Mary Lou McDonald

Comhghairdeas leat, Senan. The Dáil has been recalled because the Government got it wrong. Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Independents intended to increase petrol and diesel prices from 1 September. We said no and I wrote to the Taoiseach asking that the Dáil be recalled to stop those increases, so here we are today. However, it is clear that the Government has still not got the message because it…

What the Government brings today is not a solution. It is kicking the can down the road. It is postponing the pain, not removing it. That is why we will oppose the Government motion today. That is why we have brought our own proposal, which would give certainty to workers who depend on their cars to get to work. It would give certainty to families struggling with household bills. It would give cer…

Come on. Zero out of ten for originality.

There is someone the Tánaiste knows very well in the Public Gallery. She is the unstoppable and heroic Cara Darmody. Cara has just completed her third 50-hour protest outside the Dáil, calling for real action for children and young people waiting for an assessment of need. It is high time that the Government did the right thing, as Cara has asked for. In fact, the Tánaiste might take the opportuni…

So we are clear, it is not that all of this is frustrating for those living with Friedreich's ataxia; it is actually terrifying for them. I met Emily three or four weeks ago and I was speaking to her again on Tuesday. Even in that short time span, she told me that her swallow and speech had disimproved. We are on the clock here. Time is of the essence. Of course the science is important. We have t…

Will the Tánaiste intervene?

When they will know?

In the meantime, these people are deteriorating in real time.

I know what it is made up of.

I am aware of that.

The Children’s Health Ireland, CHI, report on e-scooter related injuries for children is shocking. It reported that between January 2021 and August 2025, there were 1,130 attendances at CHI emergency departments due to e-scooter related injuries, and that over the past 12 months, there has been a 50% increase in the number of children and young people being admitted for traumatic brain injuries. W…

I warmly welcome this initiative on the part of the Tánaiste. This is certainly not the first time that Irish unity has been raised on the floor of House, but, generally speaking, it is those of us of this political stripe and on this side of the House who have been pressing for it, so I sincerely thank the Tánaiste for his commentary, which I find constructive. Actually, I find it very refreshing…

Sandra Deans is living a nightmare. Three weeks ago, her 14-year-old son Jayden was knocked down by a speeding scrambler in a hit-and-run incident. Jayden was on his way to the shops and he was hit as he crossed the road at the Five Lamps in the inner city. When his mother Sandra got the call and hurried to the scene, she arrived not knowing whether her son was alive or dead. Jayden has suffered a…

It certainly is about enforcement. Scramblers might be banned from public roads in theory but that is far from the reality. I would invite the Taoiseach to come to my neighbourhood of Cabra, Finglas or the north inner city and he will see the reality. They are an absolute scourge and a source of immediate danger to people's lives. So much more has to be done. People on the ground do not see a Gove…

Taoiseach, riddle me this: how is it these vehicles have no requirement to be registered?

Every single one of them, e-scooters as well as bikes, should be registered, taxed and insured.

Why is that not already the case?

They are not.

People living with Friedreich's ataxia are once again outside the gates of the Dáil. They are, as the Taoiseach knows, waiting and waiting for confirmation that they will have access to Skyclarys, a drug that has the potential to be life-transforming for them. In the absence of it, however, far too many of them see disimprovement in their physical experience, and their symptoms and conditions are …

-----and we need a positive decision for these people before we rise for the summer.

They are waiting two years.

It is 700 days.

"It has impacted every part of our lives. Personal lives, work, relationships, mental health, every single part of our lives. It’s always there". Those are the words of Colin Power, one of the survivors of Bill Kenneally. I will begin by paying tribute to those sitting in the Distinguished Visitors Gallery, who suffered so much as young boys, and to all of their families, who join them in being he…

During the 1960s, young boys suffered horrific daily sexual abuse at the hands of former Christian Brother, Seán Drummond, at Creagh Lane national school in Limerick. Some of the survivors of that abuse are in the Public Gallery this afternoon. I welcome David Phayer, John Boland, Tom Hogan, Ger Smyth, Christopher Rainbow and Thomas Hogan. Tá fáilte rompu. These men were failed catastrophically as…

Seán Drummond received a sentence of two years and he served five months. These men - not just them, but their entire families - serve a life sentence on account of this abuse. The worst thing about it, of course, is that they were faced down so viciously by the State. Even when Louise O'Keeffe won, the State still faced them down. The information that then subsequently emerged was that a letter o…