Christopher O'Sullivan

I thank Deputy Murphy from the bottom of my heart for raising this issue. It is such an important one to raise in Dáil Éireann. The behaviour and the actions of some of the people driving these sulkies is deplorable. It is disgusting. We have all seen the videos. We have seen the sad footage of horses losing their lives in the cruellest of ways. We can imagine the pain those animals go through. Th…

Deputy Murphy has highlighted some very important aspects of this. The law is old and it probably has not been reviewed in a while. The legislative programme is jam packed and very busy but his suggestion of an interdepartmental group, certainly with the Departments of agriculture, Transport and justice in particular, to review the legislation would be very important. Clearly, and I can say this n…

I thank both Deputies for raising this issue, and I share their concerns with regards to antimicrobial medicinal products being used and the impact that would have. Deputy Newsome Drennan highlighted well the potential health impacts in that regard. As Minister of State with responsibility for nature, I know the level of deforestation in Brazil. The production of beef is the biggest cause of defor…

I come from a farming background and I know all about it. The Deputies mentioned the paperwork, the bureaucracy and the headaches those give. Farmers just want to farm. They want to get on with doing what they are good at instead of filling out forms, but it means they reach incredibly high standards and that is why our produce is famous worldwide. I commend the investigative work of the IFA and t…

I do not expect that will happen. That is just my own feeling on it. I agree with the Deputies we need to keep our standards high. If there is any hint of a possibility that people's health will be impacted, as outlined by Deputy Newsome Drennan, then that is something we cannot stand for. Getting back to my original point about the deforestation rates, it just does not sit well with me and that i…

I thank Deputy Ward for raising this. I will try to answer to best of my ability on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Foley. It was a pre-election commitment by both our parties but massive inroads have been made into reducing the cost of childcare. I remember hearing debates in here where it was frequently described as a second mortgage. We have significantly reduced the cost of childcare in most in…

I was going to repeat the point about engagement with the city and county childcare committees to show facilities the merits of being in the scheme, but obviously the people the Deputy is talking about are, first of all, educators. This is 100% why they are in this area. They have a passion for it and they want to educate young kids. Second, they are also businesspeople. Obviously, they have gone …

I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following: "affirms that, the Government: — is fully committed to delivering on Ireland's climate ambition across all sectors, and to progress climate action in a planned and coherent way in pursuit of the National Climate Objective of a climate neutral economy by 2050, in a way that ensures that sustainability,…

I thank Deputy Gallagher for raising this issue in the House. He represents a constituency and county that was very badly impacted by defective blocks. He has championed and represented the people in his constituency for many years, fought for the remediation scheme and continuously fought for the side-by-side construction amendment. The good news is that the regulations on side-by-side construct…

I thank Deputy Gallagher again. I absolutely take his point and I appreciate the urgency of this. The families and constituents the Deputy represents right across the board have been severely impacted by defective blocks. They have had their lives turned upside down and have experienced significant upheaval. Regarding the amendment we are talking about and the regulations we are introducing on si…

I thank the Deputy for raising the important issue of endometriosis. It is something that for too long we have not spoken about. There still is not enough awareness of what it is and the challenges and difficulties that women across Ireland face when they have this condition. There are women across Ireland living in severe pain because of endometriosis. There are woman across Ireland who experienc…

As I said, the HSE cannot comment on the outcome of this application. That is fair enough. There is a process to go through. I can probably comment more freely. I agree with Deputy Burke. There are obviously different levels of endometriosis but the surgery is costly and painful and there is a long recovery time. I am not a doctor, but the surgery does greatly increase the success rate for reprodu…

I thank Deputy Cooney for representing the people of his constituency in Clare who have been affected by this issue. I appreciate the issue of defective concrete blocks is particularly emotive for households and sympathise with all who are caught up in this distressing situation. The establishment of the appeals board was an important step in offering those affected by decisions made by the Housi…

It is my understanding that the appeals panel is aware of the understandable desire of applicants to have their cases dealt with in as expeditious a manner as possible. The time taken to assess appeals has in many cases been longer than originally envisaged. We have to accept that. However, I understand some of the time taken to consider applications and issue decisions has been taken up by reques…

I thank the Deputies for their comments and contributions on the Labour Party motion today. I particularly note many of the complimentary comments in relation to the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, who obviously has a vast knowledge and deep understanding of this area and, indeed, the workings of An Garda Síochána. Like others, I want to express my thanks to An Garda Síochána for the excellent work …

He was here for almost the entire debate.

Fáiltím roimh an deis plé a dhéanamh ar sholáthar tithíochta i gceantair Ghaeltachta. Ní chuirfidh an Rialtas in aghaidh an rúin seo maidir leis an ngá práinneach le tithíocht agus le pleananna an Rialtais an soláthar tithíochta a mhéadú go suntasach ar fud na tíre, lena n-áirítear ceantair Ghaeltachta. Le comhaontú an Tí, leanfaidh mé ar aghaidh le mo ráiteas i mBéarIa. My colleague, the Ministe…

I am delighted to be joined by my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell. The Minister, Deputy Browne, cannot be here for the opening section of these statements because he is at a subcommittee meeting and otherwise engaged. He will be here, however, to give concluding statements. He will be kept up to date as to the comments made during the statements from right across the House. I w…

I thank the Deputy. Fair play to him for advocating, especially on behalf of those who are coming in to him in desperation and looking for a house to rent. I understand the frustration. We all have it in our constituencies. I will try to outline what the Government is trying to do to free up rental accommodation. Ireland's new housing plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities, is a wide-rangin…

The proposal on modular homes or small units in back gardens or on the premises of existing homes will come forward shortly. It is really important. It will be an exemption for a certain size of dwelling to allow young people in particular, who want to start off with a home, to build with an exemption so they do not have to go through the arduous planning process. As a west Cork TD, I completely a…

You are talking about lack of rental accommodation though.

Extending RPZs.

We have extended the RPZs in the county to cover areas that never had protection.

Where is the Deputy getting that from?

The Deputy is concocting scenarios now that do not even exist. What is he talking about? He is trying to say that I am smirking or laughing. That is absolutely ridiculous.