fact, I would say his response was gaslighting parents and SNAs.

The Taoiseach needs to know that those parents, children and young people who rely on their SNA to participate in school life and learning, to stay at school, to build confidence, esteem and relationships and who require behavioural regulation need to have the security of the SNA. They cannot live on a wing and a prayer from year to year, hoping against hope that the SNA is not taken away. The Go…

It needs to accept the reliance of children and young people to function and to operate-----

-----within the system on those SNAs. It needs to announce not a pause-----

-----or a review of a review but a complete reversal of this disgraceful policy.

Wow.

Wow. The Taoiseach is arrogant.

He is an arrogant man.

The Taoiseach is one arrogant man.

Oh, it is.