Denise Mitchell

I welcome the motion. Many families in my constituency contacted me ahead of this debate. Listening to their stories, it is clear they go above and beyond for their sons and daughters. Many of their sons and daughters have moderate, serious or profound intellectual disabilities. Some parents find it so difficult to find the time to campaign and advocate on this issue which is why it is up to every…

One of the best ways we can address the cost-of-living crisis for families with young children is to bring down the cost of childcare and make it more accessible. In my own constituency of Dublin Bay North, we have a lot of new housing estates with young families and the waiting list for childcare places is simply huge. The fact is it is stopping many people from returning to work. The cost for th…

As has been said, this is a fantastic school. It serves a disadvantaged community. As has been said as well, 40% of the students in the school are from the Traveller community. This school has children attending from Darndale and the wider community around Priorswood. The decision that has been taken, therefore, is absolutely ridiculous. The school was short just one pupil by a specific date, and …

By one.

I am frustrated by the Minister of State's response. St. Francis school was mentioned only in the last two paragraphs that he read. I cannot understand how the Minister can award a school DEIS plus status and then, on the other hand, remove a teacher. This was resolved in 2020, and the five TDs here are asking her to do so again. The Minister of State is going against his own programme for Govern…

It has taken the Government eight years to finally bring this version of the occupied territories Bill before this House - eight years of delays, eight years of dithering and eight years of blocking the Opposition. During those eight years, Israel has gone on a genocidal rampage in Gaza, murdering 70,000 people: men, women, children and babies. It has established dozens of illegal settlements and …

I want to raise the case of St. Francis Junior School in Priorswood. It is a school that is at the heart of the community and a source of great pride to the area, yet it is losing a mainstream teacher for being one pupil under the quota back in September 2025. The school has had more pupils enrolled since then but its appeal has been rejected. There is huge anger in the community. This is a DEIS p…

It is a mainstream teacher.

However, it is DEIS plus. We are getting it on one hand and losing it on the other.

It is 35 years.

Here we go again. The Government comes in here and pats itself on the back for everything it is doing on housing while families face evictions and rent hikes and we have record homelessness. When Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Independents introduced the rent hike Bill last summer, we warned that all it would do was push more families into homelessness and - surprise, surprise - that is precisely …

Is that not what that means? It is about----

That is not what the question was.

I want to raise the planned Garda headquarters at Northern Cross. As the Taoiseach will be aware, this was announced eight years ago. I and many people in the constituency are getting frustrated because we are getting mixed messages. Last week, the Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW said he hoped that this would commence in 2028 but then he went on to say that no site has been ident…

We largely support this Bill. For far too long, vaping products have been on display at shop counters, on streets and even on stand-alone stands in shopping centres, very clearly targeting teenagers and young people. It is very welcome that this Bill closes the loophole that allows the sale of nicotine pouches to under-18s, and it regulates the advertising of nicotine products in retail outlets, s…

One of the main issues raised in my constituency office is the lack of appropriate school places for children with additional needs. Every year, it seems to be getting worse, with more parents upset and worried about their children's future. Recently we had the announcement of the new inclusive special classes, which appears to be a plan to increase class sizes without a similar increase in staff…

Come on.

I have no confidence in this Government. I never had confidence in this Government. Over the years, I have watched as the concerns of ordinary people and workers take a back seat so Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael can please big businesses, lobbyists and vulture funds. The thing that gets to me is the unfairness of it all. Thousands of children are homeless. At the same time, we have seen this Governmen…

They are still giving the two fingers to the ordinary people. I do not have confidence in Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael and I do not have confidence in the so-called Independents.

Ah, pipe down.

This feels like 2022 all over again. Honestly, workers and families just cannot seem to catch a break when it comes to this cost-of-living crisis. We have seen fuel prices surge over the past two weeks and Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have sat on their hands and twiddled their fingers here for two weeks. Then, while people have been worrying and going through massive stress, the Government parties co…

When Fine Gael entered Government in 2011, we had 641 children living in emergency accommodation. After 15 years of Fine Gael in government, propped up by Fianna Fáil for most of the time, we now have over 5,000 children homeless. That is a disgrace. It is not an accident. It is a direct result of the Government's bad policies. One example of that is cutting the funding for the tenant in situ sche…

I thank the Ceann Comhairle. We need a debate on the review into CAMHS in North Kerry. This is a deeply concerning issue that highlights serious failures relating to the care of children and young people. The lives of young people and their families have been turned upside down due to the failures of the service. We need a debate on this topic as a matter of urgency.

I will start by thanking all the emergency response workers, council teams and other staff who did their very best to help residents affected by the recent flooding incidents. In my own constituency, we had separate incidents of flooding. We had the tidal flood waters in Clontarf. Then there was significant flooding in the northern part of the constituency, in and around Clongriffin. We saw proper…

Back in January 2024, the vultures swooped in and bought up 46 of 54 family homes at Belcamp Manor in Dublin Bay North. The then Taoiseach, Simon Harris, wrote to the finance Minister saying that the bulk purchasing of family homes cannot be tolerated. However, it has continued, except now it is happening on the Minister for Finance, Simon Harris's, watch. The investment funds snapping up these ho…