Barry Ward

The thing I find most tiresome about debates on housing and the solutions is that every side presents its proposal as the silver bullet that is somehow going to solve the problem. There is no silver bullet. I do not pretend to know what the answer is. It is something that better minds than mine have grappled with. It is an incredibly complex problem with its roots going back well over a decade. I…

The issue I raise is hydrotreated vegetable oil, HVO, which is an alternative to diesel. It is an extraordinary product that comes from the treatment of plant matter with hydrogen. I am not going to pretend for a moment that I understand how it works, but I know that the product that results from it is interchangeable with diesel in cars, for example, and results in a 90% reduction in carbon emiss…

Topical Issue Debates are a really important way that we can raise issues and get direct answers. I entirely respect that the Minister of State is taking a number of matters that do not come under his Department’s remit. However, it is a source of some frustration that the line Minister from the Department is not here because that would be much more useful. I could just have tabled a written quest…

14. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the position regarding the increase in funding for animal welfare groups as committed to in the programme for Government; if multi-annual funding can be considered to allow for longer-term planning by these groups; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6000/26]

We can all recognise the importance of animal welfare groups and the work that they do. I particularly welcome the increase in funding to them, to €6.5 million, in accordance with the commitment in the programme for Government. The 94 groups which will benefit from that do incredibly important work. Can we, however, put a bit of certainty in place for organisations like that? Multi-annual funding …

I note the Minister's comments about rural Deputies raising issues here but I agree with him that agricultural issues and animal welfare issues are not just for rural Deputies. There are farms in the Dún Laoghaire constituency. I am a member of the Irish Farmers Association, IFA. They are mostly drystock farms in the south west of the constituency but agriculture affects everybody and it is import…

I absolutely accept the Minister's commitment to these issues. With animal welfare, everyone in this House has something to do with animals, whether they are domestic pets or agricultural animals. I think the prosecutions in the Department focused particularly on agricultural stock, and obviously there is a food safety issue there as much as anything else, but it needs to be expanded to include do…

Before I outline my Topical Issue, from speaking to Deputy Butterly, I am aware that Mr. Brady, one of her former teachers, is with the group from Dundalk Grammar School. He is particularly welcome. It is always a pleasure when our former teachers get a chance to come here. It is lovely to see that group here as well. I wish to address issues relating to special education needs. I will begin by a…

I endorse everything the Minister of State said regarding the figures and the numbers. I acknowledged at the outset that the recent tranches have delivered 268 classes. All of that is extremely welcome. Ms Paula Kelly of St. Anne's's National School in Shankhill and Mr. John Fingleton, the permanent principal, have done the forecasting for the school in terms of what is needed. That is why the sch…

This is a subject on which I have been back and forth. I would say I am generally in favour of immigration. It has done this country almost nothing but good. When I think of the Ireland in which I grew up in the 1990s, it was homogenous and, by extension, quite restricted. There were no foreigners to speak of in Ireland, certainly in the early 1990s, and the homogeneity of our society meant we did…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an mBille seo. Agus mé ag féachaint ar Theideal an Bhille agus na rudaí atá sé chun a dhéanamh, déanaim comhghairdeas leis an Aire as teideal Gaeilge an choiste nua a úsáid, is é sin, an coiste forfheidhmithe agus idirghníomhaireachta um chúram leanaí. Is mór an rud é go bhfuilimid ag úsáid na bhfocal agus na dtéarmaí Gaeilge sin. Ag an am céanna, ní dóigh liom go bhfuil gach é…

150. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the position regarding the humanitarian admissions programme; if he will commit to accepting future applicants in the coming years under this scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5993/26]

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach Gníomhach. My question refers to the humanitarian admissions programme. The Minister will be aware that it is a very important programme. I wonder if he can make a statement on it and tell us whether new applications will be accepted in 2026 or how that scheme is going to progress into the future.

I hear what the Minister of State is saying. I am not entirely clear on why there is a limit of 50 because the people we are talking about here particularly need our support. For example, two Afghan women who are living in Ireland have spoken to me about this. They still have family stuck in Afghanistan. Their families are at risk because they have left and their families are necessarily a target …

I appreciate that and I understand where the Minister of State is coming from. I do not know if it is possible to say what the cost per member of that programme is, or if it has been broken down. In the context of their families, is there room to identify a person who has come here? In the case of Afghanistan, for example, it tends to be women; often very highly qualified women such as women journ…

This is a very wide topic for debate. It covers a multitude. I have listened to what other speakers have said. First, I will address Ireland's role in the European Union. I have always seen the European Union as a body which was all about the rule of law, respecting the rule of law and ensuring that the rule of law is the means by which we do business. That is hugely important. I have said public…

If I were from Kerry and, between the Minister of State, Deputy Healy-Rae, and Deputy Cahill, I had not had my village or townland mentioned, I wonder how I would feel. I understand and agree with many of the issues they have raised. The issue I want to raise is along the same lines, as it relates primarily to wastewater treatment. In Dublin we have a Victorian wastewater system. It is not fit fo…

104. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment the position regarding initiatives within his Department that seek to prioritise the fast tracking of offshore wind energy infrastructure; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [73598/25]

My question is about the provision of offshore wind energy and initiatives his Department might have put in place to fast-track that, particularly in the context of dealing with the frustrations of people who recognise that, as I understand it, there is currently no operating offshore wind capacity in Ireland.

I do recognise that some progress has been made but I know from speaking to people around the country that there is a real frustration at the lack of speed of decision-making. If a decision is made today to start a process to establish a wind farm offshore, whether that is implanted into the seabed or floating, we are many years away from the realisation of that plan. Honestly, people do not under…

I welcome the fact the Minister is reiterating the State's commitment to offshore because as an offshore island, essentially, this has huge potential for us. I think of the projects even in my own constituency or off the coast of my constituency in the case of the Codling Wind Park and Dublin Array projects. They are hugely important projects but the level of investment from RWE or the contracting…

I am asking this question on behalf of my colleague Deputy Pete Roche who has done an awful lot of work in this area for families in his constituency of Galway East. The question is about what assessment the Department of Finance has carried out of the cumulative increase in costs in things like energy, childcare and housing, and the effect that has on hard-pressed working families. Will that asse…

I acknowledge what has been done in the budget in respect of this area. I acknowledge particularly the difficulty in balancing the importance of supports without creating inflationary pressure in other areas. I recognise that this has been done in the budget to a large extent. However, in certain schemes where supports are being provided, there are different pressures on families depending on wher…

I agree about having a standard measure that is predictable from year to year, particularly in relation to the tax brackets. However, tax credits is one area in respect of which we could potentially address issues relating to working families. These are the families caught between qualifying for certain grants and not earning enough to be okay on their own. Tax credits, reform of tax credits or gi…

I am in favour of this Bill. I was in favour of the previous legislation as well in the debates that we had in the Seanad when I was a Senator. This is a move forward and an opportunity for the Garda. I want to set a few things straight in the debate. I am conscious that we have CCTV in public places. We have, essentially, surveillance of the populace at large in many places. I actually do not li…