Ivana Bacik

9. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Taoiseach to report on the work of the child poverty and well-being programme in his Department. [13744/25]

The February figures for homelessness showed that 5,653 children are without a home. Child homelessness has deep and lasting impacts on children's lives and well-being. It is associated with childhood poverty. The tenant in situ scheme was a key measure brought in by Government that sought to address the root causes of child and family homelessness and enable people to stay in their homes as socia…

The tenant in situ scheme.

It was the house.

The chilling footage and grim images of children killed and wounded in Gaza shared by Dr. Morgan McMonagle on last night's "Prime Time" will stay with anyone who saw them for a very long time. I commend Dr. McMonagle on sharing those images and that chilling footage with us. I will ask the Taoiseach about an issue affecting children and young people here in Ireland, the crisis in special educatio…

I thank the Taoiseach for the comprehensive response and for making clear that measures are being put in place to ensure that future planning will be improved upon. There is still serious frustration and doubt about whether children will secure the places they need this September. School principals are expressing this concern to all of us. I recently heard from a school principal who told me paren…

This April Fool's Day we are bracing ourselves for the impact of the most foolish April Fool of them all. I am talking, of course, about Trump's tariffs, the scale and scope of which we will learn tomorrow. Not content with damaging his own economy, he has now got his sights set on ours too. Reportedly, even within his own administration, there is no knowing yet what exactly he has planned. Indeed…

We had concerns about it.

All of us in this House agree that the tariffs Trump is proposing are bad for the worldwide economy. Indeed, we could be facing an international "Trump slump", as it has been described. The fear of tariffs itself is having a destabilising effect across Ireland and across Europe. We all appreciate that the EU has to respond in a strategic manner to whatever comes forward from the US tomorrow, but e…

It feels like every day we are seeing more horror around the world. At the weekend, we saw the appalling earthquake and loss of life in Myanmar. There is also the ongoing slaughter of Palestinians by Israel in Gaza and the continued bombardment of Ukraine by Russia. At this time, it is particularly concerning to see the rowing back across the world of aid programmes, with UNRWA under attack and, o…

10. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Taoiseach the engagements he had with the National Emergency Co-ordination Group in the days before, during and after storm Éowyn. [13742/25]

We have spoken in this Chamber before about the significant delays in the Government's response to the scale of Storm Éowyn. With climate change, there are likely to be stronger storms in future. We need preparations. Some years ago, after flash floods in Louth, the then Minister, Simon Coveney, committed to putting business flood relief schemes on a permanent statutory footing. I believe that is …

22. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Taoiseach how he intends to increase the coordination role of his Department in national security. [13743/25]

I certainly welcome the committee being established but we need to see the publication of the national security strategy. I have been raising this with the Taoiseach and his predecessors for some time. I also raised as long ago as December 2022 the need for briefings for Opposition leaders on national security matters. That was in the context of the HSE cyberattack, the presence of Russian ships i…

The office of Ceann Comhairle has been dragged into a mess of the Government’s making. The Ceann Comhairle's position has become untenable because of a deal between the Government and Michael Lowry and his group. The big question is why. Why is the Government willing to go to such lengths to facilitate Mr. Lowry? Why does it insist that someone can be in government and in opposition at the same ti…

-----would certainly be a lot more critical of Ministers than we are likely to see tomorrow. Finally, we saw the Government and Ceann Comhairle ramming through changes last week in a way that was simply not acceptable. The attitude of the Taoiseach throughout this saga has been deeply frustrating. He has become increasingly tetchy in patronising Opposition leaders, accusing us of subverting democ…

Yes, because of Lowry.

And you have Lowry.

You have done it yourselves.

What happened in the Dáil yesterday is without precedent. Yesterday, the Taoiseach and his Government rammed through a scheme to create a sort of new sham Opposition. Let us be clear: the so-called "Other Members' Questions" is a contrivance manufactured purely to placate the Lowry lobby. The regional Independent group, led by Deputy Michael Lowry, is patently stitched into this Government. It hel…

A Cheann Comhairle, you have a duty to apply the rules fairly and impartially under Standing Orders. I deeply regret to say after what we saw yesterday that I do not believe you applied the rules in that matter. That is why this morning, together with my parliamentary party, we agreed to ask you to reflect on your position over the coming days. If necessary, we will have no option but to table a m…

I regret that it has come to this.

You pontificate but you never answer the question.

It seems that not only is the Taoiseach becoming increasingly tetchy as Taoiseach, but increasingly patronising.

Nobody has ever accused the Labour Party of not being serious. We are a serious party. We were serious about entry into government.