Patrick O'Donovan

I thank the Deputy. The Government’s digital connectivity strategy, DCS, aims to have all Irish households and businesses covered by a gigabit network by 2028. A fibre network is faster, consumes less energy and is more reliable than a copper network, and the transition away from legacy copper infrastructure to modern fibre is consistent with that objective. In this regard, the Department supports…

I do not disagree with the Deputy at all. He gave a good synopsis there as to why the investment in rural broadband is so important. I do not know whether any political party bar my own at the time actually advocated for it, but it has been transformative. I see it in my own home where the broadband that I have now in a rural location with fibre connectivity is a lot faster than in my constituency…

I agree with the Deputy. A lot of parallels can been drawn from this with regard to when the former Minister, Pat Rabbitte, initiated the Saorview switch-over. When Saorview was being switched over, a large amount of investment was put into public awareness and many vulnerable people, especially the elderly, received assistance to make sure they were not left behind. This is being discussed at EU …

I thank the Deputy for raising this question and for his ongoing support for the basic income. In February, I announced that the Government had agreed to a successor scheme to the basic income for the arts pilot. Guidelines for the new scheme were published by my Department on 1 April. The applications portal opened on 15 April and will remain open until 12 May, which is an important date given th…

I agree with the Deputy. If anyone who has experienced any difficulties and has contacted the Deputy, I encourage him to pass any specifics on to me. We want to try to make it work. It is in our interest that we get the maximum number of eligible applicants because we are only around the corner from the next round of negotiations on public expenditure for the next budget. The success or otherwise …

That is very helpful and I will certainly relay that back to the team in the Department to see if we can adjust the home page to address the points the Deputy has made. I am not sure whether that is possible or not but we will certainly try. If there are people who have nothing better to do at 9.05 a.m. than listen to the Deputy and I having a chat in the Dáil and who have specific problems access…

I ask the Deputy to bear with me. Our bona fides in this have been well established and we have had a very good engagement with the Opposition. Once 12 May has passed, and once I have a full read-out of the number of applicants, which I will publish, I will come back to the Deputy.

A diverse, independent and trustworthy media sector, operating in line with appropriate media codes and rules, plays an important role in supporting our democracy, fostering our national identity, heritage and culture, and ensuring access to free and impartial news and current affairs. However, it is equally important that any supervision or regulation of the sector is also independent. As such, t…

I have already outlined what I have been doing. The Deputy cannot have her cake and eat it. It is not that long ago that her party and the party that sits beside it were very quick out of the traps, when I asked a question about Coimisiún na Meán, to remind me of my role under the Broadcasting Act and the independence of Coimisiún na Meán. The Deputy cannot have her cake and eat it. She cannot com…

Again, nice try. The Deputy fails to recognise one fact, and I think she was connected previously to the tech sector so she will know the role that Coimisiún na Meán has played with regard to the tech sector. Only this week Coimisiún na Meán has announced further investigations into the tech sector. The Deputy is right: this Government has been in office for a long time. It has been in office than…

-----with the relevant stakeholders.

I thank the Deputy for raising this important question. The issues of restitution and repatriation are complex and sensitive matters which have significant impacts on families and communities of origin, as well as more broadly on the cultural landscape. I am aware of the legislation recently passed by the French National Assembly which creates a legal framework for the return of cultural objects t…

It is expected shortly. As I said in my reply, I will bring the report to the Government and then publish it. I do not disagree with anything the Deputy has said. Restitution cannot be a one-way street. We need to see if there is anything in Irish institutions that is connected to, funded by or associated with colonial plundering. I do not disagree with that term. I believe the Deputy is being ver…

His methodologies may have been a bit different and might be a bit unorthodox for a Deputy of Dáil Éireann to be advocating. However, I do not disagree with the sentiment. If there are materials in other museums, particularly in countries that were formerly colonial powerhouses, including the one that occupied this State, in the modern world of 2026 there is a compulsion on them to look into their…

I measc na n-aidhmeanna atá ag RTÉ agus ag TG4 is ea go gcuirfeadh an dá chraoltóir seirbhíse poiblí a gcuid seirbhísí ar fáil, a mhéid agus is féidir é, don phobal uile ar oileán uile na hÉireann. Tá RTÉ agus TG4 araon ar fáil i dTuaisceart Eireann ar an ardán Freeview, chomh maith le hardáin síntiúis eile, ach is féidir bac a chur ar ábhair áirithe ar bhonn cearta. De réir mar a thuigim, nuair a…

Tuigim cé chomh tábhachtach is atá an clár "Bluey", an leaid gorm sin as an Astráil, don lucht féachana Béarla agus Gaeilge araon. Tá an clár tábhachtach do na gasúir óga agus iad sa bhaile. Ní hamháin go bhfuil sé tábhachtach do na gasúir, ach tá sé tábhachtach do na tuismitheoirí freisin. Is ceist thábhachtach í. Ní hamháin go mbaineann an cheist seo leis an gclár "Bluey" agus na cláir eile a ch…

B’fhéidir gur ceist í seo don Roinn gnóthaí eachtracha nó Roinn an Taoisigh mar tá sí an-tábhachtach. Mar atá leagtha amach i gComhaontú Aoine an Chéasta, comhaontaíodh go mbeadh TG4 ar fáil chomh forleathan agus ab fhéidir ar fud Thuaisceart Éireann. Tá stádas TG4 agus stádas tábhachtach na Gaeilge leagtha amach cheana féin. Tá a fhios ag an Teachta na deacrachtaí a bhí agam maidir le Foras na Ga…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta as ucht an ábhair tábhachtaigh seo a chur os comhair na Dála ar maidin. Ireland's online safety framework includes the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act 2022, the EU Digital Services Act and the online safety code. That code requires that designated platforms restrict access to certain categories of content that could cause harm, including to children. Those i…

To go back to a previous question, Coimisiún na Meán is self-financed in terms of the regulation. Regulation costs money and that is why levies are imposed. People do not like that, and the previous Deputy said she did not like it. That is a separate issue, however. I am a parent as well and I am not happy with what is happening, particularly at EU level. This issue was raised at the EU Council me…

I agree entirely with the Deputy. For anyone who did not hear it, I restate that if a common approach is not possible at EU level, I will seek Government approval to take action at a national level. That is not mañana. If I feel, having taken over the Chair of the Presidency, that this is something the Commission or a significant blocking minority is resisting, we will go it alone like France, Spa…

I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after ”That" and substitute the following: "Dáil Éireann declines to give the Online Safety (Recommender Algorithms) Bill 2026 a second reading, on the grounds that the issues the Bill seeks to address are already being addressed by Coimisiún na Meán, Ireland's independent online safety and media regulator, through its implementation of Ireland's Onlin…

That is the clearest the Deputy's party has been in a long time. Now I know where it stands. It is very helpful. He is not going to ban it. He will not support the Government. Thanks very much. He clarified something Deputy Byrne would not do last night.

I welcome Deputy Gould's point of view. It has been very enlightening.

Cuirim fáilte roimh an ócáid seo ina bhfuilimid in ann cúpla rud a rá maidir le cúrsaí in oifigí poist agus an líonra poist inár saol le chéile. Tá ról sóisialta tábhachtach acu ag soláthar tacaíochtaí luachmhara do chuid de na daoine is leochailí inár sochaí trí íocaíochtaí leasa shóisialaigh, postas saor in aisce chuig tithe altranais agus go leor seirbhísí luachmhara eile a sholáthar. Tá ról ea…

You closed a few of them yourselves.