Ciarán Ahern

What will the Minister do to ensure the pipeline of road transport projects he intends to fund in 2025 are individually and cumulatively assessed for their impact on the transport sectoral emissions ceiling set under the climate Act 2021?

It is really important that they are cumulatively assessed and not just on an individual basis. The Government has inherited an overshoot in the transport emissions budget as well as our broader carbon budgets. Due to the climate imperative, the previous Government had a spending ratio of 2:1 for public transport versus roads and invested €1 million a day in active travel infrastructure. Can the M…

It is encouraging to hear that. To the extent the Minister might be considering refreshing the EV grants, I hope it will be purely for EVs rather than hybrids. The transport sector is wildly off course. We feel there is a need for accelerated and urgent demand management measures and the implementation of ambitious active travel and public transport measures that can bridge the emissions gap by 20…

My thanks to Deputy Daly and Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion. The Labour Party will be supporting it. I take this opportunity to congratulate the new chair of the RSA, Anne Graham. I wish her well in her role. I hope she is listening. I am of the belief that we should be doing everything we can to encourage people to use greener, more sustainable modes of transport. This means making s…

73. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if he intends to intervene to halt the privatisation of Bord na Móna; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7037/25]

As Deputy Daly outlined, this is the last remaining domestic waste collection service in public control. We have big-picture concerns with the sale of this and what this means for the State provision of domestic waste collection services into the future. We also have very specific issues with the details of the sale. In this case, it is being sold by way of a share sale rather than an asset transf…

I thank the Minister and it is good to hear he is meeting the board in the coming weeks and that he shares our concern regarding the continuation of the terms and conditions if the sale is to proceed. We also have to look at to whom it is proposed to sell this part of the State company. Killarney Waste Disposal is an unlimited company. There is a complete lack of transparency with regard to its gr…

I welcome this debate. Now and in the years to come, AI and how we effectively use and regulate it will be one of the key challenges we face as legislators. As my colleague, Deputy Lawlor, has said, there is enormous potential for AI to have a really transformative and positive impact for workers if it is applied in a fair manner and everyone can benefit from it. It is crucial that AI does not ju…

I congratulate the Minister and the Minister of State on their new appointments. I look forward to working with them on these important issues. I welcome the opportunity to make a statement on this very important issue. The Labour Party introduced a motion in the Dáil on this very topic in May last year. We did so in the context of a really concerning increase in the number of fatalities on our r…

When I am out knocking on doors in Dublin South-West and speaking with constituents, housing is undoubtedly the issue that is raised with me most often. Whether it is young people stuck in a rental trap handing over extortionate amounts of their hard-earned income to a landlord and unable to save for a deposit, parents whose child is unable to move out of a childhood bedroom or older people lookin…

He had no interest.

First, I thank the people of Dublin South-West for placing their trust in me, and particularly thank my parents, Mary and Maurice, my wife, Maeve, and our son, Fionn, for all their support, without which I just would not be here. I also extend my personal congratulations to the Taoiseach and all the Ministers appointed today. Their success will be our success. However, I must say I am deeply con…