Mary Lou McDonald

Yesterday, everyone here in the Dáil expressed sympathies on the horrific and senseless death of Grace Lynch. I raised with the Taoiseach his Government's persistent failure to keep communities safe. So many communities across the city of Dublin and the country are tormented by persistent antisocial behaviour by those who feel they can do whatever they want whenever they want and who intimidate an…

-----how it is that we are in this situation? Can he give an explanation of that?

Therefore, there is no firm, robust response to anti-social behaviour. That is the stuff of fiction from the Taoiseach. There is not. Ask anybody anywhere. Ask them in Dublin's north inner city; ask them in communities across the country. This scourge goes unchallenged. Communities are telling us loudly and clearly that one of the ingredients to actually get a proper response is high visibility ou…

I am asking the Taoiseach to be very clear and confirm for me what the numbers are.

How many gardaí are prevented from graduating because of a delay in internal Garda vetting? I would like an answer to that please.

It is on the record.

He is the Chair of the committee.

We did not get a response.

That does not pay the bills.

Eight days on, and the Taoiseach still ignores the calls for Larry Murrin to step down from his role as chair of Bord Bia. His position is untenable. There is a massive conflict of interests with him remaining in post, particularly as his company imports Brazilian beef into the Irish market. This is totally in conflict with the role of Bord Bia, which is to promote Irish food, including Irish beef…

Farmers have perspective-----

-----as does everybody else.

For Grace Lynch, last Sunday began like any other. Spending time with her family, having breakfast, talking about her plans for the day, texting friends and having the craic with her sisters and baby brother. Later, on Sunday afternoon, Grace went to meet her boyfriend. She never came home. As she crossed the Ratoath Road a short distance from her home, Grace was mowed down by a scrambler bike. Hi…

Of course, there are no words of consolation that can in any way reflect the loss of Siobhán and Martin, Grace's wider family, her community and her friends too. Of course, that is the case. Her life was lost needlessly and, as I said, it was predictable. It was predictable that a life would be lost and yet the law dragged its feet. I hope the Taoiseach hears that anger from Finglas. The people in…

Get you out of Government.

What does the Government have against renters? Its new legislation guts rent pressure zones and allows rents to be reset to full market levels between tenancies. From 1 March, this will have the effect of driving rents even higher. Who demanded the introduction of the Bill that has been brought forward? It was not renters, who are drowning under record rents, or small or medium-sized landlords. Th…

And new tenancies.

I wrote to the Taoiseach this morning regarding Bord Bia's chair, Larry Murrin, whose position I now believe to be completely untenable given that his company was importing Brazilian beef. I hope he will act on my letter. The childcare system is in crisis.

I am about to bring up my issue now.

I was merely informing the Taoiseach of a piece of correspondence.

I do not think the defensive response is entirely necessary, but how and ever, people can judge that for themselves.

Unaffordable fees are crippling families. Parents, in many cases, pay the equivalent of a mortgage each month. Across the State, as the Taoiseach knows, there are nearly 50,000 children on waiting lists denied a childcare place. Many parents find themselves relying on family members to mind their children while they are at work. Some are forced to cut back on their hours or consider leaving their …

What is that all about?

The Taoiseach, of course, sabotaged my efforts but there you go.

The nub of it is, the Taoiseach promised affordable childcare and he has not delivered it. He failed to produce the childcare places that are necessary and I would like to know what he is going to do about this in the here and now, not in 2027 or 2028.