Richard Boyd Barrett

Sylvia is in a HAP tenancy for five years. From the beginning she was also paying a top-up to her landlord. She used to live with her eldest son. He has moved out. The landlord has also increased the rent and Sylvia used to get a carers' payment for her father, but her father passed away so she does not get that payment. She has been hit three different ways, with increased rent, lower income and …

I appreciate that and I will send the Minister of State Sylvia's details, but, as he can see, there is a more general problem. There is somebody who works in here - I will not give away their identity- who is on a very modest income. They got cost-rental accommodation at €1,200, but their son was living with them who was earning. The son has moved out but they are stuck with a €1,200 rent but with…

Once again, I wish Paschal Donohoe, setting aside our significant political differences, the best on a personal level. I know he is a reader of books, and one book I know he has read, because we have talked about it, is by Thomas Piketty about the growing inequality in wealth in the world. The Deputy might therefore be interested in, or indeed maybe supportive of, my appeal to the Government not t…

I move: That Dáil Éireann: notes that: — the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill 2018 (OTB), first introduced by Senator Frances Black and other members of Seanad Éireann, proposed to give effect to the State's obligations arising under the Fourth Geneva Convention, and to ban trade in goods or services with an occupied territory; — the OTB passed First Stage in the Seanad…

Have you read it?

I thank my colleagues in Sinn Féin, the Social Democrats and the Labour Party and Independent colleagues who have supported and co-sponsored this motion. I thank Senator Frances Black for her ongoing efforts since she instigated this Bill in 2018. Most importantly, I thank the hundreds of thousands of people in this country who have mobilised again and again in unprecedented protests in every city…

That is a joke. They have no intention of doing anything.

11. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet Committee on water quality will next meet. [61677/25]

I also wish to raise the issue of water quality in Dublin Bay, for the umpteenth time. Every time there is a massive downpour like the ones we had very recently, rainfall water or stormwater mixes with sewage and pours into Dublin Bay. The pumping station at the west pier in Dún Laoghaire pumps stuff out to Ringsend but Ringsend does not have the capacity. It overflows, goes into Dublin Bay and th…

It has been going on for years.

29. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach for a report on the work of the shared island unit. [63463/25]

Across Britain and the North of Ireland people are being arrested, prosecuted and, in some cases, imprisoned because they support Palestine Action, on the basis that the British Government has designated Palestine Action, a group campaigning against British complicity with the genocide that Israel is committing, as a terrorist organisation. It is absolutely outrageous. There will be a protest this…

It is not a separate issue. People in the North are being arrested.

On a personal level I wish the Minister and his family the very best. He has been a civil and thoughtful adversary for the years we have both been in the House. He never held back in letting us know what he thought about our perspective on politics and economics. I am not going to hold back in saying that I think the legacy that has been left behind by the years of Fine Gael Government since I hav…

There are a good few.

As many other speakers have said, Putin's invasion of Ukraine is a bloody, unjustified and criminal endeavour, which has led to absolute carnage. That carnage continues. The scale of human devastation is unknown because both sides do not want to admit to how many people have been killed. Some estimates suggest that more than 1 million people have either lost their lives or have been injured and ma…

There is great alarm, anger and concern among taxi drivers across the country because of the moves by Uber to introduce a fixed fare system. As outlined in the question by Deputy Pa Daly earlier, he alluded to the very serious question on whether this fixed fare being brought in by Uber actually circumvents, undermines or subverts the taxi regulation legislation in this country, which is designed …

The point is, and the Minister of State is absolutely right, that taxi drivers can do that and many now are signed up with Uber, but they have recognised the threat that Uber represents for the industry and Uber's desire ultimately to try and deregulate the entire industry and do away with it as an industry, and undermine the livelihoods in this country of about 20,000 taxi drivers. Many would hav…

It is undermining the meter.

It is good that we have this debate every year about the importance of science. The Government, to my mind, largely pays lip service to the importance of science but does not actually translate it in reality into backing science and encouraging those who are working in the area of science, research and development. What is my evidence for saying that? First of all, there is the plight of about 10,…

We will join with the Taoiseach's fight.

A Cheann Comhairle?

May I propose an amendment?

Tomorrow the National Bus and Rail Union will be balloting all its members over industrial action on our buses. SIPTU has also indicated it plans to support the action of bus drivers. I have not got time to go into the detail other than to say it is about the harassment of drivers by Dublin Bus over profiles, key performance indicators, KPIs, and a "Press it" box system. The only thing people migh…

17. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on justice, migration and social affairs will next meet. [61675/25]