Mark Ward

I move amendment No. 17: In page 7, line 39, to delete “questions” and substitute “topics, area of inquiry or matters”.

I move amendment No. 18: In page 8, between lines 9 and 10, to insert the following: “Written statements from office holders and former office holders 6. (1) This section applies where a relevant head has, under section 5, acceded in whole or in part to a request for assistance for the taking of evidence from an office holder or former office holder of a designated State body. (2) Before any o…

I move amendment No. 19: In page 8, to delete lines 31 to 33 and substitute the following: “(5) The Minister shall notify the former holder of ministerial office of the request. The consent in writing of the former holder of ministerial office shall be required only where that person demonstrates that acceding to the request would give rise to a substantial and objectively reasonable risk of pre…

I move amendment No. 20: In page 10, to delete lines 21 to 36 and substitute the following: “Questioning of designated person by nominated judge 9. (1) For the purpose of taking the evidence specified in a decision under section 5(3) to which subsection (6)(c)(i) of that section applies, or specified in a decision under section 6(3) to which subsection (6)(c)(i) of that section applies— (a) no…

I move amendment No. 21: In page 11, to delete lines 1 to 9 and substitute the following: “Questioning of designated person by or on behalf of Chairman 10. (1) Upon completion of the examination of a designated person by the nominated judge under section 9, the Chairman, or counsel to the Inquiry on his or her behalf, may ask questions of the designated person. (2) The Chairman, or counsel to …

I move amendment No. 22: In page 12, between lines 4 and 5, to insert the following: “(5) A person referred to in subsection (3)(f), (g) or (h) may— (a) propose to the Chairman, to counsel to the Inquiry, or to the nominated judge any questions or topics that the person considers relevant to the evidence being taken under section 9 or 10, (b) make submissions or representations to the Chairman…

I move amendment No. 23: In page 12, between lines 4 and 5, to insert the following: “(5) Without prejudice to subsection (4), the Chairman and counsel to the Inquiry shall be entitled to make submissions or representations to the nominated judge concerning the scope, relevance and permissible extent of questioning under section 9 or 10.”. This amendment confirms that the chair and counsel may …

I move amendment No. 24: In page 12, to delete lines 5 to 10 and substitute the following: “(5) For the purpose of giving evidence— (a) under section 9, a designated person shall not be compelled to give any evidence which he or she could not be compelled to give in criminal proceedings in the State, (b) under section 10, a designated person may refuse to answer a question only where answering…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this legislation on vapes. For too long, we have allowed a wild west situation to arise because of a simple lack of regulation. We all want to see a reduction in smoking rates but we also want to see proper and real regulations on vaping. For too long, mixed retail units selling vapes have been popping up in every town and village across our State. As I have s…

8. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the progress his Department is making in tackling child poverty. [26737/26]

The latest figures on child poverty are showing exactly what we feared. Over a quarter of children aged under 16 are growing up in poverty. The Government has received warning after warning and it did not listen. I want to talk about the Clondalkin Equine Centre in my own area. It is a wonderful place. It is in an area of high deprivation as the Pobal index will tell us. It is like an oasis of cal…

There is no core funding for it at the moment. It is trying everything.

I am aware that the Taoiseach said this morning a memo is going to Cabinet that will call for additional supports for special education. When will we see the details of this proposal? Many schools in my area are waiting for special education supports. Gaelscoil na Camóige, as I have mentioned a few times, has been operating out of prefabs for over 30 years. Currently, the building of the new schoo…

I make no apologies for voting no confidence in this Government last night. It was the right thing to do. There is never a wrong time to do the right thing. It is a pity that some Independent TDs put their own political ambitions before the needs of ordinary workers and families. Ordinary workers and families have lost confidence in the Government. The Government is not listening. It still has not…

What about the flats, Taoiseach?

29. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on justice, migration and social affairs will next meet. [26736/26]

We only have to look at how we got behind Rory McIlroy at the weekend and his back-to-back Masters win to know the Irish people are sports mad. It was an absolutely tremendous achievement but I would argue that nothing lifts the nation like a successful Irish soccer team. It lifts the mood. I congratulate the Irish women's soccer team last night for a wonderful result away in Poland. We also saw h…

Gaelscoil na Camóige has been operating out of prefabs for over 30 years. It is a school I know very well as my three children attended it. The building of the school building, alongside the new school for Gaelscoil Chluain Dolcáin, is progressing, and that is welcome. However, the schools were notified that the autism spectrum disorder, ASD, classes will not now be built. The ASD expansion was ag…

I thank Deputy Kelly for bringing forward this motion. I listened to him on the radio this morning when I was on my way in and I was in full agreement with him that the further you move away from Leinster House, the fewer gardaí you will see. High-visibility policing is effective. I have noticed an increase in the visibility of gardaí on the beat in Dublin city and that is to be welcomed. However…

I will start by giving my two cents, because 2 cent is all the Government believes people who use home heating oil are worth. A scabby cut of 2 cent on home heating oil is insulting. It will save a person €20 on a fill of a tank, a fill that now costs around €1,700. Not only is it scabby; it is also underhanded. Very soon, the greedy hands of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael will yank this measly 2 cent …

I thank the Minister of State for taking the time to debate this. I welcome the Government's support for the Bill and look forward to debating any amendments on Committee Stage. That is the proper way to do business with the Opposition when a Bill comes forward that the Government does not wholeheartedly agree with because it gives us a chance to discuss amendments. I thank Senator Ruane for the …

I have been contacted by dozens of parents of children attending St. Mary's Boys National School in Lucan. The school has been approved for a project to deliver four mainstream classrooms, five special education rooms and the repurposing of an existing space. Overall, this is welcome. However, parents have raised concerns with me that this will take a section of the school's playing pitch. As the …

I have been listening to the debate. I am now the third TD from the Dublin Mid-West constituency to speak on An Post in the past few minutes. We are all on the same page in the area. There is a bit of an issue around the delivery of services in the area. In Dublin in the past ten years alone, 21 post offices have closed. In addition to the closure of post offices, there has also been a poorer sta…

Over the years, I got to know Gillian Sherratt and Stephen Morrison quite well as they campaigned for the care of their young son, Harvey. They are an ordinary couple who wanted to bring up and raise their family as best they could, but in an extraordinary situation. They welcomed me into their home numerous times over the years. They are neighbours of mine. I did not know them before this campaig…

In the last term, I was a member of the mental health subcommittee and we dealt with the progress of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Act 2022. In fairness, the committee did its due diligence, and we saw some of the issues we are seeing here today in relation to the timelines that were put in place. As we speak today, there are over 1,000 cases outstanding. That means 1,000 peo…