Carol Nolan

Last Friday Poland announced that it will file a complaint against the EU-Mercosur trade deal at the Court of Justice of the European Union. As I understand it, this is the first member state to take this step. This follows the European Parliament's earlier referral, which I welcomed as a rare victory for common sense and prudence. Irish beef farmers have been warning for years that this agreement…

I am delighted to speak this evening. As a rural TD, I have always strongly advocated for the haulage and agricultural sectors, which are interwoven in many respects. The recent protests were a sign that not only was the Government moving in the wrong direction, but it had completely taken its ear off the ground. You need listening skills at all times for effective communication. That effective co…

This risks being yet another exercise in performative consultation while rural Ireland continues to pay the price for the previous Government's failure to deliver. Launched in March 2021, the last rural development policy was full of grand promises of a thriving countryside, digital connectivity for all, revitalised towns and villages, enhanced public services and active support for a vibrant, sus…

On 19 March, the European Council adopted conclusions that included the formal launch of the One Europe, One Market agenda. According to the official document, this initiative is designed to boost EU competitiveness, strategic autonomy, economic security and prosperity while preserving the European social model. The priorities set out are ambitious - deepening the four freedoms, removing internal …

I support the motion, particularly its call to establish a time-bound school building task force with a mandate to ensure priority delivery of special schools, and indeed, special classes. As a former school principal and teacher with a masters degree in inclusive and special education, I fully recognise, and I have seen first hand, the invaluable and indispensable role that SNAs play in our schoo…

Despite the fact that we are in the middle of a crippling fuel crisis where energy prices remain the highest in the EU, this Government continues to enforce a ban on the commercial sale of turf - our own natural, affordable fuel. As I said recently in my own constituency, there is no better time to reverse this ban. Rural communities in County Offaly and, indeed, across the midlands have relied o…

Go raibh maith agat, a Thaoisigh. I thank the Taoiseach for his response but I feel that a more practical common-sense approach is now needed. The real impact of this ban on the commercial sales of turf is people being cold in their homes. Older people have the ranges and they depend on fossil fuels like turf. When we look at the emissions, we are talking about imports coming in from Baltic states…

Having spoken to many farmers, there is deep scepticism about the Department of agriculture's capacity to deliver timely payments under the Government's €100 million fuel subsidy support scheme for farmers, agricultural contractors and fishermen and fisherwomen. The reason there is scepticism is that there were significant delays in payments under the agri-climate rural environment scheme, ACRES, …

At the fuel protests in Offaly, I was delighted to stand with my constituents, hard-working, decent people who have worked hard and are very frustrated. I met groups in Birr, Tullamore and Cloghan. Many self-employed people told me they just cannot keep going. Only today, I met a young businessperson who told me his business will be gone next week. This is shameful. The Government has neglected th…

I welcome this Bill. It is certainly a long and overdue step that will allow Irish State bodies, serving and former members of An Garda Síochána and the Defence Forces, civil servants and even former Ministers to give oral evidence before a High Court judge to assist the Omagh bombing inquiry. However, I want to be clear that this legislation arrives almost 28 years after the horror of August 1998…

I raise the issue of hedge cutting. I call on the Government to intervene urgently to ensure that the hedge cutting period is extended as soon as possible. I have received a number of calls from agri contractors and farming families who are very concerned. Because of the unprecedented rainfall, things are behind and that is the way it is. In the interests of safety, we should definitely prioritise…

Our post office network is absolutely vital, particularly in rural communities. I come from the constituency of Offaly, a rural county, and the post office network is vital. What we are seeing is that there are not enough incentives for people to take on post offices. I saw that in my own community where a post office was lost because there were not enough incentives for a person to take it on. A …

I have raised the issue of scoliosis since at least April 2017, when I initially submitted parliamentary questions to the then Minister for Health and now Tánaiste, Deputy Simon Harris. At that time, I asked for details of the current waiting lists for children with scoliosis, the number of children on the waiting list for treatment and the steps that the then Minister was taking to ensure scolios…

As the Minister is aware, data from the latest homeless quarterly progress report on the scale of homelessness clearly shows there were 16,734 individuals accessing emergency accommodation at the end of quarter 4 of 2025. This was an increase of 120 individuals on the position at the end of quarter 3 of 2025. There was an increase of 1,870 on the total recorded at the end of quarter 4 of 2024. The…

Whatever a Government may say and whatever it may have done in the past few days to try to stem the tide of parental fury on this issue, there is no disputing the key point put forward in this motion, namely, that this fiasco has inflicted profound distress and anxiety on vulnerable children through a rigid, clinical and deeply flawed interpretation of care needs criteria. We all welcomed the anno…

142. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment to provide an update on the work of the national energy affordability task force; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14498/26]

Will the Minister provide an update on the work of the national energy affordability task force? The Irish SME Association, ISME, has published the results of its latest members' survey, identifying the priority issues facing SMEs this year and showing that business costs overwhelmingly dominate their concerns. Some 78% of respondents said that these concerns include energy and other overheads, al…

I thank the Minister for his response. The fact is that, while some supports were given to small businesses and consumers in general, to date, very little has been achieved in tackling the source of the great energy price rip-off that continues day in and day out for households and small businesses, many of which in my constituency have closed due to energy costs. The capacity to absorb these ener…

The Minister mentioned tax credits. While the energy tax credits were welcome, they let the energy companies off the hook. I called for the energy companies to be brought in here a number of times. The profiteering was scandalous. We were seeing businesses really grappling with costs. A long-term solution is needed. I hope this task force will produce proper practical solutions to get to grips wit…

I call on the Government to urgently enforce the existing ban on sulky racing on public roads in light of the horrific cruelty and the dangers it poses to both the animals and the public. Just this month in Ballyfermot, a pregnant horse named Anne collapsed during an illegal sulky race, suffering severe cuts, blood loss and suspected broken bones. Despite the heroic efforts of My Lovely Horse Resc…

There are very serious and valid concerns regarding the amendment to the residential tenancies legislation and the impact, particularly on private property rights and small-scale property owners or landlords. I have met many of these small-scale property owners in my offices in Birr and Tullamore and they are telling me quite clearly that are leaving the rental market. I have also met tenants who …

I welcome the farmers from all over the country who are here for this debate. I particularly welcome those from the Offaly branch of the IFA. No amount of verbal or procedural gymnastics that the Government engages in can hide the plain fact of the matter, namely that there is an open, glaring and festering contradiction at the heart of this dispute. There is hypocrisy and there are double standa…

The way immigration and bogus asylum seekers have been manged to date is nothing short of a social and economic catastrophe. I am utterly convinced this issue will come to define previous governments. Warning after warning was dismissed and was reframed. Warning after warning that the State was effectively being ripped off were ignored with the excuse that we were in an emergency and therefore pro…

For many years, we have seen reports of people in rural Ireland living in absolute fear due to an upsurge in trespassing on farmland by roaming gangs and those who are indifferent to private property rights. Every year, public meetings are held by farming organisations and every year, farmers and community members say the powers at the disposal of An Garda Síochána and landowners alike are deeply …

I commend my PA, David Mullins, and the OPLA, which was very helpful and encouraged me to bring forward the Bill I mentioned. That Bill is available as a template if the Government wishes to use it. I will play my part and I am happy to work with every party and none.