Mark Ward

There are 15,000 homeless.

The Taoiseach should answer the question he was asked.

Earlier, I spoke with one of my constituents from Clondalkin. Gillian Sherratt is the mother of eight-year-old Harvey. Harvey is suffering from life-threatening spina bifida and scoliosis. He was on the waiting list to have an operation on his spine for 33 months. The Minister may remember when Harvey touched the hearts of the nation as a video showed him struggling to breathe as a result of his s…

Absolutely. I 100% had permission. As I said, I spoke to the parent earlier.

On Tuesday, Sinn Féin introduced a Bill in the Dáil that would scrap water charges for good and prevent the Government from introducing them in the future. It would put an end to the debate for good, even if the Government wanted to introduce charges for water. Lo and behold, surprise, surprise, the Government voted against this, leaving the door ajar to introducing water charges in the future. In…

I echo my colleague's comments about Deputy Geoghegan. I think he must have been under sponsorship to see how many times he could mention Sinn Féin in his three-minute speech. I think he made a few bob on that. On all the talk we had about backbenchers demanding speaking time in the next while, not all the Government backbenchers turned up for this important debate. It is a case of the Government…

We are discussing diverting young people away from criminal activity today. The best way to do that is to offer our young people hope. It is the hope that, if they fulfil their social contract, then the Government will do the same. Imagine being a young person in Ireland today and having the ambition to have a safe and secure home. It is almost impossible due to Government failings in housing. Ima…

Yesterday, we witnessed the Government ramming through legislation about Dáil speaking rights without going through the proper due process. The public are rightly concerned that it will do the same with Irish neutrality. Any changes to the triple lock and Irish neutrality must be put to the people to decide. Is the Government afraid of a referendum on Irish neutrality? The Tánaiste's proposal to a…

Orlagh Aylward was stillborn in 2004. Her parents, Mildred and James Aylward, have tirelessly fought for recognition that her medical care in the lead-up to Orlagh's birth could have been different and if steps had been taken earlier, Orlagh would be here today to celebrate her 21st birthday. Mildred and James would like to move forward and to grieve their daughter. They received individual apolog…

Have a chat with your Whip. Fuck's sake.

I wish to speak about the ongoing genocide in Palestine. The headline in the minutes of the European Council meeting read: "The European Council has been following the situation in the Middle East very closely since Hamas' terrorist attacks against Israel of 7 October 2023." For a layman reading this headline, you would think that Israel carried out no atrocities prior to 7 October. Palestine has …

Get your time back, Cian.

It has been well documented in this House that you cannot call a person a liar in the Dáil, so I will refrain from doing so in what I have to say. Micheál Martin misled the people of Ireland in the recent election campaign, Simon Harris spoofed them and Jack Chambers simply told big, fat porky pies to them. They misled the electorate in saying they would build 40,000 homes. They knew this was not …

If I had said them as Gaeilge, would they have been all right?

The Government needs to simply stop wasting public money. It is as simple as that. What hurts people the most is that they know that money could be spent on things that would really benefit them. For example, the €9 million spent on mobile phone pouches, which were spun as being a mental health support, could have been spent in schools on face-to-face mental health supports that children really ne…

A Leas-Cheann Comhairle, I am just checking to see whether we have got a quorum.

I congratulate the Minister and the Leas-Cheann Comhairle on their new roles. I wish them all the best. We are living with the legacy of serious Government failures and the neglect of policing and community safety. These are failures of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. There have been fewer gardaí on the streets of Dublin since Fine Gael came into government. We are now getting mixed messages. The form…

What about Doncaster?

We must have a zero-tolerance approach to gender-based violence. This issue is compounded by a judicial system, political system and society that fail to confront the problem. I have seen at first hand the incredible work done by Saoirse women's refuge in my area. Those involved informed me of the stress a woman has to go through in the legal system. The process of obtaining a safety order can be…

45. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence regarding the new proposed legislation to scrap the triple lock system, if this will undermine Ireland's military neutrality; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6121/25]

I want to take this opportunity to wish the Minister and the Minister of State really well in their briefs. There is a belief out there that the health service is broken and cannot be fixed, but I genuinely believe that with the right political will it can be, especially in respect of health reform. If the Minister gets it right, she will get support on this side of the House. It is not about poli…

Yesterday, we heard the news that the Airport Hopper bus service is ceasing operations. This means that people in Clondalkin, Lucan, Palmerstown and Tallaght have no option but to get a taxi or drive to the airport. What was a €10 journey will now cost passengers €60. The 14 drivers who were employed by the Airport Hopper received an email to say their jobs had gone. They arrived at the yard and a…

On a personal level, I congratulate the Minister of State on her appointment as Chief Whip. I welcome that the issue of mental health will have a seat at the Cabinet table but, to be honest, I do not have any confidence that things will improve. The past five years are evidence of that. In 2020, since the Minister of State took over the role, there has been an 81% increase in the number of young …

I take the opportunity to wish the Ceann Comhairle and the Minister of State all the best in their respective roles going forward. I wish them every success. We are discussing road safety today. One of the most efficient ways of reducing road accidents is to reduce the number of cars on the road but to do this you have to have an adequate, properly-funded and reliable public transport system in p…

There is only one mention of public health nurses in the whole programme of Government. Many parents have contacted me in recent weeks to say their children are not getting the vital developmental checks they need from public health nurses. When a baby is born, developmental checks are carried out at regular intervals. During the baby's first week, a public health nurse visits the home and typical…