Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin

As the Minister and Ministers of State know, farmers are in intense crisis at the moment following two absolutely terrible years. Will the Government introduce a proper area-based payment tillage incentive scheme? Currently, the Government is giving €40 per acre whereas it needs to be at least €100 per acre or €250 per ha, as requested by the farming organisations that I have met with on a number …

I received a lot of budget feedback in the Wicklow-Wexford constituency over the weekend. The general feeling was that ordinary working people had been left behind once again. They spoke of the proverbial squeezed middle or the new working poor. A common line from people was along the lines of how they had thought before the election that the Government would look after the working people but, sad…

Tillage farmers, as the Minister of State knows, are in deep crisis. The question I want to ask is whether the Government will introduce a proper area-based payment tillage incentive scheme. Currently, the Government is giving just €40 per acre while it needs to be at least €100 per acre or €250 per hectare, as requested by the farming organisations. It really needs to be done as a matter of urgen…

I am not convinced by the Government's response. The fact of the matter is that we are in the middle of a crisis and farmers have no increase this year. It is still €40 per acre. In her response, the Minister of State mentioned the drinks industry. We have such opportunities but it is incredible to believe that our famous Irish whiskey does not have a requirement to have Irish grain in it. This is…

Those on board the humanitarian aid flotilla are under clear and present danger as it approaches the coast of Gaza today. Our own Senator Chris Andrews and Barry Heneghan, TD, are on board. We know that Israel has no bottom line - anything goes, basically - and that, previously, it killed nine people on board a humanitarian aid flotilla, so we must act immediately. Over 20 years ago, I experience…

The insurance rip-off, which is what it is, affects every single household, every motorist, every business, every community and every group across this land. We are all getting fleeced by a cartel of insurance companies that are making two to three times more profit here in Ireland than they are in other countries. It is a gangster's paradise basically. That is not speculation; it is fact. It hike…

I will also highlight the growing concern about vaping and nicotine use among young people. While vapes are often marketed as safer alternatives to smoking, the reality is far more troubling. Vapes and similar products, such as nicotine pouches, pose a very serious health risk, particularly for young people whose brains are still developing. This scourge of modern society, as we could call it, is…

In my 34 years as a primary school teacher, and having been on three secondary school boards, this is probably the worst year I can recall in terms of school transport chaos. My office is inundated with messages and calls, mostly in relation to transport for children with special needs. I could give numerous examples such as the 15 children who are today without a school bus place for Castletown N…

Cuirim fáilte roimh mhná na hÉireann atá thuas san Áiléar Poiblí anocht. Tá céad míle fáilte rompu. Like most men, I knew very little about the silent problem of endometriosis until we held a meeting in Arklow recently for the Wicklow-Wexford constituency. It certainly was an eye-opener for me. I am sure it would be for most men, and for many women as well. We heard so many heartbreaking stories o…

The Government plan to hike fees by 50% or €1,000 in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis represents a betrayal of the students up in the Gallery, whom I welcome, and their parents. I am sure they will not forget this. Tá géarchéim costais mhaireachtála uafásach againn in Éirinn faoi láthair. Tá daoine ag fulaingt agus faoi bhrú mór. The cost-of-living crisis is raging and, instead of helping the…

The Arklow to Shillelagh greenway project, which is of great importance for tourism on the east coast and in south Wicklow and north Wexford, is still stuck at phase 2. There has been no update since 2023 so two years have passed without visible progress. It will be an absolutely tremendous asset for the area, providing scenic walking and cycling routes through the beautiful valleys of south Wickl…

Even next week would be grand.

Sinn Féin has been clear that where a person is not entitled to be in Ireland, he or she should be returned safely to his or her country of origin and that deportation orders should be both enforced and tracked. We need to have powers to immediately return those who are found not to be entitled to be here. I am looking up behind the Minister at a statue of Cathal Brugha, Pádraig Pearse over here …

We must do far better for the people of Wicklow and Wexford. For years, I have raised the issue of the inadequate rail network in these counties, including most recently last week at a meeting in Buswells Hotel with representatives of Iarnród Éireann. My hopes were briefly lifted with the all-Ireland strategic rail review when the Wicklow and Wexford rail line was mentioned. However, unfortunately…

As we know, Mary McAleese was the first President of Ireland born in the Six Counties and she proved to be a very effective President. However, incredibly, when she ran for election in 1997, she was not allowed to vote for herself. Our Presidents Mary Robinson, Mary McAleese and Michael D. Higgins could have presented the Sam Maguire or Liam MacCarthy cups to players like Joe Brolly, Peter Canavan…

We have a bit of contradiction in that there are so many people without homes, yet there are so many homes without people. The vast majority of these are in private hands. However, there are more than 2,500 vacant council houses throughout the State. Of these, 834 have been vacant for more than a year. Each of these homes should have a local family living in it. Almost all councils have unacceptab…

Some years ago, I was fortunate enough to stay with the lovely people of Gaza. It is a tiny place just one third the size of County Dublin or one quarter the size of my constituency of Wicklow–Wexford. It now has 2.2 million people, mostly children, who are corralled into what is, in effect, a concentration camp. We see emaciated, corpse-like children deliberately being starved and sometimes incin…

As someone who was in my 35th year of primary teaching when I finished up in December, having taught in the area of special education for most of the past decade, it is an area that I am quite familiar with. A shockingly high figure is that of 2,314 children still waiting for an assessment of need in the Wicklow-Kildare HSE area, which is the highest number outside of Dublin. A smaller but signifi…

Childcare costs are completely out of control, with many people now paying the equivalent of a second mortgage. A local man who came in to do a job in my office this week stated that most of his wages went towards the €1,400 per month charge for childcare, while his wife's income went towards the €1,600 per month mortgage. In view of the high cost of living, how are families supposed to cope? How …

With regard to children's healthcare in Ireland and our Bill to address the scandals of misdiagnosis, I would like to briefly mention my personal experience. From two months old until two years, my son was prescribed antibiotics for throat infections. When he turned two years old, he was misdiagnosed with asthma. He was supposed to begin a lifetime of medication, steroids and inhalers. It was a wo…

This June, a school in my parish, Ballyfad National School, will sadly be closing its doors, as the current sixth class student will move on to second level and the remaining student has secured a place in another school for sixth class next September. The Diocese of Ferns notified the Department of Education about the impending closure of Ballyfad school in recent weeks. It is a school in a beaut…

I thank the Minister of State. I welcome his acknowledgment of common sense in repurposing existing buildings. From an economic and environmental point of view, it makes sense. I also welcome his comments in relation to Gorey Hill School and the establishment of special classes in Wexford and Wicklow. As he pointed out in his remarks, five more schools will be built in other counties. Will the Dep…

The economic model and approach of successive governments, whereby they put all our eggs in one basket, has today left us exposed and vulnerable. In Wicklow and Wexford, we certainly are as we have no fewer than nine pharmaceutical companies and our local struggling agricultural sector cannot afford any more cost increases. Recent governments in this State failed to properly invest in infrastruct…

Uisce Éireann has failed miserably so many villages in our counties of Wexford and Wicklow. Recently in Aughrim and previously in Camolin, I met builders who are ready to build desperately needed housing but Irish Water's failure to invest in wastewater treatment plants in both villages means they cannot proceed. Householders and small businesses, whether in Bunclody, Gorey, Arklow, Rathdrum or ot…

As a County Wicklow man, the Tánaiste will be very familiar with the small, rural town of Carnew. This town is somewhat isolated, lacks basic facilities and services and has insufficient public transport. This week, local people were alarmed to learn that an investment fund, Quest Retirement Solutions, is applying to install an International Protection Accommodation Services , IPAS, centre to acco…