Brian Stanley

He said we could provide a legal basis to do so. He said that he agreed to look closely at it.

In his view, the Central Bank does approve the prospectus for the sale of bonds.

We must do the right thing.

Anger is not enough.

We must take action.

That is not-----

That is no help to the people of Gaza.

I will comment in due course on the Finance (Local Property Tax and Other Provisions) (Amendment) Bill 2025. The Bill is obviously being brought forward to raise more money. I wish to raise a couple of points to provide context. The abolition of rates by Fianna Fáil in 1977 completely removed a sustainable source of funding for local government. While the election that year was won on the back of…

This a very important, timely motion. As a group of TDs on the left, we were party to it. The situation is a housing emergency; everybody accepts that now, with 15,500 plus in homeless accommodation and huge waiting lists for social housing. County Laois, which has a fairly good record for social housing, still has a housing waiting list of 1,600 households. Low Government targets and projections …

20. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence if he is aware that it has been reported that the Air Corps is to end 24-hour operations and reduce its service to an 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., five-day week from June 2025, as a crisis in air traffic control has reached a critical point; and if he will ensure that this will not be the case and that operations will be remaining in place …

I welcome our guests in the Gallery. I know that some of them have spoken out publicly about this. Sometimes, that is not very easy to do. I welcome the fact that they are here. Hopefully, with their support and that of others we can get legislation in place. I hope it is this Bill. I hope we do not have to wait for 12 months or two years or any longer, because this is overdue. I thank Deputy Copp…

There are a lot of things I could say about housing, but because of the announcement from Government I feel compelled to comment on the new rent proposals. The new restrictions, such as they are, or rather the changes, will mean there are no controls for new builds and no controls for new tenancies when tenants change. This is going to drive up already sky-high rents. This is really going to incre…

Having vacant homes in the middle of a housing crisis is a scandal, particularly when they are local authority houses. There are more than 2,700 vacant at the moment. A third have been vacant for more than a year. This is simply not on. Reletting times average more than eight months and are much more in many cases. The cost of preparing a home for reletting has increased in five years by almost €1…

This matter relates to nursing homes and the lack of enforcement of standards. Last week, we witnessed shocking scenes in the Residence nursing home in Portlaoise and the Beneavin nursing home in Dublin. I am sure the Minister of State is aware that there are other cases as well. We saw was: a shocking level of neglect; abusive behaviour; residents told to soil on incontinence pads; elderly, vulne…

I thank the Minister of State. I would like an explanation for a whistleblower having, after two years of inaction on the part of the chief inspector and HIQA, to go to the media to highlight all of this. Surely that is a scandalous situation. They say you judge a society by how it treats its weakest. The weakest are the elderly and the very young - infant children. The Minister of State said the …

There are three flood relief schemes in Laois, in Clonaslee, Mountmellick and Portarlington. I welcome that they are progressing and I hope the Minister of State puts some fire under them, but the facts are that the schemes and the processes are too slow. I welcome that money was approved recently for the Clonaslee scheme. The council has approval to go to planning there with the OPW for that, and…

179. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will reconsider what he stated earlier in February 2025 and ban services in the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill 2018. [26772/25]

185. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will define the timeline for the enactment of the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill 2018. [26771/25]

On a daily basis, we are seeing the latest version of the absolute horrors visited on Palestinians and the sheer loss of life. The estimates for those who are missing and crushed under buildings escalates every day. There is bombing of hospitals, schools, clinics and homes and the total destruction of Gaza and its infrastructure, roads, wastewater plants and everything else. It is clear what the I…

My hearing is not 100%. I wanted to ask about the Tánaiste's conversation with Senator Black and the tail end of that. I am not trying to be awkward but would he mind repeating that again, please? I was not able to pick up correctly what he was saying. There are obviously different opinions out there and different legal opinion. This crisis puts a weight on us and many people are depending on us …

177. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the efforts being made by his Department and the Government to put pressure on the British Government to get a public inquiry in place around the murder of a person (details supplied) in Bellaghy, County Derry. [26774/25]

What pressure has been put on the British Government regarding a public inquiry into the murder of Sean Brown, a GAA official, on 19 April 1997 at Drumanee Road in Bellaghy when he was closing the GAA club? This was a hard-working member of the local community who had done significant voluntary work on behalf of the GAA and in the community and was highly respected. I know from people living on Dr…

I am happy to hear about the Tánaiste's engagements on this issue. I mentioned that Sean Brown had a great reputation locally as a hard-working member of the local community and throughout the country with regard to the GAA. I commend the GAA on taking up this issue and the thousands of people who filled the roads and streets around Bellaghy in recent weeks. There was evidence of collusion. He was…

Constituents and people across the 32 counties of Ireland are watching on in horror. They depend on us to take action with regard to what is happening in Gaza. There is merciless bombing of hospitals, clinics, homes and tents, with families, children and men being slaughtered. There is forced starvation and famine while convoys of food are a mile or two away. Men and women are being tortured. What…

Yesterday, we had a well-attended presentation from SMA Ireland in the AV room. Its priority is to secure access to the life-changing treatments and medicines for people with spinal muscular atrophy issues. We were told this is caused due to a loss of motor neuron nerve cells. It is an important issue. SMA can have life-limiting effects. It can cause difficulty for swallowing, breathing, walking, …