Ivana Bacik

I am happy to respond to that.

A Cheann Comhairle, I welcome your ruling this morning. I welcome the statement by the Government Chief Whip this morning and, in particular, the acknowledgement by the Government that there is a need to ensure clarification in differentiating between Members of the Opposition and the Government. That is the core democratic principle that we, across the Opposition parties and groups, united on yes…

I wish Deputy Martin well as the presumptive incoming Taoiseach. Today will likely be a proud day for him, his family and his supporters, and I acknowledge that. I also wish Deputy Harris, the outgoing Taoiseach and incoming Tánaiste, well. Increasingly, this feels like Groundhog Day, or groundhog week, not just with Deputies Martin and Harris swapping roles and not just with President Trump rein…

I am very glad that we have reached agreement today and the Chief Whip read out an agreed form of words acknowledging what was a self-evident truth, namely, that a TD could not be in government and in opposition at the same time. That was the core democratic principle that we, across the Opposition, united on yesterday. The situation in the Dáil yesterday was deeply regrettable but it should never…

As Trump might say, "Roads, baby, roads." That is what we are going to see from this Government.

Members of the Government have buried their heads in the sand when it comes to the impact of data centres and left the door wide open for polluting LNG. It seems the private sector will continue to be relied on to deliver essential public services like childcare while workers' rights are only getting derisory treatment. The Government has abandoned initiatives such as drug policy reform and the ci…

To compound the discomfort that so many of us feel, the Lowry leg of the stool was, until today, intent upon pulling off an old-style political trick by setting up in government, having secured Ministries and commitments, and also in opposition, making a mockery of our democratic process. Bertie may not be back but grubby deals are, and this looks like such a deal. I am glad that we have now secur…

As we always have, we in the Labour Party will work constructively from opposition with those who share our vision to achieve the change that we believe in over the course of this Government. We will hold the Government to account, fiercely and fairly, with integrity and transparency, as we have always done. I look forward to the challenge ahead.

I offer personal congratulations to the new Ministers. We wish them well in their portfolios. We need to see positive change delivered by this new Government. There is one very negative change: we see a reduction in the number of women in Cabinet from four to three. There are as many men named James as there are women in this incoming Cabinet. That is a negative change, and we do not see any sign …

Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle, and congratulations on your election to your new role. Like others, I wish to pay tribute to the outgoing Ceann Comhairle, Deputy Ó Fearghaíl, for his work and his commitment to the reform of procedures in the House. We look forward to working with you. It is good to be back, and I think all of us in this Chamber share that sentiment. It is particularly go…

Congratulations to all of those newly elected and returned TDs, as we take our seats today for the first time in the Thirty-fourth Dáil. I am immensely proud of my Labour Party colleagues sitting around me in our newly enlarged parliamentary party. Deputies Alan Kelly, Ged Nash, Duncan Smith and I are delighted and thrilled to be joined by seven new Labour Party Deputies, namely, Deputies Eoghan K…

We, too, believe we should be reconvening on 15 January. So many urgent challenges face our society. Indeed, we have just spent the bulk of this afternoon outlining what those challenges are, and I think there is actually agreement on that. Even the Government acknowledges the immense challenges, particularly on housing and healthcare, and the immense challenges that may indeed arise due to other …