Roderic O'Gorman

The Minister of State knows how to build the tension. He has given us some general points but we are still on tenterhooks as to what is happening in this particular school. I believe the Minister of State has a little bit more to say, so I will allow him to complete his answer.

I thank the Minister of State. I welcome that clarification. He spoke about intensive work having taken place around the country to support the opening of new classes. I know very intensive work took place between parents, the school leadership team, the principal, the deputy principal and the chair of the board of management over the last two weeks. I have met parents, as have other Deputies. I t…

Last Thursday Deputy Ahern raised the issue of climate with the Tánaiste. In response the Tánaiste said: The climate emergency has not gone away; far from it. We need to look at how we can accelerate the pace of change that needs to take place. I agree with the Tánaiste. One thing we should not be doing is appointing a climate denier to lead out on the new EU 2040 climate targets but that is exa…

There was a vote in the European Parliament last week and three Fine Gael MEPs voted for Ondej Knotek as rapporteur on climate policy. During his term in the European Parliament, he said: [The] policies of climate activists, as you are, are not leading to saving the climate. You are lying to people about that if they will be ambitious, that there will be no floods and so on.... But that's not tru…

I have asked when the Government will rerun the Laura Brennan human papillomavirus, HPV, vaccine catch-up campaign on a number of occasions. This morning, I spoke to Lucy, a 20-year-old student who missed the HPV vaccine when she was at school and who wants to take it up now. She has been quoted up to €600 to get the vaccine. The cost of the initial appointment with a practice nurse, multiple shot…

Lucy will not benefit from that.

I thank Deputy Stanley for tabling this important motion, thus giving us the opportunity to place a particular focus on oral health and oral healthcare in the Dáil during the final week of this term. I am really pleased to have the opportunity to speak on the motion. We all know the importance of oral health. It affects everything including how we eat and speak. It can even affect our self-confide…

I am grateful to be able to wake up every morning beside the man I love, a man I am able to call my husband because of a decision of the Irish people, and we are able to enjoy wide-ranging protections across a whole raft of law and policy in our own country. I am grateful but I do not take it for granted because even though we have seen protections extended, gays and lesbians around the world have…

I begin by recognising the survivors of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence present in the House today and the many who will watch this debate over the course of the afternoon. I know many TDs have spoken eloquently on this issue today but we know that words must be followed by action. I draw the attention of the House and the Minister to one particular action, the Domestic Violence (Amend…

We are now on day nine of this fiasco. Time and again last week and even this afternoon in the Dáil, the mantra “the normal budgetary process” has been trotted out by the Taoiseach, Tánaiste, and the Ministers for Finance, public expenditure and further and higher education. Yes, there is a normal budgetary process but we are far outside that process on the single issue of what the student contrib…

112. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to clarify his recent comments regarding the student contribution fee, and if he will give clarity on how much students and their families will be paying in September 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37646/25]

The Minister has spoken in great detail about the various supports that exist for students, but the issue people want clarity on and need to know about is the question of how much the student contribution will be in September. The reason they are asking that question is because of his comments on "This Week". He opened this Pandora's box, and he has the capacity to close it if he so wishes. He was…

The Minister is right. I was in government when the cost-of-living measures in the area of the student contribution were agreed. That is why, whereas there is a lot on the programme for Government I am critical of, I welcomed the commitment in there to continue to reduce the student contribution fee over the lifetime of the Government. I took from that the clear meaning that every student in the c…

How can the United Nations be expected to take the Taoiseach's words about protecting our oceans seriously when he is dumping the laws that would actually do so? Last month the Taoiseach attended the World Ocean Summit, at which he said that he looked forward to "joining with fellow world leaders over the coming days to discuss and collaborate on ways to secure the future of our oceans and seas". …

I thank the Minister of State for attending. I understand the NCSE is attempting address the crisis we have for places in special classes, and I know it is acting quickly. However, the way it has acted in the context of St. Mochta’s is not the right solution. St. Mochta’s has agreed to open two special classes - two ASD classes - in September for 12 students. It currently has six students on its b…

I noticed that in the Minister of State’s reply, there is a focus on the 1 February deadline. As colleagues have said, there were no plans to open an ASD class in St. Mochta’s on 1 February and the only agreement on that opening came in April. In April, when the school did agree to open these two classes, it received a verbal agreement that the deadline would be waived for the six children who wer…

A map of Ireland's railway network in 1906 that is often shared online provokes passionate debates about the state of our current rail network. We used to have 5,000 km of railway and more than 1,000 stations connecting all corners of the island. Today, the network is just a fraction of what it was at its peak. These debates show one thing very clearly: people want to see increased investment, inc…

Yesterday, I took part in the pre-legislative process for the Government's occupied territories Bill, or the OTB-lite. Like others, I focused on the Government's exclusion of services from the current draft. The officials from the Department of foreign affairs were able to give me a clear answer on one point I raised. One of the conclusions in the ICJ opinion, delivered last year, was that states …

I thank Deputy Ó Snodaigh for bringing forward this legislation and the campaign group for highlighting the issue. I want us to recall the original provision under which these men were convicted. Section 61 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 states that "Whosoever shall be convicted of the abominable crime of buggery, committed either with mankind or with any animal shall be liable ... to…

10. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an update on the progress of the legislation to underpin the apartment defects remediation scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35771/25]

The Minister will be well aware of the anguish, worry and stalled lives of families living in apartments with structural defects, be they fire safety issues or water leakages, which they experience through no fault of their own. The defective apartment remediation scheme is a lifeline that will finally allow these families to move on. The Minister will appreciate how important that particular sch…

I thank the Minister. There are three real elements here. There is the statutory scheme, which will look after fire safety, structural issues and water ingress. The interim remediation scheme is solely for fire safety works. We then have the pathfinder projects, which are under way and are probably a subcategory of the interim remediation scheme. Has any money been paid out under the four pathfind…

I appreciate the Minister's offer of a briefing. I will certainly take him up on that because residents are really worried. They are getting this information from their management company, which says there is a blockage. The Minister made a number of comments that if any of them are listening will probably make them even more nervous in terms of delay. There needs to be clarity. I accept his point…

Earlier this month, the Public Accounts Committee of the UK House of Commons published a report on the Sellafield nuclear power plant in Cumbria. The report suggests that the Sellafield nuclear waste reprocessing plant is basically falling apart. The site contains one building called the Magnox Swarf Storage Silo - a dramatic name. The Public Accounts Committee inquiry heard that this silo is, and…

In the past two weeks we have seen the very concept of vaccination being undermined by the incumbent Secretary for Health and Human Services in the United States. It is at times like this that the science-led approach to vaccination we have in Ireland is so important. The HPV vaccine was first made available to teenage girls in 2010 and subsequently provided to teenage boys from 2019. The Tánais…