Roderic O'Gorman

I thank the Tánaiste. As he says, Ireland has a good take-up of the HPV vaccine, but at a time when vaccine scepticism is being mainstreamed, our take-up rates have been falling. A rough estimation is that approximately 16,000 eligible Irish kids are not taking up the vaccine each year. That is why the catch-up scheme is so important. We know the risks from the HPV virus and that it can materiali…

I move: That Dáil Éireann: acknowledges as hugely positive: — the increase in public transport usage in recent years and, in particular, the fact that over 1 million public transport journeys are now taken each day; — the reductions in all public transport fares that were introduced in April 2022; — the additional reductions in public transport fares for young adults between 19 and 25 via the…

I thank colleagues across the House for their contributions on this debate. I thank the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, for attending. Last year, we saw public transport usage grow to 1 million passengers per day, which was an important milestone to pass. This shows the success of the measures that were taken in the previous Government, led by a Green Party Min…

It will need legislation. I am on the transport committee and am happy to work on that legislation, but we need clear commitments on when we will actually get these things done. Similarly on the issue of next-generation ticketing, I suggest the end of 2026 to have that implemented by. The Minister of State's speech spoke of taking a number of years. The Minister has now given us a date of the end…

Lady's Island Lake in County Wexford is the largest saltwater lagoon in Ireland. It provides refuge for a variety of wildfowl. That is why it is protected under both the birds and habitats directives. It surrounds Our Lady's Island, which is a beautiful and ancient place of pilgrimage. Unfortunately, Lady's Island Lake is also highly polluted. The environmental protection agency, EPA, has been stu…

I thank the Taoiseach for his comments, but this time we have to do something different. We need political leadership and accountability. The damage here has been building for four decades and the existing processes just have not worked. In place of a thriving ecosystem, we are going to end up with a toxic goo lagoon. If we fail to act, we do not have far to look to see what is next for Lady's Isl…

I am speaking on behalf of the Green Party on the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Bill, which has been drafted and delivered at speed. I will come back to the point about speed in a moment. I will focus my remarks on one particular cohort of renters, namely, student renters. On the question of speed, I spoke at the launch of the Raise the Roof motion on Monday. I said the Government was in comp…

43. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence to provide an update on legislation he is bringing forward with respect to the triple lock; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30079/25]

The Tánaiste has committed to bringing his version of an occupied territories Bill to the foreign affairs committee in June. Is it going to happen? We have only two sitting weeks left in June. That would mean, in order to meet his own timetable, the Tánaiste would have to bring the heads of the Bill to the Cabinet next Tuesday or the following Tuesday. Does the Tánaiste believe the heads of the Bi…

It is a rainy day, and on rainy days staff in Coolmine Community School in my constituency, Dublin West, have to set out between 40 and 50 plastic buckets across the school to deal with water flowing into corridors, classrooms, toilets and offices. That water flows from over 100 leaks in the roof of the school. Coolmine is a big school, with almost a thousand pupils, and has provided top-class edu…

I thank the Minister of State for his response. The line, "The Department advised the school to obtain a new leak detection test", when there are a hundred buckets on the floor, is worthy of "Yes Minister". The school put in an application for an upgrade because it does need a new roof. It was then told, "No, you cannot go under that pathway; you have to go for an emergency works pathway." The sch…

I thank the Chair, and the Social Democrats for bringing forward this motion today. The Green Party is pleased to co-sign this motion, which seeks to end the Central Bank's facilitation of the sale of Israeli bonds. We are deeply concerned that these bonds have, since October 2023, been marketed explicitly in the context of the ongoing war in Gaza, with statements from the Israeli Government descr…

The question of the exclusion of services from the Government's occupied territories Bill lite has been a central issue of debate in this House and in public since it was announced in the programme for Government. In response to questions from me and others, the Taoiseach regularly cited legal advice that he had received for the exclusion of services. In a recent response to questions in the House…

It is.

It is.

That is why services should be in it.

We are facing a housing crisis of unprecedented scale. More than 15,500 people, including more than 4,700 children are living in emergency accommodation. This is not just a statistic; it is a national failure, and one that demands urgent action. At the same time there are an estimated 80,000 vacant or derelict properties across Ireland. These are properties that could and should be homes. This is …

138. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment to outline the framework his Department uses to balance between competing energy needs of different sectors of the economy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30074/25]

It is important to outline that Ireland is at the most extreme end of vulnerability because of the growth of data centre demand. We host approximately 120 data centres. Today, they consume 21% of all energy we produce. Forty centres are in planning and development right now. No other country reports a higher share of domestic energy consumption by data centres than Ireland. We understand the impo…

The Minister's own Secretary General presented it that way.

The Taoiseach and the Minister for public expenditure, Deputy Chambers, rejected the warnings raised by the Minister, Deputy O'Brien's Secretary General that Ireland would be forced to choose between housing and AI data centres. I believe they and the Minister are far too quick to dismiss concerns by the most senior civil servant in the latter's Department. There has been positive growth in energ…

111. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment if his Department's policy correctly reflects the balance between energy demand for housing versus energy demand for data centres; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30075/25]

Many jurisdictions over the past decade have been dealing with the dramatic rise in energy consumption driven by the growth in data centres. We are no different here. Our challenge is probably even greater. I believe, and it is witnessed by what has been said by the Minister, the Taoiseach and others, that there is a clear preference for increased data centres and their use. Will the Minister outl…

The Minister used the words "disingenuous" and "red herring". I am referring to a warning raised by the Secretary General of the Minister's own Department. It is a warning and an issue. She spoke about a balance between AI, particularly the highly intensive data centres required for new AI developments, and housing. If there is a red herring, it was not I who raised it originally. I made the point…

I thank the Minister for his honesty about the risk of some of those projects not delivering within the 2030 timeline. Would it be the Minister's belief then that if those renewable projects are not going to deliver in that timeline, we must look at the timeline within which new data centres are brought on? There are 40 in various stages. Some have been granted full planning permission. If they ar…