Pat Buckley

She needs to withdraw this.

This temporary measure. She has spoken about a pause, but a pause on what? A pause on death? That is what is going to happen. The Minister had better reverse this because it is an utter disgrace.

I thank the Minister of State for being here. I want to draw to his attention what is not happening within Scouting Ireland. The problem is this is a legacy issue that goes back to the 1980s. I went to one of the same schools as many of these people did. It is about abuse and a specific teacher who got ten years in jail for raping young boys predominantly as a schoolteacher, a scout leader and a s…

I did not name anybody. I am well aware of that. I thank the Acting Chair. The case about the schoolteacher is well documented. What I am trying to raise here, as the individual asked me to do, is to find out what recourse this person and others have right now. We have learned nothing from the mother and baby home scandal. What can I tell this individual? Somebody is going to tell me that it is a …

I thank the Minister of State. I want to let the Acting Chair know that the perpetrator is now deceased and the name is already in the public domain. I thank the Minister of State for the response from the Minister's office. Every time I come in here, we do not know everything. I see in the response that €251,000 was ring-fenced for safeguarding. I would say Scouting Ireland has spent a lot more …

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill and I thank Independent Ireland. More importantly, I thank those in the Gallery. They are heroes of the State who get absolutely battered for telling the truth. It is an absolute and utter disgrace. I have a script but I want to speak about the comments of the Minister of State and the Government amendment. The amendment states — whistleblowers have …

You crashed the economy.

Is it 1% of it?

As a coastal TD, I have seen at first hand the decline in the fishing industry. The sector has suffered quota cuts, fleet reductions and fuel pressures. The input of cost increases in recent years has left them facing crisis after crisis. This is following decades of neglect, mismanagement and weak negotiations on their behalf by successive Fianna Fáil- and Fine Gael-led Governments. I want to tou…

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to contribute. I congratulate my Sinn Féin colleagues on tabling the motion. I have watched this debate and I will start with a quote from a family. This puts us in the picture as to the reality of it. She writes: My name is Shauna Dunne and I am the full-time carer for my 2-year-old son Jack, and the mother of a 4 year old girl called Demi. Jack i…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Private Members' business. I commend Deputy Doherty on the tireless work he has done on this and on holding the insurance companies to some bit of account. We did not get many answers from the Minister of State. Many households who have had their renewal notices pop through their letterboxes in recent months have been shocked by huge hikes of 10% or more …

I welcome this opportunity to speak on the strategy this evening. The aim of this national human rights strategy for disabled people is about ensuring disabled people are supported and empowered to live a full life. I will touch on a few issues. Regarding transport and mobility, the strategy commits to taking the whole journey approach. I have raised it here through parliamentary questions on a c…

I congratulate the Minister of State. They say love is blind and marriage is an eye-opener. We in Sinn Féin believe in a tax system that is fair. As part of this, inheritance tax is an important tool to tackle inequality and invest in public services to deliver a fair society. However, the current system is highly discriminatory towards beneficiaries of estates left by people with no children. T…

I thank the Minister of State for a pretty in-depth response. Sometimes, it can be fairly flippy-floppy here. I welcome her response. I have had a case where a beneficiary was living for more than three years in a house but did not know what the actual rules were and was panicking because that person did not know whether to buy it. Since there has been a proper response, I will delve into it more…

I welcome the establishment of this commission. It is very welcome and very long overdue. It is essential that this commission of investigation must be survivor-centred and the terms of reference must be comprehensive and drafted in consultation with the survivors and the representative organisations. Given that up to 300 allegations of sexual abuse in 32 schools in Cork were recorded during the s…

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Moran, for being here. It is much appreciated. I thank him and his Department for their engagement. I am speaking today on behalf of the residents of Castlemartyr, Mogeely, Midleton, Whitegate, Killeagh and Rathcormac to urgently implore the Government and Minister of State to initiate tranche 2 of the flood relief programme for these communities. These towns…

I thank the Minister of State for his reply, in which he stated, “Any flood relief scheme needs to map and understand the location and the flooding sources and constraints.” This is spot on, but I just want a preventative measure very fast. Land at Gleann Fia, the land next door to the site at Mogeely, owned by a farmer, can hold water, and there is an agreement in this regard. We can divert the w…

Many Corkonians have happy memories of taking the train to Youghal on a summer day. The train might have 14 carriages but we would be lucky to get a seat on the train from Midleton. Sadly, the train service between Cork city and Youghal has not been in operation for almost 30 years, when passenger services were withdrawn. An online petition has received more than 6,000 signatures, which shows the …

I came across a quote today that said a sane state did not wage war against civilians and did not kill babies as a hobby. That is a very strong statement. What has been happening, particularly in Gaza, over the past number of painful months has been atrocious. It makes me nervous that people in the western world - in the whole world - are looking at what is happening Gaza and war and death have be…

Presidential voting rights for all citizens of Ireland have always been high on the agenda for Sinn Féin. We strongly believe all Irish citizens resident on the island of Ireland should have the right to vote in our presidential elections. The President represents all the people of Ireland and it is only right that all citizens on this island be allowed to vote for their first citizen, their Uacht…

I ask for a copy of the Minister of State's opening speech. Nobody got a copy of it.

I wish the Minister of State the best of luck because, as I have always said, our fishing industry should be one of our greatest amenities and benefits to the State. I want to paint a picture of east Cork, where I am from, including Youghal, Goleen, Ballycotton, Cobh and the small ports in between of East Ferry, Whitegate and Aghada. I was struck by a piece on youghalonline.com in November 2024 wh…

I thank the Minister of State for his opening remarks. First, I commend the whistleblowers on this. I keep saying here that you get absolutely battered for helping people and telling the truth in this country. The Irish population is ageing and growing, which is associated with higher levels of ill health and greater demand on all types of health and social care services. This obviously poses grea…

The housing crisis that the country is currently in the grips of is affecting entire communities, none more so than the communities I represent in east Cork. What was once known as a great region with welcoming towns, strong community spirit and national beauty is now grappling with the growing problem of the lack of social and affordable houses. As we speak, there are currently more than 300 empt…

The Minister has heard from the speakers here tonight. This is absolutely bonkers. We are talking about dereliction and vacancy. I am going to relate two very brief stories. I am lucky enough to be able to walk the dogs every Sunday morning and when I do I pass two beautiful, three-bedroom semi-detached homes that have been vacant for over 12 months. They are probably still good enough to be turn…