Ruairí Ó Murchú

72. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform if his Department is considering natural flood management and other mitigations in relation to estimated rising sea levels and protecting property that is prone to this risk; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5073/25]

I wish the Minister and the Minister of State the best in their Ministries. The first time I met the Minister of State, Deputy Moran, it was in Dundalk in a previous iteration when I was a councillor dealing with the major flood protection issues facing County Louth and in particular Dundalk itself. I am asking a specific question on natural flood management and other mitigations to protect prope…

The reason I submitted this question is probably related to the programme with Richard Boucher-Hayes, which I am sure many of us saw. It referred to the use of absolutely natural protections, which have been used in many places. It is expected, with rising sea and river levels, that we will have flooding. Sometimes we need to accept this, ensure we flood the places where there are few or no houses…

The Minister of State does not need to respond to my next comment. I welcome what he has said. We just need to consider this in all senses. One would be doing something like what I propose only with agreement from a farmer or other relevant person. It would basically be to suit and protect the community overall. I believe I will get an opportunity to elaborate when dealing with the next question.

I am renowned for brief questioning.

80. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform the status of the catchment and flood risk management plan under CFRAM for County Louth; the progress on its implementation to date; the funding that has been allocated to the scheme to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5072/25]

This relates to the CFRAM flood risk management plan for County Louth. It is about progress, implementation and ensuring what is proposed will happen. The Minister of State is well aware of the issues that relate to Dundalk and the rest of County Louth. It is a case of ensuring we deal with them as soon as possible. During storms in the part of Dundalk in which I live, we have an issue with gettin…

That is okay. I appreciate that. The question was just to get an update. We all know the importance of the issue and I have no doubt that the Minister of State does. It is a matter of ensuring we are not facing and dealing with floods. We will move on.

Anois, an Teachta Nash agus Ceist Uimh. 75. I thank you for your patience.

Ceist Uimh. 83 is in the name of Deputy Nash. We will only get a bit of it done.

Not for the first time, I raise the issue of Irish unity and the necessity for preparatory work. We need a forum to deal with the question of what a new Ireland would look like. I have spoken previously to the Tánaiste about cross-Border issues and he has spoken about the need for a hub to deal with these sorts of issues. Is there any movement in that regard? I have spoken about the taxation issue…

I take the opportunity to wish the Minister well. There is no shortage of issues to deal with, whether we are talking about justice or migration. In fairness, the Minister has already said that there is much work to be done to put a proper migration management system in play. We are still dealing with the outworkings of Brexit and the outworkings for Ireland of partition, a constant evil that wil…

I am sure I could do what an awful lot of other people have done and literally go through a list of every issue in the constituency but I would probably need an hour and a half. I noticed my constituency colleague got through a fair amount. I suppose I could be smart and state her party has been in government for a considerable period. We will see what delivery there will be from this Government b…

I was not sure and would not like to have gone over time. In fairness, there is no shortage of issues that could be brought up regarding the programme for Government. We all know about the issues the Government spoke about and the abject failure to deliver 40,000 houses and the many promises that have been made. Unfortunately, we are dealing with those families and the people who cannot afford ren…

In accordance with Standing Order 85(2), the division is postponed until the weekly division time tomorrow evening.

I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 39 and the name of the Member in each case: Deputy Marie Sherlock - To discuss the resourcing of early years services. Deputy Séamus McGrath - To discuss Garda resources and station opening hours in the south Cork city division. Deputy Conor Sheehan - To discuss issues with the bus…

You have 40 seconds left, Deputy.

Tá an Teachta Martin Daly ag glacadh Ceist Uimh. 8 faoi choinne an Teachta Ó Cearúil.

6. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will provide an update on any recent engagement his Department has had with the EU regarding Palestine; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4541/25]

I wish the Tánaiste and the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, well in their roles. Sinn Féin will hold them to account. When we see what is happening geopolitically, there is no shortage of issues that need to be dealt with. The Tánaiste spoke earlier about Sudan and the issues Donald Trump has spoken about that relate to tariffs. I am asking specifically about governmental engagement on the ong…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Tánaiste. Obviously, anything that helps the people who have been under absolute genocidal slaughter is to be welcomed. I accept that the Government has spoken strongly and probably, at times, has been among very few with regard to the plight of the Palestinian people. We have stated explicitly that we believe we have to do everything we can as a State. We would much prefe…

I do not necessarily buy the whole excuse regarding the Holocaust, particularly when we are dealing with this issue. I would like to know how that engagement goes on.

We all agree that we want to see the release of all hostages and that we want to ensure the ceasefire is maintained. Whatever happens, we are incredibly afraid that we are getting further and further away from the room and space for a two-state solution for peace, freedom and democracy, which basically will both benefit the Palestinians and provide real security, as Israel often talks about. We re…

-----and we do need to see movement because it is a failure by the European Union.

Hear, hear.