Paul Murphy

There is one lesson for me from today's farce, and it is that the Government is scared of the people. The only reason we are here today is that the Government is scared of widespread protests about the cost-of-living crisis. In response, we have a two-month stay of execution for petrol and diesel costs alone. It is completely inadequate when the cost-of-living crisis, driven by Trump's imperialist…

Could it be NATO?

I, too, want to ask about the senior Minister. This came up at the Dáil reform committee last week. It is very peculiar that a senior Minister is here and has answered previous questions on the triple lock today and then – no offence meant - we have the junior Minister answering these questions, which precisely prevents the continuation of the debate. The same thing happened previously.

Hopefully the junior Minister will be able to clarify. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, said earlier to Deputy Ó Laoghaire, "The people I speak to do not like the fact that Russia has essentially removed, or will remove in the coming months, all our peacekeeping troops from UNIFIL". I ask the junior Minister to clarify on the Minister's behalf that presumably she did not mean Russia but, rather, the …

Can the Minister of State confirm it can mean NATO?

Yes. Is that a "Yes", then? Thank you.

The Minister of State assured us we are bound by international law but then went on to talk about the fact that he wants to deploy troops outside the framework of international law. That is why the Government is getting rid of the triple lock. All the triple lock does is ensure that we only can send troops in line with international law. The Minister of State, Deputy Troy, stated, "Ireland's posit…

Just by yourself.

The case for MetroLink south west is extremely strong. There are 350,000 people living between the Luas red and green lines. That is who will be served by this. What we are asking for is for the Government to live up to the commitment in the programme for Government to "[c]ommission an independent feasibility study into continuing MetroLink from the city to southwest Dublin." What appears to be ha…

A couple of months ago, I was contacted by a grandfather whose granddaughter was told she needed to have an iPad in school and needed to pay €500 for an iPad. It is an absolutely crazy situation where we have free education in this country and yet many schools impose this massive burden on families, many of whom simply cannot afford it. I accept the Minister has written to schools saying they cann…

10. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Taoiseach if he had discussed the situation in Gaza with his Spanish counterpart, Pedro Sanchez, during his recent meeting with him. [51507/26]

I raise the case of Fergie Chambers, an American activist and heir to the Cox family fortune, who has spent millions of euro supporting progressive causes, in particular assisting Palestinian people. On Friday, he was arrested in Ibiza on foot of an extradition request from US authorities. According to the indictment, he has been charged with international money-laundering, riot and conspiracy to …

I oppose this new cut to the accommodation recognition payment. This is the second cut to the payment, which was previously cut from €800 to €600, and now the Government wants to cut it further to €400. The Irish Red Cross has written to all of us outlining the devastating impact this cut will have not only on the 41,072 people who rely on it to keep a roof over their heads but, potentially, on th…

I pay tribute to the family of Jennie Poole, and particularly her brother Jason, who is in the Gallery and who fought very hard for many years to get this important legislation implemented in her memory. It is a tragedy that the law has come too late for Jennie, but it has the potential to protect other women at risk from dangerous intimate partners. At the moment and until this law is passed, the…

I thank Sinn Féin for bringing this motion for IMRO, for its campaigning on this issue and for the artists who have spoken out and highlighted it. It is high time that this Government, which has gulped down big tech's Kool-Aid and regurgitated it for the public in an unthinking way, is forced to reflect on the downsides of AI, which are very many, not just for artists and the creatives in our soci…

2. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht if he will approve capital funding for a community centre in Citywest; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53391/26]

Citywest has been waiting for more than 20 years for a community centre. It was written into the local area plan in 2012. It was promised again when that plan was extended. It was made a binding condition of planning permission in 2018. Since then, nearly 4,000 homes have been built and hundreds more are now planned at Boherboy and there is still no community centre. The council's capital plan doe…

If you look up developer-led planning in a dictionary, I am sure you will find a picture of Citywest. It is quite incredible. It is one of the fastest growing communities in all of Ireland. Almost 4,000 homes have been built in a decade. More than 2,000 were built in just the last three years. What came with the houses? There is no community centre and no public crèche places. Families are on wait…

This is not only an issue for South Dublin County Council. I obviously accept the point that an application for funding needs to be made if funding is to be granted. The reason Citywest has developed in the way it has, with homes but no adequate facilities, is the fast-track strategic housing development process. The local area plan, which included these kinds of requirements, was ignored. Develop…

91. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Health if children who are private patients have been prioritised over public patients for surgery in our public hospitals; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52178/26]

The Minister has said she believes in equality for every baby born in our public maternity hospitals and I absolutely agree. However, the EY report into CHI shows that children whose parents can afford to go private are being prioritised for essential surgery in our public hospitals. Surely the same equality should apply to children as well.

I thought there was some incredible spin, and some sections of the media absolutely fell for it, suggesting that this report proves there is no evidence of inequity in access. The Minister has echoed that. That is the first finding, but the full sentence states, "No evidence of inequity ... was identified; however, this conclusion is constrained by significant limitations in data availability, cla…

There is often an attempt to suggest that discrimination between private and public patients does not have an impact on safety or patient care. That happened in the debate on the Rotunda. The Minister was involved and was on the correct side of that debate. I again quote the report, which states, "For Spinal patients, only 41% (9 out of 22) were treated within the Clinical Recommended Timeframes (…

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to prohibit U.S. military aircraft, or civil aircraft carrying munitions of war, from landing in the State. I am very pleased to introduce this important Bill. Its purpose is very simple: to stop the scandalous use of Shannon Airport as a de facto US military base. It does this by instating a very simple and clear prohibition on U…

I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."